Boston, Massachusetts.

“Keely!”

“Shit, shit, shit,” she muttered before raising her voice, “I'm coming!”

Marco poked his head into the closet that she was using as a changing room. “Seriously, we have to go, the bus is literally leaving.”

“I know, I know,” Keely mumbled, stuffing her things into her bag and grabbing her plain guitar case from the corner of the room. Wincing she caught sight of the sweater she left in the corner and lunged towards it, shoving it into her bag hastily.

“Keely,” whined Marco from the door way, “Let's go. Do you like being late?”

Shaking her head she shoved past him, just avoiding swinging the case into his stomach as she pulled her bag over her shoulder. “I never mean to be late.”

“No, it's just a happy coincidence,” he chuckled before prodding her in the back, ordering, “Run!”

Incredulously she swivelled around to look at him. “What?”

“Run,” Marco repeated, jabbing her in the back again. “Unless you want to get left here, I wasn't joking when I said that the bus was leaving.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but all the same broke into a sprint, moving through the labyrinth of halls that would lead her to the back of the stadium and to the tour bus. Her legs eating up the ground quickly, Keely streaked around a corner, bumping her shoulder with the bag into the wall – thankfully not the guitar – as she dodged around a person.

When said person gave her a wide eyed look she couldn't help but burst out laughing at their expression, although she didn't stop running, hearing Marco's loud footsteps chasing her down the corridors. They raced past a few danglers in the halls, making her laughter ring out through the echoing halls. And with Marco shouting directions from where he ran behind her, in five minutes they had gotten to the doors and her breath was clogging in her throat.

“Man,” she complained, pressing against the heavy steel door that opened obligingly to the brisk night air.

Smirking, Marco said, “You're out of shape.”

Keely just arched an eyebrow in his direction, taking in his heaving chest. “Well, you're not quite a fitness buff either, buddy.”

“Are you calling me fat?” he exclaimed, putting a falsetto on his voice as he pressed a hand to his stomach.

Laughing loudly, she just hooked an arm around his shoulders, having to stand on her tip toes and drag him over slightly to do so, as she pulled him to where the bus was waiting. The engine was on, apparently Marco wasn't lying about it leaving.

“Am I calling you, the skinny little blonde boy, fat?” she chuckled, “Of course.”

“Well you don't have to be so harsh about it,” he answered, wiping away a mock tear.

Shaking her head, Keely shoved him away. By this point she was sure his antics shouldn't make her laugh anymore, but she doubted that it would ever happen.

Shoving him away from her so she could pull herself up the steps of the bus, she couldn't help but be grateful for the blast of heat that met her. At least if they were late then the heat would be on high by then, it was becoming quite cold in the northern states. “I could say the same to you,” she called, sending him a cheeky smile over her shoulder.

Turning around to see her path, since she wasn't notoriously graceful, Keely spun around on her heel. Not realizing at that point that she hadn't stepped up the forth step, and immediately her heel caught on said step, sending her forward with a squeal rushing from her mouth towards the false, yet very shiny, hardwood floor.

Yet before the floor could make rather damaging contact with her nose, she was dragged up by the back of the flannel shirt she'd changed into after the show.

“See,” said Marco, wearing a triumphant smile as he let go of her shirt. “You should be nicer to me, I saved your nose.”

Finding herself laughing again, Keely just gave him a light peck on the cheek thoughtlessly. Still chuckling when she proclaimed, “My hero!” and then turning back to the tour bus, but watching where she stepped this time.

Hitching up her bag and guitar case, she made her way around the couches, as well as the miniscule dining table that turned into a bed when needed, towards the back of the bus. The tour bus wasn't exactly luxury, but it was still one hundred percent better than some of the horror stories she'd heard from other artists about their first tours. Colton had told her as that NSR had been shoved inside a literal hippie bus along with all their instruments for their first tour, and they'd barely had anywhere to move around. Apparently she was lucky Maureen owned UAE now.

In any case, the bus still smelt alright, but she was warned that was subject to change over coming months. It was clean though, the couches, chairs, table, their bunks, the appliances; all clean, for that they could be grateful.

“If Dave could have left without you, he would have,” pointed out Colton.

The boy was slouched on one of the couches, looking straight to the television in the corner – Keely had little conscious nightmares of it falling from it's perch and hitting them – that was playing some sport. Colton had a drink in hand and had piled the pillows behind his back, the seats and beds not being the most comfortable.

“We weren't that late,” she answered, hopping carefully over the long legs that were stretched across the walking space.

Colton grinned up at her, biting down on a twizzler. “You have an addiction.”

“It's a sickness!” she protested, laughing as she moved towards the four bunk beds.

“You keep telling yourself that!”

Turning her head back to the narrow path, her smile slid from her face when she reached their beds as Seth was leaning against them, his eyes on her.

And instantly came the tension shooting through her shoulders.

Pulling in a deep breath Keely fought to keep her face at a neutral expression as she brushed past him to her bed, and let out sigh when she heard his socked feet making muffled steps across the floor away from her.

Swinging her things up onto the top bunk that she had above Colton, she simply leaned her head against the guitar case for a moment, an enormous sigh escaping her lips. For a moment she let her eyes wander to the back of the bus, where a long couch turned with the corners of the vehicle so it covered all ends, pillows carelessly already thrown to the ground and scattered about. For the most part people would simply go to the end where no one was if they wanted to be alone, plus there was a door they closed for that end which was a plus.

She could go there, Keely considered as she stared, but almost as suddenly as the thought passed through her mind, she straightened her back and turned to where the boys were sitting.

Just because she and Seth were speaking outside of the studio didn't mean she was going to run and hide. It wasn't her fault! Well, maybe half of it was, when her emotions took over she couldn't stop them, but that didn't mean she regretted it. At least from that she got to see that people weren't always what you thought they were, despite how much time you spent with them.

So she just flopped down onto the couch beside Colton, stealing a twizzler from him as she did so. There would be no running on her part, she didn't need to be speaking with Seth to talk to her other friends in the bus.

Providence, Rhode Island.

“Yeah, sure,” Keely smiled at the girl who blushed shyly after asking for her autograph, feeling a warm glow light up in her stomach. “What's your name?”

“Rebecca,” the girl mumbled, her eyes lighting up.

Hastily taking the dark pen she'd been offered, Keely scribbled a hello to Rebecca and then signed her signature at the bottom of the school binder. She'd never been sure about her signature from the time she'd made it when she'd been thirteen, but now it seemed it was here to stay in case it would be worth money one day.

“Are you coming out to the show tonight?” she asked, hauling up her guitar case and duffel bag from where she'd placed them on the concrete.

The girl glanced about, before whispering conspiratorially, “Yeah, for you and NSR.”

Keely laughed loudly, pulling the bag comfortably over her shoulder. “Well, thanks for that, I hope you enjoy it.”

Still grinning she skirted around the girl so she could make her way to the hotel that she'd been stopped in front of by the girl, Rebecca. She could remember Seth saying that people would be coming to the shows just for her and NSR, it felt like years before, but she hastily shoved him from her mind as she pushed open the door.

“What was that about?” asked Marco, leaning against the window and glancing at her as she opened the door. A quick glance around proved a frowning Colton to be sorting through a handful of keys while Seth leaned against the rickety looking front desk, his back turned to the man who stood behind him, who also happened to be glaring fiercely.

Smiling, Keely brushed her hair out of her eyes. She was wondering how on earth the girl had even noticed her, she was feeling crusty from being held up in that bus with her hair a tangle around her face.

“I was signing an autograph.”

“Ah!” exclaimed Colton, using a high girlish voice. “And we weren't asked? I'm so insulted.”

Rolling her eyes she didn't even bother to reply.

“And here,” said Colton, looking up from his hands, “Are your keys!”

He tossed two sets to the boys, but before he could do the same to her, Keely hastily stepped forward, taking it from his hand.

“Not exactly my hotel back in New York, is it?” Keely said conversationally as she moved forward, Colton beside her through to the faded white coloured walls. She wasn't complaining, in fact this was what she was used to from staying in hotels as a child, but after her fancy room back in the city, it was a bit different.

Beside her the boy gave a disdainful snort, “Well, be thankful you get your room to yourself.”

Unable to help herself, she smirked over at him. “You have to share a room?” The tour might have just started, but she was very much thankful for the fact that they would get their first night in a hotel since it had began, privacy was a necessity once in a while.

She had learnt very quickly that Marco and Colton weren't respectful of her personal space when she had found a picture on her phone of the former wearing her bra over his t-shirt as he pursed his lips at the camera.

“Yeah, with Marco,” he scowled.

“Hey, it's still not as bad as our first tour!” called the boy in question from behind.

Glancing about at the sound of his voice, Keely found he and Seth huddled together over a magazine held between their hands. “What happened then?” she asked, looking back towards Colton as they continued down the hall.

“Three guys, two beds, one hotel room.”

Her eyes bulged, “Seriously?”

“Yeah, it was a bit tight. We could have gotten a better place to stay, but we were fucking broke,” he chuckled. “Marissa and her father stay at the nicest hotels in town since they book it themselves, but Maureen still does ours and since we're with you now, we need three rooms instead of two, we've been downgraded.”

“Being a rock star isn't so glamourous, is it?” said Marco from behind.

“Okay, I'll see you at the sound check,” Seth said, but Keely didn't bother to look around.

After the boys had chorused their “see you later” she looked over at Colton as Marco hurried to her side. “How did he get the room to himself?”

Shrugging, Colton answered, “He won rock, paper, scissors.”

“Plus he's grumpy,” added in Marco.

Glancing down at her key, Keely found that number on it matched the one on the door beside them. “Well, my stop, see you guys tonight?”

“What are you going to do until your sound check?” Colton enquired.

Letting the dreamy look come onto her face, Keely leaned back against the door as she looked up at the ceiling. “I have this dream of sleeping. I know, it's a mad idea, but it's just this thing I've been thinking about trying out. All the kids have been talking about it.”

“Really? What have they been saying?” grinned Marco, playing along.

She smirked, looking back to them, “You can't know what it's like until you try it.”

“Should we give into peer pressure?” Colton asked Marco, slinging his arm over his shoulder.

“I don't know, it sounds tempting.”

Dramatically Colton waved his arms in front of him, making Keely burst out laughing against the door. “No, we can't! We can't just give in this easy!”

Shoving his friend away from him, Marco grinned broadly, pushing the magazine she'd seen he and Seth pouring over moments before into her hands. “In case sleeping isn't all it's cracked up to be,” he told her before chasing after Colton down the hall.

Still chuckling Keely turned to the door, slipping the magazine beneath her arm not even bothering to look at it as she shoved the key into the lock. She hadn't been kidding about sleeping, it was getting to be a promising proposal, her sleeping pattern messing up with the shows they'd been playing. Shuffling through the door way, she propped her guitar against the wall before kicking shut the door and moving to the double bed in the middle of the small room and tossing her duffel bag onto it.

Despite herself she found herself pulling out the magazine so she could look at what had seemed so interesting for the boys. Getting a sense of déjà vu as she looked down at the cover, Keely leaned back against the wall, seeing the familiar picture of she and the boys on the cover. The words: "The New Faces of Rock 'N Roll" slammed across the top in bold letters.

Feeling a smile spread across her face, she flipped open the magazine. Her eyes skimming over the pictures that were spread across the pages dedicated to them, there were a few of her singing by herself, looking so absorbed in the music then three of she playing with the boys, one in particular of she and Seth smiling at each other over top of his guitar as they sat beside each other, and finally the last couple of the boys by themselves.

As she read over the magazine Keely couldn't help the feeling that she was reading about different people. The Keely Staub in the article might be saying words that had come out of her mouth and speaking about the life that she had lived, but it just couldn't be the same person as she. The same was for everything Colton, Seth and Marco had said, it just didn't connect well in her head that it was the same people she spent almost every waking moment were the ones who were being interviewed.

Giving a loud yawn, she tossed the magazine onto the plain dresser before making her way towards the bathroom.

Uncasville, Connecticut.

Stripping out of her stage outfit in the actual change room she was provided this time, Keely hastily shoved it into her bag so she would be ready to leave whenever she was called. It appeared she just wasn't good at packing up so quickly and taking off as the rest of them were, especially the stage crew who she couldn't even keep up to.

Slipping into a pair of blue sweat pants, a white tank top and a black The Band hoodie, she exited the room, knowing she would get bored if she stayed in there too long that night. She didn't even bother with slipping on shoes, just wearing her socks as she moved through the back stage which really was exactly what people had told her it was, smiling at people she recognized as she moved through. Not caring to zip up the front of the sweater, she stuffed her hands into the pockets, cutting with ease through the people who she did and didn't know.

A quick peek into the door of Marissa's change room proved it to be empty, and Keely gave a loud sigh as she closed the door of the massive room. Honestly, even the boys didn't get that big of a dressing room and there were three of them!

Not knowing exactly what to do with herself since Marissa wasn't there, she just continued up towards the stage. The boys were playing, she could watch them for a while. She'd never get bored of watching them, but she found it a bit awkward now.

Still she moved to the opening that gave her a clear view of the stage even if a few fans might see her standing there.

Chewing on her lip, Keely watched as Marco laughed loudly while Colton finished the song with a small drum solo. Comfortably she leaned against the packing box for the drums behind her, crossing her legs in front of her as she watched Seth turn away from the microphone to shout something to the boys – unheard by anyone over but the boys over the roar of the crowd – and then handing his guitar off to one of the stage crew, switching from a Stratocaster to a Telecaster.

She just let out a deep breath as she moved forward, unable to help herself it was as if she had no control over her body as she leaned against the wall to the stage to get a better look. Even over the screaming of the crowd as they moved together, the sound came out clearly, none of the shouting matches between the crowds and the bands as it used to be in the sixties.

And it made it easy for her to recognize the song as Seth started them off.

His fingers strumming the familiar chords of a song she'd heard since she'd been a child, she knew the words that were going to come out of his mouth before he stepped up to the microphone.

“She's a good girl, loves her mama

Loves Jesus and America too

She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis

Loves horses and her boyfriend too

It's a long day living in Reseda

There's a freeway runnin' through the yard

And I'm a bad boy cause I don't even miss her

I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart

And I'm free, free fallin'

Yeah I'm free, free fallin'

All the vampires walkin' through the valley

Move west down Ventura Boulevard

And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows

And the good girls are home with broken hearts

And I'm free, free fallin'

Yeah I'm free, free fallin'

Free fallin', now I'm free fallin', now I'm

Free fallin', now I'm free fallin', now I'm

I wanna glide down over Mulholland

I wanna write her name in the sky

Gonna free fall out into nothin'

Gonna leave this world for a while.”

Not bothering to wait for the end of the song, Keely shoved up from the wall and briskly wiped her hands over her face before walking away. As she did so, she felt the strangest sensation of eyes on her back, but she kept moving.

East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Yawning Keely rolled over, but her eyes shot open instantly as her hand met only thin air.

Shooting up in the bunk bed she rapped her forehead soundly against the roof, only succeeding in making her swear ripely as she held her forehead. So far she had managed not to fall from the bed yet, and she was quite proud of that since there was quite a fall. From what she could tell only Colton had done it while getting used to the bunks in the bus again, but thankfully had was on one of the bottom bunks.

As she sat up she was already beginning to feel her eyelids droop again from the tiredness, but a glance around her caused her to force her eyes to open. The bunks across from hers were empty, frowning she leaned over the edge of her bunk to peer into Colton's, but just found pillows and blankets mused around.

Rubbing her eyes, she thought back to earlier that night, she was sure Marco and Colton had gone to bed at the same time as her.

Her mental remembrances were cut short at the mixed giggling and chuckling coming from the end of the bus with the bus. More confused than before, she slipped out of bed clumsily, hitting the floor with a loud thump. Naturally she snagged the grey sweater sprawled across Marco's bed, slipping it on her shoulders over her tank top, it stretching long enough over her legs that the boxer pyjamas she was wearing wouldn't be seen had she zipped it.

It was only when she got out of the middle bunk section of the bed did she see what was causing said giggling.

And her eyes bulged.

“Okay, wow,” she said, her voice somewhere between a laugh and shock.

The three boys were all in their pyjamas, Seth and Marco wearing tee shirts while Colton was shirtless where they stood on the couch. But they were pulling down the back of their pants along with their boxers at the window.

At the sound of her voice, all three heads turned in her direction, still laughing. Colton who was the closest to her turned his head first, then Marco and finally Seth at the end.

And that was much more of Colton than she'd ever wanted to see.

“Yeah, I'm going to go back to bed,” she announced, turning around on her heel.

More laughter just followed her back to where she hauled herself up onto her bunk.

Landover, Maryland.

It was strange enough her not being able to use her own studio and being in this strange, and very much cramped, sound booth. But Keely thought the worst part was the fact that she couldn't seem to force the words on her mind out of her mouth as she looked through the glass to where Seth was sitting on his own. Yes, that was definitely the worst part. Neither of them had ever had an issue with speaking their mind to each other before, and yes, maybe sometimes it would have been better had they stayed quiet. But the silence was getting pretty bad.

Looking away from the glass she focused upon the guitar in her hand, hearing Marco and Colton clearly as they played behind her. She was having a suspicion they weren't leaving she and Seth alone in case they finally decided to murder each other, because even when those boys weren't needed, at least one of them was always in the studio with them.

But that was fine with her, it wasn't as if she needed time alone with Seth, she didn't need anything from him but him producing. She didn't need him to write songs with her anymore, he just had to sit in that booth, as awkward as it was.

Pulling a face Keely slapped a hand over the strings of her guitar and ripped off her headphones.

Usually she would have spoken to Seth, but seeing as that wasn't exactly an option, she spun around to the boys behind her. “Marco do you think that I should change the middle chord?”

“Huh?” he asked, dropping his hands from the bass.

“Do you think I should change up the chords?” she retorted, slightly exasperated as she slipped the headphones more comfortably around her neck. “Because I'm still trying to make this song rougher, but I can't seem to get it right with the chord progression I have right now.”

He shared a wide eyed look with Colton who was sitting immobile at the drum set. “Well, I don't know, Keel. I was never the one who did the song writing...”

“Why did you stop playing?”

At the sound of Seth's demanding voice, Keely swung around back to the glass, gripping the neck of her guitar tightly. She fixed him with a blank look. In the studio they could handle speaking to each other, but mostly only to state the number of the next take. They didn't even speak when they showed up in the control room, Keely only bringing herself coffee now.

He was standing up, leaning over the soundboard in the cramped control room with his hand on the intercom, his eyes dangerously dark as he looked at her.

“We were talking about the chord progression,” she answered simply, brushing her bangs away from her eyes.

There was a twisted smirk on his face as he replied, “Well anything to make the song worth listening to.”

Scowling, Keely felt her hand tighten on the neck, the six strings on her Fender digging into her hand painfully, but she didn't even notice. “Oh, make it worth listening to? Forgotten that you helped write the song, have you?”

“When you change up the chords on a song that was good before, it stops being the song I wrote.”

From behind her there were identical loud sighs, and some shuffling, but she didn't so much as look around. “The song you wrote? Time to get over yourself, you didn't write it on your own.”

“It's not all your song either, Staub. You can't just change it without talking to me.”

“Oh, you want off the credit for it, then? That'd be wonderful.”

Seth just snapped, “No, I want you not to ruin the song! You can ask me about it.”

Looking at him through narrowed eyes, Keely sent him a tight and very much unfriendly smirk. “Oh, sorry, I'll have to say no to that. I have this thing when it comes to music, it's called honesty. Have you ever heard of it?”

“What's that supposed to mean?!”

Glaring at him, she retorted, “You know exactly what that's supposed to mean, Ryan.”

“You really want to go into that right here?”

Resisting the urge to just punch the microphone that was in front of her face because it was getting more and more tempting by the moment, she just knocked it out of her eye line. “Actually, I'd prefer to never speak about it again, never speaking again seems like a wish that will never come true, doesn't it?”

Quirking an annoyed eyebrow in his direction Keely looked down to her guitar, playing a chord that came out much louder than she'd planned. In her annoyance her hand was much stronger than she intended, but the fact that it was shaking just slightly did not escape her, there was no way she could play the guitar track for this song, it was much too demanding, when her hands were shaking like leaves.

“You can't exactly talk about honesty, either, it doesn't exist without listening.”

When his voice reached her ears, her chin ripped upwards and she heard a groan from behind her, but she ignored it. “And what's that supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what that's supposed to mean, Staub,” he threw back through the glass.

Maybe it was the fact that he was using her own words against her or maybe it was the fact that she wondered if she could hate anyone more than she hated him at the moment, but it was as if her blood began to boil. When you expect more from someone, it's always the worst when they let you down so profoundly.

At her sides her fists tightened, her nails digging into her palms, but she couldn't feel a thing. “You know what? I used to think that you were too good for your bitch of an ex, but it's so easy to see now, and I'm totally over it. If there's anyone who deserves each other, it's you two. The liar, the user, and together you even add up to be cheaters. Isn't that just fucking amazing?” Her voice rose dangerously through her words, finally hitting a shout at the end.

“I wouldn't be talking if I were-”

“And we're done,” interrupted both Marco and Colton.

Still glaring fiercely at Seth through the glass, she didn't so much as blink at the words. “If you were me? I don't think you'd be able to survive in a world where you weren't screwing everything that you saw.”

Before Seth could shout back at her, Keely looked to her sides, her eyes widening despite the anger still pulsing through her veins.

Without words this time, the two boys from behind her were taking action. First Colton pulled the headphones off from around her ears, then Marco slipped her guitar strap from around her shoulders before he took off towards the door to the control room while Colton was tugging at her hand towards the door that would lead them out of the studio.

“No,” she snarled, ripping her hand from his grasp, “I want to hear what he has to say about that.”

But before either of them could so much of speak, arms were wrapped around her waist tightly and she was lifted off her feet. And even though she kicked and thrashed about violently, Colton easily took her bodily out of the studio.

“What is with you two?” he exclaimed, finally dropping her to the ground against the wall out of sight from the studio.

“I don't know,” she growled. But when her hands rubbed over her face, she couldn't hold onto the anger anymore, feeling it slip away from her body as she stood leaning against the solid wall behind her. “I don't know,” she repeated, her voice much weaker.

Burying her face in her hands, Keely just used the wall for support, hauling in shaky breaths.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“Popcorn?” Keely offered, holding up the bowl as Marco flopped down in the seat next to her.

Making an appreciative sound in the back of his throat, he dug his hand into the bowl and when he came out with a fist of the fluffy buttered goodness, some fell from his hands carelessly to the couch. But neither of them noticed, just leaning back in the chairs.

Comfortably she just placed the bowl down upon the pillow she had propped between her crossed legs.

“What are we watching?” asked Marco tossing the popcorn kernels one at a time into his mouth as he slumped back next to her.

“I don't exactly know...” she answered slowly. “It's a movie?”

“Well, that's helpful.”

Snorting, she said, “Well, it's a musical, that much I know. I like it so far. And, no, it's not a Disney movie. I know all the names to those movies.”

Marco just grinned at her. “Of course you do.”

Shrugging easily Keely just grabbed a handful of the popcorn from the toasty bowl. And although she kept her mouth shut, she couldn't help but feel her attention waning away from the movie on the screen and towards the back room. She knew that Marco had just come from there, Colton was still there and since she could hear a mix of an acoustic guitar and harmonica, she was guessing that Seth was there too.

Mentally slapping herself for even thinking about what was going on back there, she tried to focus back into the movie. It was easy when a music number came on, but the moment the music faded she found her ears straining for sound from the back room despite herself even if she refused to look. The music was beginning to sound more and more familiar, but she could hear Seth's voice, singing a couple words and then stopping.

Yet moments later Colton was dropping to her other side, digging into the bowl of popcorn without further ado. Still she could hear familiar chords waveringly from the back room. “What are we watching?” Colton asked.

“A movie,” chorused Marco and Keely together.

The boy snorted, but all the same fell into silence as they watched. But she couldn't help herself from enquiring, “Is Seth writing a song?”

“Yeah,” they answered together, but it was only Colton who continued. “I don't know, I think he's stuck, nothing we do, say or play is helping him with writing this song. He's been at it for way too much longer than natural.”

Nodding she told them calmly, “Well, you might want to stop him.”

“Huh?”

“If he keeps going on like that he's going to get sued for copyright, he's got the same chords and tune, but not the words.”

Marco shook his head, as if he was sure that Seth could not do such a thing. “No way, that boy has written songs as a response to other songs before, but he's never actually used another song's music, he's never needed to do that.”

She pursed her lips considering. “I never said he meant to.”

There was a long pause before Marco asked, “What song?”

“Heart of Gold by Neil Young,” she answered promptly.

“Shit,” they muttered in unison before jumping up.

Smirking Keely just stayed still, popping the popcorn into her mouth. Her attention was far from the movie as she listened to Marco and Colton's muted voices, not needing to hear what they were saying to know what they were saying.

Especially not when she heard Seth's response, “No way. There's no way.”

More muted conversation, and then she heard the music start. Clearly no halting as he tried to write the lyrics, and instead he just sang, mixed in with the guitar and harmonica.

“I want to live,

I want to give

I've been a miner

for a heart of gold.

It's these expressions

I never give

That keep me searching

for a heart of gold

And I'm getting old.

Keeps me searching

for a heart of gold

And I'm getting old.

I've been to Hollywood

I've been to Redwood

I crossed the ocean

for a heart of gold

I've been in my mind,

it's such a fine line

That keeps me searching

for a heart of gold

And I'm getting old.

Keeps me searching

for a heart of gold

And I'm getting old.

Keep me searching

for a heart of gold

You keep me searching

for a heart of gold

And I'm growing old.

I've been a miner

for a heart of gold.”

At the end of the song Keely had to bite her lips together to keep herself from joining in, she could clearly see the notes playing through her mind where the female back up singer would have joined in with Neil.

But she felt herself smirk at the sound of scrunching paper and then a simple, “Fuck.”

- Okay, I'll start out with the basics because this is going to be a long rant, with information about the story at the end! Heart of Gold is in the external link. And the dedication goes to DyingToLive because she made a beautiful banner, although I cannot post it because I can't find the photo sadly! 

Anyways, on to my rant!

I went to my oma's birthday party on Sunday, she turned 84 and she's so far from acting old it's incredible! But I have a massive family, seriously, we had to book half of the restuarant to fit us all in.

But getting to the point, I spent the whole night talking to my cousin about his tour and the one he and his band have coming up soon. Anyways, the point to this was to say that his band's DEBUT ALBUM COMES OUT TOMORROW!!!!! Well, I guess, today, but on Tuesday. I don't know if it's out wherever you are, but I say go out and buy it lol! They're more on the pop side than I'd usually listen to, but they're still good! I heard the early release of the album, and it's really good, I think they chose the most radio friendly song to release...

So go buy his album, the band is called JACKIE VALENTINE lol. I can't remember what the album is called, but that's their name.

My sucky birthday party with my family was really made up for by the fact that Jared took me out the next day, yes, I've waited a long time to rant about this, but I need to. Oh, yeah, his name is Jared, too much work to write out sexy neighbor/boyfriend anymore plus I'd mentioned his name in one of the beginning chapters.

Anyways, he took me to see West Side Story because he knew I'd been drooling over it since I found it was coming to town. He didn't exactly hate it, but he didn't love it either, BUT I DID!!!! He went through it because I love Broadway with my whole heart, even Gimme Shelter is more on the Broadway side of things. But, yeah, after that we went to the night market in the city and I got a lot of records... and I didn't get home until five in the morning, which I got into shit for, but whatever, it was totally worth it.

I was going to rant about Keely and why she reacted the way she did, but I won't now, I'm over it. Although I know her well enough to see into her head and see everything that was going through, and I just have to say that when illusions about someone being this almost perfect person are broken, it takes it toll.

Okay, I'm done. I want to sleeeeeeeeep.

See, when I post this story, I don't sleep. It's not good. I need to do that more or else I'm going to get really screwed up in the head lol.