Melanie gave a desperate groan, reading the paper clasped in her hand while glancing at the ones scattered on her desk. The manager ran her manicured fingers through her smooth, hazel-blonde locks, becoming overwhelmed by the Merge Tour preparation. Three months was a short amount of time to prepare. Even if her and Marcus worked day and night a year prior, there was a lot that had to be done. Travel expenses, stage crew hiring, Roadie Hiring, schedule organization, backup dancers, finding an opening band, and many more expenses. Not to mention that she had to prepare a pre album press conference, album release party, as well as ensuring that the album was even finished on time.

"So much to get done," the female groaned, after which, hearing a knock on her door, "But so little time."

The manager clicked off her desk lamp while trudging to her bedroom door. A frantic Marcus invited himself in, bickering angrily on his cell phone with another loud person at the other end. Instead of usually being in his business garb, he was in a loose, sloppy T-Shirt and a pair of sweat pants. Looking as if he had just woken up. The stubble on his face made him appear rugged, while his dark (usually slicked back) hair was wild and wavy.

"I don't care if Taylor Swift wants it," the angered male manager snarled into his cell phone, "I need all of the best security escorts you have! Do you know who I am?! I represent Gluten Freetos AND Estrogen Intensity! Yeah, that's what I thought. Call me when you get your act together."

Marcus angrily hung up, rubbing his temples with total irritation.

"Still trying to find personal bouncers," Melanie sighed, gathering and looking at her own set of papers.

"It's like talking to a bunch of infants," the male manager replied with obvious grief, "How's the planning going? How much do you have left to do?"

"I'm still returning some calls concerning where we'll stay. There are so many hotels that want us, but I still need to personally interview them. Then, I have to put together the concert times in all 10 of the locations, plus contact the translators and tech geeks..."

"So a lot," he deadpanned.

"On top of all of that, we have to ensure that the album is done by our deadline. Without that, there is no tour."

Marcus shrugged, "I haven't been able to talk to either of the teams. I've been too busy. And I bet you can say the same."

The dirty blonde haired female nodded knowingly, "I think we need to chat today with the kids. Like a meeting to give them the fill on what's happening before we become too busy to answer questions later."

"I think that would be best...wait, kids?" Come on Melanie, they're all either 22 or 23. There's no need to refer to them like children. Treat them like it, and they'll act like it."

Melanie gave Marcus a quick glare, "I don't care what age they are, ever since I started representing the girls, we began to form tight bond. Do you even try to show some sort of care towards the boys?"

"They can handle themselves. They're men," The man in front of her rolled his grey eyes, "Why bother? You never know if you may drop them or not, so why risk making such an emotional connection if it can be easily broken?"

Melanie stood up abruptly, causing the other executive to jump. Her expression was hard, while her jaw clenched menacingly, "As you should know, Marcus, I met these girls when they were rather young. At the time, they each had miserable lives that no child should have to live. I didn't choose to represent them just because they were talented, I did it to give them a chance at a better life. And if you think that's 'ridiculous' or a 'waste of time', I think you're the one that needs to get his 'act together'."

Melanie then tied her hair into a ponytail while putting on her thin frame glasses, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a tour to plan. I have no time to dawdle with your emotional issues."

The 40 year old female casually walked out of her bedroom, feeling anger stir in the depths of her soul. She needed a moment to recollect her thoughts, in hopes of her urge to punch Marcus in the face to subside. The executive knew that she had more important things to focus on besides her partner's stubbornness.

Melanie glanced at her phone, it was 9:43 am.

"They all should be up by now," she pondered politely.

The brown eyes female made her way from her room, which was on the far side of the second floor, to the stair case. Where she climbed down each step quickly. Melanie traveled into the meeting room, a large chamber that held comfortable chairs, and a long table you'd usually see in an office. Once placing down her folder full of papers, she made her way to the intercom, holding down the call button with a single finger.

"House meeting, everyone. Please report to the meeting room," echoed Melanie's bold voice, which traveled through every nook and cranny of the house.

Each of the pop stars heard the command without any issue. What became the issue was their inability to break away from the music.

Deema and Goby were sitting in the music room, testing out their second finished song to ensure the perfection of it. Each of them played the necessary instruments as they heard the message. Both of them quickly dropped their equipment, making their way to the designated area.

Oona was relaxing on the living room couch, a notepad sat in her lap, while her legs were tucked into her chest. Being the skilled drummer that she was, she was able to twist the pen she held between each of her pale fingers. The small stick flipped between the three appendages as if it took no energy to do. The minute she heard her mother figure, she closed her notebook, heading to the meeting room as quickly as the others.

"C'mon Nonny, " Gil pressured as he and his band mate exited the red head's room, " This is the last time I'll ask! Promise!"

Nonny's cheeks boiled angrilly, "For the last time, NO!"

"It's not like last time! I just wanna peak at the lyrics! It's taking me forever to finish mine," the blue haired male moped, hoping to receive some leway from his intelligent friend.

The red head rubbed his temples slowly, "That's the song writing process, you nimrod. It's supposed to take a long time."

"Uh, guys," Molly interrupted the bickering, as well as motioning the two to the open office door a few feet away, "do you think you can finish your little argument after the meeting?"

Nonny gave a nod and shot a glare at Gil, allowing his dark green irises to bubble like an angry pot of boiling water. To calm himself, he caught up with Oona and lovingly wrapped an arm around her waist as they entered the chamber. Gil followed, only to see Molly attempt to enter after him.

"Ladies first," Gil chimed to the pink haired girl, stepping to the side while clearing Molly's way..

He had a smile on his face, instead of his usual devious smirk. This startled Molly, but she didn't question it. Better for her to go with the rock star's sudden kindness compared to his constant promiscuity. She mentally shrugged, and smiled back, aiming to take a seat with the rest of the group.

Gil on the other hand, had extracted his phone from his pocket, snapping a picture of her backside before pulling the same evil smile he usually would. Knowing that he wouldn't catch her wearing her adorable PJs any time soon.

The six, tired celebrities sat down at the table. Nonny and Oona were close on one side, as well as Molly and Gil, while Goby and Deema sat on opposite sides.

"Good Morning, everyone" Melanie chimed, "I hope you all had some, um, decent sleep."

"What sleep," Gil questioned grumpilly, thinking of the many songs he attemped to write the night before, all of which barely seemed legable to submit to a radio contest.

Melanie cleared her throat, "Anyway, I called you all here to discuss the whereabouts of the tour, as well as your productivity of the album. In addition to that, we also have a few personal situations to hash out."

"So how long should this take," Molly asked as politely as she could, leaning back in her seat, "we're all still trying to manage our own stuff before we have to record."

Melanie shook her head, "I'm very much aware of that Molly, but Marcus and I have a lot to tell you about the upcoming year. That's why I post poned recording so we can have this talk. We'll try to water it all down so we don't take up too much of your time."

Marcus walked inside shortly afterwards, silently taking a seat while Melanie clenched her jaw, glaring holes into his cranium.

The woman shook her head, glancing at her stack of papers, "Alright, the first thing on our list to discuss is the album. Now, since this is a merge tour, we are including songs from each band, as well as songs created by both of the bands together. We want a minimum of 15 songs, some old and some new. There can be more if you wish. Its been two months, so you should have some of the new ones done."

Marcus suddenly spoke up, "Thanks to popular demand, we brought back, 'Thanks for the memories', 'Kiss You','L.A Boys', 'Pheonix', 'Circus', 'Baby One More Time', and we're still deciding on a few others."

"That's seven," the female manager cut in, "We need eight more."

"I have two," Nonny spoke rather proudly, feeling confident to finally take the credit for his own work. Earning a rather unfriendly look from Marcus.

" I have one by myself," Oona spoke after her crush, silently clenching his hand under the smooth, wooden table.

"Three so far from me and the girls," Molly confidently grinned, giving her female bandmates credit for helping her compose.

"Gobes and I came up with two," the jazzy blue eyed blonde stated, eying up her african american crush, "But Goby was the one who came up with most of them."

Goby grinned at the female, finally feeling a sense of pride for creating something that didn't end up being stolen.

"Well, I have a big fat zero," Gil announced nasally, earning attention from the others, "Since my own brothers won't help me out in my time of need."

"Seriously?! You're bringing this up again," Nonny furiously growled, shaking the room with his angered voice, "You are the reason you have absolutely no material! Not us!"

"Aw, come on! You let me do it before!"

"That was before I became your mini ed-sheeran," the ginger spat, "The first time I lent you lyrics for inspiration, I was just trying to be a good friend. But then you made a crazy, horny version of it and sang it yourself! Everyone loved it, and you took all the credit!"

Gil's eyebrows furrowed, "I did you a favor! That song was as boring as shit! Who wants to hear a cliche, mushy gushy love story when they can hear about some real action."

The male sneaked Molly a wink, only earning an eye roll and stern look from the girl.

"It doesn't matter! I'm tired of you taking my work! And I bet Goby could say the same!"

The two frantic male's turned to their African American friend, who was tempted to run out of the room to avoid jumping into the argument. He gulped, feeling the angered eyes of his best friend's make the air heavy. Goby was torn, he had a strong urge to tell Gil about his notorious 'song borrowing', but didn't want to 'betray' him. Which would eventually lead to mistrust, and included teasing. While, if the dark skinned male didn't agree with Nonny, his hard work would continue to be taken by his so called 'friend''. The male's hazel eyes glanced at Deema, who gave a look of empowerment. Her own ocean blue irises spoke, 'go on,'.

With a hard, determined expression, Goby turned to Gil.

"Dude, you really have to stop. Taking the stuff that Nonny and I write doesn't make you any more popular. It's only getting in the way of our careers! And you don't seem to give a crap about any of it!"

Gil scoffed, "You're supposed to have my back, Gobes! What's wrong with you?"

"I'm not your, yes-man, Gil. If I don't like what you're doing, then I'll tell you that I don't fucking like it," Goby hissed, feeling his own body begin to tremble with fury, "This been going on for ever, and I never had the balls to say anything about it! Now that I do, you need to get off our dicks and pull your own weight!"

"That's enough! Both of you-" Marcus suddenely stood, becoming frustrated himself over the situation.

"Shut it, Marcus! You're just as much to blame! You were the first one to allow any of this to happen," Nonny seethed, "Instead of being a GOOD manager, you put all the attention on him, instead of all of us!"

Estrogen Intensity sat quietly and intensively in their seats. All of the female pop stars wore disheveled expressions as they awkwardly watched the four men argue. Insults were thrown, a few curses were mumbled, while all of their taut faces were crimson with irritation. Ten minutes passed by filled with nothing but ridiculous ramblings. It felt, odd, to see the males turn against each other. Two months earlier, the three boys were what seemed to be inseparable, now all of that quickly evaporated out of existence. It was unsettling.

After becoming fed up with their bickering Molly spoke up, "Guys! Get a grip! There has to be a way to settle this."

The older female near her nodded in agreement, "Molly's right. We have no time for fights. Lets just say that from now on, there will be no more of this '"lyric lending' nonsense. If you write something individually or with someone else in either group, you will be respectfully credited for what you make. Marcus and I will make sure that it stays that way."

Melanie shot a look to her partner, which made him sit down embarrassingly.

The Gluten Freetos took their own seats once again, Gil appeared to be pouting, while Nonny and Goby triumphantly sneered at him.

The wide hipped manager shook her head, crossing off something on her list of topics, "This is beginning to get out of hand! Gluten Freetos need to sort out this little problem before we leave the country!"

"-as well as Estrogen Intensity," the male manager added snootily.

Deema scoffed, gazing at the tan male with irritated eyes, "what did we do?"

"Well um," Marcus started, trying to find an excuse to dig at the female, "I don't know..but that doesn't mean something won't happen eventually!"

"There has been some confrontation here and there between the two groups. Some either being offensive gender discrimination," Melanie shot a look at Gil, who looked away out of intimidation, before looking at Molly, "and threats based off of said discrimination."

The dominican female folded her arms stubbornly, remembering the many threats she shot in Gil's way after an incident a few months prior. It wasn't her fault he was a chauvinistic ass, she was just trying to protect her friends.

"Forget the fans and the money. This tour is supposed to be a representation of equality. That two different groups, one all male, and one all female, can come together and form a friendly bond," the female director declared with confidence, " we can't do that when one gender is avoiding the other."

"Melanie's right. Your fans are mainly teenagers, and young tweens. They are very impressionable. How are we supposed to pull off this 'respect and equalit'' thing when no one is intermingling," the stubble faced executive agreed, slamming a hand on the smooth, mahogany table for emphasis.

"Some of us wrote songs together, what more do you want," Molly spat, arrogance delicately lacing her voice. She still has yet to warm up to the constant rude gestures Marcus is so used to using on clients.

Marcus snarled, "What I- I mean, what 'we' want is for all of you to be a team! Or at least fake it, just for the cameras. Prove to the people that this tour isn't going to be a total waste of time. Mingle! Hang out! Date! I honestly don't care-"

Melanie rubbed her temples once more, "What Marcus means is that the merged tour won't be anticipated if the groups don't crossover. Plus, it won't be fun if everyone is distant and uptight. I hate to do this girls, but you three are going to have to have some 'playtime' with the boys-"

"What?" Deema questioned in her jazzy voice, not understanding her manager's words.

The tanned executive's cheeks suddenly became red, she chuckled, "Not like that! I mean for the next couple of weeks, I will divide the six of you into pairs. One pair will have some "hang out time" twice a week, and will alternate frequently, while the entire group will have a "bonding day" once a week."

"Bonding Time?" Gil gave an uninterested stare, "you mean I have to hang out with Curly Q, Little Miss Innocence, and Queen Bee? Unless it's in the bedroom, I'm not interested."

Goby suddenly felt a wave of nausea, he wanted to smack his 'best friend' who referred to his crush in a submissive nature, but Molly beat him to it.

Molly glared, giving an offense scoff before slapping the blue haired male in the back of his head, making sure that her palm collided with his skull as hard as possible. Gil flinched in pain, rubbing the sore area after emitting an audible 'ow'.

If Nonny was even close enough to his bandmate, he would've done the same thing.

"Bonding time can consist of many things Gilligan," Melanie hissed, talking to the male as if he were a five year old child, "You could go to the beach, the park, take a ride around the city, anything you wish. As long as you both enjoy it.

"As long as we enjoy it, huh," the male aimed his blue eyes to the pink haired girl next to him, giving her the usual seductive smirk he wore all too often.

The female bandleader noticed his look and grimaced, "She said 'both' of us, Sir Dumbs a Lot."

Gil pretended to be emotionally hurt, holding a large hand over his heart, "That's not very nice, Molls! I thought we were friends!"

The girl gave a snort, "who said? It takes more than just some stupid apology to be considered my 'friend'. You were just afraid I would punch you again," the dominican female crossed her arms stubbornly, "when the dreaded day comes where I do have to 'bond' with you, I'll be wearing my tightest pants and two belts."

The male chuckled, "I'm not used to bondage, but whatever you say, Princess."

Gil couldn't help but admire the way Molly would squirm whenever he made a suggestive comment. Other than being downright adorable, it was rather satisfying. Teasing the squeamish females was the male band leader's favorite pass time, especially during a long, boring, meeting.

Melanie glared,while cocking an eyebrow at the provocative male, "Also, in the terms of 'relationships', each of you have responsibilities. Pregnancy or STDs are a NO! You are free to date, or have 'intimate encounters' with who you wish, just be careful. I'll be sure to order birth control, and condom packs."

"She's talking about you, Mr. Can't-Keep-his-pants-on," Deema snickered.

Gil rolled his eyes, only snickering when a good insult invaded his mind, "Who says she's not talking about you? You're the one that gets blushy blushy' whenever you're around-"

"SHUT UP," Deema quickly hissed to the arrogant pop star who made her cheeks become unexplainably warm. She tried her best not to glance at Goby, who felt confused and a little concerned at the blonde's sudden anger. Seeing Gil's mouth tug into his usual smile made Deema clench her fist, "Wipe that stupid smirk off your face, you little-!"

"OKAY," Melanie jumped in with frantic eyes, "Onto our next topic! Teen Stream Magazine is doing a story on the tour. They want all of you to have a photoshoot tomorrow! That includes interviews as well!"

"Teen Stream?! That's the most popular magazine out there," Oona exclaimed, bouncing excitedly in her seat, "they want us? Not even justin Timberlake could get a decent interview with them!"

"They found our little 'experiment' interesting. Estrogen Intensity and Gluten Freetos are the most popular bands at the moment, more coverage means that more fans will buy, " Marcus arched his eyebrows at his own mentioning of wealth, "Plus, its more exposure for us."

Melanie thought her eyes would pop out of their perfect sockets if she rolled them too hard, "the pictures will be used to make merchandise during the concerts. The basics will be included; T-shirts, posters, cardboard cutouts, bobble heads, bracelets, stickers, temporary tattoos, DVDS of concert recordings, water bottles, monogramed cups, and many other little knick knacks."

Gil suddenly raised his hand, Melanie then glared, "For the last time, we're not producing Body Pillows!"

The blue haired male upsettingly lowered his arm, earning a snicker from a few of the others.

Goby began to speak, "Hey, weren't we supposed to get checkups or something last week?"

"Oh, I almost forgot," Marcus chimed, "We have to reschedule your physicals sometime next week. You all have to get all of your up to date shots as well."

The two managers had to ensure that all of the pop stars were healthy before they traveled anywhere. They couldn't afford any of the young adults to get sick at any point during the tour. It would lead to concert cancellation, which would eventually lead wasted time, refunds, and lost profit. Or even worse, lost time.

The meeting drifted by rather boringly. Melanie and Marcus explained numerous events that had to be attended. Some being CD signings, press conferences, and numerous interveiws. It was all rather overwhelming, especially for the managers. As Molly held her head in her hands tiredly, she noticed how frantic her female executive appeared to be. She looked so tired, and overworked. Ranging from the bags under her eyes, to her frizzed hair, and limping body, the woman with the dirty blonde locks looked like she was ready to fall unconscious. Marcus shared the same traits. Nonny and Goby noticed just as much as Molly did. Gil was staring into space.

Just as Melanie was discussing the album release party details, Molly gently cut in, " That's a lot Melanie."

The middle aged woman shrugged, "It's what needs to be done."

"There has to be an easier way for you two to finish it all," Nonny added.

"You should get a personal assistant," Oona chimed in politely, not wanting to interrupt anyone else, "maybe a few or so?"

The others nodded in agreeance.

"I don't know if I can trust anyone else with this information. I appreciate you wanting to help, but this work is only fit for a few number of people," the woman grimaced, then sighed, "You've been sitting here for a while. How about we take a break?"

And with that, Melanie hurriedly exited the room. Frantically scribbling on a piece of paper, with Marcus trailing right behind her, angrily answering another phone call.

The chocolate skinned bassist rolled out of his seat and stretched, "Man, I'm hungry. Who wants to order some pizza?"

"Sounds great! I'm starving," his blonde crush replied cheerily while following out of the meeting room.

"Pizza sounds yummy!" Oona giggled, her hand still attached to Nonny's as they exited the chamber as well.

Molly slowly looked up, noticing that both of her friends,(and the two others that would eventually become friends) were gone. Her mind was still racing with the events that would later come up in the tour. It was a lot to take in, not only for the managers, but for the stars as well. She drummed her fingers on the table in thought, only realizing that she wasn't alone.

Gil was yet again in the mood for teasing, loving the times that he and Molly were alone. Knowing that the tour was only a short month away, he had to ensure that the girl was 'madly in love' with him. That way, winning the bet could be a snap.

The snarky male was so used to girls throwing themselves on him, he thought this would be easy. Now he had to work to get this girl to even bat an eyelash in his direction. Which took a lot of time and dedication. The girl never showed any sign of being attracted to him, yet he could feel a lustful aura drift off of her everytime he spoke. That at least showed that the blue haired casanova had a chance. He was irresistible after all.

"So," the blue haired male droned, "now that we're alone.."

"Let me stop you there, thirsty," Molly interrupted, placing a hand in the face of Gil, who was sitting next to her, "just because we're alone doesn't mean you have to be so gross."

The make smirked, not breaking eye contact with the snarky female, "What you call gross, I call hot."

The pink haired female felt her cheeks flare, as her heart leapt through her chest. She hated these natural feelings that made her appear attracted to the arrogant singer. In all honesty, she was disgusted by his cocky behavior, but her body only reacted the only way it could.

"Can't you take a hint," Molly scowled, angrily leaping out of her seat. She leaned against the nearby wall in an attempt to get away.

"That depends," the male seethed through his usual intimidating grin as he approached the distracted girl.

"On what," the pink haired female looked up, realizing that her soon to be 'friend' were only inches away from bumping noses. His long pale arms were braced at her sides, trapping her in his breathing space. The pop stars gorgeous ocean orbs connecting with hers.

"If you let me take you."

Molly felt her cheeks flare, only holding her ground with a stern glare. Her angered expression melted into a devilish grin, one more sinister than Gil could ever muster. This confused the male in front of her. The laugh the girl started to emit made him somewhat frightened.

"You're so delusional! You think you actually have a shot. Being seductive is interesting, but it'll take more than that to turn my head," Molly suddenly pushed Gil's arms away, which caused the male to slam into the wall himself. The pink haired pop star was already walking towards the chamber exit, "Work on that empty head of yours, and I'll contemplate on considering you worth my time."

Gil sat frozen in his spot, wondering what had just happened. His 'crush' considered him physically attractive, but not emotionally? That made no sense to his soft, immature brain. He thought he was a pretty cool guy, but his opinion didn't matter, Molly's did. For his plan to work, the blue haired heart throb would have to dive deep into his corrupted core, and fix fhe things that had neglected fixing.

OMG this chapter took forever! It was informational and at the same time totally nuts. This was just an info chapter to give you the fill on what will be happening in the next 14 chapters or so. This is where it all picks up. It will become much more dramatic and epic. But sadly, school is about to begin, and i will have to dedicate all of my time to my junior year. I will be on a bit of a hiatus. But i'll try to update when i have breaks and around holidays. School starts on september 3rd, so i'll try to write as much as i can until then! Amber, out.