chapter one
Molly
Eight a.m. was even too early for me. I stared straight ahead for a long time until I felt a little sick. Staring at a road while its moving is not a suggested thing. I pulled my arms over my head slowly and turned to look at my sister. Sincerity was somehow managing to guzzle down some cheap coffee we'd gotten at a random gas station and drive at the same time. Sometimes I am amazed at my sister's small talents. I sure as hell couldn't pull something like that off. I yawned and picked up my coffee mug from the holder and followed in suit, only not driving. "Now explain to me again. Why do they want us here so early?" I didn't look at her while I spoke; I was too busy pulling my quilt over my cold legs. The snow was white, pure and shiny as we drove along.

She didn't move her eyes from the road, not once. "I don't know," she simply shrugged.

I set my mug in the cupholder again and curled up in my quilt some more. I'd never been down to this part of Maine before. It was weird that we'd been requested to even come down to collaborate with some washed up singers. Oh well, a job was a job. Recently we'd been signed to Island Def Jam music, dropped from the label soon after and some unknown label, that called themselves 3CG signed us. With one condition. We collaborate with an artist. The artist remained unknown to us still, even after we had been driving for two days to get to some hicktown in Maine.

Sincerity was humming and whistling to an old Dubbie Brother's tune that played on the fuzzy radio station. She didn't move to change it. I finally did since the fuzz was annoying the hell out of me. I found a loud clear rock station. "What's your problem Molly?"

She had finally moved her eyes from the road briefly and looked at me. "Its eight a.m., our heater is broken and you're Miss Sunshine, explain that to me," I replied dryly.

Ten minutes passed in silence, she made a sudden right turn on a old, barely visible road that led to some vast trees. "I'm having a fucking nightmare," I moaned.

"Look on the bright side, we can repair the car when we get the money from this," she still stared straight ahead.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I turned to face the backseat where a sleepy boy was staring at me numbly. "Are we there yet?"

I ran a few fingers through his messy shoulder length reddish-brown hair. His sleepy blue eyes were focused on me seriously. "No. We're not there yet."

He wrinkled his nose. "I smell bad coffee. You know, I'd make you some good coffee if we were back at home."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I've heard the speech a million times. I don't want to hear you boast about how many girls you've slept with. So stop now." I let my seat fall back all the way and it nearly squished him, but he didn't say a word. I'd known Will most of my life and had a crush on him since I was sixteen years old. I'd be with him, if only he wasn't with so many women most the time. He always asked me what I would do if he was my age, twenty. I sighed and laid back in the seat as he sang a song faintly to himself...

Sincerity
I stifled back a chuckle as I listened to Will and Molly duke it out, yet again. It was no secret that Will was a total man-whore, and I knew that Molly had a little thing for him. If by little, I mean 'she's had a crush on him for years', that is. I would tell her to get over it, if it weren't for the astoundingly good lyrics she wrote using her crush as inspiration.

I grabbed my Styrofoam coffee cup once again and took a long sip. It had gone cold. How disgusting. There's nothing worse in the world than cold coffee, except maybe driving a car in Maine that had a broken heater while drinking cold coffee. Yes, that just might be worse.

I pulled up to a large, Victorian style house with black shutters and steps leading up to it that looked like they would collapse if any weight was put on them. A black Ford Explorer sat in the driveway, and I pulled up behind it.

"Yo, we're here." I said, stopping the engine.

Will's head shot up from the window that he was leaning on, and Molly threw her patchwork quilt off of her long enough to get out of the car, before wrapping it tightly around herself again. I popped the trunk open, and we all grabbed our bags. I was the heaviest packer, with two duffel bags instead of one. I have a strange obsession with shoes, and I always feel the need to bring at least five pairs with me when I travel. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's an obsessive-compulsive thing.

We stepped up to the porch and knocked. I assumed that our collaborators were already there, judging by the Explorer in the driveway. Sure enough, the door opened to reveal a tall guy with startlingly blue eyes. "Are you guys Winterblue?" I nodded, shivering in the New England cold. "Cool, come on in."

We stepped inside the foyer and dropped our bags, relieved by the heat. "I'm Taylor Hanson, nice to meet you."

"Sincerity Lenata. And this is my sister Molly, and…This is Will." I carelessly gestured to Will as I shook Taylor's hand. "Are you one of the members of the band we're collaborating with?"

"Yeah. It's me and my two brothers, Isaac and Zac." I cringed at his grammar as he shouted for his brothers to come downstairs.

"Yo, Tay, there's something mad creepy about this house." Zac said as he jumped the last two stairs. "Hey guys. I'm Zac." He introduced himself, shaking our hands. The last guy, who I assumed to be Isaac, followed suit.

"How was the drive?" Isaac asked us politely.

"Awful! Our heater is broken, and if you haven't noticed, Maine is freezing!" Molly exclaimed, shivering for emphasis.

"She's right. It was pretty bad." Will agreed with her.

The guys laughed. "At least the house still has good heat. It might be old, but it still functions. We'll show you your rooms, and then we'll give you the grand tour." Taylor said as he picked up Molly's bag and gestured for her to follow him.

"And believe me, it is grand." Isaac took both of my bags and led me up the stairs. I followed him up two flights of stairs and through a door with some carved designed on the doorframe. It looked French, but then again, I'm not an architect, so how would I know?

Isaac set my bags down on the colossal bed. "We all have our own rooms, if that gives you any idea how gargantuan this house is. If you want to unpack, you can, and just mosey on downstairs whenever you're ready. I can give you the grand tour later, if you're tired."

Total bonus points to this guy for using the words 'gargantuan' and 'mosey' in the same breath. I smiled, trying to refrain from giggling.

"Your room and mine actually share a balcony. You get a really nice view of the…Well, treetops." He laughed.

"Thanks, Isaac." I thanked him, unable to wipe the stupid smile off of my face.

"Call me Ike."

Molly
As I followed Taylor up two flights of stairs Will followed close behind me. Without warning Taylor turned around and faced Will. "Zac is waiting for you downstairs to show you the room you're staying in," he said promptly. Will simply stood there for a few moments and then walked back down the stairs without a word, but I knew he was feeling frustrated. He sighed disgustedly as he left my side. Still, I followed the tall young man down the long hallway. He turned a little and walked backwards for a bit, "So you're Molly right?"

I nodded slowly and pulled the quilt closer to my body. I noticed he had his hand polietly extended. I nearly dropped my clean blanket on the wooden flooring as I shook his warm and soft hand. His eyes were a startling deep blue and I caught myself staring for a moment, but shook my head and snapped out of it.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," I murmered softly. He smiled at me warmly and led me to a fancy door and opened it slowly.

"You ready?" He teased hesitantly.

"Yes," I replied.

He led me into a large room, with a huge bed located next to a set of fancy french doors that I suppose was an opening to a balcony. The room was decorated with hues of deep blues, the bed a canopy bed with curtains included. I felt like I was in an old movie, just looking at the antiques and archiecture of the room itself. "Its beautiful," I murmered.

"Isn't it?" His voice echoed, right into my ear. I nearly jumped out of my skin. "So is that Will boy your bandmate? He seemed awfully protective of you."

"He's my friend and bandmate. I guess he assumed we were rooming together or something."

Taylor nodded. "Well, my room is right next to yours if you ever need anything. And..." He surprised me by grabbing my arm. I dropped the quilt on the soft carpetting and didn't mind at all since the room was warm. He led me to a second door in the room. "Here's the bathroom." He pushed the door open with his foot with ease. It was also very old fashioned, but had some modern plumbing. Right then I was thanking the fairies. He led me through the bathroom itself. It had an old bath, stylish and still functioning. An large oval mirror and sink... and of course a toilet. There was another door.

He pushed that door open also. "My room. Basically we share a bathroom. Do you mind? If so, I can move you to another room."

"No, no, no. Its fine. I've never had to share a bathroom before. I'm sure it will be a new experience for me," I smiled at him. Why was he making me suddenly grin like an idiot?

"So how many rooms are here, Taylor?"

Taylor shrugged his lean shoulders slightly, "I don't know. A lot?" I couldn't say much before he said something about coffee. I was completely there. We walked down the stairs slowly. He kept peaking over at me uneasily and I don't know why. When we entered the kitchen I was not at all surprised to see Will already at the coffee pot.

"Now, I can make you a smashing cup of coffee," he said to me. "And you know you like it."

I shivered when I felt an hand upon mine without warning. I've never really been comfortable with others touching me before, it was nice though, someone cared enough to touch you. I looked into Taylor's pools of blue startled. "Sorry," he said, "I was just trying to tell you that I have your blanket." He held it up. "And that there's some chairs over here." He pointed.

Moments later a cup of coffee was set in front of me and the intense conversation I had been having with Taylor as I sat at an old-fashioned table was interrupted. Will pulled a chair up, convieniently between Taylor's and mine's chairs. Right then I knew there was going to be a problem.

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