Steven stumbled up to the main floor of their commons, sweaty and clearly frustrated enough that his friends sensed it a mile away. "You three." He pointed at Jacob, Hazel and Adam menacingly. "You three are coming with me."

"Uh oh," Connie singsonged. "Looks like you guys are in trouble!"

"Oooo, you guys made him mad!" Jasmin slapped Jacob's ass and he grumbled.

"Can we ask why you're going to murder us? Or would it be more fun for you not to, My Liege?" Adam dipped his head in faux submission.

Steven sighed and the pink glow lessened. "I'm not mad. I'm stuck. Now come on."

"Have fun!" Anna called as they trampled down the stairs.

When they got there, Steven sat in his stool in front of his mic and tugged at his hair. "I'm going to lose my mind because this song has so much potential, but I'm overthinking it. It's just self indulgent bullshit and yet I'm tearing myself apart over it."

Jacob glanced up at the other perplexed men before answering. "With what?"

"The whole nine yards. I have the composition done, of course. But I keep stumbling after the first part," He mumbled into his hands.

"Is that why there's four mics instead of one?" Adam asked. "Thought you only had one."

"I did. But then I got backups, just in case. It's just... It hits the ears so good."

"Don't jerk yourself off too hard, baby boy." Hazel tugged on a coil of Stevens hair and dipped down to give his unofficial fuck buddy a grin.

He peeked out to glare at him with pink eyes. "I was going to help you lyrically, but fine. Freestyle it if you're gonna be a cock about it."

Hazel rocked on his feet and smirked. "I mean, if that's what you want."

Adam and Jacob laughed at Steven's silly rosy blush. "Haha. Maybe I'll have you three write me a song one day. Get it all out there instead of exposing me every chance you get." He picked up his guitar and slung it over his shoulder, a tiny grin overcoming his features. "God, you people piss me the fuck off."

"Love you too, buddy. Lay it on us."

"Friendly reminder: Don't hold your breath when it hits. Just let it happen," Steven reminded them seriously. "Two close calls was enough for me."

Adam blushed ruefully. "It was an accident. I was enjoying myself."

"Learn to breathe right, fucking weak ass–," Hazel stopped short when Adams hand lurched forward towards his jewels. They stared each other down for a minute before Hazel broke eye contact.

"That's what I thought." Adam tucked his hand back in his hoodie and stood on the right side of Hazel.

Steven had a nice set up. He and Connie were filthy rich and he rarely used much of their money, but he'd gone all out to make himself a professional recording studio. The walls were lined with black and pink acoustic treatment and isolation for the late nights he was up re-recording his old songs from his time with Allison. It was moderately sized, so even with Hazel and Steven being as tall as they were, there was enough room to comfortably stand next to each other with a bunch of extra room to spare.

A large glass pane loomed ten feet in front of them for when the time for mixing came. Inside was a completely decked out computer that held his audio interface. Next to that, nearly a hundred dials and knobs and switches that only Steven really truly knew how to use with his unfairly magical music advantage.

It wasn't like this was their first time in the recording studio, and it certainly wasn't their first time singing together. But they'd never sung here, and they'd never written anything together. The closest thing they'd had was Monster, which had yet to be recorded with the wounds still relatively fresh.

It was always fascinating to watch Steven fall into that mindset of making music. His normally cheerful face became a background character to his smolder. He concentrated poorly on almost everything else, but music was his second language and always had been. They all joked it was his first love as well, to which Connie agreed wholeheartedly. The amount of tension that man held was imperceivable until he started playing. His shoulders would relax so much it was hard not to feel a bit guilty thinking about what must be going on in his head at any given time to hold that much strain.

"Here goes, Jacob can start first, and we'll go through each of us for every line or so. It's Jacob, me, Hazel, Adam." He started strumming a bit, finding his natural rhythm immediately.

I don't wanna,
I don't wanna,
I don't wanna die, die

I sold my soul
To the devil for designer," He slid his hand up the fret, matching almost identically to the sound of a record scratching and his friends grinned at his creativity. "They said,
"Go to Hell,"
But I told em I don't wanna
If you know me well
Then you know that I ain't going cause
I don't wanna
I don't wanna
I don't wanna die young," His magic was almost goofy the way when the song hit the chorus, it would flood out of him like water and shroud the room. The feeling was similar to when they'd made Monster, an almost suffocating feeling of joy and bliss paired with their minds being mildly connected. It was easy for them to sense when it would be their turn. The rise of anticipation in it kept them fully aware, though it didn't need to. The song was already going to be stellar like his music always was and he had their full attention. "The city of angels where I have my fun
Don't wanna die young
When I'm gone remember all I've done."

Jacob stood on Steven left and felt out Steven's last line carefully. "We've had our fun."

"But now I'm done." Steven finished and glanced up at Hazel, who was already pumped enough for it to spread to everyone else.

"Cause you're crazy!
I can't take it," He grinned mischievously at Adam.

The man rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Just wanted to see you naked!"

"Heard time like money
Can't waste it!" Jacob's voice almost surprised Steven every time, the passion was similar enough that it heightened their excitement.

The line itself gave Steven extra confidence that he'd made the right choice. "What's the price of fame?
Cause I can taste it."

"So I'm chasin, and I'm facin,"

Adam nudged Hazel. "A little Hennessy,
It might be good for me."

They were all jovial children as they sang together, it happened as rarely as it happened they were all in the same room singing the same lines. Jacob always took upper harmony with Steven unless there was a simpler melody. Hazel took bottom while Adam took middle. It worked out gorgeously and the hybrid wondered why he was fucking around with his verse for 'Hate Me' when he could've been living in the moment with his best friends.

"I sold my soul to the devil for designer
They said, "Go to Hell."
But I told em I don't wanna
If you know me well,
Then you know that I ain't going
Cause
I don't wanna
I don't wanna
I don't wanna die young," They dropped off to let Jacob take the last word and he leaned a bit forward to glower at them playfully before they joined back in.
"The city of angels
Where I have my fun
Don't wanna die young," They singled out each other the next three times before the song ended. Boys like them would always be goofy, silly boys and that only added to it that much more. Stevens hand left his guitar and he placed his head in his hands again.

"You okay buddy?" Jacob asked carefully.

They crowded around him, placing a hand on his shoulder or back as he took a deep breath and the pink glow faded.

"I'm so glad I recorded that." He lifted his head and grinned wildly. "When it's finished, we gotta show this to the girls. And Alex."

Steven spent the next week and a half editing and mixing everything, with Adam tagging along to learn how. He'd almost finished it before Adam dropped a bombshell that most definitely saved what ended up being their first song.

"Add a beat," He suggested carefully. "A basic one, it doesn't need to be flashy. But–,"

"Drop it on the chorus. Give it a little fade every beat," Steven finished and scrolled over to it. They listened to a few definite no's and over ten maybe's before Alex came downstairs to call for dinner.

The blonde was already eating alfredo by large forkfuls. He had absolutely no qualms about waiting politely for everyone to be at the dinner table. He shouldered the door open just as they picked out another beat and they looked towards him, compelled by the smell of food. "That one. It's perfect."

TubeTube wasn't expected to yield so much attention so quickly, or even at all.

Steven's phone started vibrating so frequently that he woke up the next morning thinking he was receiving a call. "H-holy shit!"

His girlfriend rolled over and sat up straight. "Steven! What's the matter? Are you okay?"

He didn't respond. The comments were piling up and he didn't want to stop reading them.

'This song instead of "CITY OF ANGELS" should be called "ART."' One commenter proclaimed.

'This song is my new favorite!' Someone else said.

A good majority of them were, 'Who are these people?' And, 'Please don't let them be one hit wonders.' and the ones that made his heart feel like it would burst out of his chest, 'Where do we find more?'

"Steven?"

He handed his phone to her without looking up. "In shock" had been thrown around during and after his panic attacks, but he'd never felt this version. It was like his body had been filled with warm water, he felt so happy it was almost muted.

"Steven," Connie breathed. "You guys made it big."