Chapter 6:

The second Mark and Taylor got home; the filmmaker all by forced his wife to take a nap. She reluctantly curled up in bed, but it took her a while to fall asleep. Finally, her restless mind settled, and Taylor fell into a light sleep.

Two hours later, Taylor rolled out of bed. She felt no better than when she had first laid down. She trudged into the other room, and sat down lightly on Mark's lap. Mark turned off the television, and kissed his wife tenderly.

"You all rested honey?" he asked as he ran his fingers through her hair. Taylor snaked her arms around Mark's neck, and began to kiss him fiercely. Mark kissed her back, but found that a certain passion was missing. Taylor straddled his lap, and maneuvered them to a lying position. Mark flipped them over so Taylor was on the bottom. Soon, passion increased, and clothes decreased.

Later, Mark and Taylor were curled up on the couch together. Mark was partially on top of Taylor, partially on his side. Suddenly, he sat up, and ran his fingers through her hair. Taylor seemed to have pushed to be intimate, but then became reluctant to do anything.

"You okay baby?" Mark asked her in a calm voice. Taylor nodded. "Did I hurt you?" Mark ran his thumb over his wife's cheek.

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter what's wrong with you."

"No, it doesn't matter if you hurt me or not. All that matters is that I gave you what you wanted."

"I didn't want that if you didn't. Where's this attitude coming from? This isn't like you."

"I, I have to do what you say, it's my job," Taylor sobbed.

"Your job is to be your own person. I would have never pushed you to do this if you didn't want to. All you had to do was say the word and I would have stopped."

"I'm sorry."

"This is because of seeing Kate isn't it? I'm not Frank, and I'd never do what he did to you. You need to remember that." Taylor kissed Mark's hand.

"I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize, just remember that. I love you Taylor, and would never even think of hurting you." Taylor silently pulled Mark close, comforted by his presence.

That night, Taylor sat cross-legged on the bed while Mark changed. When Mark pulled off his shirt, Taylor saw that he had lost even more weight.

"Mark, how much do you weight?" she asked. Mark stopped, and turned around to face his wife.

"Why?"

"You lost more weight, that's why."

"What are you my Mother?"

"No, I'm your wife, and you've lost even more weight."

"I'm fine. I'm used to the Bohemian diet of eating next to nothing, and I'm not the one who carried two kids inside of me for nine months each." Taylor got up, and ran her fingertips up and down Mark's thin, pale chest.

"I know, but I'm worried about how thin you're getting." Mark kissed her forehead.

"Thanks for the concern, but I'm a big boy." Mark leaned down and kissed Taylor tenderly. The couple tumbled onto the bed. After rolling around for a little while, Taylor was pinned under Mark. The filmmaker slid his hands under her shirt, and up her stomach. Taylor gasped at his gently touch, and moaned with pleasure.

Mark watched the gentle rise and fall of Taylor's chest. Her pale skin glowed in the moonlight, and her blonde hair was fanned out around her head like a halo. Mark stroked her cheek affectionately; he was getting pretty worried about her. One second she was timid and soft-spoken; the next she was her usual self. Taylor whimpered, and rolled over. Mark brushed a strand of hair out of her face, and wrapped the blanket tighter around her. He was going to figure out what was bothering his wife so much.

The following morning, Roger brought Matthew and Cara home around ten. Taylor was still asleep, and Mark was editing together some film.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Matthew exclaimed.

"Shh, Mom's still asleep," Mark said. Roger handed Cara over to her Father. The rocker looked concerned about his sister.

"I'm going to go check on her; it's not like her to sleep past eight," he told Mark.

"Wait, she might not be dressed."

"Don't worry; I have absolutely no intention of seeing my sister without any clothes on." Roger shuddered, causing Mark to smile.

Taylor glanced over her shoulder uneasily, and listened for approaching footsteps. Good, Frank wasn't returning home yet. Shaking, the blonde picked up the phone in the kitchen, and began to dial.

"Hello?" Roger asked on the other end.

"Roger? It's me, it's Taylor."

"Tay? Are you okay, you sound like you're crying? I haven't heard from you in months." Taylor wiped away a stray tear.

"I know, I'm sorry. Listen, I need you to-" Taylor froze. Frank was unlocking the front door.

"Taylor? Where are you? What's wrong?" In frenzy, Taylor slammed down the phone, but it was too late; Frank had opened the door and seen her.

"Who were you talking to?" he yelled as he threw Taylor to the ground. She scrambled backwards until she was against the wall under the window.

"N-nobody."

"Liar! Now I'll ask you one more time before you have to pay. Who the hell were you talking to?"

"My brother," Taylor replied quietly.

"Who?"

"My brother." Frank pulled Taylor to her feet. The young girl could see the fire in his eyes.

"I am the only family you'll ever need!" he yelled as he threw her in the bathroom. "Maybe this'll teach you to listen to me!" Upon hearing the door lock, Taylor curled up on the floor, and cried herself to a restless sleep.

"Taylor?" Roger asked as he knocked on the bathroom door, shattering Taylor's sleep. "You awake Tay?" Taylor scrambled out of bed, and pulled on a pair of sweats.

"Yeah," she replied as she lay back down in bed. Roger opened the door, and closed it behind him.

"Hey sis," The rocker sat on the edge of the bed.

"Hey yourself," Taylor shot back as she propped herself up on her elbow. "Thanks for taking the kids for the night."

"Anytime. You needed a break after yesterday." Roger noticed that Taylor seemed awfully pale, so he asked, "You okay?" Taylor nodded.

"Yeah, never better." Roger didn't buy it.

"You've been acting weird, all things considered. Even Mimi noticed it. You used to tell me everything, so why won't you tell me what's wrong?" Taylor caved.

"I've been having these horrible nightmares. Actually, they're more like memories of Frank, and they seem so real. I didn't want to bother anyone with them, because they're just dreams, and they're not important.

"Of course it's important if these nightmares are tearing you up. You should tell someone about these. Angel and Joanne are great listeners, but I really wish that you'd come to me and Mark." Taylor was about to apologize when she remembered what Mark had said the night before.

"I'll try." Roger gave her a brotherly kiss on the forehead.

"That's all I ask." Taylor smiled weakly, and Roger left so she could get dressed.

The next afternoon, Taylor was feeding Cara when someone knocked on the door. She fixed her shirt, and gently put Cara in her swing. The infant fussed at first, but quickly stopped. Taylor tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and answered the door. She nearly stepped back in shock when she saw who it was.

"What the hell do you want, Michael?"

A/N: One more chapter!

Tina101