A Different Beat

Michael thought that he and his band mates were pretty professional when it came to their job. Sure, they were still young and laughed at dick jokes, but they went into Golden Tone! with one objective: to find the next big thing. But apparently he was wrong. Ashton was being as reclusive as possible, ear buds always in and loud music playing to avoid talking about a certain dark haired girl, Calum was probably hiding in some closet, still jerking it to the memory of Norie's last performance, Luke - well, Luke had been oddly happy lately and Michael barely had the urge to ask why - and then there was Michael, who was honestly beginning to think he was losing his mind. He constantly found himself thinking about Jasey and how soft her lips were and how sincere her laugh was and how much he enjoyed her company and how good she probably looked underneath her clothes...

Michael wanted her. He wanted her in every bad way possible but he also wanted her to hug him and hold his hand and laugh at his stupid jokes. He wanted to bring her home and meet his parents and vice versa. He wanted her and he wanted everyone to know it, but he couldn't. And that drove him out of his fucking mind.

Michael was going crazy. He hadn't seen Jasey since he kissed her except on elimination day and by the time he'd made it backstage, she was gone. He wanted to talk to her, to explain everything. He needed to talk to her.

Jasey nearly fell over on elimination night when she heard Michael say that it was Desiree's turn to go home. She could've sworn that she'd be going home after her kiss with Michael and she felt a small sense of relief that it didn't completely screw everything up. "Make sure you kick Jarren's ass, okay? I don't want to see him all over the magazines, shirtless and trying to be seductive," Desiree told Jasey through her tears. But she'd seen Desiree hugging Jarren and crying into his shoulder.

It didn't take long for her to get angry. Desiree did a much better job than she did during performance. She felt like everyone's eyes were prodding her, seeing right through her and just knowing that she'd kissed her coach. She could hear their assumptions: "She's only here because she slept with her coach," or "She doesn't deserve this one bit." And it caused her voice to crack two times and she did half the performance with her eyes closed, not being able to look at anybody.

She wanted to yell. To scream at Michael and tell him to stop whatever it was he's doing and to just do his fucking job. As grateful as she was, Jasey didn't think that there was anyway that she should've lasted this long.

Needing to clear her head, especially with her meeting Michael in twenty minutes to go over the next week, she made her way to the kitchen. She'd seen a carton of ice cream in the freezer a few days ago and prayed it was there.

When Jasey finally dragged her feet to the kitchen, she found the ice cream - with somebody eating it. Margo was one of Ashton's last members and, while Jasey hadn't talked to her very much, she seemed incredibly sweet from what she'd seen. "Hello," Jasey politely greeted, letting go of her wish for ice cream and grabbing a thing of yogurt from the fridge. She settled on the other side of the counter, peeling the top off.

"Hi," Margo replied, giving her a gentle smile.

Jasey wanted to keep conversation - anything to stop the thoughts racing through her mind - but Margo looked deep in thought and she didn't want to disturb that, so she silently ate her less-pleasing-than-ice-cream yogurt.

Margo glanced up at the girl across from her, recognizing the look on her face. She wasn't sure quite what it was but it's the same one that she'd been sporting since her encounter with Ashton and she felt a little pang in her stomach. "Are you alright?" she questioned cautiously.

Jasey chuckled, shrugging her shoulder. "Yeah," she answered, poking her yogurt with her spoon before looking up at Margo. "This just isn't going how I thought it would, you know? I mean, I knew it'd be hard work, but still. I'm in the final eight and I can't really bring myself to be thrilled about it."

Margo scoffed, understanding perfectly as she nodded in agreement. "Guess that's probably what was written in the fine print, huh?" she joked. She sighed, pushing the container of ice cream toward the middle of them. "Ice cream is much better comfort food than yogurt, you know."

"Oh thank God, I've been dying for ice cream," Jasey admitted, pushing the yogurt aside and taking a big bite of ice cream, letting her happiness for the ice cream push away her mixed feelings toward Michael.

Michael listened intently as Jarren sang his song choice for the week, only singing over an instrumental of it playing from his phone. "Where do we go? Sweet child o' mine..." Jarren finished, letting the music play out until he stopped his phone. "So? What'd you think?"

"Holy shit," was all he managed. He laughed. "You're gonna get a deal even if you don't make it all the way to the end, I guarantee it."

Jarren beamed. "Thanks, mate," he replied appreciatively. "I just wanted to run it by you, make sure you thought it was a good choice before the meet."

"It's an amazing choice," Michael told the older boy. There was a knock on the door before they could say anything else. "Come in," he called, turning his head when he heard the door open.

"Um, I waited until I didn't hear anymore singing but you said we were supposed to meet five minutes ago, so..." Jasey trailed, peeking her head in. She barely met Michael's eyes, choosing to look at Jarren instead for an answer.

Michael didn't reply, instead taking in her appearance. He felt like he hadn't really seen her in weeks and the big white t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and her leggings made her look like a goddess to him. All he could think about was how great she'd look in on of his shirts.

"Damn, it's three already? I didn't realize we took that long," Jarren commented. "You could've came in earlier."

Jasey chuckled, fully walking in and closing the door behind her. "Yeah, well, I only got here a minute ago because I had an ice cream calling," she admitted, taking the seat beside Jarren and diagonal from Michael. "Michael's right, you sounded great." Michael snapped out of his gaze upon hearing his name.

"Thanks, love," Jarren greeted, winking at her and causing her to giggle.

Michael cleared his throat, trying to suppress his annoyance. This was Jarren and this was how he treated all the girls. It didn't mean anything. "So, as you both know, next week is 80's week. Jarren is choosing to do Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N' Roses. Have you figured out what you're singing?" Michael asked, staring right at Jasey and attempting to meet her eyes.

She didn't allow it, choosing at look at his perfectly messy hair instead. "I'm doing Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Leppard," she told him.

He glanced at the paper in front of him, containing a list of the remaining contestants and their chosen songs. Luckily, it wasn't chosen. "Alright," he said, scribbling the title next to her name. He set the pen down, looking between the two. "There isn't much left to say that I haven't already said. Jasey, like I told Jarren, even if you don't win this competition, I firmly believe you'll get a deal anyway. Both of you. So all I have really to say is to work your ass off and kill it this week, alright?"

Jasey nodded and Jarren whooped, swearing that either him or Jasey would make it to the end. "We're just that great," he added before walking out the door.

Jasey tried to follow, but Michael stopped her. "Jase, wait," he said, reaching for her hand but deciding against it.

She turned anyway. "Yes?" she replied politely, deciding that in the "team meet" room was definitely not the place to shout at him.

"Can we talk?" he asked quietly.

"I already told you my song choice and the meet's over, right? So I don't think there's anything left to talk about," she insisted.

Michael's eyes scanned the room, falling on a storage closet connected. "Help me look for more pens," he blurted out.

"What? More pe- whoa!" Michael grabbed her wrist, pulling her over and into the closet, following her in and shutting the door behind him. The closet was small and had boxes piled in it. Jasey half-wondered if there were actually pens in this closet. "Why would a TV show have pens in a storage closet?"

"What?" Michael asked, confused as he turned on the small light. It was just a light bulb dangling from the ceiling but it was enough.

"You said you needed pens, and I don't see why there would be pens on a-"

"Shut up," Michael interrupted, laughing at her confusion. "I don't need more pens. I need to talk to you, without cameras."

"Oh," she said, finally catching on. Then she remembered she was mad at him. "You ass!" she whisper-yelled, smacking his arm.

"Ow! What?" he asked, rubbing his arm.

"You sent Desiree home when it should've been me!" Jasey insisted. Michael opened his mouth to talk but she interrupted. "She did a way better job than I did and yet she still gets sent home. Why? Because I kissed you!"

Michael furrowed his eyebrows. "You think I chose to keep you here instead of her because we kissed?" The look on her face gave him his answer, causing him to scoff and shake his head. "If I wanted to try and play dirty in order to be with you, I would've sent you home. If you played a shitty performance, I would've sent you home. But I'm being fair and you're here because of your singing. I wouldn't be pissed if I got to kiss you a little in the meantime but that's got nothing to do with why you're still here."

Jasey felt a little taken aback, feeling about as small as a mouse at her assumption. She could've sworn Desiree did better. "Why am I still here?" she asked after a few seconds of silence. "I mean, there had to have been cameras when we kissed. There's no way everybody missed that."

Michael wanted to lie to her so bad and tell her that no one noticed. But he couldn't. "They noticed," he admitted. "But they decided not to show it."

Jasey couldn't believe it. "Just like that?" she asked, excitement already filling her.

No, is what he wanted to say. It was a task convincing the producers to lock away the footage of him kissing Jasey. He was rather shocked that, when he threatened to leave the show, all he got in response was a shrug and a reminder that he legally couldn't leave and that they could show whatever they pleased. Then Michael got desperate and all but begged them to keep it from airing. He didn't know what caused them to have a change of heart but he wasn't in any position to complain. "There were a few requests," he finally said. "Like it not happening again and not putting us in situations where the urge would come. They told me I shouldn't be alone with you."

"Like we are now?" she guessed.

He chuckled. "I guess so," he said. "But you make it so fucking hard, you know? And in less literal ways than your last performance."

Jasey's face burned at the meaning of his words. "Shut up," she ordered.

He smirked. "I like you, Jasey. A lot. And I really don't want to go our separate ways once this competition is over," he admitted. "We can just be pen pals, if you want."

Jasey laughed, rolling her eyes. "You're an idiot," she told him and Michael smiled, glad they were back to playful insults.

Michael stepped forward, noticing something resting just beneath her eye. "Stay still," he whispered, using his thumb to gently get it off. He realized it was an eyelash and held his thumb up for her. "Make a wish."

Jasey scoffed, feeling butterflies in her stomach at his closeness. "You're such a cliche," she replied just as quietly, but closed her eyes and found herself making a wish to win the competition.

"Tell me you don't like it," he responded. She couldn't.

When she opened her eyes, Michael was staring at her, the playfulness in his last comment gone from his face. His eyes flickered between hers, briefly falling to her lips. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, to feel her pressed against him, but he wasn't going to be the one to jeopardize her future. He was hoping she'd do it.

Jasey felt the same pull she did the last time they kissed. She'd had plenty of crushes before but never had she felt such a need to touch someone. She swallowed. "Can you keep a secret?" she asked, chewing on her bottom lip. Michael's eyes watched her lip, clamped between her teeth and nodded. She took a deep breath before grabbing his face and standing on her tip toes, pressing her lips to his. He reacted immediately, his hands gripping her bare waist through the holes in the side of her shirt.

Michael didn't let it stay sweet for too long, turning her so she was pressed against the door as he deepened the kiss. He used one hand to grip her thigh and pull her leg to his waist, the other one behind her neck and angling her head up for better access. When he ran his tongue along her bottom lip, she pulled away. "I'm not going to have sex with you," she blurted, breathing heavily. "I mean, not now. In this closet. Or soon, for that matter. I don't even know your middle name."

Michael raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't planning on having sex with you right now," he answered slowly, his amusement clear.

Jasey rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't giving you the wrong idea," she explained.

"Fair enough," he laughed. "Did you want me to stop kissing you?"

She quickly thought it over. "Five more minutes," she settled and he didn't even nod before his lips were against hers, moving at a new urgency as he lifted her completely off the ground, pressing her against the door as she locked her legs around his lips.

"It's Gordon, by the way," he mumbled against her lips.

"Hmm?" she asked.

He pulled away slightly. "My middle name. It's Gordon," he verified.

"Oh," she said, nodding. "Michael Gordon Clifford. It fits." He grinned before reattaching their lips. He swiped his tongue against her bottom lip again but, practically hearing a ticking clock, pulled away before she could react. He trailed his lips along her jaw, leaving slow kisses in his wake and being careful not to leave a mark. He had made it to the junction between her neck and collarbone when he heard her gasp. He grinned, letting his teeth lightly scrape across her delicate skin. "This is such a bad idea," she breathed out, her fingers tangling in his hair.

"Definitely," he mumbled, only half paying attention as he kissed his way back up her neck.

"This can't happen again, it has to be the last time," she insisted.

"Of course," he said offhandedly, nibbling on her earlobe.

"And also-" He crashed his lips to hers against, successfully shutting her up. If it really was gonna be their last time kissing, he wasn't gonna let words waste it.