Are You Happy Now? - Part 1 (COMPLETED)

Chapter 2 - Part 2: "I Don't Want To Talk About It"

This is not for all the tears we cried
It's not another worthless little fight
It all comes back to me, but no regrets
I'd rather let it go than just forget, just forget

"I Don't Want To Talk About It" (Marit Larsen)

---

Note:

Special thanks to Hansonish.com, whose content was a great help with this chapter.

---

August 2001

A lot can change in a year.

For the guys, the This Time Around tour seemed like a lifetime ago. It had been a year since the tour had wrapped up, and they were back home in Tulsa working on new material for their upcoming album, tentatively titled Underneath. They were planning to start recording in November in L.A. which meant relocating there for a while.

Walker planned to accompany his sons to L.A. to help them get settled in, but then return to Tulsa. It would be the first time the guys would be living alone without their parents or a manager to supervise them. But, despite Walker's reservations, he knew it just wasn't practical for him to live there with them. Though Walker usually toured with his sons, and acted as their sort of fill-in manager when Stirling wasn't around, he had a job back in Tulsa in the oil drilling industry. Despite his sons' success, he still had to support the rest of his family. Isaac would be turning 21 years old in November, and Walker was confident he could act as the mature one, and help keep his younger brothers in check if need be.

For Zac, it had been a year since he broke up with Marion, and he hadn't looked back. After Marion was out of the picture, Zac had started dating Kate immediately. How quickly they had become official surprised everyone. By January of that year, they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend. Kate had graduated from high school in June, and was set to attend the University of Georgia in Athens, GA in the fall.

As for Taylor, he didn't have an official girlfriend - well, except Natalie, if you could even call her that. Taylor had been spending more time with her by default. They were definitely dating, though Taylor was hesitant to call it that. Kate always brought Natalie along when she came to visit Zac, which was surprisingly often. Taylor and Natalie got along well as friends, though it was painfully obvious to all involved that Natalie liked Taylor a lot more romantically than he liked her. Diana and Walker loved both Kate and Natalie. They were just the type of girls they wanted to see their sons with. Sweet and polite, they were typical Southern girls, and they were clearly crazy about their sons.

Isaac had tried to continue seeing Marit long-distance, but in June she had broken it off with him, stating it was just too hard for her. Isaac had been heartbroken, but had gotten over it eventually.

Michelle had released her album, The Spirit Room, on her new label in August and was gearing up to tour. She and Taylor still kept in touch, but hadn't seen each other since last August when she had left the tour.

It was just another day at home in Sedona when Michelle's phone rang. She was surprised to see it was Taylor, and immediately answered.

"Taylor! How nice to hear from you! What's up?" she asked warmly, plopping down on the chair nearest to her.

Taylor smiled at hearing Michelle's voice. "Hey! How are you?"

"I'm good! So good, actually. Spirit Room is selling well, and we've added a few new dates to the tour. I'm moving to L.A. all on my own!"

"That's why I called in fact. I was reading your web page and -

At that Michelle giggled, "You were reading my web page?"