Disclaimer: Foster's is not mine. Alas. And heavy Bloo/Mac. Well, still unrequited, but if you don't like that, then I suggest you skip this chapter entirely. Because there's only one scene in here (the second one) that doesn't center around it and that's it. I don't want any complaints because I'll flip out. You have been warned.

Chapter Nine: "Unrequited Symphony"

Outside, the crowd screeched, bellowed, stamped, or otherwise displayed their impatience. Mac outfitted Bloo with the last few adjustments and smiled at him. Bloo, no longer smiling in the slightest but nerves weakening his knees and sweating his palms, nodded curtly. Tonight was the night he'd decided to sing "Unrequited Symphony" to him and he'd never been more frightened of anything in his life. The original playlist demanded that song and since Mac was with him…he really had no choice in the matter.

"Unrequited Symphony" was his last song and he wanted to prove to Mac once and for all his feelings. However, the thought of telling him he was in love with him did not bode well with him. Already tonight, he'd vomited out of pure nerves. He remembered clutching the toilet seat and pleading with himself to forget it. But he couldn't, not now.

"Bloo, are you okay?" he whispered, checking his clammy forehead for a fever. Bloo shivered, but not from the difference in heat. Thanks to his touch, his whole head buzzed. Not trusting himself to speak, he nodded and turned away from him to the stage. Breathing deeply, he ran on stage to start his R.D. façade again.

Shaking his head, wondering what his imaginary friend was hiding, Mac walked straight into Kip, muttering about money and murdering R.D. The latter hardly noticed the intrusion and continued on walking. In fact, Kip proceeded to walk into several more people, finally scolding them for being in his way. He then continued uninterrupted about bumping off R.D. Others stared in his wake, but Mac raced to R.D.'s dressing room to call Frankie.

One, two, three rings and Mac began to swear under his breath. Where was she? After the fifth ring, he switched to her cell phone. Surely she had to have that on. If not, then there was no way their plan would work at all. She'd promised him she'd be in the general area the day of his last concert and by the looks of things, that concert would be tomorrow.

"Goddamn it, Frankie, pick up!" Mac snapped after the fourth ring. He paced the room and kicked his tabloid around. It opened once again to the page proclaiming R.D.'s love interest was none other than Mac and, frustrated to no end, trod on it. If he got the answering machine one more time, he really would scream.

There was a click and then, a voice asking if he wished to leave a voicemail. He screamed and the phone message stopped abruptly. A calm, albeit bewildered voice answered. Though it wasn't Frankie, it'd do. Mac refrained from screaming once more to settle his nerves.

"Um, hello?" Wilt inquired politely. "Frankie's sort of busy right now, so-"

"Wilt!" Mac exclaimed, sounding so much like Bloo he startled himself. Suddenly, he wondered if it really was such a great idea to leave him on stage like that. Sure, there were thousands of fans watching, but what if Kip decided to do it today rather than tomorrow? His stomach twisted.

"Mac? Was that you screaming before?" he replied, smiling. No matter the situation, you could usually find Wilt in a good mood. That was why Frankie had passed her cell phone off to him. Coco had wanted to answer, but just in case it wasn't someone from Foster's, she didn't want her to start babbling incoherently.

"Yeah…" He winced, wishing he hadn't yelled. "Look, can I please talk to Frankie? It's really important."

"I'm sorry, but she's driving," Wilt answered simply. Behind him, Coco added something, but Mac couldn't quite catch it. Eduardo agreed and Wilt silenced them both.

"Driving? Driving where?" he replied, fighting a rising panic. What if she'd randomly decided to take a road trip or had urgent business elsewhere? Kip thundered outside, barking orders at everyone and anyone crossing his path. Mac's anxiety deepened.

"To Bloo's concert, of course," he answered and Mac released a breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding.

"How'd you know?"

From over Wilt's shoulder, Frankie impatiently snapped something at an inconsiderate driver and answered. However, before she could, another SUV cut her off and forced her to step on her brakes lest she run into him. Coco shrieked, Ed gasped, and Wilt gulped. They weren't used to highway driving.

"It's been all over the TV, Mac. Kip says tomorrow's his last concert and-"

"He's going to try to kill him tomorrow!" Mac blurted and Frankie sighed.

"Would you let me finish before you interrupt?" she replied gently, flipping off the SUV, speeding ahead of her and several lanes of traffic. Meanwhile, Ed and Coco played "I Spy" with the passing cars. Mac vaguely recalled playing "Blue Rubber Punch Buggy" with Bloo, but he doubted they'd go for that. Besides, afterwards, they usually had extremely sore upper arms.

"What? Oh, sorry."

"We figured if he was going to do something, it'd be then, so I convinced everyone to get on the bus. Kip won't know what hit him," she replied confidently, ranting at yet another driver.

"I hope so, I really do," Mac murmured, hanging up.

Meanwhile, Bloo was trying every stall tactic known to man and several known to only imaginary friends. Mac had appeared back stage mere seconds before and the time drew nearer to sing "Unrequited Symphony". Fans clamored for it and his nerves sizzled and snapped. At least he hadn't eaten anything since he last retched. His stomach was a bundle of nerves all on its own.

Every reaction he pictured to his revamped version suggested Mac would immediately reject him and, in all likelihood, abandon him to Kip. Then again, one must bear in mind Bloo had a more inventive imagination than even his creator. He imagined Mac slapping him across the face and snapping at him that he wasn't gay. What was he thinking? He couldn't go on there and make an ass of himself.

His hands were so slick, he had difficulty holding the mike. Against his wishes, he'd started taking requests from the audience to delay the inevitable. Unfortunately, a great deal of them were shrieking for "Unrequited Symphony" and flinging things at him. He shuddered, extricating a particularly raunchy girl's pantyhose. Infuriated with their inability to stop Mac before, Kip had fired his guards. Therefore, there were only temporary, exceedingly disinterested cops bordering the stage. He felt about as safe as one girl's retainer, smacking him in the forehead.

"Unrequited Symphony! Unrequited Symphony!" the group demanded as a whole, stamping their feet and pounding their thighs. Mouth dry, Bloo realized he was outnumbered and out of tricks. Maybe if he could turn into his imaginary form…but he'd lost that ability years ago. At least, he thought he had. Maybe if he concentrated really hard…

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather hear 'Teenage Suicide'?" Bloo pleaded, almost dropping the mike. Anything but that.

"Unrequited Symphony!"

I might have won the battle, but I lost the war.

Insides squirming, he disappeared to the far right of the stage and pulled the curtains back to hold a whispered conversation with Mac. His hands trembled badly and he had to leave the mike on top of a speaker. (Though he'd the common sense to shut it off beforehand). Physically, he was in better shape than the last time he collapsed, but he felt just the same. He couldn't go on there and tell him everything. Not in front of the world.

"Mac…" he whispered, wishing he'd thought of a way to prolong the agony. No brilliant ideas assailed him at this moment and he bit his lip. So this was what trepidation, fretfulness, and agitation were about. He missed the apathy.

"Bloo! Are you okay? You look like you're going to pass out," he replied, ignoring the thundering in their ears. Again, he checked his temperature against his own, but before he could verify anything, Bloo grabbed his hand. Inside his, it was cool, dry, and essentially normal. He envied him.

"You gotta come with me," he replied, yanking him along. Mac stared, bemused. When they walked on stage, Bloo led him to a chair and grabbed the mike closest. He almost wished he hadn't slept for the past four nights or drank anything. Combined with his nerves, unconsciousness would be a breeze.

Shuddering deeply, shutting his eyes briefly, Bloo murmured sadly, "Without further adieu, here's 'Unrequited Symphony'."

In the beginning, Mac wondered why Bloo had insisted on putting him front and center. Then, he'd started singing that love song to no one and wheels, ones refusing to operate before, churned slowly. Actually, he'd understood this before, but hadn't wanted to believe it. Yet when he sang, pivoting to face Mac, apprehension and helplessness shone brightly. He'd only once seen that look before- when he'd left Bloo at Foster's the first night.

Quaking from head to foot, Bloo stroked Mac's face with the back of his hand. The ending was coming up soon and he'd a finale in mind, but the sheer notion of it scared him senseless. Thank goodness for emo boys, making things like this acceptable. Otherwise, who knew what the tabloids would say?

The truth, Bloo thought bitterly, launching into the refrain. Unbeknownst to the crowd, he'd concocted his own last verse. It followed immediately after and this too wound his stomach into an extra tight knot. Why couldn't time stretch before he did this? Better yet, have time stop so he didn't have to be here, singing a love song to his creator.

Swallowing hard, finally at the bridge, he launched into his new version. He wished Mac would stop looking at him and his heart would stop fluttering in his chest. Everything would be so much better if this were an empty love song like all the others. Then he could grab a girl from the audience and sing to her. It wouldn't have any special meaning to him and he'd be able to move on.

"I can't get these words out of my head

I'll sing them to you instead

My creator, I never thought I'd fall for you

You'll never love me back, I knew

"I know you'll never love me back, Mac…

That's why this is my unrequited symphony…"

Mac's eyes widened and he began to say something, perhaps a query, but Bloo silenced him with a bittersweet kiss. Bittersweet because he knew it would be the only one he shared with him and he knew having one taste would be worse than none at all. He'd be forever haunted by his slightly salty lips, chapped but smacking of sugar and sweet things. Running his tongue along his lips, he stopped at the tumultuous applause from every fangirl. In fact, they stood to give him an ovation.

Meanwhile, still sitting in his chair and staring at his creation, all Mac could think was, what the hell just happened?


It's been reported by a few people (I finally received an e-mail from ahhelga about this) regarding responses to reviews in chapters. Well, until this site passes an official ruling, I'm going to continue. There's a rumor someone had their story taken down, but I can't verify it. Until I have some solid proof and not simple e-mails, I will not stop.

Moving on…

Rakal- In retrospect, Mac isn't being dense. He just refuses to see the truth. There's a difference there. (thinks of Cardcaptor Sakura, where Tomoyo says to Syaroan, "Sakura-chan is extremely dense. If you do not say it directly to her, she will not get it.") Mac's heard the truth; he would rather believe Bloo loves him as a friend instead of something more.

We really did need the phone call, because it was the comic relief. Yes, Bloo also needed reminding that there are creatures that care about him very much and want his safe return. In the space of four years, Bloo forgot about them. Or, perhaps he thought they stopped loving him like he thought Mac did.

Since I'll address Herriman throwing Kip out in a later review, I won't say anything more about that.

Yes, unrequited love is cute and acutely painful. I have to get working on chapter ten, so I'll be addressing that too. (winks)

MisterBlue- Well, no, it can't. Kip can't legally adopt Bloo if Foster's refuses to give him clearance. They technically have guardianship if Mac terminates his rights or just because he's living there. I'm sort of making up laws here, so bear with me.

Kip hasn't legally adopted Bloo, from my standpoint. A legal adoption means the creator terminates his rights and Mac never did that. He's done what Bloo sang about in "Sweet Stench of Success"- "kidnapped me and won't let me go". I suppose if you called imaginary friends property and therefore, property of their creators, then he could own him until he cast him away. Even in that instance, Kip doesn't legally own Bloo.

Actually, Bloo knows nothing about the plan. Frankie wanted to speak to Bloo to address his suicidal wishes. (I love Frankie! Er, sorry) She was concerned (and, apparently, so was Mr. Herriman).

It's time for R.D. to step down and for Bloo to return. It's been a while.

Alleycat-2006- Well, thanks for your input. At least you're reading another story. Sorry, I haven't much else to say.

A. Nonymous- I'm fairly certain the threat will come into play next chapter, when Kip confronts Bloo about the kiss. (This is, of course, after Bloo spends three quarters of the next chapter running away from his creator.)

The ironic thing was like Frankie, the conversation had headed in a direction I wasn't prepared for. There was more humor than anything else, though it served its purpose. It was supposed to be a conversation about his thoughts and then she'd remind him they cared.

First of all, Kip would want Bloo's stuff so he could sell it. Before he became popular and all that. (Though I can't imagine there's much left at Foster's, other than a paddleball).

Like I said to Blue, no, he doesn't own Bloo. (Lol!) That's part of the reason Herriman threw him out. He doesn't want to give him the right to him.

I can tolerate raunchy stuff, but I haven't tried Avenue Q again. I'm still fixated on South Park, however, as anyone could tell you. (points to her MSN 'nickname'- "OMG, they killed Mac!" "You bastards!")

I've noticed, going back and looking at some of my older chapters (of other things). It's rather annoying, but this site likes eating things. I once had a review that was probably as long as this response, but when I hit submit, the window froze and I lost everything when I reloaded.

kcbs- At least you read the part with Bloo's song. After the last review, I was concerned some people were skimming that. It is rather important, at least, to me. At any rate, moving on…

At the time of the last chapter, he hadn't realized yet both because he spaced out and because he didn't want to accept it.

That's it for now! Until we meet again…