After the guys were unable to have their annual boys' camping trip out in Bear Canyon thanks to Gustavo's ban, and then they and the girls were kicked out of Colossal Studios after ruining a deodorant commercial, Gustavo and Kelly offered them a new compromise since obviously all of them were so focused on going camping.
So after about an hour of Gustavo and Kelly making phone calls, they had everything they needed to spend a night out under the stars, the only thing was that instead of Bear Canyon, they pitched their tents and sleeping bags in the Rocque Records parking lot.
"OK, Dogs and girls," Gustavo was standing in front of all of them, "everything that you asked for on your little list has been secured and will be ready to go at the proper times. So I don't want to hear any complaints about anything about not being real enough. Your safety is your number one priority and remember to be grateful I'm doing this at all."
"Thank you, Gustavo." All the teens chorused together.
"Awe guys, Gustavo really does care about us." James sighed.
"No, I don't. You are all my money-makers and a ticket to success. This is simply a business transaction to keep my dogs happy and not complaining."
"He really does." Kelly corrected him.
Gustavo pointedly ignored her, "Moving on, Kelly and I will both be inside if you need anything, and I also have security out here too, but I promise to make it 'realistic' you won't see them unless you call for them. Same with the other crewmembers that are making all your other camping stuff happen."
"Thanks, Gustavo, we know you really care about us, no matter how much you try to deny it." Logan smiled at him.
"Whatever, we'll be inside. Let's go." Gustavo pointedly ignored that last remark, and turned to head back inside with Kelly smiling knowingly behind him.
Kendall glanced around to see what they had to work with. The parking lot had been covered with a layer of fake grass that actually looked and felt pretty close to the real thing. They were surrounded on all sides by massive background displays from one of the countless production studios in the city so that they were sort of surrounded by nature. Plus they had a bunch of random plants both real and fake all around them. They were also surrounded by the sounds of nature thanks to some massive speakers spread all around them, but out of sight, random insect noises and birdsong, plus the sound of a rushing river did their best to drown out the noise of downtown LA but it was still pretty decent. They had a firepit, although it was only a gas-fired one instead of wood, but it would still be better than the heater the girls had used on the set. The girls had their tent, while the guys all had their sleeping bags. Plus they all still had most of their camping supplies, and Gustavo had promised they would be able to somewhat forage for food if they really wanted to.
"Alright now let's let the first ever guys and girls camping trip begin!" Kendall cheered.
"And you're done making this a dumb guys vs. girls camping competition?" Jo asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"Absolutely we all want you here with us, and you've more than proven that you know what you're doing."
"Plus you girls were blowing us out of the water on the set."
"Carlos!" The guys all sent an annoyed look Carlo's way.
"Anyway, what should we do first?" Carlos asked.
"Well according to the angle of the sun, I'd say it's getting pretty close to dinner time," Logan said.
"My watch says it's five pm." Camille supplied.
"Yes, thank you, Camille," Logan smiled, "so what do you say we find some food?"
"What kind of food are we supposed to find?" Blonde Jennifer asked.
"Yeah, why can't we just use the food we brought with us?" Brunette Jennifer asked.
"Because ladies, this is camping." Carlos said diplomatically, "Other than smores, all other brought food is for emergencies only, we need to live off the land."
"And how do we do that in a parking lot?" Raven-haired Jennifer asked.
"Simple, we asked Gustavo to make it so we could fish and find berries. And normally we could do more, but that will do for now." Kendall answered. "So who wants fish duty and who wants berry duty?"
"I'll take berry duty!" Carlos offered, "And you three sweet ladies are welcome to join me in finding some sweet berries." Carlos said to the Jennifers.
Blonde Jennifer laughed, while the other two rolled their eyes. "Sure thing Carlos. Let's go."
"I better go with them and make sure you don't pick something you shouldn't." Logan stood up, "Do you want to join me, Camille?"
"Sure thing Logan." Camille nodded her head and stood up with him. "But do you really think Gustavo would give you guys poisonous berries after all the trouble he went through to keep you safe?"
"Probably not, but with Carlos foraging, we want to be safe," Logan whispered to her.
"Looks like the three of us have fishing duty," James said to Kendall and Jo. "Let's go."
"How exactly are we fishing?" Jo asked.
"I don't really know. Oh, look fishing poles and a place to fish." Kendall pointed over to a line of poles resting against a large blue box.
The teens separated and James, Kendall, and Jo examined the fishing area. There were steps leading up one side of the nearly ten-foot-tall wooden box and on top were three holes that were lit up from below, but none of them could clearly see what was inside.
"So I guess this is like ice fishing, except we aren't going to freeze our butts off," James said and lowered his line down into one of the holes.
"I still don't see what's going on," Jo said, but moments later all of them felt tugs on their lines so they reeled them in, quickly revealing that each of them had caught a large salmon.
"What the?" Kendall asked as all three looked closer.
James reached for his to steady it. "This thing is ice cold. Do think Gustavo just ordered us a bunch of fresh fish for us to fish for?"
Kendall glanced down the hole again. "Wait I definitely see some guys down there. I can't believe it!" Kendall laughed, "Gustavo not only bought us fish, but he's also paying some poor guys to put them on hooks just so we can reel them in. It's official he likes us. He can never deny it again."
Jo laughed too. "So what do we do now?"
"Oh look, he even gave us a cooler." James expertly took his fish off the hook and placed it inside on a bed of ice. "Well, when in Rome, let's keep casting it's going to take more than this to feed all of us."
Kendall removed his own fish from his line and then reached for Jo's but she held it out of reach. "What you think I've never been fishing before?"
"Well no, but uh you have?" Kendall asked awkwardly.
"My dad's taken me a few times, you should see fishing on the open ocean out in North Carolina. One time I caught this huge tuna. I should find that picture to show you sometime."
"Now that I would like to see." Kendall smiled at her.
So Jo removed her fish and all three cast their lines down again.
Kendall called out. "Hey guys, you can be a little patient and put them on one at a time let's make this a bit more realistic."
So they all stood around waiting and chatting about each of their favorite fishing memories.
"So do you guys fish a lot back home in Minnesota?"
"Not a lot, but enough. On our normal guys' camping trip we always go to Lake of the Woods in Minnesota, the best fishing anywhere, everything we eat we have to catch ourselves, it's awesome!" James declared.
"Yeah," Kendall agreed, "although we should have asked Gustavo to give us a bit more variety or even better a bunch of walleye."
"Oh yeah, that's good too." Jo agreed.
"Best Walleye come from Minnesota, period," James said loyally.
"You'll have to show me sometime," Jo said.
"Maybe we will someday," Kendall promised her.
While they had to wait a bit longer than before to get their bites as requested, it wasn't long before they had more than enough fish for all of them and they headed back to their campsite, where Logan, Carlos, and the rest of the girls were already waiting.
"So how did fishing go?" Logan asked.
James smirked, "Gustavo brought us salmon and has some poor schmucks putting them on hooks for us to reel in."
"Well for the berries, he literally brought in a bunch of potted berry bushes, so we have plenty of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and even walnuts, and thankfully the walnuts are already cracked open. There was just a bowl of those left out by a sapling."
"Good finds all around now let's start cooking. Logan, you're up." Kendall declared.
"Wait why is Logan the chef?" Camille asked.
"Because I'm the only one with steady enough hands to clean the fish. Trust me if these three did it, we'd be eating fish paste and bones." Logan pulled a knife and a cutting board from his backpack and took them and the fish to a nearby picnic table, but before he could make the first cut. Gustavo ran out shouting loudly.
"Woah! No! Logan put it down! Now!"
"What? Gustavo, what's wrong? I've done this a hundred times before."
"Nope! Too dangerous. This is why I think of everything, and I'm in charge."
Kelly led a Japanese man out behind Gustavo from Roque Records.
"This is Kazu and he'll be handling any and all food prep that involves knives! I don't want any of you doing anything to hurt yourself. He's the best sushi chef I could find."
The guys all shared annoyed looks with each other but didn't argue "Fine." Logan handed over his knife to Kazu.
"So how would you like your fish? I can make any kind of sushi you like." Kazu asked.
"No sushi, we just want filets that we can fry over the fire. Is that allowed?" Logan asked with an eye roll.
"I guess that will be acceptable, but Kazu will be supervising everything. I don't want you to burn yourself or get food poisoning."
He really cares about you guys. Kelly mouthed silently behind him.
"Alright, but can we make smores unsupervised later? Or did you hire a chef to do that for us too?" Kendall asked sarcastically.
"Smores are…acceptable." Gustavo declared. "Kelly let's head back inside."
And so, with Kazu's assistance, they all soon had plates full of delicious fried fish, and fresh berries. And for dessert, they did indeed roast marshmallows for smores over the open fire after Kazu went back inside to rejoin Gustavo.
And just like always by the time they were all full, Carlos had more smores on his hands and face than in his mouth so he had to head inside to clean up, and surprisingly Blonde Jennifer went with him.
"So what's going on with Carlos and Jennifer?" Camille asked.
"We don't know, something about how he distracted that annoying security guard and saved her, so now she likes him." Brunette Jennifer scoffed.
"Um, haven't all of you gone out with Carlos for a little bit?" Logan pointed out.
"Yeah, and we all know how much of a mistake that is." Raven-haired Jennifer said.
"Well here's a hint, if you really don't want Carlos flirting with you, just tell him you don't like corndogs," James suggested.
"Yeah, how many girls has he broken things off with because of that?" Kendall asked.
"10, no 11. There was that one girl he met on the tour, Jessie I think her name was?" Logan supplied.
"We'll think about it if she can't see through his hero glow soon." Brunette Jennifer said.
Pretty soon Carlos and Blonde Jennifer came back and despite the glares the other Jennifers were shooting at them, they remained oblivious and everyone just sat back and relaxed, enjoying the campfire and their night under the stars as the sound of crickets chirping started to fill the air.
Jo and Kendall sitting together, sharing a blanket between themselves, while Logan and Camille, Carlos and Blonde Jennifer, and James and the other Jennifers were all doing the same.
"So do you guys have any other camping traditions?" Jo asked Kendall.
"Well, usually we'd have a bunch of competitions, kind of like we did already today."
"You mean you lost today?" Camille chuckled.
"Alright yes, mostly about who can find the most food, set up camp the fastest, basically who can prove their outdoor skills the most, but I have to admit we've done that enough today already. Plus I don't know how much we can actually do in the Roque Records Forest." Kendall admitted and they all just relaxed and told each other campfire stories.
Pretty soon darkness started spreading across the sky as the evening of friendship and fun turned into night, after James was the first to yawn, it was quickly contagious and everyone decided it was time for bed.
Kendall smiled over at Jo, "You sure you don't want to bring your sleeping bag out here next to me?"
"Naw, I know thanks to Gustavo this is completely safe and secure, but it's still outside and I still want a roof over my head. So I'm staying in the tent with the rest of the girls."
"What could happen?"
"It could start raining in the middle of the night, or if it does get cold we'll be warmer inside." Jo pointed out.
"Hmm, you make some good points, maybe I should join you," Kendall said teasingly.
Jo just laughed at him, "I'm sure Camille and the Jennifers would love to have you join us. She said sarcastically, "but you know if you did do that, the other three would follow you and I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have room for nine people in there."
"Bummer. Well, I'll be sleeping under the stars right outside, wake me if you need anything."
Jo smirked, "And you can wake me up if you need anything."
"That I will." Kendall smiled, "Goodnight Kiss?"
"Goodnight Kendall." Jo leaned closer to peck his lips with her own. "I'll see you at sunrise."
"I'm sure it will be beautiful, but nowhere near as beautiful as you are."
Jo stood up from her seat and left Kendall with their blanket before walking over to the tent where all the other girls were already waiting. They then zipped the door closed behind her.
Kendall joined the guys who were all snuggling into their sleeping bags already, lined up right beside the tent.
"So boys, how do you think this LA boys camping trip turned out?"
"Well, other than being attacked by ninjas and trapped in a bear suit, today was a lot of fun," Logan said.
"Yeah, and I really think Jennifer likes me!" Carlos cheered to himself.
"And even though it would have been awesome going to Bear Canyon and really camp somewhere new, I can admit Gustavo and Kelly did a good job setting this whole thing up so quickly," James added.
"Even though we can't do anything dangerous. I can't believe he didn't let me clean the fish." Logan pouted.
"Well in his defense, he probably thinks all we eat is fish sticks, dino nuggets, and corndogs," Kendall added.
"Well, he's wrong. Do you know what we should do? Someday we should kidnap Gustavo and bring him on our camping trip, so that way he can't stop us and he'll see just what we can really do." Carlos suggested.
"I don't think that would go over well, we wouldn't catch any fish after he causes an earthquake from his yelling." Logan jokingly pointed out.
"Well, a guy can still dream. Really what we need to do is have Jo and the girls plan it, and then we just say we're going with them without giving any details to Gustavo until it's too late." Kendall said.
"Oh well, we'll go real camping someday, whether it's just us, or with Gustavo, or with the girls who cares? It will be awesome." James said.
"You bet it will be." Carlos agreed. "Goodnight guys."
"Goodnight." Everyone else chorused, and then they all quieted down and soon were all fast asleep. Kendall was glad Gustavo must have put some kind of padding beneath the fake turf because even though they were in the middle of a parking lot, it didn't take long for Kendall to drift off as soon as he closed his eyes.
Sometime later, Kendall woke up with a jolt from a giant crash of thunder up above. He sat up confused for a moment as his tired brain slowly remembered where he was, and why he and the guys were in sleeping bags in the middle of a fake-looking forest, along with a large pink tent beside them.
The other guys were all sitting up with dazed looks on their faces that he knew matched his. And then the skies opened up and started pouring on them. Kendall shivered and felt completely drenched and cold within about ten seconds.
"What's going on? I thought we checked the weather and it was supposed to be clear skies all weekend?" James asked in a panic.
"That was for Bear Canyon remember? We never thought about checking to forecast for LA because we weren't supposed to be here this weekend!" Logan shouted.
"What do we do?" Carlos asked.
Kendall shook his head and tried to wipe some of the rain off his face, which didn't do much good since he was just as wet five seconds later. "Let's check on the girls and make sure they're OK!"
"Good idea!" Logan and the others nodded in agreement. Kendall pulled himself out of his soaked sleeping bag and the three of them stumbled on the slippery turf the short distance to the door of the girls' tent.
"Jo! Are you awake?" Kendall yelled and rapped on the fabric door of the tent.
A light shone from inside the tent, and Jo peeked out of the flap. "Kendall? Are you guys okay?"
"We're fine, just soaked through. Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah, we just all woke up. That storm really came out of nowhere."
"You don't say," James said sarcastically. "So what do we do? We're pretty much drowning out here!"
"Should we all head inside?" Camille called out from the tent.
"I think that's our best course of action. Since we were camping here, I took all our waterproof stuff out of our supplies." Logan said.
"OK, let's go." Kendall decided, and all the guys stood back so the girls could climb out.
"Wait, we don't have to get soaked!" One of the Jennifers called out.
"What? Ladies I'm sorry but it looks like that's going to happen. The doors are fifty feet away. We're all going to be soaked." James shouted.
"Carlos!" Blonde Jennifer shouted. "You can take me there without getting me wet, Right?"
"Um yes… sure thing Jennifer… Guys, how do we do that?" Carlos asked.
"Well, we could just drag the tent over to the doors with us," Logan suggested.
"Yeah do that!" Jennifer shouted and received a chorus of agreement from the rest of the girls.
"Well, boys. Looks like we have our orders." Kendall shared a forced cheerful look with the others. "Let's go so we can get out of the rain."
"Thanks so much guys. We promise we'll make this up to you!" Jo's voice shouted from inside the tent.
The guys all grabbed a corner and slowly started dragging the tent over towards the doors. There were some muffled complaints from the Jennifers about it being rough on them, but they were quickly silenced, most likely by Jo and Camille.
Soon enough they made it to the doors and Kendall reached out to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Um guys, we have another problem."
"What is it?" James asked.
"The doors are locked."
"Locked? Why are they locked? Wouldn't Gustavo keep them open for us since he's so paranoid about everything?" Carlos asked.
"Oh right. Remember after Hawk stole our second album? Gustavo upgraded his security system, I'm pretty sure everything in the building locks down at midnight unless he stops it." Logan pointed out.
"Great so what do we do?" Camille asked.
"Don't you think Gustavo would hear all the thunder and come get us?" Jo asked.
"No way, the only thing louder than Gustavo's yelling is his snoring, and literally nothing will wake him up when he's out for the night," James said.
"So…what do we do?"
"It looks like we're stuck out here…" Logan checked his watch, "It's 3 a.m. right now, and our wake-up call is at 6."
"So is there anything we can do?" Carlos asked, again.
"Our sleeping bags are all swimming pools now, We could maybe drag the firepit over here, but I'm not confident we can start it in the dark and in the rain," Logan said.
"Guys, hold up, if you stay out there you're going to get sick." Jo pointed out.
"Yeah, so do you have any ideas?" Kendall asked her. "I think we're open to suggestions."
There were some muffled whispers inside the tent for a few moments, and then Jo opened the door to the tent. "All you guys get in here."
"Wait, what?" Kendall asked.
"We aren't going to let you guys get sick, so you four can take off your shirts, and dry off as much as you can, and then wrap up in some of our extra blankets in here so you can warm up."
"Um, all of us? And all of you?" Logan asked.
"Seriously you guys? It's just us, don't make this weird." Camille said. "You four have gotten us soaked from your cannonballs at the pool dozens of times before. It's not like we'll be doing anything new."
"Well then if it's for our health," James smirked and quickly threw his T-shirt off over his head. "How can we refuse?"
The rest of the guys just shrugged their shoulders and did the same. They then each used a borrowed towel from the girls to dry off as best as they could, and then they climbed in the tent, each finding a blanket to cuddle up and a place to sit, unfortunately their pajama pants were still soaked, but given the situation they were willing to live with that.
Once all four guys were inside, everyone was packed like sardines in a can, and some were happier about this than others. Kendall and Jo cuddled up together with Jo sitting on Kendall's lap, with a towel between them to keep her mostly dry. Camille pulled Logan close to her so there was hardly any space between them. Blonde Jennifer was willing to let Carlos put his arm around her shoulder with a smile, but the other Jennifers stuck together and gave James plenty of space so he wouldn't get any ideas, while also looking annoyed at pretty much everyone else.
"Well, this looks like it's going to be a fun three hours," Kendall whispered in Jo's ear. "But I think you had a wonderful idea."
"Thanks, but Camille and I thought of it together, and it took both of us to convince the Jennifers to agree," she whispered back.
"So what are we going to do now?" Carlos asked.
"We could try to get back to sleep," Logan suggested, but almost immediately another roar of thunder and lightning boomed from the sky.
"I don't think any of us are going to get any sleep anytime soon." Camille yawned and cuddled closer to Logan, leaning her head against his shoulder.
"We could play a game. I have a few ideas…" Everyone could see the smirk on James' face and they all collectively decided. "No."
"Come on, you haven't even heard any of my ideas," James whined.
"Let's not make this weird. We're just waiting for the rain to stop and Gustavo to come out." Kendall said. "I know we're all tired after our long day, and it's literally raining cats and dogs out there but maybe we should just all try to get some sleep."
With nothing better to do, everyone quickly agreed to the plan of attack and everyone did their best to get comfortable enough for some shut-eye.
Kendall and Jo laid down close to each other, so that they only had about an inch separating their faces, but their legs were intertwined. Because of the tight space, James's back was pressed against Kendall's while Camille was pressed against Jo's other side. But as long as they focused on the person in front of them, they were more than okay with the current situation.
"I bet this isn't how you expected tonight to go," Jo whispered softly to Kendall.
"Not quite how I pictured it, but other than the wet pants I have on right now, I wouldn't change a thing about this. Well also maybe a bit more space from James' butt." Kendall joked under his breath.
"You won't find me complaining," Jo smirked at him and snuggled closer so her head was resting on his arm like a pillow, her head just beneath his.
"Oh I see, I bet you had a whole master plan from the start, just so you can enjoy the view," Kendall smirked back at her.
"Oh if that's all you think I think about, next time I'll let you drown in the rain then." Jo shot back.
"Or what if next time the situation is reversed huh?" Kendall joked.
"I think you must already be dreaming if you think this situation will ever be reversed. You know us girls are prepared for everything."
"Which you have more than proven today in spades." Kendall agreed, "But can't a guy dream?"
"Yes he can, and I think it's time for you to go to bed." Jo jokingly pouted but then kissed his lips in a quick peck. "Goodnight Kendall."
"Goodnight Jo." He replied. They both settled down, and feeling and hearing each other so close, despite the pounding rain, wind, thunder, and lightning, both were asleep within a few minutes.
The next morning, everyone woke up with a start when they heard the call of the loon blasting from the hidden speakers. All the girls looked super confused, but to the boys that was as Minnesota as it got, although they also had their own confusion as everyone took a few seconds to remember last night, or better yet earlier this morning why everyone was cuddled up together inside the tent.
"Let's agree to tell no one about this part of our camping trip. "Camille asked.
"Agreed." Everyone else nodded and scrambled out of the tent in a hurry, but Kendall and Jo held back for a few seconds.
"Good morning beautiful."
"Good morning to you too, handsome," Jo smirked at him.
"Seeing your face first thing in the morning is better than any sunrise."
"Thanks, and I have to agree." Both of them leaned closer to share a good morning kiss and a hug.
"Best wake-up call ever." Kendall smiled.
"Hey lovebirds, when you're done, get out here and see the sunrise," James called from outside the tent.
Both of them shrugged at each other. "You know, now that we have the tent to ourselves, why can't we stay?"
"Because we'll miss the sunrise silly." Jo rolled her eyes playfully at Kendall and quickly left the tent, leaving Kendall scrambling to join everyone else outside.
When he exited, he wrapped Jo up beneath his shoulder and looked out over the sunrise…which in reality was a giant background from a nearby studio of a rising sun over a lake, but Kendall could admit, it was beautiful in its own way, but nothing compared to the beautiful girl standing next to him. He gave her a kiss on the cheek in happiness at all the time they had spent together, and even when they were competing they still cared about each other.
"Alright. There I did everything on your little camping list that you requested are you happy now?" Gustavo said loudly as he stepped outside the doors with Kelly behind them, but they both paused when they took in the scene before them. "Do I want to know what exactly happened last night?"
The guys glanced at each other. Their hair was all messed up, from sleeping when it was wet, their pants were still soaked, and of course, Kendall and James were shirtless while Carlos and Logan only had blankets over their shoulders.
"Nope." They all answered.
"Gustavo we want to say thank you for giving us a camping trip we will never forget, but next time, don't lock your doors." Kendall grinned at Jo, and she leaned in closer to him in happiness. Yep nowhere near what the guys had been planning for the past month, but one word to describe the last 24 hours was definitely unforgettable.