I got detention. Every day for two weeks. Mr. and Mrs. Martinez lectured me and I hated seeing the disappointment in their eyes, but they just didn't understand. I did what I needed to do and I'd do it again. Since then, there were no whispers, sneers, or catty looks.

We're a month into our junior year, and people are still talking about it. Xander says I'm a legend. I say I'm just me.

"Xander, there's mail for you on the table," Mrs. Martinez calls out as we all walk into the kitchen after school. It's our routine. We grab a snack, the guys practice, and I paint.

"Mail for moi?" he asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

I roll my eyes. "Weirdo."

"Your weirdo." He winks and kisses me quickly on the lips.

"Don't you forget it," I reply.

He opens the envelope and starts reading the letter.

"No way!" he shouts.

"What is it?" I ask.

"No fucking way!" he yells.

Mrs. Martinez scolds him.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. M, but I need to say it again. Holy fucking shit!"

"What the hell is going on?" Jesse asks.

"We got on that show! This letter is an official invite to participate," Xander says, his excitement palpable.

Jesse reads the letter. "Holy shit." He grins wider.

"Oh my God! This is crazy fantastic!" I screech when I read the letter for myself.

Kennedy frowns. "There might be a problem."

Everyone quiets down.

"What?" Jesse asks.

"We're minors. We need parental permission." He meets Jesse's gaze, then Ben's. "Your parents going to allow you to do this?"

"Damn it!" Ben shouts. "You know how they are, Jesse. They'll say no just to ruin shit for us. How can we get around this?"

Jesse shakes his head. "I'm not sure yet. Give me a little time to figure it out."

Ben nods. "They better not fuck this up for us."

"Benjamin," Mrs. Martinez scolds.

"Sorry, Mrs. M. This is just…" he trails off.

She smiles at him softly. "It will all work out. I am sure of it."

I really hope she's right.

* * *

She was right, and two months later the guys are getting ready to go on the show. It's here in Chicago, but they have to stay in the housing provided for the duration of the show. I sigh. How long is that, you might ask? Close to four months.

When they get there, they'll work with the people there so they can get used to their sound and make accommodations for the shows. Every single episode will be planned out before the season even begins. That'll be a couple months, then a couple months for the episodes, and after that it'll likely be chaos. I think they'll end up tacking at least two more months on to that.

Shea said she'd keep me busy and try to distract me, but we both know that's not going to happen.

Xander pulls me to him, wrapping an arm around my naked shoulders, my leg resting on top of his. He kisses my forehead.

"If you're thinking that hard already, I don't think I fucked you hard enough," he teases.

"Oh, you fucked me plenty hard and very, very well."

"So what's on your mind?"

"Just thinking of all the free time I'm going to have." I don't let on that I'm upset, but he knows. He always knows.

He hugs me tighter, kissing my forehead again, then the tip of my nose.

"The time apart is going to suck, but you can come visit as much as you want. It's only an hour's drive," he soothes.

"Without a back up in traffic," I counter.

"True. You could probably stay the weekends. I asked about it and they said it would be fine. Plus, you know Jesse. He's going to need to find a chick to bang."

"Oh God. Don't let him screw any of the girls on the show or staff. No one involved in this. That won't be pretty," I advise.

"We've already given Jesse 'the talk'."

"Good. That's good." I'm truly relieved because lately I've been seeing more and more girls at school giving Jesse either: A. The evil eye, or B. Fuck-me eyes. They go back for seconds, thirds, fourths, knowing all they're getting is a quick lay. No standards.

"What are you going to do with the rest of your time? I know you'll be with Shea, but any other plans?" he asks as he lazily strokes his fingers up and down my arm.

"Not really. I'm going to paint and draw a lot. Mrs. Stark mentioned a competition so I think I'm going to enter it. I just need to decide what I want to paint. Shea's been heavy into her sculpting instead of painting so she's entering too."

"That's cool, T." He sounds genuinely excited for me and I love him even more for that.

"I thought about using something I've already done, but I think I want something new and fresh."

"Still life? Landscape? People on the street? Kids at a playground? Me naked?" he smirks.

"I won't share you naked with anyone. You're mine."

"Damn right I am."

"That means, no screwing anyone else while we're apart," I say softly, toying with the sheet.

"Hey," he says. He lifts my chin so I meet his gaze. "I won't, T. You know that. I swear to you, I don't want anyone but you. You could put a line of naked women in front of me naked and while I'll enjoy the show, I won't want them. Not like I want you."

"That's a lie."

He considers. "Maybe an exaggeration. But seriously, baby. I only want you."

"It'll be different when we're not together, Xan."

"We'll see each other on the weekends. I'm not Jesse. I don't need sex that much. My hand works. Rosy Palm can be my girlfriend during the week," he jokes.

I laugh. "That's fair. I think she's going to get more action than I will."

"Nah. You can do the same thing. Maybe we'll have phone sex." He perks up. "I know. I'll buy you a vibrator."

"Um…" I bite my lip.

His eyes narrow. "You have one already."

I shrug. "It's dusty now, but I used to use it."

"That's so hot. Phone sex with you using your toy would be sexy as fuck. What do you think?"

"You'll have to do the dirty talking. I'm not good at that," I admit.

"Bullshit. When you get into it, filthy things come out of that gorgeous mouth of yours," he informs me.

"They do?" This is news to me. I mean, I know I make noises because I can't help it, but I didn't know I talked all nasty.

"Oh yeah. So hot," he tells me, rolling on top of me and pinning me to the bed.

"Hmm."

"I want you again," Xan whispers against my lips.

I pull his head forward and kiss him long and hard, leaving no doubt that I want him too.

* * *

The finale. They're up against another band but my guys are so much better. I've been there for every show, as has Dr. Mac. They've been saving this song for this moment. This is the one Xander swore was the one, and after hearing them play it over and over, I have no doubt he's right.

While The Dipstix (what the hell kind of name is that anyway?) are a great band, Falling Down is a million times better. Jesse works the stage like a pro. I watch them and they look like they've been on stage all their lives. I am in awe of them. I'm so damn happy for them I could burst.

This is it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, one last time on stage, let's hear it for Falling Down!"

It goes dark and as Xan starts to drum all you see are his drumsticks glowing in the dark. I laugh. With each beat, a drum lights up. Different colors on each one. I don't know how they managed that, but holy shit.

His foot pedals light up!

I scream.

"That is so kick ass, Dr. Mac!"

"Hell yes, it is!"

The guitars light up when Ethan plucks his bass, Kennedy strums out a rhythm, and Ben rips out a wailing riff. Even their guitar picks glow in the dark.

Jesse. All we see is a microphone glowing red.

With the first word, the light show begins.

It goes dark. There's only the glow of the instruments.

I scream at the top of my lungs, tears of happiness streaming for them.

The applause is deafening. They don't stop even when instructed to do so.

The lights come on and Jesse's grinning so big.

"Maybe you can get them to settle down," the host says to Jesse.

"Settle down, settle down. Let's hear what the man has to say," Jesse instructs. He lets out a true laugh, the kind I don't often hear from him and I know. This is what they're meant to do. This is their destiny.

As my guy walks up next to Jesse, my heart swells with pride. This is his future, his career. He's going to be a fucking rockstar.

I scream again! Dr. Mac lets out one of those piercing whistles.

I ignore the host as he does his thing. It's only when both bands come back out on stage that I stand up and pay attention. I cross my fingers, holding my cheeks, and Dr. Mac pulls me into his side.

"They have it. There's no doubt," he tells me.

"I know they do."

They show The Dipstix’s family on camera. Next thing I know, Dr. Mac and I are on camera. We smile and wave. I blow a kiss to Xan who screams, "That's my girl!"

I laugh. Oh God, this is it. Do or die. Make or break. Win or lose.

"It's been a close competition between these two exceptional bands! Let's see who the judges have deemed the winner." He holds up an envelope, the judge's panel off to the side. The judges are comprised of three musicians, each successful in their own genre.

He opens the envelope.

"And the winner is…"

Pause for anticipation. I hate when they do that crap.

"Falling Down!"

Confetti and balloons fall from the sky. Tears fall from my eyes as I hug Dr. Mac tight.

"They did it! They did it!" I shout.

"That's our guys up there. Those are our rockstars. We need to share them with the world now. They're going to take the radio waves by storm," Dr. Mac tells me, shedding a few of his own tears.

"This is just the beginning," I tell him.

He nods, excitement dancing in his eyes.

There's so much more to come… for them… for Xander.

Without me.

This may be their beginning, but is this the start of the end of us?

I'll fight until my last breath to stop that from happening, and I think Xan will too.

* * *

The next six months fly by. The guys are super busy recording their album. They were insistent on using their own songs. It took a long time and a lot of lawyer arguments to reach an agreement. It was like the song says, Are you ready? Can you handle us? I bet the recording company didn't know those words would ring as true as they are right now.

"Let's go out tonight," Xander says.

I lift a brow. I'm surprised. He's been so tired lately. "Out where?"

"On a date. To dinner." He picks up one of my pencils, the red one, and rolls it between his thumb and index finger.

"Where did you have in mind?"

He shrugs. "I think we should go somewhere nice. We don't do that very often. Mostly we're out as a group and it's Olive Garden."

"I like Olive Garden," I defend.

"I do too, but I want something different. Just me and you. Let's go out to a nice restaurant and have steak."

I stare at him. He stares back.

"You're being weird, but you said steak and now I want to eat some cow. Not formal. Maybe just dressed up a bit."

"Nope. I want you to wear a dress. I like that green one you have. You look so hot in that," he leers and wiggles his eyebrows.

"Weirdo. Where on earth are you going to take me that I need to wear a dress like that?" I ask, contemplating which shoes to wear with the dress.

"You'll see when we get there," he teases. He kisses my lips quickly. "I'm going to go get changed. You're already gorgeous, but I'm gonna give you an hour. Not a minute more!"

With that, he exits my bedroom.

What's gotten into him? He's been happy since the whole record deal, but this is something else. Me thinks my Xan is up to some xananigans again.