Inspiration for this one shot came when I was listening to Nothing Even Matters and I realized that, even though it's very clearly a love song, the word girl isn't in it at all. And then of course my Kogan shipper mind realized that that must mean the song is about them. So, yeah, this was born. Enjoy!
"What's up Kelly?"
"Yeah, today's supposed to be our day off. Why'd you call us in?"
Kelly grins at the four boys standing in front of her. "Trust me guys. This is worth it."
They all look skeptical and she can't blame them. This wouldn't be the first time Gustavo would have promised the boys a day off and then called them in last minute to rerecord something or take a last minute dance lesson from Mr. X. What they don't know is that Gustavo never does it on purpose. She knows that they boys and their producer are quite happy with their love/hate relationship though, so far be it from her to mess with the status quo. "Believe me." She tells them again.
"Dogs!" They all jump at the sound of Gustavo's voice as the producer strolls out of his office, some kind of plaque in his hands. Then he shocks them all by smiling. "Guess who just got a number one hit…" He flips over the object in his hands, "in the United States!"
"Nothing Even Matters is officially your first home turf hit!" Kelly exclaims, clapping her hands together excitedly.
The boys all let out a cheer as they rush forward to examine the award. They're all talking excitedly amongst themselves and Kelly grins at them. It's no secret that Big Time Rush is her favorite band that Gustavo has produced since she's been working for him. And she knows that, even though he'd never admit it, Gustavo has a soft spot for his "dogs." This is probably why this moment is such a big deal for them. There's something about being recognized on your own turf that seems so much more like finally doing it than having a hit in a country who's name you can barely pronounce and that you've never heard of before.
"Okay dogs," Gustavo takes the award back from them, "you can return to your day off." He smiles once more. "Go celebrate by the pool."
They give one last simultaneous whoop of joy before racing towards the exit. Just before they round the corner and disappear from site, Kelly notices Kendall throw a casual arm over Logan's shoulder and tug the smaller boy closer to him. She shakes her head, still smiling, because she's sure that the blonde thought he was being discreet. She turns to Gustavo, who has already made his way back into his office. "I'm really proud of them." She says, following him in and placing a coffee on his desk.
Gustavo nods, but doesn't say anything. Kelly expects as much. He never was very good at admitting how he felt about them, even when it was just to her and she clearly already knows. "And I'm really proud of you too."
He looks up at this. "Excuse me?"
"You finally wrote a hit that didn't have the word girl in the title, or anywhere in the song actually, and that had nothing to do with squirrels."
The producer looks like he's offended by this, but he's learned that yelling at Kelly doesn't really get him anywhere. She just yells right back. So instead he decides that he might as well tell her the truth. She's as much a part of the Big Time Rush team as anyone and she's going to have to deal with it eventually.
"That's because I wasn't writing it about any girl."
Kelly's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "You weren't?"
"No." Gustavo takes a sip from his coffee, before continuing. "I wrote it about Kendall and Logan."
If possible, Kelly's eyebrows shoot up even higher, nearly disappearing into her hairline. Not, of course, that she's bothered by the fact that the song is about two boys, because really, she'd seen this coming since the blonde had pulled his smaller friend close after Gustavo had told them Logan still couldn't dance when they'd first gotten to L.A. She's not surprised that Gustavo saw it coming either. He works just as closely with the boys as she does. She is surprised that he had written a song about them though. "Really?"
Gustavo sighs, taking off his ever-present sunglasses. "Yes. Can you honestly tell me you haven't noticed it?"
Kelly shakes her head quickly. "That's not what I meant. I've known since, well for a long time. I'm surprised that you would, you know, write a song about it."
"Remember when the dogs first moved to L.A.?" Kelly nods. "Well after they finally decided to do things the right way, Kendall walked up to me when I was alone and told me that if I ever made Logan cry again I would have to worry about a lot more than just his smart mouth." Gustavo chuckles at the memory. "That's kind of when I figured it out. There were other things along the way that just reinforced it, but they've been so obvious right from the start, it's sort of been painful to watch."
Kelly smiles lightly, knowing that Gustavo actually cares about them as if they were his own children. "So…if you've seen this coming from the beginning," she lets her fingers trace over the record that's on the plaque, "why did you decide to write this song about them."
"You know how I don't hate the dogs?" Kelly rolls her eyes but nods anyways. "Well, after you and Kendall helped me realize that I had written the worst song ever for New Town High's soundtrack, I was trying to think of what the real song should be when I overheard the dogs in the lobby."
-/-
"This. Isn't. Working!" Gustavo slams his hand down on the piano. He doesn't have time for writer's block right now. He has less than two hours to write a song that will blow the TV producers away. Groaning in frustration, he stands up, hoping that a trip to get some coffee, and said coffee, will help him think of something. He stops as he opens the door, a voice floating in from the lobby.
"But Carlos said Gustavo was nice now!"
"He was." another voice replies. "But that made him the worst song writer ever. So Kelly and me had to snap back to his old self." Gustavo peeks out through the door and can just barely see Logan and Kendall sitting, perhaps a bit too closely, on the couch.
"Kelly and I." Logan corrects automatically, almost not seeming to realize he'd even done it, which prompts Kendall to roll his eyes and smile lightly. "Oh man," he's wringing his hands nervously, "Gustavo's going to kill me!"
Kendall places a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's going to be okay."
"Gustavo told me to get more swagger! And I tried! I mean, but that nearly killed James and I hated it! But I'm supposed to have more swagger!"
"No." The blonde's voice is stern and serious and so unlike how it normally is. "You don't need anything. You are fine just the way you are."
"But Gustavo-" Gustavo almost feels bad because Logan sounds like he might be about to have panic attack.
"Gustavo is wrong this time." He cuts his genius friend off. "Logie, you're fine just the way you are." Kendall pulls his smaller friend into a tight embrace, practically pulling him into his lap. "You're my best friend because you're you. And if you weren't Logan than how could I be Kendall? If you can't be yourself for you than be yourself for us." He pulls back so he can lock hazel eyes with brown ones, needing to make sure his friend understands him.
"You keep me level headed and make sure I don't get in too much trouble. You make sure I get all my homework done and you always know exactly what to say when I'm hurt or upset. My grammar has even improved since I met you," he smirks, "well, mostly. I don't know if you've realized, but we're like the greatest team ever." Logan smiles slightly at these words and, encouraged by this, Kendall continues. "So don't listen to Gustavo or anyone who says anything like him. You don't need to change or add anything."
"Really?" Logan's tone is hesitant, but hopeful.
"Yes. You're perfect, Logie, just like you are."
Relief washes over the brunette's face for the first time in the entire conversation and he beams at his taller friend and the two boys are hugging once more.
Gustavo closes the door to recording studio quietly, not wanting to disturb his two dogs. He doesn't need coffee anymore anyways. He knows exactly what he's going to write about now.
-/-
When Gustavo finishes telling his story, Kelly is hiding a smile behind both of her hands. "Aw!" She gushes as soon as he stops talking. "That's so sweet!"
Gustavo shrugs. He'd agree with her, but he's Gustavo Rocque and he doesn't have feelings like that. At least not out loud. "I needed a song and I wanted the dogs to know that they were fine. Just the way they were."
Kelly knows that he's talking about something bigger than Kendall being kind of a smart-ass and Logan's less than stellar swagger. She smiles at her boss. "I knew you liked them."
There's not much point in denying it after the story he'd just told her, so Gustavo just shrugs again. "It's kind of like my way of letting them know that when it's time, when they're ready, well it'll be okay and that they can tell us anything."
Kelly thinks back to just a little while ago, when she'd watched Kendall throw his arm around Logan and grins. "And maybe that time is closer than we thought."
Gustavo laughs. "I know. And man am I glad that Kendall finally worked up to putting his arm around him." Kelly blinks, surprised that he had even seen that. "I was getting seriously tired of watching them hook pinkies every time they thought we weren't looking."
Kelly laughs with him and is unbelievably happy for the two young boys. She can't imagine how anyone could not find them absolutely adorable, but she's sure that there are bound to be people who don't. Still, she thinks about the story Gustavo has just told her and she's pretty sure the producer/songwriter had it right. When the time came and they felt comfortable enough to share who they were and who they loved with the world, they would be okay even through the undeserved hate they might have to deal with.
As long as they have each, Kelly knows, nothing else will really even matter.
There you have it. I hope you guys enjoyed all the cheese. Believe me when I say that I know that this one shot was extra cheesy. But I couldn't help myself. It was begging to be written.
