JO/GAGA - The Pop Star's Boyfriend (oneshot)
Title::..The Pop Star’s Boyfriend
Rating::..M for sexual references
Genre::..Fluff
Characters::..Lady Gaga and Jo Calderone
Author’s Note::..I didn’t have any plans for my next fic for these two when my wonderful and loyal reader "060696” gifted me a plot bunny. They suggested a fic which explored the obsession Little Monsters develop with all of Gaga’s boyfriends and how our favourite shy guy Jo would deal with that. Once I let the idea into my head it wouldn’t leave and I ended up having a really great time writing this, so thanks a billion for the suggestion!
This oneshot could be considered as a run-on from Just Rehearsal, an exploration of what their relationship was like after the end of Chapter Thirteen. The fic begins pre-The Fame-era, back when the couple first meet in New York and then it skips forward to the Born This Way-era in the second scene, hope it’s not too disorientating. I think I’ve explored a new and more grown-up side of this couple and hopefully made their second attempt at a relationship more realistic. I’ve given Jo some hobbies in this oneshot beyond being an asshole, smoking and cutting himself, he’s a bit softer than I’ve written him in the past, but I hope y’all can dig it and that you enjoy my new more mature Mr Calderone. If not, let me know and I’ll go back to writing him as a total jerk.
The title is a play on the lyrics of Lady Gaga’s phenomenal unreleased track ‘Fooled Me Again’, wherein she describes herself as the ‘rock star’s girlfriend’. I think that track is amazing and I hate that it was cut from The Fame because it’s truly one of her best, so any mention I can make to it I will slip it in.
Summary::..Jo Calderone has always been introverted, so when Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters suddenly fall in love with him he is left feeling very uncomfortable.
For most of his life Jo Calderone had hoped for invisibility. His turbulent home life as a child had made him wish to disappear, fade away, then his father couldn’t find him to beat the crap out of him. He hadn’t been able to slip out of sight at high school either, the bullies always managed to find him no matter how hard he tried to hide. He wanted to fall off everyone’s radar and have them all forget about him. It seemed the only way he could be okay was to disappear, but God had ignored his prayers and the only thing to vanish were his religious beliefs.
High school ended and as he grew older he got better at avoiding attention. Nondescript clothing allowed him to walk down the streets without turning heads or being bothered. He didn’t talk often and when he did it wasn’t anything loud or controversial. He kept mostly to himself, the quiet, weird guy few people knew. He was a chameleon, blending into the scenery. For all of the times he had tried to kill himself, he was now experiencing what it was like to be a ghost. A sense of content came with this anonymity, it was safety.
Lady Gaga was the exact opposite to all of this. She seemed to pour all of her energy into making sure she was the most looked at person in every room she graced with her presence. A day wherein she didn’t cause someone to do a double-take was a loss. She compared herself to Tinker Bell, whining about needing the applause to live. She had been born to create a ruckus and distract people from their lives to stare at her. She called this the fame and there was no separating her from it.
This may have been intimidating to other guys, especially those as cripplingly shy as Jo. But he loved it. She had a spotlight endlessly focused on her, but she took up all of the light, allowing him to linger in the shadow. Somehow it worked for them. A bizarre, but perfect fit.
She strutted around on stage in her panties, getting all of the glory. He could float around backstage, the ghost of Rivington Street.
She made him feel happy to be visible. When they were alone she saw him as nobody else had. There was nothing to hide. It might have been scary at first to let his guard down, but she showed him that she was no threat. For the first time in a very long time he didn’t want to vanish, disappearing was the last thing on his mind.
*
Gaga was happy having Jo back in her life. Saying goodbye to him was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do, which should have served as an indicator for her to work harder at their first relationship. Since then she had written a song about the pitfalls of going back to a boyfriend. But for the second time around things were developing very well. It wasn’t a relapse; it was giving a spectacular relationship a chance at new life.
He was a small-town boy; there had been worries of how he would cope with her new, extraordinary, globetrotting life. Her friends had suggested she try dating someone famous, someone who could understand the demands of showbiz. There were plenty of eligible bachelors brought in to co-star in her music videos, why not go out with one of them? There hadn’t been many in her team who thought going back to Jo was a good idea. But she had gone with her heart and in the end she had won the bet. He was willing to accompany her through the never-ending airports and he held her hand when she felt nervous before a performance. He was coping with the major shift in lifestyle beautifully.
She loved having him around, often wondering why she had wasted her time with any other guy. He was so chilled out, far more so than in the past. While she and the Haus of Gaga ran about frantically, he was relaxed, happy to just go with the flow. He had matured since their previous encounters; it took a lot to get him irate. She thought it was good for her to have a calming influence in her life. He was generally happy, although he forever seemed to be brooding due to the pensive state of mind he regularly indulged in. He was glad to be sharing this incredible chapter of her life and so never complained about her work schedule or how much time they spent on planes, he was just enjoying the ride.
He never bitched about all of the things that came with dating a pop singer. Some guys would have felt a sense of loss over leaving their whole life behind (work, friends and any sense of normalcy) and resentment could have sprung forth. But he was grateful to see the world, taking walks around whatever city they were in, snapping beautiful photos and exploring the local culture. He maintained his individuality, keeping a blog of all of the things he found. A lot of men would have felt emasculated to have their girlfriend make all of the money, watching her pay for everything could take away whatever standing they thought they had in the relationship. Sometimes when paying in restaurants she worried about his self-esteem over surrendering the position as bread-winner. But he never spoke of it. Besides, he was a man for her in other ways.
From a hostile ending somehow they had made this reunion work under the most extreme conditions. There was nothing more satisfying to her than laying her head upon his shoulder, it seemed such a simple action, but it always made her feel better. It was the knowledge of having a strong, grounded and loyal man there for her, ready to pick her back up whenever the world tried to knock her down. She didn’t need diamond earrings from him, all she needed was to hold his hand and know that he was in her corner. He talked about how lucky he felt, getting to live such one-in-a-lifetime experiences without working for them, but she knew that she was really the lucky one. She felt it every time she woke up in his arms, with him holding her so securely she thought she would die if he ever let go.
But sometimes she worried about how he was dealing with his newfound fame. They had just arrived in Perth for the final Australian stop of the Born This Way Ball and before getting out of the car she could see the street outside of the hotel was full of people. Fans and members of the press were being managed by her security team. She was ready, a brand-new multi-coloured up-do to show off. But Jo was far less partial to this kind of attention.
They shared a chaste kiss before he left the car with a few Haus members. He had picked up her habit of wearing sunglasses at night and a Mets cap was pulled down low. He shielded his face with his hand, keeping his eyes on the ground as he followed the others in to the privacy of the hotel. She would get out later to prevent her friends from getting caught in a full paparazzi storm. But there were still plenty of photos being taken and she couldn’t imagine how overwhelming it must be for her introverted boyfriend.
*
Jo had never been looking for notoriety when it came to his relationship with Gaga. When they had first met she had been known around the club scene, but the rest of the world was yet to learn her name. There had been nothing to gain but her companionship, which was all he wanted, this sentiment echoed in their reunion.
Any anonymity he had enjoyed in the past was taken from him the second he had stepped onto the set of the Yoü and I music video. His image had been sent around the world, attached to a very popular song. Then he had accompanied Gaga to the MTV Video Music Awards, the cameras capturing him sitting in the audience beside pop music’s biggest star. Things had never been the same since then.
The media had become very interested in him for reasons he was yet to figure out. Gaga was the star, not him. He was just an average guy who had been lucky enough to cross paths with a supremely talented woman. Still the press insisted on taking photos of him. Reporters always managed to track him down, begging him for an interview.
He was learning how to cope with it; he had adjusted to the fact that he was never going to take a normal walk down the street with her ever again. He was getting better at ignoring the things the paparazzi yelled. He just held her hand and put his head down, constantly reminding himself to not shove any of the photographers. He was developing ways to deal with the insanity and he could now prepare himself for what was to come upon leaving the car.
But there was no way to prepare for what else came with this taste of fame - the fans. The Little Monsters seemed to have twice the energy of the press and they were far less willing to give up. They were relentless. They were obsessed with Gaga and everything she did, including everyone she did. She didn’t like to keep secrets from them and they collected all of this information into the massive databases of their minds.
They knew every outfit and they knew every boyfriend. No matter how evasive she was in interviews they had read between the lines of her lyrics. They all knew and had an opinion on Luc Carl. They knew the name of Speedy and had identified the songs inspired by his fleeting presence in her life. They speculated about the bounds of her friendship with Matt Williams. Now Jo’s name had been added to that list and nothing was off limits for them.
Some had taken to calling him ‘Papa Monster’, but these were more children than he had ever intended to have. Loved ones could bring pressure to a relationship, their expectations of what their friend deserved. Waiting for a proposal, hinting about beginning a family. The pressure was at an unbelievable level when there were thirty-nine million people watching their every step. He was conscious of the Monsters analysing every photo of them together and anticipated death threats if he broke Gaga’s heart again.
He didn’t know what to do with the Monsters, they and Gaga went together perfectly, but he wasn’t sure where he fit into their lives. They called him Papa Monster, wished him a happy birthday and professed their love for him. They dedicated hours of their lives to drawing pictures of him and Gaga, writing fictional stories about their relationship. But he was clueless of how to repay them.
This kind of attention was difficult for him to swallow. It frightened him and he marvelled at how Gaga could handle it all with such ease. He hadn’t been an avid use of Twitter beforehand, but he didn’t have the energy to check it daily anymore, every status was retweeted a ridiculous amount of times and he was constantly overrun with follow requests. Whenever he posted something new on his blog the comment section blew up, so many he could never hope to read each and every one. This wasn’t anything he could ever get used to; with each day it found new ways to shock him.
He wasn’t sure he liked all of this. With so many people watching him he couldn’t fight the feeling that he was going to let them all down. He was petrified of stuffing it all up, making a fatal mistake. He didn’t like all of these expectations; he was worried of all the people he would disappoint, instead of just the one other person in the relationship.
It was best when it was just the two of them. They could shut the rest of the world out until they were the only two that mattered. It reminded him that she was worth all of the paparazzi-induced migraines.
*
It was a rare day off for Lady Gaga. Usually her world went at a million miles an hour; there was always somewhere to be and a camera to pose in front of. The speed of it all could leave you breathless.
Today was one of those extraordinary days where the morning didn’t start with the sound of an alarm clock. Jo was blessedly not ripped from his dreams, instead able to float out of them at his own bidding. It was strange to wake up in a silent room and even stranger to find Gaga still in the bed with him. This was the perfect way to start his day and he released a contented sigh, not caring what time it was or what responsibilities tomorrow held.
Gaga had been awake for a while, it seemed. She was propped up against the pillows, a look of concentration upon her face as she slid her fingers across the screen of her iPad. The morning light flattered her pale skin - the smudges of makeup around her eyes hinted at the excitement of the night before, but this morning she was the picture of serenity. He didn’t make any sound to alert her at first, taking his time to drink in her beauty. He let the calm atmosphere wash over him as he fully embraced this moment that belonged to them, them alone.
For whatever reason her concentration broke and she glanced across, finding his eyes on her. She smiled, reaching out to gently push his hair off of his face. “Good morning.” Her voice was as smooth as silk.
“It is.” He agreed and lifted himself up so he could reach her lips, which tasted of the coffee she had been sipping.
Glancing at the iPad screen showed him she was looking over the activity of her fans on LittleMonsters.com; he shouldn’t have been surprised by this. He asked her of the dreams she had experienced, she was in a good mood as she reported on only the pleasant, she was relaxed, satisfied, agreeable.
“Come here.” He beckoned and she began to lean toward where he was lying flat on his back. He brought her body to his, wrapping his arms around her. He plucked up the blanket and threw it up, covering their heads.
“What are you doing?” She asked, half-laughing.
“I don’t want anyone to see us.” He replied.
“We’re alone in our room, who’s gonna see anything?” She questioned.
“You know what I mean.” He dismissed. “Let’s just hide today.” He held her blonde head in his hands, beginning to kiss her.
She fell to the bed beside him. “So we’re gonna stay under here for the whole day?”
“Now you’re getting it.” He congratulated her.
They laid together, their bodies entangled. They didn’t speak much, just enjoying lying with each other. They kissed and shared smiles, making the most of this alone time. Her schedule was clear and for today he was the only one who wanted anything from her, it was a pleasant change of pace.
Her tongue lingered across the roof of his mouth as she curled her fingers around the shell of his ear. She pulled away to survey his expression in the dim lighting beneath the sheets. She was searching his eyes and he got a little worried, wondering what she was looking for.
“It’s hard for you sometimes, isn’t it Jo?” She asked, her tone thoughtful.
“It’s not hard at the moment, you’re still mostly clothed.” He said. “What are you talking about?”
She rolled away from him a little, apparently disapproving of this turn in the conversation. “Definitely not your penis.” She picked up his hand, caressing it as her tone got serious again. “I mean, me and this whole fame thing…” She dropped his hand in order to make a grand gesture on the word fame, determined to be theatrical, even though her audience was only one person. “I know that it’s a lot to take on and you never asked for this in your life.” She held his gaze, making it feel easy to let his guard down. “You can talk to me about it. We’re trying to be nicer and understanding instead of arguing and you’re trying to accept all of this instead of bitching. But you can bitch if you want to. I’d like you to feel that you can vent to me. I want you to vent to me, better that than bottle it all up. Our problem in the first place was that you didn’t talk to me, so please talk to me.”
“I love you.” He thought this was a good place to start. “All I want is you and for you to be happy and I know all of this, the fame…” He made his own gesture, half-heartedly so. “It makes you happy. But you’re right; I never wanted any of this. It’s scary and if I think about it for too long it makes me dizzy. You’ve dreamt of this since you were five years old, I haven’t. I don’t care; I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you. But this whole thing freaks me out a lot of the time and mostly I don’t know where I fit in.”
She smiled, just softly. She placed his hand to where her heart was thumping beneath her tank top. “This is where you fit in, right here.” She concluded this statement with a kiss.
“The Little Monsters freak me out.” He admitted.
Thankfully she wasn’t offended. “They are very passionate.”
“Obsessive.” He corrected.
“That’s what I love about them, their energy is intoxicating.” She said.
“Terrifying.” He corrected again.
“All they wanna do is love you.” She told him. “I know their love can seem a little aggressive and overwhelming. But if you just let them into your heart you will see how truly magical they can be. They’ll change your life, in the best possible way; you just have to let them."
“That’s scary.” He confessed.
“I know.” It was both a curse and a blessing how well she knew him, right now it fell into the category of the latter. “But we’ll try, okay?”
“We’ll try.” He agreed before his thoughts moved elsewhere. “But not today.”
“No, not today.” She agreed, grinning as he placed his body on top of hers.
*
They spent the entire day in the huge hotel suite that her talent paid for. They laid about in bed for most of the day - kissing, talking about whatever took their fancy and watching movies. They had an argument over what to order from room service for lunch. It was as if they were a normal couple, just enjoying a lazy day at home. This was the kind of day he dreamt of when watching her run from one appointment to another.
As night rolled in he shifted his attention to the newly-released Stephen King novel. She was going through her emails, updating her schedule and checking references.
She appeared in the bedroom doorway, his band tee hanging loose off of her slight frame. “I wanna go shopping.”
He looked over the top of his book at her, eyebrows raised. “Why are you telling me this? That’s Tara’s job, not mine.”
“Not that kind of shopping.” She dismissed. “I wanna go to the organic market and get some fruit and fresh yogurt and we’re out of those vegan chips.”
“Call one of your assistants; they’ll get that stuff for you, that’s their job.” He offered as a solution.
“I don’t wanna bother them.” She said. “Come on, I feel like a bike ride. It’s a beautiful, clear night, let’s go enjoy it.”
“Ed will kill us if we do that.” He stated, the bodyguards never approved of her sneaking out, which undoubtedly contributed to the appeal for her.
“Pussy.” She muttered.
He sat up, placing his book aside as he rose to meet her challenge. “Did you just call me a pussy?”
She smirked. “What if I did? What are you gonna do about it?”
He moved to the end of the bed and she had started to bounce on her feet in her anticipation. As quickly as he had launched himself off the bed she was gone, sprinting off into the other rooms of the suite. He dashed after her, chasing after the blonde cloud. They laughed as she managed to skip out of his grasp numerous times.
His chest was hurting from laughing and trying to catch his breath at the same time. They were running circles around the expansive living room. She weaved around the couches, finally seeming to feel fatigue. He was catching up when she leapt onto the coffee table, viewing it as a sanctuary. But he simply plucked her off the table, spinning her around before dumping her on the couch. Her face was bright red as she went on laughing.
“Who’s the pussy now?” He asked in his best tough-guy voice, grabbing his crotch for extra emphasis. He hadn’t before thought it possible, but she laughed harder than ever at this.
In the end she talked him into sneaking out with her, the badass element of sneaking out was greatly decreased by the fact that they were headed to buy fruit. It took him seven minutes to pull on a pair of jeans and locate a clean shirt. Meanwhile she sat herself in front of the mirror, all of her makeup and brushes set up. She got to work and he knew it was best to find something else to do or else lose patience entirely.
She wrapped herself in an oversized, sequined, leopard-print jacket and placed her high heels in the basket of her bicycle. He collected his skateboard, pulling on a baseball cap. They left through the back of the hotel, managing to reach the street without drawing any attention to themselves.
The night was theirs to explore, they were free. New York continued to rush at its insane pace around them, allowing them to go mostly unnoticed, just another couple in the crowd. She pedalled at a leisurely pace, enjoying the sights around her. He glided along behind her, she was easy to keep track of, her jacket catching all of the street lights.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, allowing him to be dragged along until she shook him off with a laugh. He picked up speed and overtook her, darting in front of her. She pumped her legs, determined to catch up with him. He felt as if they were a couple of kids, not worried of how long it would take them to reach their destination, they didn’t have a single care in the world.
When they arrived they were robbed of their breath, but smiling at no precise thing. He lit up a cigarette as she pulled her high heels on.
“Excuse me…” An anxious voice began; an excited-looking woman had approached where they stood at the bike rack. “Are you…” Gaga flipped her hair out of her face and the woman’s face lit up. “Holy crap, it is you! Gaga!”
Gaga raised her hand in a casual wave. “Hey, how’s it goin’?”
“Lady Gaga, oh my God!” The woman exclaimed. It seemed her eyes were on the verge of popping out of her skull and the shopping bags shook in her trembling hands.
Gaga kept her calm, slowly approaching the stranger. “What’s your name sweetie?”
“Tory.” She supplied, seeming unable to believe what was unfolding in front of her.
“It’s nice to meet you Tory.” Gaga said, extending her hand. “How’s your night been, what have you been up to?”
Jo receded into the background, what he felt to be his rightful place. He lit up a second cigarette, staying out of their way to avoid interrupting this bonding session. He was more comfortable watching from the outside, this way he couldn’t mess anything up.
Meanwhile Gaga was handling this situation with ease. She remained laidback, her relaxed mood rubbing off on the Monster. Tory’s breathing moved away from being on the verge of hyperventilating. She was still gushing but she wasn’t just randomly blurting out her excitement, she began making points. Gaga became absorbed in the conversation, treating Tory as the most important person in her world.
“Hey Jo.” Gaga beckoned. “Can you come over here and take a photo of me and Tory?”
“Oh, hi Jo, I didn’t see you there before. It’s so great to meet you, I loved you in the You and I video.” Tory said. Gaga put her arm around the woman’s shoulders and they smiled in the direction of the camera phone. “Jo, I want you in the photo too.”
“Yeah, get in here.” Gaga agreed. “Take that hat off; we need to see your handsome face.” She knocked the cap off of his head before he could begin to reach for the brim.
They stood on either side of Tory, allowing her to take as many photos until she achieved the desired result. Jo didn’t often feel he had a place to belong in this world, rejected by his own family it had been difficult for him to let himself belong to another. But there was something about this moment, standing in a parking lot with a slightly-teary woman and his girlfriend, that made him feel he was meant to be here. Maybe the Monsters had known something he didn’t, that this was his new family.
When Tory pulled him in for a tight hug he didn’t cringe at the contact with this person who was relatively a stranger. He was glad to have met her and to have helped make her night. He felt his heart was lighter, less filled with conflicting ideas, when she moved on to Gaga. The Monsters and their overzealous love was far less scary to him now. This was his new definition of normal and he felt on the way to becoming comfortable with it.
“I’ll follow you on Twitter as soon as I get back to the hotel, I swear.” Gaga assured Tory after a lengthy hug. “Have a nice night.”
“You guys too. I love you Gaga.”
“I love you too.” She responded immediately.
Tory set off for her car on unsteady legs. Jo bent over to retrieve his board and hat from the ground. When he straightened up Gaga was standing in front of him, smiling gratefully. She slid her warm hand into his, pecking him on the lips.
“You ready to shop?” She asked, still smiling and they set off for the lit-up store together.
The End.
Rating::..M for sexual references
Genre::..Fluff
Characters::..Lady Gaga and Jo Calderone
Author’s Note::..I didn’t have any plans for my next fic for these two when my wonderful and loyal reader "060696” gifted me a plot bunny. They suggested a fic which explored the obsession Little Monsters develop with all of Gaga’s boyfriends and how our favourite shy guy Jo would deal with that. Once I let the idea into my head it wouldn’t leave and I ended up having a really great time writing this, so thanks a billion for the suggestion!
This oneshot could be considered as a run-on from Just Rehearsal, an exploration of what their relationship was like after the end of Chapter Thirteen. The fic begins pre-The Fame-era, back when the couple first meet in New York and then it skips forward to the Born This Way-era in the second scene, hope it’s not too disorientating. I think I’ve explored a new and more grown-up side of this couple and hopefully made their second attempt at a relationship more realistic. I’ve given Jo some hobbies in this oneshot beyond being an asshole, smoking and cutting himself, he’s a bit softer than I’ve written him in the past, but I hope y’all can dig it and that you enjoy my new more mature Mr Calderone. If not, let me know and I’ll go back to writing him as a total jerk.
The title is a play on the lyrics of Lady Gaga’s phenomenal unreleased track ‘Fooled Me Again’, wherein she describes herself as the ‘rock star’s girlfriend’. I think that track is amazing and I hate that it was cut from The Fame because it’s truly one of her best, so any mention I can make to it I will slip it in.
Summary::..Jo Calderone has always been introverted, so when Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters suddenly fall in love with him he is left feeling very uncomfortable.
For most of his life Jo Calderone had hoped for invisibility. His turbulent home life as a child had made him wish to disappear, fade away, then his father couldn’t find him to beat the crap out of him. He hadn’t been able to slip out of sight at high school either, the bullies always managed to find him no matter how hard he tried to hide. He wanted to fall off everyone’s radar and have them all forget about him. It seemed the only way he could be okay was to disappear, but God had ignored his prayers and the only thing to vanish were his religious beliefs.
High school ended and as he grew older he got better at avoiding attention. Nondescript clothing allowed him to walk down the streets without turning heads or being bothered. He didn’t talk often and when he did it wasn’t anything loud or controversial. He kept mostly to himself, the quiet, weird guy few people knew. He was a chameleon, blending into the scenery. For all of the times he had tried to kill himself, he was now experiencing what it was like to be a ghost. A sense of content came with this anonymity, it was safety.
Lady Gaga was the exact opposite to all of this. She seemed to pour all of her energy into making sure she was the most looked at person in every room she graced with her presence. A day wherein she didn’t cause someone to do a double-take was a loss. She compared herself to Tinker Bell, whining about needing the applause to live. She had been born to create a ruckus and distract people from their lives to stare at her. She called this the fame and there was no separating her from it.
This may have been intimidating to other guys, especially those as cripplingly shy as Jo. But he loved it. She had a spotlight endlessly focused on her, but she took up all of the light, allowing him to linger in the shadow. Somehow it worked for them. A bizarre, but perfect fit.
She strutted around on stage in her panties, getting all of the glory. He could float around backstage, the ghost of Rivington Street.
She made him feel happy to be visible. When they were alone she saw him as nobody else had. There was nothing to hide. It might have been scary at first to let his guard down, but she showed him that she was no threat. For the first time in a very long time he didn’t want to vanish, disappearing was the last thing on his mind.
*
Gaga was happy having Jo back in her life. Saying goodbye to him was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do, which should have served as an indicator for her to work harder at their first relationship. Since then she had written a song about the pitfalls of going back to a boyfriend. But for the second time around things were developing very well. It wasn’t a relapse; it was giving a spectacular relationship a chance at new life.
He was a small-town boy; there had been worries of how he would cope with her new, extraordinary, globetrotting life. Her friends had suggested she try dating someone famous, someone who could understand the demands of showbiz. There were plenty of eligible bachelors brought in to co-star in her music videos, why not go out with one of them? There hadn’t been many in her team who thought going back to Jo was a good idea. But she had gone with her heart and in the end she had won the bet. He was willing to accompany her through the never-ending airports and he held her hand when she felt nervous before a performance. He was coping with the major shift in lifestyle beautifully.
She loved having him around, often wondering why she had wasted her time with any other guy. He was so chilled out, far more so than in the past. While she and the Haus of Gaga ran about frantically, he was relaxed, happy to just go with the flow. He had matured since their previous encounters; it took a lot to get him irate. She thought it was good for her to have a calming influence in her life. He was generally happy, although he forever seemed to be brooding due to the pensive state of mind he regularly indulged in. He was glad to be sharing this incredible chapter of her life and so never complained about her work schedule or how much time they spent on planes, he was just enjoying the ride.
He never bitched about all of the things that came with dating a pop singer. Some guys would have felt a sense of loss over leaving their whole life behind (work, friends and any sense of normalcy) and resentment could have sprung forth. But he was grateful to see the world, taking walks around whatever city they were in, snapping beautiful photos and exploring the local culture. He maintained his individuality, keeping a blog of all of the things he found. A lot of men would have felt emasculated to have their girlfriend make all of the money, watching her pay for everything could take away whatever standing they thought they had in the relationship. Sometimes when paying in restaurants she worried about his self-esteem over surrendering the position as bread-winner. But he never spoke of it. Besides, he was a man for her in other ways.
From a hostile ending somehow they had made this reunion work under the most extreme conditions. There was nothing more satisfying to her than laying her head upon his shoulder, it seemed such a simple action, but it always made her feel better. It was the knowledge of having a strong, grounded and loyal man there for her, ready to pick her back up whenever the world tried to knock her down. She didn’t need diamond earrings from him, all she needed was to hold his hand and know that he was in her corner. He talked about how lucky he felt, getting to live such one-in-a-lifetime experiences without working for them, but she knew that she was really the lucky one. She felt it every time she woke up in his arms, with him holding her so securely she thought she would die if he ever let go.
But sometimes she worried about how he was dealing with his newfound fame. They had just arrived in Perth for the final Australian stop of the Born This Way Ball and before getting out of the car she could see the street outside of the hotel was full of people. Fans and members of the press were being managed by her security team. She was ready, a brand-new multi-coloured up-do to show off. But Jo was far less partial to this kind of attention.
They shared a chaste kiss before he left the car with a few Haus members. He had picked up her habit of wearing sunglasses at night and a Mets cap was pulled down low. He shielded his face with his hand, keeping his eyes on the ground as he followed the others in to the privacy of the hotel. She would get out later to prevent her friends from getting caught in a full paparazzi storm. But there were still plenty of photos being taken and she couldn’t imagine how overwhelming it must be for her introverted boyfriend.
*
Jo had never been looking for notoriety when it came to his relationship with Gaga. When they had first met she had been known around the club scene, but the rest of the world was yet to learn her name. There had been nothing to gain but her companionship, which was all he wanted, this sentiment echoed in their reunion.
Any anonymity he had enjoyed in the past was taken from him the second he had stepped onto the set of the Yoü and I music video. His image had been sent around the world, attached to a very popular song. Then he had accompanied Gaga to the MTV Video Music Awards, the cameras capturing him sitting in the audience beside pop music’s biggest star. Things had never been the same since then.
The media had become very interested in him for reasons he was yet to figure out. Gaga was the star, not him. He was just an average guy who had been lucky enough to cross paths with a supremely talented woman. Still the press insisted on taking photos of him. Reporters always managed to track him down, begging him for an interview.
He was learning how to cope with it; he had adjusted to the fact that he was never going to take a normal walk down the street with her ever again. He was getting better at ignoring the things the paparazzi yelled. He just held her hand and put his head down, constantly reminding himself to not shove any of the photographers. He was developing ways to deal with the insanity and he could now prepare himself for what was to come upon leaving the car.
But there was no way to prepare for what else came with this taste of fame - the fans. The Little Monsters seemed to have twice the energy of the press and they were far less willing to give up. They were relentless. They were obsessed with Gaga and everything she did, including everyone she did. She didn’t like to keep secrets from them and they collected all of this information into the massive databases of their minds.
They knew every outfit and they knew every boyfriend. No matter how evasive she was in interviews they had read between the lines of her lyrics. They all knew and had an opinion on Luc Carl. They knew the name of Speedy and had identified the songs inspired by his fleeting presence in her life. They speculated about the bounds of her friendship with Matt Williams. Now Jo’s name had been added to that list and nothing was off limits for them.
Some had taken to calling him ‘Papa Monster’, but these were more children than he had ever intended to have. Loved ones could bring pressure to a relationship, their expectations of what their friend deserved. Waiting for a proposal, hinting about beginning a family. The pressure was at an unbelievable level when there were thirty-nine million people watching their every step. He was conscious of the Monsters analysing every photo of them together and anticipated death threats if he broke Gaga’s heart again.
He didn’t know what to do with the Monsters, they and Gaga went together perfectly, but he wasn’t sure where he fit into their lives. They called him Papa Monster, wished him a happy birthday and professed their love for him. They dedicated hours of their lives to drawing pictures of him and Gaga, writing fictional stories about their relationship. But he was clueless of how to repay them.
This kind of attention was difficult for him to swallow. It frightened him and he marvelled at how Gaga could handle it all with such ease. He hadn’t been an avid use of Twitter beforehand, but he didn’t have the energy to check it daily anymore, every status was retweeted a ridiculous amount of times and he was constantly overrun with follow requests. Whenever he posted something new on his blog the comment section blew up, so many he could never hope to read each and every one. This wasn’t anything he could ever get used to; with each day it found new ways to shock him.
He wasn’t sure he liked all of this. With so many people watching him he couldn’t fight the feeling that he was going to let them all down. He was petrified of stuffing it all up, making a fatal mistake. He didn’t like all of these expectations; he was worried of all the people he would disappoint, instead of just the one other person in the relationship.
It was best when it was just the two of them. They could shut the rest of the world out until they were the only two that mattered. It reminded him that she was worth all of the paparazzi-induced migraines.
*
It was a rare day off for Lady Gaga. Usually her world went at a million miles an hour; there was always somewhere to be and a camera to pose in front of. The speed of it all could leave you breathless.
Today was one of those extraordinary days where the morning didn’t start with the sound of an alarm clock. Jo was blessedly not ripped from his dreams, instead able to float out of them at his own bidding. It was strange to wake up in a silent room and even stranger to find Gaga still in the bed with him. This was the perfect way to start his day and he released a contented sigh, not caring what time it was or what responsibilities tomorrow held.
Gaga had been awake for a while, it seemed. She was propped up against the pillows, a look of concentration upon her face as she slid her fingers across the screen of her iPad. The morning light flattered her pale skin - the smudges of makeup around her eyes hinted at the excitement of the night before, but this morning she was the picture of serenity. He didn’t make any sound to alert her at first, taking his time to drink in her beauty. He let the calm atmosphere wash over him as he fully embraced this moment that belonged to them, them alone.
For whatever reason her concentration broke and she glanced across, finding his eyes on her. She smiled, reaching out to gently push his hair off of his face. “Good morning.” Her voice was as smooth as silk.
“It is.” He agreed and lifted himself up so he could reach her lips, which tasted of the coffee she had been sipping.
Glancing at the iPad screen showed him she was looking over the activity of her fans on LittleMonsters.com; he shouldn’t have been surprised by this. He asked her of the dreams she had experienced, she was in a good mood as she reported on only the pleasant, she was relaxed, satisfied, agreeable.
“Come here.” He beckoned and she began to lean toward where he was lying flat on his back. He brought her body to his, wrapping his arms around her. He plucked up the blanket and threw it up, covering their heads.
“What are you doing?” She asked, half-laughing.
“I don’t want anyone to see us.” He replied.
“We’re alone in our room, who’s gonna see anything?” She questioned.
“You know what I mean.” He dismissed. “Let’s just hide today.” He held her blonde head in his hands, beginning to kiss her.
She fell to the bed beside him. “So we’re gonna stay under here for the whole day?”
“Now you’re getting it.” He congratulated her.
They laid together, their bodies entangled. They didn’t speak much, just enjoying lying with each other. They kissed and shared smiles, making the most of this alone time. Her schedule was clear and for today he was the only one who wanted anything from her, it was a pleasant change of pace.
Her tongue lingered across the roof of his mouth as she curled her fingers around the shell of his ear. She pulled away to survey his expression in the dim lighting beneath the sheets. She was searching his eyes and he got a little worried, wondering what she was looking for.
“It’s hard for you sometimes, isn’t it Jo?” She asked, her tone thoughtful.
“It’s not hard at the moment, you’re still mostly clothed.” He said. “What are you talking about?”
She rolled away from him a little, apparently disapproving of this turn in the conversation. “Definitely not your penis.” She picked up his hand, caressing it as her tone got serious again. “I mean, me and this whole fame thing…” She dropped his hand in order to make a grand gesture on the word fame, determined to be theatrical, even though her audience was only one person. “I know that it’s a lot to take on and you never asked for this in your life.” She held his gaze, making it feel easy to let his guard down. “You can talk to me about it. We’re trying to be nicer and understanding instead of arguing and you’re trying to accept all of this instead of bitching. But you can bitch if you want to. I’d like you to feel that you can vent to me. I want you to vent to me, better that than bottle it all up. Our problem in the first place was that you didn’t talk to me, so please talk to me.”
“I love you.” He thought this was a good place to start. “All I want is you and for you to be happy and I know all of this, the fame…” He made his own gesture, half-heartedly so. “It makes you happy. But you’re right; I never wanted any of this. It’s scary and if I think about it for too long it makes me dizzy. You’ve dreamt of this since you were five years old, I haven’t. I don’t care; I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you. But this whole thing freaks me out a lot of the time and mostly I don’t know where I fit in.”
She smiled, just softly. She placed his hand to where her heart was thumping beneath her tank top. “This is where you fit in, right here.” She concluded this statement with a kiss.
“The Little Monsters freak me out.” He admitted.
Thankfully she wasn’t offended. “They are very passionate.”
“Obsessive.” He corrected.
“That’s what I love about them, their energy is intoxicating.” She said.
“Terrifying.” He corrected again.
“All they wanna do is love you.” She told him. “I know their love can seem a little aggressive and overwhelming. But if you just let them into your heart you will see how truly magical they can be. They’ll change your life, in the best possible way; you just have to let them."
“That’s scary.” He confessed.
“I know.” It was both a curse and a blessing how well she knew him, right now it fell into the category of the latter. “But we’ll try, okay?”
“We’ll try.” He agreed before his thoughts moved elsewhere. “But not today.”
“No, not today.” She agreed, grinning as he placed his body on top of hers.
*
They spent the entire day in the huge hotel suite that her talent paid for. They laid about in bed for most of the day - kissing, talking about whatever took their fancy and watching movies. They had an argument over what to order from room service for lunch. It was as if they were a normal couple, just enjoying a lazy day at home. This was the kind of day he dreamt of when watching her run from one appointment to another.
As night rolled in he shifted his attention to the newly-released Stephen King novel. She was going through her emails, updating her schedule and checking references.
She appeared in the bedroom doorway, his band tee hanging loose off of her slight frame. “I wanna go shopping.”
He looked over the top of his book at her, eyebrows raised. “Why are you telling me this? That’s Tara’s job, not mine.”
“Not that kind of shopping.” She dismissed. “I wanna go to the organic market and get some fruit and fresh yogurt and we’re out of those vegan chips.”
“Call one of your assistants; they’ll get that stuff for you, that’s their job.” He offered as a solution.
“I don’t wanna bother them.” She said. “Come on, I feel like a bike ride. It’s a beautiful, clear night, let’s go enjoy it.”
“Ed will kill us if we do that.” He stated, the bodyguards never approved of her sneaking out, which undoubtedly contributed to the appeal for her.
“Pussy.” She muttered.
He sat up, placing his book aside as he rose to meet her challenge. “Did you just call me a pussy?”
She smirked. “What if I did? What are you gonna do about it?”
He moved to the end of the bed and she had started to bounce on her feet in her anticipation. As quickly as he had launched himself off the bed she was gone, sprinting off into the other rooms of the suite. He dashed after her, chasing after the blonde cloud. They laughed as she managed to skip out of his grasp numerous times.
His chest was hurting from laughing and trying to catch his breath at the same time. They were running circles around the expansive living room. She weaved around the couches, finally seeming to feel fatigue. He was catching up when she leapt onto the coffee table, viewing it as a sanctuary. But he simply plucked her off the table, spinning her around before dumping her on the couch. Her face was bright red as she went on laughing.
“Who’s the pussy now?” He asked in his best tough-guy voice, grabbing his crotch for extra emphasis. He hadn’t before thought it possible, but she laughed harder than ever at this.
In the end she talked him into sneaking out with her, the badass element of sneaking out was greatly decreased by the fact that they were headed to buy fruit. It took him seven minutes to pull on a pair of jeans and locate a clean shirt. Meanwhile she sat herself in front of the mirror, all of her makeup and brushes set up. She got to work and he knew it was best to find something else to do or else lose patience entirely.
She wrapped herself in an oversized, sequined, leopard-print jacket and placed her high heels in the basket of her bicycle. He collected his skateboard, pulling on a baseball cap. They left through the back of the hotel, managing to reach the street without drawing any attention to themselves.
The night was theirs to explore, they were free. New York continued to rush at its insane pace around them, allowing them to go mostly unnoticed, just another couple in the crowd. She pedalled at a leisurely pace, enjoying the sights around her. He glided along behind her, she was easy to keep track of, her jacket catching all of the street lights.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, allowing him to be dragged along until she shook him off with a laugh. He picked up speed and overtook her, darting in front of her. She pumped her legs, determined to catch up with him. He felt as if they were a couple of kids, not worried of how long it would take them to reach their destination, they didn’t have a single care in the world.
When they arrived they were robbed of their breath, but smiling at no precise thing. He lit up a cigarette as she pulled her high heels on.
“Excuse me…” An anxious voice began; an excited-looking woman had approached where they stood at the bike rack. “Are you…” Gaga flipped her hair out of her face and the woman’s face lit up. “Holy crap, it is you! Gaga!”
Gaga raised her hand in a casual wave. “Hey, how’s it goin’?”
“Lady Gaga, oh my God!” The woman exclaimed. It seemed her eyes were on the verge of popping out of her skull and the shopping bags shook in her trembling hands.
Gaga kept her calm, slowly approaching the stranger. “What’s your name sweetie?”
“Tory.” She supplied, seeming unable to believe what was unfolding in front of her.
“It’s nice to meet you Tory.” Gaga said, extending her hand. “How’s your night been, what have you been up to?”
Jo receded into the background, what he felt to be his rightful place. He lit up a second cigarette, staying out of their way to avoid interrupting this bonding session. He was more comfortable watching from the outside, this way he couldn’t mess anything up.
Meanwhile Gaga was handling this situation with ease. She remained laidback, her relaxed mood rubbing off on the Monster. Tory’s breathing moved away from being on the verge of hyperventilating. She was still gushing but she wasn’t just randomly blurting out her excitement, she began making points. Gaga became absorbed in the conversation, treating Tory as the most important person in her world.
“Hey Jo.” Gaga beckoned. “Can you come over here and take a photo of me and Tory?”
“Oh, hi Jo, I didn’t see you there before. It’s so great to meet you, I loved you in the You and I video.” Tory said. Gaga put her arm around the woman’s shoulders and they smiled in the direction of the camera phone. “Jo, I want you in the photo too.”
“Yeah, get in here.” Gaga agreed. “Take that hat off; we need to see your handsome face.” She knocked the cap off of his head before he could begin to reach for the brim.
They stood on either side of Tory, allowing her to take as many photos until she achieved the desired result. Jo didn’t often feel he had a place to belong in this world, rejected by his own family it had been difficult for him to let himself belong to another. But there was something about this moment, standing in a parking lot with a slightly-teary woman and his girlfriend, that made him feel he was meant to be here. Maybe the Monsters had known something he didn’t, that this was his new family.
When Tory pulled him in for a tight hug he didn’t cringe at the contact with this person who was relatively a stranger. He was glad to have met her and to have helped make her night. He felt his heart was lighter, less filled with conflicting ideas, when she moved on to Gaga. The Monsters and their overzealous love was far less scary to him now. This was his new definition of normal and he felt on the way to becoming comfortable with it.
“I’ll follow you on Twitter as soon as I get back to the hotel, I swear.” Gaga assured Tory after a lengthy hug. “Have a nice night.”
“You guys too. I love you Gaga.”
“I love you too.” She responded immediately.
Tory set off for her car on unsteady legs. Jo bent over to retrieve his board and hat from the ground. When he straightened up Gaga was standing in front of him, smiling gratefully. She slid her warm hand into his, pecking him on the lips.
“You ready to shop?” She asked, still smiling and they set off for the lit-up store together.
The End.