Taylor McQueen lay soundly asleep in her dark room. At 16 she was tall, lean, and quite beautiful. Her long golden blonde hair was pulled into a messy ponytail. When she was awake her thick eyelashes surrounded deep blue eyes full of spirit that fit her well. Weak morning light filtered through the blinds as the digital clock on her desk read 5:59 AM. The new hour was chimed in by a high pitched beeping that drew the sleeping girl to life. "Ah crap." Taylor grumbled as she sat up rubbing the deep sleep she had been enjoying from her eyes.

Taylor was not a morning person, never had been a morning person and the way her clocked screamed always bugged her. She flipped back the covers and rose from the bed reaching toward the ceiling. She raised her hand silencing the annoying clock and dragged her self toward the kitchen of the flat she lived in with her fathers and little brother. "Morning sweetie." said her father John Paul as she entered the kitchen.

"Mmmm." Was all she could muster as she walked toward the counter to grab her cereal. She pulled out some cereal which she poured into a bowl and plopped into a chair at the breakfast island next to who she assumed was her brother. Craig entered the kitchen already showered and straightening his tie. "Ready for the first day back guys." He asked his kids.

"Totally!" Liam answered with excitement. Tay just gave her father a look that said "do you really want an answer to that question?" in response he just shook his head with a small smile and kissed her on top of the head before turning his attention to his handsome blonde haired husband. "Good morning baby." He said planting a kiss on the fair mans mouth.

"Groooossss get a room I'm eating here!" Liam yelled closing his eyes tightly.

"Lee your 15 get over it!" Craig said searching for another kiss from the blue eyed man beside him. Liam made a face and Tay giggled.

When you took a good look at the family you thought they were all related. In actuality the only two related by blood were Craig and Liam. Liam was Craig's and his ex's son. His mother Clair had died while giving birth and her only request was that he be named after her father. So when you looked at Liam you saw Craig in a younger form. They had the same hair, same build, and the same deep brown eyes that you lost yourself in. Taylor on the other hand looked most like John Paul, and it was all by fault.

Taylor had been adopted when she was 6 by Craig and John Paul. They had decided they wanted another boy for Liam to play with but instead had fallen in love with a little blonde blued eyed girl who looked astonishingly like John Paul. The administrators at the home she was staying at had been thoroughly surprised that the little girl had connected so completely with the two men. Because she had been taken from her abusive father, she tended to stay away from men let alone let them pick her up the first time they'd met her. But for some reason when she had seen those four eyes, two brown two blue, she had never felt safer. She had walked right up to Craig and stretched her arms up in a gesture meaning she wanted to be picked up. With a half smile Craig had automatically reached for the little 5 year old and lifted her into his arms. And that had been it that very moment had closed the deal almost instantly. She was theirs and they were hers and nothing would get in the way of that.

She and Liam got on just like any other siblings even more close than most. They had had their share of fights and arguments but they were brother and sister and there was a bond there that ran more deeply than Craig or John Paul had had with any of their siblings.

There were things about being the only girl around that were difficult but nothing she couldn't handle. In some ways she much preferred the company of guys over girls, she was good at football and had a hand for music and DJ-ing that surpassed that of John Paul. Over all she was content in her life and perfectly happy with the way things were.

Taylor threw her bag over her shoulder and glanced at the clock on the wall. "LEE! Come on were gonna be late." She yelled down the hall.

"Coming, coming." He said in an exasperated voice as he twitched his head moving the hair from his eyes.

"Wait!" John Paul called hurrying down the hall, "One picture." Both children sighed as they stood next to each other and smiled toward the camera with the best smiles they could muster. "Thank you and don't forget theses." He said as they turned to leave picking up the keys and tossing them. Taylor turned just in time to put a hand out, catch the keys, continue her circle, and pull the door shut behind her with a "Love ya daddy!"

When they neared the campus of their school Liam caught sight of his friends and headed toward them leaving his sister to search for her best friend Rachel. She spotted the red head and headed toward her. "Hey ya." Rachel said turning around when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "How are ya." She said hugging her friend.

"Alright. You?" Tay said with a small smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

"Great." Rachel said linking arms with Taylor as they head for the front gate of the school.

There was no mistaking that Taylor and Rachel were two of the most beautiful girls in the school. Their beauty came from the fact that they barely tried at all to look the way they did. They were always soft and simple; it was not over baring though which made boys pay more attention. Not that either had any desire to care about what anybody cared or thought of them. They had a few friends some boys some girls but they really paid attention to each other. They had no interest in any of the boys at their school, not because they thought they were a cut above the rest, they thought much different they thought they were just their nothing special about them, but because boys their age were teenagers and that meant that the pickings were slim if you wanted to date someone worth dating. But truth be told that was only Taylor's problem, if you could even call it that, because as Taylor knew Rachel was a lesbian. The school was truly in the dark about that fact because they kept to themselves most of the time. So it shocked Taylor when Sally came over and put her arm around Rachel's waist and gave her soft kiss. Sally was about two years older than Rachel but most defiantly Rachel's type. She was a tall brunet who was the object of most boys' fantasies. So when she pulled Rachel into her arms there was a noticeable hush that filled the hall as eyes turned to stare. Taylor on the other hand had gotten over her shock quite fast and turned to her locker but her stuff in it. "So I take your summer went well." she said as Rachel and Sally pulled back both with lazy smiles on their faces and eyes only for each other. "Huh?" they said breathlessly in unison.

"I'll see you guys at lunch." Taylor said shaking her head at the happy couple.

At lunch she caught up with Rachel and Sally who were sitting again staring into each other's eyes. Though her dads did this on a regular occasion it felt odd watching two girls do the same thing. Not that she had a problem with it; it was just another new thing to get used to. She was lost in thought when a boy with dark brown hair walked up to them. "Hey Sal did mom give you the lunch money?" he asked.

"No I thought she gave it to you?"

"I guess no lunch for us today." said the boy sinking on to the bench across from Sally and next to Taylor.

"Here you can have my money." Taylor said offering it to him.

"What about you?" he asked with concern.

"I hate the food here anyway." she said with a wave of her hand.

"Yeah the food here is kind off shit." said Rachel with nod of agreement.

"Well then what the hell are we sitting around here for?" he said standing up and offering his hand to Taylor "Let's go get some really food!" Taylor looked at Rachel

"You guys coming or you going to stare at each other for the rest of lunch?" they had once again returned to looking at each other lovingly. But of course they were too caught up in each other to notice a single word that came out of her mouth. "It's a lost cause they've been doing that since they got together. It gets a little creepy." Said the boy as they turned away and headed for the gate. Taylor took a good look at him. His hair was a deep brown almost black it curled slightly at the ends and fell over his eyes. His eyes. His eyes were a rich brown full of warmth and light. His skin looked soft and slightly tanned. "What's your name anyway?" he asked her

"Taylor." She said simply

"Taylor." He repeated softly. Her name sounded so beautiful when he said it. "My names Tristan."

"Tristan." Taylor repeated softly. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her hair was thick and golden as it framed her face. Her blue eyes sparkled and the soft smile that played on her lips made him a little light headed. Taylor noticed that he was watching her. "What are you looking at?" she asked adverting her eyes shyly.

"You." He breathed as they passed through the gate

"So how old are you?" Taylor asked Tristan as they headed back toward her locker. They had arrived back from lunch with time to spare before they had their next class.

"18 I'll be 19 in about two weeks." She looked at him curiously if he was about to be 19 he should be in Uni. He seemed to see the question her eyes. "I started school a year late. Mom couldn't bare to be without us so Sally and I started a year late. But this is my last year. I take my exams this year." Taylor nodded her head as she reached into her locker to remove the rest of her things and place them in her bag. She was glad she only had one more period on her schedule. She was more than ready to be done with annoying teachers just giving her more work. Not that she minded school actually quite the opposite, she was one of the smartest kids in her school. She was about two years ahead of most kids her age. "Yeah well I'll be outa here by the end of this year if I can pass all of the tests' and everything."

"Oh I'm sure you'll do just fine." Taylor replied and he just shrugged his shoulders with a little laugh. He opened his mouth to say something but suddenly Rachel came around the corner with Sally in tow. "Tay!" she called. "Tay you'd better come quick it's Lee." She ran after Rachel as they headed down the hall with Tristan right behind them.

"What happened?!" she asked as they headed down the hall toward the back doors of the school. They could already see the gathering of kids and voice getting louder. "I don't know he got in some sort of fight."

"Oh really is that why their yelling 'fight, fight.'" Said Tristan sarcastically as they reached the stairs. A large circle had formed and sure enough there was Liam at the center bloody and torn facing three boys from the football team who were also bleeding a bit but looked far better than Lee. "Well at least he can fight even if the odds are against him." Said Tristan as Lee threw a right hook hitting one of the boys squarely in the jaw. Tay drew in a sharp breath as Lee took a nasty hit to the stomach. She dropped her bag and pushed her way through the circle. "Get the fuck out of my way!" she yelled as she pushed kids around trying to reach her brother. As she pushed through the final layer of students her brother staggered backward and fell into her. She griped him firmly to keep him up right. "What the hell is going on?" she asked him. He opened his mouth to speak when one of the boys who's nose had a thick stream of blood running down it. "Hey look guys there's the other McQueer." As the word Queer left his mouth her blood started to boil, so that was why he had gotten into the fight. Yet again someone was attacking their parents because of who they'd fallen in love with. Taylor watched as her own fist delivered a force full blow the guys mouth. There was a magnified intake of breath as every kid surrounding breathed in unison and the large boy staggered backward. "What the fucking hell did you just call us?" She yelled as Liam came to stand beside her taking the same defensive stance. They boy pulled himself to his feet and stood, clearly the leader of the group, with the two other boys flanking him. "Mc-Queer" he said pronouncing the consonants hard. That sent them flying of the handle as they both lunged for the three boys. Punches were thrown and shins and (for the boys) groins were kicked. Taylor took a hit to her eye but it didn't even faze her. It was one thing to say something stupid and childish about her brother, but to attack her father's because of their sexuality was an entirely different thing.

Tristan, Rachel, and Sally stood on the stairs in horror as Liam and Taylor took on the three boys. It wasn't until Taylor staggered back when she received a punch in the eye that they moved. They ran down the stairs and pushed their way through the crowd grabbing hold of the two siblings and restraining them. The three boys looked thankful for the blockade and turn to run. "Well there's some good things that come from having two dads; I can kick your sorry ass!" she yelled after them. She shook off Rachel and Sally who were holding her back grabbed Liam's hand and then turned toward the gate grabbing their bags as they left the school campus.