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

“Hello?” she grumbled groggily into the phone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gulping Keely knocked on one at random.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Ten minutes,” answered Colton easily.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Colton if you do that I'm-”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What happened?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Ms Jones.”

“What does she want?”

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

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

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

All five of them chorused, “Yes.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Not exactly.”

“Huh?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And that did not sound like good news to Keely.

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

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

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

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

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