.:Chapter Twenty-Eight – When To Make Plans:.
"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." ~George S. Patton
"Alright dogs, we need to talk," Gustavo said sharply as he walked into the conference room. Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James stared back at him as he sat down in the seat at the head of the table. "About this tour that you're going to go on!"
"What tour?" Carlos asked. The right side of his face screwed up in confusion. "Didn't we already go on a tour to promote our CD?"
"Shhh," James whispered loudly. "Do you want to stop performing? Let the man talk!" He then turned and gave Gustavo a winning smile, clasping his hands in front of him on the table.
Gustavo made a face, leaning back as he looked at the smile on James's face. He then slowly held up a hand and pointed at James. His eyes narrowed behind his yellow tinted sunglasses. "Don't ever smile at me like that again, it's creepy."
Kendall laughed and reached over, patting James on the back as James sank lower in his seat. He then turned his attention to Gustavo, looking just as confused as the other boys. "So why is it that we're here?" His eyebrows rose. "Does this have to do with the DarkElements?"
"Yes," Kelly said as she walked into the room. She turned and held the door open as Julius, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney trooped into the room and filled in the remaining seats around the table. Ronan opted to lean against the back well. Kelly was out of breath as she closed the door behind them. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized. "I got stopped by Griffin on the way here." She explained quickly.
Gustavo let out a grunt. He couldn't shake the conversation that had with Griffin out of his head. Where did Griffin get off, telling Gustavo how to run his own company? If he knew how, he would find a way to get Griffin to be fired from CEO at Rocque Records. But it wasn't like Griffin hadn't helped them as he had worked at Rocque Records. He was the one that signed them to RCM CBT Global Net Sanyoid. Without that, they probably wouldn't have the funding that he did now.
But if he wasn't such a fucking jerk…Gustavo shook his head, trying to keep his anger in check.
"Gustavo, is something wrong?" Sydney asked, using his right hand to hold his overgrown bangs out of his eyes. "You seem really tense." His dimples appeared in his cheeks as he frowned. "More so than usual, at least."
"I'm fine," Gustavo replied, rubbing his temples.
"Are you sure?" Ronan asked his arms crossed over his chest, his right foot planted against the wall. He was probably leaving a footprint, but at the moment, he didn't care about how annoyed Gustavo would be at him later. "You've been out of touch for a couple of weeks now. I've tried to call you since…that day," he looked over at his clients, before looking back at Gustavo. "It's like you disappeared."
"At the sake of getting this out of the way," Kelly finally caught her breath, placing a hand on her hip. She regarded everyone in the room. "Do you want to know why Gustavo has been MIA these past couple of days? It's because-"
"It's none of their business," Gustavo interrupted her.
But Kelly kept going. "He was in jail," Kelly concluded with a pointed look towards her partner.
Ronan started to choke as the Jacksons smiled a little. Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James all stared at Kelly and Gustavo in shock. Kelly nodded slowly to their reactions, a grim look on her face. Gustavo merely crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head away.
"What?" Ronan finally asked when he managed to catch his breath.
"It's not like it's that surprising," Carlos said as he rubbed the tip of his finger on the top of the table. "He's been in jail before for that Matthew McConaughey thing." He looked up at his music producer. "What did you go to jail for this time?"
"You're actually going to like this one," Kelly gave a small smile as she placed her hand on her hip. She turned her head towards Gustavo. "Gustavo got put in jail because when he found out what was going on with Robert, he tracked him down and beat him up for it."
"Whoa!" Carlos cried, looking impressed. "Really?"
"Like Carlos said, it's not that surprising." Julius said with a laugh. He looked amused. "At some point or another, I figured he would go because he assaulted that Griffin person that Ronan keeps telling me about."
"I'm trying to keep that one from happening," Kelly said to him. "So don't give him any ideas."
"You actually beat someone up?!" Kendall cried. His eyes lit up as he leaned forward in his seat. "That's really cool. Especially for such a good cause." He exchanged glances with his best friends and looked over at the Jacksons. They didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular, just looking at a random spot on the wall.
It wasn't that it was that surprising; the Jacksons hadn't been around for the past couple of weeks. The boys had gotten used to them coming to the record company to help them with whatever they had been working on, but they never showed. Logan tried calling them and they would answer, but it would be short conversations. Whenever they would go to the mall to try and find them at the restaurant, the owner would say that they had just missed them. When they called Ronan's apartment, it was the same thing. They knew that they weren't avoiding the boys that they needed space, but it still hurt a little.
"It's not that cool," Kelly said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, though they could see pride in her eyes. "He was put in jail on a large bail, and I had to bail him out and then help keep that from getting in the press."
"Thanks Gustavo," Patrick said with a nod. He then gave a half-smile. "I'm sure that you've been waiting years to be able to do that without needing a reason for it. But thanks all the same."
"You're welcome." Gustavo mumbled.
"Well," Ronan clapped his hands together as he pushed himself off of the wall. "We brought everyone together today to talk about touring." He motioned to his clients. "As of yesterday they have finished their album and they're going to have the release party very soon. What we have planned so far is to release that, and then go back to Australia so they can finish the release of their Australian album and then go on a month and a half tour in Australia, New Zealand, and maybe the UK to promote it as well as-"
"We're going to tour in Australia?!" Carlos blurted.
Logan shushed him, slapping a hand over his mouth. He gave Carlos a hard look before shaking his head. "Let him finish," he said sharply. "I'm sure that they already have opening acts for their Australian tour." He said and then nodded for Ronan to finish.
"But they then have to promote their American album, which is where you guys come in," Ronan said and pointed to Big Time Rush. "I already talked to Gustavo and Kelly about this, and for the month and a half after they finished their Australian tour, they're going to go on their first headlining US tour, and we want you guys and Dak to be their opening acts for it."
James sat up straight as he grinned. He exchanged glances with the other guys and nodded. There was no doubt about it, they would be glad to go and tour with their friends, to help them become very successful. That way, they would also be able to see how the DarkElements performed at their concerts as they hadn't been able to do that yet, not the whole two hour set.
"I think I speak for all of us when I say that we would be honored to open for them." Logan said with a nod. He tried his hardest not to freak out about it, and knew that his friends would be too. "But," he looked concerned. "Wouldn't two tours in three months be hard on them?"
"No," Julius shook his head. "They've been a band for so long; it shouldn't be that hard to fall back into the routine."
"In his own modest way, Julius is saying that we should e used to it." Noah's arms were crossed over his chest and he pushed himself back and forth in his office chair with his right foot. The other was brought up underneath him. "We were on tour all year last year, and for most of the year before that, promoting our last two albums." His eyes were above Logan's head, so he missed the look of shock pass over his face. "But since we're working with you guys under our contract now, we go back to Australia to work and to continue promoting ourselves every three months or so."
"So half a year is spent in the US and the other half is spent in Australia." Patrick concluded. "The jet lag is probably gonna catch up to us at some point, but we're used to that as well. Especially when we would come back to the US to work on some songs with Dak." He started to count off on his fingers. "Like, his one-liners in Savin' Me, and the bridge he had at the end of All The Same and-"
Riley reached out and grabbed onto his hand. "Now you're bragging." She said sharply. Patrick nodded and pulled his hands back under the table.
"We think that, like the concert at the Planet Hollywood in New York, as well as the photo shoots that we had to promote it, it would be good for both bands." Kelly said with a warm smile. She moved her head in a circle, moving her hair behind her shoulders. "But this time, the promotion will come from RCM CBT Global Net Sanyoid and their products, so all you will have to do is practice until the shows come up."
"How are we going to practice if they're not going to be here?" James asked, suddenly looking like he was going to panic. "It's the first time we're opening for someone; I don't want to screw that up."
"You won't." Sydney said shortly.
"You guys are going to do a good job," Julius agreed. "With us there," he motioned to himself, Kelly, Gustavo, and Ronan, who each nodded in turn. "And with these guys," he reached out and mussed Riley's hair, causing her to make a sound and to quickly move it back into place. Julius laughed lightly. "They'll be there to back you up as well."
"We still need to go over the finer details about things," Kelly flipped through her PDA. "Tour buses, hotels, venues, the production company, rehearsals, catering, your dressing rooms, back up bands, all of that stuff." She lifted her head and grinned. "But it should be a good tour."
"So…" Rhuben drummed her knuckles on the table. "Can we go home now?" When she got silence for her answer, the Jacksons stood up and started to push their chairs in, moving to clear the room as quickly as possible.
Big Time Rush got up and did the same. Carlos smiled as he took off his helmet, spinning it in his hands. "So, this should be a great tour." He said to them.
"I guess," Riley muttered.
Carlos tilted his head to the side, his brown eyes holding curiosity and slight hurt. It didn't take much to hurt Carlos or make him mad as it was. There was a reason that he was named the 'sensitive one' of the group. The guys made fun of him for it, but Carlos said that it was what was going to get him a girlfriend, and that they would eat his words when it happened. "Did I miss something?" He asked.
"What?" Riley's eyebrows lowered for a fraction of a second.
Kendall quickly jumped to Carlos's defense. "Because you sound mad, Riles." Kendall rubbed the back of his neck.
"I'll have to work on that, then, won't I?" Riley pushed her long hair over her shoulders. She gave him a weird look; backing away from him, following her siblings. "And since when do you call me, 'Riles'?"
Logan quickly stepped forward this time, trying to make them feel comfortable. He smiled over at Rhuben and then at Riley. "Do you guys want to hang out?" He asked eagerly. "We're not doing anything the rest of the day, so we have time."
"Can't." Rhuben replied simply.
"Can't or won't?" Logan asked, looking hard at her.
Rhuben hesitated for a moment before tilting her head back slightly to look up at him, directly into his eyes. The direct eye contact caused him to become uncomfortable. "Which answer would be better for you?" There was a challenging edge to her tone.
"One where you're honest." Logan replied.
"A bit of both, then." Rhuben said and then turned on her heel to leave. "See you later, Logie-Bear." She followed her siblings out of the room. Ronan stopped by the door and turned to the guys with a sympathetic smile.
"Just give them time, guys," He said warmly. "They'll come back around; besides, they said that they're going to help you on your song, so they can't back out of that. Try then." His smile widened before he left the room and followed his friends/clients.
WayneWayne looked at his watch as he walked through the mall, trying to figure out how much longer he could be out so when he got home his family wouldn't bombard him with questions; wondering where he'd been, if he was with someone, how'd filming go? It wasn't even that he didn't like working on the Ziggle Zaggles. It was that people never stopped teasing him when they found out that it was him. The fact that his hair was slicked back, they made him do cheesy dance moves and songs, and that they made him get rid of (if not sculpt) his facial hair, it made it harder for some people to recognize him, which was a blessing. But when they did find out, it was torture.
But it's better to have a job in LA than not to have one. WayneWayne shuddered a bit at the thought of how humiliated he was after the whole Big Time Rush debacle. That WayneWayne, the rapper from the streets of Detroit, wasn't him at all. He was just desperate to get a part so he could provide for his family and to make them proud. He knew he went about it the wrong way, but still…
The humiliation wasn't worth it.
WayneWayne finally decided on getting McDonalds to get some food. He stood in line, remembering to put sunglasses over his eyes. He didn't want to be recognized by any little kids. He usually didn't have a problem with it, he usually liked it. But he just wasn't in the mood to sing any of his songs that day.
"Yes, how may I help you?" The cashier asked as cheerfully as possible.
"Yes, I'd like a number 13 but with large fries," WayneWayne said, quickly scanning the lit up menu as he pulled his wallet out of his pocket.
"Would that be all?" The cashier never raised her eyes from the electronic register in front of her as she pushed buttons on it. WayneWayne nodded and she pulled up his total. "That'll be $8.25"
WayneWayne looked through his wallet and inwardly groaned when he realized that he was two dollars short. He made a mental note to yell at his sister later, knowing that she had taken the larger bills from his wallet. It wouldn't be the first time it happened. He groaned lightly, tilting his head back as he held onto his wallet.
"Uh," he gave a light laugh. "You see, I'm a bit-"
"Here you go,"
WayneWayne turned around to see Riley standing behind him, holding out three one dollar bills. WayneWayne took it with a nod and handed it over to the cashier before stepping aside so Riley could make her order. When she finished, she turned to him, resting her elbow on the counter, not seeming to notice (or care) that the person behind her couldn't move forward to order.
"Most people say 'thank you' when someone offers them money," she prompted, raising her right eyebrow. "And what's with the sunglasses indoors?"
"Thank you, Riley." WayneWayne said as he turned to face her completely. He noticed the strange look on her face. "What?" He asked self-consciously.
"Nothing," she replied with a quick shake of her head. "It's just that usually people can't tell me and my sister apart until after months of knowing us." She shoved her hands into her jeans pockets. "It's not a bad thing," she added after a minute. "It's a welcome change, really." She paused and then gave a wry smile. "You're a fan aren't you?" she asked.
WayneWayne shrugged, mimicking her and putting his hands into his jeans pockets. "Only because Camille really got me into you guys. But I don't obsess like other people do." He briefly wondered if that was something that she could take as offensive. But she merely nodded in reply.
"Good to know," she said and then nodded behind him. "I think your order's ready." She said. WayneWayne turned and grabbed onto the bag that was being held out to him. He turned to the free space on the counter and opened the bag to make sure that everything was in there. He looked up when she got his attention once more. "Have fun on the Ziggle Zaggles," she said as she grabbed her bag of food.
WayneWayne watched as she walked away, wondering how she knew that if he had never brought it up.
Ronan looked up from his newspaper as he heard a knock on his apartment door. He looked at his watch before standing up, looking over at Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney, who were sitting on the floor around Sydney's laptop, seeming to be watching a movie. Julius was on his own laptop, stretched out on the couch, headphones over his ear, the TV remote in his hand, and sleeping quietly. He gave a slight smile before walking over to the front door and opening it.
"Hey Dak," he greeted the teenage boy that stood in front of him. "What's up?"
"Hey Ronan," Dak replied with a wave. He shuffled his feet. "I was just wondering if Rhu was here…I tried at their house, but no one answered."
"Oh, of course," Ronan winced slightly. He should have known that someone that didn't know what was going on would try to find them at their old house. Even with Ronan's pushing, the Jacksons hadn't told Dak or Lizzie what had been going on, so of course he wouldn't think anything of them not being at their home. "Let me get her." Ronan closed the door a little bit before walking back to the living room. "Hey, Rhubes," Rhuben lifted her head. "Someone's at the door for you."
"Thanks," she said, pushing herself to her knees before getting to her feet. She walked across the apartment to get to the door as Patrick, Noah, and Sydney immediately squished together to take up her space on the floor.
"What are you doing here?" Rhuben asked Dak. She looked over her shoulder before closing the door behind her, stepping out into the hallways. She knew that if any of the others saw him, they would promptly freak out. She even had the unmistakable feeling of panic rising up her body.
"You guys haven't returned any of our calls or hung out with me or Liz for a while now," Dak explained. He shrugged. "At this point, we were starting to think that you were avoiding us, because you always seemed to have some sort of excuse not to hang out. So I thought that I would come over and see what was up."
Rhuben felt a twinge of guilt. Realistically, it wasn't even her fault. She and her siblings just weren't ready to tell anyone what had happened to them or what was going on in their lives at the moment. It was hard enough for them to keep their secret from the two of them in the first place, let alone BTR for a while. So why was it so hard to try and keep what was going on now from them? Each time they had to turned down one of Dak's or Lizzie's offer to hang out, knowing that something was going to slip out, they all felt really bad about it. Ronan had even tried to get them to hang out, but he knew that when they were stubborn about something, it would be hard for them to change their minds, so he wasn't pushing them on it.
"So, what's up?"
Rhuben studied Dak's face. He was looking at her funny, not in the same way that he normally did. Now, it seemed like he was trying hard not to make her upset. Or that he was trying to make sure he didn't say anything wrong.
Almost as if…
"You know don't you?" Rhuben guessed after a second.
Dak hesitated for a moment. They both knew what she was talking about. Dak's eyes moved to the bandage that was on her cheek. "I didn't know. Not exactly. Well, I kinda did."
"Huh?" Rhuben's eyes narrowed slowly.
"Sorry, I'm not being clear," Dak rubbed the back of his neck. "What I mean is Lizzie and I thought that something was going on. And we talked to someone about it, but they said that nothing could be done without any proof…so…"
"So, what?" Rhuben asked cautiously. "Did you come here to pity me?" Her face then changed to one of irritation. "Or did you just want to bask in the fact that while my life seems perfect, it's nothing but crap!"
"No!" Dak looked shocked and a little hurt. "I would never do that." He licked his lips. "You know I would never do that, or think it for that matter. I wanted to be sure that you guys were OK." His eyes shifted. "Are you OK?"
"As good as can be expected, I guess." Rhuben shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. She crossed her arms over her chest before pointing over her shoulder. "I should get going." She said.
Dak moved forward to give her a hug. She kept her arms to her sides, shaking as he hugged her. When she pulled back to go inside; he bent his head towards her and she quickly turned her head away, causing him to kiss her on the cheek. Rhuben looked at her feet as Dak laughed quietly. "I should have seen that coming." He said and then held up his hand when Rhuben opened her mouth. "No, don't apologize. It's my fault. I don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you into anything."
Rhuben frowned as Dak plunged his hands into the pockets of his coat, grabbing his car keys. "Why do you always do that?" she asked. Her sudden question caused his head to jerk up. He moved so fast that he dropped his keys to the ground.
"Do what?" He asked as he picked them up. Rhuben was sure that he did that on purpose so the expression on his face wouldn't give anything away.
"Why are you so patient with me all the time," Rhuben placed her hands on her lower back. "I don't deserve it." She added quietly, lightly kicking at the ground.
"You didn't deserve to get hit either." Dak reminded her gently. Rhuben let out a sigh through her nose, running a hand over her face, suddenly looking tired. "Has anyone ever told you that you look really cute when you're tired?"
Rhuben raised an eyebrow as she reached up and twisted her strand of purple hair around her index finger before pushing it behind her ear. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head away as she blushed lightly. "Well, I was hoping for a smile, but a blush is just as good." He finally pulled his keys from his pocket and gave a short wave. "I'll see you later; tell your brothers and sister 'hi' for me." He started to walk towards his car, but stopped halfway and turned back to her. "By the way, I had a good time on our date tonight."
"What?" Rhuben blurted, completely confused. "I don't remember ever agreeing to go out with you."
"You didn't have to," Dak replied with a shrug and a calm smile. "A date is when two people hang out and get to know each other and have fun, maybe a talk a little. "He pointed at her. "And that's what we did. Now, I don't know about you, but I had a good time."
"Dak-"Rhuben shook her head.
"You can go on pretending like we didn't have one, that's fine," Dak finally got to the driver's side of his car and pressed the button on his remote to unlock his car. "I'll just go home with a smile on my face." He laughed when Rhuben shook her head again. "I'll see you later, Rhu."
"Ugh," She knew that she had lost that conversation, no matter how many ways she could try and fight it. "Later," Rhuben gave him the peace sign before slipping back into Ronan's apartment.
A/N: Ok, starting next chapter it'll have an equal balance of everyone, so you'll see more of Julius, Sydney, Patrick, and Noah, and the girls (as they have been put more to the backburner and things started with the story.
And what did you guys think of the Della and Wiley parts? They were done kind of short on purpose, but I hope that you guys still liked them. (How WayneWayne doesn't completely back down from Riley and how Dak doesn't take 'no' for an answer).
Also, I wasn't planning on showing the release party of The DarkElements in the next chapter, but would you guys like me to put it in? Or just have a reference to it at some point.
I hope you guys liked it and I'll update again soon.
Cheers,
-Riles
