Title: 19 and Counting

(Older Grojband AU)

Summary: Everyone grows out of certain perks, bad habits, and even petty childhood rivalries. Laney was first to accept the change, and now that Grojband are grown up and in college, she realized that some people are forced to open their eyes to change; change their perspectives and grow out of their close-minded shells. Corey has a long journey to go to accept these new facts of life.

Laney's little secret has finally been uncovered. In result, it unveiled the fact that The Newmans aren't as bad as the Grojband members made them out to be so long ago. At least, most of the Groj members think that. What will it take for Corey Riffin to see that they are people, too? Will he ever accept the new friendships his bandmates had blossomed, or will his unwillingness to mature out of this pettiness of a rivalry lead him to his own demise?


Chapter 2

"I swear Kin, you're gonna empty out all my tissue boxes," Laney exasperated as Kin sobbed hysterically on the dining table. All members except the two bassists sat on one side of the table. Kin was surrounded by a small mountain of used tissues while Kon aided his brother with a soothing rub on the back. Corey had his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at Larry who was sitting slightly behind Laney with uneasiness.

"I can't help it," Kin said. "I feel… so betrayed!" Kin turned away dramatically. Kon cooed soothingly to his brother before turning to Laney.

"You monster!" Kon covered his face comically. Laney's brows furrowed as an angry frown reached her face. Sometimes the twins can be a bit much. Sometimes she questioned if they were really nineteen or ten years old.

"Are they always like this?" Larry whispered behind Laney. Corey sat up on his chair and put a fist on the table.

"You don't have the luxury to say anything right now," Corey threatened with an accusing finger pointed Larry's way, surprising the redheaded man and causing a cold sweat down his forehead at the realization that he heard his question. Kin let out an ugly sob again, and Laney stood up and slammed her hands on the table.

"CAN YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP?!" Laney exclaimed. The Groj members backed off a little on their seats, all eyes on her. She sat down again with ungodly amount of agitation.

"Seriously shut up, all of you are giving me a wicked headache," She pinched the bridge of her nose and slouched onto the table.

"Lanes it's just I don't understand, are- are you leaving the band?" Corey said with each word being visibly weighted with sadness. Laney shot up with an accusing expression embedded on her face.

"God no, Core! Jesus, what are you even thinking?" Laney accused. She sighed and calmed down before continuing. "Look, I know you guys wouldn't be so… open about it," she admitted. "It was my bad on that part. I should've said I had a roommate this whole time."

"A roommate whom is a Newman!" Kon glared. Larry cowered again and Laney shifted in her seat.

"That's not the point!" Laney stood screaming, striking fear into the twins. Corey, though, seemed almost unaffected and got up too.

"Then what is the point, Lanes." The guitarist asked, almost as though he was challenging Laney. She shook her head and glared at Corey.

"I'm talking about the lying part. That was uncool of me. But his being in another band isn't something I'm apologizing for." She said confidently. "He was the perfect candidate to roommate with. I can't possibly pay for off-campus housing by myself on top of tuition and textbooks, I needed to share and he was in the same position as I," She spoke. Corey crossed his arms and muttered under his breath.

"Did it have to be him though. Could've been anyone else…" Laney scoffed.

"Seriously, we're older now, what's with this rivalry stuff." She shot at him.

"Gasp!" The twins reacted. They both darted eyes to their frontman, and Corey had the look of disappointment plastered all over his face as he dropped his arms to the side.

"What happened to you Lanes," Corey said. Laney relaxed her face before her face scrunched up in anger. She loves these guys so much, but their naïve nature and child-like attitude has gone on for so long and now it's become a real problem. Laney didn't hesitate once she decided to say something that she's been wanting to say for a long time.

"What happened to me is what didn't happen to you," Laney said through gritted teeth. The three men looked at her with big eyes full of confused innocence.

"We're not thirteen, we're adults, and we haven't even come in contact with the Newmans throughout most of high school. Can you even try and consider thinking they're people too? Nonetheless, people who're just like us with similar passions?" Laney said, almost apologetically. Silence was all there was, but the tension in the air was growing thicker by the second.

"How can you even be so apologetic for a Newman, Lanes?" Corey said with genuine sadness dripping in his voice. Laney sighed in defeat. This wasn't going anywhere and she knew it. They were all genuinely oblivious. It's not her job to make them take her words with genuine depth. A twang of sadness hit her chest. Hopefully they'll come around and not let this jeopardize their friendship in a permanent way. She looked behind her to meet Larry's gaze before looking back at her band members.

"Core, guys… just leave," Laney said as she walked towards her front door and opened it. Shock was written on the Groj member's faces. Corey stood there dumbfounded before Kin nudged him lightly, bringing the guitarist back to the reality that the members were indeed getting kicked out of her apartment.

"Okay, okay…" Corey said in defeat despite wanting to keep the discussion up. All members trudged through the door glumly and into the outdoor hall of the apartment building. As they kept their backs to her door, before even acting upon attempting to change her mind, Laney shut the door closed and Corey winced at the sound and the hallway rumbling for a moment from the sudden impact.

"Well… that just happened." Kin spoke to break the silence between the boys after a few long seconds of standing in their respective spots.

"Yeah, Laney has never kicked us out. And the Newman heard all of that." Kon realized. "Will Laney be okay?"

The resounding question was finally said- one that Corey doesn't know the answer to. Or in better words, he simply doesn't know how to answer. He kept his back to the twins, and Kin extended a hand out to tap Corey softly on the shoulder. "Corey?"

"Let's go home, guys." Corey stated with defeat in his voice, and then started walking down the hall, never turning back. "We should finish those lyrics,"


"You okay?" Larry asked, handing Laney a mug of freshly brewed coffee. Laney smiled weakly before cupping her hands around the warm mug. Larry let out a big sigh before sitting next to her on the bed, hands cupped and elbows resting on his knees. Laney shifted a little as the weight of the mattress shifted under Larry's weight.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Laney said before blowing away the steam emerging from the mug and into the air. She brought the mug up to her lips, sipping the bitter drink carefully. She turned to Larry once she's realized the silence. An eyebrow raised and a slight tilt of his head was physically asking her 'are you really?'.

"Don't look at me like that," Laney groaned. She held her mug out a little and Larry gently took it and placed both of their drinks on her nightstand to his left.

"You shouldn't shit on me for being worried. What happened out there was brutal," Larry admitted. Laney had her face downcast. Larry looked under, trying to get her to face him. When Laney finally let herself make eye contact with him, her face held an expressionless, almost annoyed, look. Nonetheless, Larry let the side of his lip etch into a small smile, making his snakebite piercings stand out more.

"I know you'll be fine," He said and let his arms wrap around Laney, rocking the two a little. She let out a small laugh from the result of the playful hug.

"It's just that will your friends be fine?" Larry asked and looked up at the girl. Letting her go, he cocked his head to the side with a curious look on his face. "Will your band be fine?" Her smile became one of bittersweet. Her gaze was lost somewhere on the floor, but she let a hand run through Larry's hair as she sighed.

"They need to understand eventually." She said truthfully.

"I mean, they have to mature at one point. It's not my job to teach them that or force it onto them, I know them well and it's just that they still haven't grown out of those childhood habits. They need to know we're adults, and understand they gotta grow out of it, with this whole stupid kid fighting with your band, and new people affiliated in each of our lives, right?" Her eyes shifted their gaze to Larry, and he smiled warmly before speaking.

"They'll come around, I know it."