Chapter 2

Author's Note: Special thanks to Anonymous Skrtle, Mikichan 21, and an anonymous reviewer for reviewing! :)

Six months had passed since Carlos, Kendall, James, and Logan had left Rory alone in Minnesota. In those six months, a lot had changed.

Rory learned that the guys had apparently been sighed to a record label as a boy group, and over the time period, she began to see them pop up occasionally on television, and even saw their CD as it hit stores. They were now 'Big Time Rush', an LA boy group who were 'just four ordinary hockey players from Minnesota, living the dream.' They never did mention the friend that they had left behind.

Now, though, Rory was finally able to forget about Big Time Rush (though not really, for they always lingered in the back of her mind as a painful memory) as she too took hold of her dreams and pursued them. Two months after the boys had left, Rory took up singing. She had always been a phenomenal dancer, and with her singing lessons, she found out she was able to do both. A week ago, she had been signed to Rocque Records.

That was how Aurora found herself standing outside of the tall, looming building of the studio that she would be recording at. Her uncle, whom she would be staying with while in LA, was at some place called the Palm Woods, where he lived. Rory was supposed to meet him in about an hour, but first, she wanted to check out where she would be working from now on.

As she entered the building, cool, refreshing blasts of air hit her face, sending pleasant shivers down her back. LA wasn't exactly Minnesota's sister state in weather, that was for sure. Rory continued down the various hallways until she found herself walking down one with posters of multiple boy bands plastered on the walls. She snorted at the ridiculous looks and names before a loud screech reached her ears, making her wince.

"You dogs can't do anything!" An angered voice yelled, the speaker sounding as if they were close to strangling whomever they were talking to.

Rory gaped as an angry, round-faced man walked out of a room, his fists clenched tightly. A look of confusion passed his face before it was gone and he was giving her a heated glare.

"Who the heck are you? Did I give you authorization to be in this building?"

The screams made her cover her ears, and Rory glared at the man.

"Do you mind? I actually would like to keep my hearing for a few more decades, thanks."

She watched cautiously as his face turned even a darker shade of red before a woman came rushing into the room. "Gustavo! Calm down." Then, she turned to smile apologetically at Rory. "I'm terribly sorry. My name is Kelly Wainwright, and this is Gustavo Rocque. Who are you?"

Gustavo Rocque? This temperamental meathead is my new boss? Great. Just my luck.

"I'm Rory Bell." Rory replied, watching as comprehension dawned on both Kelly's and Gustavo's faces.

"Oh, so you're that new girl we signed?" Gustavo mumbled. "Fine, well, come with me. I'm almost done with some others dogs."

Rory glanced in confusion at Kelly as Gustavo lead them into another room. "He…he doesn't really train dogs in this building, does he?"

Kelly gave a small wince before shaking her head. "Not exactly, but come on, you'll see soon enough, Rory."

Curious, Rory followed Kelly into the room, which she soon realized was a recording studio. Her gaze swept across the area and she took a seat on one of the few chairs, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned to glance at whoever was in the recording booth.

Rory froze. It was as if she had been shocked with a thousand volts of electricity, and now she was completely motionless as she stared in disbelief at the four guys singing with headphones on.

'Rolling past graffiti walls, billboards lighten up the block, everyone of us on a mission-'

"STOP!" Gustavo yelled, his glare intensifying as he pressed a button to talk to the boys. "Just stop!" His face was completely red and he clenched his teeth before speaking again. "Take five!"

Rory remained where she was as Gustavo and Kelly rushed out of the room, leaving her alone with the four guys as they exited the booth. Her gaze swept across each one of them, noticing the small changes and differences about them. Yet overall, they were still the same.

They were still her boys.

"Who are you?" James asked, staring at Rory curiously.

Even though Rory knew her appearance had changed a lot in the past six months, it still hurt that they didn't recognize her.

Her dark brown hair had grown slightly, so that it went just past her mid-back and ended in natural ringlets, and she was a bit more tan and curvier than the last time she had seen them. But, she also had four streaks of highlights in her hair (pink, violet, lime green, and light blue). She had gotten them done about a week after they had left.

Rory swallowed and stood up from where she sat, her arms still crossed as she stared at the members of Big Time Rush. "Take a guess."

It took a moment, but comprehension finally dawned on all of their faces, followed closely by various emotions. Guilt, joy, and anxiety were the most prominent.

"Rory!" They all exclaimed, stepping towards her. The only reply she gave them was to take a step back, her hazel eyes narrowed as she stood rigid. They seemed to get the message and stopped in their tracks, all of them looking rather sad.

"Rory," Logan said, hesitating a little before continuing, "How've you been?"

Something inside Rory seemed to snap.

"How've I been? How have I been? You guys leave without any notice at all and fly to California to be some band, and leave me without any explanation? You let me figure everything out by somebody else's mouth!" Her words cut through them like a knife, and her tone was dripping with venom. "Do you guys have any idea what that did to me? I lost all of my closest friends in one day! I had nothing left!" Her voice dropped to a whisper as pain began to creep into her voice.

"You didn't even have the guts to say goodbye."

Rory looked particularly at Carlos, satisfied with guilty and hurt expression on his face. He had caused her such pain when he left, and she still wasn't sure her wounds had healed.

"Rory, I-"

"Nothing you can say will make this better, Carlos." Rory snapped. "I would've been supportive of you guys and told you to chase your dreams! But none of you had the balls to tell me about any of this! You just thought it would be better to get up and leave! Did I really mean so little to you guys? I thought we were best friends." She took a deep breath and collapsed onto the chair, her head resting in her hands as silent tears streaked down her cheeks.

Six months she had been holding it all in, and now, as she finally got to rant, she realized just how much she wanted to reconcile and make things right. But right now, she couldn't. And it had more to do with than just her pride and dignity.

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, and Logan pulled her into a warm hug. He then began to rub circles on her back in an attempt at soothing her, and Rory continued to sob into his shirt, knowing that she was most definitely staining it with tears and snot, but at that moment, she didn't care.

"We're sorry, Rory." Carlos whispered, staring with a sad gaze at Rory, who appeared to be so broken. He hadn't realized before how much them leaving would tear her apart.

Rory sniffled and pulled away from Logan, mumbling an apology at the fresh tears stains on his shirt. Logan just smiled and waved her off before stepping back to give her some space.

"I know you are, Carlos. But this doesn't mean everything is right all of a sudden." Rory reminded them. "But," She glanced wearily at them before a ghost of a smile graced her lips, "I do want to give you guys a second chance. You are my best friends and all, no matter what happens."

She watched as four identical grins lit up their faces, and each one of them surged forward to give her a bone-crushing hug. Rory laughed and struggled out of their grip before her expression became serious once more.

"I do want to know why you guys didn't tell. I mean, was it that hard?"

Not one of them looked at her as she asked the question. Instead, James, Logan, and Kendall all shifted their gazes to Carlos, who was looking determinedly at the ground.

Kendall glanced back at Rory and rubbed the back of his neck. "We can't. Not yet at least. We made a promise."

Rory sighed and put her hands on her hips before replying. "Fine, I can wait. But I want an explanation at some point, got it?" The four just nodded, looking relieved that they had momentarily avoided the subject.

"Dogs," Gustavo said, entering the room once more, "We're done for the day. Go back to the Palm Woods and do…whatever it is dogs do when they aren't at the studio." His hands were waving wildly in the air while he spoke the last part. "Oh, and this is Rory. She's been signed to Rocque Records, and I don't want you scaring her!" His voice rose to that of a yell before he turned and walked out of the room.

Four sets of eyes were on Rory as she casually walked to follow Gustavo out of the studio, knowing what was coming next.

The guys quickly raced each other out of the room and stopped Rory in her tracks, Carlos's hand shooting out to grab her arm and spin her around to face them. "You were signed to Rocque Records?"

Rory bit her lip, noticing how warm his hand was on her arm before she gave them all a sheepish smile. "Yeah. Did I forget to mention that?"

"Yes!" James yelled dramatically, his eyes wide. Rory laughed and shook off Carlos's hand before shrugging.

"So I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other. Where do you guys live?" She asked.

Carlos grinned, his brown eyes alive with warmth as he spoke. "At the most awesome place ever, the Palm Woods!"

"Home of the future famous!" James did a weird jazz finger thing in front of his face before giving Rory a large smile.

Rory slapped a hand to her forehead, a slight groan escaping her lips. "You live at the Palm Woods?" She grimaced before saying her next words. "I live at the Palm Woods now."

They all grinned at her and Kendall clapped his hands together. "Then I guess we will be seeing a lot of each other."

Logan stepped forward and linked arms with her, a friendly smile on his face. "Now come on, why don't we return to the Palm Woods together, ole' chap!"

Rory raised an eyebrow."Logan Mitchell, you did not just call me old."

Logan paled and let go of her arm, backing up unsteadily as she gave him a death glare. "N-no, of course not."

Rory smirked and crossed her arms before turning and walking down the hallway. "Good, now come on, I want to see the rest of this place!"

So, there's the second chapter! I'm sorry for the long wait, but remember, reviews give me the motivation to update faster! ;)

Also, I have a link to a picture on my profile as to what I think Rory would look like. Go check it out!

Review! :D