Sorry for the delay, enjoy the next chapter. One change to this story is I'm going to try and change the lyrics to reflect the scenario but still follow the tune of the song. Hopefully it works.
Disclaimer: I do not own the show or any characters.
Aerrow opens Finn's fridge, cringing as the strong odour wafts around his nostrils. He pokes his head over the door to spy the blonde lounging on his distressed couch, a tumbler of scotch in his hand.
"Dude, you just got paid," the redhead addresses him. "How come there's nothing here to eat."
"Dude, we just got paid nicely," he begins, standing up and leaning on the island counters of the kitchen. His glossed eyes sparkle. "We should be eating like Kings. For example-"
He holds up his glass and swirls the maple coloured liquid, ice clinking lyrically. "This fine blend set me back almost half of my cut from last night."
Aerrow turns up his nose. "You're kidding?" He notices the glass bottle already half empty perched on the kitchen counter. "It's ten in the morning. How are you still drinking this?"
"Can't afford not to," he replies casually. "So you up for more training today?"
"Yeah, definitely."
Finn burps behind his hand, screwing up his face in reflex of the after-taste. "But maybe breakfast first. I'm sure Stacey's got those amazing pancakes working today."
Uneasiness crosses the redhead's face. "I don't exactly think I'm allowed back into that diner."
"Look, no one saw your hair that night," he explains, taking a quick glance upwards to his guest's head. "And besides, after last night, everyone knows what colour your hair is, and it doesn't matter. The colour of your hair doesn't make you a good fighter; your natural talent and your training do that. You need to get used to your new name and identity in this world."
"But it's been so easy to hide it since before I came here," he flicks a crumb. "I'm comfortable being anonymous."
"Anonymity won't get you the big bucks," Finn rubs his thumb and forefinger together, a sparkle in his blue eyes. "Now come on. I'm starving, and we gotta get you to Piper before your match this Friday."
Finn leaves the kitchen, Aerrow nodding numbly in response. His eyes widen in fear as the fighter's words registered in his head.
"Wait, I have a match Friday?"
"You kicked ass this weekend," Finn compliments his opponent, throwing playful punches in his direction. Aerrow blocks him with a new-found accuracy.
"I can't believe it. Three matches won over three nights. I never thought I'd get to this level."
His words fall into silence when Aerrow notices Finn sprinting to his bag.
Piper continues to pound at a punching bag in the corner, muttering to herself.
'I still don't believe it. Those opponents looked way too easy.'
The blonde returns, holding up a newspaper proudly. The waving white movement catches Piper's eye, turning off her music and jogging over to the pair.
"You will never guess what I found this morning," he thumbs through the pages, opening to a page near the back of the sports section.
"What?"
"Feast your eyes on 'Red Aerrow; this season's hottest boxer.'" read the caption. A low quality photo of Aerrow in the ring stares back at the readers. The novice boxer takes the paper into his hold; his mouth ajar.
"Brace yourself," Piper's bored tone catches everyone's attention, eyes skimming the inflated article. "You're going to become quite popular."
Finn snatches the paper out of his hands. "This is perfect. Any match from now on will bring in way more commission."
"Does this mean matches will come easily?" Aerrow eager voice spreads a smile on Finn. The paper is taken from his hands.
"Man, we won't have any trouble lining up new acts for you," he high-fives the red glove. "We need to go out and celebrate. Dinner's on me."
"We can't. Aerrow and I are having dinner."
Her words catch both boys off guard.
"We are?"
"You are?"
Piper folds the newspaper, slapping it to Aerrow's chest.
"Sure. You hungry? I know a place," she throws her bag casually over her shoulder, followed closely by the redhead. Finn watches on in surprise.
"What about me?"
Outside, a light dusk breeze ruffles autumn leaves. Piper grabs the helmet off her bike, tossing the other to her companion. Her sharp eyes catch the gleam in his as he eyes the vehicle.
"You wanna drive?"
His wide smile says it all. Slapping the helmet onto his head, he leaps onto the seat and kick starts the engine, enjoying the revs of the Harley Davidson one too many times more than necessary. He cocks his head in an unspoken message to climb aboard, which the girl abides.
He pushes off the ground, wavering slightly at the unfamiliar sensation of the heavy vehicle underneath him. Instincts take control as he speeds off down the dry road. His boyish smile goes unnoticed by her as he twists the throttle down. The action is surprising, forcing Piper to tighten her grip around his waist.
Aerrow rides, tilting the ride on occasion to test its stamina. He's a natural, speeding around corners and accelerating where he can. Piper sits tight behind him, closing her eyes and listening to the sound of his laughter carrying towards her. She lifts her head at the slowing of the bike when he realises he has no destination.
"So…where exactly is this food?"
A dewy patch of grass overlooks the high skyscrapers of Trenich. Piper pulls a picnic blanket out of a brown satchel bag strapped to the motorbike, setting up their dining area. Aerrow sits down next to her, handing over a take away box. They sit together, chewing their dinner and staring at the landscape.
"You're getting better." Piper mumbles as she chews her noodles. Aerrow pokes inside his box with his chopsticks. With full cheeks, he nods modestly as though thoughtfully agreeing with her. With a quick glance back up at him, Piper brings her attention back to the contents of her Chinese take-out box. Aerrow slows down his chewing, staring at her downcast head. With a dramatic sigh, he slumps his shoulders and gazes out at the scenery.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
The scene in front of him is breathtaking. The outline of the city maps against a background of navy blue sky, dotted with twinkling stars. "I've never seen this side of the city before."
"It's pretty rare," Piper breaks her silence. "Only those who can appreciate it get to see it."
His chewing slows to a stop.
"Was there a reason you invited me to dinner?"
The girl beside him sighs, swallowing her food. "I suppose to tell you to be cautious," she continues with his confused expression. "Don't get a big head; I've seen it before from people like you and it never ends well."
He cocks a sly smile. "Are you saying this because you believe I could go a long way?"
"See? There's that big head I'm talking about."
"Piper," he puts his box down on the picnic rug, facing her directly. He takes her cold hand into his. "I'd hope you'd know that I'm not like that and could never be like that. I'm only where I am because of you and Finn."
"It's Finn I'm worried about too," she pokes at the last of her meal. "Like I said, I've seen it before."
He stands with her, cleaning up after themselves. She folds the blanket neatly in her arms, avoiding his gaze. "But…I have some faith in you. We better head back; I'm freezing."
The midday sun stings heat into the air. Outside the gymnasium, Finn stands with Aerrow on crunching gravel as he introduces the novice boxer to his new 'entourage'.
"These guys will be in charge of your life," he waves a hand between the young audience, all eyes on Aerrow. "I know a lot of them from around the area. We're going to need them before your big interview."
Green eyes grow wide. "An interview? How did you set all this up?"
"I told you, I'm your manager and you need to trust me. I'm working on getting your name out there."
The garage doors slid open with a hard creak. Piper exits out casually, shielding the sun with her hand.
'What have you done Finn?' her thoughts grow with anger. She walks up to the group, noticing the admiring eyes of the posse darting between herself and Aerrow. Her lips press together tightly.
"And when were you going to tell me about this?" her voice scrapes across grit teeth. Finn's flinch is only noticeable to Piper.
"Don't worry, we just need a couple of people to help us out," he gazes lovingly at the group, ignorant to her glare.
"It's too much too soon," she argues, standing beside him. "These last fights have been really straight-forward. Don't you think you and I are enough to manage him?"
He throws his body in exhaustion. "How about you let Aerrow choose?"
Aerrow looks between his two friends.
"Look guys, I don't want to come between you-"
"Just what exactly do you think you're doing? You highlight all the good things, but never show the background work," Piper shrieks, turning from Finn to Aerrow. "I don't know where you're going with this, or when you're coming back. If you want to return, the key's under the mat. You need to shed the 'Celebrity' attitude before your next fight. Just get your ass inside."
"I cancelled the fight."
Consecutive shivers snake down Finn's spine at the glare from Piper.
"What?"
"The interview," he says obviously. "There's no time to make it to both, and in the long run, publicity will pay off better. Look, this world doesn't come with rules to play by, but we're making it up as we go along and trying to get by. And sure, this life can be wild when we don't know where we're at, but it's comforting to know that you'll be here when we get back."
"I wouldn't count on that," she argues challengingly, both fighters ignorant to the uncomfortable crowd listening in on their fight. "He's straying too far from the real fight, he needs to get his head right."
The girls of the entourage stand behind the female fighter, eyes in intense fight against their male counterparts behind Finn. Aerrow quickly jumps between the stand-off, his back to the blonde as he tries to reason with Piper.
"You've been nothing but fantastic and I'd never take you for granted. Anyone else would've given up, but you, you truly understand me. And the fact you stood beside me every time you heard anything. You deserve all the awards for putting up with everything," the group of men clap together, bowing and praising the famed fighter.
"Let the papers talk, talk, talk cause we're not listening. Let them mock, mock, mock since we're not watching because you've taught me to be above all that, and now their cards are showin'. They weren't expecting us to ignore them, and now their pride's are swallowin'."
"If you keep this up, this glamour lifestyle that Finn's dragging you into, I won't be able to help you. I don't care what you dream for, as long as I'm the one you hold, no," she batters her eyelashes teasingly, before her attitude changes to cold. "I don't care why you're leaving. You'll miss me when you're alone."
The entourage pan out, leaving Piper alone for her final plea. "I don't know, oh oh oh oh, where you heading, just get yourself back home."
With arms spread wide, Aerrow steps forward, showing her everything she sees is what she'll get.
"I'm home baby," he smiles brightly, applause ringing out from the entourage. Piper nods approvingly, but is short lived as Finn looms over his shoulder, baring yellow teeth.
"I hate to break up this lovely resolution, but the entourage has already been paid for tonight."
"Well, we all know why you have the name Red in your title," the interviewer questions with a nervous chuckle, darting his eyes up to Aerrow's mop of hair. "But can you tell us how Aerrow came to be and how you chose such a unique identity."
"I chose the name Aerrow because I never really had any direction in my life. Now, I feel like things are falling in to place, like I'm heading to where I need to be."
"Nice monologue," Piper voices to the blonde sitting next to her, eyes still fixed on the interviewee. "Little cheesy to make him say all this. Certainly different from what you told me about him."
"I didn't tell him to say any of this," Finn's comment catches her attention, his voice breathy as though mesmerized. "He's coming up with it all on his own."
"Adding the 'e' into the name, that was just creativity. I've always been interested in air and things that fly. They experience the real freedom, you know. It's not hard to put 'Aero' into your name when you've already got most of the letters."
The host chuckles. "You know what they say; Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. But what would you say to your adoring fans right now?" the crowd bursts into squeals of excitement, dominated by swooning young females. Aerrow moves closer to the microphone.
"Don't be afraid to be yourself," he begins, staring down the barrel of the camera. "There was a time where I would hide things, try and stick to the shadows and go unnoticed, but if I lived that life, I would've wasted away and no one would've remembered me. Make a name for yourself, and show the world what you can do."
Piper and Finn give almost unbelieving stares, an unidentifiable mixture of shock and pride at the young man's speech. The redhead shakes the hand of the host before standing from his blue arm chair, ushered to the side stage and back to his friends.
"How was I?" he asks happily, spreading a big smile. Piper stutters.
"Fantastic," she admits. "When did you prepare all of that?"
"I didn't. To be honest I was just saying what I would've said to the kids, if I had actually thought it through."
Finn slaps his hand on Aerrow's back. "It was beautiful, man," he congratulates, turning to pull back the heavy velvet curtain to catch a glimpse of the crowd. "Girls ate it up. We should do autograph signings and 'meet-and-greets', one hundred dollars a pop, yeah?"
Bit harder, song was more lyrics than movement. R&R