Author's note: an interesting idea for a story I had, first chapter written in 24 hours. Criticism is welcome, but please make it constructive. Thanks, and more chapters to come. I hope people like it. Rated M for sexual content and possible future lemon? I don't own Grojband, Facebook, Redbox, or any shows/websites/movies mentioned in this or any other chapter! A huge thank you to reviewers on my only other story (only two of them, but oh well), were it not for the positive feedback, I probably would not have had the courage to post anything else. Ever. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Friend-Zoned

It had been years since we started Grojband. Before we all knew it, we were seniors in high school with a huge, solid, local fanbase. As we got older, we started needing Trina's diary less and less; we finally had our own angsty feelings off of which we could base our lyrics. She had left soon after all of us entered high school anyway; now she was attending university and of course in some top-dog sorority. Life was good without Trina though. It felt great, not having to rely on her for our music anymore. But it hadn't really hit me yet that my band and I might not see each other again after graduation. I was too hopeful to see it that way in any case, we were so close to a record deal these days, I could taste it.

I suppose I hadn't changed much in 5 years, aside from growing taller than six feet and looking a bit more scruffy than I did when I was 13. Trying to be a clean-shaven 18-year-old was a full time job. Blue hair had sort of become my thing, I re-dyed it once every two months or so. Still dug the beanie and baseball-style shirt look. Girls seemed to like it. Although I only really cared about one of them.

Kin had grown much taller. He was still incredibly smart, but had ditched the geek look. He looked more like a hipster these days, with his thick-rimmed glasses and affinity for earth-colored scarves. I kind of worried about losing him after this year—of course he loved the keys, but he was so smart, and it had always been his dream to go to college. Kon had lost a lot of weight, but still retained his burley muscle mass and hit the gym at least every other day. He still hoped to eventually win my sister over, but I didn't see her coming down from her party-girl college lifestyle anytime soon. His drumming had improved drastically. Not that he wasn't a great drummer 5 years ago, but we had all gotten better with practice.

And then there was Laney. Looking back on our middle school years, I couldn't believe I had never noticed how fond she was of me...Too bad I figured all that out too late. Oh, how the tables had turned. Now I was the one crushing on her, whereas she had moved on. I guess it was just karmic irony. I couldn't keep a steady relationship with another girl—I was kidding myself in believing that I wasn't trying to replace her every time. However, occasionally, after a concert when the opportunity presented itself, I didn't mind fulfilling some groupie's fantasy and fucking the girl's brains out. But I preferred keeping my eyes closed and imagining that it was Laney beneath me, moaning and screaming my name instead of an easy fangirl. She, on the other hand, was always in a relationship. Guys went crazy for her. It was impossible to catch her between boyfriends without being a rebound. It would have hurt too much for her to use me like that, so I couldn't even bring myself to try. I was content enough being her best friend and the shoulder she ran to cry on when she went through a break up. And I loved having a good excuse to beat one of her ex's asses and release all of the pent-up anger of having to have watched the misogynistic shit head kiss her lips or grab her ass multiple times right in front of my eyes.

Laney...She had grown into such a beautiful, intelligent young woman. Her deep red hair was longer now. She'd gotten much taller, with long, slender legs. Her style hadn't changed since middle school, but she had stopped wearing as much make up, giving her a much more natural look. I liked that. As usual, when the soft, innocent thoughts of her beauty leave my mind, they're replaced with everything explicit I secretly imagine doing with her. Her breasts—oh, don't even get me started on them. They were like little peaches—I always imagined them feeling like the perfect handful. I wasn't a fan of large chests, but I couldn't do the whole flat thing either. Hers were just the perfect size. However, I was really more of an ass man myself. And let me tell you, every time she came over, I'd make sure she walked up the stairs before me, so that I could have a flawless view of that thing. The way her hips swayed and her cheeks gently bounced when she walked, it took everything I had to resist the urge to reach up and touch it, squeeze it...I'm sorry, I'm really getting carried away here.

Long story short, I had thought she was the most fantastic girl since we started high school. Although we were still best friends, I knew I had really messed up any chance I ever had of getting her to see me as anything more. If I could go back and change the way I had acted toward her back then, the way I always treated her like a guy instead of a girl...I'd do it in a heartbeat. So, I settled for admiring her from afar...and maybe jerking it to some of her Facebook pictures now and again.

This was one of those times.

"Oh God, Laney," I moaned, trying to be as quiet as I could as I clicked through her Facebook profile pictures and stroked myself. So close. Mom and dad weren't home, they'd actually left on vacation for the entire Spring Break. But Trina was home for the holidays. I much preferred having my sister turn a blind eye to my age, and believing I was still her little innocent brother rather than a perverted asshat. "Laney," I gasped as I leaned back in my computer chair and came hard into my hand. I shuddered, reveling in the euphoria of my orgasm before the feeling faded away. I sat there in silence for a few seconds, recuperating.

"Corey!" I heard Trina's voice sound from downstairs. Startled, I jumped at the sound of her voice. My heart was pounding and, despite the fact that she was clearly downstairs, I panicked and instinctively grabbed the hand towel I kept by my computer for this kind of stuff and covered my crotch.

"What is it, Trina?" I called back to her as I wiped my softening dick.

"Laney's here to see you!"

I froze. What impeccable timing.

"I'm sending her up!"

Shit, she couldn't know about how I masturbated to her pictures! I quickly wiped my hand of my cum and shoved my penis back into my underwear. I could hear Laney's footsteps on the stairs. I grabbed a pair of basketball shorts off the edge of my bed and pulled them up, then I threw the towel under my computer desk. Last but not least, I clicked out of her Facebook pictures (what? I didn't want her to think I was a creeper...), hustled across my room, and pulled the door open to see her flawless figure before me.

"Hey Laney," I tried not to sound flustered or panicked, but I'm sure I was failing miserably. I finally focused on her face, expecting to see her lips curled into the usual, beautiful smile, but instead, I saw tears fall from her eyes as she stared at the ground. My expression fell. "Laney? What's wrong?" I reached for her face to see if I could get her to look at me, but she suddenly closed the distance between us and wrapped her arms around me as she cried into my chest. I froze for a moment. It's not like we'd never hugged, but all the sudden switches from turned-on, to panic, to this...It required a lot of attention on my part and was somewhat mentally exhausting. "Laney, honey, come inside," I pulled her into my room and closed the door, then walked her over to my bed. She sat on the edge of the mattress and I knelt on the floor in front of her. "Talk to me, Laney." I took one of her hands in mine and pushed her hair behind her ear with the other.

"Justin," she sniffled.

"Justin?" I asked. Her current on-and-off boyfriend of about 6 months now. She had started bringing him to our practices a month or so ago. I hated it when she did that. I think he knew I liked her. At the very least, he knew it really got under my skin when they acted like a couple in front of me. Every time we took a break, he would be all over her. Touching her. It made me sick. And every time, he would glance at me to make sure I was watching before he kissed her. I honestly couldn't tell if he actually cared for her, or if she had just become somewhat of an unspoken competition between our dominant male prides. Either way, It came as no surprise to me that he was the root of her problems. Just the sound of his name made me want to punch his lights out. "What did he do this time? I'll kill him." And believe me, if I thought I could get away with keeping his body in my freezer, I would.

"He left me for another girl," she sobbed.

"He what?" It really bothered me that all these guys took her for granted, and here I was, if she'd just give me a chance...However, Laney seldom broke up with anyone, she was quite a committed person, and I'm sure I looked like a man-whore to her. I hadn't been in a real relationship since sophomore year, since then only having one-night-stands with some of our fans. I couldn't expect her to put herself out there for someone like me if she could only see the guarantee of a broken heart. "He doesn't deserve someone like you, Lanes..."

"But I–but I loved him," she stuttered through her sobs. Here we go again. It was always the end of the world with this guy. I couldn't figure out for the life of me why he had such a strong hold on her. Personally, I was glad things were over between them, although there was the inherent possibility that they would get back together like always. She finally looked up at me. God, I couldn't help but notice that she looked beautiful, even with tears streaming down her cheeks. "What did I do wrong?"

This question caught me by surprise. He leaves her, and she blames herself for it? "Nothing, Laney!" I reassured her as I lightly ran my hand up and down her back. "He was an asshole, everyone thought so. Listen to me, Lanes, you have guys falling at your feet all the time. I know you could find one that would treat you better than him."

Laney was quiet, her sobbing had finally subsided. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she had broken eye contact with me to stare at the ground once again, but I was just glad I had been able to calm her down.

"Anyway, your birthday is in three days," I reminded her. "You're gonna be 18! We're gonna play a great show that night, then we're all gonna come back here to my house and get drunk together. My mom and dad are gone on vacation all week, and Kin and I are in the process of getting rid of Trina for that night. I'm going to make sure you have the best birthday of your life." Still no response from her. "Now come on," I took her chin in my hand and raised her face to look at me, "Let me see that smile of yours."

Laney gave a small grin. "Thanks Corey," she said as she wiped her tears away. "For everything. I know it gets kind of old, me coming to you when I'm upset, but...I really appreciate it. You're my best friend, I wouldn't have it any other way."

Ouch. I knew she was trying to be sweet, and that she'd said this to me a million times before, but every time she stabbed me through the heart with the friend-zone knife hurt worse than the previous time. "Me neither," I lied, smiling in return, determined to not let her see how hard those words hit me.

"I can't wait for my birthday," she bought it as she stood up and spun around in the middle of my room. Why did she have to be so damn cute? "Thanks for putting all that together for me. I've never actually had someone throw me a party before." She spoke with such genuine happiness.

"Well hey," I sat on the edge of my bed and watched her dance around my room. "It's the least I can do for my," I hesitated as I struggled to finish the sentence. "Best friend."

Those words were cold as fucking ice as they slipped from my tongue. Laney really paid no mind to my tone as she sat down at my computer desk and wiggled the mouse to wake up the screen. "Whoa-ho-ho there," she turned around to look at me and pointed at the screen. It took me a moment to remember—I had clicked out of her pictures, but not out of her profile. God damn... "You aren't creepin' on me or anything, are you?" She stuck her tongue out playfully at me and turned her attention back to the computer as she logged out of my account. I really needed to be more careful next time.

"So, we still have practice tomorrow," I said, attempting to nonchalantly ignore her question as I leaned back on my bed with my hands folded behind my head. "You gonna be able to make it?" Previously, she had told us that she wouldn't be at tomorrow's practice because Justin was taking her out. What a fucking joke. In any case, we really needed all the practice we could get with our big show this Saturday.

"Yeah," she said as she changed her Facebook relationship status to 'single.'

"Are you sure?" I teased. "All those Facebook guys will be jumping on you like fresh meat now." Just the thought of another womanizer trying to get into her pants really made my blood boil. "A different one might wanna take you out on a date tomorrow."

"Oh, shut up," Laney laughed at me. "Not gonna happen." She logged out of her account.

"Soooo, you wanna stick around for a bit tonight?" I asked her as I sat up and she twisted around in my computer chair. "We can Redbox some scary movies. Make some popcorn. I'll grab you and make you jump at the scary parts."

"As much as I love it when you do that," Laney spoke sarcastically as she smirked. "I think I'm gonna head home for the night." My heart dropped in my chest. Turned down and friend-zoned in the same day, huh... "I just didn't want to come home with tears in my eyes and make my parents worry about me. I knew you could calm me down. Maybe we can do that tomorrow night after practice?"

I smiled back at her. "I'm down."