Kendall and the guys were bummed that Gustavo was banning them from their own album launch party, and even worse, they couldn't even throw a party at the Palm Woods since Bitters had already given them two strikes for the previous awesome times they had. Was it really so terrible to hold a hockey game in the lobby? Or have a pool party with an octopus? Apparently, it was.

"We have to throw a party! We're teenagers, if we don't party, we could die." James said, sounding deadly serious.

"Party! Party!" Carlos cheered from behind him, and it looked like even Logan was nodding along.

"We can't party at the Palm Woods." Kendall reminded them all, but he quickly thought of a brilliant plan to work around that minor obstacle. "But, there are no rules saying, we can't have a get-together." Kendall raised his fingers in air quotes.

"Or a social gathering," Logan suggested with a smirk, clearly he was already on the same wavelength that Kendall had.

"Social Gathering! Social Gathering!" James and Carlos both started dancing with excitement.

"James, Carlos, you two transform 2J into a cool club atmosphere, and get some snacks and sodas," Kendall ordered.

"And we keep the guest list short, say three people each?" Logan reminded them, "Which is not a party, but a get-together."

"Get together! Get together!" James and Carlos started dancing again.

"And I am going to go down to the pool right now and invite Jo, 'cause I kind of have a thing for her," Kendall said confidently. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation, he was totally prepared for Operation Party With Jo.

"Woo! You go man!" Carlos congratulated him.

"How are you going to do it?" Logan asked.

"What do you mean? I'm just going to tell her about our get-together, and hopefully, she'll want to get together. We already had a great time at the movies together, and thanks to her, I even know how to do a flying sidekick. Hi-ya!" Kendall gave a quick demonstration of his painfully acquired Judo skills. "Tonight we can really get time to know each other."

"Good luck dude!" Everyone cheered him on as Kendall walked out the door, and he could hear the rest of them discussing who they were going to invite. Kendall shook his head, Logan may have set their limit at three people, but he was going to keep all his focus on only one girl tonight.

Kendall walked out to the pool and scanned the area until he saw the back of a beautiful blonde head. Just like always, whenever he first saw her, he could feel his heart rate speed up, and he was a little nervous but entirely confident that she would say yes to him. So he walked over to her with a confident grin on his face.

"Hey, Jo." Kendall walked up to her, and she quickly set down the script she was reading with a brilliant smile that he adored already.

"Oh, hi Kendall what's up?"

"Not much right now, but we're having a small, gathering/get-together tonight," Kendall said nonchalantly, mostly to keep Bitters from catching the wind.

"You mean a party?" Jo asked.

"Shhh!" Kendall shushed her and glanced around the pool for Bitters, but thankfully he wasn't in earshot. "It's not a party! Um, anyways, I was wondering if you would be my… guest/friend/person thing?"

"You mean your date?" Jo asked him with a giggle.

"That's a term that could also be used." Kendall agreed and nodded his head at her.

"So let me get this straight." Jo stood up from her seat, "You want me to be your guest/friend/person thing at your not party?"

"It's going to be super fun and it starts at seven." Kendall nodded.

"Well, you had me at guest/friend/person thing Kendall. I'll see you then." Jo smiled happily.

"I can't wait." Kendall smiled back, but his happiness was tempered when he turned around to find Mr. Bitters standing right behind him looking suspicious.

"What super fun starts at seven?"

"Marbles," Kendall said confidently while looking back at Jo who was nodding along. "We're going to play marbles. Kendall waved goodbye to Jo one more time and then walked out of the pool, but he could still feel Mr. Bitters' glare hitting the back of his head until he got in the elevator. Only then did he give himself a fist pump to celebrate his success. Now all he had to do was help James and Carlos set up the apartment for tonight, and of course, he already had a plan in place for that too.

Jo pulled out her phone and texted Camille. Jo: Hey, did you hear about the guys' small social gathering/get-together?

Camile: Oh yeah, although Logan could barely get the words out when he asked me to come.

Jo: Do you want to get ready together in my apartment?

Camille: Sure thing, I'll be there at 5:30?

Jo: Sure thing, I'll see you then.

Jo walked back up to her apartment and tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. While she knew enough about Big Time Rush by now to always expect the unexpected, she couldn't lie to herself about how excited she was to spend more time with Kendall and hopefully get to know him better. Their first date to the movies a few weeks ago had been amazing, and Jo was cautiously optimistic that they were just getting started.

A few hours later, Jo answered the knock on her door to let Camille into her apartment, she was already wearing a pretty, dark blue dress.

"Hey Jo, you ready to gather socially?" Camille laughed.

"Oh yeah definitely, but I need your help first." Jo led her through her apartment, and after they both waved hello to her dad sitting on the couch and watching TV, they entered her room and Jo closed the door behind her.

"What do you need help with?" Camile asked.

"I'm not really sure how I want to look tonight. The way Kendall asked me, I think he sees this as a date sort of thing. And our first date was fine because we just kept it casual at a movie theater, but I'm not really sure what this get-together is going to be."

"Oh, I got you." Camille sat down on the foot of Jo's bed and Jo sat beside her. "From what Logan told me their plan is to have fun but keep it on the down low so Bitters doesn't bust them. They are each inviting three people, but also Carlos and James are in charge of setting everything up so I already have a feeling this is going to be more than just hanging around their apartment playing games."

"Wait, they're each inviting three people? Who else do you think Kendall invited?"

"I have no idea, I don't think I've seen him all day." Camille shrugged her shoulders, "I would say I told you so, but the more important thing that you should be thinking about is he asked you, not worrying about if he asked any other pretty girls to come."

"What, I'm not…And what do you mean I told you so?" Jo blushed but tried to act oblivious to what Camille was implying.

Camille smirked, "Little Miss I don't want a boyfriend, my career's more important. Seems to me like you're changing your mind, aren't you?"

"I, ok maybe, I do like Kendall and if this is our second date, I'm excited about it, and that's why I'm worried about how I should look, I mean, what do you want Logan to know with what you're wearing?" Jo gestured at Camille's dress.

"Simple, I'm planning on letting Logan know I want him, and by the end of the night, he'll want me too." Camille smirked, "So Jo, what do you want?"

"You go girl, but that isn't quite what I'm going for, I guess I want to look like I'm ready to have a good time and get to know Kendall better, and hopefully find some things in common with him."

"Well, first off, I can pretty much guarantee Kendall wants the exact same thing as you. I mean, you told me how you kicked his butt and shot him down a hundred times that day he tricked you into revealing that you don't have a boyfriend. Although keep in mind, he is a guy so he's not going to care what you're wearing, but a dress will be sure to keep his attention on you all night."

"OK, if you think so."

"Why do you think I'm wearing this thing? So, show me what you got girl."

"Alright," Jo walked over to her closet and began searching through her hangars, holding up her dresses one by one for Camille to give her opinion.

"Too fancy… too bland… too white, while that would be a good choice to get his attention, knowing the guys you might want to wear something that has a chance to hide stains."

"OK, how about this one?" Jo held up her last dress, it was a spaghetti strap dress, with the skirt falling down just below her knees, but leaving her shoulders exposed. The fabric was relatively simple, and she knew it could get clean, with a multi-colored patchwork pattern if worst came to worse and she somehow ended up a mess.

Camille smiled, "I think we have a winner. It's nice, but also casual. But like I said you could show up in a T-shirt and sweatpants and I'm sure Kendall wouldn't care."

"Alright, I guess I'll go with this one." Jo smiled and she quickly changed into the dress then Jo and Camille helped one another do their make-up, although they both kept things simple and tried to highlight their natural features over wanting to look painted on.

Finally, at about 6:50 both girls were ready to go and they walked back through Jo's apartment, but Jo's dad stopped them before they could leave.

"Why are you two all dressed up? I thought you said it was a get-together, hang-out kind of situation?"

"Oh, it is." Jo said, "But that doesn't mean we can't dress up for the fun of it, right Dad?"

"I suppose, but you're sure it isn't a party? I'm pretty sure Mr. Bitters has a problem with parties. I don't want you to get into any trouble."

"Don't worry Dad, Kendall told me it was just a small get-together, we're just going to hang out and have some fun with our friends."

"Kendall huh? The same guy you went to the movie with a few weeks ago?" Her dad raised an eyebrow and shot her a knowing look.

"Yes, it's Kendall," Jo tried to hide her blush, but she knew she was probably failing. "But we're just friends."

"Right, just remember that curfew's at 10."

"Yes Dad, I promise I won't be a minute late." Jo stepped forward to hug her dad goodbye.

"Alright Jo, be good and have fun." Her dad hugged her back for a moment and then let her go.

"See you later!" Jo waved and she and Camille made their escape before her dad could ask more questions.

"Just friends huh?" Camille smirked at Jo.

"Yes, we are just friends still. Kendall invited me as his guest/friend/person thing, but I'm not opposed to changing that status soon. Hopefully, tonight will be the start of it."

"You and me both sister, you and me both." Camille smiled as they walked down the hall, both of them thinking of certain cute band members awaiting them.

Jo and Camille followed the small crowd of people lined up in front of apartment 2J, neither could help but notice that the crowd seemed to be mostly girls, especially considering how the two of them had been invited tonight, but they were both ready to have fun and let loose tonight.

They walked through the door side by side, and both were a bit surprised at just how big everything was for the supposed small social gathering/get-together but they weren't about to complain.

"Snacks to the left, dance floor straight ahead, and good times all around!" Carlos announced proudly as people entered.

"Hey…where's Logan?" Camille demanded.

James and Carlos both pointed toward the kitchenette and Camille stalked off with a smile on her face.

"And you can find Kendall that way." James and Carlos motioned toward the orange couch in the corner.

"Thank you." Jo smiled at them and quickly caught sight of Kendall standing behind a velvet rope that said VIP Area with a clipboard in his hands. "Wow, VIP Area? Am I on the list?"

"Actually," Kendall glanced down at his clipboard for a moment, "you're the only one on the list." He smiled at her, showing his adorable dimples that Jo thought were the cutest thing. Kendall tossed the clipboard away and then unclipped the velvet rope for her. Jo walked through and he clipped it back up and then invited her to sit on the bean bags, which she did happily.

"So am I a very important person?" Jo asked with a smile.

"To me, you're the most important person in the room." Kendall smiled back. "Do you think I deserve VIP status?"

"I suppose you're the most important person here for me too, other than Camille," Jo replied.

"Ah, I suppose that makes sense, I hope you'll forgive me, but she wasn't on the list." Kendall acted playfully guilty.

"Somehow I think I'll be fine with that."

"This is nice." Kendall said, "Being alone, with you."

"Yeah, it is nice." Jo brushed some of her hair out of her face. "So what made you decide to have this...get together tonight?"

"Well, if you really want to know, Gustavo's throwing an awesome party for Big Time Rush, but Big Time Rush isn't invited, he thinks we'd make a mess and play with our food, how ridiculous is that?"

"Um, Kendall?" Jo pointed over at the dance floor where Carlos was tossing popcorn into his mouth, but missing most of it, James was doing something that might be considered dancing, and Logan for some reason tossed a plate of pizza bagels into the air. "One thing I've learned about you guys already is that Big Time Mess would also be a good name for your band." Jo laughed.

"Ok, point taken but anyway," Kendall turned his head to bring his attention back to Jo, not that that was difficult, with looking so beautiful in her pretty dress, he hoped she thought he looked as good as he thought she did. "That's why we're here, and besides you're here, not at Roque Records so this party is already a million times more awesome than whatever Gustavo's throwing. Besides it's probably lame anyway since it's just going to be Griffin and a bunch of old executives." Kendall chuckled, and Jo laughed along.

"Think Gustavo has a VIP area?"

"Who knows, but no one as important as you, but speaking of, would you like some punch or soda or something before Carlos throws his helmet in the bowl?" Kendall said in a joking manner, but Jo could tell he was most likely serious about that possibility.

"If that's my option then definitely, I'll take some soda." Jo nodded and Kendall walked away for a few moments. Unbeknownst to either of them, both were excited about how well the party seemed to be going so far.

Kendall came back with the cups of soda, as well as a bowl of pretzels and popcorn, and handed one over to Jo and they both stood up to slightly sway to the beat of the music.

"So I think this not date at your not party is going very nicely."

"I agree." Jo smiled and they clinked their glasses together.

"So, do you like hockey?" Kendall asked before taking a sip of his soda.

"I hate hockey," Jo said without any hesitation. Hearing that made Kendall spit out his soda in shock.

"Agh, cough, ack!" Kendall hacked for a few seconds and Jo patted his back in sympathy.

"Are you ok? Did your soda go down the wrong pipe?"

"Ugh, no it's just is there a reason you don't like hockey?" Kendall tried to regain his composure.

"Well for one, I'm from North Carolina, it's not like anyone plays hockey there, I've never even ice-skated or anything, and it just seems so violent, why would you like a sport where it's normal for the players to try to literally kill each other over a game?"

Kendall did his best to stay calm. "Well obviously you should try ice skating at least before you knock it, and hockey isn't all violence, do you have any idea how much skill it takes to keep your balance on the ice when you're moving at like twenty miles an hour with a puck that you're trying to score while the other team's after you? Talk about a big time rush!" Kendall said excitedly, but also holding himself back from lecturing Jo on the greatest sport of all time.

"Sorry, but I'm more of a basketball kind of girl." Jo shrugged her shoulders.

"It's cool, but so is hockey. I really don't think you should knock it until you try it. Maybe I can show you sometime?"

"Maybe." Jo said, "But maybe start with dome hockey." She pointed over at the game sitting in the corner.

"Hey baby steps are still progress, but sure thing anytime you want." Kendall promised, "but tonight is all about me and you."

"Oh really?" Jo raised her eyebrow in question.

"As I said, you're the only VIP."

"Don't forget about yourself Kendall, you're a VIP too."

"OK so I know we both sing though, so what music-?"

As Kendall asked his question the door burst open and at least twenty more kids stormed into the apartment to join the get together, and with this many people in the apartment they began encroaching into the VIP area, making Kendal and Jo drop their empty soda cups and bowls of snacks to the floor.

"Um…I'll be right back, I need to see what's going on," Kendall promised Jo and started worming his way through the crush of bodies that were now packed into the apartment.

Kendall ran over to James and Carlos. "Who invited all these people?" Kendall demanded.

James shrugged, "I don't know, I only invited the three hottest girls in my phone."

"And I couldn't decide so I texted the first three people on my phone, Abigail Aaron, Andrea Adams, and Al Contacts." Carlos handed his phone over to Kendall who quickly scanned the screen.

"This says All Contacts!"

James ripped the phone out of Kendall's hands. "You invited your whole phone?"

And at his words, another 30 people came running into the apartment to join the unfortunately now definitely a party in full swing.

"This is bad! This was supposed to be a small get-together, not a party that gets us kicked out of the Palm Woods! Emergency Party Plan! I'm going to go get my date, who doesn't like hockey-"

Both Carlos and James spit out their drinks in shock and looked at him with flabbergasted expressions.

"I know right? And we're going to go downstairs and keep an eye on Bitters so we don't get our third strike! While you guys, get rid of this party!"

"Right!" James and Carlos agreed, but even Kendall knew telling those two to get rid of a party was going to be a lot harder than telling them to throw one.

Kendall squeezed his way back over to Jo, who thankfully smiled when she saw him. "Do you like watching ice dancing, boba tea, or romantic vampire novels?"

"Um No! No, and let's talk about on our way down to the lobby." Kendall placed one hand on Jo's lower back and started leading her back through the crowd towards the door, but they were stopped by Camille.

"Hey, have you seen Logan?"

"Sure, lots of times." Kendall hurriedly answered and then continued leading Jo out the door.

"Where are we going?" Jo asked him, suspicious at how eager he seemed to want to get her out of there.

"As I'm sure you noticed on our door, we've already got two strikes, and Carlos invited his entire phone, so we need to stop Bitters before he finds out our get-together is now a party, and we get kicked out!"

"Ooh." Jo grimaced, "So by chance do you like ballet, fine arts or Scandinavian cheese?"

"I like slam dancing, long darts, and cheese puffs." Kendall declared excitedly, but they were both grimacing more, surely they could find more things in common, right?

"This date isn't going well, is it?"

Just then the elevator doors opened up to reveal Mr. Bitters dressed to hunt down and bust a party.

"And it just got worse." Kendall threw his hands up in the air and glanced at Jo in exasperation.

Mr. Bitters jumped forward and scanned them with some kind of microphone, or likely his party detector, and then without a word started running down the hallway, straight towards 2J.

"You said you had two strikes on your door?"

"We're dead." Kendall hung his head, he didn't have time to come up with an idea before Bitter's got to their apartment.

"OK, let's do this." Jo smiled deviously at him, which was a smile he instantly wanted to see as much as possible. Jo then turned and yelled down the hallway. "Sure Kendall, I'd love to go to that Party on the FOURTH FLOOR!" Jo then grabbed his hand and pulled him into the elevator, the door closing behind them right as Bitters ran back to them.

"Impressive Jo."

"What can I say, I'm a great actress."

"You certainly are." Kendall smiled and squeezed her hand without thinking, the action making them both blush and smile awkwardly, so Kendall let go, "I better warn the guys." He pulled out his phone and dialed. "James! Mr. Bitters is roaming the halls NOW looking for our party! Did you get everyone out of the apartment?"

"We're working on it!" James yelled into his phone, but Kendall could barely hear him over the music playing in the background.

"Are you on the dance floor?" Kendall demanded.

"Um…I can't here you! We're dancing into a tunnel!" And then silence. Kendall dropped his phone from his ear and stared at the screen in shock.

"He hung up?" Jo asked.

"Yep. OK let's head back up, Bitters should still be looking around the fourth floor, so we'll have to kill the party ourselves."

"Right, got it." Jo nodded and they both started running through the halls.

Kendall got to their door and shouted as he entered the room. "OK everybody out! PARTY's O-ver..." Kendall looked around the empty, still trashed, but empty apartment. "Wow, I can't believe the Hollywood Super Party Kings of Hollywood actually got rid of the party." He was honestly impressed with his boys for doing the right thing.

"Yeah, I can't believe it either." Jo agreed.

"Now to just turn off this music." Kendall walked over to the stereo that was still playing on a low hum, while Jo walked over to the window and glanced outside through the blinds for a moment.

"Uh, Kendall, you might want to see this," Jo said, as she stared through the blinds, Kendall was confused at why he could still hear the music, but he soon realized he had spoken too soon.

James, Carlos, and everyone else had left the apartment, but now they were all partying down by the pool instead, where Mr. Bitters would be able to see or hear them from almost any room in the building.

Kendall slapped his forehead in exasperation. "Ugh, I hate my friends."

"Well come on, we better get down there." Jo started running out the door.

"Really, why? Does it matter at this point?"

"I don't know but I don't want you to get kicked out of the Palm Woods." Jo smiled at him.

"As long as we're in agreement then." Kendall smiled back at her and they both ran down the halls and to the elevator as fast as possible.

"Guys, I told you to get rid of everybody!" Kendall yelled at James and Carlos when they got down to the pool.

"No, you told us to get everyone out of the apartment, and we did! Woo Woo!" James cheered.

OK, Kendall had enough, he looked around at the party, they had lost, and they were most certainly dead once Mr. Bitters eventually crashes the party. "Jo?"

"Um…we could enjoy the time we have left?" She said and halfheartedly started dancing.

On the other side of the pool, Camile and Mercedes tossed Logan into the pool. "Well, Logan's in the pool, Carlos and James think they're the kings of Partyland-!"

"And Bitters is not going to stop until he finds a party to bust!" Jo finished for him.

Kendall thought the situation over for a minute. "Ohh Emergency Party Plan! Then we should give him a party to bust!"

"I like the way you're thinking. Let's do it!" Jo smiled deviously at him once again and Kendall felt his heart race even faster. She then grabbed a few party whistles while Kendall stole the boombox playing music and then they ran back into the Palm Woods together. He was even more surprised she seemed to already know his plan without even saying anything.

They stopped in the stairwell and Kendall turned the music up while Jo started dancing around blowing her whistles as loud as possible, when they heard the door open on the fourth floor they ran back into the hallways towards their trap.

As they ran, Kendall couldn't help but laugh to himself and Jo, "You know we're going to laugh about this someday."

"Or we could laugh about it now!" Jo grinned back at him with a sparkle in her eye and then they kept running. "PARTY! Over Here!"

Then after Bitters trapped himself in Gustavo's Super Party Fun Box, Kendall quickly ran over to make sure it was locked up tight.

"So, what do we do now?" Jo asked as they both caught their breath, but they were wearing matching smiles on their faces.

"Now…We party!" Kendall cheered and they shared a high five and then ran back out to the pool, and this time, Jo grabbed Kendall's hand so they could run together. When they made it back to the party, they were both ready to let off some steam and join the dance floor, together.

"So, it turns out we do have things in common. Kendall pointed out happily, "Tricking building managers, dancing, and hockey!"

"Yes, yes, and still no." Jo corrected him.

They froze and looked into each other's eyes for a moment of slight awkwardness before they went back to dancing. Seems like Operation Party With Jo was a success even if it had a lot of unexpected hurdles thanks to James and Carlos, but now he definitely had a new mission. Operation Make Jo Love Hockey, in addition to continuing his Operation Be Jo's Boyfriend. But Kendall was confident he could still be very successful at both.

They danced the entire night together, other than for a few minutes when Gustavo and everyone else demanded they perform Famous, but other than that, they didn't leave each other's side, and while they still couldn't agree on hockey, they were able to find plenty of other things they had in common.

At one point Jo glanced down at her phone to check the time, and her heart fell. "Kendall!" She had to shout over the music and the crowd.

"What?"

"It's my curfew, I have to go back to my apartment!"

"Oh, ok, let me walk you to your apartment." Kendall stepped closer to her, so he didn't have to shout.

"I'm sorry I have to go."

"Hey it's cool, as much as I want you to stay, I do understand that we can't get away with breaking every rule, just the lame ones."

They walked back through the halls together, and both were quiet, they weren't sure how they wanted the night to end, but this certainly put a damper on it.

"Hey, after you drop me off, I want you to go back out there and keep having fun." Jo told him, "Even though I'll be stuck in my room still hearing the music outside, you can still have plenty of fun."

"I promise I'll try, but you were like 90% of the reason I went along with this, and even though it didn't go according to plan, I really enjoyed tonight. I just wish we had more time."

"Yeah, I do too, but trust me, I want to do this again Kendall and it will be much easier if my dad doesn't hate you for being late."

"Yeah, I understand…Oh, wait a second. I know a way we can keep the party going all night long."

"I'm listening, but I need to get back to my apartment."

"I know, is your balcony off your bedroom?"

"It is." Jo nodded.

"Then simple fix, I drop you off on time to keep your dad happy and then you tell him you're going to bed, but then you can head out to your balcony and we can keep dancing the night away."

"You know I think that will work. But how are you going to get up there?"

"Leave that to me." Kendall smiled cryptically at her, she could already see the gears turning in his head.

"OK, let's do this." Jo agreed with a smile, "And we're here."

Jo opened the door and stepped inside. She could see her dad sitting on the couch and turning his head to see her.

"Goodnight Kendall, thank you for a great night tonight."

"Right, back at you Jo. I know you're tired so I'll let you get some sleep, and I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely, goodnight Kendall," Jo stepped forward to give Kendall a quick hug, well aware of her dad watching their every move, but she didn't care.

"Goodnight Jo," Kendall said once more, and then Jo closed the door.

"So, how was the get-together?" Dad asked her, he shot a knowing glance at the window, "That seems like more than a small get-together, I'm surprised Mr. Bitters hasn't shut it down."

"Oh that's not Kendall's get-together, Roque Records is throwing that huge party out there, but Kendall and I had a great time." Jo insisted, technically everything she said was true.

"It sure seems like it. So what did you do?"

"Oh just got to get to know each other better, kept the gathering exciting, but anyway, I'm going to head to bed, Dad. I'm pretty tired, goodnight."

"Goodnight sweetheart, although good luck sleeping with that racket outside."

"Don't worry I think I'll be fine." Jo smiled softly to herself and then walked into her room. After closing the door behind her, she ran out onto her balcony, and just like a scene from a movie Kendall was already standing there.

"How'd you get up here so fast?" Jo ran over to him and wrapped him in a hug once again.

"Thanks to Sergei and Natalia." Kendall grinned, and then he waved to the ground. "Thanks, guys!"

"Opa!" The two Russian acrobats waved back at him.

"So, you ready to keep dancing the night away?" Jo asked him.

"Yep, and before I forget." Kendall reached down to the ground near his foot and picked up a small sign that read VIP Area, and stuck it to the edge of her balcony. "You're still the only one on the list."

"You're the only one on mine too." Jo smiled back at him. "So let's dance!"