notes: some of u might've already seen this on tumblr, so long story short, i wrote this a while ago and wanted to share it with everybody! this will definitely have a continuation and the new chapters will be up asap!

a little about the au: piper's a pop star who's more of an acoustic guitar kind of chick and leo's another singer who's all about that bass lmao. hope u enjoy!

.1.

call me ;)

She approached him cautiously, Lacy's whispered chants of "DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!" humming in the back of her mind. Across the room, Valdez was talking to someone, face cool and calm as he crossed his arms over his chest, and her heart pounded in her ears. The closer Piper got to where he stood lazily propped against the wall, the brighter the stage lights seemed to become. But she pressed on, teeth gritted, and stomped in his direction. The person he was talking to suddenly turned away, and there was no turning back from then on.

As soon as he saw her, he snapped his fingers and he had that famous secretive smirk on his face. His amber eyes lit up under the lights when he looked at her, and then she was nervous, because she had no idea why he was looking at her like that, and even less of an idea why she was over there in the first place.

Leo pointed at her with gusto. "McLean, right? Piper McLean?"

Piper opened her mouth and was surprised to find it dry, and she quickly closed it again.

Leo seemed unfazed by her hesitation. "Hey, great show at Arcadia today. I saw it online. I especially liked that last song you did, the pop song. That was wicked cool."

He grinned at her again, and her heart skipped a beat when she realized that he was probably expecting an answer.

"Uh..." she glanced from him to Lacy, who was standing across the floor and holding her hands over her heart as if the entire interaction was giving her a stroke. "Thanks."

There was that smirk again. He wouldn't take his eyes off of her, and that unsettled her - she could barely make eye contact. Someone with that much eye confidence clearly shouldn't be trusted.

"So, um." Her voice cracked on the first word, and she cringed. Great going, Piper. "Your performance - it was, um, great. I didn't know you did acoustic versions of your songs."

"Not often," he admitted, and he leaned against the wall, clearly at ease. "But yeah, I do. Sometimes."

"Well maybe they shouldn't be so rare. I'm sure your fans would love to hear them in your albums."

"Nah, not my kind of style." He said dismissively, waving away her suggestion. The way he said it made her smile falter. That tone, that laid-back demeanor. He might as well have said Nah, acoustic songs are crap and lame and boring, and frankly, so are you.

With that happy thought, she started to frown.

In front of her, Leo was still smiling. "Hey, maybe you could sing more pop, huh? I'm sure your fans get bored of all that guitar. Change it up a little. Get a bass to drop."

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did he just say her music was boring? Piper felt her face heat up in anger. "Fine, then. I'll release my pop song when you release an acoustic version of yours."

There was a glint in his eye, and he raised an eyebrow. Maybe it was surprise, or maybe it was shock that this boring girl with the acoustic guitar was trying to challenge him.

The corner of his mouth turned upward in a lopsided smirk. "Yeah, sure. I'll keep tabs, kay?"

He pushed himself off of the wall. And then she realized that he was bored with the conversation and was going to leave. Which was bad. Because she had totally forgotten what Lacy had sent her over here to do in the first place.

He tried to pass by to her left, but she grabbed his arm. There was that look of surprise again, but she was much too urgent to feel nervous.

"I totally forgot before, but - I have this friend and she really likes your music, and she wanted me to ask you to sign her album..." she trailed off and let go of his arm, turning to rummage through her purse. As she sorted through its contents, she thought about how he had had this smug grin when she said that Lacy liked his music. Which annoyed her. But she decided to ignore it and instead focused on not looking like an idiot as she searched and searched the depths of her purse for Lacy's goddamned CD.

Piper breathed a sigh of relief and pulled it out with a sigh of triumph, placing it into Leo's waiting hands. He inspected it like he hadn't seen it a million times before, and she was about to go diving into her bag for a sharpie when he miraculously pulled one from the inside of his suit, and her mouth was ajar.

Jesus Christ, he kept one on hand? How vain was that? Was he so full of himself that he thought people would automatically want autographs from him? She had never looked at a writing utensil with more disgust.

But then again, it had come in handy.

Leo uncapped the marker; the black tip hovered over the album, and he looked at her expectantly. "Who do I address it to?"

"Lacy. L-a-c-y." She watched him as he began to scribble something onto the CD. Piper was definitely not checking him out, but...she noticed how his dark curls shined under his hat, how snug his brown suit jacket was and how nicely it looked over his plain white v-neck. She noticed his kind-of skinny jeans, and how his boots were the same bronze as his jacket, and how the dragon tattoo that every girl fawned about was peeking out on his collarbone, not fully concealed by his shirt.

He looked up at her and grinned that smile again, the one that had every girl in a fifty mile radius turning to goo. He had one dimple, she noticed, and that was kind-of cool to look at. And she could count every speck of gold shining in his deep brown eyes.

He held out the CD to her. She took it, and she didn't realize how sweaty her palms were until they slicked against the plastic cover.

Leo gave her a little salute. "See you McLean."

"Yeah. Bye." She let him walk away this time, unperturbed. Piper stared at his back for a moment before she realized she was blushing, scowled, and then looked down at the album.

It read:

"To: Lacy, who I'm pretty sure is made up B) Call me: 748-264-6093"

She smirked in his direction. That sly dog.