This is for all the time I spent gone... Y'all deserve a long chapter after all the waiting.
__________
"So you think Cole is better than Kendrick?" Y/N rolled his eyes from his bed.
"That's not what I'm saying!" Seth defended. "they're both goated but Cole's easier to understand on the first listen"
"You're just too lazy to decode lyrics" Y/N pointed out.
"That is true" Seth nodded.
"Seen any places yet?" Seth asked.
"Nah, nothing I like yet" Y/N sighed as he looked at his laptop screen. He'd bought a new one a few days before and was currently scouting out houses as his time in the Ritz Carlton was limited and he could afford a good place now. He was trying to move Ava out there to Los Angeles with them and for that,they all needed a place to stay. He'd asked his best friend for pointers,but Seth insisted that since it was Y/N's money being used,he should be able to make a choice for the place he wanted.
He was also trying to stay on budget as he didn't want to spend mindlessly.
"Ugh, I'm hungry" Y/N groaned as he closed the MacBook pro, having searched for hours. "And the meeting with the Netflix is when?"
"3pm" Seth said. "And it's 1:30 right now. Wanna go out to eat?"
"Bet" Y/N replied.
After throwing on a plain black t-shirt, a beaded necklace, grey cargo pants and plain white air force ones, be and Seth were headed out the door.
"So where to?" Y/N asked.
"How should I know?" Seth asked as he put his laptop in his bag.
"You've been awake here longer than me," Y/N noted as they headed out. "Plus you've had more free time"
"True..." Seth stated before opening his phone to find them a restaurant,but something on his screen caught Y/N's eye.
"Did Charlotte just send you a wink emoji?!" Y/N smiled.
"Quit staring at my phone!" Seth slapped the boy's arm.
"Alright, alright" Y/N laughed.
Soon enough, Seth found them a restaurant that wasn't that crowded,but it didn't stop them both from being noticed by the customers AND the workers at the restaurant. Y/N had to take at least 10 pictures with people before their orders arrived. Not that he was complaining,he actually loved that his mere presence made people excited.
Though it's kinda hard to eat your spaghetti with so many people watching you.
Soon enough though,they were both done and paid for their meals, waving everyone in the restaurant goodbye. The pair were walking down the street, looking around for the Uber Seth had called.
"What time is it?" Y/N asked.
"Uhhh... 2:30" Seth looked at his phone, before looking up and noticing their Uber. "Oh,there he is!"
"Thank goodness, we're gonna make it" Y/N started as they walked towards the black car.
"Oh my God, that's NF!" Came a voice from across the street.
"Spoke too soon" Seth deadpanned.
Everyone else around seemed to take notice and the ones who knew him (which were a lot) immediately recognized the young rapper. Time seemed to slow down for a split second as one thought entered Y/N's mind... It was his only way of making it in time.
"Run"
Before he could even act on it, Seth grabbed his hand and made a break for it, running into the car, opening the door and shoving his friend in the backseat before jumping in himself.
"Lock the doors!" He screamed at the Uber driver who was still in shock that people were now in his car and even more people were flocking around it seconds later trying to get in.
"What?" The driver asked.
"LOCK THE DOORS!" The two boys screamed.
The man immediately did as instructed and locked the doors.
"I understand the excitement," Y/N said, looking out the window at the screaming fans. "But can we please get out of here?"
The driver immediately nodded and put the car into motion, causing the fans in front of it to back away. Once they'd driven far enough,Y/N rolled down the window and brought his head out, flashing a smile and waving at the crowd who wasted no time in taking pictures on their phones.
Once they were out of sight,Y/N went back insides, rolling the windows up, breathing heavily.
"That was crazy..." Seth said as both tried to catch their breath.
"Crazy is putting it gently" Y/N scoffed. "we should be thankful we made it out of there"
"First time?" The driver chuckled.
"Yeah..." Y/N nodded.
"I could tell" the dark skinned man replied. "I've driven a few celebrities around and it gets worse than what you just saw"
"Holy shit..." Y/N breathed. "I always thought these guys exaggerated about being mobbed"
"Welcome to LA,kid" the man said.
Y/N sat back in the car, trying to catch his breath and process all that'd happened.
__________
It was 2:50pm when they'd arrived the Netflix headquarters in Hollywood. Just being in the Hollywood area on it's own was stunning to Y/N. He doubted he'd ever get used to stuff like this.
"Excuse me," Seth said to the receptionist at the front desk,she was an older lady and had on glasses. "We received an email inviting us to a meeting with Ted Sarandos"
"Your names please" the lady requested.
"Y/N L/N and Seth Brendan" Y/N spoke up.
After a couple seconds on her desktop, she landed on both names. "Ah,yes. Mr L/N and Mr Brendan.. may I see some ID please?"
"Of course" Y/N reached for his wallet.
"Shit,I didn't bring mine" Seth realized. "I'll just use my driver's license"
"Show off" Y/N rolled his eyes.
Once they presented the identification to the woman,she nodded at both boys. "Mr Sarandos is on the last floor, first door on your left. You can't miss it"
"Thank you" Y/N smiled.
"Of course,dear" the lady gave them both a warm smile. "Have a nice day"
The boys headed to the elevator and stepped in. Y/N leaned his head on the wall, wondering what to expect from the CEO of a streaming service. He was about to close his eyes...
"Hold the elevator please!"
"Oh shit" his eyes snapped open to see the elevator already closing. Without thinking he stuck his left arm out in an effort to stop the doors, only to have them close on his arm.
"Shit!" Seth cussed, immediately pushing the elevator button to keep the doors open as the person rushed in as fast as they could. "What is wrong with you?!"
"They needed to get in,it could've been urgent!" Y/N defended as he held his arm.
"There's a button,man!" Seth pointed. "It's right there!"
"I panicked!" Y/N replied. "I didn't have time to think!"
"You never think at all!" Seth shot back.
"But it still worked out" Y/N pointed out.
"You could've gotten your arm cut off!" Seth yelled.
"It's an elevator,not a guillotine" Y/N rolled his eyes.
"I mean,you could still lose your arm" the third person finally spoke up. The two boys finally remembered and turned to her.
"Thanks for the save,both of you" she was looking at Seth so Y/N couldn't see her but...
'I know that voice,why do I know that voice?'
"Holy shit," Seth covered his mouth. "Jenna?!"
'I know that name,why do I know that name??!'
"In the flesh, it's nice to finally meet you guys..." the girl laughed before turning to the young rapper with a smile.
"Especially you,Y/N"
"..."
Y/N tried to speak,but no words came out. He just kept blinking in disbelief, wondering if it was real or she'd disappear once he blinked enough times.
It took Seth stepping on his foot to make Y/N come out of his trance.
"Jenna..." He finally let out. "Sorry... I still can't believe this is happening. Holy shit"
"I can imagine" Jenna laughed a little. "But you're alright,some people just pass out on the spot once they see me look at them"
"Can't exactly blame them" Y/N shook his head.
"So, Hitman" Jenna teased. "What brings you two to my workplace? I wouldn't happen to be your next target would I?"
"Well,we were ordered to take out the next hot chick we see so," Y/N played along. "Seth,get the Mini Uzi!"
'on it!" Seth then sttempted to open his bag while Jenna laughed at their antics.
"You two are crazy" the actress looked between them.
"We're actually here cause apparently the CEO has something to tell us" Y/N once again leaned against the elevator wall, watching the numbers on the indicator go higher.
"Interscope and Netflix?" Jenna raised an eyebrow. "Someone's becoming hot stuff"
Y/N let out a chuckle as the elevator came to a stop. "I don't even know how to respond to that".
"A normal person would say thank you" Jenna tilted her head at him.
"Unfortunately he's not normal" Seth said.
"Whose side are you on?" Y/N looked at his best friend.
"Jenna's" He replied without hesitation.
"Oh,wow" Y/N raised an eyebrow. "It's like that?"
"It's like that" Seth nodded.
"Okay," Y/N nodded in mock offense as they all stepped out of the elevator.
"You two are really something" Jenna shook her head as she stepped out. "Ted's office is that way... And try not to lose your arm!"
Y/N watched the petite girl walk away and only noticed he was staring when Seth snapped fingers in his face.
"You were totally checking her out" the boy smiled.
"I was not!" Y/N defended.
"You literally called her hot" Seth said.
"Yeah,I was messing around" Y/N shrugged.
"So you wanna say she's not hot?" Seth gave him a look.
"Well... I..." Y/N stuttered. "Fuck you!"
"You can have a boner later," Seth laughed. "Let's go"
Once the boys reached the office,Y/N softly knocked.
"Come in please" was heard from the others side.
Once the boy opened the door,he was greeted by the office interior, in the center of it all sat a middle aged man with graying hair. He sat on an office chair and had a few framed posters of movies and series on the wall behind him.
"Mr L/N and Mr Brendan?" Ted smiled.
"Yes,but please," Y/N returned the smile. "Just Y/N and Seth are fine"
"In that case,feel free to call me Ted" Ted said to them. "Please take a seat"
The two boys took seats which were on the opposite side of Ted's desk.
"Now, gentlemen" Ted started. "I assume that you use our streaming service at least a few times,yes?"
"He uses it way more than a few times" Seth tapped Y/N on the back, remembering all the movie nights his friend and Ava had invited him to.
"Excellent," Ted chuckled. "So I'm sure you're aware of the huge role music has to do with the mood and overall tone of a motion picture. What I'm saying is; we've heard positive things about you from a very trusted source and once we decided to give your music a listen, almost none of us were disappointed. You have a very diverse catalog in just the few weeks you've come into the entertainment scene.. your music captures emotions inna very strong and direct way and if these songs are incorporated into the right shows and movies, not only would ensure to pay you for use of your songs,it could double or even triple both the audience of these shows and your fanbase"
"So..." Y/N tried to make sure he was getting this right. "You wanna use my music in a movie or series"
"Precisely" Ted nodded.
"So,which ones do you wanna use?" Seth asked.
"The whole sick boy album is amazing but unfortunately we can only fit in so many songs from one artist into movies and series" Ted explained. "after a lot of thinking, we decided that The Parables would be a great pick and Numb would be another suitable one"
"Great choices" Y/N nodded. "So is this a one off thing or are you making this like a contract?"
"We were thinking about scattering your music across different shows and movies to gain wider reach" Ted explained.
"You can do that?" Seth raised an eyebrow.
"Of course we can" Ted smiled.
Y/N looked at Seth for a while before getting a nod from the boy.
"Is there anything I have to sign?"
__________
The boys had just left Ted's office and that had gone far better than Y/N had hoped.
"'A trusted source'?" Seth asked as they headed down the elevator. "Dude, it's obviously Jenna"
"Yeah, I'm starting to believe you on that one" Y/N said. "Where'd he say the cafeteria was again?"
The two made their way to the cafeteria to at least avoid having to go to another restaurant for dinner. It was 5pm already so an early dinner was fine.
As they were arguing with each other over what to have, someone tapped Y/N on the shoulder.
Turning around,he saw a familiar latina looking up at him.
"Miss me already?" He tried to hide his blush.
"Don't flatter yourself,hitman. I actually work here so I can use the cafeteria too" Jenna rolled her eyes and gestured to the people behind her. "They also didn't believe I've met you so it helps that I ran into you here"
Y/N looked at them and immediately recognized a couple; Georgie Farmer and Emma Myers. There was another long haired guy who stood next to Jenna and then a curly haired guy who stood beside him.
"This is Emma,Georgie, Percy, and Hunter" Jenna introduced them all and they seemed as star struck as he was. "Everyone, this is Y/N and Seth"
"You're actually NF..." Emma spoke up with a smile. "Wow..."
"Hiii" Y/N waved nervously, wiggling his fingers in the process. Seth gave a wave too but less awkward than his friend's.
"Sup,man" Georgie was the first to step forward and dap the two boys up.
"The music you both make is amazing" Hunter followed next. "How do you guys come up with all that?"
"It takes a lot but at the end of the day,I guess it's just us having fun with it" Y/N responded with a smile.
Percy then came over and dapped him up,but the moment their hands touched,Y/N felt something off,not just about the handshake but Percy himself.. but he just shook it off.
"Alright so what's everyone having?" Emma asked.
Everybody placed their orders and of course Jenna insisted that Seth and Y/N sit with them.
"So, Y/N" Hunter said.
"Yo" the rapper asked.
"I watched the No Jumper interview a few days ago," He said. "you really started making music from detention?"
"I mean,yeah" Y/N took a bite of his rice. "there's not a whole lot to do in there and this buzz headed weirdo just started beating on the tables and shit"
"You're welcome" Seth pretended to flip his nonexistent hair.
"Music is a part of me I can never really get rid of" Y/N stated. "And I loved the music making process as soon as I got introduced to it so I just ran with it"
"It's true" Seth added. "He sits in the studio through everything... Even if it means hearing the same song a thousand times"
"Wow" Jenna nodded. "Impressive.. and not only can you rap,you can seriously sing too. Numb is probably my favorite song on the album"
Seth looked at his best friend,his eyes saying "I told you,mf!"
"And how's it like in Michigan?" Emma asked this time.
"Not pretty, I'll tell you that" Y/N laughed.
The next hour had all of them talking and laughing,but Y/N could've sworn sworn Jenna kept staring at him,which made Percy do the same before looking elsewhere.
Soon enough,the group said their goodbyes,but not before exchanging phone numbers and insta handles.
As Seth and Y/N exited the building, talking about what'd just happened,Y/N got a notification.
"Huh" Y/N muttered.
"What's up?" Seth asked.
"Joyner wants us to meet up at his place"
"Bet, I'll call us an Uber" Seth pulled out his phone.
__________
"Yo, Joyner!" The two boys dapped the older rapper up.
"How you guys been?" Joyner asked. "been a while, how'd the Netflix thing go?"
"We got a deal" Y/N beamed.
"Man,congrats" Joyner hugged the boy. "You deserve it"
"All cause of you,bro" Y/N smiled. "But what'd you call me over for?"
"Oh,yeah" Joyner remembered. "Come with me"
They followed Joyner all the way around the house and directly in front of the garage,the boys gasped at what they saw.
A Tesla Model S.
"Yo,this is awesome!" Y/N said.
"You like it,huh?" Joyner asked. Y/N nodded.
"Congratulations,man" Y/N smiled.
"Why you congratulating me?" Joyner shrugged. "It's your car"
Y/N froze and Seth.
...
"I'm sorry,what now?"