Emily hates giving bad news.

And she could never do it to the band.

She tried once.

Her and Carlos occasionally had movie nights together. On their fourth one, the rest of the boys had found out and invited themselves in.

When Emily realized she didn't have enough popcorn for all of them. Kendall got all sad and she thought Logan might cry.

Movie night was postponed for an hour while Emily walked to the store to buy more.

That's why Kelly was delivering the plane tickets to the boys.

If the demo wasn't picked, the band goes back to Minnesota.

It was bad enough the news might make them cry, Emily might cry telling them.

Emily sat in the booth with Gustavo, finishing up the demo and exporting it for Griffin.

Just as they uploaded Famous to the demo, a corral of hockey players ambushed them in the booth.

The two backed their chairs up against the wall, seeing the upset band in front of them.

"We don't want to go home. We want to stay here," Kendall spoke.

"And get famous!" James said, urgently.

"Yeah, about that... Too bad!" Gustavo shouted in return.

"It's been three months. The demos are done," Emily told them, regretfully.

"That was the "deal,'" Gustavo reminded the boys.

"Right... What are demos again?" Carlos asked, confused, earning a few looks of disbelief from the rest of the team in the booth.

"They're the sample songs we've been recording that if the record company likes, then you get to stay here, make a full album, go on tour, and then you become famous!" Kelly explained, singing the melody to one of their songs.

"But if they don't pick it, I take over my father's scooter business, Emily becomes homeless-"

"What?" The girl interrupted.

"and you go back to Minnesota and be nobodies again," Gustavo told them, creating a yelp out of James.

"But we've worked so hard," Kendall pleaded. "We're so close!"

"You're not so close."

"We're almost there?" Logan asked.

The three in charge shook their heads in response.

"Halfway there?" Carlos questioned.

"You're almost halfway there," Emily corrected, cheerfully.

"Now, I'm going to go to my office. Please do not follow me," The producer said, dashing away with Emily and Kelly, shutting the office door behind them, only to have it swing back open.

The boys piled in the room, gathering around Emily who remained on the opposite side of the desk. "How could Griffin not pick Big Time Rush? He loves us," James thought.

"Griffin loves all the bands with demos, and there are six of them, but only one gets picked," Gustavo explained, holding up his fingers to count.

"And the one that everybody is talking about is Vampirah," Kelly mentioned, holding up their demo for the boys to see.

James yelped again, taking the demo from Kelly. "Vampire dudes with guitars. We're toast," Logan scoffed in disbelief.

"Hey, hey, hey, we are not toast. What's the one thing we've learned since we've been in L.A.?" Kendall asked, reasoning with his friends.

"That black is the new black."

"If you drink cold milk on a hot day, you die."

"That every time you leave your house, your toys come alive."

Emily shook her head, leaning against the desk, "That was just a movie," she reminded Carlos, thinking back to how horrified he was to watch Toy Story during one of their movies nights.

"That you don't wait for your dreams to happen. You make them happen," Kendall answered. "Now, how does the winning demo get picked?"

"That is a highly classified corporate secret that no one will tell me, and it's killing me!" Gustavo responded, screaming in frustration.

"Guys, we want this as badly as you do, but all we know is that the winning band is picked by a top-secret adviser very close to Griffin," Kelly told them, Emily nodding along quietly to herself at the thought of the boys not making it.

Laughter came up from behind the boys, stepping into the office to reveal a blonde girl on the phone, "Yeah, eww, I just entered this totally ugly office. Hold on, I'm mini barfing," The girl mimicked into the phone, walking around the group and slumping into Gustavo's chair. "I'm here to pick up a CD from Big Time Whatever."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Gustavo shouted.

"Mercedes Griffin," she answered, displeased with how she was being treated.

"Your boss' daughter," Emily mentioned, giving Gustavo a harsh look. She had met Mercedes time and time again. After calling her out, Mercedes apologized and gave Emily a mini makeover. She was going to text her everyday like she would Camille or Jo, but Emily enjoyed her bold personality every now and then.

"I'll call you back, Jess. Livin' large here is about to start groveling," Mercedes spoke into the phone, hanging up and rolling her eyes.

Everyone except for Emily awkwardly smiled at Mercedes, and began showing politeness to the girl.

"Hey, ha-ha, I am so, so sorry," Gustavo stuttered. "Um, here... Hey, um, here is the demo. Um, can I-can I get you a latte or a yacht?" He asked. Mercedes merely rolled her eyes, and got up to leave.

"Is this the band?" She asked, turning around to Emily. Emily nodded as the guys, mainly James, began brushing themselves up. "You guys are hot."

"Oh, and you're the secret someone who's close to Griffin who decides the winning demos," Carlos realized out loud.

As Emily began to shake her head, Mercedes cut her off. "That's right, I make the decisions, and I just decided that-" She hummed, scanning the boys before landing on Kendall. "You're my new boyfriend. Let's go."

"What? I don't even... I don't even know her. I don't even know her. Help, help, help, help," Kendall stuttered, being dragged out of the studio.

"This is not right," James said as Emily came to stand beside the boys, watching them leave from the doorway. "How could she pick Kendall over me?"

"I'd pick Kendall over you," Emily said, earning a laugh from Logan and Carlos.

***

At the PalmWoods, the team stuck to the side, waiting for Kendall to break down from carrying all of Mercedes pool necessities.

As the girl walked off towards the pool with her dog, the boys and Emily ran out to Kendall with words of encouragement.

"She's horrible, Em."

"I'm going to talk to her," Emily reassured Kendall, the boys giving her a thumbs up before going back to pump up their best friend.

Out by the pool, Mercedes smiled seeing Emily, "Hey!"

"Hey," Emily greeted, hesitantly. "So, you don't pick the winning demos, remember?" Emily said, reminding her.

"I know, but they're so hot," Mercedes said, Emily slightly understanding her plan more now.

"And you don't think forcing Kendall to be your boyfriend because he thinks you'll pick BTR is wrong?"

Mercedes sighed, "If I get you unlimited coffee, do you promise not to say anything?"

Questioning her morals, Emily bounced between her options. "You know, I'm sure he'll be fine, no harm done, so can I have it now?" She asked, feeling herself give in to the bribery.

"Later today when I have time, promise," She told the girl, seeing Kendall approach.

Emily turned, seeing Kendall carrying a large speaker, blasting their music and wearing a Pick Big Time Rush hat. She gave him a hopeful smile, running off, feeling only a little guilty.

Emily hid in one of the nearby cabanas with the rest of the group, spying on their date.

"This is relaxing. Now fan me and make dolphin noises so I feel like I'm in Cabo," Mercedes demanded, lounging with all her things, cucumbers over her eyes.

Kendall looked back at the group, unsure of what to do. From the cabana, Logan began making loud dolphin noises.

"Isn't it great being in love, new boyfriend? You love me too, right?"

Kendall froze, despite everyone in the cabana urging him to say yes.

"You hesitated. Maybe I'll hesitate to choose your demo as the winner," Mercedes said, making everyone aside from Emily gasp in fear. "I heard Vampirah's amazing."

Emily watched as everyone evacuated the cabana, rushing to Mercedes, pleading with her not to do that. Carlos, on his knees, in front of Mercedes, "Of course he loves you. I mean, wh-who wouldn't love you, with your hair and your hands and that rat-dog thing?"

Mercedes hummed in thought, "It's like you really know me." She turned to Kendall, "I'm breaking up with you," before turning back to Carlos. "You're my new boyfriend. Now carry me out like they do in the movies," she said, jumping into his arms. "Old boyfriend, bring my stuff up later."

As Carlos carried the girl out, everyone stood in shock, as James paced in frustration.

Emily, to no one in particular, "I'd pick Carlos over you."

Logan and Kendall let out a suppressed laugh, not amusing their friend.

"I didn't say anything!" He told the girl.

"I just thought I'd let you know."

***

Now Emily herself shoved in the shower of the boys apartment with everyone, as Carlos was out baking cookies for Mercedes. After hearing shouts and commotion, Carlos ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

"This looks weird, right?" Kendall asked his panicked friend, who nodding in response.

"Who cares? Get back in there," Gustavo said.

"Okay, we're close to near to almost being halfway there," Logan reminded him, earning a nod from Emily who was beside him.

"I can't go back. She hurts me," Carlos cried, making Emily feel a stab in her chest, thinking she had to give up her caffeine and let them know what was really going on.

"Are you talking behind my back with shower people?" Mercedes asked, harshly through the door.

"No... Apple blossom," Carlos responded, hesitating.

Mercedes busted through the door, making the shower group flinch.

"You lied to me. We're finished," She told Carlos. "My new boyfriend is..." As she went through her options again, Emily gave the girl a pleading look, as James followed her finger so she would have to pick him. "Him," She decided, landing on Logan.

"Him? Do you not see this, huh?" James asked in disbelief.

"Let's go, new boyfriend. We're gonna dye your hair to match my bag," Mercedes ordered, walking out.

"No," Logan squealed in fear.

"So you gonna do the right thing?" Gustavo asked, hounding the boy.

"No, I am," Kendall answered. "Hold my loofah."

As Kendall exited, Emily leaned over to James. "I'd pick Logan over you."

Mercedes turned to see Kendall.

"Hey, you're my old boyfriend. Where's my new boyfriend?" Mercedes asked, seeing Kendall exit the shower and not Logan.

"He's dumping you."

"What?"

The group had run out of the bathroom, screaming "What?"

Gustavo screamed, as Emily tried to calm Kendall down before he said something awful, "Kendall, stop, please, I'll explain."

Ignoring her, Kendall kept going, "Because you're spoiled, pushy, mean, and he and me and we would all rather go back to Minnesota than spend one more second pretending to be your boyfriend. And, man, it felt good to say that."

"Well, let me tell you something. There is no way I'm picking your demos now. Big Time Rush is big-time done." Mercedes threw the demo to the ground, smashing it with her heel. As the group screamed, Emily groaned, fully-well knowing she would have to export another one.

As Mercedes stormed out, Carlos shrugged looking to his friends, "So, what do we do now?"

Kelly projected the speaker into the circle, Logan regretfully pressing play for the intro to their song to play.

Ah, ah, ah-ah, oh

Emily rolled her eyes, turned the music off, and starting walking towards the door.

"No, everyone just calm down. I'm going to talk to her," She assured them, going out of 2J to find Mercedes down the hall, waiting on the elevator. "You need to go back in there, apologize and tell them the truth."

"Ugh, save me the lecture. Why don't you just tell them yourself?" Mercedes retorted.

"Because I'm giving you an opportunity to be a better person, and then they'll know I sold them out for coffee which you haven't given me yet."

A soft look ran down Mercedes face as she grumbled and pushed past Emily back towards the apartment, throwing the door open.

The boys looked up from their packing to see Mercedes and Emily in the doorway.

"Look, I know we haven't all dated that long," Mercedes sighed, crossing back into the apartment, Emily sluggishly following behind. "But I just wanted to come back to say I'm sorry."

James, more openly furious than the others, stepped forward, pointing to Mercedes. "Yeah, you should be sorry. How could you pick them over me?" He demanded, Emily smirking at his distress.

"Because I never date anyone prettier than me."

Groaning, Emily dropped her arms from their former crossed position, knowing it went straight to the boys head. James turned to his friends, "I'm better now."

"And Kendall's right. I'm a rich, spoiled bully who dresses hot and thinks your songs are great," Mercedes told them, a soft smile on her face. Emily held in a small smile, proud of her semi-friend.

"So you're gonna pick Big Time Rush?" Carlos questioned.

"We're halfway there!" Gustavo cheered.

As the group broke out cheering and in celebration, Mercedes jumped along with them, apologetically. Emily, who stood next to the other blonde, winced as she said, "Yeah, she doesn't choose the winning band."

Their faces dropped, surprised, confused, and more accusatory towards their assistant.

"What? You're not the top-secret music adviser?" Kendall asked.

"See, my dad asked me to pick up the demos because it was on my way, but I let you believe I choose the winning band because you're cute, and I lied to Emily when I promised her unlimited coffee if she didn't tell-"

"You lied?" Emily interjected, feeling sad and disappointed.

"And I love manipulating people," Mercedes sobbed. The group softened up towards both girls, hoping to gain knowledge about the real advisor from this.

Gustavo stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Mercedes, "Oh, there, there, Mercedes. The boys forgive you." The boys shrugged. "Now how do the demos get picked?"

Sniffling, "Well, first daddy looks at the demos to make sure that the covers are shiny. From there, the guy with white gloves takes them to an unmarked door at the end of a corridor. White gloves confirmed. Finally, he places them on the desk of daddy's top-secret music expert... Lo-Lo, the million-dollar hit-predicting super chimp," Mercedes explained.

"A monkey picks the demos?" The group demands in shock and distaste.

"A chimp," Emily corrects, getting sour looks from the boys.

"And if he claps, you're in," Mercedes nodded along, "but if he makes a raspberry noise, you're out. And sometimes I think daddy loves Lo-Lo more than me." Mercedes started to weep again, making Kendall step forward.

He wrapped an arm around the girl, "There, there, Mercedes. It's okay. Don't cry. Now, do you have a security card to your dad's building?"

"Oh, please. What are you guys gonna do?" Kelly rolled her eyes, sarcastically. "Chimp-nap Lo-Lo and train him to love Big Time Rush?"

That's exactly what they did.

***

Emily sat in her chair in the booth with Gustavo, Kelly, and Mercedes. The boys were standing around in the studio, with the chimp, wearing a tiny suit. 

Logan, wearing a lab coat over his clothes, "Now, according to Pavlov, animals can be trained to associate positive feelings with certain stimuli, such as sight, smells, and..."

"Big time rush demos," Kendall finished, holding up the new demo Emily printed.

"Exactly. We're gonna train Lo-Lo to pick the Big Time Rush demos through the positive reinforcement of... Bananas," Logan said, taking the bananas Carlos gave him on the table in front of the chimp. "Lo-Lo... Tasty bananas."

Carlos pointed back to the booth, "Big time rush..."

Big Time Rush started playing. "More bananas," Logan told him, as James held up two more hands of bananas.

"More Big Time Rush," James shouted, as Emily hit the next track and Any Kind Of Guy began playing. 

The chimp, seemingly pleased, began clapping. "He's clapping. It's working!" Kelly exclaimed.

"Halfway there, and here we come," Gustavo cheered.

"Even more bananas," Logan said, each of the guys holding up armfuls of bananas.

"Even more Big Time Rush," Kendall smiled. 

Famous started playing, and the chimp started jumping in his chair, picking up a banana. 

"He's picked up the bananas. Is that a good sign?" Gustavo asked Mercedes. 

Before she could answer, the group in the booth jumped upon seeing a banana smack the glass in front of them. The boys tried to coax him down, but only ended up cornered and being pelted with bananas, cowering on the floor, before the monkey jumped and ran out of the studio. 

"Well, he either really loved that song... or really hated it," Mercedes answered, making Gustavo scream.

"Not sure how I feel about him freaking out when my song started playing," Emily told the group. thinking out loud. 

***

The group reconvened in the lobby, the boys on the long couch, covered in bananas and empty peels. Kelly sat on the arm of Gustavo's chair, eating an untouched one. 

Thinking out loud, "You know, the scooter is the sensible solution for today's high gas prices, pollution, and offers seniors increased mobility, and-" Gustavo said, breaking out into a raging scream.

Emily and Mercedes, sharing the chair across from him, shared a concerned look.

Kendall stood, "You know, we are not giving up. We're almost halfway there, and another thing I've learned since coming to L.A. is that together, we can do anything."

Griffin entered the studio, holding the chimps hand, "Look who I found hitchhiking on the Hollywood freeway. 

"Yeah, we're done." 

"I am deeply disappointed in all of you, but I'm also curious. What happened? Help me out," He shrugged, looking to the group for answers.

 Mercedes stood, "It's my fault, daddy. I lied to them, and I made them be my boyfriends, and lied to Emily, and then I ate terrible cookies, and then I cried, and then I helped them chimp-nap Lo-Lo, and... I love you," she rambled, a nervous smile on her face. 

"Is that true? Because she lies a lot."

Gustavo stood, "It's all of our faults." 

"We really want to stay here in L.A. and make an album, " Kendall told the CEO.

"And a tour," Carlos interjected.

"And be famous," James cried.

"But we may have gone a little too far," Logan admitted.

Kelly shrugged, "Sorry?"

"Those are a lot of sentences containing words, containing letters, and I admire your passion and dedication," Griffin hummed. "But it doesn't change the fact that Lo-Lo picks which demos win. So what do you say, Lo-Lo? Do you like Big Time Rush?"

The group leaned forward, everyone looking at the chimp in anticipation. He pursed his lips together and blew.

"Sorry, boys, Vampirah wins."

Through the chorus of groans and sad faces, Emily nudged Mercedes shoulder, urging her to go tell her dad he was wrong.

"Lo-Lo's wrong, daddy," Mercedes blurted out. "The vampire fad has one, two years left, max. These guys' songs have infectious melodies, classic pop hooks, And Big Time Rush will crush the 6- to 16-year-old demographic, which is your core music-buying base."

Stunned, "Wow. Lo-Lo, I'm transferring you to missile defense," Griffin said. "Mercedes, you're my new hit-predicting adviser, and this way, we'll get to spend more time together. Big time rush wins!" He declared, an arm around his daughter. The group broke out into cheers and screams, as Emily stood on top of the chair in shock. "Anything else for my princess?"

A smug, innocent look on her face, "Well, I never really got a chance to date Logan."

"Logan, you're Mercedes' new boyfriend."

The boy let out a small cry of fear, hiding behind James.

"Now get to work. We need some new songs for the Big Time Rush album."

"I've already got one. Move out!" Gustavo said, him, Emily, and the boys running, ecstatically into the studio. 

Once in the studio, Gustavo and Emily immediately turned to one another, saying "Halfway There!" In perfect unison about the new song.

Gustavo a smug look on his face, went up into the booth, probably to start mixing sounds together. Shameful, Emily turned to the boys, an apology in order. 

The stood arms crossed. 

"I'm sorry. I have no self-respect," She told them, scuffing her shoe, head down. 

The boys looked at each other, Kendall held up his finger. "Let's all agree, no more secrets," Making all the teens nod in agreement. 

"Moore, let's go!" Gustavo shouted, over the speaker. 

The boys smiled, watching her run up into the booth, knowing an amazing song was being formed. 

***

Emily and the boys, jumped as they followed Kelly back into the PalmWoods, renewing their leases. 

The boys congratulated each other and Emily on the song, approaching the front desk.

Kelly, placing a check in front of Bitters, "I need to renew the leases for 2J and 3J."

Mrs. Knight and Katie, were there, looking to the boys for an explanation. 

"We're going to make a full album!" Carlos said. 

"And probably a concert-tour," Logan smiled. 

"And be famous!" James said, yet again. 

Smirking, Mrs. Knight turned back to the desk, placing a dirty plunger on it, "I quit! And I gave Buddah Bob  the rest of the day off," She told the man. 

Sluggishly, "What room?" 

"3B and it's bad." 

The group watched, amused as Bitters, slumbered off. 

"I guess we're not going home," She said, to the boys and her son. 

Kendall hummed, "Actually Mom, I think we are home," he corrected her. 

"Race you to the pool!" Emily exclaimed, pushing through the boys, and running out the doors all of the following her.

***

Hope you enjoyed!