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myloveforhergoeson · 9 months

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That's All She Wrote - Chapter 18 (Part 1)

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Show: Big Time Rush

Pairing: James Diamond x Original Female Character

Chapter 18: Mona Lisa (When The World Comes Down) (1.18 - Part 1) ~ 16k

As Roxy raced down the hallways of Rocque Records with her best friends, she didn’t even try to contain the massive grin spreading across her face.

Today was the day.

The day that showed the culmination of their time and hard work in Los Angeles. The day that finally proved to any haters or nay-sayers or evil record producers that Big Time Rush had clawed their way to the top of Rocque Records and had no intention of ever letting go. The day the band got to hold their first album in their hands; proof that they were making their own special place in Hollywood history.

They were a force to be reckoned with this summer, not only were they slated to sweep the Billboard charts with their debut album, they’d rock the entire United States on their first-ever headlining tour - a surprise for the boys Kelly, Gustavo, and Roxy had been trying to keep secret for the past few weeks.

By the time Big Time Rush and their assistant made it to the producer’s office, they had unabashedly thrown open the large wooden door, only coming to a complete stop once they stood in front of their bosses.

For some reason, Kelly and Gustavo looked confused to see them.

“Well?” The teens chorused, holding out their hands out expectantly, wiggling their fingers for good measure.

The adults shared a knowing glance, both reaching underneath the producer’s desk to pull out a large brown box packed to the brim with physical versions of their first album. Gently placing it on the tabletop, the pair were practically radiating with pride, even if they didn’t share it in words.

Pulling a fresh one right off the top, Gustavo showed off the cover, “Schpingo!”

Immediately the boys descended upon the copy, letting out excited screams as they pointed out all the little details they hadn’t noticed through the draft stages of design. The cover boasted the band, all perfectly cute and smiley, standing together against an off-white background layered over a picture of Hollywood Boulevard. The band’s logo was proudly displayed in the upper-right-hand corner and had a bit of a torn effect above their heads that continued throughout the lyric booklet on the inside cover of the jewel case.

While the band was busy fighting over the one copy, Roxy gently leaned over the table and reached into the box, picking out one for herself. Then, after digging around in her backpack for a red marker, she found one at the bottom of her bag and opened up the CD cover, slipping the lyric booklet out and handing it off to her friends.

Eyebrows cocked, heads turned, it seemed the boys were unable to understand what she was asking them by handing them the paper and a pen.

“Sign it!” She demanded, waving her hands around in excitement. “I want to be the first person in the world to have a signed copy of Big Time Rush’s first album.”

With a smile, each of the boys passed it around, happy to sign their first album for the first time for their biggest fan.

Red marker standing out nicely against the black background, Roxy watched as her friends slowly passed it around. Once or twice, she had caught them in class doodling out their rockstar signatures atop their notes and homework, but this was the first time she was seeing the styles they had decided on.

First up, Carlos gently, yet sloppily wrote his name out in cursive, and though he had no trouble connecting the letters, he did seem to be struggling once his name was complete. Flipping the pen back and forth a few times in silence, his eyes lit up after a moment before adding in an adorable little smiley face by the “S.”

Once his friend was finished, Kendall practically tore the small book out of his hands before taking the marker in one fell swoop. Channeling his inner John Hancock, he too wrote his name in cursive, about two times bigger than the other boy’s signature.

James was both quick and yet far too obvious with his eye roll as he snatched the pages from the frontman, scribbling out a “J” to rival the size of the “K” in Kendall. Though, once his large, swirly first letter had hit the page, he wrote out the “ames” in what looked like near-microscopic font before drawing out a diamond and a tiny heart to the right of his signature.

When the booklet finally reached Logan, he was easily able to use what space remained above his pictured head to write out his name. In a similar manner to the boy before him, his “L” was large and swooping, but the rest of his letters were at least half the size. Though, his signature ended with three bold stroked lines underlining it in its entirety.

Though their assistant took a moment to admire her now priceless album, the boy’s didn’t skip a beat, launching right back into their conversation with Gustavo and Kelly.

“I look great!” James gushed pointing out all the places he was on the front and back cover of the album.

“And people can buy this… in stores?” Asked Kendall, still trying to wrestle the album Gustavo had handed out from his other friends, still in disbelief that the band had managed to make it this far.

Kelly held out a finger, telling him to pause, “Not yet!”

“The record company will not release it until they announce your big time…” Getting up from his desk, Gustavo walked over to where his white projector screen had been hanging and pushed it up, revealing a map of the United States underneath. A collection of blue pins covered many of the major US cities, the Big Time Rush logo plastered all across the country, “Tour!”

Knowing this had been coming, the girl quickly produced her phone and ran in front of the boys, taking a picture of their slack jaws and wide eyes with many loud clicks.

“Surprise!” She yelled, before launching herself at her band, crushing the four of them into the tightest, most bone-crushing hug she could muster.

The four were nearly too startled to return her gesture, though eventually, they were able to snap themselves out of their stupor and pull her just as close.

“I can’t believe we’re going on tour…” James was the first to speak, and the girl felt the excitement in his statement nearly just as great as her own. As she weaseled out of their arms, she could swear he was practically glowing.

With a nod, Gustavo informed them, “And your first concert is in two weeks!”

Placing a giant red pin where Los Angeles could be read on the map caused the five teens to imagine their version of what their first concert might be like. They had performed for their friends at the Palm Woods plenty of times, but a stage performance with lights and special effects and a screaming crowd… That was on a whole new level.

When Kelly had initially told Roxy about the plan for a tour, she had specifically mentioned that Gustavo wanted a live band playing along with the boys. It was a bit unorthodox, especially for a boy band, but for whatever reason, he truly believed the band performed better with their assistant playing on stage with them. Through his belief, she found herself an updated Rocque Records talent contract and a little bit of a pay raise.

Though Roxy was no stranger to the stage, her last band had performed at a number of local Duluth events put on by the Project Pop radio station she worked for and in just about any coffee shop or restaurant that would have them, performing for a crazed, cheering crowd filled with thousands of people felt a bit daunting. Stage fright wasn’t the issue… at least she didn’t think it was. Hopefully, the next two weeks would provide her with all the practice time she needed to grow more comfortable with her stage presence, especially since the live band obviously wasn’t the point of the concert.

In secret, their bosses had carried out auditions for a bass player and a drummer and ended up picking a pair of amazing talents. After calling in a few of his friends from the ‘90s, Gustavo was able to find one of his old bass players was in need of some summer work; the position was quickly filled by an older, yet down-to-earth guy by the name of Mick Morales. The drummer role was easily filled by a guy around the band’s age from a local performing arts high school, Austin Kane, who was more than stoked to have “Summer Tour” on his resume. Roxy, of course, would be the guitar player, focusing on taking lead parts on the songs, though Gustavo was still planning to make her record the rhythm tracks as well.

When he asked her if she needed any supplies or special equipment for her instruments, she was ecstatic to hit the music store one day after work. She had ordered six new guitar pedals, a pedal board to keep them on, nearly 20 packs of strings for both her electric and acoustic, and a new repair/maintenance tool kit just in case anything happened to go wrong with her instruments. Getting her started on her wardrobe was a whole other issue, one she would focus on once the band began to put their things together. After being fortunate enough to travel across the country playing with her friends, the least she could do was try and match whatever color palette they chose.

In addition, she had begged, quite literally on her hands and knees, for her bosses to invest in confetti cannons for the shows. To Roxy, there was almost no better feeling in the world than being at a concert, hearing the bass of her favorite song drop, then watching as millions of tiny pieces of confetti shot over the crowd, raining down on them in a shower of color. If she was to be a part of this tour, she wouldn’t allow their concerts to end any other way.

Picturing the image in her mind, she could practically feel the airy strips fall around her, enveloping everyone in the crowd, and clouding their vision… Best show ever.

Once they had finished their concert fantasy daydream sequence, Gustavo and Kelly ushered the five into Studio A, to show off its newly transformed interior. A brilliant, silver curtain covered the back wall, with the Big Time Rush logo proudly on display in the middle. Various instrument racks, amps, and other technical equipment riddled the makeshift black stage the pair stood upon as they spoke down to their employees.

“The concert stage,” Gustavo presented, holding his arms out to show off the space. “Where you will need intense focus…”

Here, Kelly jumped in, “Incredible stamina, and…”

The pair stepped aside to reveal Mr. X, clad in his usual black and gold ensemble as he held his hands up in an “X” motion, “Expert knowledge of every inch!”

During the explanation, the four boys had been kind enough to put on large plastic shields, covering their necks up to their heads, at their boss’ request.

“Why are we wearing dog cones?” Kendall asked, as soon as he was sure their boss had finished his spiel. Though he had put it on voluntarily, he seemed very upset at the prospect of continuing to keep it on.

They knew they could say no… Right?

Since Roxy already had a bit of stage experience, the adults were being far kinder to her than her inexperienced peers.

“Because during your concert, you got to… Look at your fans! Not your feet!” The producer said, ending his statement into the microphone with a sing-songy tone.

Almost immediately, the four of them tried to pivot their necks downward to glance at their shoes and were blocked by the large white cones.

Mr. X, taking a running start, lept off the stage in a fit of flare and landed in front of the five, “And to avoid extreme injury, you have to know without thinking and see without looking.”

He then quickly ushered the boy band up onto the stage, asking them to practice one of the dances they had previously put together for “Famous.” For the time being, the assistant got to stand off to the side with her bosses, watching as her band prepared themselves to take the stage by storm.

From the middle of the line the boys had formed, Logan called out, “What if we have an itch?” “Don’t!” Gustavo was swift to answer.

Asking the band to get in their places, the four stood in a straight line, legs spread and arms behind their backs as Mr. X pressed the play button on the speaker beside him.

“Famous” began to blast out, and the boys executed the beginning of the routine to perfection. Once they began to move about the stage, however, the collars around their necks severely impacted their vision, causing them to run into each other and the props around the stage. Even through the distractions, the four did their best to push through, until Carlos and Logan managed to get themselves tangled up with the drum kit in a booming mess at the back of the stage.

The crashing and clattering of cymbals rang in Roxy’s ears as she said a silent prayer to whatever forces may be the band would not take her out once she hit the stage with them. Decapitation via cymbal certainly was not how she wanted to end up crossing the rainbow bridge.

“They actually lasted longer than I expected.” Mr. X shared with a shrug of his golden shoulders. Reaching for the “play” button once more, he yelled out, “Again!”

Taking their places like before, the band lined up, and “Famous” played again - until the drum kit took out Logan and Carlos once more. Then again - until Logan crashed into one of the amps. Again - until the band did an entirely different, wrong, dance routine. And again - until Logan was crushed between Carlos and Kendall before nearly being thrown off stage. Again - until Kendall took a nasty spill to the floor. Then again - until Carlos found himself tangled in the microphone cord and spun himself off the stage.

As their brutal practice continued, Roxy ran out into the lounge to pick up some cold water, towels, and a first aid kit in case one of the boys managed to hurt themselves badly from all of their bumps and tumbles.

When she came back, Kelly and Gustavo had started a game of cards and were kind enough to deal her in, though she politely declined. There was something endearing about watching her friends try and nail their routine, even if they kept hitting roadblocks along the way.

They want this just as much as I do.

At one point, James had performed a beautiful backflip at the end of the routine, and she finally thought they had perfected it. When she let out a little cheer though, he looked up to find where the sound was coming from with a goofy, satisfied grin and managed to knock himself off balance into the instrument rack behind him.

After a few more tries, the band pretty much had the routine down, and the pair instructed Roxy to grab a guitar and hit the stage with the band. There was a mark on the floor, taped off with her name on stage right, which she eagerly stood upon, guitar strapped around her shoulder.

From below, the producer let out a wicked smile.

“Lastly, the spotlight test…”

What that meant, she didn’t know, but as the “Famous” track began to play, she went along as well, taking the lead. Once again, the band executed their dance near-expertly, and in no time, the track had come to an end. Each of the boys took their final posing spots on center stage, with the girl still in her section behind them.

When they finished, Gustavo wheeled out a large, white spotlight and flipped it on, directly into the boy’s faces. Understandably, they were immediately blinded, and let out many cries of pain to prove it. In their attempts to avoid the horrible shine, they managed to slip off the top of the stage and onto the studio floor, leaving their assistant standing all alone, squinting through the pain.

After a few more moments, Gustavo flipped the light off and Roxy noticed her friends writhing around on the floor, still coned. Gently, she set her guitar back onto the instrument rack and made her way to the edge of the stage, sitting down and swinging her legs while they had time to recover.

“Now, to the hard part of your training.” Gustavo shared as if the last few hours of practice hadn’t been grueling enough.

“Awesome!” and “Sounds great, man!” came muffled from a few of the band members before Logan screamed, “Run!”

I guess that haven’t taken to training just yet.

Within seconds of the declaration, Roxy felt herself get yanked from the stage and made off after the guys as Logan clutched her wrist, dragging her and the rest of his friends out into the Rocque Records lounge area.

Once the band thought they were free, they ripped the collars off, leaving them strewn about the white furniture, and didn’t stop running until they reached their old classroom-turned-supply closet. Roxy, dragged inside with her friends, really wasn’t sure what was going on, but once Kendall closed and locked the door behind him, the haggard looks on the boy's faces told her everything she needed to know.

“Hiding’s not gonna solve anything,” The frontman said as if he wasn’t trying to block the door with his entire body weight.

Throwing his arms up in exasperation, James breathed, “No, but it will temporarily keep us alive,” A scared chuckle passed his lips, “And I don’t know about you, but I like living!”

His loud words bounced off the walls of the small closet, lingering in everyone’s ears.

“I thought training was kind of fun,” Carlos shared with an optimistic smile.

“Same here,” The girl shared, just to push their buttons a bit.

With a roll of his eyes, Logan turned to his friend, who was missing his usual helmet accessory, “That’s your concussion talking.”

Almost immediately, Carlos’ knees gave out and he crashed into his assistant, needing lots of help continuing to stand.

Checking to make sure he was still holding the door, Kendall’s eyes widened, “Look, guys, Gustavo might be loud, mean, obnoxious, self-absorbed… unattractive…”

“Get to the point!” The remaining three clearly demanded, though Carlos was able to weakly ask, “Put it in hockey terms.”

“In two weeks we have the biggest game of our lives. We have to train our asses off for it, or we could lose. No matter how rough the first period was, we have to get back on the ice.”

It was a wholesome, inspiring comment, and now, because of all the hockey the boys made her watch, she was able to grasp most of the terminology, and Kendall seemed very proud of himself for putting it together. That was, until Freight Train burst through the locked door with a resounding crack! and sent the blond screaming in fear toward his friends.

“Hey! Gustavo wants -”

“We’re coming, we’re coming!” The band promised, holding out their hands in defense, finally concluding that even if practice was grueling, it was necessary.

The absence of protest confused the large man in front of them, “Really? Oh, well… One of you want a ride back to the stage?”

Eagerly, Carlos stepped forward and jumped into Freight Trains' arms, where he was carried bridal style all the way back to Studio A.

The band was made to line up on the stage once more, Roxy joining them from her mark as well.

It’s kind of fun to look down on Gustavo like this…

“Okay!” He called, interrupting her thoughts. “Time for fan preparedness training with the number one teen idol-”

“The what?” She found herself asking aloud, gripping the neck of her guitar a bit tighter as she noticed a familiar flash of brown hair emerge from the hallway.

Gustavo offered her a confused look, holding out his hand to present his guest, “Dak Zevon!”

Her blood ran cold, shock nearly sending her collapsing into the loud, concert-grade speakers behind her. Watching in horror as the idol slowly sauntered to the middle of the studio to shake Gustavo and Kelly’s hands, he didn’t look all that thrilled to be there either.

Before he could say anything, Roxy set her guitar down and zoomed off the stage, rapidly approaching her ex-boyfriend before any of her friends could stop her.

When Dak saw the way she squinted towards him and tightened her jaw, he knew he was in for trouble, especially when she reached out towards him and balled her fist in the collar of his black jacket, dragging him straight back out into the hallway from which he came.

Not caring how loud she was, or who heard what she had to say, she pulled him into the lunge area and pushed him backward onto one of the many white couches, standing with arms crossed in front of him. It was almost impossible to tune out the sound of her pounding heart ripping through her chest.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”

“Trust me, Roxy,” He snarled through gritted teeth. “I’d rather be anywhere else in the fucking world if I could.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged, considering you’re probably dating half the population of this town.”

Dak sucked in a breath, closing his eyes and running his hands down his face in exasperation. His usual, teen idol charm had been washed away; big superstar smiles replaced with snarls; perfect, charming lines replaced with crude language. This was who he truly was, not the boy she had been dating, and she was so much better off without him.

And she had been doing just fine forgetting all about him, until his unexpected arrival at her place of work this afternoon.

“My manager was… pissed when you dissolved Colossal Studio’s Varsity Vampire contract with Rocque Records. They lost a lot of time and money that day, and I wasn’t able to replace either.”

“Maybe you should’ve thought about that instead of shoving your tongue down Victoria Hodgkiss' throat.”

“Would you just-” The idol bit, before taking a deep breath as though he was calming himself down. “All I’m trying to do is make up with Gustavo and get the contract back to appease my manager and Colossal, so he said I could come to teach your stupid band and we’d revisit the deal after. Since he learned you ended it he’s been very persistent in not allowing it to be reinstated; this is my last chance at making everyone happy.”

Knowing that Gustavo had her back normally would have been very touching to the assistant, had she not currently been standing, trying to conceal the angry shaking of her hands, in front of the boy who tore her heart out mere weeks ago.

Throughout their time in Hollywood, there had only been one time where Gustavo hadn’t led them down the right path - the girl shuttered at the thought of the time she thought he stole her song - and even then he did it in the hope of helping her learn more about the music industry. Right now, her band was in the middle of one of the most intense training sessions of their lives and their producer was doing everything in his power to make it the best it could be.

There had to be a reason he invited Dak here, even knowing that something had happened between the idol and his writer.

Gustavo’s put a lot of faith in me… Maybe it’s time for me to give some back.

“You’re here to help them?” She asked, vaguely pointing towards the studio. It was getting harder to keep her cool, and she had avoided looking him straight in the face during their entire conversation. “You’re not going to give them any bogus tips or wrong information? None of the other thousands of record producers in Hollywood will make a contract with you?”

“You and I both know there’s no one better than Gustavo, Roxy. I’m here to help myself, don’t get this twisted.”

“Fine, but if anything happens, I’ll just go let Gustavo know all about your dating habits. One of his best friends works for People, you know. Good luck getting any kind of record deal in this town after that little piece of information leaks.”

That was a bald-faced lie; she had no idea about the kind of company her boss kept, if any, but at the prospect of having an unsavory piece of information leaked to the press about his two-timing, Dak paled a bit.

Though he tried to keep his cool, his eyes shifted nervously around the room, landing on four figures emerging from the other room.

When he didn’t serve her any kind of response, she moved to turn around, hoping he wouldn’t call her bluff. It would be nice if that kind of information would bring his career crashing and burning to the ground, but he’d probably just be marked as Hollywood’s youngest playboy; in fact, it might even increase his popularity.

Rotten little bas-

Before she entered the doorway to Studio A, the idol angrily called out, “Roxanne!”

“Say my name like that again and I swear it’ll be the last thing you ever speak.” She growled, whipping back around to face him. “If you want this record deal, I need you to tell me that you’re going to head back into that studio, act like your charming, perfect idol self is who you really are, and give my friends the information they need to become excellent performers. I’ll be professional, you’ll be professional, and we put this entire thing behind us… If not, I’ll head back in there myself and ask Logan to decorate your other eye. Got it?”

“...Got it.” The boy mumbled, moving to stand up and make his way back to where they had come from, eyes cast to the floor.

Once he popped back through the door and out of her sight, her text tone rang.

Buzz

K: Just give us the word, we’ll kick his ass.

R: I think we’ve come to an agreement. Milk him for all hes worth.

R: Sure hes a p.o.s. human, but hes one of the best performers on the planet

R: Plus I may have threatened him a bit

C: We heard. you were really loud

J: Gustavo and Kelly heard

L: Freight Train heard! You should see how he’s looking at Dak right now.

R: Tell G+K I’m sitting this practice out will you?

L: You’ve got it. We’ll do our best to use his knowledge to become better performers.

R: The best revenge I can ask for is BTR becoming bigger and better than Dak Zevon will ever be

***

After an emergency moral support conference call with Jo and Camille in her boss’ unoccupied office, Roxy finally found the courage to head into the studio and check on the band’s progress. They hated Dak just as much as she did, but she hoped that some of his teachings would get through to them and make them better performers. This tour and album release was bigger than her, bigger than any of them, and it meant so much to their careers as future artists. It would be stupid to ruin such a beautiful thing over a dumb guy who broke her heart.

Thankfully, when she emerged from her hiding place, she found Dak was long gone, and the boys were finally able to have a moment of rest in the lounge area outside of the office. Gustavo, Kelly, and Freight Train were having a small meeting on the other side of the room, while the band sprawled themselves out on the couch. Whatever Dak had taught them had taken its toll.

A paramedic was currently wrapping a large, white bandage around a protesting Carlos’ head. Of course, today had to be the one day he had decided to forgo wearing his helmet. Next to him, both Kendall and Logan wore slings on opposite arms, though Kendall seemed to be taking the brunt of the misfortune as a police officer was currently trying to detach a crazed, screaming girl from around his neck. And beside that, paying no mind to anything going on around him, was James, trying to figure out how to wiggle his fingers through the thick layer of medical bandages stretching over his wrist and hands.

“Boys, I am proud of you,” Addressed their boss, finally breaking out of the little team huddle he had with the other adults. “This concert is gonna take BTR to the next level and you have your first dress rehearsal in three days!” “And we want you to invite all of your friends from the Palm Woods so you can practice your stage swagger.” Added Kelly, who tossed about 20 laminated Big Time Rush V.I.P. passes toward the assistant.

Eagerly catching them, the girl sat down on the armrest of Carlos’ chair, ready to hear more about their upcoming rehearsal.

At the sight of the passes dangling in his assistant’s hands, her friend took this to be the end of their training for the day, “Roxy? You’re gonna drive us back to the Palm Woods, right?”

Nearly forgetting today was the first day the band had taken their new car to work, she traded the passes she was holding for the car keys in her bag. Twirling them around her finger, she nodded, trying to figure out how to usher four injured boys safely into the vehicle, sparing any bloodshed on the car’s perfect, white leather seats.

Before she could answer, Mr. X popped out of nowhere, running from the studio and into the room with Team BTR, waving his hands in an “X” motion, “No! A concert can last two hours, and you’ll need more endurance than a marathon runner carrying a cow!”

“Which is why you’ll be running back to the Palm Woods, carrying these microphones.” Their boss shared, he and Kelly holding up 4 mics, completely disregarding his heavily injured band.

When the four were tossed the equipment, they didn’t mask their cries of pain when they managed to catch them.

Pulling a megaphone out from the box of equipment beside him, Gustavo eagerly shouted, “Move, move, move it!” and the band immediately scrambled to their feet.

Feeling bad, their assistant slung her bag over her shoulder and quickly tied her hair up into a ponytail. Though her Vans didn’t make great running shoes, at least her shorts and t-shirt were semi-workout gear related. If she had to be on stage for just as long as her band did, she might as well make the trip in solidarity. Hopefully, her mornings in the gym with Jo would start paying off.

Trailing after her friends, probably running after them for the first time without one of them dragging her by the wrist, she smiled as they made their way down the many, many flights of stairs and out the doors of the building. When they got home, exhausted as they may be, they’d get to share the great news about the album and tour with all their friends and invite them to their special rehearsal. For their first concert crowd to be filled with all the people that helped shape their journey… It was going to be a wonderful, fulfilling experience.

The Palm Woods wasn’t far from Rocque Records by any means, but the band were in far worse shape than Roxy had originally thought. They had made it nearly there before having to take a break, walking for a couple of blocks before picking up their original pace once more - only made worse by the fact they were singing the setlist songs as well.

About 5 minutes from home, the assistant called Jo and Camille again, making sure the boys didn’t collapse from exhaustion first and asked her friends to come meet the guys in the lobby so they could share the news.

“Are you guys gonna make it the next two weeks to your concert?”

Finally, the band had managed to make it all the way to the pool area of the hotel before collapsing into the heavily padded patio furniture.

Jo’s question was more than fair, and the concerned looks covering her and Camille’s faces suggested they weren’t hiding their feelings about how terrible the boys looked after their day of training. Gently, the two girls handed their friends a few water bottles, hoping that if anything they could help them stay hydrated.

While their assistant gulped down as much of the bottle as she could, she felt a few drops of water trickle down her arm when the boys next to her managed to dump the bottles over their heads to cool off in the hot L.A. sun.

“Yep,” Kendall reassured her, hair now dripping from the soaking wet bath the boys had given themselves. “And it’s gonna rock!”

“And you and all the Palm Woods are invited to our dress rehearsal.”

Digging the passes out of her backpack as Logan finished speaking, Roxy passed her two friends each one of their own. “Mind passing out some of the extras?”

“Cool!” Camille beamed, admiring the “All Access” tagline at the bottom of the laminate. “We’re V.I.P.’s!” With a laugh, Jo placed the pass in her pocket, accepting the extra ones from the assistant as well, “Someday we’ll be able to say we knew them when…”

“Hey! Someday is today!” James exclaimed, standing up from his seat to face his friends. After the water bottle shower, his hair and clothes were dripping from pure saturation.

Though she was listening, Roxy may have had to look in the opposite direction once she found herself tracing the outline of his white tank top under his now see-through button-up.

“I have dreamed about this for so long and it’s finally gonna happen!”

Someday is today… Someday is today!

Reaching into her bag to pull out her songbook, the assistant completely ignored the screaming fan girl that had latched onto Kendall earlier dive straight into James.

They were big boys, they’d figure it out. For now, she had part of a song to write.

Twirling the pen a few times between her fingers to try and drown out the commotion around her, she finally caught her bearings and scribbled out a verse.

Someday it will come together,

Someday we will work it out,

I know we can turn it up all the way, ‘cause this is our someday.

Someday is what we make it,

Someday is right here and now.

Why wait? Why wait?

‘Cause this is our someday

Definitely the longest verse that had ever come to her on a whim, she anxiously wrote as fast as she could while the verse kept replaying in her head. There was another verse she had written somewhere a few pages back with a similar vibe, and a hard, rock guitar melody was playing in the background of her brain - muddling her thoughts even further.

Not meaning to be rude, but not wanting to listen to whatever her friends were talking about at the moment, the girl took off through the pool area, racing straight back up to her room.

When she finally had some peace and quiet, she was able to fully write out the guitar melody she was hearing play in the background, writing out the messy staffs on the next free page in her book.

Just like her friends, these next two weeks would need to be full of her own hard work to polish off her new song, and more than ever before, Roxy was thrilled about what their hard work would bring. Big Time Rush were finally about to carve themselves into Hollywood history, and she was so lucky to be a part of something so great.

I hope the band feels the same way about working with me.

***

Two weeks of intense training went by like a flash, and before any of the teens even realized it, their first concert performance was coming to an end. The assistant had even been able to finish her song, “This Is Our Someday” and was fortunate enough to have it added to the setlist for their dress rehearsal.

A crowd of all their friends from the Palm Woods, as well as Griffin and a few of his executives, along with Kelly, Gustavo, and Freight Train, were the first to witness Big Time Rush live and in person.

Ten songs were played that night; “Big Time Rush,” “Famous,” “Shot in the Dark,” A cover of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles, “Any Kind of Guy,” “City is Ours,” “Halfway There,” “Count on You,” “Stuck,” finishing on the newly completed “This Is Our Someday,” with each performance better than the last as the band grew more and more confidence from the crowd and each other.

The boys survived all their dance training, harmony practice, crazed fan girls rushing the stage, quick-time costume changes, and not once did anyone manage to get stuck in the mosh pit.

Every time Roxy witnessed her friends push through one of the challenges thrown their way, she wanted to find any cause for celebration she could but remained rooted in place towards the back of the stage with the other members of the live band. Big Time Rush weren’t the only four being tested during the show.

Jo and Camille were right there, center stage, no doubt an excellent source of inspiration for Kendall and Logan, but their smiling faces and clapping hands served as a motivator for the assistant as well. With each song, more and more members of the crowd sang along - knowing all the words to the songs Roxy had written - and it just about blew her mind.

On the end chord of their final song, Roxy didn’t place a hand on the strings of her guitar to stop the reverb from blasting through the speakers. Letting the sound emanate and simmer out as the crowd cheered louder than they ever had, watching the boys take their positions for the final bow, seeing their boss’ proud faces from the back of the concert venue… It was nearly too much for her.

We did it. Was all she could think as she gripped the pick in her hand tighter, before absentmindedly flicking it into the crowd. She didn’t even feel the pressure or pain she normally would on her fingertips after playing so intensely for so long.

When Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James, dipped into gracious bows, their assistant just about lost it. A stream of tears poured down her cheeks that she didn’t even bother to hide; all she could think about was how she could show them how much they meant to her and how pivotal they had been on her musical journey. Paying for dinner at whatever restaurant they spotted first felt like a great idea; she had sure worked up an appetite.

Once the cheering died down, Griffin stepped forward from the huddle of adults in the back of the room, calling out a few “bravo!” cheers here and there.

“Watching you boys go from nobodies to somebodies has been more thrilling than hunting humans, which is why it hurts me to say the album, tour, and this concert… are canceled.”

Shocked murmurs ran through the crowd, and for a moment, Roxy wondered if her in-ear monitors hadn’t done as good a job of blocking out the sound from the speaker right beside her as they should have.

He’s kidding, right? This must be another test to see how the band reacts to bad news.

A comforting thought, but not one that kept her stomach from painfully twisting at the prospect of having everything they had worked so hard towards be canceled in the blink of an eye.

Safe to say, no one reacted well.

Choruses of “What?!” came from Kelly and Gustavo, from the band, the crowd, from their friends, from Katie… and Roxy just stood in the corner of the stage, alone and petrified.

“What?” Griffin responded, caught up in the frenzy before clearing his throat and correcting himself. “I mean, yeah. Big Time Rush is dead!”

Those five words were all it took to knock the air completely out of the writer's lungs. For a moment her vision blurred beyond that of normal tears, and she had enough foresight to set her guitar down before she felt her legs give out and completely collapse to the floor.

She came to a few minutes later, cradled in someone’s arms, but still unable to catch her bearings through cloudy eyes. All she could hear at the moment was some sort of back-and-forth between the band and the CEO, but was too weak to do anything but pull whoever was holding her a bit tighter.

“What do you mean Big Time Rush is dead?”

Everyone spoke at once, voices melding together in the assistant’s mind, mixing in her senses with a familiar tropical cologne, fueling a monster headache.

Across from where they stood, Griffin snorted. “Accounting has just released their risk and feasibility report on Big Time Rush, and they decided it’s too risky and not feasible.”

“We’re shifting our strategy to children’s books on tape. No tour support is required. They have a higher profit margin and are super cheap to make.” A new, shrill voice shared - sounding like one of the female marketing executives the band had worked with before.

This was enough to get the girl to fully open her eyes and turn her head to see who was speaking, only to find herself nearly nose-to-nose with James. Neither of them said anything, just looking at each other for a moment, while they tried to process everything that was going on around them.

Like she imagined the rest of the band to be, his eyes were bloodshot, presumably due to serious lack of sleep, cheeks gaunt, beautiful tan paled… The nerves settling in her chest flared up again, but this time she didn’t think they were for the right reasons.

Beyond any protest, Griffin continued, “Which is why tomorrow, Gustavo will be producing ‘Can You Foo?’ as read by actor-environmentalist Ed Begley Jr.”

I’ll take my foo and shove it up his-

“But, Griffin,” James spoke up, securing his assistant a bit tighter in his arms. “This is our someday!”

“Close! It’s your last day. Sorry, Fellas, Roxanne, I like you; I do. But as we say in business… That’s business.”

More murmuring erupted through the crowd and Roxy desperately tried to seek out her other friends. Sensing this, James gently set her back down on her feet but still kept his arm firmly around her shoulders for support. Her legs still felt like jelly as she leaned into him, racking her brain to try and figure out something, anything, that could save her band.

That’s what assistants did. Yet, unlike every problem she and the band had managed to solve before, she was drawing a major blank.

“Mr. Griffin,” She weakly called, trying to move so she could be seen behind Gustavo’s frame. “There is no way you believe this is the right business decision. This band has shown you again, and again, and again how hard they’re willing to work to get you the results you want. Is a crowd filling the floor of this concert venue, screaming along to the words of their songs not enough to throw your cost-benefit-analysis bull out the window? We have been and will continue to do anything to prove to you how badly we want this!”

“Ah, when did you start studying business, Miss Somerset?” He asked, peering down over her boss’ shoulder at her.

When Roxy didn’t end up answering him, glancing down at the floor instead at his words, he let out a small chuckle.

“That’s what I thought… You don’t get to be in my position without having to make the tough calls, and my call right now is Big Time Rush is dead.”

“You can’t do this!” An unexpected shout came from the producer in front of her, once again adding to the list of things causing the worst stress headache Roxy had ever had. “We've been working our butts off! Our concert is in one week!”

“Don’t worry,” Griffin cooed, a chilling smile breaking out on his face as he peered over his now ex-employees. “That’s why I’m giving all of you… fruit baskets!”

In the entire span of their conversation, the writer had gone through denial, anger, and bargaining, and was now feeling a shift into mind-numbing depression. As Griffin walked away, signaling nothing else could be said or done about their situation she leaned into James’ shoulder and tried to mask the violent sobs that began to rip through her body. Gently, he wrapped his other arm around her, kindly giving her the open flap of his jacket to obscure her face with.

Right in front of them, Griffin had sat back and watched the progress her band had made from their first day in Los Angeles all those months ago. Those four boys had grown into talented singers, incredible dancers, and better people than they had been back in Minnesota. Being in Big Time Rush gave them a purpose far greater than playing high school hockey and hoping to maybe hit the major leagues one day. They had finally reached and attained their goals together, only to have it ripped right out from under them.

Eventually, she felt James try to guide her towards the venue’s exit, but she just gripped his jacket tighter in her hands, knuckles turning a painful white. At some point, she was ushered into a stretch limousine that had been reserved in anticipation for a celebratory night out on the town but was now ready to take them back to the Palm Woods, where they’d spend their last night before being sent back to Minnesota.

Inside, James’ shoulder turned into Kendall’s, then Carlos’, and finally Logan’s, who did his best to get her out of the limo and into the hotel with him once they had arrived. By the time they reached 2-J, he pulled her into the room he shared with Carlos and gave her his bed. He had sensed she shouldn’t be alone tonight and set up his own makeshift bed on the floor beside her.

It was all so disorienting and she moved as slow and shakily as a zombie. Roxy felt so sick, gross, disgusting… Like she was the biggest failure on the planet. Not only had she let herself down, but she had also let her friends down by not fighting Griffin back harder.

Maybe if my songs were better, or the melodies were smoother. I knew I should have practiced piano more… Should I have given Kendall’s verse in ‘Any Kind of Guy’ to Carlos? Or maybe it should have been a ballad instead… I’m the worst songwriter-assistant in the entire world.

As she lay tucked under Logan’s covers for the remainder of the night, she clutched his hand in her own as it dangled off the side of the mattress, taking comfort in the small galaxy of glow stars on the ceiling above her, dreading the moment the sun would rise the next day.

***

Whatever moving company Kelly had ended up hiring made quick work of Roxy’s apartment, placing everything she owned in boxes and hauling it down to the large truck waiting outside. It had been difficult for her to part with her tape player, many shoeboxes full of the old music formats, and her instruments; she didn’t even know how many “fragile” stickers she had placed on the sides of the boxes they’d be transported in. The only thing she hadn’t allowed the movers to take was her acoustic guitar, which was far too precious to leave in the hands of another person. For most of the time they had spent packing, she had managed to keep them out of her room as she placed the most important items she owned in her suitcase and carry-on. Second only to when the band and their assistant had first arrived in Los Angeles, her room felt so much bigger without her numerous posters and pictures lining the walls. They would be as protected as they had been when they had first moved, in a large, flat folder that was nearly impossible to bend; despite the fact the number of wall decorations she had nearly doubled as she had put up as many Big Time Rush posters as she could find and images of her new friends she had taken.

As the girl finished her final task, clearing out her closet, she received countless text messages from Jo and Camille. Since the band and their assistant had helped Camille find a way to stay in Hollywood through their music video, the two girls had been blowing up her phone with ideas to help convince Griffin Big Time Rush was worth saving. It was a sweet gesture, but Roxy felt so exhausted she couldn’t even muster up a response - simply allowing the group chat the three of them were in together to fill up with unread messages.

By the time she had handed her last bag off to the movers, she felt sick to her stomach. She needed to get out of her empty apartment immediately. Grabbing her suitcase, guitar, and mini-backpack, she allowed her feet to carry her into 2-J, which was packed to the brim with brown boxes containing Big Time Rush merchandise Katie had been planning to sell outside the concert the band was supposed to perform in six days.

Though the writer was barely able to squeeze her way through the treacherous brown trail, eventually she found herself in the middle of the apartment where Carlos was packing what looked like the last of his clothing into a large duffel bag. Beside him, Katie was going through a box of hats she had purchased, trying unsuccessfully to pack the inconveniently shaped merchandise back inside.

Once the young girl noticed Roxy walk in, she let out a little groan to try and garner some sympathy, “Great! I just spent 3,000 bucks making t-shirts, posters, and hats on a band that doesn’t even exist!”

This had no effect on the older girl who passed Katie by to take a seat next to Carlos on the orange sectional. Though the boy was packing, he placed a comforting arm around his friend’s shoulders and pulled her into his side before glancing over his shoulder at Katie, “I’ll take a hat. It’ll be a nice memory of what almost was.”

“That’ll be $3,000.” The young businesswoman deadpanned.

In lieu of a response, Carlos flopped the hat down onto Roxy’s head and got back to his packing.

From across the way, the girl noticed Mrs. Knight packing up the dishes in the kitchen, before aggressively pounding her fist on the bathroom door.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“James! The moving van is coming. You have to come out of the bathroom!”

When the door opened, the wannabe emerged, completely panic-stricken.

Seems like he hasn’t made it past grief stage 1.

“I am dreaming.” The boy stated, as if he were trying to convince himself their situation wasn’t as terrible as it was. “You are not real. Ha! The concert’s in a week!”

A few more bouts of crazed laughter and James slammed the bathroom door, locking himself inside. Apparently, he wasn’t taking to their situation as well as Roxy thought he was.

“Classic denial response,” Katie observed, crossing her arms as she eyed a few more of her merch boxes. “It’s sad really.”

From the kitchen, her mother scoffed, continuing to gently pack their cookware. “Katie, you need to pack your things too!”

“I’m dreaming. You’re not real! The concert’s in one week!”

Screaming similarly to James, Katie used her mother’s shock and confusion at her words to run between a few towering stacks of boxes to obscure her from view and skirt her responsibilities.

Buzz buzz

At the sound of her text tone going off, Roxy was quick to pull out her phone and examine the messages she had been trying to ignore all morning. Anywhere was better than the mess of 2-J at the moment.

J: SOS! Pool emergency!!

C: need you down here NOW

In a matter of seconds, the girl was up off the couch and barreling down towards the Palm Woods pool. Though only for a moment, her own personal worries were temporarily suspended and completely crowded with concern for her friends. On top of having to part ways with their best friend, both of them were losing their boyfriends as well.

When I told them about the tour they said that they were more than fine with long distance… Do Kendall and Logan think otherwise?

As Roxy reached the deck and made her way into the hot, summer sun, she spied the two girls sitting under one of the green umbrella-covered tables towards the back of the pool. Both of them looked to be alright, and nothing was going on around them, but the writer approached with caution just in case.

When Jo spotted her friend, she tapped Camille on the shoulder and each of them placed one item on the table. A strawberry banana smoothie from the café and a large, red, cloth-bound book filled Roxy’s vision as she took the empty chair across from the pair.

“Hey…” Jo stated hesitantly, not quite looking Roxy in the eye. “We know the last few hours have been a bit rough but-”

“Surprise!”

Cutting the other girl off, Camille pushed the drink and the book in front of the writer, expectantly looking back and forth between the items.

Confused, but grateful her friends were trying to cheer her up during such a hard time, Roxy carefully opened the cover of the book and found the first picture the three girls had ever taken together taped down on the first page.

After a particularly harrowing episode of Vampire Diaries, the trio had decided to make a midnight pilgrimage to Inside-Out Burger for some consolation fries and milkshakes. The three of them had squeezed into one side of a small booth in order to take the image, as evidenced by Roxy, two fries hanging out of her mouth, practically sitting on Jo’s lap as the blonde girl pretended to kiss her on the cheek. Beside them, Camille was showing off her milkshake to her camera with a wink and a bright smile.

Underneath, there was a small note written in Jo’s handwriting.

Inside-Out Night! Love you to the “moo” and back <3

“We were going to wait until your birthday,” Camille said as the writer looked up at her two friends, eyes wide. “But now seemed like a more appropriate time.”

Wordlessly, Roxy continued to flip through the pages, finding them filled with the pictures the three girls had taken and shared with each other over their months together in Los Angeles - each paired with an adorable caption. Her mind swirling with memories of the past, from days lounging by the pool, to the time Roxy and the band had snuck the girls into the studio at Rocque Records, to the long nights spent at each other’s apartments gushing about music and auditions and life… The feelings of gratitude and love washing over her were nearly too much to bear; having this book handmade just for her made her feel so supported and cared for.

Though it was hard, once she reached the blank pages in the back, Roxy looked up through her misty eyes at her best friends. Completely forgetting about her smoothie, she reached both her hands out to grab her friend’s, “Thank you both, so, so, so much. This is the best gift I’ve ever received.”

Upon hearing that, her friends breathed out sighs of relief.

How could they have been worried? This is perfect.

Smiling wide, but sorrowful, Jo shared, “We know there’s a lot of blanks, but we figured we can fill them up when we come to visit you!”

“Like… In Minnesota?”

“Duh,” Camille half-giggled, squeezing the girl’s hand. “I’ve wanted to visit there since you showed me the pictures on your walls… Duluth looks so charming!”

Charming certainly wasn’t the word Roxy would use to describe her hometown, but maybe her two friends would be able to breathe some new life into her nothing-town.

“I promise to call, text, video-chat, write, everything, as often as I can.” Assured the writer. “Besides going back to school in the fall I can’t think of anything that will keep me busy… Oh! And we’ve got a pull-out couch in our living room where you guys can sleep whenever you want to come…”

Her anxious rambling continued, listing off every little thing she could think of to help make her goodbye any easier until she noticed Kendall and Logan making their way down the small stretch of the pool to the table the girls were sitting at.

“Ah, it looks like my time is up,” Roxy said, voice nearly dropping to a whisper.

Carefully, she picked up the scrapbook, tucking it under her arm as she stood up and faced Jo and Camille. Almost instantaneously, her friends stood up as well, tackling her into a tight group hug.

If there was one moment in her life Roxy could relive for the rest of her days, it would have been that; there was no better feeling than Jo and Camille holding her close, trying to pour every ounce of love they had into one hug.

“I love you both endlessly.” Roxy breathed, doing her best to remember the warm feeling. “Thank you for making my stay in Hollywood unforgettable.”

As she pulled away, she did her best to keep a straight face; too many tears had been shed over the last 12 hours, and she didn’t want her friends’ last memory to be one of her crying. It appeared as though the other girls were attempting to do the same, dabbing at their eyes to try and hide the trail streaming down their faces.

“We love you too,” Whispered Camille. “And we’ll miss you!”

With a nod, Jo agreed, “It won’t be the same here when you’re gone.”

Whether or not he was trying to save her from the awkwardness of a final goodbye, or he just really wanted to talk to Jo, Kendall broke the silence that followed the girl’s comments with something Roxy didn’t really hear. The girl was too focused on keeping her composure, tightly gripping the photo album in her hands, as she made her way back into the hotel.

I just can’t believe we’re going back to Minnesota.

***

Roxy’s situational disbelief ended the moment she stepped foot into LAX.

Be it from the sadness eating away at her thoughts, the anxiety she felt about stepping on a plane, or the self-loathing creeping in from the back of her mind, almost immediately she nervously clasped her hand into Logan’s as they weaved in and out through the countless other travelers. All around them, it seemed like everyone’s emotions were amplified nearly tenfold as they navigated their way past security and to the airplane gate.

To their left, a crying toddler was trying to tell his mother he had left his favorite stuffed animal on their plane, to their right, a large family clad in matching orange “Alvarez Family Reunion” t-shirts chattered about how excited they were to spend their next week in Disneyland. In the security line, a woman was openly yelling at a T.S.A. agent about how many ounces were in her very obviously too-large shampoo bottle. By the gate, an elderly couple were discussing the fastest route to Duluth’s biggest hospital from the airport to meet their new granddaughter.

Everyone else’s stories interested Roxy far more than her own, so she quietly listened in hoping maybe she’d find some sort of inspiration for a miracle song that could keep them in Los Angeles before their plane boarded in half an hour. Beyond that, she didn’t register much beyond the horrible feeling rooting in her stomach.

When a song never ended up occurring to the writer, and the seven silently trudged to their seats in the back of the airplane, the three-by-three seat layout separated Roxy, who needed to be on the aisle for easy restroom access, and Logan, who won the rock-paper-scissors match that determined who got one of the two window seats.

As Mrs. Knight graciously took a seat in the row behind the teens and her daughter; Katie, another window seat winner, James, and Kendall took one section, while Roxy, Carlos, and Logan took the other.

For the duration of the entire flight, Carlos was undoubtedly Roxy’s savior. It took only 20 minutes in the air until the girl had to hastily unbuckle her belt and run to the bathroom to drain the contents of her stomach. Yet, when she came back to her seat she found he had asked a flight attendant for motion sickness medication and moved the armrest dividing their space so she could snuggle into his shoulder and try to sleep her sickness away.

When that didn’t work and she got up for the second time about halfway through, she came back to him offering up one of his earbuds so they could listen to a mix he had made of his current favorite hip hop and Latin hits to try and distract her from her discomfort. Every once and a while he would rattle off a fact about the song’s artist or a memory he had associated with it, which Roxy found entertaining, as long as it took her mind off her unsettled stomach.

Nearly seven hours later, when she was finally able to exit the plane and run to the bathroom in the Duluth International Airport, Carlos was quick to pick up her mini backpack and guitar to safeguard until she made it back to the group.

At this point in her travels, she had been hoping to call her dad to come pick her up from the airport and save her the embarrassment of breaking down in front of her band, but he was caught up with some unexpected work at the mine. Fortunately, the airport had a shuttle to take the large group, but the driver claimed to only be able to make one stop before his shift ended.

Finding herself now standing outside the Sherwood grocery store with all her possessions, Roxy was trying to determine the fastest way she could get home. The act of the seven of them ending their journey right in the same place it had begun was brutal, and affecting the girl far more than she would like to admit.

Taxi, taxi, taxi… She reminded herself, as she tried to pull her phone out of her back pocket while juggling her suitcase, mini backpack, and guitar case. Humidity from the lake a few miles away radiated in the air, filling her nose with the familiar scent as she focused on the small screen.

“Okay-” Kendall began, clapping his hands, before he was swiftly cut off by James.

“This dream is so real!” Nervous laughter ran off the tall boy in waves as he put his arms around Kendall and Carlos’ shoulders. “This totally looks like Minnesota!”

In front of them, a man wearing a red Sherwood apron was gathering the carts from the corral back into the front of the store. When he noticed the seven standing in the middle of the parking lot with all their belongings piled into boxes behind them, he cocked his head in confusion while pushing the carts inside.

“Kendall? You’re back! Can you take the afternoon shift?”

The blond tried to protest as a red apron was shoved into his chest, “I-”

“Great!” The man said, not letting the blond get a word in edgewise as he continued into the store.

Maybe I should call the radio station. But, taxi first-

“No!” The long-haired boy next to her screamed, seemingly out of nowhere, causing her to drop her guitar case in shock.

It seems James had finally come back to reality, realizing that the band had, in fact, been shipped back to Minnesota and his pop-star fantasy was ruined as he began to take off to the other side of the parking lot. Where to, none of the other six knew.

When Roxy was able to grab her phone, she noticed a few notifications of messages from Jo and Camille to respond to later but noticed a lack of messages from either Kelly or Gustavo. Neither of them had done anything to stand up to Griffin after the concert and hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye before their flight in the morning.

They’re probably onto their next project, and we’re completely forgotten. What does it say about Big Time Rush if they don’t think we’re worth fighting for?

Pushing a few boxes under the store’s front awning, Mrs. Knight let out a sigh.

“We don’t live too far, if I leave these here can you kids watch them while I walk home and grab my van? Then we can load up these things and I can get everyone home.”

***

After all of the moving boxes had been removed from the front of the Sherwood grocery store and returned to their proper homes via Mrs. Knight’s van, Kendall had messaged everyone asking them to come back to the store and accompany him on his first shift back.

Once they gathered in front of the store, the teens let out a chorus of displeased grumbles, but lazing around the entrance to a grocery store was just about the only fun thing they could think to do in Duluth over the summer.

Separate from his other friends, James returned from wherever he had run off to earlier, now wheeling a BMX bike beside him, and collapsed onto one of the patio furniture displays for a big summer sale at the front of the store. Thinking this a good idea, Roxy, Carlos, and Logan followed while Kendall donned his red apron, bolded nametag, and gray beanie to get back to work.

Unable to do anything besides zone out and try not to focus on the events of the last 24 hours, Roxy watched her friend trail around the parking lot, rounding up the blue shopping carts from their corrals and bringing them to the front of the store. While her mind normally ran rampant with want to help her friends or song lyrics and accompanying melodies, as she sat in one of the display’s fold-out chairs, cringing as Carlos dipped his feet into the water in the plastic kiddie pool display in front of them. All she could think about was how much she wished she was back home at the Palm Woods.

On a chair to her right, Logan didn’t seem to be sharing the same sentiment. Instead, he was attempting to soak up what little bits of Minnesota sun shone through from beyond the clouds. However, the goosebumps rising on his skin suggested that the weather in Minnesota was far more unappealing than the weather in Los Angeles. Oppositely, to her left, James was too busy anxiously bouncing his leg up and down, chin in hand as he intently stared at a trail of ants crawling along the cracked blacktop.

“T-shirts! Get your Big Time Rush t-shirts!” Katie called from behind the teens, pulling Roxy out of her stupor; a small table was set up in front of the store doors like she were a girl scout trying to sell some delicious cookies. “It’s also good for cleaning rags and organic dog food!”

Just as the writer was about to turn around and spray the little girl with a stream of water from the pool, Kendall annoyingly called her name, as he wagged a finger towards her, “Katie! Not helping.”

“Yeah… but the pool display is!” Carlos laughed, splashing a bit of the dirty water on the concrete under the plastic.

A few drops landed on the girl’s leg, soaking some parts of her dark blue jeans. Now she was depressed and uncomfortable.

Pants in the summer? God, I hate this town.

“If you close your eyes and Carlos splashes water on you, it’s like you’re still at the Palm Woods…” Logan offered, while his friend by the pool sent more droplets their way.

It was enough to make the boy laugh as he languished in the spray, something that also brought a smile to Kendall’s face.

How are those three having such a good time?

At his statement, Roxy scoffed, “Sure. If the pool was always cold, lifeless, and dreary. We don’t need something like the Palm Woods, we need the actual Palm Woods!”

“And we have got to keep the band going!” Cried James, finally carrying his eyesight a few inches farther up than his shoes. Eagerly, he stood up, pacing the distance between the cart corral and the furniture display. “We’ll keep rehearsing and get back to Los Angeles! We cannot give up.”

“Exactly!” The girl backed him up, springing out of her seat as well to join him. His Kendall-like speech was just the right amount of encouragement she needed to hear. “I can write us a few more songs and the four of you can put some choreography together! Then we can film some audition tapes and mail them off to some of the big record companies out west! We did it once, and I have full confidence we can do it again.”

There was a brief moment of silence between the five before Kendall opened his mouth and blew out a puff of air. “James… Rox… We’re not giving up. We’re moving on.”

His words hit her like a pound of bricks, causing the girl to reach out and steady herself on the nearest shopping cart.

Move on from Big Time Rush?

“And I’m not gonna waste a perfectly good day of my life feeling sorry for myself!” The blond continued, taking the cart out from under Roxy’s arms with what she was sure was supposed to be an encouraging smile. “None of us should.”

Wafting the air under his nose, Logan chuckled, “I smell speech.”

With a nod, Kendall took a few steps toward his friends. “Logan, was it your dream to be a Hollywood pop star or a doctor?”

“A doctor.” He replied, taking his sunglasses off.

“Then call up that prep school you say all the doctors come from and get an interview!”

“Yes, but,” Roxy cut in, “In L.A. you told me all the time you’d just take their classes online once you were ready!”

Standing up, Logan shot her a sympathetic look before turning towards the blond. “Good speech so far.”

“And, Carlos,” Followed Kendall, “What was your dream?”

At the mention, Carlos fully stepped into the pool, splashing the water around with his feet as he giggled, “To be hit by a radioactive meteor and fight crime as… Meteor Man!”

“Okay… We can work on that-”

Abruptly cutting him off, the girl stated, “By writing an original screenplay and submitting it to Colossal Studios! Their offices are only a block away from Rocque Records.”

Neither of their dreams were unachievable in Los Angeles, she just needed a way to convince her friends of that. A million solutions began to run through her brain as she tried to quickly calculate the best course of action to get the boys on board with her plan.

However, before she was able to get another word in, next to her, James practically exploded in anger, red covering his normally perfectly pink cheeks.

“Those dreams are stupid!” He shouted towards Logan and Carlos, before turning to Kendall and continuing, “And you’re stupid, because Gustavo’s coming back!”

“Coming back?”

If Roxy hadn’t been standing right beside Kendall, she might not have heard the slight break in his voice as he pushed out those two words.

After his inspiring words and James’ outburst, tensions were beginning to run high. Of course, no one wanted a friend to mock their dreams, and the scowls beginning to form on Carlos and Logan’s faces were evidence enough of their growing displeasure with the long-haired boy. But, it was only when Kendall stepped out of line with James and Roxy to join his other two friends on the opposite side of the kiddie pool, the girl realized she was fighting a losing battle.

Furthermore, it shouldn’t have even been a battle. The majority of the time the five spent in Hollywood had been fighting tooth and nail to prove their place among the halls of Rocque Records. All the times they had collided with Gustavo or fought back against Griffin’s absurd rules of business had become a staple in their everyday lives as they continued to prove time and time again their blood, sweat, and tears were bigger than everyone on Team Big Time Rush combined.

How was it now, Roxy and James were the only two of them to believe their band was something worth fighting for?

“He didn’t even say goodbye. Look around, you two! There’s nobody pulling up in a shiny car offering to make our dreams come true.”

Beep beep

This, of course, was the perfect time for a shiny, black Cadillac to screech to a halt in the tiny Sherwood parking lot, right in front of the aggravated blond who was nearly too busy glaring at his friends to notice.

Once the automated, dark-tinted back window rolled down, Kendall finally took his eyes off the pair to glance over at the sharp-dressed stranger who was clearly trying to get his attention.

“Kendall Knight?” The man asked, slightly tilting his head towards the teens.

Hesitantly, the boy took a few steps toward the vehicle. “Yes?”

Taking a second to straighten his tie, a small smile appeared on the man’s face as he pushed a large yellowing envelope out through the rolled-down window. “I’m the athletic director at the University of Minnesota, and this is an invitation to skate with the team this Saturday.”

As she processed the man’s words, Roxy cursed her lack of knowledge of college hockey, but was able to gather this invitation was an immense offer when Carlos and Logan’s mouths hung wide open as they slowly approached the car as well.

Beside the writer, Roxy could practically feel the anger radiating off James in waves, but she didn’t make any moves to try and calm him down out of fear of missing any part of the conversation between her friend and the director.

“This is the Golden Gopher High School All-Star Skate… How did you-”

Cutting Kendall off, the man threw a large maroon and gold jersey Kendall’s way. “Your mom told me I could find you here and I hope to see you there.”

Speeding off once again, the three boys began fawning over the jersey reading All Stars 13 on the front - a reference to the all-star status and Kendall’s jersey number from the team at Mountain Aire High.

Over the last months in Hollywood, the boys had done nothing but show their songwriter endless and unwavering support and right now, Roxy could feel her heart practically swell and burst with pride. She desperately wished to bridge the gap between her friends, grab James’ hand and pull him closer to the other three, and celebrate this major milestone for Kendall, but if she did that, it was almost a guarantee her Los Angeles dreams would be thrown directly out the window.

The feeling of joy, of excitement rapidly flowing through her body was quickly replaced with the sickly feeling of jealousy knotting up her insides as she began to realize just what that letter meant for the future of Big Time Rush.

Why do their dreams get to come true instead of mine?

Sounds of celebration from Logan, Carlos, and Kendall drowned out the sound of James’ sneakers pounding on the pavement as he stalked over to his blue and white bike.

It was nearly too loud for the writer to hear as well, trying to suppress the envy boiling over inside of her, as she watched her friends practically jubilate over what felt like her downfall. Moving on, in most cases, was good, healthy even, but she was still having trouble wrapping her head around what was so different about the times in Hollywood they had successfully fought to keep their band together and now. It seemed to her, keeping the band together was only important when it was convenient to her friends.

“You’re all quitters.” James loudly declared as he pointed to the other three boys, making an elderly patron walking out of the Sherwood store jump at the volume of his voice. “Big Time Rush is not dead!”

Though she shared the wannabe’s sentiment, she certainly wasn’t expecting him to pop his black bicycle helmet onto her head and motion toward the handlebars of his bike. When she hesitated, not wanting to choose between the two groups even if Kendall, Carlos, and Logan were pissing her off, James grabbed her hand and pulled her backward.

The decision, at this point, had been made for her, and she quietly followed his lead as she propped herself onto the handlebars of his bike.

“It’s nice to know just how much this band meant to you,” Roxy said, tone practically dripping with sarcasm. Though she winced as soon as the words left her mouth, she tried to remedy her previous statement with a kinder, “We have a great thing together and it doesn’t have to end this way.”

A hand on the girl’s waist startled her, yet kept her stable as James pushed off from the curb, mumbling something about his three friends under his breath as the pair began to make their way away from the Sherwood. As much as Roxy would like to believe her words would have any effect on her friends, she had noticed the spark behind Logan’s eyes when he discussed his medical school interview and the excitement written on Kendall’s face as he slipped the hockey jersey over his head. Even Carlos had shared in their celebrations, seeing as they had helped him redetermine his dream to be a superhero.

The only time she had ever seen James anywhere near as passionate about something was the day of his pop star audition. Right now, it felt as though they were allowing his dream to die in order to further theirs.

Similar to James, she had no alternate dream; there had been no room for backups or Plan Bs. Even allowing space to occupy her mind with a different career or life path had felt like a waste. For the last few years of her life, she had been working towards Hollywood, and just when she had finally grasped it, she had let it slip through her fingers.

After a few minutes, the anxious thoughts swirling around her brain had reached near-unthinkable levels, so when James had finally cooled down enough to speak, it was a very welcome change.

“So, um…” This was enough to pull her out of her spiral, slightly tilting her head back to let him know she had heard him and trying very hard not to think about why he was still holding onto her waist. “There’s not any way for me to ask ‘Where do you live?’ without it being creepy.”

“We’re friends, James. You can ask me questions without it being weird, I promise.”

For a while, the only sound was the spinning of his wheels against the black bike chain connecting the gears as the girl realized she didn’t answer his question.

“Off Ceder and Airedale, a bit beyond the old Duluth general store.”

“Shit…” He mumbled at her words, causing her to tighten her grip on his handlebars in anticipation of a fall. But it never came, and James kept peddling and peddling. “That’s clear in the opposite direction… We’d have to pass by the store again.”

Involuntarily, Roxy let out a laugh, “No we wouldn’t, just cut through the park here,” She motioned to the right and he easily followed her directions, riding down a path lined with beautiful, green trees. “Then turn down this alley and it’ll loop around,” This time her hand flew to the left, and he nearly missed the turn, but with a quick maneuver that made the girl’s heart jump in fear he had managed to get on the dirt path.

Silence - again - and Roxy had a hard time trying to break it. There was only so much she could say to help try and cheer him up after a big fight with their friends, yet all she could manage was, “Where do you live?”

The snort he let out almost reverberated in her eardrum, had he always been leaning that close into her?

“My mom lives on 1st and Maine and my dad lives on Oak and Bearing.”

God, they couldn’t have picked two parts of town any further apart…

“Oh…” Roxy said involuntarily, understanding what he was getting at. Two different houses for two different parents. “That must have been tough for you.”

When he didn’t respond, she realized how her comment must’ve sounded and a knot of guilt twisted in her stomach. Ten minutes ago, they had what just felt like a bad breakup with their closest friends, and now he was talking about his divorced parents. She really knew how to drive an uplifting conversation.

“You know, I think it’s kind of funny,” She tried again, hoping to change the direction entirely. “We’ve both lived in this town all our lives and we’d never even met until we both signed up for that audition.”

Letting out a small “Mhm,” James continued to keep his eyes on the path ahead of them.

Cold, yet gentle, the breeze lifted and jostled Roxy’s hair under the helmet as the two finally made it out of the gravel alleyway and onto the sidewalk of her street. This conversation was awkward, uncomfortable even; there had never been a point in time where she had seen her friend so blasè about what was going on around him. Everything they had done in Los Angles had been a new adventure, something they were able to embark on together to get their band in the top spot at Rocque Records, and even when they had done that, it hadn’t been enough to prove to Griffin that they were of value to the company.

So maybe it’s time to find a new record label… Maybe an independent owner this time.

“We’ll find a way to get back there, James.”

His response was immediate. “I’m not sure we would’ve the first time had it not been for you.”

“Well,” It was hard to bite back the smile forming on her face as he pulled up to her house, which she quickly pointed towards to let him know where to drop her off. When he stopped in front of the large porch, she hopped off the handlebars, spinning around to face him as she placed her hands over his and leaned in. “Good thing you’ve got me on your side then.”

With a wink, she popped the helmet off her head and into his chest, before gently hopping up the wooden steps to the front door, and he called out, “Yeah, I think it is!”

***

It didn’t take long for Roxy to seek escape from the uncomfortable familiarity of her bedroom.

Sure it was her room, but after Los Angeles, it certainly didn’t feel right to call it that. Not when the one back in 2-H was waiting for her to come back and put all her posters back where they belonged, fill the mirrored closet with every article of clothing she could shove in there, or have a sleepover with Jo and Camille.

The day was slowly coming to an end, meaning her father would be home from work sometime soon, so the writer decided to head to the kitchen and see if she could scrape anything dinner-like together from what he had left in the fridge.

Cool blast of air emanating from the fridge making her shiver, she popped the double doors open to find the shelves nearly empty.

Does he even go to the store?

Pushing the thought out of her mind, she headed to the pantry and found it similarly stocked. Though, the gallon of milk, jar of Cool Whip, packages of instant vanilla pudding, and sleeve of Oreo cookies did tell her he was still picking up the ingredients of their favorite dessert.

It brought a smile to her face as she collected the four components onto the kitchen counter, tying up her hair as she decided to put together tonight’s batch of Oreo fluff salad. Flicking on the radio on the windowsill, she peered out the window, into the forest backing her house as she lost herself in her thoughts.

“It’s salad, so it’s gotta be healthy, right?” He told her as she was growing up, pulling out the ingredients and arranging them in a row, similar to how she was now.

“Salad’s green!” She’d giggle in response, though would never protest no matter how many times a week he’d make it.

“So, we’ll put green food dye in!”

As she began to combine the milk and pudding together, Roxy couldn’t remember the last time she had had her favorite treat.

Trying her best to remember, her thoughts were interrupted by the radio DJ announcing, “Next up on Homegrown, Duluth’s Finest: The new single from Brand New Day-”

Just as quick as it had been turned on, Roxy flipped the radio back off, doing her best to let the good memories of dessert flow through her mind.

Throughout her life, her dad had always found a reason to make Oreo fluff salad, but his only prerequisite was it could only be made for special occasions. And many special occasions there were; her first day of school, losing her first tooth, the day she wrote her first song that sounded suspiciously like “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne on her guitar, even the night of her first kiss - though he was noticeably less than thrilled to be celebrating that.

Tonight’s celebration? She thought, dripping a few drops of green food coloring she had found in the back of one of the drawers into the white concoction. Having Oreo fluff salad together for the first time in forever… Getting an album almost put out before Mag and Dani… Or maybe the fact I have someone who will always support me…

Absentmindedly beginning to hum the opening lines to “Complicated” to fill the silence after cutting the radio, the writer stopped mixing in the Cool Whip, blankly staring into the bowl, as she realized the last part of her thought had been pertaining to James, not her father.

Letting that sink in a bit more, she let her train of thought freely ride its rails as she thought about all the times he had been right by her side. Coming to her aid as WayneWayne stepped up to her, pulling her away from the alligator in Gustavo’s mansion, taking her to the dance after her horrific break-up, helping her work through the stress of creating a music video…

“I’d just hate to see another douchebag break your heart.”

Even though her fingers were covered with crushed Oreo dust, she felt her hand move up towards her face, grazing the side of her cheek where he had cupped her face the day she had acted as a bad luck magnet for Jordin Sparks.

He’s always there for me.

It was nearly impossible to deny the warmth pulsating under her skin.

Shit.

Before Roxy was able to process what these feelings meant to her, the door to the garage noisily opened, and the sound of crinkled paper bags and heavy work boots on the wooden floor let her know that her father had made it home safely.

Eagerly dumping the remaining crushed cookie bits into the green mixture before placing the dish in the fridge to cool, she yelled, “Dad!”

When he finally made his way into the kitchen through the mud room, his daughter lit up at the two fast food bags he held in his hand. It looked like he was pulling out all the stops, bringing home the best burgers in town from Bun In A Million.

The moment he set the bags on the table, she sped over and wrapped him in a bear hug, arms easily sliding around his waist as she squeezed him tighter and tighter.

“Oof!” He joked, pretending to be winded from her quick contact, before settling his arms around her shoulder, crushing her right back. As he spoke, his thick Southern accent rolled off his tongue, “Jesus, Honey Bun, I can’t tell you how great it is to see your shinin’ face after a long day at work.”

***

Now well into the evening, Roxy was sprawled out on her bed, loudly playing the tape of her favorite songs in the cassette player she had left sitting on her nightstand. Even after blowing off the thick layer of dust that had settled on top of it, it still played her music like it was brand new, currently spinning “Don’t Look Back In Anger” by Oasis.

After recounting the last few days she and the band had spent in Los Angeles over heavenly burgers and fries, her father first asked if she wanted some alone time, and then without waiting for her answer, asked if she wanted to watch the Vikings game.

It was much to his surprise, she asked if he wanted to watch whatever hockey game she presumed was on. Each and every night back at the Crib it seemed like the boys were watching something hockey related, so when he told her nothing was on that night, she conceded to hanging out in her room to try and make it feel like home again.

She hadn’t meant to get so fixated on the song she was currently listening to, but once the line “Please don’t put your life in the hands, of a rock n’ roll band, who’ll throw it all away,” crawled through the speakers, she kept reaching her hand out to press the rewind button to hear the message over and over again.

It was only because she was rewinding it, and the tape made a soft whir, she was able to hear the telltale sound of the doorbell ringing and the squeaking of her father’s recliner as he moved to get up before the song started playing again.

Sure feels like they threw it all away.

Whir.

Everyone but James.

Whir.

James… Who is always there for me…

Whir.

This time, she left the song finally play out, staring absentmindedly at her bland, white ceiling. The longer her music played the longer she could focus on that, not her newfound, complicated feelings toward one of her closest friends.

I need to talk to Jo and Camille… It’s late, but they’re only two hours behind-

Knock knock

“Roxy, someone’s here to see you, Honey-” Her dad called through the door before it was abruptly pulled open, making a light sound as it tread over the carpet.

Immediately, she shot up, certainly not in the state to meet any visitors right now as she reached to shut her tape player off.

“Roxy! I did it! I did it!”

A brown-haired blur shot across her messy room, grabbing her hands and pulling her off her bed, into an incredibly solid chest. One that smelled a lot like ‘Cuda Spice Lime and rose and fell against her own with every, “I did it!”

That was until her father coughed into his hand while he stood in the doorway and James promptly pushed Roxy an arm's length away from him. As the boy practically shook with excitement, he looked back toward the man in the doorway and gave him a sheepish smile before taking one more step back from the writer.

As much as she desperately needed to figure out what “I did it!” meant, it was hard to ignore the way James was, first of all, standing in the middle of her bedroom after she had just been thinking about him, and second of all, flickering his eyes back and forth between Roxy and her father.

The two of them got strange looks an awful lot. It’s just what happens when someone becomes a father at seventeen years old.

At first, the comments are always well-intentioned, at least that’s what Roxy thought when people used to tell her how lucky she was to have such a wonderful older brother. When she was finally old enough to correct them, the tone of the conversation always shifted. Asking awfully invasive questions about how he raised her from such a young age or how he could’ve been so “careless” as a teenager. But, at the end of the day, their situation was what it was, and no one else was entitled to information they weren’t willing to share about it. Her father spent every single day of her life letting her know how loved she was and he had raised a wonderful, talented young woman.

This was something she had worked out within herself a long time ago, but now, as she watched James rake his eyes over her facial features, comparing them to those nearly identical to her father, it made her squirm in place as she waited for him to say something, anything.

After a moment, her dad took a deep breath, crossing his black tattooed forearms over one another as he looked towards the two teenagers. Roxy swore he was trying to explode James with his mind. “Tell her what you just told me, son.”

“O-oh, right, Mr. Declan-”

“Mr. Somerset.”

“Yes… Mr. Somerset. Uh,” Wringing his hands together, James turned towards his friend, who was trying very, very hard to keep herself together. “Just a bit ago I was riding my bike back to Maine Street when I got hit by this large, white limousine, right?”

“What?” Roxy found herself nearly yelling, hand flying to her chest as she quickly scanned her eyes up and down his body for any sign of injury.

“Oh! No, no. It wasn’t a big deal.” He brushed that off way too quickly for her liking. “But, inside, you’ll never guess who-”

“Gustavo?! Gustavo came back for us?!” Yelled the writer, daring to step closer to the boy as he continued to tell his tale. The producer had previously appeared on the streets of Duluth in a large, white limousine; one that whisked the five teens away to the city where dreams are made of.

When he raised his eyebrows at her comment, she took that as an unconfirmed “yes” and practically ran to the other side of her bed to grab her guitar case and songbook. Her suitcase was right beside them, still packed and ready for another cross-country trip.

“No, Roxy. He didn’t. Hawk did.”

Now it was her turn for shock.

“With a multi-album recording contract, two rooms at the Palm Woods, and a spot in the budget for his new rising star to hire a songwriter-assistant.”

Hardly able to formulate any thought beyond letting out an excited, relieved scream, the only sentence she managed to develop was, “Did you call Logan, Kendall, and Carlos?”

Glancing down at the ground, James seemed very interested in the dull, brown shag carpet at his feet. “It just went to voicemail.”

As depressing as that was, Roxy was ready to move on, just like the blond had suggested. Move on to better things, that was.

Those three had made it clear how they felt about their future in music, so now it was time to focus on their second ticket to the big time - a recording contract with Hawk Records.

Anxiously picking at the leather covering on her songbook, Roxy cast her eyes to her father, who still stood in the doorway, watching the entire exchange between the pair.

“It’s up to you, Honey Bun. Jay here seems to have everything worked out between you and that Hawk fella. His mom graciously agreed to accompany you on your trip, like Miss Jennifer did the first time ‘round, and since you’re moving back into that fancy hotel, I know it’ll be safe.”

“Come with us, Dad!” She blurted out, ignoring the way James seemed to pale at the comment. “It was really hard to be away from you for so long.”

Once her father processed what she had asked of him, he pushed out a deep breath and crossed the room to trap her in a hug - a hug she’d normally be happy to receive, but found a bit embarrassing in front of James. “You know I can’t swing that right now… ‘Sides, I seem to recall not being that much older than you are now when I up and moved halfway across the country to chase my dream.”

“Becoming a miner wasn’t your dream-”

“You, Roxanne. I chased you all the way up here.”

Moving to Minnesota hadn’t been her decision like he made it sound, there were other forces in her life sixteen years ago that had tried to drive the pair apart. It was a good thing her father was a strong, loyal man, who wasn’t afraid to stand up for what he thought was right.

“Well…” The writer finally put her thoughts into words, turning to James as she untangled herself from her father’s arms. “Let’s go see what Hawk has to offer. But, nothing gets signed unless we both agree he is going to lead us down a path of our own design, just like Gustavo would’ve.”

Carefully, she stuck her hand out toward him, and he graciously accepted her deal with a nod. With her father in the room with them, James was a bit hesitant to reach out and take her hand, and good thing, because even the light brush of his fingertips against hers made her heart palpitate in her chest.

“Come on, kiddos,” Roxy’s father interrupted whatever thoughts she was about to allow run through her brain. “We’ve got Oreo fluff salad in the fridge. And, Jay, don’t ask why it’s green.”

***

Ring… Ring…

“You’ve reached the phone of Logan Mitchell. Normally I’d tell you to leave a message after the beeeeep but I’m studying for the most important interview of my life right now. If you think your message is more important than my dream… You’re wrong! Don’t call again.”

Ring… Ring…

“Hey! Kendall Knight here. I’m probably busy practicing for the Golden Gopher High School All-Star Skate. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you once I’m officially a gopher.”

Ring… Ring…“Hello!... What?... Sorry, I can’t hear you… Hello?... Hello?...I think your connection must be weird or something… Haha! Just kidding! Got you! Leave your name and number after the tone and El Hombre Del Flaming Space Rock Man will reach you after he’s figured out a better hero name.”

Alternatively titled Over My Head (Cable Car); alternatively titled Don't Look Back in Anger; alternatively titled Obvious; alternatively titled -

:) Thanks for reading part one of the season one finale! I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you will all be forgiving when I say that part two will not be coming out on it's normal Tuesday next week. I loved the CGE tour so much I got tickets to another show and will be traveling when it comes time to post next. It'll come out later next week.

Also, if anyone can draw the picture of Jo, Camille, and Roxy at In-N-Out I will love you forever <3

#thats all she wrote fic #big time rush #btr #james diamond #james maslow #kendall knight #kendall schmidt #logan mitchell #logan henderson #carlos garcia #carlos penavega

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