Pretty sure this is the longest chapter I have ever written. Hopefully it makes up for not updating in a few days? I was away in my hometown... Sorry! So I decided to bring the boys to where I'm from, which I've said before, is England. Hopefully you enjoy this long chapter! It was a pain to write...
Big Time Rush stood in the centre of the dance floor that resided in their studio. It was a Saturday at noon, a time the boys would much rather be lying by the pool surrounded by girls than trapped in the humid studio on their day off. But, Gustavo and Kelly had called them in early for an announcement.
So, here they now stood, in height order in front of their producer and his assistant. Kelly was obviously trying – and failing – to hide an excited smirk on her face, her large eyes shining brightly with pride as she watched the band.
"Now, Dogs," Gustavo began, "We know you've been working very hard recently, not hard enough bu-Ow!" He was cut off by a hard jab to the ribs by Kelly, who began to finish his sentence for him.
"We know you've been working very hard recently, so we've arranged a very special trip for you. There will be one or two concerts, but that isn't really the priority... Boys, we're sending you to England for a week!"
The reaction from the four teenage boys was immediate. Carlos and Logan instantly hooked their fingers, large grins plastered on both of their faces as they began to skip around in continuous circles, both shouting out "We're going to England! We're going to England!" repeatedly. Their instant joy was contagious, as Kendall and James began jumping excitedly, unable to keep their grins off for merely a second as they joined the two younger in their dance of jumping in circles.
Even Gustavo couldn't keep a smile off his face at seeing his hardworking dogs being so happy. A lot of stuff had happened recently, it was nice for them to be able to lay back.
The sixteen year old boys didn't calm down for the rest of the weekend, jumping for joy at any given opportunity when the thought re-entered their minds.
-
The trip to the airport seemed to last forever for the boys, as Mrs Knight drove them to the large transport facility. Kendall joined his mother sat in the front seat while Carlos sat between James and Logan in the back, the Latino chattering on constantly about the sights he couldn't wait to see in England. Piled in the back of the car were 6 suitcases. Logan, Kendall and Carlos all owned one each, where as James had 3 large cases to himself!
Entering the airport, Mrs Knight checked them in, smiling as she reassured them they were on time for the flight. Bouncing once again with anticipation, they hurried over to security, hauling their suitcases up to be x-rayed. Logan's suitcase went through first, the security guard watching the screen impassively. Once it had gone through, he stayed silent. Logan shrugged and smiled once more, pulling his suitcase off, guessing the silence meant he was in the clear. Kendall and Carlos had the same result, the latter once again beginning to jump, squealing as he noticed their flight to England on the large display board.
Finally, James placed his suitcases on the conveyer belt, anxious to join his friends in the clear. As the three suitcases were taken under the scanner, the emotionless security guard froze the belt, beginning to open the cases with an intense expression.
James eyes widened as the guard pulled every single can of hairspray and gel out of the suitcases, those the only things that occupied the first two of the three. Beginning to chant "No, no, no..." Constantly, James scrapped to get at his precious products. The guard just smirked.
"They class as dangerous." He dumped the products in the large bin behind his desk. "Now you're clear to go." James, grabbing his remaining suitcase began pouting, sniffing a little as he joined his friends with a downhearted expression. Hearing their plane be called, the boys rushed to say goodbye to Mrs Knight who hugged each boy separately, kissing the cheeks of Kendall and Logan before allowing them to rush to the plane.
The plane itself was small as they loaded themselves onto it; Kendall taking the window seat with Logan perched beside him. James sat behind Kendall with Carlos beside him. Tiny sounds of glee and excitement coming from the Latino along with little comments such as, "Ventus, dodge! Dodge! Stop being stupid, you dummy! Move before the heartless kills you! You have to find Terra!" His three friends just sat, watching him amused as he got engrossed into his PSP game that Katie had let him borrow for the 10 hour flight. Kingdom Hearts – Birth By Sleep, she'd said.
Logan leaned over Kendall as he watched the clouds go by, the plane starting its journey as it soared through the blue skies. Logan was in awe, they all knew it by the silence the genius boy was emitting. There were no random facts no-one really cared about or useless trivia, just quiet, wide-eyed awe at the beautiful atmosphere.
2 hours into the long flight, Carlos's PSP still letting out annoying little squeals now and again along with grunts and sometimes muffled conversations of a cut scene, Logan's eyes began to droop, his head resting gently on Kendall's shoulder as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Kendall followed his brother not long after, his own head resting above Logan's, causing his slightly long blonde hair to fall into Logan's eyes.
James was partially annoyed at this, himself unable to sleep due to his hyperactive accomplice still playing his game, making little comments to a character called Terra as he bashed the buttons, brow furrowed in concentration as he fought what appeared to be a boss battle.
8 hours into the flight, the plane now soaring across the sea, the brothers a seat in front were woken by a very loud, very awake Carlos jumping up from his seat. Squealing once again and screaming out, "Ha! Take that Vanitas and Xehanort! You're no match for my magic and Keyblade motherf-!" James's hand clamped down on Carlos's mouth at this point, looking shocked at the youngest boy for his almost foul language.
Carlos looked sheepish, shrugging a little before licking James's hand to get him off.
"Ewww, Carlos that's disgusting!"
Logan, still slightly delirious with sleep, giggled a little, pulling up his fist to rub his tired eyes, yawning gently and trying to snuggle back down on his makeshift pillow which just happened to be Kendall's shoulder.
However, the green eyed boy smiled at Logan, shaking his head and stopping him from lying down. "Nah, stay awake now Loge, only a few hours until we get to England, if you sleep too much now you won't sleep tonight, plus, jet lag."
Although a little irritated, being tired always did that to Logan, he nodded in agreement and pulled himself up so he was sat straight, trying hard to wake himself up. He grumbled miserably to himself about Kendall being cruel, the said boy just chuckling lightly at the comments.
It felt like a century had passed to the boys when the plane finally touched down at the airport in London. Doing the routine checks as they get there and collecting their luggage, they dropped the bags off at the hotel Gustavo had booked for them, and began to sightsee.
They looked around Trafalgar Square, Logan clutching several brochures in his hands which he'd collected for the hotel. Catching the sight of a tour bus, Logan grabbed his friend's arms and dragged them over, letting the bus take them around. Logan seemed to be having the time of his life, taking pictures of Big Ben with Carlos as they went past it.
"Logan..." Carlos started, his brow burrowed in confusion. Logan turned to face his friend, still grinning with enjoyment as James and Kendall stared at the weird coins in their hands. "Why is that big clock called Big Ben? The clock has a name?" Logan chuckled a little, turning back towards the large iconic clock.
"It isn't really called Big Ben, Carlos. Well, the clock and tower itself aren't. Big Ben happens to be the bell at the top, the sound that rings at the hour. You understand? It was named after Sir Benjamin Hall who was the Chief Commissioner of Works, quite a large title, in 1856, that was the year the tower was built."
Carlos stared at Logan with a blank expression, before asking again simply. "Why is the tower called Big Ben?" Sighing gently, trying to ignore Kendall and James's giggles at how lost Carlos sounded, Logan replied.
"It was named after a guy who was popular when the tower was built a long time ago." Carlos seemed happy with this answer, before exclaiming happily.
"Do you think we'll get a tower named after us back in LA, or Minnesota? The Great Tower of Garcia! It sounds catchy, Logan! Can we do it? Pleaseeee?"
Rolling his brown eyes lightly, Logan ignored Carlos, turning the said orbs back towards the sights, smiling when he sees Buckingham Palace. "Come on guys," He stated to them. "This is where the Queen lives! Let's go see it." Without waiting for an answer, he once again grabbed his best friends, pulling them off the tour bus and rushing over. "Those there are the Queen's Royal Guards. They stand outside and have to stay emotionless the whole time they're on duty. If they smile or laugh at all, they could get fired!" Logan tells them.
Carlos, of course, takes this as a personal challenge. Running up to the guards, he instantly put on his best grin. "Hey! I'm Carlos Garcia; did you know your hat looks like Marge Simpson's hair, just black?" The guard didn't even blink, causing Carlos to pout and pull a strange face towards the silent man, sticking his tongue out and pulling at his eyes. Then, he stomped his foot like a child, huffing lightly. "Smile, damn you! Smileeeee! Don't make me go Pinkie Pie on your ass and sing the Smile, Smile, Smile song! I will, I mean it!"
James figured this would be a smart time to pull the young boy away from the working man, Kendall and Logan almost on the floor with laughter at Carlos's dejected face.
While passing a shop with his smaller friend, James caught a flash of his reflection, eyes widening and having to go back and check it again. His terrified scream must have echoed throughout the whole city of London. James's hair was frizzy!
Kendall, once again breaking into laughter as he tried to calm James down, convincing him gently his hair is fine and not to worry. James throws him a disbelieving look.
"But, British girls, Kendall! Hot British girls, with hot British accents! Accents, Kendall! The face cannot be framed with frizzy hair while those sorts of people roam the streets!"
Kendall sighed lightly, putting on his best old English accent that he'd perfected over the years. "Oh James, my boy, how about I buy you a spiffing tube of anti-frizz gel as soon as I figure out how to use these great British pounds?"
James's face was practically glowing as he dragged Kendall into the closest convenience store. They looked over the bottles of gel, James beginning to grin when his eyes landed on a bottle of the anti-frizz verity. "Logan!" He called out the genius, knowing he'd know. "Is £3.50 expensive?"
Logan pondered for a second, looking through the bundle of British coins and notes he'd already exchanged previously. "Well, with the current exchange rates, three pound 50 pence is about the equivalent of $5.40... So it's alright for gel, really?"
James looked at him blankly for a second, before realising what he'd said. "Oh, that's cheaper than my Cuda!" He exclaimed, taking a handful of coins from Logan and rushing to the till with the tube. The cashier scanned it in, looking at James with a bored expression and reading out the price for him to pay.
James, feeling smart that he now knew the American equivalent, handed the woman four little brown coins. She looked down at the pennies he had given her, looking up at the pretty boy with confusion present in her eyes. "This is only four pence, you owe another £3.46." James looked at the foreign coins in his hands with confusion, not understanding the difference between the small, thin brown pennies and the thicker golden pounds.
Logan, taking charge once again as the smart one, joined James at the till, picking up three of the golden coins from his hand as well as a pentagon silver shape, before handing them to the cashier and taking the four pennies back. "Sorry ma'am, we're American, still getting used to the new currency, please excuse the confusion." He smiled charmingly at her, causing the woman to finally crack a smile, a blush creeping up on her pale cheeks.
"It's perfectly fine!" She exclaimed, still red with the blood rush to her face. The band members nodded to the woman, before exiting the shop. They all began to make their way back to the hotel, figuring they'd had enough confusion with the British culture for one day, but Logan stopping with his eyes set on a little shop distracted them.
"Logan? What you spotted?" Kendall's voice rang out. But the small raven ignored him, hurrying towards the shop his eyes had set on while pulling a few notes from his pocket as he did. The shop was small and quaint, a sign with a small silver fish hanging over the door.
About 10 minutes later, the three remaining boys were sat on a bench, still waiting for Logan to come out. Carlo's stomach was beginning to rumble, but he had no idea of the time it was there. He, Kendall and James hadn't thought to find out the time difference and set their watches to it. As if on cue from the loud growl from Carlos, Logan stepped from the shop, grinning a proud as he carried four paper wrapped packages over to his friends. He handed one to each of them, before sitting on the grass.
Opening the several layers of paper, the boys let their eyes rest on a package of chunky fries, which in England they called chips, with a large, battered shape laying on top of golden potatoes.
"It is traditional fish and chips," Logan told them, sensing the confusion. "It's about dinner time here, so I thought we may as well try some of their food while we're in England. What'cha think, give it a try?"
James and Carlos didn't need to be told to quell their loud, grumbling stomachs as they dug into the British take away food, grinning in delight at the unfamiliar but nice taste. They'd had fish before, and definitely had fries, but never together and cooked in this way. Kendall was a little more apprehensive of the foreign food, taking a small bite of batter and the fluffy white fish, testing out the new, chunky chips before being satisfied and tucking in. James and Carlos finish first, wiping traces of grease and batter from their lips, Logan is soon to join them, Kendall finishing last.
Carlos, craving something sweet for his desert after having such a new experience, ran back into the convenience store as earlier. A few minutes later, however, he returned with a face one would pull when you found out that you were getting no presents for Christmas, or, in Carlos's case, that the shop had never heard of the delicious sweets known as Fruit Smackers.
Logan sighs lightly at Carlos's pouting face. "Carlitos," he began. "The food culture is different here. But, I know what we can have for a desert. Stay here you guys, alright? I'm just heading over there." Logan stood as he pointed to what looked to be a small, family run shop. Pastries and cakes decorated the front window, both recognisable and not to the teenage boys. It didn't take long for Logan to return once more, a single white paper bag in his hand as he joined his friends once more. Out of the bag, he took out four little pastry cakes. They looked like some sort of tart, the pastry case being topped with pure white icing with a red cherry in the centre. When they bit into the mysterious cake, the taste of almond and raspberry invaded their senses, an almond cake lying just under the icing with a thin layer of jam below.
"They're called Bakewell Tarts," he told them, smiling happily. "Basically almond cake with icing and jelly in a pastry case. But here, I think they call jelly 'Jam'. Jelly is something completely different."
James look at him, confused at this nugget of knowledge. "What's their jelly?" He asked, brow furrowed in confusion, much like Carlos's had been quite a bit that day.
"I think that their jelly is our jello, weird isn't it? Different cultures are so... interesting." The three boys rolled their eyes as Logan looked at the sky, smiling in a world of his own as he mulled over his thoughts.
He was rudely snapped out of those thoughts however when his cell phone rang loudly in his jean pocket. Answering it, he winced at the sound of his producer's angry voice.
"Dog," he started his voice in a forced calm but anger hiding behind it. "Get to the venue; you're late for sound check!" Wincing again as the anger broke from the calm, he gave a quick, short reply before shutting the phone away and rushing off to the venue named the Apollo, his three band mates following behind.
-
The moon had soon risen from behind the clouds, the night dark as they stood on the stage. Kendall, Carlos, James and Logan all getting into formation as they began to dance in sync, the intro for their first song playing.
Do you want to, ride in a big limousine?
Tell me do you want to, take a little bite of the fame machine?The Apollo Arena, usually used for comedy acts but occasionally for concerts, was sold out. Although the tour around Britain would be small, only visiting the larger cities such as London, Manchester and Birmingham, and the dates had been released very short notice, the arena was sold out. The fans screaming and holding up signs as they four boys danced and sang.
They played through several of their songs, Famous being first, followed by their new single Windows Down, then Elevate, The City Is Ours then ending on Worldwide.
They were all exhausted by the end of the night, Jet lag and their mini tour around London having worn the boys to a thread. But they wouldn't have changed a moment of it for the world. They'd come a long way since their first concert where Logan had gotten so nervous he'd made himself ill.
But they were thankful for the amazing Opportunities being in a band brought for them.
A happy chapter actually written by me? What a miracle! The next one is already planned out since I confused the two, I thought 11 was actually 10 because I didn't look properly, so that one might be out tonight, possibly tomorrow since I just have to write it up. Yeah... the next one isn't happy, so enjoy the boys being carefree while they are!