~Chaper Four~
"And when we go, far ahead…" Pausing on his words, Noah ran a hand across his raven locks and pursed his lips slightly before nodding to himself. He unhooked the pen that sat on the outside of his pocket and jotted the words down, trying to form another song for his band…while he waited for Big Time Rush to join him for their writing session. With their second album coming up, Gustavo gave them the idea, or rather demanded that they write their own songs to prove that they were really a band, really talented, and should be taken seriously. "When we, understand…" He drummed his fingers on the edge of the clipboard which served as a place to rest the sheet of paper. "Not good enough…" He sighed.
Putting the clipboard down, Noah yawned and started twirling the pen between his fingers, putting his foot up on the edge of the soundboard table, leaning back in his chair. Upon glancing at the clock, he realized that two hours had flown by since he had first started working on the lyrics. He made a noise of annoyance as he started rocking back and forth in the chair but other than that, his face didn't show any emotion.
He knew that Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan took their music seriously, but there were many times, including currently, where he wondered if that was true at all. He knew that James was really the only one to really want to do it and the others had just come along for the ride and that didn't really sit well with him, despite being friends with the boys. All those years he had endlessly worked hard to build up the reputation for delivering good music, taking everything seriously and knowing when to goof off, when someone who didn't really want to do it walked in and became popular, taking the spot from someone who could have been trying all their lives to make it. And as for James; for someone that wanted it so bad, he didn't seem to take it so seriously anymore.
At least he got four lines down for that song today – it was an improvement, and for him, time very well spent. He would've loved to finish the song, but inspiration just didn't come to him that day. That, and glancing at the clock every five minutes, it was hard to concentrate at all on the sheet of paper.
Noah jumped, nearly falling out of his seat when the door burst open and Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan walked in, breathing heavily, faces red. Noah arched an eyebrow turning in his chair to face them. "I know…what you're going to say," Kendall breathed, hands on his knees. Noah tilted his head to the side, giving a "Yeah right" look. "We're late…we know. Gustavo…kept us…in the studio."
"Yeah," Logan agreed, squeezing his side with one hand. "He wasn't happy…with what we were doing…in the studio."
Not surprised, Noah thought to himself, instinctively turning towards James and Carlos to see if they had anything else to say. When they didn't, Noah briefly closed his eyes, sitting up in his chair. "Let me play you guys something to give you some inspiration to write before we begin." He turned around in his chair, and pressed a few buttons on the sound board. Seconds later a loud guitar rift filled the air before the song began. Noah pulled his phone out of his pocket and quickly fired off a text to Riley.
Noah: BTR finally made it.
Riley: Surprised they made the effort…two hours later.
Noah: Said Gustavo kept 'em.
Riley: S'possible.
Noah slid his phone back into his pocket, twiddling his thumbs as he waited for the song to finish. Once it did, he turned back around to face the four boys, who were lounged around Ronn's office, notebooks on their laps.
"Cool song." James commented as Noah switched off the player. "Actually, it's more than cool." He continued. "It's absolutely amazing."
"I know," Noah replied shortly."I wrote them. Not to brag." He cleared his throat, sitting up straighter in his chair. "Something like that could come from you if you take the time to actually sit down and try and crank something out." He ran his fingers through his hair and added, "You won't get it on the first try." He looked each boy in the eye. "What's the overall theme of your next album? Have you at least figured that one out yet?"
"Yes we did," Carlos replied with a wide grin. "Girls. And dancing." Noah's lips twitched but he didn't say anything. "A lot of our fans are girls, and they like to dance, so why not cater our songs to both?"
"Well, upbeat songs are really in now," Noah commented, rubbing his chin. "Did you all at least come u with some lyrics? It could just be one or two lines of something." Noah instantly looked over at Kendall. Noah was surprised to learn that Kendall liked writing song lyrics from time to time and they were pretty good, so he naturally turned towards the one who had more experience with it first. His eyes narrowed slightly when he saw the boys exchange glances.
Noah sighed, continuing to look at Kendall. "How many songs have you written? In your whole entire life, how many songs have you written?"
"I lost count," Kendall admitted, grinning slightly. "I've just always done it. I never kept track."
"So, when it comes down to it, you can't write lyrics when someone tells you to?" Noah asked and Kendall's grin slowly faded. "You're not serious about this at all are you?" He then looked around at James, Carlos, and Logan. "Be honest."
"No, we're serious about it," Carlos muttered, eyes wide. "We just forgot to do it, that's all. You see, this week was the rematch of the PalmWoods Derby and—" Logan elbowed Carlos hard in the side, shaking his head.
"Look, you're not going to get far in this industry if you don't' learn how to balance work and play," Noah commented, an annoyed look crossing his face. "Clearly, you don't know how to balance it. Everything's a joke to you and in turn, you're wasting everyone's time."
"You don't understand how much I want this," James commented, leaning forward in his chair. "This has always been my dream. Well, Gustavo wasn't in it, but I've always wanted to perform and to be famous."
"If you're doing it just for the fame, then you don't know what you want," Noah said with a slowly shake of his head. "Music is something connected to an individual individually. The way someone connects depends on when they're listening to it, what mood they were in previously, what's going on in their life, what's happened in their lives, what they think will happen… I can go on forever and list the things that make music connect to people. Some people listen to the lyrics. Some listen to the drums. Some listen to the guitars, some just listen to the instruments in general. They say that music gives off good messages, but it only gives those messages if they feel those messages. You can take two people, let them listen to the same song, and they might get two different opinions of the music completely." He looked each member of BTR in the eye as he spoke. "Your lack of writing down a simple two lines shows to me that you're not connecting with putting in hard work. Everything's fun for you; hey, maybe it'll work. Maybe you'll write fun songs." He gave a one-shouldered shrug.
Kendall closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch behind him, resting his head on the hard cloth covered wood as he tried to take in what the boy saying. Some lyricists wouldn't even know the impact of their jobs on people, and yet, they would willingly write for the money. Noah, and his brothers and sisters, who had spent most of their lives listening to music and writing down song lyrics as soon as inspiration struck (he had even witnessed them at the beach, come in from surfing, grab a notebook and jot down some lines, all while trying not to get the paper wet, and immediately head back out) took their songs seriously, making sure their album could really hit and relate to anyone that listened whether it was a ballad or whether it was a poppy song.
"I think…when it all comes down to it…individually, and even as a group, you're not ready," Noah commented in his quiet voice, looking as if he was daring the boys to correct him. "For anything." He got to his feet and started packing up his stuff. Pushing Ronan's large swivel chair back into place before making his way to the door. "Even Gustavo knows better than this."
Yeah, it's a short chapter, but it took me forever to think of how they'd piss of Noah as you'd have to do something REALLY bad to get a rise out of him. While it may look like he's not that mad, he actually is.
Hope you guys liked this.
Cheers,
-Rhubes