Another Song About the Weekend
By: Riley
Summary – Inspired by previously written tumblr prompts. A weekend trip to Las Vegas, a car breakdown, and a rainfall are all that's needed to keep Kendall and Riley together.
A/N: Parts of this one-shot is taken from prompts I had been given on tumblr, with some of them re-worked so it made more sense. 100 words is difficult to work with sometimes, haha. Hope you like it. I could turn this into a short story if anyone would be interested.
Kendall whistled to himself as he walked through the hallways of Rocque Records towards the costume closet. He turned his head and increased the speed to his stride as he passed Gustavo's Office. The last thing he needed was for his music producer and friend to catch him and force him to work on harmonies or choreography or do vocal runs for hours on end.
Not when he already had so much planned.
Kendall came to a stop in the doorway of the costume closet and leaned in surprise, green eyes roving around the room. It looked cleaner than he had ever seen. But what caught his attention was his girlfriend standing in the middle of the floor, struggling to push a large box across the floor. From where he was standing he could see the box was completely filled with shoes and shirts, enough to become very heavy very fast.
Chuckling to himself, Kendall pushed off the doorframe and strode into the room. "I thought Jo was supposed to be helping you?"
Riley let out a low huff. She stood up straight, flipping her hair out of her face as she did so before landing her blue eyes on him. "You just missed her," she explained. "I think she said something about her and James going to an event of some sort. She was invited to be in the music video for an upcoming band and I think James has guest vocals, too."
"Right, right, James was talking about that a few days ago," Kendall said with a nod. He knelt down and grabbed the box from the floor, effortlessly lifting it and walked it into the corner Riley pointed to. "I think Katie suggested the job when she was doing that work study thing with Gustavo."
"When Griffin nearly had him fired?"
"Yeah, that."
"Makes sense. Honestly I'd be afraid if Katie was given any sort of power. She'd just run the entire world with an iron first, yeah?"
"That's why it was good she started off with Rocque Records. It at least made Gustavo afraid long enough that he didn't yell for a while." The two laughed and Kendall dusted his hands off on the sides of his jeans. "Of course he went right back to it shortly after…"
"Of course," Riley agreed.
Kendall smiled. He leaned over and gave her a kiss. "Hey."
"Hey." Riley smiled and ran a hand through her hair. "What brings you here, Hockey-Head? Normally when you have a day off you stay as far away as possible."
"And considering the fact you don't work here anymore, Ruby, you seem to come back a lot," Kendall pointed out.
Riley shrugged. "For all his faults Gustavo pays good money. Besides it really bloody annoyed me how badly you guys managed to trash this room. It's a wonder you manage to have any sense of style when you do your concert and appearances and stuff." She stopped and looked curiously at him. "You look like you want to tell me something."
For a minute Kendall wondered if she had the ability to read his mind. Then, she reached out her hand and tapped him on his left shoulder. "You don't have your heart on your sleeve for nothing, Hockey-Head." With that, she sat back on the couch in the corner of the room and pulled up her feet. "What's up?"
"Not much," Kendall replied. He sat down next to her and took her hand in his. "Wondering if you've gotten tired of me yet." He smiled as Riley's right eyebrow hiked upwards. Then she smiled in amusement and twirled her red strand of hair around her finger, feigning thought.
"I got tired of you a long time ago, mate. You just haven't gone away yet," she commented. She tilted her head to the side, smile widening as Kendall rolled his eyes. "Seriously, what's up?"
Kendall took a deep breath to steady his nerves. He brought his hand up to his mouth and started to gently chew on his nails. He never noticed it was his nervous habit until Mrs. Knight pointed it out when they first arrived in LA to start Big Time Rush. No matter how many times he tried to say he didn't care one way or the other if the band was a success she would immediately call him out on it, knocking his hand away from his mouth.
He dropped his hand from his mouth, realizing there was nothing left for him to chew. He must've been a bit more nervous than he thought. "What are you doing this weekend?"
Riley's gaze moved towards the ceiling for a moment, nose wrinkling as she thought. "Nothing as far as I know. Why?"
"Great!" Kendall's lips pulled back as he smiled. A wave of relief came over him. "Let's go away this weekend! On a trip!"
"On a trip?"
"Yeah!"
For a second Riley's nose wrinkled some more. She looked Kendall in the eye, hers searching his. This was what he expected. Her hesitation for a minute. He knew she understood what he was talking about. He wanted to go on one of those 'couple trips'. Just some time where the two were able to hang out by themselves and in a city where they didn't really know anyone. A good vacation away from the hectic band lives they led. It was a big step in any relationship and he had been thinking about it for a while. It needed to be close enough to LA just in case there was an emergency to come back yet far enough away.
"What'd you have in mind?" She asked.
"Vegas," Kendall said simply.
Now Riley looked confused. He expected that. Especially since they weren't old enough to start gambling yet. How many things could be done in Vegas if you couldn't gamble? Plenty. He did enough research into it to know the trip down to Vegas was just as good as being in Vegas itself. Besides, they were best friends as much as they enjoyed dating each other. Being able to spend some time together uninterrupted and without having so much pressure with their jobs was rare.
He thought they were in a good spot within their relationship to take that leap. Even if she hadn't told him that she loved him yet. It was actually starting to bother him a little bit. He had told her he loved her by the time they re together for six months, having felt it long before that. She had reacted to it well, asking that he didn't pressure on her to say it back until she was ready. That had been some time ago and he was starting to wonder if she ever would say it.
But then he would see the way she would light up when he was around, the way she would look at him when she thought he wasn't looking and even the way she routinely made fun of him and knew she truly hadn't gotten tired of him yet. (If their text conversations and nightly chats were anything to go by she wasn't bored by him at all).
"You know we can't actually do anything in Vegas…right?" She asked slowly.
"I already thought of that. I was thinking that we could do a road trip. Drive down to Vegas; see some of the sites along the way. Like route 66!" Kendall started speaking rapidly, excited to get his idea out in the open. "And there's the Bottletree ranch, and a ghost town, and Peggy Sue's diner! We can see it all on the way in."
"Okay, say we go on this road trip to Vegas," Riley said after a minute. Kendall nodded ,waiting. She seemed like she was starting to come around, but of course there were a few things that needed to be figured out. "How long would we be gone?"
"Just for the weekend."
"What about—"
"You don't have anything planned for the weekend and I already cleared my schedule with Gustavo," Kendall continued. Of course that means I have to make it up to Gustavo later for 'lost time'…he thought. But didn't want to add that. It'd already put a damper on everything.
"Then I'd have to—"
"I already cleared it by my Mom and Ronan. We just need to let them know when we're leaving, when we make it to every pit stop, and when we get to Vegas. The same on the way back to LA. And Katie wants me to bring back a souvenir."
"So when do we leave?"
"Right now." That was the last surprise he had for her. Everything was already set up for them to leave; he just needed her to say yes.
Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "Right now?"
"I've got the car packed up and all ready to go."
"You're really aggro about this," Riley remarked. Then she sat up, grinning. Her eyes flashed happily. "Ace! Let's do it!"
Now all of the anxiety washed away from Kendall and he felt his shoulders slump in relief. "Really?"
"Yeah. I've always wanted to go to Vegas other than the shows we've done there. And you've already put a lot of thought into this. Spontaneity isn't new to me. I can hang, yeah?" She stood up and crossed her arms. "I wish my brothers and sisters could go. But this'll be beauty!" She grabbed Kendall's face in her hands and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "If you have everything packed we can go. I just need to lock up and get my keys-"
"Actually…I'll drive," Kendall said slowly. Riley gave him a suspicious glance. His eyes widened and shifted to the side, to the floor, then to the ceiling. Then he smiled confidently and looked at her once more. "I already have the route mapped out and I know where I'm going. Got a GPS and everything and the boys let me have the Big Time Rush mobile."
Her suspicious expression deepened. "You don't want me to drive," she commented. Kendall opened his mouth to protest. "Don't even try lying, Hockey-Head. You're a terrible liar. And you're bloody terrible at faking."
"I'm not a bad liar," Kendall said.
Tilting her head to the side, Riley slowly smirked. "Your face goes through three distinct changes whenever you lie." She held up her thumb. "Your eyes widen as if you're a deer in headlights." She added her index finger. "Then you look around to the ceiling, the wall, then the floor." She added her middle finger. "And then you smile as if you finally settled on a lie the other person will believe." She reached out and poked him in the chest. "You just did that. You don't want me to drive."
"Is it if my fault you like to speed?" Kendall reached out his hand and grabbed onto Riley's. He wedged his fingers between hers, bringing their palms together as they walked out of the costume closet. They could leave it for Gustavo to deal with. If he was going to make up for the time he was going to miss anyway, may as well annoy him a little before leaving.
"It's better than driving like a grandma. I want to actually get there and explore things. Not show up a day late and a bloody buck short."
"Better be safe than sorry."
"Better have fun than be boring."
With a sigh, Kendall leaned in and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Are you going to have something to say back to everything I do?"
Riley dropped her hand from his, wrapped her arm around his lower back, and leaned into him. She smiled up at him, the light shining in her eyes seeming to make her smirk appear that much wider. "What do you think?"
Their laughter echoed off the halls as they left Rocque Records.
If Kendall was surprised that Riley had agreed to go to Las Vegas with him so quickly he wasn't nearly as surprised as her. Honestly she didn't even think much about it before agreeing to go. It sounded like a good time; traveling was always something she enjoyed, seeing sights was always cool, and she hadn't been lying when she said she wanted to see more of Vegas.
More than the hotel she and her siblings managed to have the run of the mill of while staying there for a night on tour. There was so much concierges could do if you asked nicely. Sure it probably helped that they were more famous than some of the other guests and the hotel wanted to be sure their stay was great. (And because they cleaned up the room very well after the very quick birthday party they had for Ronan).
Still as soon as Kendall suggested that they take some time to go away for themselves she thought it was a sign of some sort. For a long time she had grappled with telling him something she had been meaning to tell him for a long time, but wasn't sure how he'd react. Having an audience around while doing it would've just made things harder. Sure, she talked to her siblings about it before and they were all very supportive of it.
Easier said than done.
For someone who was so open with a lot of things she thought about, usually not thinking before saying it, this was something she spent hours upon days thinking about. And a couple's trip was romantic; it'd give them a chance to take advantage of the time alone. Not that was usually a problem but the change of scenery would make it easier to tell him.
Besides, who wouldn't be excited to spend a lot of time with their best friend?
As cliché as it was—and she knew cliché dating the king of romantic gestures—she knew she wouldn't want to spend that time with anyone else. There were a few worries; missing her therapy session—easily remedied through a phone call—if she would have any nightmares, being away from her family—though they were slowly getting better about it—and having to turn her brain away from being in a constant work mode. But those worries went away very quickly.
Throughout the drive to Las Vegas Kendall and Riley stopped at as many of the tourist destinations along the way. The first stop was the Mennonite Rocks, which Kendall insisted they stop at, where they parked at the edge of the trail and took pictures of the view.
When Riley looked at her Instagram feed afterwards she turned to him and said, "Of course you'd find some sort of enlightening caption to go along with these, Kendork."
"What can I say? The view is insipiring," he replied.
Then they headed onto Route 66 into Bastow; passing by old diners, an antique shop, and ostrich farm—which Riley insisted that they stop to visit—then went to the Bottletree Ranch. When Kendall had first mentioned it the idea of the Ranch sounded very…dull. But having seen it in person she found it to be pretty cool. Her background in drawing and painting made her stop to pay close attention to the fine detail put into each sculpture. Kendall, on the other hand, found it to be a bit boring as he wasn't so into fine arts. Still there were even more pictures taken there as well as it being, as they both agreed, healthier for the environment.
Then heading to see the Old Woman Meteorite they took a few minutes to see the attraction before going further into the children's museum to check out the attractions. Next was Peggy Sue's diner, then the Mojave National Preserve, Baker, and the lotto shop. (At least they were old enough to buy a lottery ticket). Along the way they took a multitude of pictures, laughed, and sang along to the songs on the radio at the top of their lungs—even if it was their own.
Every time they made a stop it was a perfect time for Riley to say what she wanted to say…and still couldn't find the voice to do it. She could tell Kendall was starting to get worried about her. Every time he would look at her it would start off with a smile before it faded, his eyebrows lowering. Every now and then she became so lost in her own thoughts that he would wave a hand in front of her face until she would snap back to attention and the cycle would start all over again.
And yet she still didn't know how to say it.
Finally they made it to Las Vegas and with at least an hour until they could check in, the two stopped at a mall on the outskirts of the city to stretch their legs and get something to eat. Hand-in-hand they strolled along, sharing a pretzel from Auntie Anne's—or Kendall was trying to get a bite while Riley insisted that he buy his own before she broke off a piece for him.
"Geez, you Jacksons are so stingy with your food," Kendall commented, licking butter off his thumb.
"I reckon, only with popcorn, grapes, pizza, soft pretzels, and candy," she replied. "Other than that it's fair game."
"Oh yeah, other than that. I think Carlos go the message after he almost got his hand bitten off when we were all watches movies last week." Kendall laughed, tightening his grip on her hand. He lifted it and kissed the back of it, causing Riley to smile.
They passed by a kiosk with many fragrance wafting their way. A young saleswoman stepped up to the two with a smile, holding out a dark colored bottle. "Could I interest you in a new cologne, sir?" She asked.
Kendall came to a stop, holding up his hand. "No, I'm good. But thanks for asking."
"You already have one that you prefer, right?" The saleswoman asked. "Let me assure you the price shouldn't be a problem as it's only a mere twenty dollars. But this is a new fragrance that hasn't hit the big retailers yet and I'm sure you're the perfect guy to show it off." She reached out and took Kendall's free hand, pulling it forward.
On his other side, Riley dropped Kendall's hand and crossed her arms. "He already said 'no'," she pointed out. "And besides, I'm allergic to cologne so he doesn't wear any."
"It's hypo-allergenic," the saleswoman insisted, motioning to a sign next to her. It was littered with features the cologne had in bright colors. However the sign had so much to say everything became jumbled. "Let me just spray a little on your wrist and you can see if you like it." She sprayed a little onto Kendall's wrist and moved his hand back by his face. "Let me know what you think."
Kendall did as he was told, taking in the scent. It was pleasant, pretty flowery but also had a bit of spice mixed in. Still, it was like he said before, he didn't wear a lot of cologne and he wasn't going to spend any money when he already had the rest of the weekend planned out.
"It smells very nice, but I don't need any today. Thank you." Kendall waved a hand and quickly moved away from the kiosk. It was then he noticed that Riley had already left and was walking at a pace a bit quicker than her leisurely saunter. From the way her footsteps fell heavily on the ground he could tell she was angry. "Riles, wait up."
He caught up to her, noticing her cheeks were a little reddened. A sure sign she was, indeed, mad. "What're you so mad at?"
"Nothing," she said quickly, eyes flashing. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Why didn't you just go ahead and buy it? It couldn't have cost that much. Seemed like she wasn't giving you much of a choice anyway."
"Considering her paycheck relies on it, I'm sure she was," Kendall agreed. Riley frowned. Then he understood what she was so upset about. "She wasn't flirting with me, Riles. And I wasn't flirting with her."
"You didn't try too hard to tell her 'no', Kendall." Her eyes narrowed for a second.
"I was just being nice. It'd be kind of rude to yank my hand away from her like that." Riley snorted. Kendall sighed and grabbed onto her arm, pulling her to a stop. He looked into her eyes. "All I'm saying is she was trying to make a sale."
"And all I'm saying is that when someone tells you they're allergic—as in the asthmatic sense—to perfume and cologne, she shouldn't spray it all over the person she's with. Especially when they happen to be my boyfriend."
Kendall paused and studied his girlfriend. She noticed him looking at her and quickly brought up her hand to scratch her forehead, hiding the pout that threatened to work its way onto her face. Then she lowered her hand and rubbed her arm. Kendall grinned. He recognized those series of movements as a way to show her nervousness and to hide how she was really feeling.
Kendall crossed his arms. "Wait a minute. Are you jealous?"
Riley copied his stance, her reddening face contrasting her dark hair and blue eyes. "No! I'm trying to keep from asphyxiating every time I come near you."
Because she wasn't jealous.
She was possessive.
There's a difference.
"It's fine if you are jealous, it's actually a little bit healthy," Kendall pointed out.
"I'm not jealous, Kendall!" Riley snapped. She started to say something else then stopped, finding that she was stuttering. It was the perfect time to tell him. All she had to do was open her mouth and say; explain herself. Still, nothing. Now she was too mad. Instead, she turned on her heel and walked away from him, back to the entrance of the mall an out to the car.
Kendall trailed after her. He called her name a few times at first then stopped. The two went to the car in silence and Riley sat down in the passenger seat, twisting away from him so that she could look out the window. Her eyes rested on the darkening clouds. Great fucking way to add to my mood, she thought. How fitting was it that the driving rain came out of nowhere since they left the mall?
Kendall, seeing the clouds as well, pulled up the hood to the convertible before getting into the driver's seat once more. He pulled out onto the road once more and headed to the hotel. Silence filled the car, it becoming even more deafening when it started to rain.
"Are you going to give me the silent treatment the whole way?" Kendall asked, glancing over at Riley. She sat sullenly in the passenger seat, still turned away from him. Even with her hair over her face he knew she was pouting. "I already told you she was just trying to make a sale. You can't fault her for her income being commission based."
Riley still didn't reply. Shaking his head, Kendall focused on the road once more, driving carefully through the downpour.
"You know, I would question if you loved me, or even liked me at all right now, if it weren't for the fact that you were jealous," Kendall remarked, trying to bait her into talking to him again. "Considering how many times you've managed to give me the silent treatment over the years I know it's not going to last that long." He held his breath, knowing he was opening a can of worms, then sighed—practically growled—when Riley turned even further way.
His frustration only mounted when over the sound of the rain he heard a popping sound and the car started to shake from side to side. Now growling, he pulled over onto the side of the road, turning on the hazard lights as he did so.
"What are you doing?" Riley asked, sitting up straight in her seat.
"Flat tire," Kendall explained.
Ducking his head, he quickly climbed out of the car and went to the trunk to grab the jack and spare tire. He worked quickly to loosen the bolts on the flat but soon found his visibility greatly reduced due to the driving rain. As he loosened the nuts and bolts he stuck them in his pockets, battling the way they slipped over his fingers.
Still inside the car, Riley frowned as she watched Kendall move as fast as he could. She could practically see smoke coming out of his ears from his visible distress. Her heart sank as quickly as she sank back into her seat, knowing she had gone too far this time. It was silly really, to be so upset…
Riley grabbed an umbrella that sat in the floor in front of her and opened the door. She opened the umbrella and stuck it over her head before getting out of the car. She hurried around and carefully held it over Kendall's head.
Squinting, he looked up at her.
Their eyes met and Riley, hands shaking, Riley took a deep breath before asking, "How can you think I'm anything but hopelessly in love with you, Hockey-Head?"
Kendall's eyebrows rose. He stared at her for a long time. The sounds of the rainstorm faded away as he focused on her words. Finally he stood up straight, with Riley rising the umbrella so he was still under it, and stared at her. Water dripped off his hair and down his face, further soaking the clothes that were already starting to cling to his body.
His lips parted and a short, maybe happy, breath came out quickly. Then he started to smile. "That's the first time you've ever said that to me," he pointed out.
Riley's eyes shifted for a moment and she gave a shy smile. Her hands were still shaking, knees following it this time. She finally said it. "I know," she replied. "I've been trying to tell you all day. But I didn't really know how…because it's not something that I've really been able to say other than to my family and close friends. I'm sorry for getting so aggro. I mucked up. I guess I was…"
"Scared?" Kendall prompted.
"Really scared," Riley agreed. She laughed with relief. "Really fucking scared. Cause when you say it you can't take it back. I wanted to be sure." She twisted her hands along the handle of the umbrella and smiled up at him once more.
"Are you?" Kendall's voice was barely above a whisper and yet Riley could hear him perfectly.
Riley nodded. "Yeah. I love you, Kendall." She wanted to call him Hockey-Head to make it perfect. But called him Kendall to make sure he knew she was being serious.
She was in love with him.
Kendall smiled and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers. Rain water dripped off his face and onto hers, gently rolling down her cheeks and dripping off her chin. "I love you, too," he said.
Riley smiled and threw her arm around his neck, giving him a hug then happily kissed him. Kendall wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. Laughing, Riley pulled back from the kiss saying, "Stop! You're getting me all wet."
"You're the one who could live underwater if she could, don't complain about it now," he replied, laughing, too. He then lifted her off her feet and spun around.
"Okay, now everyone passing by us is going to think we're crazy."
"I thought you didn't care what anyone else thought."
"I don't. I think you're crazy."
"Crazy about you, maybe." Kendall put her back on the ground, the two still laughing, almost out of breath.
Riley reached out and punched him on the arm. "That was so cheesy, Kendork." She hugged him again. "Okay, let's finish working on the car. We're supposed to have the whole weekend in Vegas, yeah? Not stranded on the side of the road."
"I don't know, I kind of like it out here." Kendall grabbed the front of his shirt and wrung it out. "Kind of romantic."
"Mm, if I didn't know any better I'd say you planned this whole thing. Right down to the rainstorm. I wouldn't put it past you."
"If I knew you were going to tell me you loved me, I would've suggested this trip ages ago. Trust me." He held out his hand and Riley placed hers into his. He looked at her funny. "I was asking for the wrench, but that works too."
THE END