Photographs littered the walls of the production studio, photographs of her brothers. Katie Knight had grown to be rather successful in the arts. While her brothers chose singing, she chose to capitalize on a more realistic endeavor. The entertainment industry never really faltered when it came to big hits. Music would die out, but actors never got old. She lived in southern California, near Anaheim, and worked closer to Hollywood. The drive was killer, but it didn't bother her.
She sat in the auditorium, her long brown locks cascading over her shoulders as she watched people audition for a part in her commercial. Though she owned the company, she produced films and directed as well. Casting wasn't really her job, but she still sat in during the calls to see what kind of fresh new talent they would find. "Read lines three and six, please." The younger woman announced beside her.
The young brunette sat on the stage, paging through the script. Her voice cracked on the first word. "Why do you always ask me when you know the answer is going to be the same?" The girl waited for the casting manager's nod before continuing. "You don't understand, we'll never be in love again."
Katie's phone rang and she looked to the casting manager with a slight smile. "Sorry, Jane, I'll be back in a little bit." Jane offered a shy nod and continued. Somewhere in the background, Katie could hear what's your name and number? We'll call you if we need any extras. Katie picked up the cell phone and smiled. "Hey, big brother, what's up?"
"Where you at? We were in town and wondering if you wanted to spend some time with the gang for old time sake." Kendall asked, listening to their new single blare through the radio. Even after ten years, they were still putting out songs. The name had been changed from Big Time Rush to simply BTR to appeal to the older crowds, but they were still amazing as always. She heard Carlos scream tell Katie I said hi! And Kendall paused his speech. "Carlos says hi."
"I heard," Katie murmured, listening to the playful banter in the background. "Are you on the bus?"
"Yeah, we're on our way to Disney, it's our second to last stop on the tour. I thought I'd drop by and visit since I'd be right in your backyard." Kendall replied.
She heard a loud thud and someone fumbling with the phone. "Umm…Kendall?"
"Hi, Katie!" This time it was James shouting through the phone. "We're famous!" Quite obviously they were drunk, since James was already well aware that she knew. "And we're going to be playing opening night at the Hard Rock Café!" Somewhere in the background she could hear Logan shouting No we're not! Kelly hasn't even confirmed that yet! Katie also noticed him put his hand over the line because it got muffled, followed by James' terse response to Logan. Uh, yeah, we are. We're BTR and we're awesome. How could they say no to us?
"I see the fame machine hasn't completely changed your frame of mind. Still dreaming of marrying Nichole Scherzinger?" Katie asked, waiting for his reply. "How's the house hunt going?"
"Eh, I dated her for a while. She's not really much fun. I was told that I'm the reason she wrote the song I Don't Need A Man…I could be wrong though. House hunt, not so bad, actually. At least I know my houses won't leave me." James seemed slightly distraught over that, but she didn't question it. "You should come chill with us at Disney. Jo misses you. She asks about you all the time." He froze when he heard don't forget me! "And Camille."
"I heard Camille and Logan finally got married. Tell her I said congrats." Katie looked at her watch, and then turned to look in the entrance to see what number they were on for auditions. Two-Hundred-Three of Five Hundred. It was going to be a long night.
"She says thanks." This time it was Carlos on the phone, babbling on like an idiot. She could barely make out his words. "Your birthday is on the last day of our tour! Why not come out and see us?"
"I was hoping you would forget my birthday," Katie grumbled. "Every year it's the same thing, and I really don't want you guys to embarrass me."
"You need to stop being such a sourpuss, Katie. We're trying to make your life a little cheerier. You're always so depressing." She knew Carlos was frowning right now, and that he was genuinely upset by her remark. It was hard to not tell by his voice. "You're going to be there. We'll come kidnap you if we have to."
She thought of a time when they had come to kidnap her. When she was sixteen years old, a very annoyed James broke into her room and dragged her kicking and screaming because she wouldn't get over a bad breakup. He told her it would get better, and it slowly did. Kendall threw her in the pool and they played tag all night…even though the boys were in their 20's, they still had that innocence to them. And now, at twenty six, here was Carlos threatening to kidnap her. "Please don't. You'll have a hell of a time getting to Japan."
That's when it all fell together for her. She heard dialing. Someone was on speakerphone, but it was hard to tell since Gustavo was always yelling. "What do you want?"
"Can you book us a tour to Japan? We haven't been there yet, and our fans are in dire need of cheering up." Logan knew that Gustavo and Kelly never kept up with the news, so he came up with some BS excuse. "There was a…volcanic eruption, and they're in an economic downturn and need some…cheering up."
Katie face palmed when she heard Logan's story. Though he sounded completely believable, she didn't feel like arguing. She just hung up the phone and acted as if she never spoke to them to begin with. She turned on her heel and made it passed row 6B before she heard her phone ring again. The ringtone was "Misery Business" by Paramour, which she'd dedicated to James. Picking up the line she smiled. "Are you done plotting to kidnap me?"
"Sure. For now. But we'll find you. Even if you're halfway around the world and we're just a day behind." James murmured, hiccupping.
"That was hot, do it again." She knew he was confused, but he hiccupped again, and she began her fit of giggles. "I don't think I can be there in time. It's going to be tough trying to balance everything out, but I'll do what I can." She paused just before he hung up. "By the way, was that meant to be a reference to Belgium by Bowling for Soup? I thought you guys hated Belgium?"
"No. Gustavo hates Belgium. Frankly, I love their waffles." James replied, hanging up the phone.
Katie was still giggling when she sat beside her casting director. "Any good propositions?" She inquired, staring up at a very muscular boy with abs like she'd never seen before. "You're hot, but can you act? Read lines ten and twelve."
The boy looked at the lines, paging through until he found the ones she asked. "He walked through the door and smiled to his friend."
"You don't read the..." She shook her head and waved a hand to dismiss him. "Next!"
One Week Later
Japan was a bustling city; one that the boys weren't really used to. They managed to book one single concert because it was the only thing available for them on such short notice. Especially since their tour was ending on November Thirteenth. "So, this is what the world of fashion looks like." Carlos murmured.
"That's Paris…Milan to be exact." Logan retorted, leaning on Carlos as they stared out the window. "This is the world of medical advancements."
"Wasn't Milan in that one Disney movie? She was Japanese." Carlos murmured, looking to Logan.
Logan stared at Carlos as if he hadn't seriously just said what he did. "No…that was…yeah, never mind. So, we're looking for Katie?"
James threw a hand in the air. "I know where she is!" The trio looked at the pretty boy with a raised brow. "Oh, I should have told you she was holding auditions for a 'Cuda ad, huh?"
Kendall rolled his eyes and dragged James along, the rest of the boys following. "One day you'll stop using hairspray that kills the environment. Think about how much harder you make it to breathe when you use that stuff."
"It makes you look like a rejected character from Veggie Tales," Carlos mumbled, looking over when James gave him an odd look. "How come you never see carrots in Veggie Tales? You see fruit…and they're not veggies."
"Carlos," The other three band members shouted. "Kindly shut up!"
"I was just pointing out a fact!" Carlos ducked to dodge a fan girl diving at his face. He turned just in time to see rabid fan girls coming after them. "I think now would be a good time to run!"
"You know, normally I wouldn't be inclined to agree with Carlos, but he's right. We should definitely start running now." Logan shouted over the throngs of screaming girls. Somewhere in the crowd he heard marry me, Logan. "I'm already married!" he shouted to whoever had said it. Those girls had fallen behind, but the epic James, Carlos, and Kendall fans kept coming.
Kendall was at the head of this insane crowd, looking for anywhere to hide. The fans were too obsessed to let them just run into an alley. It was like they had bloodhounds that knew the smell. Then it occurred to Kendall how they kept finding them so easily. "This is your fault!" He shouted at James.
"I know I'm devilishly handsome, but I highly doubt that it's my fault!" James shouted back, turning a corner.
"They can smell the massive amounts of spray in your hair! They can smell the tanning spray you use! James, I blame you! This madness is insane!" Carlos shouted, putting his helmet on for good measure. "They'll find us. No matter where we go!"
James stopped when he saw a door, throwing it open and daring inside. When the other three were successfully inside, he locked the door and took a deep breath. When he looked up, his smile was bright and increasingly brighter. "Look, we found Katie."
"Let's just chalk that one up to cosmic irony and dumb luck," Logan mumbled and took a seat in the back row. The rest of them did the same, remembering doing this very thing at James' audition for BTR. "Anyone else seeing flashbacks of 2009 here?"
"Shh!" Kendall shouted, watching the two actors on the stage. They were testing to see if the leads were any good before re-casting. Kendall smiled when he saw his baby sister. She looked weak, probably because she wasn't eating as much. Her dream was to be successful, and she was determined to do whatever it took. "Look…isn't that Minako Kotoko?"
"The famous Japanese actress? Of course it is. You're in Japan." Logan paused and listened. "Did Katie happen to say how long she was going to be in Japan for?"
"Three days," James replied. "I wish I had been cast as lead…I would love to kiss that girl right there."
"That girl is out of your league," Kendall admonished, slinking up a few rows to hear better.
"Listen, babe, I get that you think you're all that and all, but can you let me do my own thing?" The male lead asked Katie, smiling a devilishly handsome smile.
"Listen, sugar abs. I've only ever fallen for one smile, and yours isn't it. You might want to consider finding a new job in modeling. Obviously acting isn't your forte." Katie looked down the list of names they considered for the lead and sighed. "Anyone know where this…JD guy is?"
"Well, we umm, we got his audition over the phone, so I don't know if you'll like it." Jane answered, looking up at her. "He said that he was a great actor, and he wouldn't let you down. I liked him. He said he'd be here shortly."
Carlos, Logan, and Kendall all turned to glare at James, shoving him down to the floor so they could talk. "So it wasn't cosmic irony, it was James' need to be in a Cuda ad"
"I can't help it! Show business beckons me! If Lindsay Lohan can do it, so can I!" James whispered eagerly to the group. "Come on, it will be just like when we got into BTR…except I doubt you'd be singing to your sister. Please?"
"It would keep us around Katie longer…and we have missed her evil ways. By the way, Lindsay Lohan…not your shining example." Logan sighed and looked to the other two. "Should we let the moose loose?"
Kendall sighed and hung his head. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything. Besides, Katie would probably find it hysterical. James is always pulling things like this. Give him a shot."
James hopped to his feet and ran towards the stage in a band-like entrance. "Heyyy Katie, what's the haps?"
Katie face palmed again and rolled her eyes. "You can't possibly be serious. James? James Diamond?"
"In the flesh. Come on, you know how much I love the Cuda products. You got me in with them before, why can't I be in with you this time? You were the best supervisor I ever had!" He got on his knees and begged. "Please, Katie. I would kill to be in this ad."
"I can't give you preferential treatment because you're my brother's friend." She let out a soft sigh. "I guess I can give you a shot, though. But just one, okay? It's a shot in the dark."
"Did you mean to reference one of our songs, or was that purely coincidental?" James inquired, looking towards Minako and flipping his hair. "Hey, aren't you just a beautiful piece of eye candy."
"She can speak English, you know." Katie shouted, laughing slightly at his manly ways. When James got backhanded, her smile widened. She'd always wondered if a girl hit him. Minako reared back to hit him again, but Katie stopped her. "Not his face, that's how he makes his money."
"He can still sing if he's not handsome," Kendall shouted. "Hey little sis."
"Wait!" Minako shouted, looking to Katie. "You know the band Big Time Rush? I've been following their success since I was only sixteen!"
"This is my little sister, Katie." Kendall smiled and threw his arm around Katie's shoulders. "She got tall…and…skinny."
"I'll explain later," Katie mumbled. "Can we get on with this shoot? I really want to go home and get some sleep."
The shoot went almost without a hitch. There were several occasions where James tried to kiss the female lead, but otherwise, it was alright. It was a Japanese ad, set to air in two weeks. She couldn't wait to see it. It would be her first time making James a successful model. They were back at her hotel room, preparing for the concert the next night. She sat on the couch and watched them go through the choreography for their concert. "So, still a dance craze sensation, I suppose?" Katie murmured, sipping a Chai tea.
"Always. You know that our job entails dancing, singing, and looking pretty. Especially looking pretty." James commented, looking over to Kendall. Kendall seemed to be staring intently at his sister, as if something was terribly wrong with her. "Hey, Kendall, your sister asked you a question."
"Did she?" Kendall asked, sitting beside her. "What's up, sis?"
"I was just wondering why I had to hear about your marriage from a tabloid." She frowned and folded her arms. "What happened to telling each other everything?"
"We got caught up in the American Dream, and your phone was shut off for two weeks. Actually, I'm convinced you only ever answered it for James." Kendall glared at the pretty boy, and then took a sip of Katie's tea. "This is really good, what is it?"
"Chai tea. I got into it when I got to Belgium." The snicker crossed her face briefly before she started coughing. She noticed that each of them took a step forward, but she held up a hand. "Just a cold. Sorry, the traveling wears at my body like you wouldn't believe."
"That's why you have to drink orange juice every morning!" Carlos shouted enthusiastically. He turned to Logan to see if he said the right thing, but Logan only shook his head. "Damnit! Again!"
"Just stop trying, Carlos. It's a lost cause." Logan murmured, sitting on the edge of Katie's wooden coffee table. "It sounded really bad; you should get it checked out."
"I did. I'm waiting on the test results. They're faxing them to my flat back home. Which reminds me, can you pick them up for me, Kendall? I'll leave you with the spare key. You'll be back before I am."
"Of course." He smiled and ruffled her hair, then sighed. "Guess we should get some sleep since our concert is tomorrow. Gustavo will kill us if we don't at least try to wow the fans." He kissed her forehead and smiled. "Goodnight, Katie."
"Goodnight, Kendall. Goodnight everyone else."
The night passed rather quickly. Katie didn't waste much time getting ready. She ran a hand through her tangled mess of hair and nonchalantly regarded a passed out Kendall on the couch. Of course they would crash at her place. Why bother going to their hotel when she had a perfectly good room right here? It looked like they had a wild party after she went to sleep. Carlos was passed out against the kitchen counter, cheese puffs scattered all over his face and the countertop. He also had streaks of bright orange down his face and shirt; which she could trace back and deduce was James' fault. James' hands were covered in neon orange cheesiness. He was passed out in the bathtub, where apparently one of the other boys tried to wake him from his drunkenness. She also noted that Logan had sharpie drawn all over his face, which meant only one thing – he must have been the first to fall asleep. She snickered wildly and went to wake the soaked James first so she could get a shower.
Leaning in the doorway, she stared at the mess of what used to be her idol. He had orange streaks through his hair where either he'd tried to fix it himself, Carlos got him in one hell of a grip, or he mistook his tanning spray for hairspray. She couldn't quite tell. Either way, he pulled off orange a lot better than brown. It was like dealing with children. Katie wasn't sure what to do with them. Kendall was usually the more reserved one, but quicker to get angry. It seemed like last night he told them to do whatever and have a free-for-all in her hotel room.
"Mr. Man-tan," She poked at him with a toe. If the water hadn't woke him up, one could assume it wouldn't now. Unless he was that jetlagged from the sudden flight they had to make to get here. "Carrot top?"
He still didn't wake to either of the names. She sighed and gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. "Hottie on the floor!"
James sprang into action and looked around for the said hottie. "Where?"
"Well, it certainly isn't you. You've got hair to match your awesome man tan." She paused and became serious after snickering for thirty seconds. "No, but seriously, you look like a douche. I'd wash it off." She stared at the tub, where streaks of orange were scattered about. Evidently it was a combination of the cheese puffs and spray. "That couldn't have been comfortable."
He rubbed his neck and looked at her for a moment. "No, it really wasn't." Staring at her carefully, he noted she was wearing a band tee-shirt, one of the ones she'd tried to sell when they first became famous, and a pair of ragged sweatpants. He smiled a little. She still looked deathly pale. "You alright, kid?"
"Okay, first off, I'm six years younger than you. You can't call me kid anymore, we agreed." She coughed slightly and leaned against the wall to keep her balance. "Second, you need to get the hell out of my bathroom so I can get a shower!"
He peeked at himself in the mirror, shrieking loud enough to wake the whole room. "JESUS CHRISTMAS, KATIE! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME I WAS ORANGE!"
"You didn't pick up on that epic hint when I said "man tan"? You really are slow in the morning. Just how drunk were you guys?" Katie inquired, digging through her bag for a toothbrush. "I know the party continued until three AM, which can't be a healthy lifestyle."
"I wasn't drunk. I was high on sugar. I blame Carlos. He won a bet, so we gave him sixty dollars, and he spent it all on pixy sticks." He smirked and laughed. "I successfully downed sixty-eight before starting to get sick. It's no worse than when he dared us to eat a hundred peeps. Can't be done, by the way."
"Noted. Now get out of my shower." She paused and blinked several times before raising a brow. "Can you at least take your clothes off so you're not dripping all over the floor? It mildews you know, and I don't have the money to pay for carpet cleaning."
"You just want an excuse to see me naked." He murmured, turning to stare at her in the mirror. She had a toothbrush in her hand, hovering over the sink so she could put the gel on it. "Don't you, Katie Baby?"
She dropped the toothbrush in the sink and turned on her heel, like a piranha. "One don't ever call me Katie Baby again, got it? Two, while I will admit you're handsome as all get-out, you're just not having the same effect on me, or anyone really, when your face and hair are orange!"
He stripped down to his boxers and stuck his tongue out at her. He could feel her staring at him. Katie always did have a crush on him. Even at 26 he still had that amazing figure. He closed the door behind him, letting his clothes lay on the floor. As he walked away, he could barely distinguish the retching sounds. "Oh, come on, I'm not that ugly!"
"You are when you're orange!" she shouted back.
James stared down at himself and noted the lack of clothing. "Hmm. Guess I should get dressed. Kendall, can you run down to the store and grab me some garb?"
Kendall rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Fine. Just back off my sister, would you? She's really stressed over work. I don't need you harassing her, too." Slipping his shoe on, he went on a mission to find his right shoe. He found it under a shelf in a totally different room. "How'd it get there?" He inquired, slipping it onto his foot. "Where's Logan?"
"Crashed in a closet." James paused and stared down at his indecency. "He fit surprisingly well…hey, we should probably get dressed, the concert is at four, and we have to practice until then. So like, hurry up and get me my clothes, would you?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm on it. We should just learn to keep a spare laying around for you. You seem to lose them often enough. And why'd you tell her you weren't drunk?" Kendall asked, lazily checking Katie's fridge for orange juice.
"I wasn't drunk, I was high on life." He peered at Kendall over the fridge door. "She likes me."
"She's always liked you. You're a brother, remember?" Kendall took a deep sip of orange juice, and then nearly spit it out when realization dawned on him. "GOOD GOD, MAN! WHY ARE YOU ORANGE?" Kendall froze and put the container down. "Please, please tell me that Logan isn't carrying bongo drums with him. I swear, finding snow in Japan is going to be insanely hard."
"N-wait, is he? If he is, I totally want to borrow them." James smirked when he saw Katie come from the shower five minutes later, wrapped in nothing but a towel. When Kendall noticed him looking, he stepped in front of James' view. "What was that for? Am I not allowed to admire a good looking girl when I see one?"
Kendall pointed at the lack of clothes. "Go take a shower, your clothes will be dry when you're done." James grumbled something as he went to take a shower.
After getting dressed, Katie peered over at her brother with a smile. "He was starting to get unbearable. There's no dryer here, what should I do?"
"Do what we used to do after hockey practice. Since none of us knew how to work a dryer, sans Logan, we learned to dry clothes the way the Eskimos did." Twenty minutes later her room smelled overbearingly of Cuda Men's Products, and a little like burning ego. She was positive that with that much product on anything, it was bound to explode. She peered into the little window on the oven.
"Kendall, if you light the kitchen on fire, you're paying for it." Katie scolded, taking out the milk and making coffee.
"Trust me; we used to do this all the time when Logan was still at school. Speaking of which, we should probably try and find him. I bet he's uncomfortable in there." Kendall muttered, sipping on a glass of orange juice and laughing quietly at his sister.
"Is it sad that when I didn't see him passed out in the bath tub, or laying in the living room somewhere, I immediately checked the closet?" Katie asked quizzically. "What's he doing in the closet to begin with?"
"You know, I have no clue what happened last night. I remember a cheese puff war between Carlos and James which slowly turned into a Cuda Products war…which would explain why it smells distinctly of hairspray in here. Then I vaguely recall us dragging James to the bath tub to wash him off because he said he was on fire, and not with hotness. He gets incoherent when he's drunk." Kendall fell quiet a moment. "He told you he was high on sugar, but he was lying. We were all pretty trashed last night."
"I noticed when James started to refer to me as Katie Baby and Logan called me Kylee. Do you guys always get drunk on a Thursday night, or is it just before a concert?" Katie asked.
"No. We found out that in first class, all drinks are free, and well…we ran with it." He shrugged when he heard Carlos groan beside them. "Hey! It is living! I didn't even guess."
Carlos looked up curiously, his eyes wide. "Wait, where's James and Logan? And why does it smell like…burning James in here? Oh, don't tell me he's in the oven! WHAT DID HE DO!"
Katie leaned on the counter, her chin propped on her palm. "I'm waiting for the fireworks. It should be a spectacular show when he figures it out."
"KATIE I NEED MY CLOTHES!" James shouted from the shower.
"HE'S IN THE OVEN NAKED?" Carlos ran to the oven and pressed his face to the glass, his hands raking down the side causing a screech to echo through the whole room. "I'LL SAVE YOU JAMES!"
"Carlos, what the hell?" James asked, standing in a towel beside Carlos. "Why are you on the floor in front of the oven? And where are my…ooh. My clothes are in there." He offered a smile, and then flipped his hair to the side. "Anyway…we need to get my clothes."
Katie gently shoved Carlos to the side and took James' clothes from the oven. She put them on the counter and blinked. "It was only on 250, so I doubt that it's going to be healthy to put them on you like that. You might cause permanent damage that way."
"I should probably gather the rest of the group and head off to practice now that James is dressed and ready to go." Kendall supposed, staring off into the distance. "You going to be alright here by yourself, Katie?"
"I'm not ten anymore," she paused and smirked. "And even when I was, I got in less trouble than you four did."
"She does have a point there." Carlos mumbled as he walked out the door. "Kendall, just remember to unfold Logan from the closet."
…it seems rushed. I can't figure out why. I like it, though. =) I also didn't bother with the whole concert deal because we all know how the concerts go. Nothing eventful would happen, so I left it to your imagination. =)