One and Only
By: Riley
Summary – When you realize your feelings for your best friend, it's not always a good feeling. –Dialogue driven one-shot-
Riley Jackson-McGuire squeezed ocean water out of her hair as she watched her twin sister, Rhuben, and one of her younger brothers, Patrick, surf on a large wave.
"Whoo!" Sydney, her youngest brother, cheered. "I think that was the best one yet."
"Sick," Noah agreed. "You got a good wave that time." His smile was soft as Patrick and Rhuben glided up to their siblings, slowing to a stop. He reached out and high-fived his twin brother. Noah then tilted his head down as he brought his watch up to his face. "We should probably head in, Ronan said we only had an hour."
"Just one more wave," Riley and Sydney pleaded in unison.
"You said that a half hour ago, Sis," Noah pointed out. He licked his snake bite piercing. "And Ronan is waiting."
"Way to set an example, Sis," Rhuben added, turning to Riley with a laugh. Riley smiled in reply. "But he's right, we should go in." She and her siblings lay down on their boards and paddled back to the beach. They laughed and splashed at each other as they rode the wave into the beach, waiting until it was shallow enough that they could stand up and walk in.
"Do any of you guys know what's on our schedule for today?" Patrick asked, picking up his towel to dry off. "I think he said something about press work."
"Yep," Sydney piped up. "We have that and some meeting with marketing." He wrapped his towel around his shoulders. "Y'know, it's kinda funny. We're taking the year off of recording which took up, like, all of our time. And now…it's filled with meetings."
"Sucks huh?" Rhuben laughed. "I mean, being in a band, when you have the time off…you don't actually have time off. Who would have thought?"
Sydney pouted. "You're not funny, Rhu-Rhu."
"I'm just teasing, Little Man." Rhuben gave him a hug as the other three laughed. "Come on." She picked up her surfboard and tucked it under her arm.
The Jacksons were back at their home of Sydney, Australia taking a break from music while Big Time Rush was on their All Over the World Tour. After spending year after year cranking out CDs since they were young (as their band, the DarkElements), under the plan of their ex-father, Robert Jackson, Ronan thought that after the guys put out their Elevate CD that that they deserved a break from everything. The Jacksons jumped at the chance and opted to go back to their home of Sydney, Australia to take the break. It upset Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James to know that they weren't going to be going on tour together, but they understood all the same. Since they had been home, the Jacksons did a public press release that they were going to take the year off of making new music and were going to start their break back in Australia. At the same time, they used it to announce the abuse that they had been put through over the years while with Robert. On both fronts, they were given praise and positive reaction to everything by their fans and they couldn't be happier about it.
It made the guilt of taking a break away from the Jackson and they were able to start to relax and find their true selves again. The best thing that they could find about it was the fact that they were now able to go to the beach as much as they wanted and they started every day out surfing or just working out on the beach.
"So how do you think the guys' tour is going?" Noah asked as they started to walk the ten minute trip back to their house. "Last time Carlos checked in, they were having a blast."
"My guess is that it's only a matter of time until they wind up in jail for some obscure reason," Riley said, pretending to think. "Of course, we'd know it because we'd be able to hear Gustavo's screams from here."
She and her siblings laughed loudly. They arrived back to the house and set their boards by the back door before going up the deck and entering the kitchen. Their father, Ronan McGuire was cooking breakfast on the stove and looked up with a smile and a wave of a spatula when he saw them.
"Hey Ronan!" They chorused.
"You guys looked really good out on the waves today," he said. "Even better then when you were in LA." He turned on another burner, placing a pan on top. "I guess being back in Sydney has really helped you guys."
"Actually, it was the break that helped, mate," Riley remarked. Tightening the knot that she had put in her towel to keep it around her waist; she pulled herself up onto the counter, lightly kicking her legs back and forth. "Not that we don't like making music, but after a while it all started to blur together."
"I'm glad I suggested it then." Ronan laughed.
"So am I." Sydney grabbed a banana out of the fruit bowl and leaned against the large counter that was in the middle of the kitchen, watching as Ronan cooked them their breakfast. He took a large bite, smiling.
"So what do we have today?" Noah asked him, twisting his hat so the brim was facing the back of his head.
"Press work," Ronan said. "Especially Juke Magazine so they can get an official statement about your guys' break and the direction of your new CD next year. Then you have marketing meetings for the new CD next year and some phone interviews."
Noah groaned loudly.
"What's up?" Ronan asked.
"No is wondering if his crippling shyness on the phone will actually kill him this time," Riley teased. She zipped up a black jacket over her red bikini, leaving it open at the top.
Noah turned to his eldest sister and stared her down. "How'd you like that jacket to become a permanent part of your anatomy?" He threatened.
"Can you reach it?" Riley taunted. She blinked as Noah moved to her side, looking down at her. "I hate how you're taller than me now," She complained, giving him a hug.
"All the more reason for me to love it." Noah smiled and hugged her back, resting his chin on her head.
Ronan laughed along with his kids and reached for the phone as it rang, motioning for Patrick to take over at the stove. Ronan picked up the phone and placed it on his ear, using his free hand to pluck a grape out of Rhuben's hand as she went to eat it.
"Hello?" He wrapped an arm around Rhuben's waist and held her to him as she struggled to get back to the grape bowl. Rhuben extended her arms and reached for the bowl as Sydney playfully pulled it away from her. "Hey Kendall," Ronan greeted him. "Yeah she's here, hold on." He handed the phone to Riley. "He said he called your cell."
"It's dead," Riley said. She grabbed the phone and held it to her shoulder. "I meant to charge it last night."
"Tell him I said, 'hi'," Sydney called as he continued to hold the grape bowl out of Rhuben's grasp.
"No worries." Riley took the phone and walked into the living room. She put the phone up to her ear. "Let me guess, you need to figure out some sort of outfit or something, Kendoll." She said into the phone.
"No," Kendall Knight replied with a light laugh. "You said we could choose whatever we wanted for casual, remember?"
"And yet, James is constantly sending me pics, asking for my opinion." Riley sat down in a leather reclining chair. "Though I'm sure it's so I can stoke his ego considering most of the time it's a pic where he's shirtless." She examined her nails. "So what's up with the tour? You have to tell me everything."
"You're not going to believe me," Kendall trailed off.
"Try me." Riley started to pick at her nails.
"Well…" Kendall paused. "While in London, we got wrapped up in this scheme with MI6 and we became secret agents to save the world."
Riley pulled the phone from her ear and looked at it for a moment before putting it back to her ear. "You're right," she said after a second. "I don't believe you." She snorted. "Dude, you're lying through your teeth."
"I swear to God, I'm not!" Kendall cried. "It really happened. Ask any of the other guys." He was laughing now.
"Like you guys have the best track record for this sort of thing. Please. You have to admit that story sounds completely far-fetched." Riley ran a hand through her hair. "Other than that, if it really happened, how's it going?"
"Well, we started in London-"
"No, tell me everything!"
Kendall chuckled. There was a groaning and squeaking sound, letting Riley know that he was stretching out on his bed. They were probably in a hotel room if not on a tour bus, but she didn't hear the sound of an engine in the background, so it was most likely a hotel. "It's so boring though."
"Maybe, but I'd be more entertained," Riley remarked. "You know that I don't like to miss anything. All we do here is eat, sleep, and go to the beach."
"Poor you," Kendall teased.
"Shut up," Riley replied.
"I'm just saying, you're in the lap of a vacation and you're complaining about being bored." Riley could hear the smile on his voice. "You must miss us a lot."
"You kept us from being bored, that's it," Riley said through gritted teeth.
"I know that's not the truth, but I'll take it for now." Kendall laughed. "You know, we miss you guys, too." Riley rested her palm against her forehead, frowning. "You still there?"
"Yeah," Riley said slowly. "Still here. Oh!" Her eyes lit up. "Did you guys like the pictures we sent?"
"Katie's jealous," Kendall relayed. "She says it's not fair how she's stuck in the PalmWoods while we're on tour and you guys are on vacation. She and Mom could only stay for a few of our shows before having to go back. But they're going to be going to our last one in Canada and then fly back to LA while we take the tour bus, back." He suddenly sniffed loudly.
"Are you getting sick?" Riley demanded. She sat up straight in the chair, leaning over a bit, resting her hand on her crossed legs. The hand that held the phone was propped up with her elbow on the armrest. "I told you guys to make sure that you get a good night's sleep or-"
"Relax," Kendall broke in. "I just blew my nose. Geez. You and Benny are such mother hens."
"Can't help it. I guess it just stuck from having to take care of the kids for so long," she said slowly. "It's not like you can break a habit that easily." She was quiet for a moment. "I don't know, I guess things are kind of weird. I'm always expecting to wake up and figure out that this was all a dream and that things are still going badly for us."
A comfortable silence fell over the two teenagers.
"Look, we're sorry that we couldn't be there to support you guys while you announced everything that you all have been going through," Kendall said quietly. "But you do know that we were supporting you all no matter where we were. We even dedicated that show to you guys, the night you announced it. And we watched the live feed coverage for it." He paused. "We're proud of you guys, you know. We're always going to be there for you guys."
"We don't deserve it." Riley frowned.
Comments like that always made her a bit uncomfortable. Having listened to Robert go on and on about how worthless they were besides making money, it got ingrained in her brain pretty quickly, which was one of the reasons for her to act the way that she did before. Putting up a wall so no one could see how hurt and broken she really was, pushing people away before they could get too close and take advantage of her. Big Time Rush had managed to break through that, but habits were hard to break.
"Of course you do," Kendall said firmly.
"Most people don't see it that way. They just believe the bad things they've heard about us."
"I'm not most people."
"I know." Riley quickly changed the subject back to him. "Trust me, I know. You're one of the only people that I know that needs constant supervision."
"Thanks Riles." Kendall sounded sarcastic. "Thanks a lot."
"You're welcome, Hockey-Head," Riley mimicked his tone. "Oh, we heard that you guys sold out a couple of your shows. Fans are going nuts online. They're asking us if we can get them some tickets."
"I know the feeling." Kendall sighed. "People do that to us all the time. Even if you guys are going on a TV show they asked us for tickets."
"You must feel pretty popular then." Riley found herself smiling. "Even more so than when our pics from Hawaii for the Windows Down shoot got out." She made a 'tsk' sound. "And you weren't even shirtless half the time. A major waste if you ask me."
Kendall gave a sarcastic laugh. "Speaking of, a lot of guys are all ready drooling over yours and Rhu's beach pictures," Kendall said slowly. Riley resisted the urge to curl her upper lip. She couldn't miss the tone of overly possessive jealousy in his voice "You only sent your guys' pictures to us, right? I really liked the one where you guys had made a sandcastle out of Patrick, by the way."
"Must've been the paps." Riley shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time. We're so well known here that we get followed a lot." Her upper lip curled. "It's the comments that are disgusting though."
"If anyone says it to your face, let me know, I'll take care of them for you."
"From over 5,000 miles away?" Riley scoffed. "That's…sweet but you can't stop them. They're guys. It happens."
"Still…" Kendall pressed. "Just let me know."
"I will." Riley promised. "But what's wrong?" She twisted her fingers together. "You sound sorta funny."
"A lot," Kendal admitted. "There's a lot going on." He gave a heavy sigh. "I've had to miss a show because of being sick and my asthma and stuff. I'm more stressed than I've ever been; trying to keep my fans happy. And…there's some other stuff."
"Tell me," Riley said quietly, her eyebrows lowering.
"I want to," Kendall suddenly sounded really tired. "I really do. There's nothing else I'd rather do, frankly. But I'd like to be able to do it in person. Not over text, not through e-mail, not the few and far between video chats and especially not over the phone. I like talking to you, in person, to your face, because that way…" He gave a hollow laugh. "I really want to talk to my best friend, but I can't."
"I can't help that." Riley sighed in frustration.
"I know." Kendall's voice matched her tone. "It just sucks knowing that you can't help me until the tour is over cause I'd rather talk to you. Like, talk the way we did before; for hours on end where you don't really help me but you still help me by not helping me. Like before we came on tour and you guys couldn't come with."
Riley snorted. "You mean after you declared me as your best friend?"
"So I'm not yours?"
"I didn't say that," Riley quickly reassured him. She sighed, resting her hand against her forehead. "Sorry I can't help you. But there's not much of the tour left."
"I just miss you." He sucked in a sharp breath as if realizing he said something wrong. "I mean, uh, all you guys."
Riley paused, suddenly uncomfortable. "Are you trying to make me puke?" Kendall gave a short laugh. "Then don't get mushy on me, Hockey-Head." She sat up when she heard plates being rustled around in the kitchen. "I have to go. Brekkie." She listened to him breathe for a moment. "Get some sleep, ok? We can talk when you get back…I guess I kind of missed it too."
"I'll try," Kendall compromised. "Tell the others 'hi' for me."
"Sure," Riley replied. "Do the same for me. Peace."
"Later, Riles."
Riley lowered the phone to her lap and stared off into space for a moment. She then shook her head, putting the phone aside. "Dang it." She muttered under her breath.
"What's wrong?" She jumped when Patrick rounded the chair. "Sorry, I was just going to tell you it was time for brekkie." He sat down on the arm of the chair. "What's up?"
Riley shook her head and then tilted her head back to look at her brother. "Keep a secret?" she asked him.
"Course." Patrick nodded.
Riley sighed and ran her hands over her face. "I like Kendall." She said.
"I knew it!" Patrick cried, his eyes flashing with amusement.
Riley reached out and smacked him on the leg, then rolled her eyes in self contempt. "I did the clichéd thing and fell for my best friend." She let out a sarcastic laugh. "I just couldn't admit it until now. I guess I just realized how much I missed having him around." She shook her head. "Pathetic, right?"
"No," Patrick said gently. "You deserve to be happy. I'm glad that you finally admitted it to yourself." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Though it took you a while. I knew that you were trying not to have it happen, but you can't ignore your feelings, though you hid it well."
"What?" Riley gave him a strange look.
"I knew you liked him," Patrick explained. "You gave him so much attention. I mean, we all knew he liked you, especially after he wrote Cover Girl and You're Not Alone about you. Seriously, no one could miss that those songs were about you." Riley made a whiny sound as he continued to talk. "And then there was the stories that he kept telling you each time we saw them, and him always going to you to talk, even when he and Jo were on the verge of breaking up and after that. And him jumping to have you as a partner with just about anything…but then again, knowing you, I wasn't exactly sure-"
"Oh." Riley cut him off, giving a light nod.
"Are you going to tell him?" Patrick asked, tilting his head to the side. He gave her a kind smile as he gave her time to think about it.
"No," Riley decided. She looked Patrick in the eye. He frowned. "I don't know." Patrick then raised his eyebrows. "There're a lot of reasons why, but I don't want to risk ruining the friendship. I'd just make things weird if I said something and we tried it, and things didn't work out."
"I getcha." Patrick nodded.
"Don't tell anyone, ok?" Riley rolled up the sleeves of her jacket, suddenly feeling very warm. "I don't want this to be a big deal. It's not a big deal." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself. She was sure that she was blushing and hated herself even more for that. "I'll tell them later."
"If it's no big deal then why don't you just tell em' now?" Patrick asked.
"Pat!"
"Whatever." Patrick licked his lips. "But are you ever going to tell him? It's not good to keep things bottled up." He playfully flicked her on the nose. "It's not like you, anyway."
"Not unless I have to," Riley smirked. "And if I get my way I won't have to…and I always get my way."
Patrick laughed and hugged her. Riley smiled and hugged him back, resting her head on his chest. The two looked up when they heard shuffling in the hallway and then laughed when Dak and Lizzie Zevon and WayneWayne Dooley walked into the living room, all looking like crap. Lizzie was trying hard to keep her bed-head down, WayneWayne was rubbing his eyes, and Dak looked like a zombie.
"You guys are just waking up?" Riley asked with a teasing lift to her tone.
"Jet lag, man," WayneWayne replied. "It really sucks." He yawned loudly. "And I thought that we left at a good enough time not to worry about it."
"Flying for over fifteen hours can do that to you," Patrick said. "Come on, we have coffee and hot chocolate to wake you up." He led the three into the kitchen and everyone gathered around the table to start breakfast. The rest of the Jacksons and Ronan had been waiting patiently in their designated seats. "Besides, you need to be awake so you can do what we have planned for you all."
"Oh yeah?" Dak grabbed onto a mug of coffee and moving it in front of his plate before handing Lizzie a mug of hot chocolate. "What's that?"
"You'll see," Rhuben said in a sing-song voice with a smile.
"Don't worry," Sydney reassured them seeing the slightly worried looks on their faces. "You guys are going to love it." He held out his plate to Ronan so he could start putting some food on it. "There's nothing better than being on vacation, especially while we're in Oz." He turned to his siblings. "Right?"
"Right!"
Patrick cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. His eyes flashed as he quickly glanced at Riley, who narrowed her eyes in response. "So did you guys know that Riles finally admitted that she has a thing for Kendall?" Riley immediately threw her napkin at him as he laughed and moved his hands up to shield himself from her.
"I'm going to kill you!" She spat, pointing her fork at him.
"No death threats at the table." Ronan warned her with a sharp look. He then tossed a smug smile Patrick's way. "Wait until after breakfast."
"Oh my god!" Lizzie squealed. She whipped out her phone and started to tap on the screen. "I have to tell Katie, she's going to love hearing this! She wanted you two together as much as I did." Lizzie let out a screech of protest as WayneWayne reached over and plucked her phone from her hand, giving her a stern look when she reached for it. Lizzie pouted and dropped her hands to her lap.
"It's not like it's a big deal, anyway," Riley muttered, resting her chin in her hand as she focused on her plate of food.
"Yes it is," Sydney piped up. He was up on his knees on his chair, resting his arms on the table, leaning over so he could look at his eldest sister. "I mean, I don't really get why people care so much about this sort of thing, but this is a big deal. He's your best friend and he likes you and you like him." He smiled widely. "I say go for it. because it's really only hurting the rest of us, having to watch you two act like you don't know that you like each other." Dimples appeared in his cheeks. "And I want you to be happy, Ri-Ri, you'll be happy with him, I know it."
"Actually, Kendall doesn't know that she knows he likes her," Lizzie explained. "An he doesn't know she likes him."
"All the more reason for you two to get together," Dak said helpfully. "It's perfect, really."
"And you would know all about that wouldn't you?" Rhuben shot back before quickly coming to her sister's aid. "Besides, she just admitted that she likes him. That's fine, and I'm happy about that." She nodded at Riley. "Whether or not she does want to say something to him is her own business. And not yours to tell!" At the last part of her sentence, she shot out her foot and kicked Patrick in the leg, withe each word.
"I agree," Noah spoke up.
"God, can we please change the subject?" Riley dropped her hands into her lap. "It's not a big deal, ok?"
"If you don't want to tell him because you're afraid of ruining the friendship, I don't think you have a problem," WayneWayne said helpfully.
Riley was blushing hard at that point. Despite the fact that she was glad that her friends and family were happy about the way that she felt, and just wanted her to be happy, she couldn't handle all of the added attention onto her. She tried to downplay the whole situation as much as possible, because she knew it really was a big deal, but Patrick had to go and ruin it. She was already starting to plan out ways to kill him in his sleep and not get connected back tothe crime.
"Ronan!"Riley turned to her father with pleading eyes and he laughed as he reached out a hand and mussed her hair.
"Ok, leave her alone," Ronan said. He picked up his fork and speared a piece of fruit with it. "You can just bug her about it later, since I know this conversation wont be dropped." He took a breath. "So, subject change! What are you planning on doing with these guys?" he nodded over at Lizzie, Dak, and WayneWayne. "I hope something that doesn't involve me having to be called by the police."
"That only happened once," Rhuben protested.
As Sydney started to explain some of the things that they had planned for Dak, Lizzie, and WayneWayne, Riley was slow to join the conversation, but she eventually mustered up the same amount of enthusiasm that her siblings had. At least that way she would be able to keep Kendall out of her head and have some fun, if only for a little while.
THE END
A/N: All right, so some people had wondered when Riley realized that she liked Kendall. And if you've read my timeline, you know specifically when but I wanted to write a quick one-shot to show it especially because we can't do a story that shows DE on their break because BTR is on their tour….actually that gives me an idea for a possible story, but it might not work out.
Yes, Dak, WayneWayne, and Lizzie visit the Jacksons for a short while (maybe only a week or so) while they're on their break before going back to LA. Then the Jacksons go back to LA a couple of months later, and then BTR return to LA a few weeks (maybe a month) after the Jacksons when season 3 starts, just so that all makes sense for you.
Anyway, was it a cute enough one-shot for you? ;)
I hope you guys liked it.
Cheers
-Riles