"Welcome to our two newest additions to Envy's Hall of Fame. I'm so happy you're here!" Steven once witnessed the friendly hostess in front of the crowd throw a scalding, half eaten Hot Pocket at a child and drive off cackling.

You'd never know it with how sweet she acted.

"We have To Be Named At A Later Date, and The Curse Is Calling! One new, one established."

Steven looked out into the audience and exhaled as quietly as he could. He had put on a brave face like he always did, and his friends saw through the cracks for sure but let him prove himself. The urge to look at Allison was so strange to him. He knew what she looked like. He knew what she looked like today in fact. His mind was easy to get one tracked, and hard as he tried not to, he ended up glancing at her and finding himself looking into those cruel eyes painted on a charming face.

"Actually," Envy tapped her pen on her desk and pretended to think. "I believe we have some overlap here. Allison, didn't you used to have a thing with the frontman of TiBNAALD?"

Steven, impulsively, said no at the same time Allison said yes. The crowd grew bloodthirsty almost instantly with a low, "Ooo..."

"And I'm not the frontman," He finished. Despite the impending drama he could feel, he wouldn't take it back. "I couldn't do anything we do without them."

Allison didn't seem snuffed in the slightest, in fact she seemed to find the whole matter amusing to no end. "You don't remember our years spent together? No wonder you couldn't name your band."

The vicious snap from such a beautiful woman made all eight of them tense collectively. Sixteen eyes looked at her with a supreme irritation.

Steven felt Hazels chest puff as he was about to speak, but he nudged him. "Drop it."

Envy smiled at the tension like it was a fountain of youth. "Very well, then. So Steven, tell me how did you all meet? You've got quite the diverse crew."

It occurred to him this was a trap. He knew Allison knew about Nova, and if he lied he might get called out on it.

Under her breath, Anna muttered, "Shit."

"We met at a concert for The Curse Is Calling after I left," He lied. He had no choice. It was hit or miss.

Allison chuffed. "Which one?"

"The Billionaire venue in Las Dinero, June 18th." He knew that one had happened because it was the first concert he missed after he left Allison.

He'd never been more thankful than when Connie lit up. "I remember that day! Reuniting with an old flame and running into a bunch of weirdos at a concert is the best way to start a band."

"Wow, thanks."

Jacob flicked the back of Alex' neck. "You'll live."

The crowd aw'ed at them, hands over their hearts. It was then Steven saw the first flicker of doubt in Allison. He felt it, she could change the energy in the room just by being there and something about it felt sharp for a moment.

"Allison, what was Steven's role in the band?"

"Besides a toy?"

What a low blow. Steven was so shocked he had to laugh, he didn't hardly blush about it. It was such a desperate reach, such a low hanging fruit that he couldn't even be hurt by it.

That wasn't the case for the band however.

"Whoa, what the hell?" Hazel put a protective hand on Stevens shoulder as they rest sat less relaxed now.

Jasmin scoffed. "I'd expect some haughty bullshit like that from a bitch like you."

"Jesus Christ. What a miserable–,"

Steven glanced back at them as he leaned back to keep Connie in place as the muscles in her legs tensed with what he knew to be the action of going over there to beat her ass in front of a live audience. "Hey. It literally didn't bother me. She's not wrong, it's just interesting to hear her admit on public television that she used me." He glanced out at the now surprised audience. "Someone go look up my age at the time, that'll show em."

The sass hit a perfect ten and the audience gasped, starting to surge forward a bit to get the whole interaction on phone cameras. What he just said would be immortalized now.

Fuck it.

Envy was practically foaming at the mouth and turned to Connie. "So, what's the deal between you and the frontman?" She deliberately continued to call him the frontman, even slightly dragging it out an iota just to grate against his nerves some more. "Childhood best friend, and then ex, right?"

Connie smugly held up her hand to show off the magnificent ring. "Childhood jam bud, fiancé, husband."

"Mhm, and how does it feel to be in the same room as his ex? I'm sure it's a bit weird."

His woman hummed. "I'm not concerned with her presence."

Goddamn. If Steven was a king, Connie most certainly was a queen whether she wanted to be or not. He couldn't help but draw his eyes to hers in admiration.

"Allison, what was your favorite song you wrote with Steven?"

She actually thought on that for a moment. "I'd have to say between Unhappy Meal," He saw that coming a mile away, "And War. I believe that one's about his breakup with Connie."

He did his very best to hold it, but he dumbly watched as his tan fingertips faded into pink. A slow even breath made it disappear, but the damage was already done.

"A glow? Looks like you two have some things you need to discuss before you continue your marriage," Allison commented.

"Alright, I've had enough." Adam started to move but Anna grabbed his thigh and dug in her nails, stilling him from going over there to wring that woman's neck. After fidgeting around with the grip strength trainer for years, he knew he had abnormally strong hands. He had no qualms, and no hesitation. For Steven? He'd absolutely be deemed as a woman beater. Besides, didn't he have half immunity?

Connie frowned at Steven. "I guess we do."

Sharp gasps of excitement as an impending breakup shook everyone out of their stupor.

The fear in Stevens eyes was unmanageable for her to look into. "Lilac and pastel pink for flowers?"

He swallowed. "Flowers?"

"Yep. I love you so much I wanna marry you twice," She cooed, a sugary sweet smile on her face that made him ache inside.

His fear evaporated in an instant as his eyes became glassy. "Anything." He didn't need to say more, it was fairly obvious he reciprocated. Anything she wanted, anything she chose, anything she needed, he would give it to her no questions asked.

Allison analyzed the mini scene in front of her, and drew her eyes to Adam of all people. "You look familiar."

An entire room turned on the man and he sighed. "Well, you don't look familiar to me at all. I don't know you." How he referred to himself was strange enough for Envy to latch onto that.

"Oh? Do we have another secret fling in the mix?"

Adam snorted. "Fuck that noise, I'm not engaging in this."

The crowd laughed at the blunt and swift answer. Everything that was happening was fast and full of juicy drama.

"You don't have anything to say?" Envy pressed. "Clearly your band didn't know something happened."

"Irrelevant."

"You're an aloof one."

Adam shrugged, staying silent now with a bored glance everywhere but Allison's way. He'd completely stopped talking entirely, and the smirk that appeared when Allison realized he wasn't going to give her the time of day made her even angrier.

Before Envy could say anything else to stir the pot, Allison scoffed. "So do you fuck around with all of them too?"

"Yep!" They chorused.

Steven's face dropped from overly cheerful to dead solemn, almost cynical. "But you know, it's consensual this time."

At this point, it was a moment where they shouldn't laugh, so it became all they wanted to do. This was stupid, Envy and her entire franchise was stupid. Pitting people against each other wouldn't work if they knew factually they could take out Allison's entire band with little more than five or so minutes.

"Isn't that unorthodox?" Envy gasped.

Jacob pushed his fingers under the back of Jasmin's crop top, earning a half hearted glare over her shoulder. "Nope. It's natural."

"But don't you all have relationships?"

"Mhm." Hazel grabbed both Anna and Adam's hand. "That we do."

"So you just trust each other like that. Are there others?"

Anna shook her head. "Nope."

"But why? What makes your band so special that you guys are all so close?" Envy looked genuinely perplexed. Did she not understand love? He wouldn't have put it past her, she was a sociopath if he'd ever met one. The revelation for his Dad if he was watching would be another discussion and a half but whatever. "Is this just another form of how it was with Allison's band, since it's been established there was... friendly fire?"

Steven had to clear his throat before he started choking up with anxiety. He hadn't told his father this. "Well, when I was with Allison it was more of a... trained mindset."

A couple of furious gasps rang out and an audience member cried out, "What does that mean?!"

"Exactly what you hope it's not. Ever heard of a–." Uh oh, the was starting to spill information like someone had sliced him open. He needed to shut up, but years of repressed feelings were nearing their boiling point. "A-anyways, our band is founded on our mutual love and understanding of each other. We're kinda like a hive mind sometimes."

It was weird, the more prying questions that came, the less they chose to answer straight simply for the enjoyment of watching the two grow strained. They'd all exchange a glance and designate a speaker without a word. Steven was getting overwhelmed but this was turning out to be not so bad if he only had to function at 20% effort.

Then the last few questions turned on The Curse Is Calling, and things got really interesting.

"Do you newbies have any questions for The Curse Is Calling? They are more experienced after all," Envy crooned and shifted her eyes between the two. "Maybe you could learn a few things."

To everyone's surprise and wonder, Anna asked a question first. "Hey Allison, I guess I do have a quick question for you, who's that guitarist in the back? He looks familiar."

Steven frowned and looked him over. He didn't see it. However, when the kid opened his mouth it caught in his throat and he noticed Carter pinch his thigh. The kid reddened exactly like he used to after they'd started fucking around with him. "Holy shit."

Connie recoiled and nodded slowly. "You know what Anna? He does look familiar."

Jacob kissed his teeth. "Where oh where have I seen that face?"

Hazel pulled out his phone and scrolled a bit, glancing between it and the kid. "Yeah, no doubt about it."

Envy stood and leaned over the back of the couch, peering at it and then quickly motioning for a cameraman. On the screen behind them, a photo made them all gasp.

It was a picture of the kid, but not the kid.

"Oh my. That's...?"

Hazel nodded. "Yep."

Steven snatched it and stared for a few seconds before a huge smile broke out on his face for all of the wrong reasons. Around the ages of 20-23, he had maybe looked in the mirror twice or so. During that time he'd taken a few videos, and the change from then to now was incredible. He'd grown into his Diamond self a lot more, so while he essentially looked the same, he looked old enough to have definitive differences between then and now. Of course he wouldn't recognize a different person who looked a lot like he did at those ages. "You just can't get enough, huh?"

The audience went into a complete frenzy until Envy raised her hand for silence.

Allison rolled her eyes and waved a dismissive hand as they died down. "His name is Jackson. I personally don't see the resemblance."

Envy turned on her sister right then, sensing the favor was on TiBNAALD's side and Steven thanked his lucky stars. "Allison, since Steven your dating history has been pretty rocky. Tell us about that."

Unfortunately, Allison was prepared. "I guess the relationship damaged me so much that..." Her voice grew choked up and Stevens jaw dropped an inch. No way. She wouldn't. Not here. A single tear rolled down her cheek and Carter rubbed her back. She tossed him a grateful glance before saying, "I guess I just need some time to heal."

The crowd sympathized with her and Adam wanted to scream. He wanted to tell them to wake up and stop being a bunch of cannibalistic sheep. But he kept his lips pressed tightly together. Jacob gagged under his breath and he stifled a laugh.

"Let's do a crowd question," Envy mused. "I'm feeling spicy tonight."

"Connie, Allison, any possible chance of a track together in the future?"

That was apparently Stevens boiling point. It burned out of him so fast he almost didn't process he'd even said anything. "Over my dead body. No."

It looked controlling. It looked bad. Allison knew that and patted at dry eyes with a tissue as everyone took that in.

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Connie pressed a kiss to his cheek and the tension heightened by a tenfold.

"Any particularly new songs, Allison?"

She nodded. "Of course. Soon Credit will be out. We worked very hard on it. We also have a few other dazzling performances stretching into different genres."

Steven almost word vomitted again to tell her not to use his lyrics. It took everything in him to stay complacent.

"Well then, I think it's time we heard these bands sing." Envy stood and stepped from her desk. "There doesn't seem to be an upper hand verbally, but maybe there's another level to it."

When it sunk into the floor TiBNAALD couldn't help but be impressed. Steven, being the mostly polite man he was asked Envy, "Does TCIC wanna go first?"

"You'll both have time to shine. Ladies and gentlemen, we will be back in a few minutes when our bands will play a never heard before song by The Curse Is Calling, Hate Me."

Steven knew the song. Of course he knew the song, but they'd only finished up to the chorus. He'd been writing his own verse ever since they'd first written it shortly before he turned tail. The sound of her singing could make him disassociate at the wrong time, it'd happened before where he'd been holding a hand over his heart fearing he was having a heart attack while driving and hearing her voice on the radio.

She would stand over him and keep singing whatever song would torment him, digging metal spikes into his brain as she straddled him with that stupid fucking clicker.

As soon as he was about to ask about putting in his verse, Envy and Allison physically ushered him apart from the band. He caught the tail end of their collective fury and smiled wanly. What a life.

"You two have performed together before. I need it exactly like one of your old performances," Envy told them as her makeup team reapplied and pampered her. "I'm serious, this show is riding on absolute perfection and timing. You," She pointed a blood red acrylic at Steven, "Can you write a verse in five minutes?"

"Hell," He said, locking eyes with Allison, "Give me three."

Envy waved them to leave her be and Allison grabbed his hand, trying to keep him tucked away from any prying eyes.

"You really are much taller." She tipped her head back a bit more and he wanted to run as fast and as far as he could.

"I don't have the weight of your expectations on my shoulders anymore."

"You needed me." Her lips spoke words she knew would make him bleed for her.

"I did. I really, really needed you." He hated the way his voice sounded like a festering wound. But he couldn't bring himself to hate her. That's what he hated the most about her.

"So what happened?"

"You broke me down and I rebuilt a kingdom without you in it." The urge to put a wall between them manifested as exactly that: a see through shimmering pink wall of rejection.

Allison looked near to actual tears now. "I was just trying to help you."

"You're a liar," He said gently. "Your crocodile tears don't work on me anymore."

They disappeared just as he expected them to, save for one that fell down an annoyed expression. "Don't forget what you are."

He gasped in epiphany. "A monster." Steven wasn't even listening to her now, everything suddenly clicked. He knew what song he wanted to play after Hate Me.

"Don't get so excited about such trivial matters. You were always childish at your best."

"Mentally, I was a child. What was your excuse?" He tapped her nose and slid past her back toward the lights, grabbing his nosy Connie and tossing her over his shoulder. "How's that for a callback, love?"

"You certainly know how to pull out all the stops," She giggled, blue and brown hair dangling as she bounced upside down. "Let me down, dammit."

"I'll never let you down." He did the literal version and pulled her into a kiss, forgetting the world around him for the time being. "Do you think we're ready for Monster?"

Her eyes grew round and wet. "Oh, Steven. I think we've all been ready for a long, long time. Even you, Cutie Pie."

His curls bounced at his giddy giggle. There was nothing more he wanted to do than sweep her into his arms and hide away from all of this with his band. But they'd have to settle for the next best thing. He felt manic and overstimulated, thank the stars he could turn it funny in his mind. One thing was eating at him though. "Don't be fooled by stage play. The second I feel a sliver of doubt I'm going to make you cry off every bit of makeup in our room, Jacob style." He gave her a longing kiss before they stepped out.

The lights were overly bright, shining down on their transgression that apparently amounted to just being near Allison. If the voice of God himself had started speaking that it was a sin, Steven almost wouldn't have even been surprised. It almost felt like a direct "Fuck you" to the universe by putting himself in this position again to be on the same stage.

Allison's band, Carter, Jackson, Rebecca and Xander looked badass in their outfit change of all skin tight leather. Were they supposed to have an outfit change? And when did Allison change?

Ugh, why did he care?

Dozens of tech people equipped them with ear pieces and mics taped to the sides of their faces for versatility. It was an absolute swarm of action right up until Envy's voice and a spotlight caught his attention. Being the sister of Allison, she had her own balcony with a throne as she shouted, "Ladies and Gentlemen–,"

"Let the battle begin!" The crowd roared.

Steven turned to look back at his friends, watching as their faces went from confused to firm with resolve. He'd expected anxiety but they all looked so confident he couldn't be bothered to be nervous and throw off the balance.

Whatever happened here today was going to be in the history books forever.

'But no pressure, Pink.'

In the brief moment of complete dark, a flash of pink bright enough to reilluminate everything could be seen.

A teleprompter in front of them flashed 'The Curse Is Calling goes first! 3... 2... 1...', so Stevens hands lifted from his guitar. He wasn't going to be a cheater about it.

"Hate me, hate me, still tryna replace me
Chase me, chase me, tell me how you hate me
Erase me, 'rase me, wish you never dated me
Lies, tell me lies, baby, tell me how you hate me," Hearing her voice in person was even more painful, she had one of those voices that make you feel deep within your person. He could feel the cocky, condescending attitude behind it, an homage to how they used to play. For a split second he felt a pang in his heart, a sick part of him feeling something similar to nostalgia. 

"I bet you don't kiss her with your eyes closed," Steven was pretty sure every person in the entire rooms jaw dropped down to the floor. It was the boldest, brashest, thing she could've possibly said to him with his fiancé in the same room. The momentary spotlight on Connie was even more insane.
"I bet you're still walkin' on a tightrope
Miss me so much, you've been goin' psycho
You ain't gotta say it, baby, I know," It took him a moment to realize she was getting closer to him and for a moment he was sure he'd panic so hard an atomic bomb of an explosion would come out of him.

And then he felt a twinge inside of him, nearly an audible shout with how much he felt it.

He had to let it go. Her, the song, his terror. He just had to let it all go.

Her hand pressed against his chest, but he was unmoving as always, doubly so when it came to Allison literally trying to push him around.

"It's a thin line between all this love and hate
And if you switch sides, you're gon' have to claim your place," She challenged with another, harder shove but he grabbed her wrist and twisted. In one fluid second he had her arm pinned to her back, a similar position he used to force her into when he was mad. "So baby, this time you're gon' have to seal your fate
Yeah, baby, this time you're gon' have to seal your fate."

She leered at him as he took an intimidating step into her space, taking in every word as if it were just for him. And it was. She had automatically assumed he'd either still love her, or hate her when there was a much better option. She was over a foot shorter than him, but she didn't back down like most would. Her eyes told him the things her words weren't saying and as he inhaled, he felt complete indifference for the first time of his life.

'To Be Named At A Later Date!'

Still, he pursued her with a heavy step and a glow to his glower the audience ate up. Had he ever glowed in the public eye before today? There Allison went exposing his innards for all to see again, so for once he was going to return the favor.

"Hate me, hate me, tell me how you hate me," He backed her further onto her side of the stage with every other word or so, a lazy hunt that had her trembling a bit. Did she remember, he wondered, did she remember the days she would say every cruel thing under the sun and use the clicker to mind fuck him into liking it? "Tell me how I'm trash and you could easily replace me," He got in her face at that one, dipping his head down to look into her eyes just as she had to him. "Tell me that I'm strung out, wasted on the daily,
"Prolly 'cause there was no one around me numbin' all my pain," He pointed behind him to his best friends in the world playing their hearts out.
"Prolly 'cause there's no umbrella to shield me from all the rain," At that he turned around completely to look at his beautiful fiance and let himself bask in how proud she looked until he started to feel his weight lessen.
He caught Allison's eye over his shoulder and grinned. "Probably because you're the one playin' the mind games
You hate me because I don't let you play no mind games
They give me migraines and damage my brain." The anger he'd been holding back caught him off guard, it was so deep and ugly he jabbed a finger in Allison's face.
"Date me, break me, easily replace me
Hopefully you see it clear, hopefully it's HD," A smug look overtook his face as he tapped her temple. "I bet you wonder why the last few months I got spacey
In your head, I sing–,"

He knew she knew what he meant. The last four months of their "relationship" he had absolutely cut her off from everything but dick. The clicks got louder, but any chance he could take to not react he did. The ones that he didn't expect were the strongest, but if he could anticipate a click down to the second by hyperspeeding for a split second before it happened to brace himself, he would.

Allison didn't buy it, or at least she didn't project that way but as his last words came out, his feet left the floor entirely. She grabbed his hand instinctively and did her best to bring him down like she used to with her double coded songs meaning to hurt and bruise his already low self image.

His band and hers collided in song, the sound now double magnified and better because he had Adam mixing on stage. It was their secret trick, something no one else could begin to understand if they thought too hard about it and most didn't. A few other big artists here and there had mixers or DJ's and that had sparked Stevens teaching of Adam. And god, if he wasn't so blissfully happy he'd have walked over there and given him a Hollywood kiss.

Allison's voice always stayed smooth and cold, but he could see the desperation in her eyes. She really did miss him in her own sick and twisted way.

Steven loosened his grip on her hand and let out a series of ghostly, free backing to hers. He felt completely at ease, his hands interlocked behind his head. Everything felt good, and soon everything would be pink, too.

The applause was deafening, it dragged him back to real time to land on a tip toe and then flat on both feet to soak it in and bow alongside his band. He took extra care to thank Adam and Jacob for holding mixing and melody, and consequently carrying the entire song on their end.

They beamed at each other, a few wiping away tears and taking a deep breath to absorb as much as possible.

"That was quite a show." Envy golf clapped and the spotlight on her shone directly on TiBNAALD. "You–,"

"Encore!"

"Yeah, we demand an encore!"

"Encore! Encore! Encore!" The chant of the crowd brought Steven to tears, his shoulders shook as he dropped his head and sniffled. It didn't matter if it was half a victory, it was still a victory.

"Of whom?" Envy shouted over the pandemonium, raising her arms like a witch over a cauldron.

The cry for Steven and his friends was overwhelming.

"We can play another." His voice sounded as tearful as he felt, but it brought a hush over the room.

"Are you crying?" Allison scoffed. "Don't you know you're a grown man?"

"There's a hundred things to correct about you and your ridiculous fucking attitude. Shut your mouth." Connie slung her guitar over her back and rubbed the tears away with her thumbs. He didn't care who saw him melt into her touch. "These tears are healing."

"Literally." Jacob looked out into the audience, still hushed, and then over at Allison. "I hope you can find healing. That'd be pretty fucking cool."

The Curse Is Calling looked toward their leader, who once again stalked off the stage instead of confronting her heinous bullshit. They followed suit and Hazel clicked off his mic to get up and whisper to Steven, "Dude, we did this accapella. We don't—,"

Steven planted a kiss on his cheek and nudged him back. "Sit down. I've got it covered."

Connie grinned as a familiar chocolaty warmth filled the air. There were several small tugs of instruction she could feel in her mind, either Steven was literally fine tuning his power like a guitar or the others were testing their connection. It looked like a visible pink fog to her, though she had to wonder if those not directly involved could even see it until Envy clasped her hands.

"Now this is drama."