RIP Grandma. We knew you'd be going, we didn't know you'd be going so soon. :'(
The limo pulled up in front of the Palmwoods entrance and the driver left his seat to open the door for Katie.
"Thank you for the ride." Katie said as she got out of the limo.
"No problem. Have a pleasant day." The driver closes the door and returns to the driver's seat and drives away.
Katie enters the Palmwoods and walks over to the elevator. The doors open and a small number of people leave the elevator.
Katie enters and presses the 4 button. The doors close and she looks down at her knee.
"Kendall better not freak out about it." She thought about what she would say to Kendall when he asks about the bandage around her knee.
The elevator dings before the doors open. Katie steps out and walks to her apartment while digging her key out of her purse. Once she approaches her apartment's door, she put the key into the keyhole and entered the apartment.
"Kendall, I'm home!" The apartment was empty. "Kendall?" No answer.
Katie notices a note left on the table and she reads it.
"Got called in, will be back in a few hours. Lunch is in the fridge. Kendall."
Katie sighs in disappointment, her brother already worked way too many hours this week. According to him, the manager was a bit of an asshole but Kendall tolerates it because it meant more pay to support the both of them for the time being. Katie wanted to get a job when they moved to LA but Kendall wouldn't let her since their stay in LA is temporary.
Katie lied down on the couch, grabbing the remote and turning on the television. The news was currently broadcasting and the anchors were talking about Big Time Rush.
"So apparently James Diamond was single-handedly holding auditions for a singer earlier this morning. Perhaps the group is indeed replacing Curt."
"Possibly. Here is a photo posted on ScutterButter a few hours ago."
An image was shown of boys lining up at a table, a sign that said "BTR Auditions" and the person behind the table.
Katie gasps, it was the same person who saved her when she was jumped while she was checking out the shops. "James Diamond…" It was definitely him.
Katie couldn't believe a famous person saved her, not even the trip to the recording studio that was known as Rocque Records gave away that fact.
The image dissolved away back to the speaking anchors.
"Do you think that a replacement has been found? I mean, think about it. Big Time Rush has a sold out show in New York coming up soon and I'm sorry if this sounds negative but I don't think the group as they are now would be able to make this headlining show as big as it was before the departure of Curt."
"Hey, you never know what tricks they'll pull out of their sleeves."
The anchors face the camera. "If you'd like to share your 2 cents about this, tell us via ScutterButter. Coming up next-" Katie shuts off the TV.
"You can do it, stick right to it-" Logan bumps into James and fell backwards, bringing Carlos down with him.
"STOP, STOP, STOP!"
The band stops playing and the fallen members stand up next to James.
Gustavo walks up to them.
"Dogs, how are you supposed to play a sold-out show if you can't even get through ONE SONG?! You already messed up If I Ruled The World, Time Of Our Life and now Famous!"
James exhales in frustration. "Gustavo, it's impossible when you're missing one person."
Logan clears his throat. "Perhaps it'd be best to change the choreography. Like I could slide right instead of-"
"SHUT UP!" Gustavo's loud voice was able to trigger an annoying ringing noise in everybody's ears. "This concert is in two weeks. The last TWO MINUTES of this rehearsal makes me want to destroy all my awards. Get it together or Big Time Rush is done for good!"
The guys shriek altogether.
"Gustavo, please. We won't mess up anymore, just give us another chance!" Carlos held his hands together and put on his best puppy dog face.
"Let's try a slower song. Which you can't mess up since you DON'T dance in this one." Gustavo claps his hands. "Dogs, band! Invisible, now!" The guys quickly brought their stools out and sat on them, getting ready to rehearse their song.
The guys alternated when they sang Curt's lyrics and the song went surprisingly smooth-ish.
"You're not gonna be invisible!"
The guys turn to Gustavo waiting for his approval. "Good…" They sigh in relief.
Carlos raises his hand. "Can we take a break?" The sudden change in mood and face color on a shaking Gustavo made Carlos regret asking that question and he quickly put on his helmet, bracing for impact.
"Gustavo!" Kelly walks into the rehearsal room just in time. "You have a call." She passes a phone into Gustavo's hand.
"Dogs…Take 5." Gustavo said through clenched teeth in a strained calm tone.
The guys ran out of the rehearsal room and into the recreation room, plopping their exhausted bodies onto the couch.
"How much longer until we can leave?" Carlos groans.
Logan checks his phone. "4 more hours." The answer brought out a simultaneous groan from the 3 of them.
"Kill me now. None of this would have happened if Curt didn't leave before the concert." All James wanted to do was go home, take a nap, swim in the Palmwoods pool, anything to get out of the remainder of the rehearsal.
Katie had fallen asleep on the couch and was woken up when Kendall entered the apartment holding 3 bags of groceries in each hand. "Hey."
"Hey, Katie. Did you sleep all this time?" Katie checked the clock and it said 7pm.
"I guess I did. I just fell asleep out of nowhere."
Katie got up to help Kendall put away the groceries. Kendall drops a bag of chips and he noticed the bandage on Katie's knee when he bent down to pick it up.
"What happened to your knee?"
Katie gulps, she only had a second to think of a lie. "I slipped and fell at the pool."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, really. It's not too bad."
Kendall grabs his guitar after putting away the last of the groceries. "So you want to come to the pool with me or would you rather not risk getting your other knee injured?"
"I'll come."
Katie follows Kendall out of the apartment and they headed towards the pool. It was almost empty. The only people at the pool were hanging out in the pool huts. Kendall and Katie sat by the fire pit. Kendall started strumming random notes on his guitar.
"Kendall, will you play Stuck?"
"Isn't that a Big Time Rush song?"
"Please, big brother?" Katie put on her face with the quivering frown and the big, brown puppy dog eyes.
"Darn it! I'll do it but I don't know all the words."
"That's good enough."
Kendall started to play the song.
James, Logan and Carlos stepped into the lobby and one by one, they collapsed onto each other, groaning from exhaustion from being exhausted from a brutal day of rehearsal.
"My legs hurts."
"My brain hurt."
"My everything hurts."
They worked together to get back up onto their feet.
"Let's just…get to…the…apartment."
They wobbled in pain towards the elevator when they froze on their tracks and turned their heads towards the pool door when they heard a voice singing one of their songs.
"Keep gettin' stuck, stuck but I'm never givin' up, up, in the middle of a perfect day, I'm tripping over Words to say. 'Cause I don't want to keep you guessing but I always end up gettin' stuck, stuck but I'm never giving up, up."
James gasps, it was Kendall Knight, the guy he bumped into earlier today. Before he knew it, Carlos and Logan ran over to Kendall. James quickly followed behind them.
Kendall looks up. "Um, hi."
"Dude, you were singing one of our songs! And it sounded so awesome!"
Katie jumps up in excitement. "Kendall, it's Big Time Rush!"
Kendall notices James behind them. "Nice to see you again."
"Nice to hear your voice. That was killer!"
"Thanks. My baby sister wanted me to sing it."
James shifts his eyes to the girl sitting near him. "Nice to see you again too, Katie."
Kendall raises his eyebrows. "How do you know my sister?"
Katie quickly jumps into the conversation. "He helped me get to the first aid office, you know, after I hurt my knee at the pool."
James was confused until Katie quickly bulges her eyes at him.
"Uh yeah, I saw her fall so I helped get her to the office so they could fix up her knee."
"Oh, well, thanks for helping out my sister."
Katie mouths "Thank you" to James for going along with her lie. "So…you guys think my brother's voice was good?"
Logan laughs. "Good? It was amazing! In fact…How would you like to become our new bandmate?"
Kendall stutters. "I don't—I'm not really interested."
Carlos groans. "Aw, come on! Would you at least think about it?"
"As nice as that offer sounds, I really can't join your band. I have a lot of things to take care of and-"
"Kendall, please. We've had a hectic week and 3 Time Rush isn't exactly working out."
Carlos giggles. "3 Time Rush. Good one, James."
"Anyway, you have a pretty killer voice and you play guitar too. You would definitely be a great new addition to the band. Gustavo would like you."
"Who's Gustavo?"
Logan clears his throat. "Gustavo Rocque, he's our manager. He isn't exactly taking our former bandmate's departure very well. Long story short, he's just as stressed out as us because of our upcoming concert."
"I auditioned some lame guys this morning. They were nothing near you. Would you please consider joining our band?"
Kendall turns to Katie. "What do you think, baby sister?"
"Go for it, Kendall. You told me LA has a lot of opportunities, this one's yours."
"You think so?"
"Totally. Besides, being in a band sounds a lot more fun than working overtime at a grocery store."
James, Carlos and Logan were anticipating Kendall's reply to their offer. "Uh…I guess."
"Big brother, this opportunity is a yes or no question. I really hope you say yes though."
James, Carlos and Logan put their hands together whispering a multiple number of "please"s to Kendall.
"Oh, all right. I'll join Big Time Rush."
They all jumped for joy and engaged in a group high-five.
James quickly took out his cell phone. "I'll let Gustavo know right now."
He speed-dials Gustavo and put it on speaker.
2 rings later, "WHAT DO YOU WANT DOGS?!"
"Gustavo, we have good news…"
"WE FOUND A NEW BIG TIME RUSH MEMBER!" Carlos and Logan high-fived each other.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU FOUND A NEW BIG TIME RUSH MEMBER?! IT BETTER NOT BE ANOTHER CURT!"
Carlos grabs the phone from James' hand. "No no no, he's way better than Curt. I swear, he's got an amazing voice. Better than Curt's actually."
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT CURT'S VOICE. BRING THE NEW DOG TO THE STUDIO AT 7AM SHARP TOMORROW AND I'LL BE THE ONE TO DETERMINE IF HE CAN JOIN BIG TIME RUSH OR NOT." And with that, Gustavo ended the call and James' phone screen went black.
They all look up to each other, worried.
I'm gonna be honest, Stuck isn't really a favorite BTR song. Don't kill me, the song is good but I don't really listen to it. I hope you liked the chapter.