AN: And here we have another chapter! I really didn't think I was going to be able to get another chapter out this week, but here we are! Building some friendships and some relationships in this chapter, which is lots of fun! And we get our first kiss of the story which is always a highlight! Also shoutout to safeDbeginswithS for Auden's new nickname for Delia, hahaha. Nothing else really noteworthy to mention, other than just wanting to thank everyone for the continued support and positive feedback! This story has been so well received so far and honestly your enjoyment of the story is what keeps me going! Enjoy!

"That'll be it for today." Gustavo spoke into the mic to the girls behind the glass "You can go home."

They'd been recording a song – finally a song of their own. ABCD had the talent, had a name, and finally had their first single to work on. As the girls filed out, the three shortest members had their eyes glued to their phones. "Hey Gustavo," Callie asked, "Hypothetically if James and I were to go on a 'date' to the movies in like two hours would you be able to get the press there in time?"

"Are you two actually dating now or something?" Gustavo asked, raising an eyebrow "Last I heard you were trying to set him on fire."

Callie sighed "We're trying to get along. And we both really want to see the last Hunger Games movie."

"What time is it playing?" Brooke asked "Carlos and I have been trying to set up an actual date for like three days."

Auden turned to Delia, asking "When did Brooke and Carlos start dating?" Auden was only met with a shrug, before Delia's eyes turned back to her phone, as she giggled at either the text she just received or the one she'd just sent. Knowing what she knew about Delia, she went ahead and assumed it was the latter.

Gustavo, meanwhile, was still focused on Callie's original question. "I'll make some calls. Now go home." As the girls happily filed out, Auden, who'd been in the back of the line up, felt a hand on her shoulder as Gustavo muttered "Not you."

"If this is about what happened to that gift basket on your desk yesterday it was like that when I got there but I did see Kendall lurking around…"

"What?" Gustavo asked, not sure if he should be mad about this new thing, or focus on the matter at hand. He shook his head "No, just, never mind. We'll come back to that." He gestured for her to take a seat, which she did, albeit by spinning the chair around and straddling it backwards. "We need to have a talk. From one alpha to another."

"I appreciate you recognizing my status." She nodded.

He sighed, before confessing "Look, I may find you nearly impossible to work with, but you are talented. Really talented. You're the best singer in the group, you have the biggest personality, and you look good on camera. But you need to learn how to dance. You're holding the others behind."

Auden merely shrugged "Never been much of a dancer. Not sure what you expect me to do."

"I expect you to ask one of the other girls to teach you. You seem to get along fine with Brooke, why not ask her? Or Callie?"

Auden shifted a little uncomfortably in her chair before admitting "Brooke's done too much for me lately. I really don't want to imbalance that more than I have to. And Callie's sort of got a lot on her plate right now."

"Okay, what about Delia?" he suggested.

The girl looked at him like he was crazy "The little baby pigeon?"

"Look, I don't care who you get to do it, just get it done." He stated, before getting up and gesturing to the door.

A few hours later, James and Callie were exiting the movie theatre. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" James questioned, genuinely smiling. "I'm sorry for being so…what's the word you used?"

"Obnoxious." Callie supplied.

"…well, that, before. Because I actually enjoyed that."

Cracking a smile, Callie confessed "I sort of did, too. It probably helped that we didn't really have to pay attention to each other."

"Maybe we can just tell Gustavo to only set up movie dates from now on." He smirked. "We get free movies and the press is none the wiser!"

Callie had opened her mouth to reply, but immediately shut it when something across the street caught her eye. "I must be seeing things…"

"What?" James, clearly, was confused by the sudden derailment of the conversation.

She didn't answer, instead grabbing James by the wrist and yanking him over into a nearby bush, gesturing her head to what she was referring to. "That! That is who I think it is, isn't it?"

"First of all if we're going to be spying on people in bushes we really should be using tree hats…" his voice trailed off, however, when he caught sight of what Callie was referring to. Across the street from the bush where James and Callie were currently hiding sat Logan and Delia on a bench. Rather than sitting facing the road, they had their bodies turned to face each other – as Delia said something that made Logan laugh so hard that the milkshake he'd been drinking shoot out of his nose. "Logan and Delia are hanging out, what's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal?!" Callie asked, her voice a frighteningly harsh whisper. "They aren't just 'hanging out', James. Look at how they're sitting! Look at how she's cleaning his face for him!" she thrusted her arm towards their friends on the bench, and Delia was, in fact, trying to dab off the milkshake on his face with her napkin. It looked like Logan was protesting, but there was an undeniable smile on both of their faces "They're on a date!"

James merely blinked, before asking "So? We were just on a date, and you don't see Kendall and Brooke hiding in the bushes."

"A real date, James."

James simply shrugged "I don't see what the big deal is. They're kinda cute."

Suddenly, something clicked in Callie's mind. "So that's why he didn't want to kiss me…"

"Woah woah woah…" James interrupted, hands popping to his shoulders. "You tried to kiss Logan? But I'm your boyfriend!"

"First of all, no you're not." she replied, sticking a finger in this face "Secondly, if I would've known he was getting it on with Delia I wouldn't have tried!" Callie argued.

James rolled his eyes "They're not getting it on."

"You know what I mean." She hissed.

"Look," James whispered back "Just because you're a little jealous doesn't mean there's anything wrong with what they're doing. If they really are dating it seems to me like a little jealousy is the worst that's going to come out of it. So what's the problem?"

Callie pouted. James was right, and she absolutely hated herself for admitting that.

Meanwhile, across town, Brooke and Carlos were finally able to sit down alone for the first time since the whole Halloween incident. They were seated on the same park bench they'd been seated on just a few weeks ago, when he'd unknowingly given her the confidence to stand up to the constant bickering she'd been forced to endure by the other three members of ABCD. She was half mindedly sipping on a smoothie as Carlos finished "…and that's when I learned that rocket skates don't work under water."

With another ship of the smoothie, Brooke turned to him and sighed, before confessing "Carlos, I love hanging out with you and everything, but there's something we really gotta talk about."

And suddenly, the childlike wonder and endless positivity that seemed to radiate off of him drained entirely from his eyes. "Let me guess," he stated simply, "It's not me, it's you, or I'm a great guy and I'm going to make some girl really really happy someday, or there's someone else…"

"What?!" Brooke questioned, her eyes wide as one of her hands instinctively flew up to rest on his shoulder "Carlos what are you talking about?"

He looked to her, a sad smile on his face as he explained "I know I'm not the sharpest crayon in the box, but I'm not stupid. I knew someone like you with someone like me was too good to be true."

"None of what you're saying right now makes any sense." She shook her head wildly, trying to grasp why this was what he thought she had meant. "There's nobody else, and I really, really want to give this a try. It's just…I know you were really drunk on Halloween. But do you remember anything you said? At all?"

He shook his head, a pout on his lips. "I don't. Was it important? I'm sorry."

She paused for a moment, before deciding, "It wasn't important. Not really. But you hadn't even really told me you liked me, and then once you were drunk, you were…rather affectionate."

With a soft smile, he offered "I can be affectionate sober too if you want."

The hand that Brooke had rested on his shoulder slowly moved to capture his hand in hers "I just want to make sure that you're not rushing into anything too quickly."

When her hand held his, the light that had drained just moments ago had come back, brighter than before. He chuckled, "Well, I've sort of been known to Big Time Rush into quite a few things." He gently nudged her forearm with his elbow. "But I've known since I met you, really, that this is something that I want to happen. And if you ever think I should slow down, just let me know. Cause I really like you, Brooke."

She smiled, moving to interlace her fingers in his. "I like you, too. A lot. And I'm glad we're doing this."

Carlos' smile grew, squeezing her hand as he asked, his voice hopeful, full of joy and innocence "Hey Brooke, would it be alright if I kissed you? Like not on the lips or anything but-" he was interrupted by the sudden warmth of Brooke's lips against his. While he wasn't as experienced with kissing and romance as his friends were, a hand still instinctively moved to cup the bottom of face gently. As moments passed, they broke away gently, as Carlos sputtered out "-or on the lips is, yeah, okay, that's fantastic. Works for me."

It was the next day, and Auden was in the dance studio. She'd been working for about two hours before she flung herself on the ground dramatically. "This is it. This is how I die. Remember me fondly."

"You were the one who asked for my help." James reminded her, as he moved to squat next to her. "If you want to give up now I'll gladly be on my way."

While still lying face down on the floor, Auden stuck a finger in the boy's face. "First of all, I only asked you to help because Gustavo's forcing me to dance better. And secondly, I don't give up. I just take a lot of breaks."

"Breaks don't make you a good dancer!" he argued, swatting her finger away. "Not even a good break dancer!"

"Just give me another seven minutes…" she groaned.

"Fine." He sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes as he picked up his phone and moved to actually sit comfortably next to where the girl was lying. Upon looking at his text messages, he rolled his eyes again. "Can you believe Callie actually thinks Logan and Delia are dating?"

Auden's head suddenly perked up a little as she asked "Wait, what?"

"We saw them hanging out the other day and now Callie is obsessed with following them around and sending me pictures for some reason. As if Logan wouldn't tell us if he started dating her. Callie's just mad cause she has a crush on Logan." James explained.

"Callie and Logan?" Auden repeated, "Logan and Delia make way more sense, they're both huge nerds."

"I don't know what she sees in him…" James sighed wistfully.

"You don't know what Callie sees in him or you don't know what Delia sees in him?" Auden questioned.

"Well, both!" James cried. "I mean, Callie's supposed to be dating me already, and I made it pretty clear to Delia that I'm available, and then they both turn me down for him?"

A smirk appeared on Auden's face as she peeled herself off the ground, readjusting to sit next to James. "Hold up. You have a thing for Delia? Like little baby pigeon Delia?"

"No!" he cried defensively. "She's just hot and I wanted to have sex with her! I still can't stand her as a person! If she even is a person, I'm still not convinced she's not a robot."

Immediately, the smirky, jokey vibe Auden had been transmitting changed, bolting upright, she questioned, her tone deadly serious "So I'm not the only one who's noticed?"

James chuckled awkwardly, entirely unsure of what was happening. "Noticed what?"

"That Delia's not human. My money was on alien, but robot make so much more sense!"

James' eyes widened "Do you have like, proof or anything?"

"Think about it! How much do any of us know about her, really? And the super fake personality? And her hair is always perfect and she always smells nice but I've never seen her take a shower." Auden supplied.

"Oh my god," James gasped "I can't believe I was turned on by a robot!"

Auden began pacing around the room "We'll need more proof before we try to convince anyone else. But we'll have to act quickly. Sure she's nice and ridiculously polite now, but one day she will try to rise above us! James, we're going to have follow her."

Nodding in agreement, James promised "I'll get us some tree hats."

And that was how James and Auden ended up crouched behind the same bush James and Callie had been hiding in just one day previous. They both wore tree hats and had binoculars in their hands. "Remember," Auden instructed "Any non typical human behavior is helpful. If you get eyes on her doing anything out of the ordinary start taking pictures."

"Got it." He nodded, still trying to find their target.

According to the daily agenda filled out in her handwriting that Auden had found in their apartment, Delia was supposed to be meeting Logan at the same small ice cream shop they'd met at the day previous. They'd been watching the door for about three minutes when a short redhead with overly large sunglasses dressed in tight black high waisted pants and a white tank top with black polka dots emerged holding two milkshakes. "Found her!" Auden cried triumphantly, before grabbing James' head and turning it to where the redhead was standing.

Swatting Auden's hand away, he refocused on where Delia was, following her every move which, much to his disappointment, seemed very human-like. She'd taken a sip of the vanilla milkshake, prompting James to ask "Can robots eat human food?"

"It probably goes straight to some kind of trash compartment." Auden reasoned. "Whoever built her was very good at their job. She needs to appear as human as possible to infiltrate us. Gain our trust."

It was at that moment that Logan had also spotted Delia, making his way over to where she was standing, grabbing the strawberry milkshake out of her other hand. "You know," James began, "I bet if we can convince Logan that she's a robot, he could fix her. Rearrange some wires and make her a nice robot who won't attack us."

Auden's eyes went wide with a sudden realization "That's probably why she's being so nice to him! James, don't you see? She's pulling the wool over his eyes! She's building this relationship with him so that he'll be too emotionally attached to ever destroy her!"

James gasped "She's so evil!"

"She must be stopped." Auden nodded.

"And just why are we calling Delia evil?"

The two tallest members of their respective bands glanced up to see Callie, her arms crossed over her chest, shaking her head disapprovingly. Auden quickly grabbed her elbow and yanked her down "Get down! They'll see you!"

"And put on a tree hat!" James hissed, slapping another hat onto Callie's head.

"I thought that the whole Delia and Logan thing didn't bother you," Callie quipped "Didn't you say they were kind of cute? Big talk for someone who's spying on them and didn't even bother to invite me."

"This has nothing to do with Logan!" James whispered harshly. "There are larger things at stake!"

Callie rolled her eyes, "What, like your crush on Delia?"

"I wanted to have sex with her, that doesn't mean I like her!" he whined. Suddenly, his eyes widened "Wait, I never told you about that!"

Callie smirked "Ever since Halloween you've made it pretty obvious. And don't delude yourself into thinking it's all about sex."

"Well it is!" he argued.

"Seriously, you'd fuck a robot?" Auden questioned "That's messed up. I mean, an alien, maybe, but a robot?"

James rolled his eyes "Auden, we're not having this discussion again. I'd fuck hot robot Delia over an alien anyday, but if it was hot robot Delia vs hot alien Delia…"

"What are you even talking about?" Callie asked

Auden supplied "Delia's a robot." James nodded wildly in agreement.

Staring at both Auden and James blankly, Callie muttered a quick "uh huh…so…" she shook her head "assuming Delia's a robot, which she's not, by the way, what were you planning on doing with this information?"

"Well ideally I'd like to tell Logan so he can go all computer nerd and fix up her wires so she doesn't go rogue and kill us!" James answered in a surprisingly earnest and upbeat tone.

Auden shrugged as she explained "I'm honestly not above selling this information to the press."

Callie shook her head again "I can't believe you two. So Delia's a little different, and you automatically make the jump to robot? And start spying on her to get proof? You're horrible human beings. Delia's a nice enough person."

"First of all, we'd don't definitively know if she's a person yet," Auden argued "And second of all, you're not one to talk! So we're bad people for spying on her, but what are you doing here? Same thing as us, that's what! Only instead of scientific inquiry, you're here because you're jealous of the fact that maybe Logan likes someone else - while you're supposed to be dating James anyway! So who's really the horrible human being here?"

"You two!" Callie argued, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "None of my reasons for spying are hurtful to anyone! What do you think Delia would do if she found out you two are telling people she's a robot?"

James' eyes widened in terror "Probably try to dispose of the evidence…" he let out a high pitched shriek, before crying "Auden! I'm too young to die!"

Auden slapped James in the face "Pull it together! They'll hear you!"

Callie rolled her eyes, and stood back up, walking away, as she muttered "I'm done with this nonsense." Before throwing the tree hat back at James.

In all honesty, Logan had been surprised when he'd received Callie's text. She hadn't ever really texted him before outside of a group chat. And asking to meet with him alone? Well, he had all the reason in the world to be nervous. After all, the last time they were 'alone' – in the middle of a crowded club – things had gotten a little too close for comfort.

As he sat on the park bench, mindlessly kicking all the little pebbles under his feet, he'd instinctively reached to check his phone. He was a second away from asking Delia for advice on what to do should Callie attempt to incite something again, but he refrained from doing so upon seeing the woman in question herself. "Hey," Callie smiled, moving to sit on the opposite side of the bench, "Thanks for agreeing to meet with me."

Logan chuckled softly before replying "Well what are friends for?"

Running a hand through her hair, Callie sighed "Look, I think it's best of we just, you know, talk through this."

"I don't think there's anything to talk about." Logan replied honestly. "You're dating James, and it needs to stay that way. End of discussion."

"No, not end of discussion." Callie's voice was suddenly harsher, more aggressive "What happened on Halloween, it was more than just sexual on my end. And I have a feeling it was like that on yours too. But whatever this is you have going on with Delia…you should've just told me then."

Logan scrunched his nose up as he asked "What? Delia and I didn't even start hanging out until after that happened."

"But are you two just 'hanging out'?" Callie questioned "Because if there's something more there, I'll back off. I wouldn't ever try to take another girl's boyfriend."

He sighed, kicking more pebbles from under his feet "Callie…" he shook his head. "When I told you I would if the circumstances were different, I wasn't lying. You're a smart, interesting, gorgeous woman. But the press thinks you're dating James, which is just too big of a risk right now. Especially where ABCD hasn't even released your first song yet." He paused, moving to take her hand in his. "And, no, Delia and I aren't dating. But I can't promise you that someday we won't be. She's no you, of course, but she is attractive, and we actually get along really well, and she thinks I'm the cute one," he laughed a little at his own joke, shaking his head "But whatever happens there, as long as you and James are supposed to be together, nothing can happen between you and me. It's what's best for everyone."

"Well what about me, hmm?" Callie asked, doing her best to suppress the anger growing, as she ripped her hand from his. "I'm supposed to go on pretending to date someone I don't like while the guy I do like is sitting here within my reach? Waiting for me? How is that what's best for me?"

"Your career needs to come first. Think of the other girls! If we were to start something and the press caught wind of it, ABCD would over before you ever really began!" he argued, before sighing, and shaking his head "Just…trust me on this. If things were meant to happen between us, then someday maybe they will. But for now, it's just not in the cards. And I know you understand that."

The next day's dance rehearsal had gone a lot better, now that James and Auden finally had a shared interest. As they exited the studio, James had given her a high five, proclaiming "Way to go, Cassleman! You'll be a dancer yet!"

She'd smiled and offered a small "Thanks man" before turning to head in the opposite direction, only to be stopped by Kendall, who'd been sitting on a couch just around the corner.

"Auden, hey, feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" he proclaimed, letting out an awkward laugh as he moved to stand.

She shrugged "Been busy."

"Can we, you know, talk?" he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets awkwardly.

Auden rolled her eyes groaning "This isn't going to be about your feelings again is it?"

"That was one time!" Kendall cried, before sheepishly muttering "But um, yeah, yeah it is."

"Gross." Auden muttered "Fine, okay, let's get this over with."

"I mean," Kendall shrugged "It's not even that big of a deal, you know, I was just sort of surprised when James said he was teaching you how to dance and it was the first I'd heard about it…"

Auden had to stifle a giggle "Wait a hot second, are you seriously jealous of the fact that I asked James and not you?"

"I'm just a good of a dancer as he is!" Kendall whined. "And last I heard you didn't even like James, and now all of a sudden you're buddy buddy enough to have him teach you how to dance?"

"Bro…" Auden shook her head "I asked James to teach me because I don't like him."

This had honestly taken Kendall by surprise "Huh?"

"Dude, if I would've asked you to teach me we would've ended up ditching to get pizza or to teepee Gustavo's car and I wouldn't have actually learned anything." She explained, before moving to punch his arm "You should be taking the fact that I didn't ask you as a compliment."

"Oh!" Kendall replied, genuinely shocked by this explanation. "Well, cool, thanks. And I guess, I mean, if we're being honest here," he looked down to his feet before admitting "Carlos has been spending all of his time with Brooke and Logan's been spending all of his time with Delia and then when you and James start hanging out it's like all five of my best friends were hanging out without me."

Auden quirked an eyebrow, genuinely touched as she asked "I'm one of your five best friends?"

"Well yeah." Kendall shrugged again "I mean, you don't drunkenly break into Roque Records and then fall asleep in Gustavo's office with someone who's not your best friend."

"I told him about the gift basket, by the way." Auden smirked.

"Rude!" he cried, it now being his turn to punch her in the arm "Some friend you turned out to be!"

Auden rolled her eyes, before genuinely offering "But hey, if you wanna hang out, James and I are meeting up to spy on Delia tonight."

"Spy on Delia?" he questioned.

"We're gathering proof that she's a robot." Auden explained with a nod.

Kendall's eyes widened "I thought there was something a little off with her!"