Jo and Camille walked over to the guys of Big Time Rush who were all sitting out by the pool. Earlier this morning when Kendall had texted Jo, he was super excited that not only was their album about to be released, but they were also two weeks away from their first tour. But now, none of them were looking so hot.
"Are you sure you guys are going to make it the next two weeks till your concert?" Jo asked as she and Camille handed them all bottles of water. All four of them were soaked in sweat and looked completely bruised and battered, in particular, she was concerned about why Kendall needed a sling on his arm.
In response, all four guys started dumping the ice-cold waters over their heads and gasped aloud at the coldness.
"Yep!" Kendall declared confidently, "and it's going to rock!"
"And you and all our friends at the Palm Woods are invited to our dress rehearsal," Logan announced and tossed his handful of backstage passes to Camille.
"Cool, we're VIPs." Camille nodded appreciatively.
"Yep, someday we'll be able to say we knew them when." Jo smiled at Kendall and he smiled back at her.
"Hey, someday is today!" James corrected her and stood up with pride filling his every step, "I've been dreaming of this for so long, and now it's finally happening!" James declared proudly moments before the random fan from before latched onto his back and made his start stumbling his way around the pool to try to shake her off.
"Um…what is that?" Camille asked.
"Don't worry it's part of our training," Carlos reassured her. "You should have seen the death grip she had on Kendall earlier."
"Dude!" Kendall slapped Carlos' shoulder in annoyance.
"What was that?" Jo asked with raise of her eyebrow.
"Long story short, Gustavo's training, but I promise I tried to get her off me as soon as possible." Kendall stood up and hugged her tightly, "You know you're the only girl I want to have her arms around me."
"Don't worry, I forgive you." Jo leaned closer to him for a moment, but then leaned away, "But no offense I think you need a shower. But if you need help with your training later…just let me know."
"I might just take you up on that, although it may not work, I'd never want to avoid my girlfriend's hugs."
"Well whatever you need to survive the next two weeks intact, just let me know."
"I will Jo. But I'll take your advice and see you later?"
"Yep, see you Kendall." Jo smiled after Kendall and the rest of the guys after they managed to pull the crazy fan girl off James' back and then sprint to the elevator before she latched on to someone else.
"How much do you want to bet Gustavo kills them before their concert?" Camille joked.
"They made it this far, and we know all their singing and dancing is great, they'll be fine. Besides if Gustavo kills them, he'll have to answer to us."
"You've got that right," Camille smirked.
A few days later and they had finally made it to their rehearsal concert. They had managed to survive Gustavo's concert training after all, and they were ready to perform for Griffin and all their friends. The guys were all backstage as they finished getting ready when there was a knock on their dressing room door.
Kendall opened the door and was surprised when two glittering clouds of confetti flew in his face.
Kendall shook his head and brushed the confetti off with a smile when he noticed Jo and Camille standing outside the door with Freight Train behind them.
"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Kendall asked, and the other three guys were quick to join him in the doorway.
"We wanted to wish you guys good luck before your first concert," Jo replied.
"Especially since you're still alive," Camille added.
"You're telling me, I'm pretty sure I've run more in the past week than my entire life put together," Carlos said.
"But this morning Gustavo, Kelly, and Mr. X all agreed were ready," Logan said.
"And Jo, you'll be happy to know that all four of us are now experts at avoiding crazy fangirls. None of us has been jumped on in the past three days." Kendall announced proudly.
"You're right, I am glad." Jo laughed.
"So why's Freight Train with you guys?" James asked.
"He's here to make sure after we leave we can make it to our front-row spots. We don't want anything to get between us and you guys." Camille laughed, but stared at Logan for a long moment.
"So keep your eyes open for us," Jo added.
"Oh you know we all will," Kendall promised.
"OK we know you're all going to do great, and we can't wait to congratulate you after the show." Jo stepped forward to give Kendall a quick hug in farewell, while at the same time, Camille stepped forward to give Logan a quick peck on the cheek.
"So ladies, do we get anything?" James asked jokingly, motioning to himself and Carlos.
"Sure thing." Jo smiled. "Freight Train?"
With a grin, Freight Train stepped forward and easily picked both James and Carlos up in a slightly bone-crushing bearhug. "Good luck guys I know you're going to rock it."
Freight Train and the girls then walked away and let the guys return to their dressing room.
"Well, that was something." James pouted slightly.
"Yeah, it was something." Kendall agreed smiling wider and sharing a fist bump with Logan. "Alright guys, this is it, the state championship game, who's ready to be famous?"
"WE ARE!" They all cheered and then ran out of the dressing room, ready to leave their all on stage.
"No! This can't be happening!" James shouted in despair after Griffin left their practice concert. Gustavo and Kelly following behind him, shouting at Griffin and demanding he change his mind.
Kendall though just felt…he didn't know what to think. They were so close, but now he felt like the world had been pulled out from beneath him, he glanced at his best friends, but all of them were as stunned into silence as he felt.
He felt two familiar arms snake around him from the side and he managed to smile seeing Jo's look of outrage she was glaring into the back of Griffin's head, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, grateful for the comfort she was trying to give him.
"I can't believe him," Jo whispered angrily.
"Unfortunately I think I can. And after all this time, we're going to end up with fruit baskets. Nice." Kendall sighed.
"You can think of something, right Kendall?"
"I honestly don't know Jo. I know I've told you before about all of Griffin's "fantastic ideas" that Gustavo and I have to somehow make work just to keep him happy. I don't know how we can fix this." Kendall saw Katie paging through the giant binder Gustavo had tossed to the ground. "Can you find anything Baby Sister?"
"Well from what I can see, assuming all this information is correct, Big Time Rush is a high-risk investment but also has a chance of massive profits if you are a hit. I don't know what idiot who's never heard you sing would think that you wouldn't be. And Griffin's audiobook plan is less risky because producing audiobooks is dirt cheap compared to you guys but won't generate as many profits, but is more guaranteed to be a profit."
"Is there some angle we can exploit?" Logan asked hopefully.
"I doubt it, like Griffin said, this is a purely business decision and the math doesn't lie. I guess Griffin is choosing to play it safe instead of taking a risk to be big-time. Unlike me, I dumped my entire life savings into merch." Katie grumbled.
"This sucks! There has to be something we can do! Kendall, you're our plan guy! You have to have something!"
"Carlos, as much as I wish it wasn't like this, I don't have any ideas, and while we could argue against a lot of things, it's obvious we can't argue against math."
"He's got that right." Logan sighed.
"So…we have to leave L.A?" James asked, "but there's so much I haven't done yet, I haven't become a model, an actor, a celebrity endorser for Cuda, and not even a pop star!"
Leave…L.A. Kendall realized and then he glanced down at Jo standing beside him, she was looking up at him, and Kendall knew they were thinking the exact same thing.
"Dogs!" Gustavo and Kelly came back and Gustavo looked angrier than Kendall had ever seen him before. "Alright everyone else leave! Head back to the Palm Woods! Now!" Gustavo shouted and everyone else was quick to scramble away. Until only the guys, Ms. Knight, Katie, Jo, and Camille were still standing there.
Gustavo took off his glasses and folded them up in his pocket with a sigh. "OK look, I couldn't convince Griffin to change his mind. I'm sorry and I honestly don't know what else to tell you. Honestly, even though you four dogs drive me insane with your backtalk, and your stupid shenanigans, and schemes…you four are one of the best bands I have ever worked with. I have no idea what Griffin is thinking because I know after our first concert next week you four would have been at the top of the world and making Griffin money hand over fist."
"I'm sorry…Griffin already has your plane tickets booked, you're headed back home to Minnesota tomorrow." Kelly revealed.
"TOMORROW!?" Everyone shouted.
"I know, it stinks worse than that stupid skunk, but a box and some string aren't going to fix this mess. So…Dogs, I'm sorry but it looks like this is goodbye."
"Gustavo, please."
"I'm sorry James, trust me if I could I'd send Freight Train to persuade Griffin but I know that won't work. I promise I won't forget any of you."
"Gustavo..." The four guys walked forward to wrap Gustavo and Kelly up in a tight group hug.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help you reach your dreams. But I know you can make new dreams in Minnesota."
Kendall thought that over, he had always said he would happily get back on the ice and return to his old dream of hockey greatness, but when he let go of Gustavo and turned back around to see Jo and Camille looking forlornly at the ground. He suddenly knew stardom wasn't the only dream he had to give up now.
With nothing else to do, everyone remaining hopped into the back of their limo to drive back to the Palmwoods.
The entire car ride was dead silent, as everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Kendall was of course sitting next to Jo, their hands entwined, her thumb circling over his hand in a comforting gesture, but his brain felt like a mess of two different thoughts, all his dreams of popstar success were gone…and this could be the last 24 hours he had with Jo.
When they returned to the Palm Woods, Carlos James, Katie, and Mom went straight to the apartment, while Logan walked Camille to her door first, and Kendall did the same with Jo.
"Hey, what are you thinking?" Jo asked him when they stopped outside her door.
"Just everything…losing Big Time Rush, a dream I never knew I had until six months ago, and now it's gone…but also…" Kendall got choked up, looking down into her eyes.
"I know…" Jo nodded and hugged him tightly. "I don't know what I'm going to do when you're gone."
"Minnesota will never be the same. I've gotten used to sunny California, and seeing you every day."
"I have too. To be honest, I was a little worried about how we would work with you on tour, but I never doubted that we wouldn't, but now…you're leaving and not coming back."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, it's all Griffin's fault. I mean I don't even know if I've heard all your songs or seen all your videos, but he has right? How can he not know you're going to be a hit?" Jo shouted, angry tears threatening to spill over in her eyes.
"That's the million-dollar question. I don't want to say…"
"Then don't. Not yet. Save it for tomorrow until you leave. So we can have one more moment together."
"Yeah…together." Kendall sighed. "Goodnight Jo."
"Good night Kendall." They held each other close in a hug once more and then Jo entered her apartment, leaving Kendall feeling even more hopeless without her with him.
Kendall woke up the next morning, and he was happy for a moment, as he glanced around his and Logan's shared bedroom. He sat up and stretched his arms above his head, but as he did so, his arm hit a tower of boxes and they tumbled to the floor, opening up to reveal their contents of Big Time Rush t-shirts Katie had ordered.
And then everything from last night came rushing back at him. The concert had been amazing, Jo had wished him good luck beforehand and was standing right in front of the crowd smiling and cheering him and his friends on the entire time. Everything had been so perfect, everything, even Gustavo's grueling training regimen had seemed like it was completely worth it.
And then Griffin dropped the bomb. Big Time Rush was dead because of some business mumbo jumbo about profit margins. Their dream was over, and it was time to go back to Minnesota. Probably for good.
Kendall just felt numb. At times he may have said he only did this for his friends, and while this was the adventure of a lifetime, they had come so far, he couldn't understand why they had to throw it all away just because some accountant somewhere said they weren't worth it. Had they ever let Griffin down? No matter what insane idea, or crazy deadline he came up with, they had always made it work in the end, no matter what.
Kendall laid back down on his bed and groaned. Kendall Knight never gave up, but last night Griffin refused to budge at all. No one, not even Gustavo and Kelly could convince him.
Kendall turned his head to the side, and like always his eyes were drawn to the picture frame sitting on his bedside table. It was a photo of him and Jo from the school dance a few weeks ago. And he was reminded of the other dream he had to give up. Last night on the ride back home, he had tried to scheme together to think of some way they could change Griffin's mind, but he couldn't come up with anything.
No. Jo was…everything to him already, she always had his back. Kendall wasn't entirely sure he would have made it through this week without her, and now he had to leave her…he had to say goodbye. To think he hadn't even thought about that situation when he was about to go on tour for months …but now that he had to leave, and most likely wouldn't be coming back…the last thing Kendall wanted to do was say goodbye.
Kendall had enough thinking for the moment, so he chose to get up instead. He carefully crept his way through the maze of merch boxes to the bathroom to freshen up. He was dismayed to see Mom already awake in the kitchen packing up all their stuff. Griffin was moving fast, they only found out about everything last night, but they only had a few hours until they were going back home…
Home, Kendall thought Minnesota would always be his home, and it still was, but now…They may have only been here for six months, but their audition with Gustavo felt like a lifetime ago.
"Oh hey sweetie, how are you doing?" Mom asked him, and reading his downcast expression stepped closer to him to wrap him tightly in a hug, and Kendall buried his face in her shoulder.
"Just…lost, this whole time, we thought we were finally going to make it big time, but now…it all feels like a waste."
"No sweetie, it's not a waste. You four have already accomplished so much. I have no idea what Griffin is thinking, I don't know how anyone who's heard your music can possibly think you're not worth the risk. And Kendall even beyond your music this hasn't been a complete waste."
"What do you mean Mom?" Kendall raised his head to meet her eyes.
"Think about everything you've done, You sang a duet with Jordin Sparks, you've made music videos, you've thrown some awesome dances and parties."
"What? What party?" Kendall managed to smile bashfully.
"I still don't know how you got away with it with Mr. Bitters, and I don't want to know, but I know. And most importantly for you…you met Jo, and I know you'd never call her a waste."
"Of course I wouldn't, she's…she's…but now I have to go. All because of stupid Griffin. I don't even want to think about leaving her, but I have to. But I really don't know how to say goodbye."
"Kendall sweetie, I don't have any easy answers for you, but I will say follow your heart, and I know you will find a way to make that work, even though your dreams of fame aren't that doesn't mean all your dreams are over."
"Thanks Mom." Kendall hugged her tighter for one more long moment. "I'm going to go get ready and probably start packing."
A few hours later everything was all packed up, but there was one more thing both Logan and Kendall needed to do. So with their duffle bags slung over their shoulders, they made their way down to the pool for the last time, where Jo and Camille were both waiting for them.
As Kendall walked closer to them, to her, his heart and feet felt like they were made of stone dragging him down.
"I know this town crushes dreams, but not when they're so close to coming true," Camille said forlornly.
"I'm really going to miss all this…" Kendall glanced around the pool one last time, before this gaze rested on Jo's beautiful face, for all he knew, it could be for the last time. "And I'm also going to miss…" Kendall started getting choked up, he knew what he had to say, but he couldn't get the words out, and admit to both himself and her that this was really happening. "I mean…you know…uh I'm not good at goodbyes." Kendall finally gave up with a sigh.
Jo, who had been looking expectantly at him, nodded her head in understanding and smiled. "Well then," she said, if one paid attention they could just barely hear the quiver in her voice beneath her calm façade. "Here's something to remember me by."
Jo took a step closer to Kendall and then grabbed his shirt to pull her close to her. Kendall dropped his duffle bag to the ground in surprise as she stretched her neck up slightly to capture his lips with her own, and after a moment, Kendall's hands circled instinctively around her waist.
They both closed their eyes and got lost in one another, savoring the taste and feel of one another's lips that felt like heaven to both of them. Sparks were flying and they never wanted to let go. They were deaf and blind to everything else surrounding them.
The past few weeks, both had secretly been dreaming of what their first kiss would be like, and it was better than either could have ever imagined as both poured all their emotions into the other. Neither wanted to let go, they didn't even notice as Camille slapped Logan in the face, but then gave him her own, just as passionate goodbye.
They finally separated, and both felt like it was way too soon. Kendall looked down into Jo's beautiful, brown eyes. "I never thought our first kiss would be our last."
Jo looked up at him, and now she was the one choked up, and she could finally feel the tears gathering in her own eyes. All she could think about was how she didn't want Kendall to go.
"I…I then we won't let it be." Jo choked out, her voice cracking with emotion. "It won't be our last kiss. Promise?"
"I promise." Kendall agreed.
"We can make this work right? I mean if you were going on tour, we would have been long-distance anyway. I know you have to leave, but it's not going to be forever."
"No its not. I will see you again Jo, I don't care if I have to join the L.A. Kings hockey team, I will make it back here to you. I promise."
"And I will wait for you, however long it takes. I'll even come to Minnesota and you can show me all the ice and snow."
"Oh trust me, if you haven't lived through a Minnesota winter, you haven't lived." Kendall managed to smile. "I just can't believe we're really going back to Minnesota." Kendall sighed.
"Boys! Come on, we have to get to the airport!" Ms. Knight called out from the lobby, she was loaded down with bags and suitcases while Katie was pushing a cart full of merchandise behind her.
Kendall looked down at Jo one more time. "I promise Jo, this won't be our last kiss. And we are going to make our someday, someday." Kendall leaned down to kiss her one more time, but despite both of their desires, they kept this one brief, and then both had to literally force themselves to separate and not run back into each other's arms.
"Goodbye, Kendall."
"Goodbye, Jo." Kendall waved sadly, picked up his bag, and walked out through the lobby. It was only once he was in the limo with everyone else that he finally let his tears start to fall.
Once Kendall and Logan were out of sight, Camille stepped closer to Jo and hugged her around her shoulders. And at her touch, Jo felt the floodgates break and tears started trailing down her cheeks.
"I know Jo." Camille did her best to comfort her, "Come on, let's get a smoothie, that will cheer you up."
"No, it won't." Jo sighed, "Kendall loves smoothies. And I…"
"I know you two will make this work, both of you are way too stubborn to ever admit defeat."
A few days later, to everyone's surprise, Gustavo showed up in Minnesota with a plan in place to bring Big Time Rush back, and while it had a lot of risks, it was their only chance and all of them were willing to take it.
"But before we do anything, we need to find James and get rehearsals started up again." Gustavo was saying after he moved them all into the nearly empty Roque Records.
"Got it." Kendall snapped his fingers. "I'll head straight to the Palm Woods so I can see Jo." Kendall then sprinted out of Rocque Records before anyone could stop him. And he didn't even care that they no longer had a limo to the Palm Woods, he kept on running, after all of Gustavo's training last week running to the Palm Woods was nothing, especially when every step brought him closer to Jo.
Jo and Camille were sitting out by the pool, but neither could deny how depressing the Palm Woods was now since the guys left. Even Mr. Bitters seemed bored without any broken rules to bust or trying to compete with Katie.
For Jo and Camille though, they were missing the guys for a completely different reason. She and Kendall had still been texting and calling each other the last few days, but for some reason, Kendall hadn't answered her since yesterday.
"Hey, what's everyone so down about?" Kendall, Logan, and Carlos walked over to them, and Jo couldn't believe her eyes.
"Kendall!" Jo ran over to him and hugged him tightly, she had a feeling of immense comfort and relief when she felt Kendall's arms wrap around her, and her arms circled around him.
"Logan!" Camille shouted and nearly tackled him in a hug, but he managed to keep his footing.
"Lightning!" Carlos' hands were full with Lightning jumping into his arms. "OK guys, after the concert, I need to get a girlfriend."
"What? The concert's back on?" Jo asked.
"Yes, as soon as we find James," Logan said.
"Yeah, he's living here, in your old apartment," Camille said.
"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Jo turned to her.
"Because I ran into him and asked him where everyone else was, and he said he was a solo act now, and I didn't want to get your hopes up the rest of them would be back, just like mine were crushed. Plus I may have slapped him when he told me that."
"OK, we need to go get James then!" Kendall declared, "But can we catch up later?"
"Absolutely." Jo nodded and they gave each other one more hug. "Don't you dare leave without telling me."
"I would never. See you later Jo! Guys let's go!" Kendall squeezed Jo's hand tightly for one more moment and then he led Carlos and Logan running back into the lobby.
Jo sighed, but this time in happiness once more, that not only was Kendall back, but also Big Time Rush still had a chance.
"I'm sorry for not telling you about James."
"It's ok, you're right that knowing he was here and Kendall wasn't would have only made it worse for me. I really hope this works. I don't care if they do go on tour, as long as they come back at the end of it."
"Hey don't worry, you heard Logan, they have a plan. And when has a plan of theirs ever gone wrong?"
"Did you seriously just ask that question?" Jo teased her.
"Ok…but their plans always work in the end."
Thankfully Kendall, Logan, and Carlos were able to convince James to return to Rocque Records to bring back Big Time Rush. So after a quick rehearsal, that after all of Gustavo's training last week wasn't even that necessary, the guys headed back to the Palm Woods to recruit all their friends to help spread the word about their upcoming concert, while Gustavo and Kelly went looking for some big time investors who weren't Griffin.
"Come on Jo. This looks like a good spot." Kendall said, setting down the box full of posters he was carrying. Everyone was split up all over the city to cover as much ground as possible, but there was one person Kendall was for sure never splitting up from ever again if had his say.
"You got it, Kendall." Jo set down her own box and both started hanging up posters, covering nearly every inch of free advertising space they could find, Kendall sticking up the BTR posters from Katie, and Jo then slapping the new concert info on top of it.
"So I know we talked every night but did we miss anything crazy while we were back in Minnesota?"
"Well thankfully you've only been gone a week, so it's not like the Palm Woods was going to collapse, but honestly this was the most boring week ever. No wild parties, nothing broken in the lobby, I'm pretty sure even Bitters was bored. I think you guys took all the crazy with you."
"Alright, that's a fair point. But was it good being back in Minnesota? A little bit," Kendall admitted, "I told you about my chance to play on the University of Minnesota All-Star Team right? Being on the ice again felt amazing and was a really good distraction from everything until Gustavo showed up again."
"Did he really sell everything for you guys?"
"Yep, Rocque Records is completely empty," Kendall said, slapping another poster up. "And he even sold his mansion, so unfortunately he's our roommate again, but if this works, I wouldn't even care if he moved into the Crib with us again when all this is over."
"Well, I know it will work, as long as we and everyone else do our jobs right and get people to your concert, because once they're there only an idiot like Griffin would say no to Big Time Rush."
"I hope you're right." Kendall sighed, "But hopefully the investors Gustavo's schmoozing right now aren't as insane as Griffin so we have no more amazing ideas we're forced into."
"Like what?" Jo asked as they grabbed their boxes to move down the street.
"Well, he wanted one of us to be a bad boy, but when none of us would do it, he recruited a guy named WayneWayne to replace one of us, who of course was a giant turd, so I had to beat WayneWayne in a Bad Boy Off."
"A bad boy off? When did this happen?" Jo turned her full attention to Kendall with a smile.
"Umm…I think like a week before you moved in?"
"So what did Bad Boy Kendall do to win?" Jo smiled at him.
"Are you sure you want to know? I thought you hate bad boys?"
"Oh I do, but maybe you can change my mind." Jo smiled at him.
"Just like hockey?" Kendall smiled hopefully at her.
"Yeah, not there yet, I love that you love it, but I don't still don't like it."
"Whatever, that's cool." Kendall shrugged his shoulders in disappointment, "Basically we both tried to destroy as much of Roque Records as possible since you know bad boys break stuff, but this was actually Gustavo's plan the whole time. But it finally ended when I trashed Gustavo's office, so with no other choice, WayneWayne kicked Griffin where no guy wants to be kicked."
"Ouch. What did Griffin do?" Jo burst out loud in laughter at the image Kendall conjured in her head.
"Well, his voice went up a few octaves, and then he fired WayneWayne like that." Kendall snapped his fingers. "Griffin declared me the winner, and I declared that was the end of my bad boy days, or any bad boy in Big Time Rush."
"Good," Jo nudged his shoulder, "I know you're a devious schemer, but it's always for the right reasons."
"Thank you, Milady." Kendall smiled back at her. "OK, I think this looks like another good place."
Kendall grabbed some more posters out of his box and started hanging them up. A few minutes later they were done again, but Kendall was staring up at the wall in front of them, deep in thought.
"What's up, Kendall?" Jo asked.
"You know, I'm thinking wouldn't it be better if we had some posters higher up above the first row too? That way people driving by or walking on the other side of the street can see it."
"And how do you suppose we do that? It's not like we brought a ladder."
Kendall thought pensively for a few moments more and then grinned at her. "Easy, we work together, you get on my shoulders, and you put up the posters."
"Alright," Jo shrugged her shoulders, "just remember if you drop me, I'll forgive you, but you can forget about the tour cause my dad will kill you."
"I thought your dad liked me?"
"He does, but you know how parents are, especially him with me out here far from home."
"Well don't worry, I would sooner throw away Carlos' helmet, Logan's favorite book, and James' lucky comb than drop you."
"Don't worry, I'm just teasing you. Let's do it."
Kendall kneeled down and let Jo climb up on his shoulders, and then stood up slowly, him holding onto her legs, and her lightly holding his head to keep her balance.
"You good Jo?"
"All good Kendall, hand me the posters."
Kendall reached down into their boxes and started handing Jo the posters one by one until the wall was now completely covered.
"Looks good Jo, ready to move on?" Kendall asked, grabbing both boxes in his hands and starting to walk down the street.
"Yeah. Wait a minute aren't you going to let me down?"
"Hmm, Nope." Kendall grinned and picked up the pace a little bit.
"Kendall!" Jo shouted with laughter and she grabbed onto his head again to help keep her balance. "If this is how it's going to be you owe me dinner after this!"
"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea!" Kendall called up, but he didn't change his pace at all, he knew he wouldn't drop Jo or fall over, and if she wanted dinner tonight, that was just an excuse to spend even more time with her, which he would never get enough of.
The next day at the concert Camille and Jo were waiting with everyone else for Big Time Rush to hit the stage, and they were both pumped up, even though Gustavo stopped them from going backstage to see the guys beforehand but did promise they could spend all the time they wanted with the guys after the concert.
The sold-out crowd was cheering aloud in anticipation, and when Jo glanced back, she could see all the investors in Gustavo's VIP area looked equally excited, even if they weren't cheering on their feet yet. But Jo was hopeful it was only a matter of time.
Then finally the curtain started raising up and the cheering got even louder, BIG TIME RUSH! BIG TIME RUSH! BIG TIME RUSH! But then quickly fizzled out when all their backup players were on stage, but no music was playing, and none of the guys were on stage.
"Where are they?" Camille asked her.
"I don't know," Jo replied, after a few more seconds of waiting she took out her phone. "Kendall hasn't texted me anything since I told him to break a leg about 2 hours ago."
Camille pulled her phone out too. "Logan hasn't answered me either. Do you think something's wrong?"
"What could they have possibly gotten into now? I figured between the four of them and Gustavo, and something so important they've had to have planned for everything."
"Do you think they're in trouble? Even if they got into some crazy shenanigans like normal, they wouldn't miss this."
"I don't know, but I think we're about to have more trouble." Jo sighed as the minutes ticked by with no BTR, everyone around them started heading to the exits.
"Jo what do we do?"
"I don't think there's anything we can do. Jo sighed in resignation." She glanced behind herself again and even worse, the investors were packing up too. She turned back around to face Camille again, but as she did so, music started playing on stage and the lights lit up.
Do you want to ride in a big limousine
Tell me do you want to, take a little bite of the fame machine
If you wanna be discovered
End up on the cover
Of every star-studded supermarket magazine
You can do it, stick right to it
It can happen tonight
Kendall, Logan, James, and Carlos ran on stage and the crowd instantly turned around to rush back to their seats, but the mood was so electric no one would dare to sit down, everyone had their hands in the air, cheering along to the song.
You wanna be famous
You wanna be the one who's living the life
You wanna be famous
You wanna be the one who's taking the free ride
The concert was a huge success and the energy never stopped for a moment. Jo was pretty sure she saw all the investors, including Griffin rushing Gustavo to try to sign Big Time Rush before anyone else, so she knew tonight was already a success, plus add in Katie and her mom at their merch table making money hand over fist, tonight was a total success.
Everything kept going perfectly until the end of the night when the guys finished singing This is Our Someday, a crowd of crazy fan girls swarmed the stage and chased the guys off who all had looks of absolute terror on their faces.
Jo couldn't help but notice among the many signs they carried, quite a few were Kendall-specific, and she didn't like that at all.
"Oh, we've got some serious competition!" Jo shouted in anger, but also to be heard by Camille over the screaming crowd.
"We can take them!" Camille shouted confidently, "Now move!" Jo and Camille rushed off after the crowd.
"Do you have a plan?" Jo asked when they made it outside the main auditorium.
"Oh yeah, if I know our guys, they'll take the first chance they can to escape so that means… Camille ran off and Jo followed behind her, trusting her friend was just as invested as she was, and for the exact same reasons.
"Hey, does this feel familiar to anyone?" Kendall shouted as they were all being chased by crazed fangirls.
"What are you talking about?" Carlos asked.
"Yeah, other than in my dreams, although this is a little bit more than I was expecting," James admitted as they all picked up the pace.
"Don't you remember? Right before we met Gustavo? We were being chased by the girls' lacrosse team?"
"Oh yeah." Logan nodded, "but a key difference is, they may not want to beat us up, but I'm pretty sure this mob still wants to tear us to shreds."
"Or even worse they probably want to take us for themselves. Where's Freight Train when we need him?" Kendall added.
"Quick down that alley! Maybe we can lose them or find some security!" Logan suggested, and they turned to the right around the corner of the theater. But that wouldn't be enough as the frenzied mob was still on their tails, and even worse, they were at a dead end.
"Oh no! What do we do now?" Kendall asked in a panic.
"Well, we could just accept all the hugs and kisses of our adoring fans. Look at them. This can't be that bad." James suggested.
"Um no! I have a girlfriend, who I'm pretty sure doesn't want me being mobbed by fan girls." Kendall pointed out.
"Well, we better decide soon, because it looks like we're about to be out of options!" Carlos reminded them "And I don't even have my helmet!"
"Boys! Get in if you want to live!" A door swung open from the side of the theater, revealing Camille and Jo standing there, and Kendall had never felt more relieved in his life to see her familiar face.
The boys sprinted inside and the girls slammed the door closed behind them.
"Thanks Jo." Kendall immediately wrapped her up in a very grateful hug.
Jo smiled up at him. "I'm glad your fans love you so much already, but I'm the only one allowed to hunt you down," Jo warned him playfully and stretched up to give him a quick peck on the cheek.
"And that goes double for me," Camille warned Logan, a bit less playfully but gave him a peck on the cheek as well.
Logan and Kendall shared a look between each other, "We couldn't agree more, and I promise on the tour that we'll never go anywhere without Freight Train so that he can keep us safe."
"And we won't forget our training either," Logan added.
"Don't worry, nothing more than high fives and handshakes just like Gustavo taught us." Kendall finished.
"Ladies, not that we're ungrateful or anything," James broke in, "but that's a lot different for us," James motioned to Carlos, "than for those two." James then motioned to Logan and Kendall, still hugging their girlfriends.
"Ok, the concert was a success so that means it's time for us to get girlfriends!" Carlos added.
"Hey we're going on tour now, I'm sure you guys can find someone someday," Logan reassured them.
"Or, instead of someday, let's make that today!" James declared and walked back over to the door.
"Wait! Let's do this right." Kendall stopped him.
"James, are you sure you want to do this? They'll tear you to shreds." Logan reminded.
"You bet they will," James said confidently. "Carlos, you in?"
"Oh yeah!" Carlos, out of seemingly nowhere pulled his helmet out, strapped it on, and tapped the side of his head. "Let's do this!"
"OK, Logan and I will stand behind the door so you guys can leave, and then we can close it immediately," Kendall ordered.
"But if you do this we aren't coming back out there for you," Logan warned them.
"Who cares there's fifty hot girls that are crazy about us back there. I'd have to be a fool or whipped like you two to not love that." James shot back.
"OK, 3, 2, 1!" Logan and Kendall opened the door, and James and Carlos both walked outside.
"Ladies, how's it- AHHHHH!" James and Carlos both started screaming as all the girls shrieked and pulled them outside like a tidal wave.
"Go! Go! Go!" Kendall ordered and he and Logan barely managed to close the door again.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Camille asked them.
Kendall and Logan shrugged their shoulders. "They'll be fine."
"Now though, where are we?" Kendall walked back over to Jo and pulled her close in a side hug once more.
"One of the hallways backstage." Camille walked back over to Logan and ran her hand over the sleeve of his jacket. "Now where were we?"
"What do you mean?" Logan asked, but he was shocked into silence when Camille pulled him down to her and captured his lips hungrily with her own.
Logan closed his eyes and pulled Camille closer, neither of them looking like they were coming up for air anytime soon.
"So…did you enjoy the concert?" Kendall asked Jo a bit awkwardly as they couldn't help staring at the display in front of them.
"How could I not? And everything's finally falling into place. This is the start of your first tour! I couldn't be prouder of you. Even if you're going to have stadiums full of crazy fangirls after you every night." Jo said teasingly and turned Kendall away from Logan and Camille.
"I meant what I said, will I love having fans and being famous? Of course, I will, but Jo, you will always be a million times more important to me. I will do everything in my power to avoid doing something I know you wouldn't like. Nothing more than handshakes, high-fives, pictures and autographs with fans."
"Don't worry I know I can trust you." Jo promised, "I want you to reach your dream just as much as I want mine to come true."
"And you are going to reach your someday too Jo. Have you had any more luck lately?"
"No, I've been so busy this week helping you out. My agent did say something about a new TV audition, something called New Town High. I haven't even looked at the audition script yet."
"Well, I hope you'll get the part, no matter what it is, I know you'll be perfect for it."
"Thanks Kendall, now come on."
"Where are you taking me to?"
"Well, the other three are otherwise engaged, and that means your dressing room is open," Jo said, coyly.
"Are you sure? Because the reason we were late was Hawk kidnapping us in a fake dressing room."
"Hawk? He better hope he never meets me alone, I'll show him my Judo skills and make him feel the hurt." Jo growled under her breath.
"Are you sure?"
"Oh yeah I can take him, and I definitely won't be going easy on him like I do whenever I spar with you.'
"Sure thing…Wait, you go easy on me?"
"You should be lucky I like having my boyfriend in one piece, but like I said, no fangirl is allowed to maul you." Jo teased him and led him into their real dressing room, which was thankfully empty. "Except me."
Once the door closed behind them. Jo pulled Kendall closer to her by the collar of his jacket and pressed her lips to his in tender, yet searing kiss.
Kendall just smiled and wrapped his arms around Jo. He loved being famous, but as long as he had one adoring fan who meant everything to him in the world, he already felt like a celebrity.