The first song in the chapter I put in the external link, just so you know.

“Once I literally played a whole concert with nacho cheese on my shirt.”

Giving an incredulous laugh, Keely leaned forward to take dip her chip in the same dip, although she hoped it wasn't the same that had been on Marissa's shirt. “Seriously?”

“No joke, swear to god,” replied the other girl, grimacing slightly.

Keely just clapped her hands together delightedly. “Well, I doubt I'll do that at the Chrome Palace.”

“It's really not that funny when your father refuses to let you ever put nachos on your writer anymore, I seriously loved these. They were the food I ate before every show since I did my first show. Really confuses the system.”

Shoving a nacho into her mouth, Keely looked at the time, only to let out a quick muffled curse. Gulping down the chip, she hastily snatched up her bag, saying, “And now I really have to go.”

“So my “tell you the most embarrassing things I've ever done on stage so you'll feel better about preforming” session is officially over?” Marissa asked, but despite the hopeful wording, she didn't look to pleased that they were done.

Chuckling, she leaned down to give her friend a swift kiss on the cheek. “Yes, it does.”

“I hope I helped something!”

“If you didn't, the nachos did,” Keely called over her shoulder, swinging her bag on as she moved towards the private elevator.

The last words she heard before the doors closed was Marissa calling, “Say hi to the boys for me!”

Her elevator trip wasn't too long, and Keely felt herself in quite the good mood. Having lunch with a friend was always nice, even if it was just cheap nachos and cheese that she had picked up on the way to Marissa's penthouse, needless to say she'd gotten a few odd looks as she walked in with nachos in hand.

Excited for the day to come, she would have darted out off the elevator, but a tall body blocked her path, causing Keely to stumble back a step when she saw who it was. “Hello Mr James,” she greeted coolly, trying to compose herself. There was still something about the man that was putting her teeth on edge.

“Keely,” he replied, sending her a stiff nod.

Sending him her sweetest false smile, she said, “Have a nice day.”

And without waiting for his reply, edged quickly around himself, letting herself move quickly across the marble floors.

Keely was finding it quite easy to find cabs in New York, in fact she was becoming quite used to hailing them from the sidewalk. It would be quite difficult for her to be bad at it after almost a month and a half in New York since it had become her main mode of transportation after she got Maureen to get rid of the private driver. She just felt awkward having someone hired to drive her places and wait around for her.

Dropping into the back of the cab, she rattled off the address to the driver, only to have him look around at her incredulously. “You seriously want to go to that part of town?” he asked, taking in her clothes, apparently finding she wouldn't fit in with the blue plaid shirt buttoned over a black tank top, ripped jeans and her hair thrown into a messy bun at the top of her head.

“Yeah, I do,” she answered, giving a little sigh. She'd gotten the same reaction before.

Some time later, she paid the taxi driver, still receiving little disbelieving looks and shot out of the cab, crossing the street instantly to get to the warehouse.

Hastily she dragged the garage door open, it gave a loud croak at the motion, but moved easily all the same.

And there she found the boys. Marco was sitting at the drum set, grinning triumphantly, while Colton glared at him, prodding him angrily with the drumsticks square in the back, Seth was just shaking his head at them, a small smile touching his lips while he walked past, pulling the strap of one of his guitars over his shoulder, slapping Colton on the back of the head for good measure.

“Yeah, I know I'm late,” Keely said hastily when Seth's eyes fell on her.

“But,” she added hurriedly, digging through her bag, “I brought tidings.”

Grinning broadly, she pulled the candy bags from her bag that she'd bought when at the convenience store while getting the nachos for her and Marissa and tossed them to the boys.

“See? You can't be pissed now.”

Marco juggled a pack of Twizzlers between his hands before finally catching them, Seth caught the fuzzy peaches easily, while Colton, on the other hand, just let the bag she'd thrown to him fall on the ground before picking them up.

Swinging the guitar around so it was behind his back, Seth opened the bag instantly, apparently quite okay with the peace offering. The other boys decided it was a good time to start fighting over something that was beyond Keely, so she just rolled her eyes at them as she stepped forward, dropping her bag on the couch.

On the same page as her, Seth was ignoring the fighting going on behind him, since it was almost like play fighting, it had stopped bothering them.

“We need to make up your set list for the concert,” Seth told her, popping a candy in his mouth carelessly as Colton tackled Marco off the drum stool behind him.

Wincing as they hit the ground, Keely only stared in wonderment for a moment at the fact that anyone could jokingly fight like that and that Seth could just ignore them, but she shook her head quickly and looked back to him. “Aren't I just playing the songs off my album?”

“No,” he answered, snorting slightly.

When she gave him a blank look, Seth just sighed before elaborating. “We don't even know for sure which songs are going to be on the album, and if we did, the album hasn't been released yet, we don't need you to leak your own music.”

“Oh...” Keely answered slowly, biting on her bottom lip sheepishly.

After waiting a beat as he blinked at her, Seth said, “Yeah, so, c'mon, we'll work it out.”

“Stop!”

Instantaneously all the sound cut off, Keely's voice dying in her throat, Marco's hands dropping from his bass, Colton freezing before the drumsticks could make contact. All because Seth had interrupted the song as he slammed his hands upon the strings of his Telecaster.

Swallowing abruptly, she met his eyes, wondering what had been wrong with this one. They'd been practicing for hours, not that she was complaining. Singing while the boys played was like a dream, it was as if they knew what she was thinking before she did, letting her move seamlessly with them around the floor.

“What was wrong with that one?” she asked.

Seth frowned at her momentarily, making Keely shift uncomfortably from foot to foot under the steady gaze of the hazel eyes. “Less McCartney, more Joplin,” he decided eventually.

“Helter Skelter is a Beatles song, it was written and sung by Paul,” she laughed disbelievingly.

“Yeah... and?”

“Shouldn't I sing it like it was originally done?”

At that point Marco moved over to Colton, the latter grabbing one of the bags of candy that Keely had brought with her and they began to munch, speaking quietly as they stared avidly at the other two. She had no doubt that they were taking bets on if she and Seth would start yelling. Yet Seth just took a few steps towards her, forcing Keely to arch her neck so she could still look at him in the eyes.

“You're focused way too much on singing the song just like McCartney did.”

Groaning Keely rubbed a hand over her face. “Of course I am! I need to make it exact to the way he wrote it in the first place, because covering a Beatles song is going to get me stung no matter how much I sound like them.”

But Seth just shook his head, taking yet another step closer to her. “Paul McCartney had them do this song differently in the first place, it was raw, loud and dirty, that was the whole point. You just have to sing it the way you feel it, Keely, roughen up your voice a little, don't worry about hitting all the notes perfectly, because feeling in a song means so much more. You've never had problems with giving your heart away with the music before.”

“I don't know what you want me to do,” she answered quietly, rubbing her temples.

His mouth twitched in a sarcastic little smirk, but it was gone almost instantly and his expression softened, the edge of his mouth tipping upwards in a small, but real, grin. “Just give them your heart when you sing it, I can guarantee no one is going to sting you and give it back.

“Guys!” he called up abruptly, turning around to the rest of the band, making Marco and Colton jump. “We're going to do the song one more time.”

Turning back around to her, Seth started the harsh guitar, his fingers moving so easily across the fingerboard, but he looked far from being bored even though they'd played the song almost over ten times already.

In turn, she spun away from them, taking the point position with the microphone stand. Holding her hands over the mic when she started to sing. Seth wanted her to roughen up her voice? Well, she could do that.

“When I get to the bottom

I go back to the top of the slide

Where I stop and turn

and I go for a ride

Till I get to the bottom and I see you again

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Do you don't you want me to love you

I'm coming down fast but I'm miles above you

Tell me tell me come on tell me the answer

and you may be a lover but you ain't no dancer

Go helter skelter

helter skelter

helter skelter

Yeah, hu, hu

I will you won't you want me to make you

I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you

Tell me tell me tell me the answer

You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer

Look out

Helter skelter

helter skelter

helter skelter

Yeah, hu, hu

Look out cause here she comes

When I get to the bottom

I go back to the top of the slide

Where I stop and turn

and I go for a ride

Till I get to the bottom and I see you again

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Well will you won't you want me to make you

I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you

Tell me tell me tell me the answer

You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer

Look out

Helter skelter

helter skelter

helter skelter

Yeah, hu,

Helter Skelter

She's coming down fast

Yes she is

Yes she is

coming down fast”

Her throat was feeling more than a little hoarse from the way she'd made her voice raspy, letting herself simply feel the music as Seth had told her, instead of focusing on the notes and perfecting her tone. Slipping the mic back onto the stand since she'd freed it halfway through the song so she could move freely around their little stage, Keely turned around and was about to ask Seth how he felt about that one, but Colton interrupted her.

“I got blisters on my fingers!” he shouted, throwing his drumsticks across the room so they hit the stone wall.

That just made Keely burst out in laughter with the other two, holding her stomach slightly.

Still laughing, Seth slipped the strap of his guitar over his head, holding it by the neck as he said, “Don't worry, Ringo, that was the last take.”

Smiling broadly, she walked past Marco, bumping her shoulder to his side. “What, no ash try this time, George?”

He looked at her blankly. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Dude, that's just sad,” Seth cut in as he hung his guitar in place.

Chuckling, Keely decided to take pity on the confused looking bassist. “When The Beatles recorded Helter Skelter George Harrison was supposed to have lit an ash tray on fire and ran around the studio with it on his head.”

“Yeah, good time sharing musical knowledge prowess, but I've got to go,” said Colton, checking his watch quickly.

Marco sent him a quick nod, “Yeah, I've got to go too. Want to a ride, Paul?”

Rolling her eyes at the reference, Keely nodded, “Yeah, that'd be great.”

“You coming too, Seth?” Colton asked, standing up from his drum set.

But Seth just shook his head, slipping his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, giving them all a half hearted smile. “Nah, I'm going to stick around here for a while.”

“No plans with Rachael?” Marco teased.

Snorting, he answered, “No, not tonight.”

Although she didn't understand the teasing and the snort, after all Rachael was his girlfriend, Keely let it go, waving a careless hand at him in farewell as she followed Colton and Marco to the door. She was about to pull open the garage door, when a different snort caught her attention.

“Did you not even notice the other door at all?” Marco enquired, looking amused as he held open a heavy metal door a few feet away from the garage door.

Not bothering to answer him, Keely just scowled in his direction, redirecting her path to the other door where they stood. Obviously she hadn't noticed the other door, why else would she have been going through the big door? When they stepped out, she blinked confused, she hadn't realized they'd spent so long working on songs at the warehouse, because it was already dark.

It wasn't until they were almost to Marco's large black truck parked on the side of the road, that she noticed the absence on her shoulder.

“Shit,” she muttered, stopping in her tracks.

The boys she'd been sandwiched between once again both took a step before pulling to a halt too. “What?” asked Colton.

“I forgot my bag back in the warehouse,” Keely said, glancing back to place in question.

“Hurry up then,” said Colton, tapping his watch, “I need to meet Marissa in a half hour, and she likes to try and murder me when I'm late.”

Sighing, she brushed her bangs away from her eyes. “Don't bother waiting, I'll just call for a cab or something once I get it.”

“You sure?”

Sending a quick nod paired with a smile to the boys, Keely turned on her heel and strolled back to the warehouse down the street. Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jeans, she blew a breath in front of her, watching as it crystallized momentarily in front of her eyes before blowing away with the wind.

With the thought of things blowing away with the wind, she was humming Kansas' Dust In The Wind under her breath, her sneakers padding softly across the pavement that was slowly getting eaten away over the days. Keely was about to pull open the garage door again, but remembering the side door the boys had shown her, she leaned back to look at it. The door was slightly ajar, apparently Marco hadn't bothered to close it.

Sighing, she moved away from the garage door and pull open the other door, although it was quite heavy. Halfway through the motion, she heard something that made her eyebrows draw together in confusion.

It was the sound of a guitar, but not the same loud electric guitar that she'd become accustomed to when walking into the warehouse or studio when ever NSR was around. No, it was a softer sound, clearly not attached to the endless amps in the warehouse. Carefully, she stepped inside silently, letting the door close behind her with a muffled thump.

But Seth didn't so much as look around at the sound. Just stayed with his back to her, allowing Keely only to see the neck of the guitar he was holding and the bottom of the body. But it was enough to tell her that it was an acoustic guitar. His head was tipped forward towards it as she leaned back against the stone wall, the back of the black shirt she knew bore the Ramones' symbol on the front was obscured by the plain black guitar strap crossing over his back.

At first the sound was a mix of strumming and picking, holding no tune, just playing. It was as if he was deep in thought as he played it, and was just playing the guitar because it was there.

Keely knew she was most likely acting like one of the hundreds of stalkers that the boy must have, but she didn't mind at all. She wouldn't have even paid him a seconds thought if she was still in Bellingham, but now she was in New York and Seth wasn't exactly being an open book about what was wrong with him.

Because there was something wrong with him, she didn't know what it was, but she knew there was something going on. She knew she wasn't imagining it when he got that dark look in his eyes at odd moments, at least she hoped she wasn't. Her latest theory was he was using, after all, he'd be far from the first musician to fall into using drugs, after all hadn't it been Jim Morrison who thought drug use would lead to creativity?

Yet the thoughts in her mind left when that tuneless strumming abruptly found a song.

Even the first few chords brought moisture welling up into her eyes. She knew the song very well, Nine Inch Nails' Hurt, but just those first chords told her he was instead following in the immortal Johnny Cash's footsteps instead.

When the time for the vocals to be brought in neared she felt herself chewing down on her lip, wondering if she should sneak away. The song in itself was heartbreaking enough, he didn't need to be singing it to someone who he didn't know was there as well, someone he didn't want to share it with in the first place.

But when he started to sing, Keely felt herself glued into her place, leaning against the wall. His voice held the same hint of hoarseness around the edges to make it interesting, but this time it was smoother, almost softer.

“I hurt myself today

To see if I still feel

I focus on the pain

The only thing that's real

The needle tears a hole

The old familiar sting

Try to kill it all away

But I remember, everything

What have I become

My sweetest friend

Everyone I know,

goes away

In the end

And you could have it all

My empire of dirt

I will let you down

I will make you hurt”

It was no longer just the memory of the song making tears come close to her eyes, no, she could hear the emotion in his voice as he played, hitting every chord perfectly. Biting her lip to keep the tears down, she held a hand over her mouth to muffle any noise.

“I wear this crown of thorns

Upon my liar's chair

Full of broken thoughts

I cannot repair

Beneath the stains of time

The feelings disappear

You are someone else

I am still right here”

At that moment he decided to turn around, and Keely found herself frozen in place, wondering what to do.