Disclaimer: I still don't own Big Time Rush, the chapter title (which is the name of an Icon For Hire song), Le Mis, VIP Nation, or anything recognizable in here.

ThatOneKid: Thank you so much, I'm so happy you enjoyed it! The press tour won't be for a little while, but you should get to see it. Thank you for taking the time to read and review, I really appreciate it!

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Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to look at this story, read it, review it, favorite it, and follow it. I loved getting all your responses and alerts, and they always get me thinking about what else I could/should put in the story :)

A/N: First of all, huge thanks to Jatieluv! She was nice enough to give me some much needed information for this chapter at pretty much literally the last minute. So if you guys could go over to her profile and check out her stories, that would be awesome :) And if any information is wrong about the VIP concert process, it's my fault and chances are I switched it up a little for the sake of the story.

Next, I know you guys have been asking for some Jatie moments, and I'm so sorry for the lack of them! But this is the first half of the concert chapter, so the James/Katie moments will be coming back in. :)

Enjoy the chapter :)


Chapter Four – Pop Culture

James' POV

The last night of Les Misérables was amazing. The show was completely sold out, and the audience was enthusiastic and energetic. The entire cast gave our all, and by the time we had run off the stage after the bows, I was completely out of breath, but still managing to laugh in elation.

"That was incredible!" Mr. Tucker cried as he hurried over to us. "Definitely the strongest performance of the run!"

We all grinned at him, before hugging each other and heading off to our dressing rooms to get changed into our street clothes. I had agreed to go out to a late dinner with my mom, sister, Carlos, and his friends from school, Kendall and Logan. I hadn't met Kendall and Logan yet, but from the way Carlos talked about them, I had a feeling I would get along awesomely with them.

I changed out of my costume, circa the 1800s, and into jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt. I walked out of my dressing room and out to the lobby, where they were all waiting.

"My baby boy!" Mom squealed, looking slightly tearful as she launched herself at me, wrapping her arms tightly around me.

"Mom – ow – okay, cutting off my circulation – seriously – can't – breathe – !"

"Mom! Let him go before he passes out on us!" Shelby and Carlos hauled her off of me.

"Oh, sorry," Mom apologized.

Shelby laughed and hugged me quickly, before letting Carlos in.

"Dude, you were amazing," he said once he had pulled back. "I always forget you can sing like that until I see you perform live."

"Thanks." I grinned at him, before looking at the other two guys standing a little ways to the side.

"Oh! James, this is Kendall Knight – " he indicated the tall, dark blond guy, " – and this is Logan Mitchell." He nodded towards the shorter, dark haired man.

"Nice to meet you," I smiled at them, shaking their hands.

"Carlos is right, you completely killed it," Kendall told me enthusiastically. "And my sister told me you were really good."

I frowned in confusion. "Your sister?"

"Oh yeah," he grinned. "I hear you met her a few weeks ago. Katie Knight?"

My eyebrows skyrocketed. "As in the pop star slash actress?"

"Yeah, that's her. She's been raving about your performance since the night she saw you. She was still slightly star struck tonight. I was hanging out with her before her interview on Let's Talk LA Live and she was just gushing on and on about you. She said your performance was flawless."

Shelby stepped between Kendall and me. "She said that? For real?"

"Yeah, she did."

She grinned back at me. "You know what yours and Katie's couple name is going to be?"

"Couple name?!" I sputtered, aghast as Carlos, Logan, and Kendall all cracked up. "We don't have a couple name! I've only met her once!"

"Whatever. Anyway, your couple name would be Jatie."

Carlos smirked. "Catchy."

"Kind of has a ring to it," Logan added.

"It's like it's meant to be," Kendall put in, grinning.

"Can we go eat now?" I whined. "I can't deal with this on an empty stomach."

Mom smirked and wrapped an arm around me. "Awww, you don't want us teasing you about a girl?"

"Let me think about that for a moment – no!"

"Boo. Come on, let's go grab food."

We made our way out of the theater, walking down to a nearby Chinese restaurant. Once we were seated, Shelby began chattering away, asking Kendall questions about Katie: "What time does she get up in the morning?" "What's she like in real life?" "Is she really as gorgeous as James says she is?" That one earned her a glare and a, "Shelby, shut up!" from me.

She blinked at me innocently, before turning back to Kendall.

Kendall chuckled, eyes glittering in amusement. "She's not a morning person, so she tends to sleep in as late as she possibly can. In real life, she can be annoying as hell, but she can also be a sweetheart. And yeah, she's pretty, but she's my sister so I can't really say for sure."

"Shelby, you shouldn't ask him questions about his sister," Mom spoke up thirty seconds after the fact.

"Nah, it's fine," Kendall waved his hand airily. "I'm used to it. Anymore questions?" he asked Shelby, who chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully.

"No, I think I'm good for the time being," she said after a moment. "But thanks."

We ordered our food soon after, and I relaxed against my seat, yawning. The past few months of nonstop rehearsing was finally hitting me. I would probably conk out for the next eighteen hours once I got home.

Our food arrived after about ten minutes, and we dug in hungrily. I practically inhaled mine, completely ravenous after running around on stage for over two hours.

At last, we finished eating and paid, heading out.

By the time I stumbled into my room, I felt as if I was going to tumble to the floor from exhaustion. I stripped down to my boxers, yanked my covers back, and fell into my bed, plummeting into dreamland before I even knew what was happening.

When I finally woke up, sunlight was streaming through my bedroom curtains and pop music was blasting in the next room. I opened an eye, glaring at the wall. Shelby. She was playing Katie Knight's songs. She was going to pay for that.

Later.

For now, I just wanted to go back to sleep.

But I was hungry…

Damn it!

I pushed the covers back and grabbed a pair of sweats and a t-shirt from the floor, slipping them on. I padded downstairs, feeling the thickly carpeted stairs under my bare feet.

Mom was sitting in the living room, head bent over a paperback romance novel. However, she looked up as I walked towards the kitchen. "Good afternoon, sweetie."

"Afternoon?" I rubbed my hand over my eyes. "What time is it?"

"A little after two."

"Fuck. Guess I really was exhausted."

"Doubtlessly. Doing intense performances like that, eight times a week for two months – and that's not counting all the rehearsals – has got to be draining. I don't think even pop stars have that kind of schedule."

I shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I'm gonna go grab some food."

"Okay. There's sandwich fixings in the fridge."

"Sounds good." I made my way into the kitchen and over to the fridge. I made myself a turkey and cheese sandwich and stood at the sink, stuffing it in my mouth hungrily. Just as I was swallowing the last couple of bites, Shelby sauntered into the kitchen. She made a face at me.

"Yeah, I don't know how you expect to get a girlfriend when you eat like a starving bulldog."

"Hello to you too," I grumbled. "By the way, it was so fucking pleasant being woken up by Katie Knight."

Shelby smirked. "Did I wake you up? My bad."

"Brat."

"Jerk."

"Don't start!" Mom called from the living room as I opened my mouth to toss another insult Shelby's way. I clamped my jaw shut and instead yanked the refrigerator door open, snatching up a bottle of water. I twisted the cap off and took a long swig.

"So, you know what tomorrow is?" Shelby asked, wiggling slightly as she propped herself up on the counter.

"Gee, I couldn't possibly guess," I said sarcastically.

"Tomorrow's the Katie Knight concert!"

"No kidding. I never would have been able to guess just by looking at the calendar." I dramatically turned my head towards the aforementioned calendar that was hanging on the wall over the counter. In the designated square for August 28th, Shelby had written in bright red sharpie marker, KATIE KNIGHT CONCERT! EEEEP! So yeah, not noticeable at all.

"Hmmph." She crossed her arms, scowling. As always, I ignored her.

I finished off the bottle of water and tossed in the trashcan under the sink, crossing the room. "If you need me, I'll be in my room, sleeping off the last three months."

"You only performed Le Mis for two months."

"Yeah, but I had a month of rehearsals before that – which started right before finals." I shuddered. I was never doing that again. During those two weeks, I was pretty sure I was going to go crazy. Alternating between studying like my life depended on it and rehearsing eight to twelve hours a day was about as much fun as undergoing surgery completely conscious with a rusty nail being used as the surgical tool.

"Oh yeah. Dang, am I glad I'm not you. And FYI, you brought it on yourself."

"Yeah, I know. But it was too good an opportunity to miss."

"Why'd you even go into the audition in the first place?"

"Mostly just for the hell of it," I admitted. "I didn't actually think I would land the role of Marius. But hey, I did, and I loved it. That's the important part."

"And you were an amazing Marius," she added.

I smiled. "Thanks."

"Uh huh. Now, go take a shower. You stink like milk left out in the sun for too long."

I rolled my eyes. Gotta love little sisters. They always knew just what to say. "Will do, Shelb."

"Good. Dried sweat is not a good smell for anyone."

"Uh huh." Nevertheless, I made my way upstairs to the bathroom, where I brushed my teeth, did my business, and hopped into the shower.

I was woken up unceremoniously at 8:30 the next morning by Shelby. I wasn't a morning person on my best days, and two days after I had finished a two month run for a dramatic musical meant that I would have slept until night if I could have.

So it was an unpleasant surprise when she climbed up on my bed, jumping on it. "Getupgetupgetup!" she chanted, shoving me from my stomach and onto my back with her foot.

"What the fuck?!" I yelped. "What the fuck are you doing in here?!"

"Waking you up, duh."

"What are you, five? Go back to sleep. Or go downstairs and watch TV or something. I'm trying to sleep." I rolled back onto my stomach, grabbing my pillow and placing it over my head to try to drown out her voice as much as possible.

It didn't work.

"I can't. I'm too excited to sit still! Anyway, don't we have to be at the Globalnet Sanyoid Center kind of early?"

I groaned. "We don't have to be there until three, when check-in time is."

"But won't traffic be really bad?"

"Maybe. But it's LA, it's always bad. Anyway, we live in the city, Shelby. We don't have to leave until 1:30 at the earliest."

"Come on!" she whined, plopping down next to me. "Please get up."

I sighed. "Did you even sleep last night?"

"Yeah, but Mom gave me one of those sleeping pills she takes to calm me down."

"I see it worked," I commented sardonically.

"Did you sleep?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Good. Then get up."

I sighed, resigning myself to the fact that I wasn't going to get to say in bed unless I wanted my legs to go numb from Shelby's wait. How the hell could a girl that skinny weigh so much?

I pushed myself out of bed and, ignoring Shelby's cheers, headed for the bathroom where I went through my usual morning routine.

I met up with Mom downstairs when I was fixing myself a bowl of cereal.

"I didn't expect you up this early," she said as she sauntered into the kitchen, wearing a charcoal gray skirt suit and matching heels, her hair and makeup flawless.

"Yeah, well, your daughter decided that she had to spread her insane energy around," I grumbled, taking a bite of my Cocoa Puffs. "So she came in and jumped on my bed, and then sat on my legs."

Mom covered her mouth with her perfectly manicured fingers, eyes sparkling with amusement. "If I had known – "

"Uh huh. Sure."

She set her purse on the counter and dug around in it, pulling out her wallet. She passed me a small wad of money. "Use this for dinner and a snack, since I'm sure Shelby won't be able to eat very much before you leave. But knowing her, she'll be hungry by the time you get down there."

"More than likely."

"This is also to cover any expenses," she added. "I know Shelby has some money saved up, but I don't want her blowing her entire allowance on a damn t-shirt. Those things are expensive."

"Believe me, I know."

"That being said, it's her first concert and she has VIP. I want her to have a good time. I also want you to have a good time." She walked over to me, kissing my cheek. "I'm proud of you, Jamie. I know going to this concert isn't going to be your favorite thing in the world, but I know you'll make sure your sister has fun. In all honesty, she'll probably have quite a bit more fun with you than she would have with me. I'm her mom and therefore will come with restrictions. You won't make her get something healthy to eat, and knowing you, you'll probably spoil her rotten at the merch booth."

I made a sound of protest. "I will not."

"You will, just like you do when we go to the fair or Fun Land."

I sighed.

"Face it, James. You have a big heart."

I whined. "Mo-om! Stop it! You're embarrassing me."

She chuckled and kissed my cheek again. "And hey, enjoy seeing Katie again."

"Uh huh. Sure."

She grinned and headed over to the coffeepot to pour herself a cup.

I finished off my cereal, poured a cup of coffee for myself, and downed it without even bothering to add any cream or sugar. I had a feeling I was going to be needing the caffeine before we even got out of the driveway.

Mom went upstairs to say bye to Shelby, before joining me again momentarily to hug me. "Have fun today and be safe. Text me when you get there and when you leave. I'll see you tonight."

I nodded. "See you tonight."

She walked out of the house, closing the front door behind her, and I raked my fingers through my hair. Today was going to be a fucking long day.

I rinsed my coffee mug out and set it on the counter, before making my way up the stairs to the bathroom. I shaved and showered, drying off and hurrying to my room where I dressed quickly in jeans and a black t-shirt, figuring that simple was better. I shoved my feet into my black Converse high tops, laced them up, and ran a comb through my hair.

Shelby ended up dragging me out of the house at one-o-clock exactly, the entire time double checking to make sure we had everything we needed for the concert. We ended up stopping at a fast food restaurant for lunch, heading inside to sit down since we had a good half an hour to spare. We took our time, chewing on our burgers, me munching on my Mozzarella sticks while she chomped on her fries. At last, we took off, weaving through the increasingly thickening traffic as we drew nearer to the Globalnet Sanyoid Center.

Katie Knight's latest CD was blasting through the speakers of the car, and I was grinding my teeth. We were in a backup bad enough to rival the Friday night ones on the PCH. Shelby sang along to the song, and I rolled my eyes. Okay, seriously, did the girl not have anything to sing about besides stupid boys and even stupider crushes?

We finally made it through the traffic, and I found a parking spot a couple of blocks down from the center. I parked, and Shelby and I strolled towards the building, Shelby fidgeting nervously, tugging at her tank top, messing with her bracelets, adjusting her necklace.

We reached the center and got in line with the rest of the VIP concert goers. I took the opportunity to text Mom and let her know that we had gotten there a half an hour early, so everything was going pretty well.

At 3:05 they began ushering us in, checking bags, purses, and even jeans pockets, before letting us into the lobby. One of Katie's assistants handed out our VIP passes while we waited for the next step. After some dude from VIP Nation or whatever gave us instructions, making it very clear that there would be harsh consequences if we put even one toe out of line, we were ushered single file into the amphitheater.

We took our assigned seats, Shelby quietly squealing, and I let out a deep breath.

Okay. So I was about to see Katie again. So she was about to come out on stage. So she was probably going to see me and I was definitely going to see her. And I really should not have been this nervous. I had only met her once, and it had been brief, and it hadn't really gone all that well. Anyway, we were a few rows back, so hopefully she wouldn't see me anyway. But if she did…oh man…That was something I definitely didn't want to think about.

The tour manager walked out a moment later and gave us some more instructions about what we could and could not ask Katie, before hurrying off stage.

After about ten seconds, Katie walked out, and I bit my lip. She looked good. She was wearing jeans, lace up boots, and a slightly baggy t-shirt. Her hair was straight and loose, and she was wearing very little makeup, if any at all. She actually looked less pop star and more rock star.

I liked it.

Shelby rolled her eyes, as if she knew what I was thinking.

Katie plopped down on a stool, a microphone in her hand, and she smiled out at the audience. "How's everyone doing today?"

There was a cheer.

"Yeah, I'm going to need you guys to be a little bit louder," she grinned widely. "So…how's everyone doing today?!"

I was pretty sure the audience's response shook the building. Okay, then…

"That's good to hear. I'm Katie Knight, and I'll be your humble performing host today." A cheeky smirk crossed her face. "I'm going to play a few songs for you guys and answer some questions." Her gaze wandered as she spoke, and on the word questions it settled…on Shelby and me. Her eyes widened and I fought back a blush. Great. She had seen me. Fucking awesome.

I slid down low in my seat, trying to avoid the way her gaze seemed to pierce me.

Katie answered a couple of questions, before playing acoustic versions of her latest singles. Once she was finished with them, more people asked questions. Shelby's hand popped up into the air, and Katie hesitated, before pointing at her.

Shelby positively glowed as she got to her feet. "Okay, um, I was wondering what you thought of the performance of Le Mis you saw."

I groaned, covering my face with my hands. Un-fucking-believable. Of course Shelby would decide that it was a good idea to ask Katie that. Of course.

"Oh…um…" I peeked through my fingers to see Katie blush a bright red and lick her lips nervously. "It was really, really good. I definitely enjoyed it. The – um – actors – they were really amazing."

Shelby grinned, elbowing me as she sat back down. "Yeah, she's into you," she hissed at me, and I glared at her once I had lowered my hands.

"I really hate you. I can't believe you just did that!"

"Yeah, I know. Wasn't it awesome?"

"Awesome is not the word I would use," I growled, but before I could begin lecturing her on not trying to set me up with a pop star, another song began. This one was slower, the lyrics not nearly as stupid as they were in some of her more upbeat songs, and Katie's voice took on a soulful, heartfelt tone.

Wow. She really could sing.

I gazed up at her, completely star struck as she sang the song. It was sad, talking about childhood lost and losing someone close to her, but it was beautiful. How had I not heard this song before?!

Beside me, Shelby swayed slowly in her seat, back and forth, back and forth like a soft breeze. She, too, was staring transfixed at Katie, every bit as hypnotized as I was.

At last, the song ended and Katie beamed out at us as we broke out into cheers and applause. "That was exactly the reaction I was going for! Thank you so much! Okay, this next one is a little more fun than the last one. It's just about getting away with the love of your life, driving down an empty road. Sound nice?"

"YES!" came the collective scream, and she chuckled.

"Good. Here we go!"

The meet and greet continued for another ten minutes or so. Eventually Katie and her guitarist got to their feet.

"Thank you, everyone!" Katie hollered to the audience. "I'll see you guys in a little while!" They headed off stage, and us lucky VIP ticket holders were hustled back out of the room and down the hall, into another chamber, specially marked with the acronym VIP. I knew if we had been at a fair concert or an outdoor venue we would have ended up in a tent, but since this was one hell of a huge building, we apparently had a huge room to ourselves.

Katie arrived a few minutes after we did, glowing from her time on stage even with her security circled around her, and looking beyond excited to meet everyone.

Shelby wiggled impatiently beside me. "I can't believe I'm going to meet her! I can't believe I'm seeing her in person! Oh my gosh, she's so beautiful, isn't she?" she breathed out to me. "I wish I looked like her."

I couldn't decide if I wanted to laugh or cry. The fact was, Shelby was every bit as gorgeous as Katie was. She was going to be tall, already standing at 5'7 at the ripe old age of fourteen, with a willowy figure, sleek chestnut brown hair, and the same hazel eyes as me. I was fully aware that I was going to have to punch out more than a couple of high school boys over the next few years, and it wasn't something I was particularly looking forward to. It didn't help that Shelby truly had no idea how pretty she really was, which made me think she might be an easy target for some upperclassman looking for an easy lay. While I knew nothing about Shelby was easy, I knew how charming and suave older guys could seem to teenage girls, and I wanted to make sure that nothing happened to her that she didn't want to happen.

"Trust me," I said to Shelby quietly. "You're just as pretty as Katie, just in a different way."

Shelby shook her head, clearly not believing me. Maybe that was a good thing. The girls who knew how pretty they were could be just as dangerous as those charming upperclassmen. They could be conniving and bitchy, and would expect you to forgive them the second they flashed a smile and showed a little leg. I had had my fair share of experiences with those girls in high school and even in college, and each time my immediate reaction was to get the hell out of there as fast as I could. Run like the wind. That sort of thing.

The line moved up a little more, and I took the time to watch Katie. She would pose with each person, and then if people were in a group she would take a picture with all of them. I was pretty sure that was one picture more than most singers did with people, but if there was one thing that I really did like about Katie, it was the fact that she obviously cared about her fans and loved what she was doing. You didn't see that every day.

I watched as Katie knelt down beside a little girl, smiling brightly at her and talking softly, before moving onto the girl's brother, a boy around five or six. Katie remained kneeling, and kissed his cheek, making the boy blush a bright red. I chuckled at the sight as the photographer snapped the picture. Katie then took a group picture with the brother and sister and their mother, who was just a couple of years older than me.

One thing was for sure. Katie definitely wasn't a bitchy pop star. So, kudos to her.

Shelby and I finally reached her.

Katie looked at us for a long moment, before turning her face up towards me, a small smile playing around her lips. "Hey, stranger. I think you're at the wrong concert. This is a pop show, not a rock one."

Well, she definitely remembered me.


So, that was chapter four. Hopefully you guys liked it :) Thank you for reading, and please review! Reviews are a fanfiction's writer's lifeline after all ;)