*This chapter is for a fabulous group of people. You know who you are.*
MOE
MEL
"Define 'cold feet,'" Mel said as she cut open a box of t-shirts.
Nikki stood abruptly from the box of merch she was unpacking and pushed the hair from her face breathlessly. "Cold feet? Which one of you has cold feet? Tay?"
Mel smiled and shook her head. "Well it's certainly not me."
"What makes you think he has cold feet?"
Mel looked around both ways to make sure she was out of earshot of anyone. "I don't know. Is it possible to get cold feet five months away from the wedding?"
"I think it's possible to get cold feet any time."
Hanson Day was upon them. MOE. Hanson Day. Whatever you wanted to call it. They were day two in and
were replenishing the pop up store before it opened as the conversation took place. Tulsa had already been crazy overrun with Hanson fans the past two or three days. The guys had kicked off the weekend the previous night with a concert at Cain's Ballroom, which Mel thoroughly enjoyed. She loved watching Taylor perform. She had even sent him a text to find later as she stood in the audience: "Do you have any idea how much it turns me on to watch you perform?" Unfortunately, nothing came of it with the exhaustion and tight schedule of the weekend to come. It had been fun to imagine his reaction for a second as he read it backstage. However, he was one hundred percent completely business and Mel more or less gave up on the idea of hot
post-show sex. Actually, she had given up on even trying to have sex for that entire weekend.
Mel went back to her box and Nikki to hers. After a couple of minutes, Nikki straightened up again. "So
what's going on?"
"Hm?"
"With Tay. Why do you think he has cold feet?"
It had been a couple of weeks since the incident in LA and the day after--since Tay had expressed his concerns with her, if that's what you wanted to call them. "Uh, well I know he's nervous..."
Nikki scoffed. "Well you saw what happened with his last marriage. It really hasn't been that long. The thought of marriage would make you nervous, too, after something like that."
Mel shifted her weight nervously. "Well, yeah, but it's me..."
"You or Mother Teresa, it's still marriage."
"So what do I do?"
"Didn't you have cold feet when you married John?"
Mel bit her lip in thought as she began to climb the ladder to hang the shirt displays. She honestly didn't
remember. "Um, I actually don't think so. I loved John. It was just--I dunno, it was just right. I guess..."
"So what's the difference in marrying Tay? Shouldn't it be even more right than it was with John?"
"Well, yeah, but John--he just wasn't so indecisive. I didn't go through ANY of this stuff I'm going through with
Tay. John and I just got married and lived our lives. It was easy. This time--I mean, yeah, Tay and I have extensive history but that doesn't change some of the really major shit that's gone down between us. And now I have to sit and wonder how eventful the rest of my life is gonna be. If I have to continue to deal with the jealousy and the hot tempers and...it's the way he's always been but we're getting older now and--it was okay
when we were eighteen, but not anymore."
"So you have cold feet, too?"
"What? I didn't say I had--" she turned around to look at a smirking Nikki and scowled at her. "Very sneaky
what you did just then."
She raised her eyebrows. "So it looks like he's not the only one with cold feet."
As Nikki began handing her shirts to display and Mel hung them, she said, "I Googled 'cold feet' last week. Did you know that a study found it to be a phenomenon that's been known to be attributed to future maritial problems and a predictor of divorce? Divorce, Nikki. Divorce. Our apprehensions now are just gonna lead to
trouble. Seriously, why even get married?"
"Because every relationship is different and every scientific theory is just that--a theory. And because you love each other. You two remind me of--of Cathy and Heathcliff sometimes."
Mel smiled sarcastically down at her. "How tragically poetic of you. In case you forgot, Cathy died."
"Yeah. And then she haunted Heathcliff and drove him completely insane."
Mel narrowed her eyes in thought. "I could get into that..."
Before either one of them could utter another word, Zac came tearing through the shop, emitting noises that would make someone consider dialing 911. As he stopped himself at the door to catch his breath, Isaac came tearing through after, wrestling him to the ground. Tay followed with a small camera in hand, barely able to hold it over his laughing. As he doubled over, resting his hand on his knee in an attempt to collect himself, Mel slowly stepped a step down the ladder and locked eyes with Nikki, whose eyebrows were raised. From the doorway, Zac continued wailing from the mouth, Ike continued imaginary wailing from the fist, and Tay managed to walk over there and position the camera on them once more. Mel and Nikki could only watch.
After a minute, Ike let Zac up and Zac stood up and straightened his clothes, still laughing breathlessly. He eyed Mel and Nikki across the room and brushed his hair back from his face. "Ah, shit. I didn't even know you guys were in here. Sorry you had to see that."
"What the hell are you guys doing?" Mel asked slowly, seemingly afraid to know the answer.
The guys looked at each other and laughed and Tay looked at the two women. "Uh, nothing really...important...what are you doing?"
"Seriously?"
Still smiling and fiddling with his camera, Tay said, "You guys need help?"
"No thanks," Nikki piped up. "We're good here. Carry on with...whatever it is you're doing. Or defacing. Or whatever..."
The guys laughed sheepishly and left the room together. Nikki and Mel exchanged looks. "Have you ever Googled them? Or looked them up on YouTube?" Nikki asked.
Mel shook her head. "Not really..."
"Seriously?"
"I go to bed with him every night, why do I need to Google him?"
Nikki smiled and shook her head as she went back to the merch. "Your fiancée's a moron sometimes."
"Really? Cause he was the one holding the camera just then. Your husband on the other hand..."
Nikki sighed. "We're doomed, aren't we?"
Mel shrugged. "At least they're kinda charming."
"We do have that going for us..."
With that, the two women, along with a few others, finished setting up and prepared for the hoards of fans that were already lined up outside the 3CG door.
------------------
As Mel and a couple of the girls from the office cleaned up after the nightmare that was the pop up shop, Mel looked forward to lunch alone with Taylor. As her stomach rumbled, she daydreamed about where might be a quiet place to take him to, when he approached her out of nowhere. "Hey, I need your help."
As she turned around and looked up at him, his face said it all. Lunch was out the window. "Um, okay. Let
me just finish up here--"
"No. Now. Let them finish this. You come with me."
Looking back at the rest of the staff, helpless, she followed Tay as he walked briskly in front of her. "What are
we doing?"
"I gotta have my part of the gallery back up in a few minutes and half of my damn photos are missing."
"What?"
"Missing. Gone. Who took down my display yesterday?"
"You did."
"Shit..."
"Well--calm down, let's just go through what you have..."
"We don't have time."
"Quickly, then."
Approaching the table at Tay's gallery space, she noticed about five pictures had been pinned up before he'd
stopped. She leafed through the ones that were left in the box on the table and she said as she went through them, "Tay, these aren't even today's batch. These are tomorrow's."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"When we sat in here and went through these a few days ago, there were so many you decided to do a different set every day. And then you marked the boxes. See?" She closed the top and showed him the day marked on there. "So where are today's? That's what you're missing."
"Fuck, I don't know. With yesterday's?"
"Where are yesterday's?"
Looking frantically around him, he turned around and looked up and down and everywhere. "Mel, I think I'm losing my mind."
"You and me both."
"We put everything together, right?"
"I don't know why you keep saying 'we.' I had nothing to do with the gallery yesterday. I stay on merch, I don't even come back here."
"You're not doing merch anymore," he said, nonchalantly.
She gaped at him. "What? That's primarily what I do here, I gotta keep up with it."
"Not this weekend," he said, leafing through the box of photos for the fiftieth time. "I need you back here with
me."
Watching his frazzled state, she caved. There was no arguing with him when he was like this. He looked up at her and raised his eyebrows as if to confirm. "Okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Okay."
"Help me find that box. I'm literally out of time."
As her eyes glanced around their surroundings one more time, she spied a brown corner that peeked out from
underneath the black curtain that hung behind the picture display. Sighing and shaking her head, she pulled the box, marked for that day, out from underneath the curtain. "Here it is," she said handing it to him.
She thought the relief might kill him. "Oh my god, you found it. Where was it?"
"It must have gotten kicked or shoved behind the curtain or something."
"What the f--by who??"
"YOU," Mel said firmly. "You're the only one who touched any of this yesterday."
Tay wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead and looked around at nothing. "Shit, I really am losing my mind.
Here, help me hang these. I think they're already letting people in."
In lightening speed, Mel and Tay hung his photos together. They finished in just enough time for Mel to collect what wasn't needed and duck behind the curtain so that Tay could spend the quality time he needed to spend with his fans. For the first time in six hours that day, Mel collapsed into a chair and listened to Tay as he made small talk and warmly greeted the excited women. Her legs and her feet practically sang as she sat. Two more days of this. Two more.
She'd be lucky if she lived through it.
-----------------
Oh, but it wasn't over. As the hours and the day wore on, Mel couldn't help but begin to resent Taylor just a
little. She felt like she was putting more work into his own event than he was but, the truth was, she didn't even know if that was fair. Aside from putting up and taking down the gallery, Mel barely saw him all weekend. She had no way of knowing what, how, or who he was doing anything with or about. Half the time her phone stayed locked up in her office. Who had time to keep up with it?
Thanks to Mel's organizational skills, she was volunteered to make sure the Members Only dinner and the Street Team Leader dinner went off without a hitch. She was volunteered to work directly with the restaurants, handle the reservations, and more or less work with the restaurant staff to make sure everyone was happy and that, with a crowd of that size, everything went swimmingly. Standing behind the podium with the hostesses, she finally witnessed that everyone had been served when she decided she needed a break.
Heading through the kitchen and out the back door into the fresh, dusk air, she was slightly surprised to find Isaac standing back there, alone, with a cigar between his teeth. "Well, fancy meeting you here," she commented. She hated cigars but her mouth watered at the idea of some kind of nerve-calming vice and she wanted to kick herself for not ordering a beer on her way out.
"Tay and Zac are on their way," he said calmly. "I just needed a minute."
"Overwhelming?"
"It's actually not so bad this year. Looks like we got a great group this year. What about you? How are you holding up?"
Mel scoffed. "Don't even ask."
"That bad, huh?"
"I don't think I've done this much work at one time in--god, since I chased my last deadbeat through the New York City ghetto. I think I'm getting too old for this."
"Nah. You're only as old as you feel. Trust me, I would know. Playing high-energy shows, night after night? I'm older than you and I still got it. Don't let Old Man Hanson show you up. You're young yet, Skywalker."
Mel had to laugh. "Old Man Hanson? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Ike shrugged as he puffed his cigar. "It's a thing with the fans. I don't know, I just kinda go with it."
"You guys 'just kinda go with' a lot, don't you?"
He side-glanced at her and smirked. "You have no idea."
"So what are you guys doing here tonight?"
"Oh, we won't be here long. Just kinda coming in, thanking them for being members, giving a little speech, letting them know how much we appreciate them. That sort of thing."
"That's nice of you." Then she rocked on her heels and rested her hands on her hips. "You think I have time to
grab a beer before playing monitor again?"
Slyly, Ike pulled a flask out of his inside jacket pocket and handed it to her. She smiled as she accepted it.
"Well, well, then. You came prepared. I'm impressed."
"Trust me, you don't put yourself in the middle of high-stress situations without a little something to get you
through."
Opening the flask, she took a swig as the warm whiskey tingled her tongue and went smoothly down her throat. "Oh, that's good," she said when she swallowed.
As Ike puffed and Mel sipped, her mind began to wander into dangerous territory. Nikki had told her she didn't want her to say anything to Ike--except that now every time Mel laid eyes on him, all she could think of was what Nikki said about the tutor.
In the end, curiosity won.
"So, how's the tutor doing?" Mel asked casually.
"Oh. You know about that?" Ike asked, surprised. "Uh, she's great. Really awesome with the boys. They're learning a lot. I mean, they learn a lot from Nikki and I, too, but this tutor--well, she's something else."
"Really, huh? So you're glad to have her around."
"Oh, definitely. She has an awesome sense of humor and uses such nurturing and unique teaching methods with them. I've never seen anything like it. They just think she's amazing."
"Just the boys, huh?"
"What?" he asked blankly.
"I don't know, I just--listening to you talk about her I would think--well, I mean, if I were Nikki, I might
be--"
"What, has Nikki said something?"
"Well, no..." Mel said, choosing her words carefully. "Only that you really like the tutor..."
Ike turned to face her and looked at her hard. "What are you NOT telling me?"
"Um...I'm NOT telling you...that...If I were Nikki...I might want to hear a little...less...about the tutor...perhaps..."
"You're NOT telling me that?"
"I am NOT telling you that."
"Hm. Well, then, I am NOT duly noting it."
"Sounds good to me."
Just then, Ike checked his phone and put out his cigar. "Zac and Tay are here."
Mel looked around the back alley they were standing in as the sun fell. "Where?"
"In the front. You heading in?"
"Uh, no," Mel said, handing his flask back to him. "You guys will be plenty of distraction for awhile. I'm
gonna stay out here and enjoy the quiet for a few minutes."
"Okay," Ike said, his tone slightly defeated. "See you in a while."
As Ike walked around the building, Mel leaned against the cool brick and breathed in the back alley restaurant
air. The weather was so nice. She should go in and at least be supportive, she figured. But, hell, Tay hadn't even bothered to at least text her a simple, "Hey, I'm here," so she figured screw it. He probably wouldn't even notice anyway.
In a surprisingly short amount of time, the kitchen door opened and all three guys walked out of it. Ike and Zac smiled at her as they passed, and Tay muttered to her nonchalantly, "Come on, we're going to dinner."
As he passed her by with this statement, barely looking at her, Mel could only gape after him in shock. "Uh,
Tay. I can't. I gotta stay and finish up here."
He slowed long enough to glance back at her and say, almost as nonchalantly as the first statement, "Oh. Okay. Well, see you at home, then."
And with that, he followed his brothers out of the alley.
This was normally the part where Mel exploded all over him for his rudeness. But the truth was, she just didn't
have the energy for it tonight. Her legs ached and her feet ached and after this dinner was over, all she wanted was to soak in a hot bath and go to bed. As she went back inside the building, she made a random mental note to have a discussion with Tay about having a jacuzzi installed at home.
Later that night, Mel drove home alone. She was home alone. She nuked leftovers in the microwave and
would have eaten alone, had she not shared some of her dinner with Fred. But she ultimately went to bed alone and eventually fell asleep alone.
Not to be misunderstood, MOE was a lot of fun. But it was also extremely exhausting and lonely and she would be glad when it was over.
----------------
The next morning, Mel woke up alone. So alone, in fact, that the bed beside her didn't even look disturbed. And speaking of disturbed, she wasn't sure if she should be or not.
Rubbing her eyes and turning over, she couldn't help but smile at the sight on her bedside table. Sitting there,
was a vase filled with vibrant wildflowers. She could smell the scent as she sat up and noticed the note scrawled on a piece of stationary tucked underneath the vase. She put her nose in the bouquet and breathed it in as she lifted the vase to retrieve the note. She couldn't wipe the grin off her face as she read it.
"I've been a jerk this weekend. Please forgive me. I also turned off your alarm. Don't be mad. Lunch today after the walk. Just me and you. I promise. Love, T"
As if that weren't enough, she spied the printed card sticking out of the top of the bouquet and plucked it out of its holder to read it. "Behind every man is a great woman," it read. Mel bit her lip as her grin widened. She'd received enough "I'm sorry" flowers from Taylor by now to wonder if he had a running tab with the
florist. However, the sentiment never seemed to get old and always touched her every single time.
Picking up her phone to text, him, she looked in horror at the time. She was running extremely late! After
showering with lightening speed and throwing on denim shorts and a black Hanson t-shirt, she threw her hair back in a loose pony tail, tied a pair of sneakers on her feet, and ran out the door.
By this time, parking was a complete nightmare and it occurred to her, a little too late, that she didn't have the
key to the back door to 3CG so she had to huff it to the front of the building. That meant passing the line of fans that wrapped around, waiting to get into the shop and gallery, which was something that didn't exactly excite her. On the plus side, however, she also didn't have time to pay attention to the stares and whispers, either, so she was at least grateful for that.
She walked briskly past the line, past the stares and the whispers and the occasional click of a camera, her ponytail swishing violently as she went. When she neared the front of the line, she surprisingly heard, "Melody!" in a female voice and it caused her to stop and turn her head.
Down the line where she'd just passed, a girl in a gray t-shirt, surrounded by a swarm of other girls in the same gray shirt, stood on her tip toes and waved her hand at her. Glancing in the door of the studio, curiosity got the best of her and Mel backtracked down the line. She smiled nervously at the group of girls, all of whom were obviously together, as they smiled back at her. The redhead with the gypsy eyes who had gotten her attention was the one who spoke. "Hey, I hope you don't think this is weird, but we brought something for you..."
"Oh. Okay," Mel smiled. "Who do you want me to give it to?"
Gypsy Eyes laughed, her smile infectious. "No, it's for YOU."
Mel was touched. Completely shocked and completely touched at the sentiment. "For me? Seriously?"
"Yes, for you." She dug into her bag and said, "I hope it fits. I think it will."
With that, she handed Mel a gray t-shirt. As Mel unfolded it and held it up, she grinned and looked at the other girls. "Oh my god, thank you so much! This is so cool! It's so sweet of you guys!"
Gypsy Eyes then handed her a card. "This is the name of our group. We thought we'd make you sort of an
honorary member."
Mel lowered the shirt and looked around at the group of girls. "You guys! Thank you so much, you just
totally made my day!" Then she quickly fished a Sharpie out of her back pocket and bit off the cap. "Here, sign my shirt," she said through the cap.
Now it was Gypsy Eyes's turn to be shocked. "What?"
"All of you," Mel said insistently. "Sign my shirt."
It took some time to get it all done. And then the girls wanted pictures, which Mel was happy to oblige. As they wrapped everything up, Gypsy Eyes asked, "So will you be at the walk later?"
"Uh, I hope so. Depends on what they have me doing. But if I do, I'll be sure to catch up with you guys."
As Mel headed back toward the door, she was smiling. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to fraternize with the fans like that, but she didn't really care. She could do what she wanted. If they were going to go to that much trouble for her and they wanted to hang out and she had nothing else to do, then why not hang out? It wasn't like she was Ike or Tay or Zac or anything like that. What harm would it do?
As she breezed in the door and locked it behind her, looks of surprise came from the staff at the merch table.
"Mel, what are you doing here?" Carol asked. "Taylor said you were taking the day off today."
She looked at her, confused. "Day off? Why would I take a day off? This is Hanson Day, who has time for a day
off?"
They all exchanged confused glances as Mel hurried past them and toward the back to find Tay. It didn't take long, as she found him hanging pictures--the right ones--up in his photo gallery. "Tay!" she said, breathlessly, halting to a stop. "I need you and Ike and Zac to sign, like, forty pictures right now!"
He turned around and looked at her as if she had three heads. He was probably surprised to see her but she didn't care. "What? Right now? What for?"
She proceeded to show him the shirt and he took it from her hands as he inspected it. "There's a group of fans out there who brought this shirt just for me. For ME. Have you ever heard of that before? It's the sweetest thing ever. Anyway, so I had them sign it for me. And they gave me this card--" she fished it from her back pocket and handed it to Tay. "Like, they're an organized group and shit. It's really neat. Anyway, I wanted to do something for them, like, as a thank you, and I figured if you guys signed some pictures..."
He looked at Mel and gave her a small smile as he continued looking at the shirt. "Um, yeah. I think we can
swing that. It'll be a few minutes..."
"Oh, perfect! Thank you!" She leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before she grabbed her new
prize and dashed off in search of a box of promo photos to tear into.
--------------------
Later, at the walk, each of the guys made an extra effort to interact with the group of fans that had seemingly embraced Mel out of the blue. They had apparently also brought gifts for each of the guys, as well, and Mel was beyond impressed. It warmed her heart to see such appreciation that these ladies expressed toward their favorite a band--a band they grew up with, a band who inspired them, a band who unknowingly became an
old friend when times got rough. It was these interactions right there that showed Mel what MOE was really all about and the reason they kept hosting it every year. She swore that from here on out, for years to come, she
would never complain about how exhausting the weekend was ever again.
On the second half of the walk, Mel caught up with the group and found Gypsy Eyes. She guessed she could have spoken to any of them, which she did exchange hellos with, but since she and Gypsy Eyes had spoken the most, she felt more comfortable talking to her. "Hey," Mel said. "So what are all your names?"
She found that Gypsy Eyes was actually named Emily and the couple dozen or so other names that followed would difficult to remember all at once and Mel wished she could remember them all. She handed Emily a flat box and said to her quietly, "Pass these out to your group a little bit later where nobody will notice. Not here, though. It was the least I could do to thank you for the shirt."
Emily opened the box and gasped, then closed it up quickly and shoved it in the bag she was carrying. "I will
definitely do that," she said seriously.
Mel grinned. "They're not printed either. They're fresh. Had them do it just a few hours ago. Every single one of them."
Emily grinned and thanked Mel profusely. Then she said, "Hey, so this is our last night in Tulsa and a
few of us were gonna find a karaoke bar. Are there any good ones around here?"
Mel was quickly forthcoming with the information, which Emily then, in turn, said, "Maybe if you're not doing
anything tonight, you might wanna show up?"
Mel smiled in thought at the invitation. It wasn't like she was near as "established" as Nikki and Kate were. There were still a lot of fans who didn't seem to recognize her, so she had that going for her. And, in all honesty, there were a lot of things that Mel never got to do as a fan. MOE being one of them. And, dammit, if a few of her fiancée's fans asked her to hang out in a karaoke bar in her own hometown, who was she to turn it down? "I can't make any promises, but I've been known to be a night owl, so...we'll see?"
"I'll take it," Emily said confidently.
An hour later, Tay and Mel finally managed to tuck themselves away in the back corner of a restaurant on the other side of town. A few MOE-goers trickled in, but not many, as most of them tended to stay on the side of town closer to 3CG.
Tay reached across the table and took one of her hands and kissed it. "Alone at last," he smiled.
She scoffed at him. "Well, we've had plenty of opportunity to be alone..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Look, I'm sorry about this weekend. I was a jerk, I wasn't totally aware of it. I just got so caught up in being busy and stuff and--well, Ike and Zac kinda had a come-to-Jesus with me at dinner last night..."
"Ah," Mel eyed him suspiciously. "So the flowers were because your brothers TOLD you to..."
"No," he laughed. "No, those were directly from me. Because they were right, I was kind of a bastard last
night--and all weekend, really. But you've been amazing. Gone above and beyond for us this weekend. I'm really stoked that you're so into this as much as we are. And those fans giving you that shirt--that was just
fantastic." Then he kinda blushed. "Any chance of me getting my hands on one of those?"
Mel smirked. "I don't know if I want you mooching off of MY gift..."
Tay laughed. "I was just joking. They're really cool, though. Great colors. And what does--what did that phrase mean?"
"Oh, that's the name of their group."
"Very witty."
"Yeah. I thought so. And speaking of gifts, I got these flowers this morning, unexpectedly, from an incredibly sexy admirer..."
"Oh really?" Tay said, smiling, as he played along. "Want me to kick his ass?"
She shook her head. "No. No, I don't think that'll be necessary. No, I think this one might be the one. I think I might marry this mystery man."
"You think?"
"Well, I mean, I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything. I'm trying to break this to you easily, you know."
"Well, fine. If you wanna marry him, so be it. See if I care. I wasn't gonna tell you this, but since we're being honest, I woke up next to a brunette goddess this morning and the sight of her sleeping was so breath-taking that I just had to bring her flowers. They didn't hold a candle to her. So. Have a nice life."
She grinned. "Wow. Didn't realize someone could have so much impact on you. Do I know her?"
"Nah. You'd like her, though."
Now she laughed. "You win."
"Every time."
"In all seriousness, though, it was very sweet of you. And you're right, you have been a jerk. But it's okay,
you're forgiven."
They were silent for a bit as they ate and once Tay had gotten a decent dent into his food, he wiped his mouth and looked up at Mel. "Yanno, this year's been a little different."
"How so?"
"I don't know. I mean, we moved some of the events around out of the normal order. I think that kinda threw
everybody for a loop. But it kinda worked out. It's been kinda chill. Bearable. Still a little crazy, but bearable. All in all, it's been a successful weekend. I think it's great foreshadowing for this summer's tour."
Mel nodded as she poked around at her plate, not really in the mood to discuss the tour at the moment. The fact that the tour was even happening during crucial wedding planning time was still something she was trying not to be bitter over and she was still praying she could work out somehow. She guessed she didn't need him for ALL of it, but there were some cases where his presence would be required.
Instead, she changed the subject. "So those girls invited me out to a karaoke bar tonight."
"Oh yeah? Which one?"
She told him as he poked around on his plate. "Uh, Mel, I think it's really sweet that you seem to be getting
along with these girls, but--you think you should be--I dunno, hanging around with them so much?"
"Is it a problem?"
"Well--no, I don't guess it is, it just--I don't know, nobody's ever really done that before."
"They're people, too..."
"Not saying they aren't."
"Are you being stuck up about this?"
"Are we having an argument right now?"
"I hope not. What could possibly be so bad about hanging out with a few girls?"
Tay looked across the table at her, speechless. "Uh, I'm not really sure..."
"If it makes you feel any better, they didn't invite any of you. Just me."
He scoffed at her, amused. "Oh, okay. So it's like that."
"Yes. It's exactly like that. Unless you wanna tag along."
"You have fun. Text me if you need me to pick you up. Fred and I will have guys' night tonight."
"Oh, so you're going home?"
"Shit yeah, I'm going home. After the block party today, I'll be more than happy to sit on my ass for the rest of the night."
------------------
Arm-twisting could be a beautiful art, if done right. Since Mel was convinced that it would only be a small group of these girls at the karaoke bar, and not a swarm of MOE-goers, Isaac, Taylor, and Zac were reluctant, but willing to make an appearance.
Mel was late, but showing up in her freshly-signed t-shirt earned her instant brownie points. She couldn't
help but feel slightly awkward based on Tay's earlier reservations about hanging out with fans and she feared she stuck out like a sore thumb. She tried to justify it to herself that she never got the opportunity to experience the band as a fan and she could still find absolutely nothing wrong with what she was doing.
She noticed, however, that her presence seemingly hindered conversation amongst the group of girls. Sure, they had invited her along, but she felt like she was intruding. She was sure that had she not been there, they would be laughing and giggling and making crude and hilarious references to each other about Tay and his brothers, no holds barred. Mel knew this and she didn't care. She knew what it was like to be a fan of something and have opinions about it. The subject of conversation was a nonissue with her.
But it was apparently an issue with the other girls, so Mel made the effort to try to speak to everyone. She asked where everyone was from, if they had families, how long they'd been fans, etc. It seemed to break the ice a little and she took it upon herself to buy a round of drinks for them.
As the mood loosened up and a server approached to pass around the abundance of alcohol, a few of the girls' eyes widened in front of her. As Mel turned around, she spotted the guys walking in the door and she smiled. And then some unexpected butterflies fluttered around in her stomach. As if to further observe her
surroundings, she looked around at the ladies around her and then back at the bar as the guys ordered their drinks and she narrowed her eyes at the thought she had. It seemed she was feeding off of so much energy immediately around her that she, for a split second, understood what the fans saw and felt upon seeing them in person. For the first time in years, Mel actually recognized their celebrity and in one fleeting moment, she had stars in her own eyes as well. It was one of the most surreal things she had ever felt.
The moment passed when the guys made their way over and greeted the group. Mel had to giggle at the awkwardness of it all. She could tell they were trying very hard to be more casual than business, but they were failing miserably. As the group tried desperately to talk them into singing karaoke to no avail, Mel's phone vibrated in her pocket.
She hadn't noticed Tay with his phone until she read, "We're going to finish these drinks and then we're out of here. This is weird."
"But they're great girls!"
"Doesn't make it any less weird."
"Jeez you guys just need to loosen up."
"Still weird."
"Shame. This would have been your first time ever bringing a fan home."
"Excuse me?"
Mel looked up at Tay across the group and scowled at him. He looked at her for a second before realization washed over his face and his eyes widened. Blushing, he went back to his phone. "I could come back and pick you up."
"Eh, I drove here."
"Leave with me."
"If there weren't so many people here, we could make a game out of this."
"Please don't text me things like that right now."
"Think about it."
With that, Mel locked eyes with him and smiled as she shoved her phone back into her pocket. She watched him smile as he ran a hand, nervously, through his hair and then, much to his brothers' dismay, he took a seat.
Mel grinned at him as she sat at her own table, two tables away, a clear line of vision from him. This was going to be a good night.
-----------------
As Isaac and Zac reluctantly sat near Taylor, Mel had herself a ball with the group of girls. She watched the
guys interact with them, taking pictures and signing random cocktail napkins and coasters. Mel's phone vibrated like mad in her pocket, but she purposely ignored it. Cutting eyes at him across the way was much more fun.
After an hour, Ike and Zac decided to call it a night. As they began to leave, Emily, for the second time that night, picked a song to karaoke to. As Zac passed Mel, she grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back. "Stay and watch this!" she hissed at him.
"Mel--"
"Seriously!"
As soon as Emily opened her mouth to sing, Zac was transfixed. He never took his eyes off of her and when she was finished, he smiled at Mel. "She's awesome!"
Mel nodded excitedly. "I know! And, I mean, I haven't said a word to her yet, but I figure, yanno...she can
sing, you guys have a studio...that I happen to be part owner of..."
"...that you have no idea how to operate..." Zac finished, teasingly. "You are forever trying to get us to sign people."
"I'm not necessarily saying to rush out and offer her a contract. I'm simply saying that if she ever wanted to come back to Tulsa and maybe test those pipes out in your sound booth, that *I* wouldn't say no..."
Zac shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "You're so fucking crazy."
"If I wasn't I would be boring," she responded in a sing-song voice.
Doing the only right thing, Zac approached Emily at the table to compliment her singing. Mel couldn't hear the
conversation, but she witnessed the seemingly ever-organized Gypsy Eyes fish a business card out of her pocket and hand it to him. Mel wasn't sure why her heart was warmed at the moment, but it was.
------------------
Once Zac and Isaac were gone, Taylor decided it was time to make a run for it, as well. The group of girls were
beginning to talk about their trips home in the morning and they slowly began to thin out in search of their hotels and sleep. As a dozen or so were left, Tay finally decided to make his move and approached Mel. Her heart raced at the sight of him, not knowing what to expect. Her phone had stopped vibrating ages ago in favor of silent communication. She had been extremely turned on the majority of the time and she was sure she let him know it by the way she looked at him.
Looking around him, he lowered his head and said quietly, "You wanna get out of here?"
Mel eyed him and finished what was left of her drink. "I don't know...that didn't sound very convincing...I mean, why would I want to leave with you?"
He smirked at her, his blue eyes sparkling. "Because I'm Taylor Hanson."
She smiled at him. "Oh, so it's that simple, huh?"
"Pretty much."
"So, Taylor Hanson," she pouted. "Is it hard? To be a heartbreaker?"
His eyes widened at the song reference and she smiled. "Well I am your biggest fan. It's my job to know
EVERYTHING there is to know about you."
He smiled and leaned closer to her face. "I bet I can show you something you don't know."
She raised an eyebrow. "Now I'm intrigued."
"But you have to leave with me."
"I think that can be arranged."
Mel said her goodbyes to the girls that were still there and calmly walked out the door of the bar behind Tay. Once in the dark, he took her by the hand and led her around to the side of the building, wasting no time grabbing her and kissing her eagerly. As he gripped her waist, he pressed himself into her and she was a little surprised at the hardness she already felt underneath his pants. When he began to tug on her shirt, she grabbed his hands suddenly and looked up at him. "Tay, we can't do this here."
Looking around quickly, he reached down and fished the keys to her Jeep out of her shorts pocket. Pressing the button to unlock it, he led her down the side of the building to the end of the parking lot and opened the door to the backseat, looking around once more. "Get in."
Not questioning it, she crawled into the backseat of her own Jeep and Tay came in behind her, closing the door and tossing the keys in the floorboard. It was slightly cramped but they made it work. He kissed her and he pawed at her clothing just long enough to breathlessly make her aware, "Do you have any idea how hot your ass looks in those shorts?"
"You always liked me in denim," she breathed back.
"Take them off."
As she worked her shorts around her butt and slid them off over her white sneakers, Tay was working on his own pants. They wasted no time this night. There was no foreplay, no sweet nothings whispered, no preparation. Tay groaned at the fact that she wore no underwear and he shoved her t-shirt up and around her waist, holding up the leg that he didn't have pinned to the back of the seat on the other side of him. He shoved himself inside of her and she gasped at the initial entry. As he thrust into her, she found herself holding her lower end up off of the seat so he could reach her better. The position was uncomfortable but the penetration from that angle was fantastic and she heard herself uttering horrifically creative four-letter words through gritted teeth. When he bucked into her for the final time, she felt herself pulsate around him and she cried out, the sound filling the small space of the vehicle and after a moment she prayed that nobody happened to be near the vehicle.
He leaned over and kissed her as he always did afterward and smiled close to her face as he took a moment for his heart rate to slow down. "Best MOE ever," he whispered as he lifted himself off her to fasten his pants.
Mel giggled as she fished for her shorts and slid them back on and Tay sat in the seat, leaned over, clawing the floorboard for the keys. Had it not been for the streetlamp outside, they wouldn't have been able to see each other at all. Finding the keys, he opened up the door and stepped out. "What are you doing?" Mel asked.
"Taking us home."
"What about your car?"
"I rode with Zac."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You planned this, didn't you?"
"Actually, no. I knew you were here, so hitching a ride only made sense. All this," he motioned to the back
seat. "That was all you."
Scowling at him, he shut the door and got in the driver's seat as Mel crawled between the seats and dropped herself into the passenger seat. As he drove home, she asked him, "You think we're getting too old for this?"
"Too old for what?"
"You gotta admit, we've had some crazy sex lately. I mean, we're in our thirties now..."
"Are we seriously gonna sit here and over-analyze?"
"No..."
He took her hand and kissed the top of it as he paid attention to the road. "Good. 'Cause I don't plan on
stopping anything we're doing anytime soon."
Mel had to smile as she watched her man drive down the dark road. Despite the craziness and the exhaustion, it really had been a great weekend. Oddly enough, she already couldn't wait for next year.
MOE
MEL
"Define 'cold feet,'" Mel said as she cut open a box of t-shirts.
Nikki stood abruptly from the box of merch she was unpacking and pushed the hair from her face breathlessly. "Cold feet? Which one of you has cold feet? Tay?"
Mel smiled and shook her head. "Well it's certainly not me."
"What makes you think he has cold feet?"
Mel looked around both ways to make sure she was out of earshot of anyone. "I don't know. Is it possible to get cold feet five months away from the wedding?"
"I think it's possible to get cold feet any time."
Hanson Day was upon them. MOE. Hanson Day. Whatever you wanted to call it. They were day two in and
were replenishing the pop up store before it opened as the conversation took place. Tulsa had already been crazy overrun with Hanson fans the past two or three days. The guys had kicked off the weekend the previous night with a concert at Cain's Ballroom, which Mel thoroughly enjoyed. She loved watching Taylor perform. She had even sent him a text to find later as she stood in the audience: "Do you have any idea how much it turns me on to watch you perform?" Unfortunately, nothing came of it with the exhaustion and tight schedule of the weekend to come. It had been fun to imagine his reaction for a second as he read it backstage. However, he was one hundred percent completely business and Mel more or less gave up on the idea of hot
post-show sex. Actually, she had given up on even trying to have sex for that entire weekend.
Mel went back to her box and Nikki to hers. After a couple of minutes, Nikki straightened up again. "So
what's going on?"
"Hm?"
"With Tay. Why do you think he has cold feet?"
It had been a couple of weeks since the incident in LA and the day after--since Tay had expressed his concerns with her, if that's what you wanted to call them. "Uh, well I know he's nervous..."
Nikki scoffed. "Well you saw what happened with his last marriage. It really hasn't been that long. The thought of marriage would make you nervous, too, after something like that."
Mel shifted her weight nervously. "Well, yeah, but it's me..."
"You or Mother Teresa, it's still marriage."
"So what do I do?"
"Didn't you have cold feet when you married John?"
Mel bit her lip in thought as she began to climb the ladder to hang the shirt displays. She honestly didn't
remember. "Um, I actually don't think so. I loved John. It was just--I dunno, it was just right. I guess..."
"So what's the difference in marrying Tay? Shouldn't it be even more right than it was with John?"
"Well, yeah, but John--he just wasn't so indecisive. I didn't go through ANY of this stuff I'm going through with
Tay. John and I just got married and lived our lives. It was easy. This time--I mean, yeah, Tay and I have extensive history but that doesn't change some of the really major shit that's gone down between us. And now I have to sit and wonder how eventful the rest of my life is gonna be. If I have to continue to deal with the jealousy and the hot tempers and...it's the way he's always been but we're getting older now and--it was okay
when we were eighteen, but not anymore."
"So you have cold feet, too?"
"What? I didn't say I had--" she turned around to look at a smirking Nikki and scowled at her. "Very sneaky
what you did just then."
She raised her eyebrows. "So it looks like he's not the only one with cold feet."
As Nikki began handing her shirts to display and Mel hung them, she said, "I Googled 'cold feet' last week. Did you know that a study found it to be a phenomenon that's been known to be attributed to future maritial problems and a predictor of divorce? Divorce, Nikki. Divorce. Our apprehensions now are just gonna lead to
trouble. Seriously, why even get married?"
"Because every relationship is different and every scientific theory is just that--a theory. And because you love each other. You two remind me of--of Cathy and Heathcliff sometimes."
Mel smiled sarcastically down at her. "How tragically poetic of you. In case you forgot, Cathy died."
"Yeah. And then she haunted Heathcliff and drove him completely insane."
Mel narrowed her eyes in thought. "I could get into that..."
Before either one of them could utter another word, Zac came tearing through the shop, emitting noises that would make someone consider dialing 911. As he stopped himself at the door to catch his breath, Isaac came tearing through after, wrestling him to the ground. Tay followed with a small camera in hand, barely able to hold it over his laughing. As he doubled over, resting his hand on his knee in an attempt to collect himself, Mel slowly stepped a step down the ladder and locked eyes with Nikki, whose eyebrows were raised. From the doorway, Zac continued wailing from the mouth, Ike continued imaginary wailing from the fist, and Tay managed to walk over there and position the camera on them once more. Mel and Nikki could only watch.
After a minute, Ike let Zac up and Zac stood up and straightened his clothes, still laughing breathlessly. He eyed Mel and Nikki across the room and brushed his hair back from his face. "Ah, shit. I didn't even know you guys were in here. Sorry you had to see that."
"What the hell are you guys doing?" Mel asked slowly, seemingly afraid to know the answer.
The guys looked at each other and laughed and Tay looked at the two women. "Uh, nothing really...important...what are you doing?"
"Seriously?"
Still smiling and fiddling with his camera, Tay said, "You guys need help?"
"No thanks," Nikki piped up. "We're good here. Carry on with...whatever it is you're doing. Or defacing. Or whatever..."
The guys laughed sheepishly and left the room together. Nikki and Mel exchanged looks. "Have you ever Googled them? Or looked them up on YouTube?" Nikki asked.
Mel shook her head. "Not really..."
"Seriously?"
"I go to bed with him every night, why do I need to Google him?"
Nikki smiled and shook her head as she went back to the merch. "Your fiancée's a moron sometimes."
"Really? Cause he was the one holding the camera just then. Your husband on the other hand..."
Nikki sighed. "We're doomed, aren't we?"
Mel shrugged. "At least they're kinda charming."
"We do have that going for us..."
With that, the two women, along with a few others, finished setting up and prepared for the hoards of fans that were already lined up outside the 3CG door.
------------------
As Mel and a couple of the girls from the office cleaned up after the nightmare that was the pop up shop, Mel looked forward to lunch alone with Taylor. As her stomach rumbled, she daydreamed about where might be a quiet place to take him to, when he approached her out of nowhere. "Hey, I need your help."
As she turned around and looked up at him, his face said it all. Lunch was out the window. "Um, okay. Let
me just finish up here--"
"No. Now. Let them finish this. You come with me."
Looking back at the rest of the staff, helpless, she followed Tay as he walked briskly in front of her. "What are
we doing?"
"I gotta have my part of the gallery back up in a few minutes and half of my damn photos are missing."
"What?"
"Missing. Gone. Who took down my display yesterday?"
"You did."
"Shit..."
"Well--calm down, let's just go through what you have..."
"We don't have time."
"Quickly, then."
Approaching the table at Tay's gallery space, she noticed about five pictures had been pinned up before he'd
stopped. She leafed through the ones that were left in the box on the table and she said as she went through them, "Tay, these aren't even today's batch. These are tomorrow's."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"When we sat in here and went through these a few days ago, there were so many you decided to do a different set every day. And then you marked the boxes. See?" She closed the top and showed him the day marked on there. "So where are today's? That's what you're missing."
"Fuck, I don't know. With yesterday's?"
"Where are yesterday's?"
Looking frantically around him, he turned around and looked up and down and everywhere. "Mel, I think I'm losing my mind."
"You and me both."
"We put everything together, right?"
"I don't know why you keep saying 'we.' I had nothing to do with the gallery yesterday. I stay on merch, I don't even come back here."
"You're not doing merch anymore," he said, nonchalantly.
She gaped at him. "What? That's primarily what I do here, I gotta keep up with it."
"Not this weekend," he said, leafing through the box of photos for the fiftieth time. "I need you back here with
me."
Watching his frazzled state, she caved. There was no arguing with him when he was like this. He looked up at her and raised his eyebrows as if to confirm. "Okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Okay."
"Help me find that box. I'm literally out of time."
As her eyes glanced around their surroundings one more time, she spied a brown corner that peeked out from
underneath the black curtain that hung behind the picture display. Sighing and shaking her head, she pulled the box, marked for that day, out from underneath the curtain. "Here it is," she said handing it to him.
She thought the relief might kill him. "Oh my god, you found it. Where was it?"
"It must have gotten kicked or shoved behind the curtain or something."
"What the f--by who??"
"YOU," Mel said firmly. "You're the only one who touched any of this yesterday."
Tay wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead and looked around at nothing. "Shit, I really am losing my mind.
Here, help me hang these. I think they're already letting people in."
In lightening speed, Mel and Tay hung his photos together. They finished in just enough time for Mel to collect what wasn't needed and duck behind the curtain so that Tay could spend the quality time he needed to spend with his fans. For the first time in six hours that day, Mel collapsed into a chair and listened to Tay as he made small talk and warmly greeted the excited women. Her legs and her feet practically sang as she sat. Two more days of this. Two more.
She'd be lucky if she lived through it.
-----------------
Oh, but it wasn't over. As the hours and the day wore on, Mel couldn't help but begin to resent Taylor just a
little. She felt like she was putting more work into his own event than he was but, the truth was, she didn't even know if that was fair. Aside from putting up and taking down the gallery, Mel barely saw him all weekend. She had no way of knowing what, how, or who he was doing anything with or about. Half the time her phone stayed locked up in her office. Who had time to keep up with it?
Thanks to Mel's organizational skills, she was volunteered to make sure the Members Only dinner and the Street Team Leader dinner went off without a hitch. She was volunteered to work directly with the restaurants, handle the reservations, and more or less work with the restaurant staff to make sure everyone was happy and that, with a crowd of that size, everything went swimmingly. Standing behind the podium with the hostesses, she finally witnessed that everyone had been served when she decided she needed a break.
Heading through the kitchen and out the back door into the fresh, dusk air, she was slightly surprised to find Isaac standing back there, alone, with a cigar between his teeth. "Well, fancy meeting you here," she commented. She hated cigars but her mouth watered at the idea of some kind of nerve-calming vice and she wanted to kick herself for not ordering a beer on her way out.
"Tay and Zac are on their way," he said calmly. "I just needed a minute."
"Overwhelming?"
"It's actually not so bad this year. Looks like we got a great group this year. What about you? How are you holding up?"
Mel scoffed. "Don't even ask."
"That bad, huh?"
"I don't think I've done this much work at one time in--god, since I chased my last deadbeat through the New York City ghetto. I think I'm getting too old for this."
"Nah. You're only as old as you feel. Trust me, I would know. Playing high-energy shows, night after night? I'm older than you and I still got it. Don't let Old Man Hanson show you up. You're young yet, Skywalker."
Mel had to laugh. "Old Man Hanson? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Ike shrugged as he puffed his cigar. "It's a thing with the fans. I don't know, I just kinda go with it."
"You guys 'just kinda go with' a lot, don't you?"
He side-glanced at her and smirked. "You have no idea."
"So what are you guys doing here tonight?"
"Oh, we won't be here long. Just kinda coming in, thanking them for being members, giving a little speech, letting them know how much we appreciate them. That sort of thing."
"That's nice of you." Then she rocked on her heels and rested her hands on her hips. "You think I have time to
grab a beer before playing monitor again?"
Slyly, Ike pulled a flask out of his inside jacket pocket and handed it to her. She smiled as she accepted it.
"Well, well, then. You came prepared. I'm impressed."
"Trust me, you don't put yourself in the middle of high-stress situations without a little something to get you
through."
Opening the flask, she took a swig as the warm whiskey tingled her tongue and went smoothly down her throat. "Oh, that's good," she said when she swallowed.
As Ike puffed and Mel sipped, her mind began to wander into dangerous territory. Nikki had told her she didn't want her to say anything to Ike--except that now every time Mel laid eyes on him, all she could think of was what Nikki said about the tutor.
In the end, curiosity won.
"So, how's the tutor doing?" Mel asked casually.
"Oh. You know about that?" Ike asked, surprised. "Uh, she's great. Really awesome with the boys. They're learning a lot. I mean, they learn a lot from Nikki and I, too, but this tutor--well, she's something else."
"Really, huh? So you're glad to have her around."
"Oh, definitely. She has an awesome sense of humor and uses such nurturing and unique teaching methods with them. I've never seen anything like it. They just think she's amazing."
"Just the boys, huh?"
"What?" he asked blankly.
"I don't know, I just--listening to you talk about her I would think--well, I mean, if I were Nikki, I might
be--"
"What, has Nikki said something?"
"Well, no..." Mel said, choosing her words carefully. "Only that you really like the tutor..."
Ike turned to face her and looked at her hard. "What are you NOT telling me?"
"Um...I'm NOT telling you...that...If I were Nikki...I might want to hear a little...less...about the tutor...perhaps..."
"You're NOT telling me that?"
"I am NOT telling you that."
"Hm. Well, then, I am NOT duly noting it."
"Sounds good to me."
Just then, Ike checked his phone and put out his cigar. "Zac and Tay are here."
Mel looked around the back alley they were standing in as the sun fell. "Where?"
"In the front. You heading in?"
"Uh, no," Mel said, handing his flask back to him. "You guys will be plenty of distraction for awhile. I'm
gonna stay out here and enjoy the quiet for a few minutes."
"Okay," Ike said, his tone slightly defeated. "See you in a while."
As Ike walked around the building, Mel leaned against the cool brick and breathed in the back alley restaurant
air. The weather was so nice. She should go in and at least be supportive, she figured. But, hell, Tay hadn't even bothered to at least text her a simple, "Hey, I'm here," so she figured screw it. He probably wouldn't even notice anyway.
In a surprisingly short amount of time, the kitchen door opened and all three guys walked out of it. Ike and Zac smiled at her as they passed, and Tay muttered to her nonchalantly, "Come on, we're going to dinner."
As he passed her by with this statement, barely looking at her, Mel could only gape after him in shock. "Uh,
Tay. I can't. I gotta stay and finish up here."
He slowed long enough to glance back at her and say, almost as nonchalantly as the first statement, "Oh. Okay. Well, see you at home, then."
And with that, he followed his brothers out of the alley.
This was normally the part where Mel exploded all over him for his rudeness. But the truth was, she just didn't
have the energy for it tonight. Her legs ached and her feet ached and after this dinner was over, all she wanted was to soak in a hot bath and go to bed. As she went back inside the building, she made a random mental note to have a discussion with Tay about having a jacuzzi installed at home.
Later that night, Mel drove home alone. She was home alone. She nuked leftovers in the microwave and
would have eaten alone, had she not shared some of her dinner with Fred. But she ultimately went to bed alone and eventually fell asleep alone.
Not to be misunderstood, MOE was a lot of fun. But it was also extremely exhausting and lonely and she would be glad when it was over.
----------------
The next morning, Mel woke up alone. So alone, in fact, that the bed beside her didn't even look disturbed. And speaking of disturbed, she wasn't sure if she should be or not.
Rubbing her eyes and turning over, she couldn't help but smile at the sight on her bedside table. Sitting there,
was a vase filled with vibrant wildflowers. She could smell the scent as she sat up and noticed the note scrawled on a piece of stationary tucked underneath the vase. She put her nose in the bouquet and breathed it in as she lifted the vase to retrieve the note. She couldn't wipe the grin off her face as she read it.
"I've been a jerk this weekend. Please forgive me. I also turned off your alarm. Don't be mad. Lunch today after the walk. Just me and you. I promise. Love, T"
As if that weren't enough, she spied the printed card sticking out of the top of the bouquet and plucked it out of its holder to read it. "Behind every man is a great woman," it read. Mel bit her lip as her grin widened. She'd received enough "I'm sorry" flowers from Taylor by now to wonder if he had a running tab with the
florist. However, the sentiment never seemed to get old and always touched her every single time.
Picking up her phone to text, him, she looked in horror at the time. She was running extremely late! After
showering with lightening speed and throwing on denim shorts and a black Hanson t-shirt, she threw her hair back in a loose pony tail, tied a pair of sneakers on her feet, and ran out the door.
By this time, parking was a complete nightmare and it occurred to her, a little too late, that she didn't have the
key to the back door to 3CG so she had to huff it to the front of the building. That meant passing the line of fans that wrapped around, waiting to get into the shop and gallery, which was something that didn't exactly excite her. On the plus side, however, she also didn't have time to pay attention to the stares and whispers, either, so she was at least grateful for that.
She walked briskly past the line, past the stares and the whispers and the occasional click of a camera, her ponytail swishing violently as she went. When she neared the front of the line, she surprisingly heard, "Melody!" in a female voice and it caused her to stop and turn her head.
Down the line where she'd just passed, a girl in a gray t-shirt, surrounded by a swarm of other girls in the same gray shirt, stood on her tip toes and waved her hand at her. Glancing in the door of the studio, curiosity got the best of her and Mel backtracked down the line. She smiled nervously at the group of girls, all of whom were obviously together, as they smiled back at her. The redhead with the gypsy eyes who had gotten her attention was the one who spoke. "Hey, I hope you don't think this is weird, but we brought something for you..."
"Oh. Okay," Mel smiled. "Who do you want me to give it to?"
Gypsy Eyes laughed, her smile infectious. "No, it's for YOU."
Mel was touched. Completely shocked and completely touched at the sentiment. "For me? Seriously?"
"Yes, for you." She dug into her bag and said, "I hope it fits. I think it will."
With that, she handed Mel a gray t-shirt. As Mel unfolded it and held it up, she grinned and looked at the other girls. "Oh my god, thank you so much! This is so cool! It's so sweet of you guys!"
Gypsy Eyes then handed her a card. "This is the name of our group. We thought we'd make you sort of an
honorary member."
Mel lowered the shirt and looked around at the group of girls. "You guys! Thank you so much, you just
totally made my day!" Then she quickly fished a Sharpie out of her back pocket and bit off the cap. "Here, sign my shirt," she said through the cap.
Now it was Gypsy Eyes's turn to be shocked. "What?"
"All of you," Mel said insistently. "Sign my shirt."
It took some time to get it all done. And then the girls wanted pictures, which Mel was happy to oblige. As they wrapped everything up, Gypsy Eyes asked, "So will you be at the walk later?"
"Uh, I hope so. Depends on what they have me doing. But if I do, I'll be sure to catch up with you guys."
As Mel headed back toward the door, she was smiling. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to fraternize with the fans like that, but she didn't really care. She could do what she wanted. If they were going to go to that much trouble for her and they wanted to hang out and she had nothing else to do, then why not hang out? It wasn't like she was Ike or Tay or Zac or anything like that. What harm would it do?
As she breezed in the door and locked it behind her, looks of surprise came from the staff at the merch table.
"Mel, what are you doing here?" Carol asked. "Taylor said you were taking the day off today."
She looked at her, confused. "Day off? Why would I take a day off? This is Hanson Day, who has time for a day
off?"
They all exchanged confused glances as Mel hurried past them and toward the back to find Tay. It didn't take long, as she found him hanging pictures--the right ones--up in his photo gallery. "Tay!" she said, breathlessly, halting to a stop. "I need you and Ike and Zac to sign, like, forty pictures right now!"
He turned around and looked at her as if she had three heads. He was probably surprised to see her but she didn't care. "What? Right now? What for?"
She proceeded to show him the shirt and he took it from her hands as he inspected it. "There's a group of fans out there who brought this shirt just for me. For ME. Have you ever heard of that before? It's the sweetest thing ever. Anyway, so I had them sign it for me. And they gave me this card--" she fished it from her back pocket and handed it to Tay. "Like, they're an organized group and shit. It's really neat. Anyway, I wanted to do something for them, like, as a thank you, and I figured if you guys signed some pictures..."
He looked at Mel and gave her a small smile as he continued looking at the shirt. "Um, yeah. I think we can
swing that. It'll be a few minutes..."
"Oh, perfect! Thank you!" She leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before she grabbed her new
prize and dashed off in search of a box of promo photos to tear into.
--------------------
Later, at the walk, each of the guys made an extra effort to interact with the group of fans that had seemingly embraced Mel out of the blue. They had apparently also brought gifts for each of the guys, as well, and Mel was beyond impressed. It warmed her heart to see such appreciation that these ladies expressed toward their favorite a band--a band they grew up with, a band who inspired them, a band who unknowingly became an
old friend when times got rough. It was these interactions right there that showed Mel what MOE was really all about and the reason they kept hosting it every year. She swore that from here on out, for years to come, she
would never complain about how exhausting the weekend was ever again.
On the second half of the walk, Mel caught up with the group and found Gypsy Eyes. She guessed she could have spoken to any of them, which she did exchange hellos with, but since she and Gypsy Eyes had spoken the most, she felt more comfortable talking to her. "Hey," Mel said. "So what are all your names?"
She found that Gypsy Eyes was actually named Emily and the couple dozen or so other names that followed would difficult to remember all at once and Mel wished she could remember them all. She handed Emily a flat box and said to her quietly, "Pass these out to your group a little bit later where nobody will notice. Not here, though. It was the least I could do to thank you for the shirt."
Emily opened the box and gasped, then closed it up quickly and shoved it in the bag she was carrying. "I will
definitely do that," she said seriously.
Mel grinned. "They're not printed either. They're fresh. Had them do it just a few hours ago. Every single one of them."
Emily grinned and thanked Mel profusely. Then she said, "Hey, so this is our last night in Tulsa and a
few of us were gonna find a karaoke bar. Are there any good ones around here?"
Mel was quickly forthcoming with the information, which Emily then, in turn, said, "Maybe if you're not doing
anything tonight, you might wanna show up?"
Mel smiled in thought at the invitation. It wasn't like she was near as "established" as Nikki and Kate were. There were still a lot of fans who didn't seem to recognize her, so she had that going for her. And, in all honesty, there were a lot of things that Mel never got to do as a fan. MOE being one of them. And, dammit, if a few of her fiancée's fans asked her to hang out in a karaoke bar in her own hometown, who was she to turn it down? "I can't make any promises, but I've been known to be a night owl, so...we'll see?"
"I'll take it," Emily said confidently.
An hour later, Tay and Mel finally managed to tuck themselves away in the back corner of a restaurant on the other side of town. A few MOE-goers trickled in, but not many, as most of them tended to stay on the side of town closer to 3CG.
Tay reached across the table and took one of her hands and kissed it. "Alone at last," he smiled.
She scoffed at him. "Well, we've had plenty of opportunity to be alone..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Look, I'm sorry about this weekend. I was a jerk, I wasn't totally aware of it. I just got so caught up in being busy and stuff and--well, Ike and Zac kinda had a come-to-Jesus with me at dinner last night..."
"Ah," Mel eyed him suspiciously. "So the flowers were because your brothers TOLD you to..."
"No," he laughed. "No, those were directly from me. Because they were right, I was kind of a bastard last
night--and all weekend, really. But you've been amazing. Gone above and beyond for us this weekend. I'm really stoked that you're so into this as much as we are. And those fans giving you that shirt--that was just
fantastic." Then he kinda blushed. "Any chance of me getting my hands on one of those?"
Mel smirked. "I don't know if I want you mooching off of MY gift..."
Tay laughed. "I was just joking. They're really cool, though. Great colors. And what does--what did that phrase mean?"
"Oh, that's the name of their group."
"Very witty."
"Yeah. I thought so. And speaking of gifts, I got these flowers this morning, unexpectedly, from an incredibly sexy admirer..."
"Oh really?" Tay said, smiling, as he played along. "Want me to kick his ass?"
She shook her head. "No. No, I don't think that'll be necessary. No, I think this one might be the one. I think I might marry this mystery man."
"You think?"
"Well, I mean, I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything. I'm trying to break this to you easily, you know."
"Well, fine. If you wanna marry him, so be it. See if I care. I wasn't gonna tell you this, but since we're being honest, I woke up next to a brunette goddess this morning and the sight of her sleeping was so breath-taking that I just had to bring her flowers. They didn't hold a candle to her. So. Have a nice life."
She grinned. "Wow. Didn't realize someone could have so much impact on you. Do I know her?"
"Nah. You'd like her, though."
Now she laughed. "You win."
"Every time."
"In all seriousness, though, it was very sweet of you. And you're right, you have been a jerk. But it's okay,
you're forgiven."
They were silent for a bit as they ate and once Tay had gotten a decent dent into his food, he wiped his mouth and looked up at Mel. "Yanno, this year's been a little different."
"How so?"
"I don't know. I mean, we moved some of the events around out of the normal order. I think that kinda threw
everybody for a loop. But it kinda worked out. It's been kinda chill. Bearable. Still a little crazy, but bearable. All in all, it's been a successful weekend. I think it's great foreshadowing for this summer's tour."
Mel nodded as she poked around at her plate, not really in the mood to discuss the tour at the moment. The fact that the tour was even happening during crucial wedding planning time was still something she was trying not to be bitter over and she was still praying she could work out somehow. She guessed she didn't need him for ALL of it, but there were some cases where his presence would be required.
Instead, she changed the subject. "So those girls invited me out to a karaoke bar tonight."
"Oh yeah? Which one?"
She told him as he poked around on his plate. "Uh, Mel, I think it's really sweet that you seem to be getting
along with these girls, but--you think you should be--I dunno, hanging around with them so much?"
"Is it a problem?"
"Well--no, I don't guess it is, it just--I don't know, nobody's ever really done that before."
"They're people, too..."
"Not saying they aren't."
"Are you being stuck up about this?"
"Are we having an argument right now?"
"I hope not. What could possibly be so bad about hanging out with a few girls?"
Tay looked across the table at her, speechless. "Uh, I'm not really sure..."
"If it makes you feel any better, they didn't invite any of you. Just me."
He scoffed at her, amused. "Oh, okay. So it's like that."
"Yes. It's exactly like that. Unless you wanna tag along."
"You have fun. Text me if you need me to pick you up. Fred and I will have guys' night tonight."
"Oh, so you're going home?"
"Shit yeah, I'm going home. After the block party today, I'll be more than happy to sit on my ass for the rest of the night."
------------------
Arm-twisting could be a beautiful art, if done right. Since Mel was convinced that it would only be a small group of these girls at the karaoke bar, and not a swarm of MOE-goers, Isaac, Taylor, and Zac were reluctant, but willing to make an appearance.
Mel was late, but showing up in her freshly-signed t-shirt earned her instant brownie points. She couldn't
help but feel slightly awkward based on Tay's earlier reservations about hanging out with fans and she feared she stuck out like a sore thumb. She tried to justify it to herself that she never got the opportunity to experience the band as a fan and she could still find absolutely nothing wrong with what she was doing.
She noticed, however, that her presence seemingly hindered conversation amongst the group of girls. Sure, they had invited her along, but she felt like she was intruding. She was sure that had she not been there, they would be laughing and giggling and making crude and hilarious references to each other about Tay and his brothers, no holds barred. Mel knew this and she didn't care. She knew what it was like to be a fan of something and have opinions about it. The subject of conversation was a nonissue with her.
But it was apparently an issue with the other girls, so Mel made the effort to try to speak to everyone. She asked where everyone was from, if they had families, how long they'd been fans, etc. It seemed to break the ice a little and she took it upon herself to buy a round of drinks for them.
As the mood loosened up and a server approached to pass around the abundance of alcohol, a few of the girls' eyes widened in front of her. As Mel turned around, she spotted the guys walking in the door and she smiled. And then some unexpected butterflies fluttered around in her stomach. As if to further observe her
surroundings, she looked around at the ladies around her and then back at the bar as the guys ordered their drinks and she narrowed her eyes at the thought she had. It seemed she was feeding off of so much energy immediately around her that she, for a split second, understood what the fans saw and felt upon seeing them in person. For the first time in years, Mel actually recognized their celebrity and in one fleeting moment, she had stars in her own eyes as well. It was one of the most surreal things she had ever felt.
The moment passed when the guys made their way over and greeted the group. Mel had to giggle at the awkwardness of it all. She could tell they were trying very hard to be more casual than business, but they were failing miserably. As the group tried desperately to talk them into singing karaoke to no avail, Mel's phone vibrated in her pocket.
She hadn't noticed Tay with his phone until she read, "We're going to finish these drinks and then we're out of here. This is weird."
"But they're great girls!"
"Doesn't make it any less weird."
"Jeez you guys just need to loosen up."
"Still weird."
"Shame. This would have been your first time ever bringing a fan home."
"Excuse me?"
Mel looked up at Tay across the group and scowled at him. He looked at her for a second before realization washed over his face and his eyes widened. Blushing, he went back to his phone. "I could come back and pick you up."
"Eh, I drove here."
"Leave with me."
"If there weren't so many people here, we could make a game out of this."
"Please don't text me things like that right now."
"Think about it."
With that, Mel locked eyes with him and smiled as she shoved her phone back into her pocket. She watched him smile as he ran a hand, nervously, through his hair and then, much to his brothers' dismay, he took a seat.
Mel grinned at him as she sat at her own table, two tables away, a clear line of vision from him. This was going to be a good night.
-----------------
As Isaac and Zac reluctantly sat near Taylor, Mel had herself a ball with the group of girls. She watched the
guys interact with them, taking pictures and signing random cocktail napkins and coasters. Mel's phone vibrated like mad in her pocket, but she purposely ignored it. Cutting eyes at him across the way was much more fun.
After an hour, Ike and Zac decided to call it a night. As they began to leave, Emily, for the second time that night, picked a song to karaoke to. As Zac passed Mel, she grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back. "Stay and watch this!" she hissed at him.
"Mel--"
"Seriously!"
As soon as Emily opened her mouth to sing, Zac was transfixed. He never took his eyes off of her and when she was finished, he smiled at Mel. "She's awesome!"
Mel nodded excitedly. "I know! And, I mean, I haven't said a word to her yet, but I figure, yanno...she can
sing, you guys have a studio...that I happen to be part owner of..."
"...that you have no idea how to operate..." Zac finished, teasingly. "You are forever trying to get us to sign people."
"I'm not necessarily saying to rush out and offer her a contract. I'm simply saying that if she ever wanted to come back to Tulsa and maybe test those pipes out in your sound booth, that *I* wouldn't say no..."
Zac shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "You're so fucking crazy."
"If I wasn't I would be boring," she responded in a sing-song voice.
Doing the only right thing, Zac approached Emily at the table to compliment her singing. Mel couldn't hear the
conversation, but she witnessed the seemingly ever-organized Gypsy Eyes fish a business card out of her pocket and hand it to him. Mel wasn't sure why her heart was warmed at the moment, but it was.
------------------
Once Zac and Isaac were gone, Taylor decided it was time to make a run for it, as well. The group of girls were
beginning to talk about their trips home in the morning and they slowly began to thin out in search of their hotels and sleep. As a dozen or so were left, Tay finally decided to make his move and approached Mel. Her heart raced at the sight of him, not knowing what to expect. Her phone had stopped vibrating ages ago in favor of silent communication. She had been extremely turned on the majority of the time and she was sure she let him know it by the way she looked at him.
Looking around him, he lowered his head and said quietly, "You wanna get out of here?"
Mel eyed him and finished what was left of her drink. "I don't know...that didn't sound very convincing...I mean, why would I want to leave with you?"
He smirked at her, his blue eyes sparkling. "Because I'm Taylor Hanson."
She smiled at him. "Oh, so it's that simple, huh?"
"Pretty much."
"So, Taylor Hanson," she pouted. "Is it hard? To be a heartbreaker?"
His eyes widened at the song reference and she smiled. "Well I am your biggest fan. It's my job to know
EVERYTHING there is to know about you."
He smiled and leaned closer to her face. "I bet I can show you something you don't know."
She raised an eyebrow. "Now I'm intrigued."
"But you have to leave with me."
"I think that can be arranged."
Mel said her goodbyes to the girls that were still there and calmly walked out the door of the bar behind Tay. Once in the dark, he took her by the hand and led her around to the side of the building, wasting no time grabbing her and kissing her eagerly. As he gripped her waist, he pressed himself into her and she was a little surprised at the hardness she already felt underneath his pants. When he began to tug on her shirt, she grabbed his hands suddenly and looked up at him. "Tay, we can't do this here."
Looking around quickly, he reached down and fished the keys to her Jeep out of her shorts pocket. Pressing the button to unlock it, he led her down the side of the building to the end of the parking lot and opened the door to the backseat, looking around once more. "Get in."
Not questioning it, she crawled into the backseat of her own Jeep and Tay came in behind her, closing the door and tossing the keys in the floorboard. It was slightly cramped but they made it work. He kissed her and he pawed at her clothing just long enough to breathlessly make her aware, "Do you have any idea how hot your ass looks in those shorts?"
"You always liked me in denim," she breathed back.
"Take them off."
As she worked her shorts around her butt and slid them off over her white sneakers, Tay was working on his own pants. They wasted no time this night. There was no foreplay, no sweet nothings whispered, no preparation. Tay groaned at the fact that she wore no underwear and he shoved her t-shirt up and around her waist, holding up the leg that he didn't have pinned to the back of the seat on the other side of him. He shoved himself inside of her and she gasped at the initial entry. As he thrust into her, she found herself holding her lower end up off of the seat so he could reach her better. The position was uncomfortable but the penetration from that angle was fantastic and she heard herself uttering horrifically creative four-letter words through gritted teeth. When he bucked into her for the final time, she felt herself pulsate around him and she cried out, the sound filling the small space of the vehicle and after a moment she prayed that nobody happened to be near the vehicle.
He leaned over and kissed her as he always did afterward and smiled close to her face as he took a moment for his heart rate to slow down. "Best MOE ever," he whispered as he lifted himself off her to fasten his pants.
Mel giggled as she fished for her shorts and slid them back on and Tay sat in the seat, leaned over, clawing the floorboard for the keys. Had it not been for the streetlamp outside, they wouldn't have been able to see each other at all. Finding the keys, he opened up the door and stepped out. "What are you doing?" Mel asked.
"Taking us home."
"What about your car?"
"I rode with Zac."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You planned this, didn't you?"
"Actually, no. I knew you were here, so hitching a ride only made sense. All this," he motioned to the back
seat. "That was all you."
Scowling at him, he shut the door and got in the driver's seat as Mel crawled between the seats and dropped herself into the passenger seat. As he drove home, she asked him, "You think we're getting too old for this?"
"Too old for what?"
"You gotta admit, we've had some crazy sex lately. I mean, we're in our thirties now..."
"Are we seriously gonna sit here and over-analyze?"
"No..."
He took her hand and kissed the top of it as he paid attention to the road. "Good. 'Cause I don't plan on
stopping anything we're doing anytime soon."
Mel had to smile as she watched her man drive down the dark road. Despite the craziness and the exhaustion, it really had been a great weekend. Oddly enough, she already couldn't wait for next year.