NO H8 Chapter Two: The Interviews

"Did you see her face?" Ian asked for the fifth time as he downed a can of Diet Sprite in two gulps.

Hamilton burst into laughter as he recalled the stunned look Isabel had worn, her eyes narrowed in fury. Dan groaned and replied for him, "Yes, we all did, it was awesome, now can I show you two what you missed at the end of the concert? My MURAL!"

"Of course, of course," Ian said, glancing at Amy with an amused expression.

The older girl rolled her eyes and laughed, saying, "Dan, we love your paintings, but sometimes you need to let guys harp on whatever subject they're on. Right now it seems to be the subject of Isabitch's reaction to their make out session!"

Ted coughed, nearly choking on the hot dog he was wolfing down. "Please don't refer to that as a make out session!"

Ned made a noise of agreement. "Makes it sound voluntary."

Jonah merely smirked, sending a sly smile in Hamilton's direction. The blonde glared in return, feeling his cheeks heat up.

"ANYWAY!" Dan cut in once more. "I'm gonna go get it!" He stood up off of the bright red couch and strutted into the bedroom.

Hamilton took the Dan-less moment to really study Ian. He was sprawled out on the couch with his legs crossed, a new can of Sprite in hand. His black hair was as perfect as ever, even after the concert. The first few minutes after a performance was the only time the guys ever caught a glimpse of Ian with messy hair. Hamilton groaned to himself as he thought how easily he could mess up that hair for himself.

"Ham!" a voice said, cutting into his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"You were spacing." Nellie looked at him, her green eyes concerned. She was seated directly next to him on the couch. "You just had this really intense look on your face. Everything all good?"

Hamilton averted his gaze from Ian and looked Nellie in the eye. "Yeah, everything's fine. Just..."

She stared at him expectantly. Heat rose on his cheeks and he coughed.

"Never mind. It's nothing important."

Nellie opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by Dan's sudden reappearance. He was dragging a large wooden plank into the living room, a purple blanket draped over the "masterpiece".

"So, here it is! I have to say, I'm definitely getting better at this." With a dramatic twist of his wrist, Dan whipped the blanket off the painting.

It had Clue 39's logo on it, a silvery blue key with the band's name spray painted across it. Everything was very bright, though Hamilton knew that at least a full can of black paint had gone into the making. Names of various songs were scrawled across the painting, along with a few of the band's more famous quotes, Ian's in particular: "We don't make music, music makes us."

Ian stood up and applauded as Dan bowed. Hamilton stood up as well, taking a closer look, feeling extremely amused when he saw what had been written in bright red at the top.

"Hamilton loves Ian, really?" Ham asked, not sure whether to feel annoyed or amused.

Dan grinned like a crocodile. "Yes."

"Well, you do!" Ian giggled, throwing an arm around Hamilton's shoulders.

Hamilton played along, ignoring the fact that his pulse had just gone up significantly. "Of course I do!" he replied, putting his head on Ian's shoulder (which was a bit difficult, as Ian was about a head shorter than Ham) and blinked his eyes in a way that could only be described as prettily.

Nellie snorted in amusement and flopped herself on the floor, a stack of papers in her hand and her blue-tooth in her ear. "So, guys, in the hour that we've been off-stage, you have received a couple thousand Tweets, five offers to be interviewed for a magazine of some sort, seven offers to go on a show of some sort, and your email account has been flooded to a breaking point. What shall we cover first? Oh yeah - and there's the fact that this concert has gone viral on YouTube."

Ned and Ted were the first to recover from this news. "YES!" they both shouted, Ned getting up and doing a happy dance.

Ted jumped up and down on the couch, fist-bumping Dan. Jonah whooped in appreciation, pulling a few papers out of Nellie's hands. Ian grinned wickedly at Hamilton and kissed him on the cheek.

Hamilton blinked and looked around the room. No one had seen it, not that he could really tell otherwise. He turned back to Ian, only to find him hugging Amy tightly. A small white fire danced in the pit of Hamilton's stomach as Dan stood on the coffee table and raised a can of Pepsi.

"A toast to Clue 39!" he proposed.

"To Clue 39!" everyone echoed, laughing and clinking cans with each other.

"So, I guess we should do interviews first," Ham reasoned once the celebrating had died down.

Nellie nodded and threw a few papers at him. "Take your pick. I'd suggest taking at least three, even if that means a few flights. And for the magazines, pick only a couple. We don't need the same story running everywhere."

The guys crowded around the list, pointing out which ones they wanted to go on and which they'd rather avoid. Amy sat sketching out a map of where they'd have to go and when.

"Okay, guys, first stop, first thing tomorrow morning, Maria and Co." Amy grinned at them, her gaze lingering a little longer on Ian than Ham deemed necessary,

"To going to too many interviews to count!" Ian exclaimed, drunk on life.

They clinked cups again before everyone started to trickle off to bed, three to a room. Ned, Ted, and Dan were sleeping in one, while Ian, Ham, and Jonah were occupying the other.

Amy coughed before they all left the room, an accusatory tone to her voice. "You do realize that you all are gonna have to clean this up tomorrow?"

The guys looked at each other and shrugged. "We'll deal with it tomorrow!" Dan called, throwing his can at his older sister for good measure. It bounced off of her rainbow streaked head and into a pile of paper plates.

"Dweeb!" she growled, pelting a hot dog bun at Dan. It hit him with deadly precision.

The room went quiet.

Then Ned whispered, "Shit just got real."

It was like a bomb went off - everyone forgot about the welcoming embrace of sleep as a food fight ensued. Nellie threw a cup of yogurt at Ted, who had been throwing a slice of half eaten pizza at Jonah. Jonah threw a cup of water on Ian, who screamed, "AH, MY HAIR!" before bombing Hamilton with a vanillia cupcake. Ned was buried under a bunch of pillows that someone had hit him with. Basically, the whole room was in complete chaos.

An hour later, Hamilton found himself in his bed dressed in a pair of black pajama pants, wiping cupcake icing off his head. God, he freaking loved his life.

~lovelovelove~

"Interview, interview, interview!" Dan sang happily as the guys pulled themselves out of their van. The early morning sun peeked teasingly over the tips of the buildings in Philadelphia.

Everyone was feeling rather sleep deprived, their eyes heavy with sleep and their limbs dragging heavily. Dan was the only one unaffected - even his bubbly older sister was looking worse for wear, a shock of bright purple hair hanging into her eyes.

"PERK UP, BEYOTCHES!" Dan crowed to the band, clapping and bouncing around them. "Don't MAKE me start singing!"

Jonah attempted to shrug off his tiredness and smiled. "1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4!"

"I hopped off the plane at LAX with a dream and my cardigan! Welcome to the land of fame, excess, whoa, am I gonna fit in?" the two guys sang, dancing horrendously. "Jumped in the cab, here I am for the first time. Look to my right and I see the Hollywood sign!"

"SHUT UP!" the remaining members of Clue 39 shrieked.

Ned and Ted started pumping out their own beat as they gulped down twin espresso coffee with a few extra shots of caffeine. Ian was drinking lemon tea from a thermos, and Hamilton was trying not to die.

Why? Because of the dream he had had the night before.

I'm sitting on a white couch on the Maria and Co. show, answering a question. Maria, the host, smiles welcomingly at me and says, "To be honest, there's a bit of an elephant in the room, Hamilton."

I smile charmingly as Ian nudges me and winks. "And what might that be?"

The hostess giggles in a scandalized sort of way and says, "What's the date of the ceremony! We're all dying to know!"

In my head, I frown. What ceremony? But my mouth answers for me, not taking my confused brain into count, "Exactly eight weeks! We're very excited!"

Beside me, Ian takes me hand and pats it, putting a kiss on a ring I hadn't noticed before. It's silver with a small engraving that I somehow know reads: "Until the end of time," which is a song lyric that we wrote together.

WHAT CEREMONY!? I yell to myself ever louder.

Canned applause flickers on and off as the crowd cheers at the announcement. Maria fakes a sigh of heart ache and stands up. We follow her examples, arm in arm. I'm still in shock.

"Let's hear it for the lovely couple!" Maria exclaims.

I feel a smile spread across my face unwillingly. Inside I'm screaming in confusion as Ian lands a kiss on the corner of my mouth. "Couple?" I finally gag out.

Ian grins. "Of course, love, you didn't think I'd go to Hell alone, did you?"

And suddenly the whole room is engulfed in burning flames. Red spreads over the couch and the cameras and our unfortunate host. I look around in horror as a chill creeps down my spine and I hear a cackling laugh. I whip my head back around and see Ian standing there with the horns of a devil and a sadistic smile on his face.

"We all go to hell!" he sings deviously, opening his mouth.

His fangs loom before me as I jolt awake in shock.

Hamilton didn't need to be an oracle to know that he was nervous about the interview and the aftermath of the very public kiss. But he didn't completely understand why he had woken up in a cold sweat, shivering under a pile of blankets as Ian jumped on his bed.

He was shaken out of his reverie as Ian grabbed ahold of his arm and squeezed tight. "Ready for this?" he asked quietly, looking serious for once.

Ham nodded. "I always am. Besides, I've heard good things about this show. It'll be fine."

"That's what I keep telling myself," Ian replied, shrugging. "It doesn't sound like anyone hates us yet, but we haven't checked out fanmail yet... "

There was a sudden yelp of surprise. The entire band looked up to see a woman around twenty five standing at the entrance of the building with a cigarette in her dainty hands. "You're here already!"

Nellie strutted forward. "I'm Nellie, the guys' manager. You're Maria, aren't you?"

Maria nodded excitedly, her brown and black hair bobbing up and down. "Yep, that's me!" She dropped the cigarette to the sidewalk and stamped it in before motioning for the guys to follow her into the building.

Inside, near the stage where the couches and television screen were set up, it was a landmine of people. Workers, make-up artists, and sound technicians darted to and fro from one side of the room to the other.

"Your makeup room," Maria said lightly, opening the door to a spacious creme colored room with a row of chairs. "The stylists will be right in. If you boys need anything, feel free to grab anyone and ask!"

The door was shut. Hamilton gulped knowing that after today, nothing would ever be the same for them.

~lovelovelove~

Just like in his dream, the applause from the crowd seemed to switch on and off. Maria clapped happily with the crowd, smoothing down her pink skirt and white shirt. She grinned at the band, her white teeth sparkling.

"So, boys, what can you guys tell me about the new album you're working on?" she asked, directing the question at Ned and Ted.

The guys smiled back and Ted said, "Well, Maria, let me tell you this: it's one for the record books. We have a few songs on there that are bound to blow all of our fellow Clue Hunters away."

Ned nodded.

"Don't give too much away," Jonah reminded them playfully, nudging them.

Maria let out a titter of a laugh and said, "I can't wait to hear it! I'm actually a huge fan of you guys, to be honest. I'm just as psyched for this new album as my niece."

The audience laughed politely and the interview continued, the room surprisingly devoid of mentions of the kiss. However, Hamilton could feel the tension in the air, the topic flashing like a billboard over Ian and Ham's heads. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! THESE TWO KISSED, LET'S INTERVIEW THE SHIZZ OUT OF THEM TO MAKE THEM FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE!

And then the bomb was dropped...

Maria, looking a tad nervous, smiled prettily and said, "So, let's take a look at that last concert, why don't we? We've had a lot of controversy over it..."

"Lord knows that's and understatement," Dan mumbled, shooting daggers at Ian as if to say if everyone hates us it's all your fault.

Beside Hamilton, Ian grinned cheekily as their attention ws turned towards a large flat screen television covering the wall. Clue 39 was singing Mama in all their rock and roll glory, jamming out to the song. As it ended, Hamilton head Ian say, "Mama, I'm going to hell!" before flipping off Isabel in the crowd.

Then...came the kiss.

Looking at it from another angle, Hamilton realized just how...real it looked. Ian practically threw himself at Ham, pressing their lips together in a hungry kiss. Blushing like crazy he realized that he had put his arms around Ian's shoulders before dragging him off-stage. He gulped. That entire sequence just looked insanely...suggestive.

It ended and the focus was turned back to the guys. Maria had an immensly amused sort of smirk on her face, rather like the one Ian was wearing, though Ian looked like he should be sitting on a throne somewhere. "Ian, I have a question for you."

"Hit me," Ian said, winking at Hamilton.

"What was that whole thing about?" she asked, looking about ready to burst with questions.

Ian shrugged. "My mother, Isabel Kabra, hates me. I live with my father. Minutes after we were practicing our original cover song, she called saying that she was coming to one of my concerts and that we'd better not screw up." His face changed to a bit of a sadistic snarl. "I know she's completely and totally homophobic. So, naturally, I had to use that to my advantage."

The audience wolf-whistled and cheered, their applause momentarily drowing out Maria's next question.

"Wow, sounds... fun. But here's a question I know all fans are dying to know." She paused, looking unsure. "Did that kiss mean anything to you?"

Ian looked at Hamilton. "I think that's a question only Hamilton can answer for you." There was a humorous twinkle in his eyes.

Hamilton felt the whole world's eyes on him as he laughed nervously and said, "It was just an act. Like choreography. We kissed, we screwed with Isabel's head, and then we're done. End of story."

For a second there was silence. Jonah was staring at him with wide eyes, shaking his head slowly. Ned, Ted, and Dan were exchanging confused and worried glances, biting their lips and blinking in Morse code. Ham couldn't make out what they were saying. Maria looked surprised and Ian... Ian's entire demeanor had changed. His open and chill sprawl on the couch had stiffened up and his face was completely unreadable.

"So, just an act?" Maria asked softly.

Ham gulped. Something he had said he'd said wrong. He just knew it. "Yes," he reiterated. "It was to get back at Isabel for making Ian's life hell."

"Yeah," Ian snorted. "Guess I'll never be able to thank you enough." Sarcasm glazed over his words and dripped into puddles around Hamilton's feet.

Ah, hell, what had he done?

Maria shook her head and stood, clapping her hands together. "Ladies and gentlemen, Clue 39!"

~lovelovelove~

One incredibly awkward car ride to the air port later, Hamilton and Ian were sitting side-by-side on an airplane, ready to fly to their next location: New York, New York. For whatever reason, the whole band, save Nellie and Amy, had been acting unimaginably cold towards him. The flight was only around forty-five minutes long, but Ham was freaking out.

"Whatever I said back there, I'm sorry," he said, breaking the ice and giving Ian's hand a squeeze of reassurance.

A spark of something flickered in Ian's eyes before he said, "I don't know what you're talking about - everything's fine. The interview went great. I'm just tired."

It was a lie and they both knew it. If Ian was as tired as he claimed to be, he would have been fast asleep on Ham's shoulder like he normally was on flights. Or they'd listen to music together or just talk. This sarcastic vibe was beginning to frighten Ham.

"Okay, Ian, sorry," Ham whispered as Ian put on his own headphones.

~lovelovelove~

"So, which one of ya'll is first?" the bored looking magazine company worked asked, chewing gum obnoxiously at her desk.

Amy stepped up to the front and said, "Ned is first, then Dan, Ted, Jonah, Ian, and Hamilton."

They had arrived at the publisher for the magazine company. If all went well, their interview would be up and running in three days, which seemed incredibly fast to Hamilton.

She nodded. "Ah-ight. Zach is right through that door." She jerked her head in the direction of one of the many hallways which had dozens of people rushing through it, trying to get to where they needed to go.

"Be right out!" Ned flashed them a peace sign and stepped into the room.

Waiting in a waiting room with a bunch of guys who are mad at you was never one of Hamilton's favorite hobbies. Especially when those guys were practically your family. Minutes ticked by like the countdown of a time-bomb, the clock waving its hands teasingly in his face.

Ned eventually left the room and Dan was waved in, giving them all a reassuring smile.

"So why don't we all just go in together?" Jonah asked, raising an eyebrow, breaking an awkward silence that had arisen. "I mean, it's not like we have any secret agenda they'll find out if they interview us seperately."

Smiling, Ned said, "They just want out own opinions on a couple of things - Zach said something about wanting unbiased opinions. It's not that big a deal."

The clock wound down to the forty-five minute mark when Jonah left the interview room, laughing at something Zach - the interview guy - had said. He and the rest of the guys that had gone struck up a conversation about the questions they had been asked, passively leaving Ham out of the conversation.

"Well, it's my turn," Ian said, standing up, looking like he had a reason for being there. An expression of defiance spread across his face like a mask, his quirky grin never leaving as he strutted into the small room. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck!" the guys all sang in sync as Ian disappeared.

"Good luck," Ham whispered a second afterwords, drawing all eyes to him. Finally, Jonah sighed dramatically.

"Dude, I can't believe how stupid you were," he said blatantly.

Hamilton gaped. "What are you talking about? It was like as soon as the Maria interview was over everyone fricking shunned me or something!"

Ned rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. Dan shook his head and Ted widened his eyes like, "Is he kidding me?"

Amy groaned. "Hamilton, it is so completely and one hundred percently obvious what everyone wanted you to say. What we wanted you to say. What Ian wanted you to say. You just can't seem to realize that!"

Nodding, Nellie put in, "I don't think I've seen any guy as dumb as you were when Maria asked you that question in my life."

"WHY!?" Hamilton exclaimed, enraged. What were they talking about? What was he supposed to say? He just told the truth!

What was he supposed to say? Oh yes, it meant so much more to me than just an on-stage kiss because you know. I've been secretly in the closet for years and one kiss with my best friend made me realize that I wanted to grab him and kiss him senseless every time I see him. Because I know that's how Ian and I both felt.

In his mind his words were sarcastic, but as soon as he thought them, his mouth went dry. Oh. Lord.

His hit-with-a-brick facial expression must've reflected on his face as the entire band, girls included mumbled something along the lines of, "Now he's gotten it, idiot."

For at least a full two minutes, no words came out.

Just as he opened his mouth to say something else, the door to the interview room opened, a beaming Ian walking out.

"So what did you talk about?" Dan demanded, leaning forward.

Ian shrugged, his eyes sparkling. "You'll see in oh, I don't know...roughly three days."

Hamilton stared, drinking in the sight of Ian. Why hadn't he noticed earlier? He looked stunning, his skinny jeans fitting perfectly, his purple band shirt hanging loose over his shoulders, his amber eyes glinting mischeviously. And then was that goddamned hair looking oh-so-flawless as always.

Someone coughed. Nellie said, "Uh, your turn Ham."

Blushing, Hamilton stood up and walked over to the door in a dim haze. He didn't like Ian, did he? Crushes were for girls... He just had a slight infatuation with the boy. Yeah, that was it.

Zach, a tall, thin man with wild brown hair was seated in a black swivel chair behind a wooden desk. Covers of magazine issues littered the wall like a wall paper, the glossy faces of the stars staring down at Hamilton.

"You must be Hamilton!" Zach exclaimed, grinning brilliantly. "Nice to meet you."

"Thanks, you too. So what are we here to talk about?" Hamilton asked, sitting down in the chair across from Zach.

He winked. "Anything I have written down here. Let's start off with what's your favorite song you guys perform?"

Surprised, Hamilton immediately responded with, "Dear Surburbia."

Zach nodded. "I love that song. I'm a huge fan of you guys. Next question." He looked down at the paper and smiled. "What's the funniest thing that's ever happened on tour?"

Hamilton raised and eyebrow, shocked at how easy this was. He went on to explain a practical joke that Dan had pulled on the rest of them.

At the end of the interview, Zach laughed and wrote something down on the clip board. "One last thing... is there anything you'd like to specifically print in this issue?"

Hamilton thought about that. "Just tell the fans that I sincerely love each and every one of them, from the newbies to the original Clue Hunters. We wouldn't be doing this without them."

"Got it!" Zach chirped. "Expect to see the interview out in three days."

Hamilton stood up and left the room, feeling as though that had gone way too easily. Something serious was up. And he'd find out sooner or later.

There you go! Thank you, you two amazingly wonderful reviewers. I wanted to hug both of you. But sadly, this is the internet and that would be considered weird. *uncomfortable cough* I hope you liked this chapter! Sorry it was so insanely long, I just couldn't bear to cut anything out! And we haven't even ARRIVED at the dramatic part...

I did want to add one thing... I noticed last chapter that I had a lot of views, but only two REviews... It made me kind of annoyed. I love you all for reading this, but please, your feed back means the world to me. I'm posting this now with high hopes.

Please review!

~Dani :D