Guitar

By: Riley

Summary – "Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you'll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded." ~Jimi Hendrix. Kendall/OC friendship

"Alright, you're done for today,"

Kendall Knight wiped sweat off of his forehead with a towel, groaning as his arm muscles screamed in pain. He had been stuck with a lot of dance moves that worked his upper body, mostly his arms. He couldn't remember the last time that he had worked his arms so hard. Not even when he was playing hockey. But even then, he wasn't supporting his full body weight with his arms when he was playing hockey.

Kendall tossed his towel back down onto his dance bag and quickly changed to his street shoes. He closed up his bag and then slung it over his shoulder, straightening himself before turning to one of his best friends, Rhuben Jackson-McGuire. He watched her stretch her arms and her sides before he walked over to her.

"Hey Benny," he said slowly. Rhuben stood up and looked at him curiously through the mirror. "I couldn't help but notice that you looked a little annoyed today."

"Yeah, well," Rhuben pushed her hair behind her ears. "I guess I am a little annoyed,"

Kendall shuffled his feet. "Well, My Mom told me that Ronan told her that for the next album, he wants more attention on you and Riles and your brothers agree with it." He shifted his bag on his shoulder. "And I know that you two don't like a lot of attention on you, but I know that it wouldn't annoy you this much."

Rhuben rolled her blue eyes over to Kendall as she turned around to face him. He could tell by the look on her face that she was trying to decide whether or not to tell him. It wasn't as if he wasn't going to figure it out himself anyway. The fact that her band, The DarkElements, were co-workers and rivals to his own band, word traveled around their group pretty quickly.

"C'mon, you can tell me," He insisted, reaching out and lightly nudging her shoulder. "I promise I'll keep it a secret."

"It's not even a secret worth keeping," Rhuben sighed. "I can get used to the attention after a long time, but…it's not that that's annoying to me." She shrugged. "It's not even that big of a deal, but Ronan wants me to start playing the guitar."

"So?" Kendall looked confused.

"So, I'm a drummer," Rhuben explained as she went over to her bag. She quickly changed to her street shoes as well. "It's what I love to play. And…well," she turned around. "I guess I'm a bit intimidated by the guitar." She admitted. "I mean, Julius and Riles and Pat and Syd, when he actually plays it, make it look so easy. And while I am a drummer, I've always liked the sounds of guitar parts of songs." She scratched her forehead, hiding her pout. "Like, the song on our last album, It Only Hurts, Riles and I wrote the song and we have the most vocals on it, and when we perform it, I have to just sing into a microphone. That's not bad, but it's like my song Not Alone I get tired of having to sit on a stool and just sing while one of them accompany me." She explained. "And I think people are starting to figure out that Riley pre-records the rhythm parts of songs so Noah or I can fake it live."

"Well, has Ronan thought of anyone that could teach you?" Kendall asked. "I figured that he'd do one of them."

"Kinda," Rhuben said. "I mean, Patrick offered, because I don't spend as much time with him, one-on-one as I used to, so I was thinking of taking him up on his offer. But Ronan thinks that if one of them tries to teach me, we'd be goofing off more than we'd be working." She gave a half-smile. "I know that's true for Riles and I for the most part, since we can hardly be around each other without doing anything to make each other laugh."

"Anyone else?" Kendall slowly started to smile.

"Dak offered, but I'm sure that Ronan is really hesitant about it," Rhuben said with a raise of her right eyebrow. She gave an amused smirk.

Kendall laughed.

It was no secret that teen icon Dak Zevon had a crush on her ever since he had first laid eyes on her. It was in almost every teen magazine that you could ever pick up. Now that the two of them were dating, he understood how Ronan would be a bit skeptical about how much work they would actually get done. There was even a time that Ronan was skeptical over Riley, Rhuben's twin, and Kendall would write-songs together shortly after they started dating. (To quote Riley, "you'd figure that being eighteen years old he'd trust us more, rather than be more worried".)

"I can understand why," he then smiled warmly. "Then how about I teach you how to play? I've been playing the guitar for almost as long as I've been alive and even do it live for our shows sometimes." He started to get excited by the idea. "And it can be to pay you back for when you give me these private lessons."

Rhuben tilted her head to the side, her raven hair with purple streaks falling over her face as she thought about it. Kendall bit his lower lip, looking at his feet as he waited for her to reply. Finally she stood up straight and nodded.

"Sounds like a plan, KDawg," she replied.

"Great," Kendall beamed. "Do you want to start today?"

"Can't, I have to make dinner," Rhuben pushed her loose hair over her shoulders.

Kendall turned his head to the side, his right eye closing slightly. "But, I thought that Riley cooked dinner for you guys." He said slowly.

"She does," Rhuben agreed. "And Ronan cooks on the weekends, but he thought that it would be a good idea if at least once a month one of us cooked as well and today's my day."

Kendall nodded in understanding. "Katie and I do that for our mom sometimes. Anyway, do you have a guitar that you can use?"

Rhuben rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Ronan just got me one, thinking that it would really entice me to want to play," she then gave a smile. "He even got it in purple and black if you can believe it."

"I believe it," Kendall reassured her. "Is it acoustic or electric?"

"Acoustic. Does it matter?"

"I find it easier to learn on the acoustic, that's all." Kendall tilted his head back as he thought for a moment. "Ok, since we can't do it today, how about you come over to the crib tomorrow afternoon and we can have your first lesson then?"

"That's sounds great," Rhuben's shoulders slumped in relief. "I'm sure if anyone can teach me, it's you. Thanks for the help, KDawg."

"You're welcome, Benny," Kendall said as the two walked to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Kendall was finishing setting up the living room in 2J when he heard a double knock on the door. He didn't even have to look to know that Rhuben had just entered the apartment. Only she and her brothers and sister knocked twice before entering the apartment, if they didn't just barge in and jump down the swirly slide.

"Hey," Rhuben greeted as she walked over to Kendall.

"Hey," Kendall turned to her and gave her a smile. Rhuben put her guitar down and held out her arms for a hug. Kendall bent slightly and wrapped his arms around her waist before standing up straight, lifting her off of the floor, the way they always hugged. "How are you doing today?" He held out an arm, motioning for her to sit down on the orange couch.

"Fine," Rhuben tugged on the bottom of her black tank-top before she sat down on the couch. She wiped her hands off on the sides of her dark skinny jeans. "How 'bout you? Did Gustavo yell at you today?"

"Of course," Kendall rolled his eyes. "But that was after he complimented me on how I've improved on dancing."

"He's not one to give a compliment without yelling afterwards," Rhuben reminded him.

"You got that right," Kendall sat down. "So, let's see this guitar." He pulled her guitar case onto his lap and opened it. He made a sound of appreciation as he picked it up and looked it over. "Ronan got you a good one here; it must have cost a lot." He tilted his head when he saw a tag around one of the tuners. "Maybe not," he said with a laugh, noticing that it was from a Pawn Shop. "But it's a really good guitar." He turned it around and started to tune it.

"How do you know if it sounds right?" Rhuben asked, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees.

"How do you know that a set of drums sound right when you tune it?" Kendall said looking away from the guitar strings. "If you have an ear for it, which you obviously do, then you wouldn't have a problem when it comes to tuning."

"Ok," Rhuben nodded.

She sat back as she watched Kendall continue to tune her guitar, using his for a reference. When he finished, he handed it over to her and picked up his black one from the floor. He balanced the guitar on his lap before leaning forward and picking up a guitar book.

"I used this when I was first learning and you can to," He said and handed her the book to flip through. "It teaches you how to play chords, notes, and tabs, but I think I'll start by teaching you the different strings and then going into what you think is more comfortable for you." He turned slightly, pulling his wallet from his back pocket. Flipping it open, he pulled out two black guitar picks and handed one over to Rhuben.

She moved it into her hand, holding it between her fingers.

"Ok, first thing that you have to know is that when you hold onto a guitar pick, you have to hold it where it's under your thumb and against your index finger, with the rest of your fingers curled underneath," he reached over and adjusted her hand. "Like that."

Rhuben's nose wrinkled. "It feels weird," she commented.

"Yeah, it does at first, but then you'll get used to it," Kendall reassured her. "Now, do you know each of the names of the strings?" he asked.

"Yes," Rhuben nodded. "Low E," she tapped the top string. "A," she tapped the next one. "D, G, B, and high E." She pointed to the rest of the strings in order as she said them. Kendall nodded. "And I also know about tablature where the number is, it's at the fret that you're playing in. And depending on what line of the diagram it's sitting on, you play it on that string."

"Good," Kendall's emerald eyes lit up as he nodded encouragingly. "Then you shouldn't have a lot of difficulty learning how to play."

"I can't strum and I can't read notes very well," Rhuben corrected him. "I mean, I can read notes, but if they're too high or too low on the staff, then I have trouble remembering what it is let alone what notes they are."

'So you don't know the notes?" Kendall asked. "On the guitar's fret board, I mean." He quickly corrected himself.

"No," Rhuben agreed.

"Hm," Kendall rubbed his chin. "I think it would be better if we started off with 'Do Re Mi' then, that way you can get a good feeling over how to hold the neck of the guitar as well as figuring out how to strum." He leaned forward and took her left hand, which was resting on the neck of her guitar. "Ok, if you're going to play, you have to be sure that when you're going for a note on the lower strings, your thumb is down the back of the neck," he moved her hand. "So your fingers can stretch easier."

Rhuben opened her hand and laid her fingers on the lower two strings of the guitar neck. "Like this?" She asked, leaning over to look at where her hand was positioned.

"Like that," Kendall nodded. "And when you want to play on the strings that are higher, you have to move your thumb up so it's resting on the top of the neck." He moved her hand back to the top. He chuckled when she noticed that he made a face. "I know, it takes a bit to get used to that too, but then your hand will get muscle memory when you start to play faster songs so it'll be used to it."

"Oh, alright," Rhuben brushed her hair behind her ears.

"Now, to do the scale, you play a specific note on a specific string." Kendall put his hands on his guitar. "If you want to get a good sound to come out of it, you have to put your finger on the string by this metal thing here," he pointed to the vertical metal piece on the fret board. "That's the fret, and you need to put your finger closest to it, not on it, to make a good sound." He demonstrated on his guitar.

It made a nice, note that held out as Kendall moved his hand away.

"Try on any string," he instructed.

Rhuben's eyebrows lowered in anxiety before she moved her hand onto the fret board. She placed her finger on the same string that Kendall had, the low E string, and on the same fret, the first fret. She then looked back and forth between her left hand (which was on the fret board) and her right hand, which was holding the pick above the string, and plucked it once. She winced as it made a dull 'thunk' sound.

"Put your finger closer to the fret," Kendall said patiently. Rhuben did as she was told and strummed again. It didn't sound as bad this time, but still not as good. "Press your finger down harder, it'll hurt a bit the first few times, but then you'll get calluses and it won't hurt as much." Rhuben did as she was told. "Now strum again." Kendall watched as Rhuben continued to strum the string.

It continuously got better until she was playing the note perfectly. Then Kendall instructed her to do the same up the fret board for the string. When she did that, he then said to do it up the fret board for the next string and down until she got to the very bottom. Rhuben did as she was told and grinned, her eyes lighting up when she finished it.

"I did it," she said excitedly.

"Good," Kendall nodded. "If you continue to do that, to get used to the guitar, soon you'll be able to play your own songs or be able to do this," he leaned back, twisting his guitar pick in his right hand until it landed in his personal preference for a position. He then leaned over his guitar and started to quickly pluck at the strings, moving the fingers on his left hand up and down the fret board just as quickly as he was strumming.

He played out a couple of guitar solos from his favorite Taking Back Sunday and Incubus songs before he stopped, using the right side of his hand to mute the guitar.

"You make it look too easy," Rhuben grumbled as she dropped her arms, leaning forward so her chest rested against the guitar.

"You'll get it though," Kendall said encouragingly. "I know you can. I'm going to make sure that you can." He tapped himself on the chest. "No one can say that Kendall "Killer" Knight isn't dedicated when he wants to get something done."

Rhuben's right eyebrows rose as she stared at Kendall. "Killer?" she repeated.

"Oh" Kendall blushed slightly as he smiled with pride. "Killer is my hockey nickname. Well, one of them anyway, it's the one that's used the most. The other one that I have is "Bloody Knuckles"."

"I like Bloody Knuckles, better," Rhuben pointed out. "But Killer?" Her upper lip curled. "Really?"

"Yeah, my Dad gave me that nickname for hockey and then my coach caught onto it and it just stuck," Kendall's face clouded over as he started to absentmindedly played the guitar in his hands. "Before I knew it, everyone was calling me that when I was on the ice."

"And Bloody Knuckles?" Rhuben prompted.

Kendall grinned. "You'll love this one," he said. "I got that nickname because I was so mad at an opponent who was insulting my Mom and sister, trying to get a rise out of me during a game. So I went over, shook off my glove, grabbed him by the shirt, knocked his helmet off, and punched him in the face so hard that I knocked him out. And there was blood on my hand, hence Bloody Knuckles."

That's cool," Rhuben laughed. She tucked her hair behind her ear and studied him. "I'm guessing that your Dad taught you how to play the guitar too?"

"Yeah," Kendall let out a long breath. "I always used to sit at his feet and watch him play, then he gave me his old one and taught me how and…I never stopped." He got a faraway look in his eyes as he rested his arms on the top of his guitar. "Mom thinks I play so much because it's a way to keep him around."

"It's possible," Rhuben shrugged. "Besides the fact that being in a rock band has been my dream practically since I was an ankle-biter," Kendall smiled as her voice quickly switched to her Australian accent (as she is originally from Sydney, Australia) when she used the slang word. "Our Mum and Dad loved music, so the fact that Robert forced us into a band didn't bother us when we thought of doing it to make our parents proud. That's why, for the most part, one song on each of our CDs are about them."

"Yeah," Kendall murmured the look still in his eyes.

Rhuben set her guitar aside and leaned into Kendall's side, putting an arm around his upper back. She gently rubbed his back and listened to him breathe for a moment before speaking. "Just like we said after the trial, if you ever need help or just want to listen, I'm here for you." She gave him a kiss on the side of the head, causing Kendall to laugh.

"I know," he replied. "Thanks Benny."

"You're welcome, KDawg." She sat back. "Now, do you think that I could learn a song before I leave here today?"

"Yes, I know one that's very easy to learn," Kendall nodded.

For the next hour, Kendall showed Rhuben how to play Wonderwall by Oasis. She didn't get it perfectly, it didn't' sound too good (there were still a lot of 'thunks' as she went through a few strings and figured out how/where to press her finger) but she was starting to get the idea of finger placement, how hard to press her finger on the string/fret board, how to play a certain string at a certain time, and how to strum the guitar evenly and at a steady pace. By the time she was done, he thought that she had progressed enough that with more practice she could play it perfectly, quickly.

"I hate this stupid instrument," Rhuben grumbled as she packed it up. "I don't see why I can't just fake it like usual. I mean, Ronan's not making her learn how to play the drums! Even a monkey can learn how to play the drums."

"Yeah, but you're acting like the more difficult dance moves get the easier it is for her to learn," he reminded her. "She gets frustrated with them pretty quickly."

"That because we're a bunch of perfectionists." Rhuben snapped, closing the lid to her guitar case with a snap.

"I can see that," Kendall reached out and placed a hand on top of her head, causing her to pout. "But seriously, you're going to be really good if you just keep practicing," Kendall said as he helped Rhuben pack up her things to leave. "It might not come to you as quickly as you want, and you could get frustrated with it. But you guys are really talented with music and you'll get it."

Rhuben sighed heavily.

"Promise you won't stop trying, for me?" Kendall clasped his hands together and stuck out his lower lip as far as it would go, making whimpering sounds.

Rhuben rolled her eyes. "Like that's going to work," she said. "Your nose is too big to make that cute," she teased, causing Kendall to make a face. "But I'll keep trying, if Ronan says it's not working, then…"

"Then keep taking lessons with me," Kendall jumped in. "Even if you get someone else as a teacher, I still want to help you, like you're helping me." He held out his hand. "Deal?"

Rhuben took it and shook it firmly. "Deal." She replied and gave a small smile, picking up her case and heading towards the front door. "See you later."

"Later."

THE END

A/N: I realized that we hadn't shown much of the Kella friendship in our stories (though I'm trying hard to show it in ITRTYG) so I thought that this would make a good one-shot for it. I hope you guys liked it.

Cheers,

-Riles