AN: Hello! Happy Big Time Tuesday. Here is chapter five of this story. It follows Elle and Kendall playing their song for Gustavo. You'll also see that they grow a bit closer and make amends from the night before. Elle also grows closer to the rest of BTR. The next chapter is the official start of the tour and character from Elle's past makes an appearance! Thank you for your review last time Ethan. I will be updating the week after next around 6:30 EST. For now, I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you liked. See you soon!

When I walked into the studio the next morning I wasn't surprised to see that I was the first one there. If I had learned anything in the past two weeks it was that the guys were not morning people. Anything before 9 AM was considered torture, even more so on a Saturday. But I didn't necessarily mind being alone right now, especially after last night. Kendall and I had stayed late to work on our song and it turned out he wasn't a complete jerk. It felt like we had really made a connection for a minute until he called me washed up and walked out. The sudden shifts in mood weren't new but it had been surprising. For both our sakes, but mostly for mine, I stayed late and put our song in some semblance of order and made a copy for him. That way it wasn't a collection of lyrics on different pages. And so we had something to show Gustavo and Liz. I put my guitar case down and made myself comfortable.

The song was good and I had to hand it to him when he wasn't too busy being an ass he could write. The song was flirty and if I heard it on the radio I would sing along. I couldn't help but wish that I was singing it with Logan, James or Carlos. The idea of doing anything that had Kendall and flirty in the same sentence made me want to crawl into a hole and die. The only good thing was writing it was the hardest part and it was almost done. I added an introduction and worked out the chords. So all we had left to do was figure out who sang what and hope Gustavo liked it. From there we would record it, probably film a video and then I would have to sing with him. He may be a dick but I could tolerate four minutes on stage every night. But for right now I just wanted to be alone. When he walked into the studio my mood dropped pretty quickly.

"Morning." He greeted quietly.

Kendall had a guitar case in one hand and a drink carrier in the other. His blonde hair was swept underneath a gray beanie and the green Minnesota Wilds hoodie he had on made his eyes even brighter. Like I said before, if he wasn't so awful he would be attractive.

"Hey," I called back.

He sat down his stuff and held out an iced coffee to me. I raised an eyebrow and took it from him.

"You bought me coffee?" I questioned, mocking him from the other day. "What's next, a back rub?"

He looked embarrassed. "I bought it to make up for being a dick last night."

I eyed it suspiciously. "Really? You didn't spit in it, or poison it?"

"For fuck's sake." He grumbled, taking it back. He popped off the lid and took a sip. "Happy now?"

After waiting a moment I stuck the straw in and took a drink. "Thanks, I guess. Although I still don't understand why you were such an asshole."

"I was tired and sometimes I speak before I think." He pointed to the pages on the table. "It's a really good song, I mean it."

"Thanks. I mean you helped and you're not the worst songwriter I've ever worked with." I admitted this begrudgingly. "So kudos to you too."

Kendall gave a shy smile. "Uh, thanks. I do most of the writing for Big Time Rush, the guys help but I write a lot."

"Well, you write better than you dance."

You're not wrong." Even though he looked irritated I could hear the laughter in his voice.

I looked at the time. "We have a while until the guys come in. I think I finished the song last night after you left."

He sat down next to me and picked up the copy I had made him. He sipped his coffee as he scanned the page, his face was hard to read. I anxiously played with my fingers as I waited for him to finish.

"I think you're right. Gustavo might want to clean some stuff up but I think it's going to be big." He turned the page towards me. "What am I going to sing?"

"We said it was a conversation right?" I began and then circled some of the lines with a red pen. "I think these lines should be yours in red and these should be mine in blue. And then we go into the chorus together. But we can see how it sounds obviously."

Kendall agreed. "Yeah, it flows. You did a good job."

A small smile formed on my face. "Thanks."

He took his guitar from his case and tuned it. It was quiet for a few minutes as I outlined our parts of the song in different colors. I stifled a yawn and took another sip of coffee. Even though I was grateful for the extra caffeine it was strange that Kendall bought me a drink. He had acted like James bringing me one was the end of the world. Kendall's voice snapped me from my thoughts.

"Do you want to go over it before Gustavo and Liz get here?"

"We probably should." I picked up my guitar and positioned myself on the edge of the couch. "Do you know the chords?"

Kendall held up a sheet of paper. "I think I got most of them down last night."

For all of his shitty qualities, I had to hand it to him. Musically, Kendall was actually talented, he could write lyrics and pick out chords by ear.

"Let's just go slow so we can see if the lyrics sound good."

Kendall and I both started playing. Even at half speed it made me want to dance, playing with someone else was a change and I liked it. Our voices sounded good together even if we didn't like each other there was no denying it, we had written a good song.

"I could feel my heartbeat, electric to my fingertips. Oh, whoa, oh. I could feel anticipation through my veins. Oh, whoa, oh." We sang together once we reached the chorus. "I could almost feel the weight of your kiss on my lips."

Luckily Kendall wasn't as obviously uncomfortable as he was yesterday. His eyes didn't meet mine as he focused on the chords. His voice was smooth and the song sounded good coming from him.

"Cause anything could happen on a night like this."

We sang it through twice, tweaking any lyrics that sounded choppy and Kendall came up with this nice interlude before the bridge. Watching him play was relaxing, he didn't try too hard like he normally did. I wrote down the chords and some notes about how I thought it should sound when we recorded it. An hour later I sat back on the couch and sighed. A sense of relief and excitement washed over me, the way it always did when I finished a song. I just hoped Gustavo and the fans would like it.

"Why don't you play on stage?" Kendall asked out of nowhere. "I mean I had no idea you could play."

I rolled my eyes thinking of Liz. "Because I can't dance with it and no one is going to pay money to see me standing there playing guitar. Those are Liz's exact words."

"Well, that's shitty because you're good." He offered. "I mean you can dance too but you play well."

"Thanks." I paused a minute, smiling to myself. "Maybe you should play guitar more often so you don't have to stumble around the stage."

Kendall cracked a smile. "I'm not that bad."

"Oh yes, you are. Remind me to film your next practice, you have to see it for yourself."

He laughed. "You're on."

We both chuckled and looked up when a chorus of voices came through the door. The guys walked in, looking tired but excited.

"Hey, you didn't kill each other," Carlos exclaimed instead of saying good morning. "I'm proud of you."

"Yeah, bloodshed would be a terrible way to start the tour." James sat between me and Kendall and draped an arm around me. "And a waste of a pretty face."

My face warmed. "Hey, James."

"How's the song?" Logan asked, eyeing the paper on the table.

"Fine. It's done." Kendall's voice was cold, hard, and different than how it had been just a moment ago. "Gustavo better like it."

"Can we hear it?"

Carlos' eyebrows were raised and he gave me a hopeful look. I smiled coyly and put the lyrics in a neat stack.

"You'll just have to wait. But it's really good, I think you'll like it."

James pulled me in closer. "I'm sure it is."

Next to him, Kendall sighed and pushed himself off of the couch, breezing out of the room. Once he left James seemed irritated.

"So was he any help?"

I played with my fingers and shrugged. "Yeah, he was actually really helpful. We argued a bit last night but we worked it out."

"Well, I'm sure everyone will like it." Logan encouraged.

I thanked him just as Liz came in, looking polished and put together even on the weekend. As usual, she was on her phone, looking over the schedule for the day.

"Morning. Let's get started shall we?" She asked, before continuing. "You have stage outfits to try on and approve. And please tell me you have this song started, we have a deadline."

"Liz." I cut her off gently. "It's done, don't worry. I finished it last night with Kendall."

She looked relieved. "Good, good. Gustavo is busy with the touring company, finalizing the venues and whatnot. So if you could try these outfits it would make my life so much easier."

I laughed, standing up. "I aim to please."

Liz shook her head. "Oh do you? You might want to try a little harder."

"You wish," I called over my shoulder as I left the room.

The past year had shown me who my real friends were. No one wanted to be attached to a sinking ship so I lost people I thought were my friends. But Liz was always there, she was like the older sister I never had. She deserved a sainthood for putting up with me and my antics. I knew she always had my best interest at heart. Which is why I was a little disappointed when I squeezed into an outfit for the tour. It was a tight black bodysuit with sequins. It left nothing to the imagination and sheer cutouts showed off my sides.

"Liz?" I asked, sticking my head out of the dressing room.

She looked away from the screen. "Hmm?"

"Didn't we talk about toning down the outfits?" I questioned slowly, wringing my hands. "Isn't that part of the plan?"

"You have diehard fans who are expecting the old Elle buying tickets too." She explained slowly in a tone that always made me feel like a child. "We want to cater to them but also the new ones. So it's a bit of a mix."

There was nothing I could say to get out of this so I shut the door and pulled on the next one. This option was a little better. It was a romper, the deep green color looked good against my darker skin. It was low cut but at least I was covered. I put this one in the keep pile. After trying on tight bodysuit after tight bodysuit. I ran a hand over my face. Most of these were just glorified lingerie, I put the better ones in the pile. The skimpy ones went back on the rack, I hoped they would go unnoticed. A few of them were really well made so I decided I'd wear them even if I wasn't completely sold on the idea. I had just wriggled into a gold-colored one that I really liked despite the fact that my chest hung out. There was a sharp knock on the door and Liz stuck her head in.

"Gustavo is here, he wants to hear the song. He's impatient." She looked at my one piece. "You look good. Very mature."

"Thanks." My tone was flat as I walked through the office to grab my guitar.

When I walked into the recording studio I saw the guys had tried on some outfits too. They looked good, it was streetwear, and they all had on snapback hats with their initials on them. The outfits were black and white. What made it better was the fact that they were all in shape. So it looked like they had just walked out of a magazine.

"Where's Gustavo?" I asked, causing them to turn. "And Kendall?"

"Oh, he's- well hello there." James stopped mid-sentence, a stupid smile bloomed on his face.

"Elle you look, uh." Logan stammered looking for the right word and I shook my head. "Different, it's nice."

"That's what happens when you don't get to make any outfit choices," I grumbled, tugging on the tight fabric. "At least you guys look normal. I'm one pair of clear heels away from pole dancing."

Carlos cleared his throat. "You look hot, er, great, I mean not that you don't normally but it's not bad."

I pretended to be annoyed and smiled playfully. "You look good too, not like a boy band."

"So this is the part when you finally get naked?" Kendall smirked walking past me, guitar in hand. "What's next, sex in public?"

I turned, hand on my hip. "Why do you just materialize out of nowhere to say something shitty? Is it a disease or something?"

"It's true, and have you seen yourself?" He stared me down, towering over me. I scrunched my nose in disgust when his eyes lingered on my cleavage. "Is your disease being allergic to clothes?"

He was close to me so I took a step forward, reaching up so I could speak into his ear. "If you like what you see Kendall just say it. You don't have to act like a child."

Kendall took a step back he looked offended. "No. Trust me I've seen it and I'm good. I just don't think our fans and their parents will appreciate it."

"Good thing you want a bigger fan base with an older audience then." Liz reminded sharply, following Gustavo and Kelly into the room.

Liz and I shared a look of understanding and I mouthed thank you to her. Logan tapped me on the shoulder and held out his jacket. I slipped it on, grateful to be less exposed.

As they sat down I leaned over to Kendall and hissed in his ear.

"You better not fuck this up. I'm not writing another song with you."

He stared back innocently. "I'll leave the fucking to you."

"So Gustavo, we finished the song last night." I began, trying to maintain my professional attitude. "We worked out some chords too."

His expression was unreadable behind his large sunglasses. "Okay let's hear it."

I counted us in and we both started playing the chords, I tapped my foot to stay on beat and focused only on selling the song to Gustavo.

"I've been watching the phases of the moon, from my window pane. I've been talking to the corners of the room for too long, too long."

"Met you when my heart was somewhere else, outside in the rain." Kendall began. "Saw you smiling, the stories you could tell, have you moved on?"

"It so hard to get a cab at midnight on Friday."

Kendall turned to me. "Where ya going?"

"Downtown."

"So am I." He smiled. "Stand right here where it's dry and if you're going my way-"

"Maybe we should share a ride." I finished the line, I returned his fake smile.

I clapped twice on the beat and went back to playing. I swayed as we went into the chorus, I made sure to give Gustavo and Liz a grin. They were both hard to read.

"I could feel my heartbeat, electric to my fingertips. Oh, whoa, oh. I could feel anticipation through my veins. Oh, whoa, oh." Our voices blended together well and I noticed the guys were nodding along. "I could almost feel the weight of your kiss on my lips."

Kendall's eyes didn't meet mine. "Cause anything could happen on a night like this."

I snuck a quick glance at Liz who gestured for me to step closer to Kendall. I almost rolled my eyes but moved a bit closer so it looked like he didn't disgust me. He seemed to pick up on this and moved in too.

"Wouldn't mind if we caught every red light, you're someone I could get close to."

I made a point to focus on his face during this next line, hoping he'd understand.

"You're a stranger but there's something in your eyes. Like you know me."

"Could I know you?" His smug look faltered for a second. "Well, I never fell in love at midnight on Friday."

"Standing outside." I started the line.

And he finished, going back and forth like we planned. "Of town."

"In the rain." This was going better than I thought it would.

"Well this ride is almost over, but if I had it my way. We would just stay up all night."

He acted like he was excited about singing with me as we repeated the chorus again. We both clapped twice and this made me actually smile. I could already picture the fans singing it with us. Hopefully, Gustavo would like it enough. My face warmed at the next part as I thought of how embarrassing it had been to sing this last night. He must have been too because he looked down at his fingers while he played.

"Our hands fit just the right way, our legs tangled up in this small space. The world outside feels far away, as I get to know you."

His voice trailed off and I sang the first half of the chorus on my own. "I could feel my heartbeat, electric to my fingertips."

When it was his turn and he glanced up at me again, his voice was rough. "I could feel anticipation through my veins."

We sang together once more, I knew we had to sell it because the song was almost over. I gave him a flirty grin, pretending it was anyone else but Kendall.

"I can almost feel the weight of your kiss on my lips cause anything could happen on a night like this."

I played quieter as we repeated the whoas and the last line several times. Kendall nodded encouragingly as we finished.

"Anything could happen on a night like this."

It was quiet for a long moment as we stared at our managers. Next to them, Logan, James, and Carlos were all giving me a thumbs up. My throat felt dry and I shifted my weight. Liz and Gustavo looked at each other and she pointed to a few notes she had taken.

"Well?" Kendall asked him in the harsh tone I recognized well.

"We'll add some synth and have overlapping harmony." Gustavo decided. "And some drums it won't be just acoustic."

Liz agreed and pointed to the guitars. "And you'll both lose the guitars, it felt stiff like you were hiding behind them."

"Hiding behind them?" I questioned.

"It's good Elle, really good." She promised. "But if it's meant to be flirty you have to get a little closer."

The idea of getting any closer to him was nauseating but I knew better than to argue now. So I nodded, making a note to debate this later.

"So we can record it?" I asked feeling a bit excited.

"Give me the lyrics and the chords and I'll work on the arrangement."

I covered my mouth and grinned. I had a song, a new song post-Jett incident. My comeback was officially underway.

"Gustavo thank you so much." I gushed. "This means so much."

The guys pulled me into a group hug and I breathed a sigh of relief. I was one step closer to the top now and putting the past behind me.

"Hey, good job."

Over my shoulder, Kendall had one hand stuffed in his pocket looking sheepish, the other one stuck out in front of him. I broke free of the group hug and shrugged.

"Thanks, but you helped too."

"Well, it's good." We stiffly shook hands. "And we don't have to write another song. I'm glad they liked it."

I pulled my hand back. "Me too."

The rest of the morning was fairly uneventful. I tried on some more outfits and much to my chagrin Liz had insisted I wear some of the ones I originally rejected. I didn't have a problem with wearing some of them but I didn't enjoy the way they were forced on me.

"It won't be a constant thing, you can wear some of the more understated pieces during slow songs." Liz had tried to reason. "It's only for an hour."

After giving in to what she wanted I had been swept off into the dance studio. I wasn't scheduled for choreography today but had been going over some of the moves I had been taught the past few weeks. I was in a different stage outfit so I could dance. I moved my hips to the beat of one of my first songs, it was one of my most popular.

"We're dancing like we're dumb, dumb, d-d-dumb. Our bodies feel numb, numb, n-n-numb. I want to be forever young, young, y-young. You know we're rockstars we are who we are."

My voice came through the speakers and it made me nostalgic, this was from my first album. Was it a stupid song? Yes. Was it immature? Of course, it was. But it was my first single from when I was 16 and clueless about how the music business worked. Behind me, Logan, James, and Carlos all watched while Kendall was glued to his phone. The first three had wanted to see me actually dance, Kendall was there because apparently there was nothing else to do until it was time for them to rehearse.

"C'mon Elle, get it!" James encouraged as I ground my hips.

I turned, giving them a smile and my way over to them. The music still played as I stopped in front of Logan.

"Rumor had it you can secretly dance."

He waved his hand. "No, really it's nothing special."

"Prove me wrong then," I said, wanting to make this fun. "I'm bored."

Carlos shoved him and he groaned. "Fine."

Back in the center of the room he danced fluidly. It was better than what I saw a few years ago, he had improved a lot. His body was pressed close to mine and he laughed a little.

"Got all this glitter in my eyes, stockings ripped right the thighs." My song was still playing.

He ran his hands down my bare legs and then across my exposed stomach. I raised an eyebrow and stroked his face.

"Look sick and sexy tonight, so let's go, oh, oh. Let's go!"

The chorus started over and we dance with each other, both getting a little handsy as we practiced our footwork. Logan was talented, he was smooth and moved confidently. He put his hands around my waist and I arched my back, laughing.

"Well fuck, you can dance."

He gave a dismissive shrug. "And you can manage to look good even when you're just messing around."

I shoved him slightly and smiled. "So what else are you hiding underneath your geeky façade?"

"I prefer the term nerdy but I have a few things up my sleeve."

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Kendall had left with a scowl on his face. Logan and I continued to dance. Not seriously but just for fun. He kept his hands on my hips and the jokes came easily between us. Eventually, Carlos and James joined in and we taught each other some dances. Watching them trying to drop low to the ground and grind like I did had been amusing for a while. But I was now trying to master a foot shuffle they did.

"What? Feet don't move like that." I argued as I stumbled.

James laughed under his breath. "They do. It's all in the feet. Keep your hips still."

Carlos and Logan were on either side of me and behind me, James kept a grip on my hips. I watched carefully as they demonstrated once more.

"Okay, I think I've got it."

I moved my feet slowly, moving my hips slightly and James tightened his hold. It was choppy but I managed to do it right.

"That was it. Now faster!"

This time I did it at full speed, shuffling my feet at the pace as Logan and Carlos. When I finally mastered it I did it a few times over.

James hugged me from behind. "There you go. You learned it pretty quick, it took us a few days to get it down."

"You're going to have to come out on stage with us and dance."

Smiling, I agreed. "Liz did say she thinks it would be a smart idea for us to interact during the show. So it doesn't just look like I'm an opening act, but a friend. That way people can see we're all friends and mature."

"So you're a songwriter, a good dancer and you're good at appealing to fans." Logan complimented. "What can't you do?"

"Wear clothes and not hang all over my friends apparently."

As if on cue Kendall walked into the studio. "Kendick, I was wondering when you'd come out of the shadows to say something condescending."

"He's just mad that you dance better than he does," James said softly into my ear making me laugh. "And that he doesn't look as good as you when you do it."

Kendall shook his head and spoke over his shoulder. "She's still here you may as well come in."

Jo came in behind him and gave me a small wave. I returned it, clearing my throat awkwardly.

"Hey." I greeted her.

She pressed her mouth into a tight line. "Hi."

Jo and I knew each other well. I used to consider her a friend while I dated Jett. We weren't best friends or anything but we tolerated each other. I spent a lot of time on set with him and went to red carpet events where Jo was. We had grown closer during the time I was with him. But after the video of us came out she took her co-star's side in public. I understood this because of how PR worked but she had also been a bitch to me privately. This had been a surprise because she had never liked Jett due to his constant attention. To be fair I didn't like her at the beginning of our relationship because of Jett's crush but she had assured me she only liked Kendall. Jo had been a nice person, a little boring for my personal taste, but a good person either way. After the video, she had become a real bitch, saying she always thought I was a distraction to Jett and Newtown High suffered because of it. And that I was to blame for Jett using drugs when he had been the one to introduce me to them. It made sense why she and Kendall were a couple. They both appeared to be nice to fans and the media but secretly they were assholes. So seeing her here was awkward.

The studio was hot so I shed the hoodie I borrowed. I regretted that now that both Kendall and Jo were looking at me. I felt exposed and I folded my arms over my stomach. James still had his arm around me and I was grateful for the comfort. Kendall's eyes lingered just a bit too long like they had this morning.

"So what's going on?" Logan asked, glancing at us.

"Mr. X is running late and Jo stopped by to visit."

Jo shifted her weight. "How are rehearsals?"

"They're good," James answered. "Just getting to know our opening act."

We shared a smile and Kendall stepped closer to Jo. "I think they're getting along just fine."

For the sake of being professional, I ignored Kendall. "Jo are you excited for the Newtown High movie?"

She actually seemed excited about this. "For sure, we're filming in Europe."

"When do you leave?"

"A few days after your first show. You must be excited about the tour, you know, after what you and Jett did."

I winced at his name and the fact that she made it sound like it was my fault didn't go unnoticed. "I'm excited, especially after what Jett did to me."

"You certainly seemed into it," Kendall said with a bit of a smirk.

My stomach twisted uneasily at the thought of how drunk I had been. I really didn't remember what had happened that night. But I knew I hadn't wanted to and that Jett had been forceful.

"Things don't always look like what you see," I mumbled.

"Well there was plenty to see then and now." He made a face and turned to Jo. "Don't mind Elle she's always naked."

Jo looked uneasy. "I left my phone in the car."

He smiled at her, it was a genuine smile, loving. Kendall's face brightened in a way that I certainly had never seen. "I'll go with you."

Without another word to me or the guys they left. Once they had just left the room but were still in earshot Carlos called out.

"Don't mind Kendall, he's always rude."

I gave a small grin. "Thanks. It's kind of creepy seeing him so nice to Jo."

"They're crazy about each other. It's sweet but sometimes it's a bit much." Logan admitted. "Are you okay?"

Other than being offended and embarrassed, the only other emotion I felt was confusion. It was getting hard to keep up with Kendall's mercurial temperament.

"His mood swings are giving me a headache. Just last night we smoked together and he was nice and funny. And then he said something shitty out of the blue. This morning was like that too, he brought me coffee to make up for last night and now he's rude." I sighed running a hand over my forehead. "I just wish he'd either hate me all the way or like me."

"Don't let him get to you, Elle." Logan pleaded rubbing my arm. "Who knows why he's such an asshole? All that matters is we're happy to have you and the fans will be too."

A forced smile made its way to my face. I wanted to agree with Logan and act like Kendall didn't hurt my feelings. But that was impossible. Kendall had already managed to make me feel like an under-dressed slut who didn't deserve to be on the road with him. He had called me a whore, acted like I didn't have talent and made it seem like I slept with every guy I met. There was only so much of this I could take and the tour hadn't even started. It stretched ahead of me and even though I should have been excited, I felt nothing but dread.

"I'm just not sure I can take three months of this," I admitted wearily. "I can't deal with a whole summer with Kendall Knight."

AN: As you can see Gustavo likes the song and Kendall and Elle are going back and forth when it comes to a friendship. The next chapter is when the tour starts and someone makes a surprise visit to Elle. I hope you enjoy and stay tuned. I will be updating on March 13th around 6:30 PM. I hope you tune in then! Thanks so much!