A/N: Hey there, guys! Man, it's been awhile, hasn't it? I am so so SO sorry for the unexpected hiatus. I meant to get a couple more chapters out before the end of August, but I've been wrestling with how I want the ending to this first book to play out (speaking of which, I would expect this fic to end at about 20 chapters, and then the second book will start up). I'll be honest – I've been spending a LOT of time trying to figure out how certain aspects of the plot are gonna work. There were just so many plot holes and things happening that were unrealistic/didn't make any sense...but thankfully Kaia was able to help me out, so you can thank her for helping me get back into this fic again. XD

All right, I'll shush now. You guys have waited long enough. C: On with the fic!

Chaos Unleashed: Chapter Twelve

Kathryn's POV

I nearly jumped out of my skin as the front door slammed open, shattering the peaceful quiet that had once been. "YEAH!" Erin yelled at the top of her lungs, pumping her fists in the air. "That was the best one yet!"

Kaia, Boromir, and Gimli were right behind her, also cheering. "Fuck yeah!" Kaia agreed. "God, I'm so glad they started touring again!"

I looked over at Boromir as he came over to the couch with me, grinning. "Have fun?" I asked with a smile.

He laughed. "I did! Kathryn, why didn't you come? That was even better than those two described it!"

Erin clapped a hand on the man's shoulder. "I told you it would be great. Breaking Benjamin's an amazing band, and their shows don't disappoint."

"Not at all!" he replied.

"Did you catch anything this time?" I asked.

Erin's eyes sparkled as she nodded quickly, waving a piece of paper in the air. "We got their set list!"

"That's getting framed," Kaia said as she plopped down in an armchair.

"And I caught a guitar pick as well!" Gimli cried triumphantly, waving the small triangle of plastic with the signature Breaking Benjamin logo printed on it in the air.

I laughed. "That's awesome!"

The sound of pounding feet could be heard running above us, and moments later Legolas came speeding down the stairs, his blonde hair messy and falling out of its typical low ponytail. "You're back!" he smiled.

"Yeah, we are!" Erin replied.

He looked at her, a knowing smile on his face. "I finished it," he said.

Her eyes went wide. "You did? No way! Let me see!" Without another word, the two went charging back up the stairs, headed for the art studio. Gimli flicked the guitar pick into the air and caught it with a laugh before continuing on into the room that he, Merry, and Pippin shared.

Boromir sat down on the couch with me, exhaling. "I do wish you would've come with us," he said, looking over at me.

I shrugged. "I'm not the kind of person that likes going down into the mosh pit. It's fine. And besides, you wanted to go more than I did. You love that band."

He chuckled a bit. "I do. But I still regret leaving you behind."

"Don't worry about it," I said. "I'll have other opportunities." The past few months had gone pretty smoothly, with the Fellowship adjusting to modern Earth life more and more each day. Legolas had become quite the artist under Erin's teachings, and Sam was my own little protege in American cooking. Aragorn had also developed a knack for photography, and he and Boromir both spent a lot of time playing video games together. Gimli had become quite the metal fan and internet addict (Kaia kept pushing him to make his own Tumblr, but he hadn't warmed up to the site quite yet). Frodo had become our fellow hardcore Homestuck fan, and he'd gotten Sam to read it, too, though the latter found it too confusing. Pippin and Merry had delved into quite a few Nintendo games, from Zelda to Mario to Pokemon to Kirby and back again. I'd also introduced Pip to K-pop, which he'd fallen in love with from the start. We were all living quite the happy life together, and on days like today where Erin and Kaia had deliberately taken off work for the concert, we spent hours coming up with the weirdest things for entertainment. There was hardly ever a dull moment in our house anymore.

I looked at Kaia, a though popping into my mind. "Erin's still working tomorrow, right?"

She nodded. "But she's gonna meet us at the place once she gets off at one. And I don't have to go into Spencer's tomorrow until 6, so we'll have plenty of time."

"Time for what?" Boromir asked.
I smirked. "You'll see."

"Oh, don't tell me you three have planned some other mad event for us to do."

I laughed. "I doubt you'll think of it as 'mad.' It doesn't even cost us any money." And a good thing, too.

"Yeah, you guys will like it," Kaia said.

Just then, the loud sound of a cell phone ringing pierced the air, and Kaia pulled hers out of her pocket as her ringtone blared loudly. She glanced at the screen, frowned, then answered it anyway. "What is it, Trent?" A pause. "...Now? Really? I literally just got back from a fucking concert; do you honestly think that now is the best time to – Yes, I know my voice is shot. Thanks for pointing it out, asshole." Another pause. "Well at least I don't sound like fucking Chewbacca after sex if I try to exercise." Boromir and I stifled laughter. "...No, fuck that! I'm not coming!...I can't!" Another moment of silence, and then her face finally fell as she groaned loudly. "Fine. Give me ten minutes." She ended the call and stood up, looking pissed.

"What did he want?" I asked.

"Apparently he thought it would be a good idea to call a fucking band meeting at his place. Right now." She ran a hand through her dark hair and sighed before walking towards the door, grabbing her car keys off of a side table on the way. "I'll be back."

Boromir and I watched as she left the house again. "...She doesn't seem to happy with her band as of late, does she?" he asked.

I watched her walk across the lawn through the window, worried for her. "No. She doesn't."

oOo

Legolas' POV

I turned and stopped in front of the door to the studio, blocking Erin's path. "Are you ready?"

She smiled. "Of course I am! You've only been working on it for a full month now! Now move!" She tried to push me out of the way, but her lack of strength kept her from succeeding.

I laughed a bit. "Are you sure?"

She stopped, giving me a look. "Okay, now you're just messing with me. Come on, Legolas, let me see it!"

I smirked at her one last time before quickly twisting the doorknob behind my back and throwing the door open, letting her walk in. "Here it is!" I followed Erin in as she walked into the room, staring at the massive project I'd been devoting my time to for so long. "I still have to put a signature on it, but it is done." I stepped up beside her so that I could see her expression. "What do you think?"

Erin was silent for the longest time, eyes roaming over the canvas. "Legolas...this is incredible!" The canvas was incredibly large, measuring six feet long and two feet tall. I'd had to make it myself, since we couldn't find any that size in a store. For weeks now I had spent my days sitting in this very room, toiling away at what was now a detailed painting of the northeastern borders of Mirkwood; my home. The Forest River came flowing swiftly out from between massive green-leaved trees, cutting through the land and flowing down towards Esgaroth; the Long Lake. In the distance, the single solitary peak of Erebor rose up out of the ground, piercing the skies above that were just beginning to grow tinted with the colors of a coming sunset.

I smiled, humbled by her reaction. "You are that pleased?"

The look of shock did not fade from her face. "Yes! This is amazing! I could never do something like this! Legolas, you're incredible!" She suddenly leapt forward and wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly and laughing a bit.

I returned the embrace. "Thank you," I said quietly. She let go, and I looked at her sincerely. "Such a compliment is much appreciated from you as my tutor."

As I looked into her eyes, something shifted. The emotion in them changed from shock and happiness to something...softer. She offered me a small smile and nodded. "You're welcome," she replied before quickly turning back to the canvas. However, I did not miss the slight stutter in her voice as she spoke, nor the faint blush that now crept across her cheeks.

"But even still," I said, "I doubt I would ever come close to the level of skill that you have."

She scoffed, the odd tension slowly dissolving. "Oh, please. The crap I do isn't half as amazing as stuff like this. I couldn't paint water to save my life."

"You have before, though," I said, "back when you did a commission for someone last month. You painted the ocean, did you not?"

"I did, but I never said it was any good."

Now it was my turn to scoff. "That painting was fantastic!"

"Yeah, and it was also still water," she retorted. "Not moving rapids. And my ocean still didn't look that great. I gave up after like...three days."

I rolled my eyes in response. "Well, I guess I cannot win this argument, can I?"

She laughed. "Nope. Hey, I'm gonna head downstairs and grab something to eat. Were there leftovers from dinner?"

"I believe so."

"What'd you guys have?"

"Sam and Kathryn made mac and cheese."

"Sweet!" She left the room afterwards, humming a song as she went.

Once she closed the door behind her, I frowned a bit. Erin was an incredible friend, and I cared for her deeply, but I could not help but notice that at times she would act rather...odd. At first I had not realized it as much, but as of late I had been picking up on some of her strange habits...like how she would get 'tongue-tied,' as she called it, every now and again when we would get into deeper, more personal conversations. And how almost whenever we made physical contact, she would blush. Sometimes we would not even touch at all. I would just catch her face reddening after I would compliment her artwork or something out of the corner of my eye. I did not fully understand it, and I wondered why she never seemed to get as flustered around anyone else. There was one theory that was beginning to grow in the back of my mind...but it did not seem likely.

I turned back to my masterpiece and reached over to grab a pen from a nearby desk, quickly bending down to scribble my signature in the bottom corner. I did not dwell on it too much, though. If something was wrong, Erin would be honest and tell me about it. Of that I was certain.

oOo

Kaia's POV

I stared straight ahead as I sat in Trent's recliner. It had taken less time than I expected to get to his small apartment in a building that was deeper into the center of town, so I was a couple minutes early. He was across the room making tea, which he'd demanded I drink once I'd walked in and said hi to him in my shredded-ass voice. It was horribly quiet, and not just because my voice was dying. Our constant arguing hadn't improved at all, and we could hardly have a civil conversation with each other anymore that lasted longer than five minutes. And if I could've had one wish at that moment, I would've wished to be anywhere but sitting on that fucker's beat-up leather couch.

Soon enough, Trent walked over with a mug of hot tea in his hand and held it out to me. "Here." I took it and nodded my thanks before sipping it slowly. The tea burned as it slid down my throat, but I didn't mind it. I just continued to stare forward, watching him out of the corner of my eye.

Trent was an insanely tall guy, standing at six foot four. He spent enough time working out that he had a decent build, though. Not overly lanky or anything. His dark blonde hair was wavy and shaggy and fell down around his face, where rough stubble covered his chin. He had plugs in his earlobes, and a tattoo sleeve on his left arm. He wore slim rectangular black glasses that framed a pair of green-blue eyes, and his voice made him sound pretty intimidating even when he wasn't trying to be. He sat in an armchair off to my left and was hunched forward, staring at his hands while we waited.

The tension was broken a couple minutes later as someone knocked on the door once, then pushed it open, and we both looked up as Jen entered the room. She was about the same height as me, with an hourglass figure and defined curves, but a small chest. Her hair was pin-straight and hung down past her shoulders, currently dyed a deep auburn color that contrasted with the bright green of her eyes. "Hey," she said as she walked over and sat down on the other end of the couch. She had the slightest hint of an English accent, as her father was a Brit born and raised.

"Hey," I croaked back.

She looked at me, eyebrows raised. "Woah there! What happened to you?"

"I just got back from a concert, like...twenty minutes ago," I answered. "Screamed my lungs out, as usual."

"Who'd you see?"

"Breaking Benjamin."

"The hell?" Trent asked. "They were around?"

I nodded and took another drink. "Yeah. Erin and I went out to see them with...some friends."

He scoffed. "Thanks for the invite."

"Sorry, I didn't know we were attached at the hip," I said bitterly. We stared each other down for a second before there was another knock on the door.

"Open!" Trent called.

At his yell, Jeremy walked in, the final member of our band to arrive. He was skinnier than Trent, but also had a small amount of muscle; enough to keep him from looking like a twig. His hair was a light brown, short with choppy side bangs that were streaked with blonde. His eyes were a light blue, and he had piercings in his right eyebrow, lip, and both ears. A black beanie was pulled over his head. He also had a bunch of tattoos that mainly covered his back and collarbone area. "Yo." He walked over to us, but didn't sit, instead choosing to stand by Jen's side. I swear to God those two were pretty much dating, they just wouldn't admit it. "What's the deal?"

"You know what the deal is, Jer," Trent said dryly, then looked at me. "We want you to explain yourself."

"Explain myself? For what?"

"For all the shit you've been doing for oh, I don't know, the whole fucking summer!" he said.

"Be more specific."

"Oh, shut the hell up, Kaia. You know damn well what I'm talking about. Ditching meetings, wanting to reschedule practices all the time, not finishing writing the songs for our EP on time. Never having time for us anymore." Though it was obvious that Trent was pissed off, Jeremy and Jen had somber looks on their faces, and I couldn't read them. I set my jaw as he went on. "I asked you to finish those songs four months ago. Why did it take you so long to get it done?"

I narrowed my eyes in a bitter glare. "I've been working my ass off, Trent, and you and I both know that just can't just pop out songs every other day. It takes time."

"Well you've been taking too much time!" he yelled. "You didn't get them to me until a couple weeks ago!"

I leaned forward a bit. "Maybe if you would've helped me instead of being a huge fuckass and acting like you're running the fucking show, they would've been finished faster. I've been busy! I have a life outside of this band, you know."

There was a pause, and then Jen spoke up. "...Kaia...that's part of the problem. Ever since the beginning of June, you've been 'busy.' Too busy to host meetings at your place, too busy to write songs, too busy to practice the music with us." She was much more gentle about it when she spoke than Trent, but the concern was evident in her voice. "We just want to know what the hell's going on."

I hesitated. I knew I really shouldn't tell them about the Fellowship, but what could I say instead? "...I'm sorry. Work's just been hectic lately, and Erin and Kathryn have been planning all kinds of stuff for us to do when we have time off."

Trent scoffed. "Oh, so you've been conveniently going to concerts every day we want to rehearse?"
"No, but that doesn't mean I haven't been doing other shit."

"And that 'other shit' is just way more important than this, isn't it?" He gestured to the whole group.

"Maybe it is," I snapped. "Maybe it's not. Either way, I don't remember it being any of your fucking business!"

"Kaia, relax," Jeremy said. "It's not a big deal, we just wondered what you've been doing."

"No, Jeremy, it is a big fucking deal!" Trent shouted. "It's a huge-ass deal because our lead singer, who was so damn eager to start this band in the first place, has decided that other stuff is more important than the group." He turned his harsh gaze to to me again. "Don't think you can just pull lies out of your ass and get me to believe it, Kaia. You're not telling us everything, I know it."

I blinked. "Excuse you? I'm telling you all you need to know."

"You're not telling us the whole truth!"

"Maybe you don't nee to fucking know the whole truth!" I shot back. "My personal life isn't something I have to tell you guys about!"

"So is it a trust issue?" Trent asked. "You don't trust us with whatever you've been doing? What, have you been dealing drugs or some shit?"

"Would you just shut the fuck up? Can you not get it through your goddamn thick as hell skull that it's not something you need to know?!"

"But if you can't trust us with just being honest, how can we be expected to trust you?" Jen broke in.

Trent and I went silent at that. All eyes turned to our drummer, who instantly looked like she resented cutting in and saying something. There was a long, tense pause, with all four of us afraid to break it. Even I found myself at a loss for words.

Trent cleared his throat, and I looked back at him. "...You know what? Let's...let's talk about this another time." I frowned. His tone had suddenly changed. It was softer...almost fearful? But why?

Jen still looked ashamed. "I'm sorry, Trent, I-"

"No," he cut her off. "You're fine. Go home, guys. We'll get back to this later." There was another long silence, my eyes never leaving the tall blonde as he leaned on his elbows on his knees, head in his hands. Jeremy slowly got up without a word and headed for the door, and Jen followed soon after. Once the door clicked shut and I was still sitting there, Trent sighed. "Go home, Kaia."

I ignored the command. "Trent...what's wrong?" I knew that he wasn't the kind of guy to open up to others easily, but the fact that he looked visibly shaken after Jen's comment scared me. It was worth a shot.

He still didn't look at me, though. "I said go home."

"No," I replied firmly. "Not until you talk to me."

"What's there to talk about? I don't want to lose this band. You know that."

"Neither do I," I said, "but...you wouldn't. Jen could take my place; you've said it yourself. The band could still keep going." Pause. "...This is about more than losing a band, isn't it?"

He paused as well. "...Well...y-you're the better singer. I mean, I only want the best, you know?" His voice again softened as he finally raised his head to look at me. "...No one ever said I was eager to get rid of you."

Looking at the bassist that had once been a close friend, I was shocked. One look at his eyes told me he'd been trying to to cry...and that was terrifying. Trent never cried. Ever. But I also started to realize what he was getting at, too. "I'll still be around. It's not like I'm gonna leave the country or anything. We'll still talk."

"But what about money?" he asked quietly, staring straight into my eyes. "I know you need it."

I didn't answer right away, but stood up, setting the empty teacup down in my place. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." When Trent didn't respond, I turned and walked towards the door, opening it and stopping just as I stepped out. "...Am I still in the band?" I glanced back towards him, but he was back to staring at the floor.

Another long pause. "...Yeah. For now."

I gave him a curt nod before quickly turning and completely leaving the apartment, exhaling as soon as the door clicked shut. I'd never been more scared from three little words in all my life.