Time Goes On
by Chelle

~ CHAPTER 43 ~

I still don't know how Isaac managed to put everyone off. I knew from Tori and Diana's expression that they'd guessed Avery had probably walked in on Ike and me but they didn't know how far things had went. He'd come back inside a few minutes later and had told his family that things were fine and that then was not the time to discuss it. The next morning, I'd discovered that Taylor and Walker had been informed, though I was unsure of who exactly had told them. Zac had been watching everyone very closely. Thankfully, no one had mentioned to him what had happened with his sister. We tried to go on through the next day as normal as we could but a thick tenseness had settled over the house. It was Friday, the day before Courtney was supposed to come over. Diana and Walker were finding little things to keep Zac busy. I had noticed that afternoon that Avery had disappeared and I had found her about an hour later sitting by a huge oak tree in the field behind their house.
"You mind if I join you?" I asked quietly. She shrugged and scooted over. I sat down on the ground beside her. "What are you doing out here? We were kinda worried when we couldn't find you." I said softly as I pulled my knees up to my chest. "I just needed to be alone for a while," she said with a shrug. "Aren't you cold?" I asked, noticing the chill in the breeze. She shook her head. She faced down and didn't say anything. "Avery, what's bothering you?" I asked bluntly. She shrugged her shoulders again and still remained quiet. "No Avery. Tell me. Maybe I can help." I said leaning a little bit closer to her. "Well you haven't so far!" she snapped. "What?"I replied. "Melissa, what is going on around here? Are you and Isaac together now? What about Zac?" she asked, nearly all in one breath. "Avery, Isaac and I aren't together. There's a lot going on that you don't know about. I wish I could tell you but I can't right now." I said as gently as I could. Avery just picked a piece of grass and looked out at the field in front of us. "Ya know, I don't know exactly what you think. I'm not a child though." She turned and faced me. "I'm not stupid. I know more than any of you think I do." she said. I felt that familiar tightening in my stomach. I didn't say anything, bracing myself to be hit with another brick in what had become a never ending story. She continued, turning back to look in front of her. "I know what happened. I know Zac hit you. I know that he hit Jess that night too. He wasn't visiting anyone, he was in a treatment center." She sighed and started pulling on pieces of dead grass. "That night, when we couldn't find him, he came to your house. He raped you didn't he?" She looked straight at me. I honestly didn't know what to say. "Avery, how did you know about all of this?" I knew that Diana and Walker would have gone into fits if they knew that Avery had somehow found out what they'd been trying to keep from her. "I just figured it out. I know he hit Courtney. That kind of stuff doesn't just stop without help. I saw the marks on you and the way you'd get tense when he touched you. I also know that I've seen you and Zac kiss a lot and it's never been the way it was when you kissed Isaac." I stared at her. "What do you mean? How was it different when you saw Isaac and me kiss?" She glanced up at me and then replied "Because you meant it. I'm not a ignorant person. I know what a real kiss looks like. The way you still held on to each other until Ike came running after me. You meant that kiss. Both of you did. I never saw Ike and Karen kiss that way either." She re-adjusted herself and then looked at me. "Mel, I didn't tell Mac or Zoe. Jessica knows that I know this stuff though. I didn't tell anyone about you and Ike. He asked me not to, not yet anyway. He said that by next week, a lot was going to change and that right now it had to stay between the three of us. He promised that I'd be filled in later on." I slightly smiled and shivered as a cool wind rushed through the trees. "It's getting cold. Let's go back in alright?" I said standing up. Avery followed and as we walked back to the house I tried to reassure her. "Everything will work out for the best. Isaac is right, this has to stay between us. Don't tell anyone and don't ever tell Mac or Zoe what you already know. This is not going to be a good weekend I don't think. I need you to try and be patient and understanding and do what your mom tells you to without arguing." She nodded and we walked into the house. I had manged to calm her nerves a little... I wished I could have calmed mine. Avery was the type that would keep her cool in stressful situations and was patient when she'd been told to be. I knew that she'd expected to be filled in completely once all was said and done. For the time being, however, I also knew that she knew enough if not too much. She knew all she could handle anyway.

"Zac! C'mon!" Mac yelled up the stairs. "Hold your horses!" Zac replied. "I wanna go to McDonald's!" Zoe said as Diana helped her get her shoes on. "No. We've been to McDonald's twice this week!" Jessica said as she slid her foot into her boots. "Yes! I wanna cheese burger." Zoe retorted. "You can get a cheese burger anywhere." Avery replied. "But not McDonald's fries." Zoe said as Diana stood up and carried Mac's jacket to him. "I wanna eat pizza!" Mac said. "No!" Avery Jessica and Zoe said in unison. "Can't we go out for a nice lunch somewhere? How about the diner?" Jessica suggested. "You can't get pizza at the diner." Mac replied. "We're not getting pizza." Avery said glaring at him. "No, we're getting McDonald's." Zoe said. "Mom!" Mac turned to Diana whom replied "It's up to your brother." She then stood at the bottom of the stairs and yelled "Zac! You've got a debate to settle!" Zoe turned to Diana and said "Tell him to take us for cheese burgers." Diana stood with one fist on her hip and said "What did I just tell Mac? It's up to Zac where you go." Zac came into the room. "That's right and pizza and McDonald's are both out." Zoe and Mac whined. "And the diner is too crowded on Saturday's." he said looking at Jessica as he pulled on his jacket. "So where are we going to eat lunch?" Avery asked as she opened the door. "For crying out loud, be thankful you're getting anything." They began to file out as Diana said "Have fun. Seat belts!" Then she lowered her voice and said "Zac drive carefully and remember, keep them out for a while." Zac nodded as he gave me a quick kiss and then hugged his mother. "I called shotgun!" Avery yelled. Suddenly we heard the beginning of another argument. "Hey!" Zac shouted and all four siblings turned to look at him. "We are going to be out for a while. You can take turns sitting up front." They all then looked at each other. "Well, who first?" Mac asked. Zac rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Avery. She's already sitting there." he said walking to the car. Avery slammed the door as Jessica, a whinny Mac and Zoe climbed into the backseat. "Later." Zac said as he climbed into the car, started it, and pulled out of the driveway. Diana and I stood at the door and waved as the car went by the house.
After it disappeared, we shut the door and both breathed a deep sigh of relief. "He didn't ask a lot of questions like he has been. Do you think he knows somehow?" I asked Diana as we walked into the kitchen. "Oh Lord, I don't know. I hope not. He's been just watching all of us but not really saying anything about the air being so thick." I raised my eyebrows and smiled. "Let's clean up a little. Courtney will be here in about thirty minutes if she's on time." I nodded and she and I scurried around the house. We didn't say much but it was clear we were both worried and tense about what would happen. "Hey, did Zac leave already?" Taylor asked, walking into the living room. Diana replied "Yes, a bit ago." Taylor shoved his hands in his pockets and let out a sigh. "Mom, what if we're wrong somehow? What if we've totally got the wrong idea?" Diana stood up and looked at him. "This is the only way to know for sure. If we do then fine. No one ever has to tell him anything about this. Taylor, you have to accept that there are some things we are not wrong about." she said gently. "He sighed again and said "Yeah, I know. I know."
Walker came in followed by Isaac. "So, are we ready for this?" he asked putting his arm around his wife. "Not even close." I answered sitting down. I felt a hand on the back of my neck and glanced up to see Ike standing behind me. "It'll be alright. I'm not sure I'm ready either but I'd rather go ahead and find out than to keep wondering." The phone rang causing us all to jump. "I'll get it." Tori said walking in. "Hello." She said as the rest of the family sit down to wait. "But why? Is anything wrong?" Tori said. We all looked at her. "Well, it won't take long. We just need to..." She got quiet and looked at us. "Zac is gone and he will be until..." We grew tense. "But, this is really important. We need to know some things." Walker then stood up and walked over to stand next to Tori. "I know but..." she dropped her other hand and sighed. "Well, we can't force you." she said as she looked at Walker. "Alright. Will you talk to Wa..." Tori's shoulders dropped and she said "Alright. Bye." Then she hung the phone up and sat down beside Taylor with a worried look. "Babe, what is it? Who was that?" Taylor asked. "Courtney. She's not coming over." Tori replied. "What?! What did she say?!" We all started asking questions and Tori answered. "She said that nothing was wrong but that she thought about it and decided that she didn't want Zac to get into trouble. She said for us to talk to him. That he needed to be the one to tell us about the baby and everything else. Not her or Karen. Then she said she had to go. "Diana put her hand to her mouth. "I don't believe it." she said. "Wait." Isaac said. "How did she know we needed to ask her about the baby and Karen? Dad, you said you just told her we needed to talk to her and that it was important." We all glared at each other. "The phone call." Taylor said. "The one Zac got the other day. I was getting something to drink and he was on the phone talking really softly and he turned away from me when I walked into the kitchen." he finished sitting up and resting his elbows on his knees. I said, "Yeah, Jess came into our room and got him. She said that who ever it was wouldn't tell her their name but just said it was important." Diana and Walker looked at each other. Walker nodded and Diana sat back in the chair. "Well, that's it then. Zac talked to Courtney. Or maybe it was Karen but she knew what we were going to ask her." Tori said. "I wonder if they just talked and he said he'd tell us or if he scared her to death." Ike said. "Alright everyone. Get ready." Walker said standing up. "What? Where are we going?" Taylor asked. "To see Courtney. If she won't come to us, we'll just go to her." Walker answered.

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