A/N: So yeah, contrary to the author's note at the beginning of last chapter, I think I may be dying (not really, I'm just being melodramatic). God damn do I feel sick, I collapsed on the field during Marching Band practice and basically made a complete fool of myself. At least I'm getting more time to write since I'm staying home from school and I don't want boyfriend to get sick too so I'm quarantining myself. Hopefully David Archuleta, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, BTR, and P!nk can heal me.
Thank-yous are at the bottom to keep this note from overwhelming the page since the disclaimer is so big.
Disclaimer- I own nothing except the ideas and OCs, the lyrics belong to their respective artists and the characters belong to whoever was awesome enough to create the show (I don't remember the name of the producer :P). Also, no, they aren't performing "Funhouse"; it's just a little song cameo, even though I love that song (mostly it's because I already chose a song for this, but also partially because I don't think Carlos can sing like P!nk since she's a girl and he isn't). Now, on with the show!
Chapter VIII
"This used to be a Funhouse,
but now it's full of evil clowns.
It's time to start the countdown.
I'm gonna burn it down, down, down.
I'm gonna burn it down."
"Carlos, could you please choose a different song to warm up on," James complained as he attempted to tune his bass for the fourth time. One of the strings sounded bad every time he strummed and it was seriously bugging him. "You know how much I hate that demon of a woman." Carlos scowled over at the brunet.
"You're the one who told me to warm up my mid-high register more, so that's why I chose P!nk. I say it's your fault that you're miserable right now. Also how could it possibly take you so long to tune that thing?"
"Shut it." James just sighed and twisted the last knob at the top of his instrument before plucking a few notes. He smiled when each and every one was finally exactly in tune, looking back over to the now humming Latino who was swaying slowly back and forth a few feet away with an annoyed pout on his face. Taking a quick glance around, the tall boy took in his surroundings. Rachel and Jesi were playing some weird game that James always referred to as 'the patty-cake game' (even though the girls adamantly insisted it was called 'Slide' or something like that), Dak and Aaron were playing rock-paper-scissors while chatting about some soccer thing, and Camille and Jett were standing near the speakers arguing noisily about where the keyboard and the e-drums should be plugged in. James cleared his throat loudly, gaining some attention and attempting to be heard over the two actors.
"Three minutes to showtime guys and gals, is everything good to go?"
"Both the electric and acoustic guitars are tuned," Dak replied without turning away from the game. "Ha! Rock crushes scissors!" James rolled his eyes and turned in time to hear Rachel speak.
"We tuned the violin and viola before we even played the first song, I'm pretty sure they haven't changed," she said somewhat softly, James straining to hear her and Jesi nodding in agreement. The pretty boy turned to look at Camille and Jett. The two were attempting to keep their yells just below maximum volume, but their argument was almost keeping him from hearing anything below a yell and could probably be heard on the other side of the curtain. James looked over to Carlos, who just shrugged in response before walking over to the two bickering actors.
"I didn't fucking unplug your goddamn keyboard to make room for my drums, it was an accident!" Jett snapped at her. "I just accidentally stepped on the goddamn cord and it came out, and when I tried to plug it back in you fucking accused me!" The actress scoffed, waving her hand as if dismissing the possibility.
"Yeah, right, like I'd really believe that, you lying egotistical bastard," Camille spat right back. The Latino made a small noise to gain their attention, but squeaked and shrunk back when they both glared and screamed the word 'what' in his face. The angry looks they gave him were intimidating, but he quickly regained his composure, standing up straight and yelling back at them.
"Hey, how about you both shut the hell up and just plug things back together? Get ready to play now, we have like two minutes till we go on." The two stared at him, somewhat stunned by his sudden commanding tone, but they soon followed the order and went right back to their spots after Jett put the plug back in the side of the speaker. As the tan boy hopped back down the risers, James clapped a hand on his shoulder, hand rubbing reassuringly over his shoulder blade and scar. Blushing heavily when an unintentional sigh of happiness left his lips, Carlos whipped around to see his roommate smirking widely at his embarrassment. "Stop doing that."
"Sorry, but it's so much fun to see your reaction. Now get up to that microphone and sing your heart out for Mr. Mi- um, Logan, dude." The tan boy nodded, taking one last quick swig of water from the bottle in his hand before chucking it over his shoulder and stepping toward the plastic stand that held his microphone. He smiled widely, turning back to face the rest of the group, seeing the water bottle land on the floor next to Aaron. James had his bass, Dak and Aaron were putting on their guitars. Jesi and Rachel stood with their viola and violin ready, the shorter girl rubbing a bit of dust off as the other played a few warm up notes. Jett and Camille were at their respective spots, Jett's angered gaze boring into the back of the brunette's head. Carlos sighed, and then held a thumbs up to all of them.
"Same as last time- let's fuckin' kill this bitch."
All Logan could think about at the moment was Carlos, the upcoming song, and the fact that he was ridiculously thirsty. The gymnast was standing in a long line at a concession stand, hoping to buy a water bottle before the band went back on, but that hope was diminishing as the line crawled on seemingly indefinitely. It would be a great place to use his fame to his advantage to cut to the front of the line and get a free water bottle or two, but he couldn't possibly reveal himself to the people, the paparazzi, and consequently his manager. The line wasn't going anywhere, and Logan just knew that his favorite fan was going to be going on any second.
'Ugh, why wasn't I smart enough to grab one of the ones sitting behind the stage, I'm sure they wouldn't have minded,' he thought, placing a hand to his temples in frustration and stepping out of the unmoving, never-ending line. The brunet went to sit down on a nearby bench, but he was stopped upon hearing the loud jumble of conversations stop and cheers start, looking up to see the curtain moving once more, Carlos' figure standing at the front once more. Quickly standing, he began to swiftly walk toward the front in order to take the same spot that he had been in before: right up against the fence. The Latino on stage shouted a few words back behind him before stepping toward the microphone.
"Thank you everyone for your support, please remember to help our little cause of getting James to Hollywood and out of here forever." He laughed into the microphone as he motioned to the now annoyed looking bass player, the small crowd laughing along with him. "Now, time to get this rolling!" he yelled, closing his eyes and leaning on the microphone just as he had with the last song, a few people in the audience cheering and clapping. The girl at the keyboard looked toward the boy now known as James, who just nodded, and she placed her hands down on the keys, starting them off. She was quickly joined by the brunet at the back, who for some reason wouldn't stop staring at her with burning eyes as his drumsticks were brought down heavily onto the electric kit in front of him. Carlos just softly sung the word "desperate" into the microphone twice, eyes shut tight, launching into the song a few moments afterward.
"You're reachin' out,
and no one hears your cry.
You're freakin' out again
'cause all your fears remind you.
Another dream has come undone.
You feel so small and lost like you're the only one.
You wanna scream,
'cause you're desperate.
You want somebody, just anybody,
to lay their hands on your soul tonight.
You want a reason to keep believin'
that some day you're gonna see the light...
You're in the dark,
there's no one left to call.
And sleep's you're only friend,
but even sleep can't hide you
from all those tears and all the pain
and all the days you wasted pushin' them away.
It's your life; it's time you face it.
You want somebody, just anybody,
to lay their hands on your soul tonight.
You want a reason to keep believin'
that some day you're gonna see the light...
'Cause you're desperate, desperate.
'Cause you're desperate now..."
Logan was once again mesmerized by Carlos' voice and the sound and blend of the music, but he noticed the boy's eyes were actually open and scanning out over the crowd as if looking for something, Logan eventually realizing that the deep brown orbs were searching for him. The gymnast waved from his position against the fence, the Latino looking down and smiling widely upon noticing the movement, then closing his eyes once more, his voice becoming louder.
"You know the things have gotta change.
You can't go back, you find a way.
And day by day, you start to come alive.
You want somebody, just anybody,
to bring some peace to your soul tonight.
You want a reason to keep believin'
that some day you're gonna see the light...
You want somebody, just anybody,
to lay their hands on your soul tonight.
You want a reason to keep believin'
that some day you're gonna see the light...
'Cause you're desperate, desperate.
'Cause you're desperate tonight.
Oh, desperate... So desperate tonight,
Tonight..."
The song slowly drew to a close, the tan boy quietly singing the word "desperate" twice more into the device in front of him before finishing. The crowd clapped and cheered as the boy leaned forward, hands on his knees, head turning to look at Logan. The gymnast smiled widely and gave him a thumbs up before turning and walking toward the side of the stage, intent on personally congratulating the band (mostly Carlos) on another fantastic job. He heard the Latino yell another quick thank you into the microphone as he rounded the corner, seeing the large curtain begin to move back in front of the stage.
As soon as the curtain was closed, Carlos turned back to the group, James walking over and placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. Carlos shrugged the hand off before James was able to embarrass him again. "Well, that's all folks, another great job. Now we just have to get ready for two months from now." Most of the group just laughed at the statement, all turning upon hearing Jett groan loudly.
"Why can't pretty boy just advertise for himself? It's not like you're going to get famous any more easily this way than I will by having the lead role in Dracula this fall anyways." James frowned.
"Oh shut it Jett, you know you love playing drums."
"Oh, I do love playing them, just not for your benefit and not mine, Mr. Music Major."
Carlos sighed, but his eyes lit up when he heard the stage door make a clicking sound. Turning to face the stage entrance, he watched as Logan cautiously slipped through carrying a couple bottles of water. He smiled and walked over, handing one of the bottles to Carlos, who quickly unscrewed the cap and took a drink. The collar of the brunet's shirt was raised up higher than before; he was obviously trying to avoid being seen by everyone on stage, but Jett quickly foiled that plan.
"Oh look, papi's boyfriend is back," the actor sneered as he wrapped a cord around his arm and walked over. "Thanks for the water bottle, dude," he said as he grabbed the object out of Logan's hand and walked away, a look of confusion and shock left on Logan's face that was quickly replaced with annoyance. Logan was thirsty, that's why he had waited in that stupid line for forever, and he still hadn't gotten anything to drink.
"Jett, seriously?" James yelled angrily at him, balling his fists and baring his teeth, but Carlos stopped him from going over and punching the living daylights out of the drummer. The tall boy looked down at his friend. "Carlos, seriously, that's kinda crossing the line."
"Don't worry about it James, Logan can just share mine," the tan boy replied, offering the plastic in his hand to the gymnast. The annoyed pout left as he gratefully took the bottle out of Carlos' outstretched hand, taking a quick sip and handing it back with a soft "thank you". The tan boy just waved it back, handing him the bottle cap in the process, Logan retracting the offer and screwing the cap back on.
"So Carlos," a female voice said curiously from off to the side, "who's your friend here?" The three turned to see Camille standing behind Logan, trying to look around his raised collar. The girl's jaw dropped and her finger rose to point when she saw the gymmnast, the pale boy becoming even paler than before. "Oh my god, it's Logan Mitchell!" she shouted, the other two girls rushing over and beginning to giggle uncontrollably. Dak and Aaron had also made their way over upon the actress' outburst. The three girls were squealing and pestering Logan with questions, forcing him to back up a few steps as they got closer and closer. His hands and water bottle went up in front of his body defensively as if he thought they were going to jump on him.
"Ohmygosh, is this real?"
"Where are you living now?
"How do you make your hair do that?"
"What's it like at the Olympic arena?"
"Are you going to be competing again soon?"
"Can I feel your biceps?"
"What was it like in Europe? Were all the guys really hot like in the movies?"
"Do you like my makeup? I did it up all special for the concert!"
"Do you know Jo Taylor? She's so pretty!"
Carlos stepped in between them and Logan with a frown on his face." Please, he just wants to be left alone, I'll fill you all in on details later, we have a date to get to." the Latino ordered, his tone stern. Camille did a quick double take.
"A date? Now? But-"
"Later." All three girls crossed their arms and walked away in a huff, reminding Carlos of the Jennifers. Dak, Aaron, and James watched on, perplexed. Carlos smirked and turned back to Logan, who had a nervous look on his face. "It's all cool now. Ready to go for some food?" The nervous look disappeared, replaced with a wide smile.
"Definitely. And how about we have an actual intellectual talk instead of an awkward one this time?"
"Deal." The tan boy turned to yell to his roommate about where they were going, when they would be back, and all that, taking the gymnast's wrist in his hand and pulling him out the stage door. Aaron crossed his arms over his chest, looking annoyed
"Man, why does he get all the girls?" Dak turned to look at him, his face acquiring what could only be described by James as confusion and a bit of hurt.
"It's because he's an international celebrity, Aaron. Isn't that reason enough?"
'"And since when does Carlos go out with a smoking hot international celebrity?" Dak asked. Now Aaron turned and raised an eyebrow at Dak, who stared right back. James got a little confused, but then just smirked to his fellow music major.
"Apparently since today."
A/N: And yay, the second song chapter is done! I like this chapter, even though I may be sick right now and I don't think my writing is quite up to maximum strength. Also, still working on that Dreamscape chapter… that may be what's killing me. The song was "Desperate" by David Archuleta ([sarcasm] I bet you all weren't suspecting that to be the name [/sarcasm]).
I'm doing all my thank-yous here since I didn't want the top note to be huge. Thank you to Lewkis, duckduck4, Ahmazingly-Weird, narutopowerman, bubzchoc, LittleGirlVixen, JessamineLovelace, TidusGT, LessThanThree333, Edward Changed Me, Sum1cooler, Nerdy-Mochi22, Tigers257, MaddyB3, and BTRMegaFan for your reviews, faves, and alerts, they mean a ton as always.
So, next chapter is the date chapter, then more development, fun fun. Thanks for reading, please review, and I'll see you next chapter. Have a great one!