the next day, still house bound because of the uncanny weather, sutton decided to write her parents a letter. she borrowed the hanson’s laptop and stayed in her room the majority of he day after everyone had eaten a casual lunch together. she perched herself on top of her bed, surrounded by pillows and blankets and began to write the lengthily letter to her parents that was long overdue. as she began writing she realized all of the unspeakable things that she wanted to tell her parents, and knowing that they were in a foreign country and she wouldn’t have to see their reactions made all of her emotions and feelings about their mission work and their marriage flow right now and onto the computer screen. after writing and taking minor breaks in her room for several hours, sutton fell softly asleep on her bed with the laptop perched above her lap; her head resting against her shoulder as she was exhausted from spending the entire day writing. a couple hours later, diana opted to order several pizzas for the family rather than fixing a big meal, and everyone gathered around the kitchen table, pleased and accepting of the decision as they waited for the food to arrive. “where is sutton?” diana asked as she pulled a stack of paper plates out of a high cupboard. taylor shrugged and Ike added, “i don’t know. i know she borrowed the computer to write a letter, but i haven’t seen much of her all day.” “is she in her room?” diana asked. “probably,” taylor said. “i went in there earlier to give her a disk so she could save her letter but i haven’t seen her since.” “go up there, would you taylor and tell her that the pizza will be here soon?” “yup,” he agreed and slid off the kitchen stool and jogged up the stairs to sutton’s room. he approached her room, open only by a crack, and quietly pushed her door open and peaked inside. “sutton?” he walked over to her bed and noticed that she was sleeping, with the open laptop on her lap. he smiled and sat at the edge of the bed, not wanting to wake her up. he watched her silently as her chest slowly rose and fell with each long breath, and saw a faint smile across her lips. he noticed her cd player was still playing sarah mclachlan quietly so he softly rose from her bed and turned it off, and walked back to her bed as she stirred and brought her hands to her face. “oh gosh...” she moaned as she looked at the laptop in front of her and up at taylor. “i must have fallen asleep,” she groggily sat up and saved her letter and pushed the laptop off to the edge of her bed. “we haven’t seen you all day and didn’t know what had happened to you.” “what are you doing in here?” Sutton stood and stretched, and stuck her hands in her dark denim jean pockets as she sat at the edge of her bed again. “watching you sleep,” Taylor said as he leaned against her desk. sutton rubbed her eyes again and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. “Watching me sleep?” she smiled, embarassed. “i didn’t want to wake you; you looked so peaceful just lying there, sleeping.” He then grinned. “You look so cute when you sleep, sutton,” he said in a playful voice as he scrunched up his nose. sutton looked at her clock, which read 5:48pm. “shut up. you could have waken me up if we’re eating supper now or something, i don’t want everyone to be waiting for me.” she lazily stretched out in her bed, and lied flat on the bed. “so you think i look cute when i sleep, too, taylor?” she rolled her eyes and laughed. taylor grinned and spun around in her desk chair. “well i wouldn’t have told you if you’re going to get a complex about it or something,” he said in a light manner. sutton simply giggled, and rubbed her eyes. “thanks. what are we having for dinner?” taylor rose, and stood in front of her at the foot of her bed. “my mom just ordered pizza so it’ll be here soon, but everyone is just kind of doing whatever.” he paused a moment and then added, “you sure have been writing for a long time. are you typing out a book or something?” “ah, no,” she said. “there’s just a lot of stuff to tell them and that i wanted to talk about.” taylor held his hands out towards sutton, and she grabbed them pulled herself out of bed. “for that long? wow,” he said as they walked to her door. “what all did you write about?” “i’ll have to tell you later,” sutton said quickly as they reached the bottom of the stairs as the doorbell rang. “will you?” taylor asked. his question caught sutton off guard, so she stopped en route to the kitchen. “yeah, i guess.” she smiled bashfully. “why not?” “you just haven’t really talked to me much since you’ve been here. since we’ve been back. about yourself and your family and everything,” taylor said softly. the doorbell rang again, so sutton quickly replied. “i know. i’d like to...” she smiled and wandered into the kitchen as taylor opened the door to retrieve the pizza’s. “what have you been doing all day, miss?” ike kiddingly asked her. “well as a matter of fact, i was writing a testament of what it is like living with the hanson family, which i will sell over the internet when you guys are busy recording your new record, and after thousands upon thousands of girls immediately are star struck by your witty personalities, your youthful demeanors and amazing facades, and, of course, your melodic harmonies when they see you live. i’ll let you read it when i’m done,” sutton said, straight faced as she went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of pop for herself, zac and ike. “oh yeah?” zac asked, playing along. “what did you write about me?” “i can’t disclose all of my secrets,” sutton grinned as taylor came to the table with five pizzas and a mass of hands reached in and out of the boxes. walker came inside from the deck and gathered up two of the pizza’s and brought them back outside for him, diana, and the yunger kids. “what secrets?” taylor asked as he plopped down across the table from sutton. she took a bite of a plain cheese slice of pizza. “i can’t tell you, geek. that’s why its a secret.” “whatever, i don’t even know what you guys are talking about,” taylor shook his head. sutton smiled. “i need someone to help me print off my manuscript after dinner.” “i’ll help you,” ike offered. “i wouldn’t want taylor to accidentally erase your masterpiece.” “you know i really hate it when i have no idea what everyone else is talking about?” he whined. “yea,” sutton smiled. “its kinda fun, isn’t it?” she looked to isaac and zac who laughed along with her.