Relationships.

Everyone goes through them, whether they are labeled or not. It's a time in our lives where we develop an emotional connection to another person. Whether they end in heartbreak or you live happily with them, we all form that bond at some point in our lives.

For Dani, a relationship has to have three key factors: communication, trust, and Dani's biggest one, honesty.

That's why things ended so badly with her and Mac; he didn't tell her that he was leaving for the tour and just up and left one day. He didn't trust that she would make the right choice for herself, so he dumped her. Mac wasn't completely honest with Dani when he said he wanted her to focus on her work, when he actually had brought someone else on tour with him instead.

Dani was sitting on the couch in the studio, writing in her songbook, adding to the lyrics that had come to her the night prior.

Dani looked up as she watched the boys singing in the recording booth. The girl couldn't help but chuckle as Carlos danced and sang his part happily on what was supposed to be a sad breakup song.

"Cut! Cut! Carlos, this is a song about when a girl destroys your heart. So why are you singing so happy?!"

"Uh, because I'm happy?" Carlos answered, confused, shrugging his shoulders, causing Gustavo to throw his arms up.

"Carlos, just try to remember the first time a girl broke your heart." Kelly suggested, trying to reason with the boy.

"Uh, for that to happen, he'd have to have a first girlfriend." James stated, causing the other two boys to laugh as Dani stood from her spot, making her way closer to the booth.

"Die!" Carlos exclaimed, charging at James and pushing him into the back wall, causing the duo to begin fighting as they fell to the ground, resulting in Kendall and Logan stepping in.

Dani watched as Gustavo slammed his hand on a red button that said, 'Stop Fight'.

A bright white light flashed in the room as a loud screeching sound rang in the room, causing the four boys to fall to the ground in pain.

"The new stop-fight button works." Kelly stated before Gustavo removed his hand from the button, causing everything to stop.

"I'll make some changes to the breakup song, and I'll record you all later-" Gustavo explained.

"Separately!" Dani quickly added.

"Until then..." Gustavo trailed off, quickly hitting the button titled 'eject'.

The four boys were all shoved out of the booth by the wall.

"The new 'eject' button works too." Kelly hummed, impressed.

"Jennings." Gustavo said, turning around in his chair to face the girl and rising up from his chair. "Let's hear this song that you've been doodling in your little book."

"Song. What song? I wasn't working on any song." Dani nervously chuckled as Kelly stepped forward, trying to grab the book from the girl's hand.

"Just let us see the book!" Kelly exclaimed, finally ripping the book away, letting out a breath before flipping to a page as she stepped back as she and Gustavo looked at the book.

"The ones I've been thinking about recording are dog-eared," Dani sighed, knowing she lost the battle.

"Traitor," Kelly read, causing Dani's eyes to go wide as she began reading the lyrics aloud. "Brown guilty eyes and little white lies. Yeah, I played dumb, but I always knew."

"That page isn't doggy-eared," Dani said, stepping forward, causing Gustavo to grab the book from Kelly as Dani tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she took a step back. "It's just something I was messing around with, but if you flip the page to the next page that is doggy-eared, you will find a song titled 'Fingers Crossed'."

Dani watched as Gustavo and Kelly's eyes scanned the next page as she stood there, tensed, waiting for one of them to react.

"Let's hear it," Gustavo said, causing Kelly to nod, causing Dani to nod quickly, surprised about the request.

"Yeah, okay," Dani nodded as she took a seat at the piano.

Introduced me to your family
Watched my favorite shows on your TV
Made me breakfast in the morning
When you got home from work

Making plans to travel round the world
Said we'd always put each other first
Old love songs we used to play too
Funny, now I hate you

Now I remember when you'd call me late at night
I gave you all my hours and advice just tryna fix you
And all your daddy issues
But now I don't even miss you anymore
So I,I want all the tears back that I cried
All the hours spent giving advice
On how to write your songs
All you did was prove me wrong
When you said you loved me
Well you must have had your fingers crossed

Shoulda paid more attention to my friends
Telling me how bad it's gonna end
Always given their opinion
Now I wish I would have listened

I could say I'm sorry but I'm not
You don't deserve the one thing that you lost

Now I remember when you'd call me late at night
I gave you all my hours and advice just tryna fix you
And all your daddy issues
But now I don't even miss you anymore
So I,I want all the tears back that I cried
All the hours spent giving advice
On how to write your songs
All you did was prove me wrong
When you said you loved me
Well you must have had your fingers crossed

Your fingers crossed
(oh,oh) your fingers crossed
(oh, oh) oh, when you said you loved me
We'll you must've had your fingers crossed

So I,I want all the tears back that I cried
All the hours spent giving advice
On how to write your songs
All you did was prove me wrong
When you said you loved me
Well you must have had your fingers crossed

"That was great... Now, I'll be in the studio making changes to the song for the dogs... and other things."

Dani watched Gustavo quickly make his way out of the studio, causing Dani to chuckle.

"He is definitely up to something." Dani said, turning to Kelly, only to see her with a big grin on her face. "What's with the grin?"

"So your song, Traitor?"

"Yeah, traitor..." Dani nervously chuckled, looking at her wrist at a pretend watch, quickly sending the woman a smile. "Well, would you look at the time? I got to run. Bye, Kelly!"

Without giving her a chance to speak, Dani quickly ran out of the recording studio and out of Rocque Records.

....

Dani was curled up onto the couch in the lobby of the Palm Woods, her songbook and pencil in her hand, with beats playing from her headphones.

Dani felt someone tap her shoulder, causing her to look up to see Kendall trying to wave at her with smoothies in his hand, causing her to smile at the boy as she placed the headphones around her neck. "Oh, hey, Kendall. What's up?"

"Hey Dani, what are you up to?" The boy asked, gesturing to the book in her hand, causing her to eye the two different colored smoothies in his hands as she raised eyebrows.

"Griffin has been getting on me about making my first album, so I've been trying to write some songs." Dani answered, lifting her songbook up to show the boy. "What about you?"

"Well, I was supposed to be hanging out with Jo, but she bailed with a work thing." Kendall explained, nodding beside the girl. "May I?"

"Of course."

Kendall took a seat beside the girl before he extended the blue smoothie towards her. "Smoothie?"

"Why, thank you." Dani smiled, taking the drink from his hand as she took a drink.

Before either of them had the chance to say anything else, a dressed-up James hit the back of the couch with a script, gaining their attention.

"I don't care if she's a robot. I'm in love with her."

"Good for you." Kendall called after his friend, confused as he looked back at the blonde girl.

"I should get going." Dani said, standing up from her seat, sending the boy another smile. "These songs aren't going to write themselves. I'll see you later, Kendork. Thanks again."

Before the boy had the chance to respond, the blonde girl had disappeared into the elevator.

"There's something up with her, right?" Katie asked, walking up beside her brother as they watched the girl disappear.

"Most definitely."

...

Dani was standing in her kitchen with an apron wrapped around her waist, her kitchen covered in ingredients as she aggressively whisked the batter of her chocolate chip cookies with music, drowning everything else out.

The sound of a knocking came from Dani's front door, causing her to call out, "Who is it?"

Another knock came from the door, causing her to let out a loud sigh.

Dani quickly paused her music before she made her way to her door and threw it open. "Oh, hey guys!"

"Nice to see you too?" Kendall said in more of a question, looking down at his little sister, causing her to shrug, as the blonde girl turned around and marched away from the two as they followed behind her, closing the door behind them.

"What do I owe for this surprise visit?" Dani asked, sending the duo a small smile before she went back to aggressively mixing her cookie batter, causing the siblings to once again send each other a look.

"We wanted to come make sure you were okay; you seemed... off the last few weeks." Katie explained.

"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?" Dani replied, sending a fake smile as she aggressively beat the batter as she bitterly said, "I mean, it's not everyday that you find out that your boyfriend was talking to someone else while you were together. That person being the one, he told you not to worry about that; she was only a friend. Then he leaves you for a tour that you both talked about since you first met before you ever had feelings for each other, only to find out he only left you behind because he took that same girl he told you not to worry about on tour instead of you, and not even two weeks later they started dating. Then he comes back and asks you to be his opener on tour, and you go because you think you are going to lose everything. Then you meet said girlfriend that you had yet to know anything about, and she's the one to tell you about said relationship, and so you confront your ex-boyfriend of years, and he admits to talking to her while you were together and that his feelings weren't there anymore, and so instead of telling you, he drags on a relationship that was built on lies and..."

"Dani, Dani, Dani," Kendall called, gently taking her hand away from the bowl, causing her to actually look up at the blonde boy as he sent her sad smiles. "How about we breathe?"

The girl nodded as she breathed in and out, causing her heart to stop beating so fast and her blood to stop boiling.

"Better?"

"Yeah, thanks," Dani said.

"Wait, that walking mop top cheated on you!" Katie exclaimed, eating one of the already-made cookies spread around Dani's kitchen, causing the two teens to turn and look at her, causing her to send a small smile. "Sorry."

"Sadly, yes." Dani sighed, shrugging her shoulders with a sad smile. "It is very clear where he stands."

"You said you've been writing songs all day?" Kendall asked, causing the blonde girl to nod. "I'm assuming at least one of those songs is about him."

"Let's try all of them.," Dani said, sending a guilty smile. "When I feel something, I really feel it."

"Okay," Kendall trailed off, looking over at his sister before looking back at the girl. "So, why don't you record and release one of them?"

"I don't know about that." Dani shook her head, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I don't think the world wants to know about my relationship drama."

"Come on, Dani." Katie said, standing from her seat and walking to stand directly in front of the older girl. "It's like you told me, 'You'll never know what is destined for you until you face your challenges head-on'. Dani, this is your challenge."

"Yeah, what she said." Kendall nodded, pointing at his little sister, before taking a step forward and placing his hands on the girl's shoulders. "You deserve some closure, and if releasing one of these songs is that, then do it for you."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Dani said. "Don't you guys have anything better to do than check in on little old me? I thought you had a date with Jo, and Katie was hanging out with Bitters."

"Speaking of Bitters, I need to run." Katie sends the two a smile, taking a handful of cookies and racing out of the apartment, causing the two to chuckle.

"There's always time to check on the people we care about, especially our friends. Besides, me and Jo planned to have a picnic in the park, but she couldn't make it because of shooting," Kendall explained. "But we are meeting by the pool at 3."

"As in 20 minutes?" Dani asked, looking over at the time that was lit up on her oven.

"It's not in," Kendall started, pulling his phone out of his pocket, stopping as his eyes went wide, noticing it was in fact 2:40, causing him to look back up at the girl. "It's in 20 minutes!"

"Hey, you have plenty of time if you go now," Dani chuckled, causing the boy to nod. "And take these; Jo loves them." Dani turned around, grabbing a container full of chocolate chip cookies.

"Thanks, Dani." Kendall said, hugging the girl as he kissed the girl's head before making his way to the door of the blonde girl's apartment.

"Hey." Dani called, causing the boy to quickly turn around, causing her to send him a small smile. "Thanks, Kendork. I guess you're not as much of an idiot as I thought you guys were."

"Anytime, Danisaurus," Kendall said, sending the girl one last smile before leaving the apartment.

The girl turned back to her island as she let out a large sigh before continuing with her baking.

...

Dani decided that she needed to go to the one place where she knew she could let all her emotions out.

The recording studio.

Dani was sitting in the recording booth with Gustavo and Kelly on the other side of the glass, with Gustavo controlling the board.

I got my drivers license last week
just like we always talked about
'cause you were so excited for me
to finally drive up to your house
but today, I drove through the suburbs
crying cause you weren't around

Dani all of a sudden stopped as she heard the music cut, causing her to look over to Gustavo and Kelly.

"Dani, you need to sound like you want it because right now it sounds like your mind is elsewhere."

"Sorry, it won't happen again. Can we start from the top?" Dani asked, causing the duo on the other side of the glass to share a look before looking back at the girl. "I'm fine. The top, please."

As the sound of the track started over, Dani let out a breath of air as she closed her eyes, drowning everything out as she focused on the one thing most important to her at that moment: her music.

I got my drivers license last week
just like we always talked about
'cause you were so excited for me
to finally drive up to your house
but today, I drove through the suburbs
crying cause you weren't around

And you're probably with that one girl
Who always made me doubt
She's so much older than me
She's everything I'm insecure about
Yeah, today, I drove through the suburbs
'Cause how could I ever love someone else?

And I know we weren't perfect, but I've never felt this way for no one
And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone
Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me
'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

And all my friends are tired
Of hearing how much I miss, but
I kind of feel sorry for them
'cause they'll never know you the way that I do
Yeah, today, I drove through the suburbs
And pictured I was driving home to you

And I know we weren't perfect, but I've never felt this way for no one
And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone
Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me
'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

Red lights, stop signs
I still see you face in the white cars, front yards
Can't drive past the places we used to go to
'Cause you know I still love you, babe (Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh)
Sidewalks we crossed
I still hear your voice in the traffic, we're laughing
Over all the noise
God, I'm so blue, now we're through
But you know I still love you babe (Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh)

And I know we weren't perfect, but I've never felt this way for no one
And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone
Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me
'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

Yeah, you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

As the music faded, Dani opened her eyes to the sound of clapping and cheering as she now saw the four boys of Big Time Rush in the studio with Gustavo and Kelly.

"Jennings, that sounded amazing! Why don't you come out here so I can get the dogs updated on the song?" Gustavo said, causing the girl to nod, hanging up the headphones on her head as she passed the guys making their way into the recording booth. "Okay, with all the recent Big-Time Love around here, I've decided to dump the breakup song for the boyfriend song."

"But I'm not anyone's boyfriend." James stated.

"Don't start. Just sing."

Your boy boy b-b-b-b-b-boyfriend

...

Dani made her way around the fair alone.

Ever since she was a little girl, she had always loved going with her family, especially riding on all the rides with her brother, Luca.

As she strolled through the park, she noticed all the happy couples, waking around holding hands and being all lovey-dovey. The girl couldn't help but smile as she watched them.

James had offered to walk around the park with the girl, but she noticed a brunette girl eyeing him from a mile away, so she had to deny the offer.

Dani decided to take a seat on a bench as she watched all the bright lights and the happy people pass by, but her attention was pulled away as she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Corn Dog." Carlos offered with a smile, extending out one of his hands as he held a corndog in both hands.

"How could I say no to a corndog?" Dani said, letting out a chuckle, grabbing the corn dog from the boy as he took a seat beside the blonde girl. "What happened to Sasha?"

"Yeah, I don't think it's going to work out." Carlos trailed off, shaking his head. "She hates corndogs; how can you hate this golden deliciousness on a stick?"

"I'm sorry, Carlos; I know how excited you were to have your first relationship." Dani said, bumping shoulders with her best friend. "I'm sorry it didn't work out."

"It's okay, and hey, I heard about what happened with Mac; I'm sorry."

"No need to be; we clearly weren't right for each other." Dani shrugged as her eyes focused on the couple's walk around the park. "Besides, sometimes love sucks."

"Yeah," Carlos said, noticing the girl's body language change as she watched some of the people walk by. "Would you like to use your ultra-rare Carlos best friend unlimited Carlos hugs coupon?"

"That would be nice," Dani sighed, pulling out the laminated Carlos coupon with his face on it, showing him that she had it before she was pulled into a tight hug by the boy.

...