There was perfect silence, almost perfect darkness too. The only lights coming from the machines' flickering lights. But Keely had her eyes closed against it all as she leaned back in her seat, tipping her head to the ceiling, mouthing the words to a hesitant chorus while notes spread out in her mind, like a guiding path to what the song would be in the end.

But there was one thought that kept interrupting her, the fact that Seth wasn't helping her write the song. And that infuriated Keely. I can write a song on my own, she told herself furiously, I don't need him to write every bloody song with me.

That was absolutely true.

Yet even Keely would admit that he made the music better, and that pissed her off too.

Her inner thoughts were disrupted by Pink Floyd's Another Brick in The Wall.

Keely's brow furrowed until she saw Marco's cell phone, lighting up the sound table.

Snatching it up, she pushed a hand through her bangs, pushing them from her face as she gave a distracted, "Hello?"

"Hi-Keely?"

She leaned back in the seat, seeing Seth's shocked face clearly in her mind. "Got it in one."

"What the hell are you doing with Marco's phone?" The surprised face she saw in her mind had turned to suspicious to match his tone.

"He left it at the studio," Keely snapped, pushing on the table so the rolling chair glided across the room.

"Why were you in the studio with him?"

"Jealous, are we?" she asked, rolling her eyes at his angry tone.

He almost growled, "Well, you're supposed to be my artist and now-"

"Slow down tiger," Keely interrupted him. "The only reason I was there was because Marco wanted company while he did the bass track for one of your songs. And I'm still here because I was writing a song, so stop jumping down my throat!"

There was a pause before Seth spoke again, this time using a softer voice, "Can you call Colton for me?"

"Why don't you do it yourself?" she snapped.

Another pause.

"Because I only get one phone call."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Are you telling me that you want me to call Colton for you because you've done something stupid enough to land you in jail so he can bail you out at two in the morning?!"

"Yes," he answered simply.

"Seth, you're an idiot," Keely replied, rubbing her temples.

"Lovely to know," he retorted sharply. "Now can you just call Colton and tell him to pick me up at the fifty third? Thanks."

Hearing the click of the call being disconnected, Keely let out a frustrated groan and dropped her head into her hands. Yeah, just because he made her music so much better didn't mean that the stupid boy didn't piss her off within an inch of her life.

Arrested? Seriously? Who was that stupid? She'd been in New York just over a month and the idiot had already been arrested twice, for what she didn't know, and those were just the ones she knew about. Because - although she hated to admit it - the boy was famous, and that translated to the fact he wouldn't be arrested as much as a regular person despite what he did. What the hell was he doing to get thrown into jail this time? God, that boy is so freaking idiotic!

Plus, she couldn't call Colton, he was on a rare date with Marissa and Keely didn't want Seth to screw up their night together. She had no idea what Marco was doing, but she couldn't exactly call him seeing as she had his mother fricking cell phone. Keely supposed she could let Seth stay in there until morning, but the though was gone quickly, she wasn't that mean, even to Seth.

Sighing, she stood up, shoved all her things into her bag before leaving the studio, locking the doors behind her as she was the last one there, and walked out of the alley to the road, hailing a cab.

Pushing the black hood off her head, Keely stepped into the quiet looking precinct. She took the time to straighten her bag over her shoulder before stepping up to the counter and saying, "I'm here for Seth Ryan...?"

The man behind the desk looked up at her from beneath his fly away eyebrows. "You're not Marco or Colton."

"No I'm just the lucky girl who answered Marco's phone," she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "So, I take it Seth regularly makes visits here?"

The man grinned broadly, the lines in her face deepening. "Twice a month at least, Marco and Colton usually bring us doughnuts when they come to bail him out."

Keely gave a little laugh, her thoughts revolving around the fact that the boys had a system with the cops when they came to bail Seth out. That, at least in her opinion, was pretty bad. "I'll remember to bring a box if I ever have to bail the idiot out again," she promised. "So are you going to tell me what the boy did so I can pay the bail money?"

"Oh, we picked him up for drunk and disorderly," the cop informed her. "Usually we wouldn't have bothered to arrest him, but the kid was about to start a fight so we got him out of the bar before he had an assault charge on his head."

Keely sighed, "So how much is the jackass costing me tonight?"

Minutes later, with a serious dent in her bank account, she'd signed a waiver and Seth could leave.

"You can go with John to get him if you want," said the cop behind the desk.

She smiled at him thankfully, following the burly cop named John through the doors.

John smiled warmly down at her. "This is the first time Seth has ever had one of his girlfriends bail him out before."

In response, Keely snorted. "I'm not his girlfriend. If I was, I'd kick his ass even more than I'm going to tonight."

The cop laughed, leading her down the hall. "You're a good friend then."

"We're not friends either."

He arched an eyebrow down at her. "Doesn't seem like it."

Before Keely could explain their odd coping relationship to the burly cop, he was opening a door and she saw the tell-tale bars of a holding cell. And with two steps inside, her eyes found the idiot who she planned on punching a few times.

Even though she still happened to be pissed off, Keely felt an involuntary smile tug at the side of her lips. Seth was sitting on the metal bench in perfectly worn jeans, a grey The Who t-shirt and his beloved leather jacket. He was leaning over, his face cupped in his hands with his elbows propped on his legs and the front locks of his hair standing up on end. He didn't even bother to look up when they walked in, probably because beside him was a dishevelled looking young man - obviously piss drunk - chatting happily in his ear.

Smirking, Keely stepped forward to the bars, going unnoticed by the inhabitants of the cell. "Hey there "Old Saint John on death row, he's just looking for a pardon."," she quoted.

Seth's companion looked at her looking shocked, but Seth just dropped his hands, keeping his eyes closed and leaned back comfortably against the wall behind him. ""I shame my family, shame my home"," he retorted smoothly, a small grin tugging at his mouth. "I like the Cold War Kids too, Staub."

Shaking her head slightly, Keely stepped even closer. "You ready to go, jailbird?"

He opened his eyes, still grinning, but before he could speak, the guy beside him squealed.

Literally squealed.

"I know you!" he screeched happily, bounding towards the bars. Keely just stared at him with wide eyes, blind sided by the high voice.

"I've seen you in magazines!" he continued, skidding to a stop in front of the bars. "You're Keely Staub!"

The man reached a hand through the bars, to grab her or just to touch her, Keely didn't know, she was still staring wide eyed at him. But before he could so much as brush her, Seth grabbed him by the back of his sweater, yanking him back with enough force that he stumbled back across the cell. But the alcohol he reeked of probably helped in the equation.

Keely looked back up to Seth, who was now scowling, but before she could speak, the cop, John, had stepped next to her.

"Seth," he scolded, shaking his head as if he was a father giving a lecture, but there was a smile twitching on his lips conspicuously. "Don't make me arrest you again when you're just about to get bailed out."

"He had it coming," Seth returned grumpily.

John rolled his eyes, opening the cell door. "Get going kid, take your little girlfriend with you."

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Keely piped up indignantly.

But Seth just ignored the two of them and clapped John on the shoulder. "See you next week, then?"

Scowling, Keely folded her arms in front of her chest. "You will not be seeing him in jail next week, Seth, I swear to god, I'll kick your ass. Plus I promised the next time I come to bail you out that I'd bring doughnuts and you've gone and bankrupted me. So you will not be getting arrested for at least another three weeks!"

At the end of her monologue, Seth just looked at her with slightly wide eyes. But John, well, John was beaming down at her. "Listen to your girl there, kid," he said, slapping Seth on the back. "And keep her around, I like her."

"I'm not his girl!" Keely exclaimed exasperated.

John just ignored her again, clapping Seth on the back hard enough to make him stumble forward a step, causing Keely to snort. "C'mon, kid, I'll give you back all the crap in your pockets."

Moments later Seth was filling his pockets when John hesitated, holding up a key chain.

"C'mon, John," groaned Seth, "I need to get in my apartment tonight."

The man just looked at him cautiously, not releasing his grip on the set of keys. "Seth, you've had more than a bit to drink tonight, and I don't want to have you dragged in here for drunk driving, that one won't just blow over."

Deciding it was time to take matters in her own hands because Seth was getting a mutinous look in his eyes that worried her, Keely marched up to the counter and snatched the keys from John's hands. "I'll lock him in his apartment if I have to," she promised, "After I drive him home."

John beamed at her again.

Yet Seth gave her a confused frown, "Can you even drive?"

Rolling her eyes, Keely reached up and gave Seth a hard yank on the ear.

He responded with an odd yelping sound, bending over slightly.

"Yeah, I really like her," John proclaimed as Seth rolled his eyes.

"Okay, let's go, little rebel," said Seth, nodding to the white tank top beneath her open black hoodie with the word "Rebel" stamped across it in black letters.

Keely scowled up at him, "I'm not little."

"Sure you aren't," Seth replied, slipping an arm around her shoulders easily as if to prove his point. Before she could protest with a swift elbow to his his stomach, he was steering her body to the doors she'd entered through with John, pulling her strangely close to his side.

As Seth pushed open the door so they could walk through without separating, Keely found herself tipping her head up to him.

"You're in a really good mood today," she observed in wonderment.

Seth just mimicked the motion of a shot with his hand, making her roll his eyes at him again. "You should stop doing that," he informed her, tapping between the eyes. Keely smacked his hand away frowning. "Your eyes will get stuck like that," he continued, "Isn't that what mom's are supposed to say?"

Restraining herself from rolling her eyes with great difficulty, she replied, "I wouldn't know. Why don't you tell me?"

Giving a shrug, he pulled her slightly closer to his side. "I don't know either."

Finding that he probably wouldn't let her move had she fought him over it, Keely allowed her shoulders to relax back into him. She could feel heat pushing its way to her cheeks when she felt the hardness and warm of his chest through his clothes. But forced the blush down by reminding herself that they hated each other when they were outside the studio.

"So why did you come pick me up?" Seth asked at random, moving a little unevenly down the hall as he dragged Keely from her internal ramblings. "I seem to remember telling you to call Colton."

"Well, he was on a date," Keely snapped, remembering her previous irritation with the boy standing beside her. "I didn't want you being a complete ass ruin both Colton and Marissa's night because they had to bail you out. By the way, you're paying me back the bail money."

Abruptly Seth reached out, brushing a pale red lock of hair away from eyes and tucking it behind her hear, instantly causing her breath to catch as he looked down at her intently with those almost golden eyes, pulling them both to a stop. "I like it when you're like this, all fiery and passionate, it matches your hair," he murmured softly, keeping the arm around her shoulders even as the other one stayed, almost cupping her cheek as she stared blankly up at him, losing any and all brain capacity she might have had before.

Hell, Keely couldn't have even remembered her own father's name at that moment. Her mind had stopped working completely, as if someone had just decided to wipe it clean.

And just as suddenly, Seth let his hand drop, and tugged them through the door to the foyer.

Oh, god, Oh shit, you're being a complete idiot! Keely scolded herself, if she'd been able to do it inconspicuously, she would have smacked herself on the forehead for those two seconds. He's still drunk, she mentally screamed at herself, he's acting like this because he's a flirt, you know that, you've seen all the magazines! A different girl almost every week! Plus he more or less hates you, the only reason he did that is because he's still drunk.

Seth called out his goodbyes to the station full of cops, apparently being on oddly good terms with them though they arrested him every two weeks. Keely found that there was something twisted about that as he tugged her through to the front doors.

A blast of frigid air hit them, and Keely instantly shivered, cowering back against him.

Casually he lifted her hood over her head, before pulling her to the left.

"How far away is your car?" Keely asked, breaking the silence.

"About five minutes."

She waited a beat, then, "How much have you had to drink tonight?"

He gave a broad smirk, as if proud of himself, no bothering to look at her as his eyes passed over the rather empty New York streets easily. "Ah, probably only like seven or so... maybe... I would have had more if the asshole hadn't come into the picture. Stupid jackass," he scowled, his eyes seeming far away.

Keeping her gait close to his, Keely followed his example by not looking at him. She was quite happy, he was only in holding for an hour or two, the effects of the alcohol probably still hadn't worn off. "So why didn't you call your girlfriend to come and pick you up right away?" she asked, putting an emphasis on the word 'girlfriend', hoping it would bring him back to his senses, or at the very least drop his arm.

But all he did was snort. "She's annoying, her voice gives me a headache."

Despite herself, Keely let out a loud laugh. "Then why'd you ask her out?"

"I didn't. We pretty much had sex and she decided that we were dating. I really would prefer for her to go away."

Grinning, Keely found herself being steered into a parking lot where his car was awaiting, the top up this time. She liked drunk Seth, or at least buzzed Seth. He was funnier. Plus she didn't mind what he was saying about Rachael, because, well, she was still holding a grudge over the whole "no one expects her first album to be good" thing. Although she sincerely doubted what Seth was saying was true, they were probably just in a fight, because she couldn't see him as the guy who wouldn't call a girl out for having delusions.

"Ah, I love my car," Seth informed her when they got to the passenger's side.

Holding in laughter, Keely unlocked the door and dumped Seth into the seat. It wasn't the easiest feat seeing as he decided to tighten his grip around her shoulders at that moment, almost sending her tumbling in the car with him.

Disentangling herself from him hastily, she skirted about the hood and dropped behind the steering wheel.

She wasn't even backed all the way out of the parking spot before Seth had lunged half into the backseat.

"Hey!" Keely exclaimed, grabbing his belt and tugging him back.

"If you wanted to do that, all you had to was ask, rebel."

Rolling her eyes at his smug tone, Keely tugged again, though quickly let go as she was pulling them onto the road. "Sit back down, Seth!" she ordered.

"Hold your horses," he retorted easily. She heard a few clicks, then he fell back into his seat, guitar in his lap.

Keely arched an eyebrow, "Take your guitar everywhere with you?"

"Yeah, I do, you should too, if you get a song idea you can work on it before it goes all MIA. And I was doing an acoustic set at the bar, well, I would've been doing one."

Frowning at him, she asked, "Why would you drink before you play?"

"Makes it all more bearable," he replied with a sad smile.

But before she could ask what the hell he had meant by that, Seth began strumming the guitar casually. Immediately, as always, Keely was struck by how good he really was, and he'd only played a few chords. It was as if the guitar was a piece of him rather than an instrument, it was just so natural for his fingers to play across it smoothly, making her breath catch in her throat again.

And, almost without her noticing, the boy changed from random strumming to a song seamlessly. Instantly she found it was Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, one of those songs she'd always wanted to learn, but had never gotten around to it. She opened her mouth to ask him if he'd teach her how to play the song, but it was at that moment that he began to sing as well, and she hastily shut her mouth.

"And I'd give up forever to touch you,

'Cause I know you feel me somehow.

You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be,

And I don't want to go home right now.

And all I can taste is this moment,

And all I can breathe is your life.

And sooner or later it's over,

I just don't want to miss you tonight.

And I don't want the world to see me,

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand.

When everything's made to be broken,

I just want you to know who I am.

And you can't fight the tear that ain't coming,

Or the moment of truth in your lies.

When everything feels like the movies,

Yeah, you bleed just to know you're alive.

And I don't want the world to see me,

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand.

When everything's made to be broken,

I just want you to know who I am.

And I don't want the world to see me,

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand.

When everything's made to be broken,

I just want you to know who I am.

I just want you to know who I am.

I just want you to know who I am.

I just want you to know who I am.."