Groaning Keely rolled over, as much as she loved Heart, it was much too soon for the band to be waking her up.

“Hello?” she grumbled groggily into the phone.

“Hello? That's all you've got to say for yourself, hello?” demanded Marissa's voice.

Confused she pried her head from the mattress, looking up to see darkened windows. “What are you on about?”

“You were asleep, weren't you? Of course you were asleep, you never sleep except for when we have things to do. Well, I don't forgive you yet! You've left me alone with these three boys. And I know every one of their crying fan girls dream of this moment, but it's really not all that fun! No, Colton, it's not! So please, please, please come and save me,” she pleaded over the line.

Despite her sleep fogged mind Keely found herself chuckling, rolling over so she could see the roof, her legs feeling awkward bundled up in her jeans after sleeping. “How am I supposed to be saving you?”

“Come over to Seth's. Now!” she demanded.

Shaking her head, Keely shoved herself up into a sitting position, rubbing a hand over her eyes. “Gosh, I'm coming, I'm coming!”

“Good!” said Marissa simply before cutting off the call.

Rolling her eyes she just dropped her phone before climbing out of bed.

Minutes later she had changed from her sleep crusted clothes into a habitual pair of jeans, Warren Zevon t-shirt and jacket before she was heading out the door. There was no reason to linger if she was no longer sleeping, it would just give her time to think, something she really didn't want to do.

As she passed through the lobby Keely couldn't help but wonder if she should get Mr Englis a parting gift. It might have seemed odd to other people, but to her it made sense, the hotel manager had always been very nice to her compared to other people she'd rather not think of. It was an odd thought that she'd be leaving the hotel for tour the next day, especially considering she would likely not ever be coming back unless for a few nights. However her life turned out after the tour, she doubted she'd be living in a hotel in New York for the rest of her life.

After paying the cabbie at the front of Seth's, she quickly pulled her bag over her shoulder and headed up to the top floors, using the elevator thankfully. Her feet were still throbbing from the photo shoot. Once the doors opened, she stepped out and paused immediately, trying to figure out which door would lead to his apartment.

Gulping Keely knocked on one at random.

She had a moment to be relieved before his eyes broadened and a body flung itself at her through the doorway.

“You have no idea how excited I am that you're here,” said Marissa.

Laughing Keely patted the girl's back before shoving her off, as much as she loved Marissa, her hanging around her neck was going to choke Keely especially seeing as the girl was taller than she. “What's so bad that's going on in there?”

“They're boys,” stated Marissa simply, “Having all three of them together is never a good thing for a girl's sanity.”

Although she was confused, Keely just shook her head, following Marissa inside the apartment.

What she saw wasn't what she'd been expecting, especially with the girl's complaining about hanging out with the three boys on her own. The complaining had given her awful ideas of suggestions of orgies, though that was the worst thing she could come up with. Or them planning a murder, but that seemed equally unlikely.

But she just heard Supertramp playing loudly through the room, her knowledgeable ears picking up the sound of Breakfast in America ringing through the room, and her eyes quickly headed in the direction of the record player she remembered in front of the enormous window. Sure enough there was a record spinning, the speakers set up through the room to play the music. And very opposed to the things her mind was making up, she just saw Marco and Colton sitting side by side on the couch their eyes glued to the television screen where they played a video game.

“A girl's sanity?” asked Keely laughing again.

Marissa nodded, wearing a believable expression before saying loudly, “Especially when they've been having a pissing match for the past hour and won't even let me play.”

Snorting Keely just turned away from the girl, dumping her bag on one of the bar stools before walking up to the couch and leaning down. “You two are pathetic,” she whispered resting her arms along the back of the couch with her head between them.

“Like you should talk,” said Marco without even taking his eyes off the screen.

Colton finished the sentence for him, not looking away either, “You were sleeping!”

Glancing around the room already she could feel herself itching to move towards the wall plastered in music. The books were interesting to her too, but it was really the music that got her attention the most, and Keely sincerely doubted that it would ever change. In the end, it was just who she was, and it'd always be that way.

But something else caught her mind as she straightened, leaning her hips against the back of the couch absentmindedly. Where was Seth? She was one hundred percent sure she was in his apartment, but his absence was abundantly clear. Marissa, Colton and Marco, but no Seth... that seemed a bit odd to be honest. Yet her thoughts were interrupted when the one of the boys in front of her leaped up in celebration while the other did so, but he was shouting at the other.

Rolling her eyes at them, Keely noticed that the song Oh Darling was ending as they jumped about in front of her. Having this record, although it was still at home in Bellingham, she knew very well that the song was the end of side a.

It was an easy decision to walk to the record player to flip over the album since her only other option was watching Marco and Colton begin to argue.

Flipping over the album easily, she looked out the window that stretched almost straight from the floor to the roof. Before she hadn't even looked out the window, too distracted by the records, books and picture, but it was worth the pause. The window looked straight over the other buildings giving a clear view of Central Park, the city looked almost surreal from the distance, the lights stringing up to ward off the darkness.

But her attention was once again stolen when the harmonica started in the song, but also a harmonic that began in the room. It sounded exact to the version in Take The Long Way Home except for the fact it was clearly in the room with them.

“Is the game on yet?” asked Seth as she spun around, pulling the harmonica away from his mouth.

Well, that was another instrument she could put on the list for what he could play, she thought, not knowing if she was annoyed with the fact or in awe.

“Ten minutes,” answered Colton easily.

Blinking Keely looked over to Colton who was speaking so smooth while holding Marco in a choke hold. She hadn't even noticed the argument changing into the physical, not to mention that Marco was just not having a good day when it came to fighting with his best friends.

It appeared that Seth was thinking the same thing as well, because he gave Colton a shove as he chuckled so he let go of the poor blonde boy.

“Pizza should be here in about half an hour,” announced Marissa, walking into the living room.

“Thank god,” groaned Seth turning to the kitchen, “I'm starving.”

Shaking her head at the people she called friends, Keely crossed her arms in front of her chest, leaning against the bookshelves, looking out over the city.

Feeling eyes on her, she looked up to see Seth sending her what she assumed would be a fleeting glance from the kitchen. Catching his eye she sent him an easy smile, dipping her hands into the pockets of her jeans. But her gaze was quickly pulled away from him when an arm hooked about her shoulders.

“You know this is now half a celebration party for you,” she pointed out.

Keely snorted, “Some party. But what's the celebration for?”

“For You is number ten on the US Billboard list.”

A smile stretched across her mouth immediately, not in such a state of shock as before. But that did not mean the warm glow in her stomach didn't exist and that she wasn't feeling the urge to jump up and down or at least start dancing. “Really?”

Marissa nodded, returning her look with a smile. “Yeah, Seth told us. He has the newspaper for you if you bug him for it. And it's already number twenty one in the UK.”

The last bit had her blinking. “Seriously, it's on the UK charts too?!”

“Yeah, so this is your party, three boys playing video games and then watching a hockey game with pizza. I wanted to have something bigger, maybe a bit more glamorous, but I was out voted,” said Marissa in a tone to say clearly that it wasn't her fault whatsoever.

Covering her mouth with her hand, Keely could feel the smile growing behind the hand, but she still managed to shake her head at Marissa. “No, it's fine, I like this better anyways.”

“Colton if you do that I'm-”

Not hearing all of Marissa's words, and oddly not caring about what Colton was doing or what she was about to do, Keely just looked out the window again. New York looked so alive in the night time, so unlike what it was like in Bellingham. You could drive down the roads at three in the morning and not see a soul.

She really did like it a whole lot more in the New York than back at home, she just liked the feel of the city. If everything turned out right and she made a second album after this one Keely could see herself getting an apartment in New York. She simply could not see herself moving back to Bellingham, yes, going back for visits because her only family lived there even with everything happening between them, but she'd want to live in the city. No going to any of the other UAE Recording Studios that stretched across the entire United States, her heart was in New York City, plain and simple.

Plus she doubted she could leave these people, as odd as it sounded. When she'd first met all of them, she hadn't expected to like a single one, and they now were some of the closest friends she had, understood her better than even Joe ever had. In her mind she knew she'd have to leave them eventually even if she was successful, they weren't in a band together. Marissa was solo, the boys were grouped together and then there was her. So, yes, they would be separated for tours around the country, world wide tours too. She never wanted another producer other than Seth, but that didn't mean they'd be together all the time, just the time they spent in the studio.

And if she continued on this honest streak she was into lately, Keely knew there was no one better to produce her. She couldn't explain it, but she knew it was true.

With that thought in mind she shoved up from her slouched position on the bookshelf, avoided the wildly moving arms of Ms Marissa James and dodged Marco all in order to get back to the open kitchen.

“So you've got me another newspaper?” she asked grinning as she leaned her arms against the island.

Sending a glance in her direction, Seth nodded before raising his arm to dig through a cupboard. “Yeah, it's in the music room, I'll get it for you later,” he answered, dropping his arm only when he caught a box of cookies.

“You have a music room here too?” Didn't that make the need of the warehouse kind of void?

As if guessing her thoughts, he replied, “Yeah, I got the room sound proofed so I can still play in here without getting kicked out of the building. We rented the warehouse out first when each of us were living in the crappiest buildings. The apartment I was living literally had one room and I could barely play an acoustic without somebody breaking down me door.”

In her confusion, Keely felt her nose wrinkle slightly. He was living in an one room apartment when he came to New York? Her hotel room was half the size of her entire house back home. “Maureen didn't want to set you up with some place nicer?”

Shaking his head, Seth dug through the box to find the food, popping a cookie into his mouth. “Maureen didn't own UAE then, she was just a scout with a rich background.”

“What happened?”

“She bought out that old bastard,” he returned, shrugging as he leaned against the counter behind him. “Be thankful she owns it now, you wouldn't meet the guy.”

Arching an eyebrow, Keely asked, “That old bastard?”

“And that's putting it nicely,” answered Seth with a smirk.

Shaking her head she moved around the island to the inside of the kitchen where Seth was still standing. Opening up the fridge and after a quick inspection, Keely pulled out a water bottle. Questioningly she held it up, looking at Seth with a raised eyebrow, he quickly nodded a yes to her silent question so she grabbed a second one.

After a moment of consideration, she decided to slide one of the bottle along the counter to him instead of tossing it, if she threw the thing Keely wasn't sure whether everything would go unscathed.

Snatching it up he took a step forward, but quickly stopped when his phone rang.

Hearing him swear under his breath, she hastily took a sip of her drink to stop herself from grinning.

“Hey,” he said into the phone, his voice rougher than normal. “Yeah, yeah, she's with me right now.” As he said the words, Seth sent her a slightly concerned look, his eyes looking darker than normal as he rubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah, sure, one second, I'll put you on speaker.”

“Who is it?” whispered Keely as he pulled the phone away from his ear, feeling an uneasy sensation in the pit of her stomach.

“Ms Jones.”

“What does she want?”

Hearing Colton's voice much closer than expected, she jolted slightly, looking across the island to see the other three standing there. Keely didn't even have time to think about how she had been so preoccupied that she hadn't noticed their approach, she just moved forward beside Seth as he set the phone down in the middle of the island.

Not liking the tensing in her stomach and the tight grip around her heart as it beat hysterically, she hooked her hands together on top of the counter, not even noticing the fact that she was leaning against Seth slightly as she shared a bewildered look with Marissa over the counter.

“Are you there?” asked Maureen's voice, slightly wavering over the phone line.

All five of them chorused, “Yes.”

There was a long pause before Ms Jones' voice said, “Well, I've got some bad news for you lot.”

Keely chewed on her bottom lip anxiously, imagining all sorts of horrible possibilities. They couldn't be dropping her from the label, right? Not when she was number ten on the charts. She gulped before croaking out, “What is it?”

“The Cavern Jets have backed out of being your back up band.”

A longer pause broke between them, all eyes in the room flashing towards her.

It might have not been as bad as she expected, but it was still bad. “What?!” she cried out, “Why?!”

“Don't blame the band,” said Maureen hurriedly. “They wanted to stay on the tour, but their manager is refusing to let them get their names mixed up with you right now.”

Narrowing her eyes, Keely asked, “What does that mean?”

The woman gave an audible sigh. “You were arrested, Keely! For underage drinking, not to mention the fact that the paparazzi is spreading around the fact that you and Seth were arrested for a bar fight. Their manager doesn't want them to be anywhere near you right now.”

Sharing a look with Seth, she looked back down to the phone. “Who's their manager?”

Another pause happened, but when Maureen spoke again, there was a hint of laughter in her voice, “Jordan's mother.”

Letting out a loud breath and mumbling, “Of course it is,” as she dropped her forehead upon the cool granite, feeling Seth's arm reaching around her. She didn't know if he was doing it for support or because he thought she might literally fall down, but she wasn't complaining. She needed all the support in the world at that moment, whether it be physical or mental.

“So what does that mean?” she asked finally, pulling herself up so she leaned forward upon her forearms on the counter, Seth's arm still around her waist. “The tour starts tomorrow and I don't have a band, does that mean I'm off the whole tour?”

“No!” the woman explained and Keely gave a loud sigh of relief, rubbing her temples. “I've called up the other back up band you two liked, The Bitter Rivals, and they're more than willing to do the tour with you. You'll just have to have your first practice with them at your sound check tomorrow, so you guys might be out of sync for the concert.”

“Okay, okay,” murmured Keely, feeling the hold on her heart loosen. “Is that it? Everything's going to be okay?”

“Not exactly.”

“Huh?”

“While they're willing to go on tour with you, they have their own tour bus and aren't quite willing to share with you. Something about the fact they're all at least in their thirties and you're only a couple months over eighteen,” answered Maureen hesitantly.

Frowning, she responded, “Does that mean I get the tour bus you got me and the Cavern Jets all to myself?”

“No, I can't afford to have a single artist being driven across the country in a tour bus.”

“So what does that mean?” Keely enquired, tipping her chin up so she could share a confused look with Seth.

“It means that since Mr James refuses to let you join him and Marissa on her tour bus, you're being shoved in with NSR.”

Looking at the band with wide eyes, she yelped, “What?”

“I'll talk to you tomorrow,” said Maureen hastily before the call was disconnected.

Stepping hastily away from Seth so his arm fell away from her, Keely covered her mouth with her hands, staring at them with wide eyes. Seth had an unreadable look in his eyes as he looked at her while Marco and Colton shared a knowing look that she didn't understand. “I,” she began with great difficulty, “Have to share a tour bus with you?”

Abruptly Marco's face broke into a wide grin. “Oh, this is gonna be fun, you have no idea. We've never had a girl on the tour bus with us before.”

And that did not sound like good news to Keely.

“Oh, look!” exclaimed Colton, spinning around to the television propped up against the window. “The game's on now!”

Although the first half on the night was spent with Keely chewing nervously on her finger nails, sitting beside Marissa on the loveseat, after that part, it turned into a nice night.

She just had to have a little time to get used to the bomb that had been dropped on her head.

Not only was she having to change bands from a band that she'd practiced for weeks with, who's ages were close to hers and she had good musical chemistry with to a band she'd only seen play once and who every member had at least twelve years on her. But she was now going to be sharing a tour bus with this certain group of guys, and she knew for a fact it wouldn't be good for her sanity. She now knew where Marissa was coming from, but multiplied by about a billion.

Only a little bit before had she'd been thinking that she didn't want to leave those boys, but she hadn't meant that she wanted to live with them for the whole tour either. She'd never made that wish, she was sure!

But after continuous prodding by both the boys and Marissa, Keely found herself being brought into the night more. And eventually she was able to enjoy herself.

If she could enjoy herself with them as she always did, that meant they wouldn't kill each other on tour, right? But she quickly discarded of that rationalization, countless bands had enjoyed hanging out with each other but almost killed each other on the road and then broke up afterwards. One thing was sure, it wasn't going to be easy.

Yet she was able to drive it from her mind, even though she wasn't particularly focused upon the game that the boys appeared to be devoted to.

In all she just chatted with Marissa as they munched through the pizzas that had been ordered as well as the constant snacks, since the boys were never ending pits. They also laughed at the boys as they started to shout at the television, all sitting on the couch, Marco and Colton on the outsides while Seth sat in the middle, all three paying rapt attention to every second of the game. There was even a point where a fight broke out on the ice, and while Keely winced, the boys jumped onto their feet and started shouting encouragement as they shoved each other, simply making her and Marissa laugh at them.

When the game ended, they just continued to talk, although the boys joined in at that point. Keely departing the conversation halfway through to find music to put on as she drooled over the music collection on the shelves. Eventually choosing Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline album.

But when she turned around, she found the positions had changed without her knowledge. Marissa sitting beside Colton, his arm twined around her shoulder on the loveseat, Marco remained lonely on the large couch while Seth had dropped into the arm chair, one of his legs propped over the arm as he leaned his back against the opposite one. And somehow he had managed to get himself one of his many guitars, this time a simple acoustic, and he was strumming it absently as he chatted with the rest of the people.

Sitting cross legged on the couch with Marco, Keely was in time to catch the end of their conversation with Bob Dylan playing smoothly behind them.

But she became more focused on looking at Seth with wide eyes. “You have gold records in your music room here?!”

“Did you expect me to leave them in the warehouse?” he snorted incredulously.

“Which ones are they?”

He gave another snort, but answered all the same, “Well, none of ours. Just as many old rock albums as I could get my hands on.”

“C'mon,” Keely ordered, gripping Marco by the hand without so much as a glance at him as she dragged him up with her. “You're showing me them.”

“You let her break them, I'll kick your ass Marco,” said Seth, not looking up from his guitar.

Marco looked back at him confused, “Why me?!”

“I can't punch her, but I can punch you,” Seth rationalized, strumming.

Rolling her eyes, Keely tugged on Marco's hand until he began to show her the way to the music room. She didn't even pay attention to the words he was saying, feeling the excitement pulse through her body, she was going to see old rock and roll gold albums!

And sure enough when Marco pushed open one of the doors in the hall, her eyes immediately went to the walls, and found said gold records. She saw one from The Doors, a Bowie, Hendrix, Zeppelin, and more and more. Just how much money did Seth have if he could pay for all of these? They had to be worth more than all the money she possessed. She might be recording an album, but so far it hadn't began paying yet.

It appeared she spent too long mooning over the gold albums in Seth's music room, because Marco just left her in there. And soon enough she found her attention turning to the instruments in the room, not only the gold records. All sorts of guitars, although there weren't as many in the warehouse, piano, keyboard, mellotron, a set of drums and the list kept going on until it hit further into instruments like violins.

Shaking her head at that, Keely made her way back to the room, following the sound of Bob Dylan's Lay Lady Lay.

But when she got there, she just found Seth in the same position but no one else.

“Where is everybody?” she asked, allowing herself to fall over the arm of the couch so she landed on her back with her legs propped upon the arm.

Glancing up at her, he began to strum along with Bob Dylan, his eyes looking slightly out of focus. “Oh, they all went back to their apartments. Apparently wanting to sleep or something before the show tomorrow.”

Sighing, she dropped her hands on her flat stomach, looking up at the ceiling. “So have you mastered the drums yet?”

“I'm getting there,” he answered simply.

Turning her eyes back to him, Keely watched silently as he started to sing with Dylan as well, their eyes meeting.

“Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed

Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile

Until the break of day, let me see you make him smile

His clothes are dirty but his hands are clean

And you're the best thing that he's ever seen.

Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile

Why wait any longer for the world to begin

You can have your cake and eat it too

Why wait any longer for the one you love

When he's standing in front of you.”

Feeling the shiver run up her spine as she listened to his voice, Keely hastily shoved herself up from the couch. “I should go too,” she explained, hastily grabbing her bag as she mentally hated herself for thinking of that moment back at the studio. She did realize that she had just allowed herself to think of him as a friend, not to mention the fact that he had a girlfriend.

“I can give you a ride back home,” he offered, grabbing the guitar by the neck and pulling himself off the armchair.

“Nope, I'm good,” she replied quickly, sending him on look as she rushed out the door.

But she still leaned on it afterwards outside his apartment.

God, she was such an idiot, she thought, rubbing her hands over her eyes.

The next day Keely walked down a hall in just an enormous baggy gray sweater, her hands stuck into her pocket.

So far no one had shown up for the sound check.

In fact, she was so early that the stage guys hadn't even shown up to put together their set.

The stadium was eerily empty.

Walking out of the hall, Keely hastily cut through back the back and walked out onto the simple black stage. All that was set up in the whole arena was the stage and a set of drums shoved onto the side, not even chairs – that would be ignored of course – in the floor area had been set up. And stepping into the middle of the stage, she pulled herself to a stop.

It looked enormous and she could feel the hysterical bubble of sickness welling up inside of her as she looked around. The stadium simply looked black, all the seats empty and not a soul in sight. Would it look bigger or smaller when people filled it? In her experience it looked smaller with people inside, but her only experience came from watching concerts, she'd never been in the position to be playing to a stadium. Her school at a bonfire? Yes. A club full of people? On more than occasion. A hockey stadium? No way in bloody hell.

She couldn't even find comfort in the fact that the stadium wasn't sold out, because it was only about a hundred tickets that hadn't been sold. That wouldn't make much of an impact concerning the couple thousand that would be stuffed inside as she played her first real show.

Was it strange that she could feel both excitement and fear as she looked around the black stadium? Because she could feel that familiar sensation vibrating along her skin at the thought of her first show, but it was being overpowered by the also familiar feeling of her stomach pressing against her throat as she looked around.

Twirling around once to take in the stadium at all sides, Keely plopped down on the ground, her eyes wide as she continued to take in stock of her surroundings.

In order to hold herself together, she drew her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as she rested her chin upon her knees. Yes, fear was definitely the most potent emotion, even if excitement was still there.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Keely turned her head so she could look to back stage.

Oddly she wasn't surprised when Seth emerged, his hair sticking up at the front.

“What are you doing here?” she asked in her normal voice, it echoing slightly in the empty space. “Your sound check isn't until after mine, and I'm way too early.”

“At least we know the acoustics in here are good,” Seth observed sitting beside her.

Resting her cheek on her knees, Keely just looked at him for a moment, taking in everything from the chain he always wore around his neck all the way to the remnants of a sleepless night beneath his eyes. “What are you doing here?” she repeated.

He shrugged looking forward. “I like seeing the stadium when its empty, it looks completely different.”

“I'm afraid that when I see how different it is from stage I'm just going to vomit,” Keely admitted.

Grinning he knocked his shoulder against hers. “You'll be fine once you start playing, just play the moment you get on stage, because I don't think the fans will want you puking on them.”

“Ha ha,” she answered sarcastically.

Still grinning, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Here, this might make you feel better.”

Curious, Keely took the phone that he offered, looking down at the screen.

“That's the picture they're going to be using for the magazine.”

Biting on the side of her lip she took in the photo. All their clothes were in black and white, although she could remember that from the shoot the day before, even the guitars they were holding in the black and white phase as well as the white drum sticks Colton had.

She and Seth were standing in the middle. She was turned to him as he faced the camera, one of her arms hooked over the shoulder closest to her, her hand hanging in front of his chest. Her face was turned to the camera, the casual red curls framing her unsmiling face, yet she wasn't frowning at the camera either, her lips just slightly parted. Her hand at the side was holding onto the neck of the guitar that was hanging at her side, attached to her just by that and the guitar strap. Seth on the other hand had his go to hell smirk playing on the edges of his mouth as he faced the camera, his hair sexily rumpled while his guitar was swung around to his side. One of his hands were shoved into the pocket of his jeans while the other was on her waist.

To their sides stood Colton and Marco. Colton was on her side, angled slightly towards her, his arms crossed in front of his chest, the drumsticks stuffed into his back pocket as he wore a serious face at the camera. Marco was holding his bass in front of him, one hand on the neck and the other looking as if he was ready to play, he too angled slightly towards Seth as he wore a serious expression as well, looking towards the camera.

“It's a good picture,” Keely observed, her eyes swallowing the photo.

That was true, the boys looking their usually good looking selves and she wasn't looking too bad herself. The heels were nice though, they made her tall enough that she could hold her own beside those boys although they all stood above her.

Although she was still rather uncomfortable about the fact that photo would be going world wide with the those fish nets she was wearing, held up by garters on the shorts that looked even more like underwear in the photo. She bit down on her lip to keep in her hysterical giggle at the thought of her father seeing this, oh, he'd be so pleased.

“Feel a bit better?” he asked, taking his phone back to stuff into the front pocket of his jeans.

Putting cheek back onto her knees Keely smiled warmly at him, answering with a simple, “Yes.”

“Oh god,” she muttered, gripping the edges of the toilet roughly and, the muscles in her stomach and throat clenching painfully as she felt what was in her stomach hurl itself into the toilet. Moaning, she brushed her bangs away from her face, her legs feeling awkwardly cold against the tiled floor.

Puking was the worst feeling in the world, she knew that very well by then.

Especially seeing as this was the third time in the past hour.

She was sure by this point that the coffee she'd only drank that day was long gone by that time.

Ignoring the sounds of Marco and Colton outside of the bathroom as they tried to speak to her, Keely just groaned and rubbed her forehead. The sound check with her new back up band hadn't been awful, they just didn't seem all that excited to be backing her up. But this reaction had come from peeking through to the stadium when it had filled up. Seth may be right about her just needing to play her music and she'd forget about everything else, but so far she wasn't even able to get up and play since she was too busy puking.

“Hey, rebel,” came Seth's voice from the other side of the door as well as demanding rapping on the door. “Open the door, c'mon.”

Leaning her head upon her hand, Keely closed her head, groaning loudly, “Go away Seth.”

“No,” he replied stubbornly, his knocking ceaseless, “Just open the bloody door.”

Moaning she shoved herself up from the toilet, if he continued knocking like that she'd just get a headache too. “What?” she asked grumpily as she swung open the door, leaning against the door frame.

He just smiled at her, his dimple flashing as he leaned against the doorjamb as well, moving closer than was comfortable, especially seeing as she'd just been vomiting.

“I don't like optimism right now,” she grumbled.

Ignoring her, Seth just asked, “How many times have you puked?”

“Oh fuck Seth, just leave me alone.”

Before she could slam the door on him, he hastily put a hand on the door, easily stopping the motion. “Sorry, sorry, I just wanted to-”

“You've got five minutes, Ms Staub!” called one of the stage crew.

“Oh god,” she moaned, “I'm going to puke again.”

Seth chuckled, but hastily cut off as she glared at him. “Here, I've got something for you,” he said, digging through his pocket.

“You're just full of gifts today,” Keely mumbled.

A grin twitched his lips, but he just shoved something in to her hand.

Despite herself she instantly looked into her hand, feeling a frown move onto her face. “I think having a pick on a necklace is kind of pointless, Ryan.”

He rolled his eyes, plucking it up by the black rope and holding it in front of her face. “It's not for playing, rebel. Tyler gave this to me on my first show of my first tour. His producer gave it to him on his first show of his first tour, it's supposed to go down like that I guess, but Tyler knew he was never going to be a producer so he gave it to me, and now I'm giving it to you.”

Hurriedly Keely snatched it from his hands, looking at the pick closely.

“Tyler said that his producer told him it belonged to Robert Johnson, but I think some guy just bought it and told his artist that.”

“How far do we know it goes back to for sure?”

Seth shrugged, leaning against the doorjamb again. “At least to the seventies, there's some rumors about Angus Young, but I don't know.”

Grinning Keely looked up at him. “So it's mine now?”

“Yeah, I said I was giving it to you didn't I?”

Smiling she just leaned against the other side of the door frame, holding the necklace in her hand absently as she looked up at him. Abruptly he reached out, and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her hair, and, as happened every time he did so, Keely felt her breath catch.

“Staub, you're on!”

“Oh go-” she began, the panic she'd forgotten momentarily coming back.

“Here,” Seth murmured, plucking the guitar up from the its position beside the door and pressing it into her hands. “Just focus on the music, rebel. Don't worry about it, you're going to be amazing.”

Pulling in a deep breath Keely sent him a tight smile, taking the guitar and side stepping him as she walked towards the opening to the stage. She could hear the crowd cheering in excitement, although she didn't know if that was for her or the anticipation of the next acts coming on after her. Slipping the guitar strap from around her shoulders, Keely hastily pulled off her mother's necklace, shoving it into her pocket and putting on the one Seth gave her instead.

Holding in a deep breath, she looked out onto the stage, seeing her band waiting on the stage for her impatiently. Putting her hands on the familiar body of the guitar, Keely let out the breath and stepped onto the stage.

“Thanks so much, and enjoy the rest of the show!” Keely said into the microphone in an easy voice an hour later, smiling at the crowd that was surging in front of her. She couldn't even make out the faces of the people in the nose bleed section, but she felt comfortable, that protective barrier of music surrounding her.

With one last smile at the crowd, she turned on her heel and walked backstage, the smile pressing on her face hugely as she moved calmly away, handing her guitar away to one of the stage crew before she left the stage.

There was no doubt in her mind that she would be nervous again for the next show, Keely doubted anyone could be completely calm in front of that many people, but in all honesty she'd loved it. Maybe a lot of the people in the crowd still had no idea who she was, yet that glow she'd felt while playing her own music to that many people had been worth any butterflies, or rather birds of prey, flapping around in her stomach. And when she'd heard people singing along with her during For You, she couldn't even come up with the right words to explain it. Almost a mixture of pride, happiness, complete joy, incomparable warm feeling in her stomach, but even that didn't seem right.

Seeing the boys waiting for her backstage, Keely waited until she was out of sight from the crowd before she gave a loud squeal and threw herself at Seth.

Her arms around his neck, she breathed in his scent unashamedly, the only thing she could identify being plain soap and the rest could only be him. The smile still on her face as she buried her face into the crook of his neck as she felt his strong arms hold her around the waist.

Pushing herself away from him, she moved onto the other boys, being swung off her feet as she laughed by both of them.

“Oh, god, that has to be better than any drugs on the face of the earth,” she laughed exhilaratedly.

But after only moments of talking to them about the performance, they were called on stage; Marco and Colton heading straight away, but Seth lagged behind.

“You were incredible,” he told her, the dimple back again.

“Thanks,” she smiled, feeling heat creep up her cheeks.

How come she only blushed when Seth said things like that? It never happened with anyone else.

“Ryan, you need to get on now!” someone shouted.

“Go,” Keely laughed giving him a shove.

Sending her one last smile, he hastily departed, heading towards the stage.

Following more slowly behind, Keely leaned against the wall as she watched them all begin the concert, working the crowd so easily with a mixture of humor and excitement that she hadn't noticed when she'd seen them in Bellingham.

Careful to stay hidden from the entire crowd, she found she couldn't tear herself away from watching them. They were forever going to be that band she'd never get tired of watching, weren't they? Not with Seth's hands bringing out the sound from that guitar with enough skill to make someone weep while Marco's smooth bass was always perfect, while Colton could give so much energy into playing the drums it was almost impossible for him to be sitting the whole time. Then there was when one of them would laugh, or you could tell they were speaking or making a joke between them on stage.

It was odd how they could make a show seem so perfectly personal between them, but at the same time draw the crowd into being a part of it.

And when they took the time to stop their original songs to add in a cover, Keely found herself laughing as they began to play Jet's Are You Gonna Be My Girl.

“Go!

So 1, 2, 3, take my hand and come with me

because you look so fine

and i really wanna make you mine.”

“Hey,” said Keely absently when Marissa came to her side, wearing her stage outfit that looked rather outrageous. She was much too focused on watching the boys moving perfectly around the stage together.

“Hi,” answered Marissa, looking glum, “How's Seth?”

“I say you look so fine

that I really wanna make you mine.

Oh, 4,5,6 c'mon and get your kicks

now you don't need that money

when you look like that, do ya honey.”

“What are you talking about?” Keely asked, frowning, prying her eyes away from the boys.

Marissa blinked at her confused. “About the whole Rachael thing.”

“What are you talking about?” she repeated.

“Big black boots,

long brown hair,

she's so sweet

with her get back stare.

“Well I could see,

you home with me,

but you were with another man, yea!

I know we,

ain't got much to say,

before I let you get away, yea!

I said, are you gonna be my girl?”

Her confused look turned incredulous. “You don't know? Well, maybe Seth just didn't tell you or you just didn't notice.”

Glancing back to the stage Keely watched as Seth moved back to the microphone, his hands moving as if they simply knew what to do as he made his voice more raspy for the song. “Well, I don't know what you're talking about, but if there was something wrong with Seth, he'd tell me, and if he didn't, I'd know.”

“Well, so 1,2,3, take my hand and come with me

because you look so fine

and I really wanna make you mine.”

Groaning Marissa rubbed a hand over her face. “Well, this should be enjoyable,” she murmured sarcastically, shoving a magazine in Keely's hands.

At first she was a little skeptical, but then she felt her eyes widen as she looked down at the two pictures on the magazine.

“I say you look so fine

that I really wanna make you mine.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Marissa, reading the expression on Keely's face easily.

But she was still way too busy on looking at the picture to respond readily. On the left was Ms Rachael Gosling in a very passionate scene, although it was not with her boyfriend but instead with Edward Lorry. And on the right was a picture of Seth, his arm wrapped around the shoulders of some girl Keely had never seen in her life as they pushed through the doors to a hotel.

“He doesn't know,” Keely murmured, looking back up at the stage where they continued to play. He looked towards her and sent her a smile, and she found herself forcing a smile in his direction for the first time.

“Oh, 4,5,6 c'mon and get your kicks

now you don't need that money

with a face like that, do ya.”

Chewing on her lip, Keely looked back down at the magazine in her hand, feeling that sick feeling coming back into her stomach as she looked down at Seth heading with some girl in to a hotel room. What was that about? Why should she even care?

“Do you think he cheated on Rachael?” she asked, looking at Marissa, feeling uncertain. It was clear one was cheating, but the other picture not so much.

“Big black boots,

long brown hair,

she's so sweet

with her jet back stare.”

Marissa gave a snort. “It's Seth, Keely. I love the boy like my brother, but it's still Seth.”

“And what's that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I'd be surprised if he wasn't cheating.”

“Well I could see,

you home with me,

but you were with another man, yea!

I know we,

ain't got much to say,

before I let you get away, yea!

I said, are you gonna be my girl?”

“Well, it's not for sure,” Keely murmured, looking down again.

It was hard to sympathize with Rachael, especially seeing as she was cheating on Seth as well. But Keely had had a cheating boyfriend, and when people talk about sleeping with him in front of you at the cafeteria, it's not a good idea. So, yes, she could sympathize with the girl, but she was more disposed to side with Seth. At least for now.

“Oh yea. Oh yea. C'mon!

I could see,

you home with me,

but you were with another man, yea!

I know we,

ain't got much to say,

before I let you get away, yea!

Uh, be my girl.

Be my girl.

Are you gonna be my girl?! Yeah.”

“Should we tell him?” asked she, looking at Marissa uncertainly.

For a moment the girl just gaped at her, but pointed backwards. “Well, I've got to go get ready to go on stage, but you can. Yeah, you should tell him, you guys are closer anyways, that's better!”

“Fuck,” Keely muttered as the other girl walked away.

Waiting for the end of the show was torture, the magazine bundled into her hands as she fidgeted restlessly. She just couldn't enjoy the show the same way with questions bustling around in her hand as well as the knowledge that she'd have to show Seth the magazine, because it was better than letting him find out on his own.

But she couldn't help the thoughts. She'd never considered Seth and Tony to be alike, but were they? And what did it matter if they were? She was beyond done with Tony, he was on the other side of the country, and it wasn't like she was getting together with Seth. It wasn't like she'd every wanted to or would ever want to.

When they got off stage Keely gave Marco and Colton high fives as Seth lagged behind the other two, her smile feeling tight on her face.

“How were we?” asked Marco excitedly.

She looked at him, the smile almost painful, “You know how you were.”

Colton interjected, “Yeah, but we want to hear you say it.”

“You were great out there, happy?”

“Incredibly,” answered he with a content smile on his face. Keely couldn't help but notice that Seth was sending her a questioning look behind Colton's back. Why was it him that noticed when something was off? Why was it always him?

But her attention was dragged from him when Colton began to speak again. “C'mon, out we get, soldiers!”

“What?!” yelped Keely, “We're leaving?”

“Yup,” he replied, not noticing her stress at all, “Not waiting for Marissa's show, we're just heading out to the bus right now.”

They were leaving right now? Would she have to tell Seth on the bus? Sure, Marco and Colton happened to be his best friends, but wouldn't that be an awkward conversation to have in front of them? She didn't want to be the one to tell him in the first place, but she was going to and doing it in front of his friends wouldn't be easy.”

“I've got to go get my bag from my change room,” she said, looking over at Seth.

“I'll go with you,” he volunteered instantly.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Keely began to make her way to the bathroom that had served as her change room. At least now, even if she had to do it really fast, she'd be able to do it when they were alone.

“I need to talk to you,” he told her, walking behind.

Tipping her head to look at him, she answered, “I need to talk to you too.”

By that point they'd already made it into the bathroom, but obviously Seth had seen something in her face as he gripped her by the arm, pulling her to a halt. “What's wrong?”

Wordlessly, Keely shoved the magazine in his hand and turned away. It would be kinder if she wasn't watching his reaction to the news, right? She remembered clearly the first time she'd found out Tony was cheating on her, and it would have been nice had the people turned away from her and given her a little bit of privacy.

But when she turned back to him, Seth was just tossing the magazine carelessly into the sink, his eyes focused on her face instead. His eyes were even bright and shining beneath the awful fluorescent lights.

“Had you already seen it?”

How could she have not have noticed what he had to have been going through all day?

Seth shrugged, stepping forwards to her, “No, I hadn't. Whatever. Listen-”

“Whatever?” Keely repeated, her voice bridging on to hysterical. He hadn't seen the magazine before, yet he could just toss it away and say whatever? She knew before she had thought there was no reason to compare Seth and Tony in her head, but she just couldn't help it. That would have been Tony's reaction had he found out she was cheating, he really hadn't cared until the very end. “Does it mean anything to you at all?”

He just gave another shrug, “I don't care. Hey-”

“You don't care?!” she exclaimed, ignoring the fact that her voice was getting louder and louder as she interrupted him.

She didn't know why she kept doing it, Tony and Seth were completely different people from completely different lives, there was no reason to compare them, but she couldn't help it. Were they really that alike? It shouldn't matter to her, there was nothing between her and either boy, but it did matter and she couldn't help the fact!

“How can you not care? She's cheating on you.”

“I just don't care,” he answered carelessly, “Are you going to-”

Her eyes were wide, and Keely could feel the fury boiling up in the pit of her stomach as she looked at him. How could someone date another person without feeling anything for the person they were with? That was just wrong, it was sick, why not jut break it off?

“Do you not care because you were cheating on her too?” she snapped, unable to help herself.

Immediately Seth's eyes narrowed on her face, the gold darkening. “Who said I was cheating on her?”

“Well, it's kind of obvious, isn't it?” Keely glared, her hand gesturing towards the sink. “Even Marissa said it was.”

“Well, it's not, Keely, could you listen for a second?”

No, it really appeared she couldn't.

“So you just didn't care at all?”

His voice was getting sharper with anger as he returned, “No, I don't care that she's cheating on me. Why is it so big of a deal?”

“Of course it's a big deal!” Keely shouted, in her mind she knew that it shouldn't be a big deal to them, they were barely even friends, but she couldn't help the way that she felt. “You went out with someone that you didn't even care about? You're sick.”

“Oh, I'm sick? Am I the one that's cheating on her?”

“Yeah, you are, it's right there.”

As he looked down at her, his eyes flashed dangerously but Keely's anger didn't even let her care for a moment. “According to the magazines I'm supposed to be fucking you too, so is that true?”

Keely exclaimed, “That's not point!”

“Of course it is,” he said, snatching up her hands gently in his, “C'mon, just-”

Feeling the guitar callouses on his hand, she looked up at him for a moment, but the anger burning through her at that moment wasn't allowing her to calm down. Glaring fiercely at him, Keely ripped her hands from his grasp. “You know I had the boyfriend that screwed everything that moved, so I'm not so kind when it comes to cheaters.”

“You let him do that to you,” he snapped back, “That's-”

But she had stopped listening at his first words. Of course what he said was true, she'd come to terms with it before she'd left Bellingham, but that didn't mean it stopped the words from feeling like a slap in the face.

“You're a jackass,” she scowled, shoving his chest so he backed up a step.

“You're just being stupid,” he answered, glaring as well, “Just-”

“Oh I'm the stupid one now? That's just great Seth. Well guess what? You don't have to deal with it anymore.”

He paused before asking, “What are you going on about now?”

“Don't talk to me anymore,” she told him simply and to the point, shoving past him and down the hallway.

If he'd tried she wouldn't have let him catch her.

But he didn't try.

- Well... Lay Lady Lay is in the external link, the second song is just on the side.

Dedication to You4Real because she made this amazing picture! Thank you so much, it's gorgeous!

Okay, no author's not because it's six in the morning and I've been writing this all night until it got right. And now I bloody well want to sleep.

Don't hate me too much.