Kendall slowly made his way out of his apartment and down the Palm Woods pool. It was still early morning and he was most likely the only one awake, but he didn't mind in the slightest, this was his favorite part of every day.
He pushed open the door and let the early morning sunlight bathe his face for a moment before heading to his favorite poolside chair. He sat down and pulled out his phone, dialing a number he had long ago memorized.
After two rings, his screen lit up with Jo's beautiful face smiling back at him. "Ahh, Good morning Kendall." Jo yawned sleepily.
"And good evening to you." Kendall smiled back at her, doing his best to hide the tightness in his chest whenever he saw her, but still, the happiness always outweighed the pain to make it worth it.
"So anything crazy happen yesterday in LA?" Jo asked, he could see that she was laying back against her pillows.
"Why is that always your first question?" Kendall teased her.
"Because I lived at the Palm Woods for long enough to know what to expect." Jo giggled. "You have to admit most of the things you and the guys get into no one would believe if they didn't see it."
"OK, I guess you're right," Kendall admitted. "Alright, so you know Hawk right?"
"The guy who kidnapped you guys from your first concert? And also mailed Gustavo a skunk because they hate each other or something?"
"Exactly." Kendall nodded, "So see, he stole Gustavo's hard drive with all the tracks for our second album on it and was going to record a kid he signed singing them instead and release his album before we did ours. And the police weren't being any help so we-"
"Oh no, you guys didn't get arrested did you?" Jo asked humorously. "I feel like I already know where this story is headed."
"No, we didn't get arrested. Even though the security footage was obviously Hawk robbing Gustavo, the police chief didn't care since we didn't have enough evidence. So we tried to sneak in ourselves, but that didn't work and the police caught us and sent us back to Rocque Records again. So then we decided to use Carlos' idea."
"Really? Carlos? What was his idea?"
"We'd save our album as superheroes!" Kendall said excitedly. "It was so awesome! Big Time Rush, aka, the Supertastic Super Six!"
"Oh boy, so what were your powers, Superman?" Jo asked teasingly.
"Please, Superman is so overrated," Kendall said sarcastically. "I was Slapshot. I basically dressed up in my hockey gear, and my powers were two hockey sticks. So I'm sure you can picture my awesomeness."
"Oh yes, I can see it now. So do I want to know the other guys' alter egos? And who else was with you if you had six heroes?"
"Carlos is El Hombre del Flaming Space Rock Man. James is Bandana Man. Logan is The Surgeon. Gustavo is Super Gustavo, and Kelly is Bowl Girl."
"Bowl Girl?"
"We told her she needed a disguise too, so she put a bowl on her head and said she doesn't look any sillier than then the rest of us."
"So you did save your songs in the end, right?"
"Yep, everything is right where it belongs, and Kelly immediately made a second hard drive and Gustavo put it in his secret vault. The kid Hawk was recording was actually the one who gave us back our songs. He's pretty cool."
"And what did the police say about the Supertastic Super Six?"
"They said we shouldn't have done things ourselves and they had things under control the whole time, but whatever since we got our songs back, everyone was happy again… except Hawk that is."
"So I was right, just another ordinary, crazy day at the Palm Woods."
"Yeah." Kendall laughed. "So what did you do today?"
"This morning we did more read-throughs of the script, and that's going well. Although I don't know about this script."
"What do you mean?"
"Well you know I've read all the books at least a dozen times each, and I just feel like the director is taking lots of liberties, I mean I understand that they can't make it 100% accurate to the book or else the movie would be like twelve hours long but still. There are at least three pretty important side characters that aren't even going to appear in the movie as far as I can tell so far, and honestly, I think I'm taking some of the character points of Donald."
"But besides those details, and by the way I'm definitely the biggest Chauncy Jackson nerd in the cast. Everyone read the book after they got cast, but from what I can tell everyone else only focused on what was happening for their character, which is fine, but anyway." Jo's face lit up now. "This afternoon we took a tour of some of the main set pieces and I can't believe it. I really wish I could show you all the pictures I took. You know how most of the book happens in a giant castle they go to school at right?"
"Yeah. I remember that part." Kendall nodded.
"So we have this huge set for the main dining hall that's like the size of a school gym. And a lot more of it's real rather than just a green screen like I thought it was going to be. And we also saw the dorm room sets and I honestly wish my dorm room could be my real bedroom." Jo laughed.
"I'm glad to see things are going well then."
"Oh yeah. Honestly, now that I'm here, I'm like geeking out on everything twenty-four/seven almost. Probably like you guys did when you played in the NHL game a few months ago. And like I said if I wasn't such a nerd, I probably wouldn't even be questioning the book accuracy stuff. Speaking of I'm super excited because the author Dick Diordan is going to be here once we start filming. I seriously can't wait to meet him."
"Well, that's one thing I already did. You should ask him if he remembers me."
"I'll be sure to do that, I'll tell him I have the best boyfriend in the world who will do anything for me." Jo smiled.
"And you're making friends down there with all your castmates right? Any problems or anything there?"
"No, everything is great. Obviously, I've been running a lot of my lines with Daniel, the guy playing Chauncy. And Lola, who's going to be playing basically my girl best friend is quickly becoming my best friend in the cast too."
"That's good to hear. I'm glad you're making new friends. Just as long as you don't have any Jetts around."
Jo rolled her eyes. "Not to worry, Chauncy and Emily don't even kiss until the third book, so you have no need to stress."
"I'm just kidding, but I also don't know if Jett was more annoying before, or now that you're gone."
Jo rolled her eyes. "I hope you two aren't arguing too much."
"Naw, mostly we ignore each other, literally the only thing ever had in common were you. Except when we had to work on that Earth Day Project a few weeks ago."
"I know, but speaking of friends, Camille's told me that she and you guys have a new friend at the Palm Woods, who, unlike Jett, everyone actually likes. So, why haven't you told me about Lucy?"
"Um… Lucy? How do you know about Lucy?" Kendall asked, the question making him weirdly nervous for some reason.
"Camille told me. She says she's been really cool and joined in some of your guys' usual shenanigans." Jo laughed, "Sounds like I've been replaced already."
"First off, no. Lucy could never replace you." Kendall said loyally. "And yeah, she's a musician that just moved in and she's been awesome to hang out with, although she is a little intimidating, but she's been a cool person to hang out with."
"And Camille said your Paralyzed performance that made the news was some stunt to impress her?"
"Not impress her. At least not in the way you might be thinking." Kendall was quick to correct her. "She said that Big Time Rush didn't know how to rock out. Which I will admit we are more of a pop band than a rock band but we still know how to rock! Just how she said it obviously made me, and by extension, Gustavo has to prove to her that we do know how to rock, which we did, by blocking traffic and performing the rocking song Paralyzed."
"Don't worry Kendall, I'm not going to go crazy and say you aren't allowed to talk to other girls for three years." Jo laughed. "But seriously why didn't you tell me about her before now?"
"Ok, I guess I didn't want to worry you by telling you that I was having fun with a new friend who's a girl, and like you joking, I didn't want you to think we replaced you two weeks later with someone new. I would much rather have you back here at the Palm Woods than anything, but obviously, you are where you need to be."
"Kendall, thank you for being as considerate of my feelings as always, but seriously, please don't worry about keeping things you think might upset me from me. I want to know everything that's going on with you, just like I always tell you all about my days."
"OK, and also don't worry, James has dibs on Lucy so even if I wanted to, I couldn't."
"Excuse me? Dibs? So you guys treat girls like the last piece of pizza?" Jo raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"Um… no it just keeps us from fighting each other over the same girl, and if one of us does have dibs, then the rest are honor bound to help him out as much as possible."
'Hmm." Jo sounded unimpressed. "So did you get dibs on me?"
Kendall grimaced and felt his face flush. "Actually remember how the first day you moved in, all of us tried to make a move on you, and all of us failed when you claimed you had a boyfriend? Well, we all saw you walk by in the pool and we all called dibs at the same time, which led to some…minor arguments like when we tried to sing Any Kind of Guy for you. And then the others gave up, but I wouldn't be deterred until I was successful at winning you over."
"OK, ok I get it, and you want to know a secret?" Jo grinned mischievously.
"Sure." Kendall leaned closer to his phone screen in anticipation.
"Girls have dibs too."
"Wait, what? They do?" Kendall shouted loudly.
"But you can't tell anyone, mister."
"OK, I promise not to tell, but you need to explain."
"Pretty much the same thing as you described, although instead of just best friends, it's how girls mark their targets."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, why do you think Camille always slapped Logan and then made out with him anytime you guys met in the pool or the lobby until he finally asked her out? Not only was she trying to give Logan a hint, which took a lot longer than she planned, but she also wanted to make it clear that Logan was off limits to anyone else."
"OK, that makes sense now… So, did you call dibs on me?"
"No, I didn't. I didn't want a boyfriend to remember. But you changed my mind on that stance pretty quickly. But I do still have dibs on you whenever I get back to LA."
"Then I will declare I have dibs on you too. Fortunately, Jett is the only one I really have to worry about disrespecting dibs."
"OK I get it, you don't like Jett, and honestly, working with this new cast, looking back at Jett now he is a total creep. He's one person I'm definitely not missing."
"Have you been keeping in touch with anyone else since you left"? Kendall asked.
"Camille of course, we've been texting back and forth every day, just like we always have. Katie's also been giving me updates of some of your shenanigans. Also Megan, since I left New Town High she's been moved to the female lead in the new episodes, so she's been having lots of fun with that, and she's grateful that she hasn't had to kiss Jett so far, but she can tell his eyes are on her a lot more now."
"Need me and the guys to pay him a visit and set him straight for her?"
"Not yet." Jo laughed, but I'll tell her to reach out to you guys if she starts having major problems." Jo then yawned loudly into the phone.
"Looks like someone's getting sleepy. Do you need me to hang up so you can get your beauty sleep? Not that you need it."
"As much as I would love to keep talking to you all night, I know you're right. Oh one more thing, you can have Griffin send me a thank you."
"A thank you? For what?" Kendall asked.
"I'm making you new fans. I always have my BTR CD playing in my trailer and I've got half the cast listening to you guys too and downloading your music. Maybe I'll turn New Zealand into a country full of Rushers."
"I'll be sure to pass on the message, and I'll do my best to make sure the thank you is one of Griffin's good products."
"Good, but yeah, I really should get to sleep soon. Tuck me in?"
"Of course, any requests?" Kendall asked.
"By chance can you sing something new now that you have your second album done?"
"Sure thing." Kendall grabbed his guitar that he had brought down with him and set his phone on a nearby table, making sure he was still clearly in the shot. "This one is Music Sounds Better With You."
I tried to write this down
The words just don't come out
Its hard to say how you feel
Been down the longest road
Said yes when I meant no
I lost control of the wheel
Cause you know that
Things get so bad
You've got my back
Make me wanna sing
Girl I'm singing bout you
No sweeter sound
Then what I've found
No perfect love could be more perfect then us
Ooh baby, It feels like, It feels like
The music sounds better with you, baby
It feels right, it feels right,
Everything's better with you…
Kendall softly sang the rest of the song, never looking away from Jo's happy, smiling face snuggled up in her blankets on the screen.
"That's another hit in my opinion. Great job Kendall."
"Thanks, but the album one will be a bit different, but nothing wrong with a little acoustic to sing you to sweet dreams."
"Well, I think the music definitely sounds better with you Kendall. Have a great day Kendall."
"And you have a good night's sleep, Jo. I love you."
"I love you too." They each then blew one another a kiss and feigned catching it in their hearts. And then Jo hung up the call on her end.
Kendall then sighed in the mixed feelings of happiness and melancholy that always stuck with him after talking with Jo. Talking to her by itself was the greatest feeling in the world he had right now, but once it was over, it was like he could feel the thousands of miles of ocean separating them like a physical weight on his heart.
He always did his best to focus on the positives whenever he was talking to Jo, he didn't want to make her worry about him or feel at all guilty about her decision, and Kendall did his best to keep all the what-ifs over if he had acted differently and let Jo choose to stay here with him. Those kinds of thoughts wouldn't help him or Jo.
He was still able to have tons of fun with all his friends, as Jo liked to say getting into crazy shenanigans and schemes. But there had been plenty of days where all he wanted to do was lay in bed and cry over Jo being gone. Letting all his thoughts and feelings flow through him in the privacy of his bedroom.
Although fortunately or unfortunately, his friends were always quick to find him and do their best to cheer him up, or at least still drag him to Rocque Records when Gustavo needed them for stuff. Right now Kendall felt like going back to bed for a while, maybe he could get some more sleep before everyone else woke up.
He grabbed his guitar and stood up to walk back to the lobby when Lucy walked through the doors "Aha, I finally caught you." She declared happily.
"Caught me? What are you talking about?" Kendall asked, confused at her apparent excitement.
"Every morning since I moved in I've sworn I could hear a guitar and someone singing, at first I assumed it was Guitar Dude, but I eventually realized all you sing is BTR songs so it had to be one of you guys. But then I'll admit it took me about a week to pinpoint you singing from the pool."
"Wow," Kendall was impressed by her dedication. "Then it looks like you caught me." Kendall humorously held up his guitar.
"So why do you come out here all alone and so early? And you only ever play one song a day right?"
"Yeah, I'm not here for practicing." Kendall felt himself smile involuntarily as he thought of Jo. "Every morning I come out here to talk to my girlfriend Jo. She had to leave to shoot a movie in New Zealand. So we've been making long-distance work, for now."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. How long have you been together?"
"Over a year." Kendall sighed.
"And she just left you for a movie halfway around the world?"
"No, it was nothing like that." Kendall rushed to correct Lucy. "It's kind of a long story but I told her she should do it. I couldn't keep her from her dreams. So we've been doing this ever since she left."
"Oh, I get it." Lucy nodded in understanding. "So do you guys just video chat?"
"Mostly. Right now it's nighttime in New Zealand so every day we talk about our days, and then I tuck her in on the phone and sing her a song to help her sleep. Plus we still text when we can but our busy schedules and unreliable international service has put a damper on that. Our good morning/good night talks are the only thing that's really worked out so far."
"Oh well, all my theories of why one of you guys was being so weirdly consistent wasn't something like this. Sorry for trying to spy on you."
"It's ok. And it's not like you interrupted anything. I was just about to go back upstairs."
"So Kendall, how have you been since Jo left?" Lucy asked him.
"Honestly miserable, don't get me wrong, the guys and you and all my other friends have been the greatest, but I feel like there's a hole in my life. Jo and I had our ups and downs, especially as we quickly learned dating in Hollywood is especially complicated, but up until she left, I wouldn't have changed at thing about us. I really wish I don't know what, we could have found some way to make things work out better, just like we always do. But we couldn't this time."
"OK, well if you ever do want to talk, my door is open. I know I like to give off the whole tough-as-nails rockstar girl vibe, but I'll admit I have feelings just like anyone else. And I promise to only tease you a little bit if you get too sappy."
"You know, I might take you up on that offer. I need someone with an objective view. The guys are all well, the guys and they're the best friends any guy could ask for, but other than Logan a little bit, they don't really understand what I'm going through. And I can't talk to Camille because she'll tell Jo how much I wish she was here and end up making her feel bad, which I can't do."
"OK, just like I said, my door is always open. See you later Knight. And while that song you sang definitely doesn't rock, it was pretty good. I'm sure Jo loved hearing it. Or, I'm going to go out to grab some breakfast if you want to join me. "
"Thanks, Lucy, I'll see you later, right now I plan on going back to my apartment. No breakfast can beat my mom's cooking, you should join us sometime."
"Maybe I will. Bye, Kendall."
"Bye, Lucy." Kendall walked over to the elevator while Lucy went out the front doors to the parking lot.
On the ride up in the elevator, Kendall was surprised with himself, talking about Jo with Lucy had helped abate his sadness slightly, so he didn't feel as horrible as he did a few minutes earlier. Talking with Lucy had been nice. And like he said all his friends and family had made attempts to talk with him, but none had made him feel as positive after as Lucy just did.
Logan had been the most helpful so far, but since his situation with Camille had to do with being apart for their tour last summer, and the on-again, off-again aspects of their relationship, it wasn't helping Kendall much, in fact in a lot of those conversations it had ended up being Kendall trying to reassure Logan that things will work out for him and Camille instead of Kendall and Jo.
All Kendall could really do was take things one day at a time, he could wait for Jo, but in the meantime, he knew she wouldn't want him spending all his time thinking about her and wishing she was by his side again. He had to believe it would get better, and maybe the first step was not being afraid to enjoy his time without Jo. Like when they sang Paralyzed in the middle of the street. He could still have fun and come up with schemes to help his friends and himself out. If for nothing else, then he'd be able to tell Jo about how much fun he was still having and give her things to laugh and smile about. He still had his own dreams, and while Jo would always be part of those dreams, that didn't mean he wouldn't be putting his all into Big Time Rush's success just like she was doing for herself.
Kendall stepped out of the elevator and quietly crept back into his apartment. Everyone else was still sleeping soundly, including Logan who was still softly snoring in his and Kendall's bedroom. Kendall laid back down in his bed, and to pass the time until everyone else will be waking up by thinking up ideas that BTR could do to grow their fanbase. He was sure Gustavo and Griffin would be looking for more ideas for their upcoming tour. Maybe they would actually listen to him for once, without Kendall having to prove he's right first.
Across the ocean in New Zealand, Jo set her phone down on her nightstand and did her best to snuggle into her pillows. Just like always thinking about Kendall as she tried to drift off to sleep. Having him talk with and sing to her every night was a double-edged sword. She didn't know if her happiness at hearing his voice helped her sleep better, or kept her up longer thinking about him. But she didn't want to change anything. So much had changed already.
Just like she told Kendall she really was enjoying her time so far, even more than she expected she was happy, even though she was thousands of miles away from Kendall. She still missed him every single night until he called, but during the days as long as she was busy working and distracted by her castmates and everything they were doing she was genuinely enjoying herself.
Although thanks to her CD that she played almost constantly, Kendall was still always on her mind. She hadn't been lying when she told him she was making the entire cast into Rushers, and she even caught her dad humming along plenty of times in the short time since they arrived, which was a real surprise to Jo, since to him all the good music in the world was made before 2000.
Although she had been lying a bit when she said she didn't care if Kendall hung out with other girls. When Camille told her about Kendall trying to impress Lucy with his music. Her initial reaction was sparks of jealousy. But she still trusted Kendall beyond anything. She could tell he was still hurting just as much as she was, but she wanted to believe they were still working together as best as they could given the situation.
It may have only been a few weeks, but it already felt like a lifetime. How she wished she was lying beside Kendall under the stars on their blanket, his arm wrapped around her shoulder and her head resting against his chest. Nothing could possibly compare to the comfort she always felt when they were together. Not even the amazing apartment provided by the studio could compare.
"The music definitely sounds better with you Kendall." She whispered to herself. Everything was better when they were together.
But that didn't mean it was bad for her to enjoy her time in New Zealand. On the weekends she and her new friends from the cast had gone on plenty of trips, lots of hikes through the jungles that they knew they would be filming in eventually, but also traveling to a bunch of local towns and meeting new people that way. The last weekend they even went out on the ocean for a day and that was super fun too. Even though she was also missing some of the craziness of home. Life without four singing hockey players was a lot calmer and less random or dramatic than she remembered. She hadn't even had any reason to scheme or plan anything in weeks. Which was definitely the longest record for that ever since she met Kendall.
Although, since her friends liked BTR so much, maybe she could bring more of the Palm Woods life to New Zealand. Maybe she could host a day of pranks and win her own crown. Or throw a social gathering/get-together in her apartment.
Jo knew it was possible for her to miss Kendall and wish he was here, or she was back home in LA, but that didn't mean she couldn't live life to the fullest while she was here. She wouldn't let anything keep her from having fun. She had plenty of time to kill, and she knew it would be impossible for her to work while being miserable all the time. She knew she and Kendall could keep making things work even while they were apart. This was her dream, even if it wasn't her only dream anymore. But she could still make this experience the dream of a lifetime that comes true.
So, as more ideas for fun things she and her friends could do to bring some of the Palm Woods to New Zealand danced in her head, she soon fell into sleep and dreams for real, and as always her dreams brought her nothing but happiness, and Kendall.