Never Finished Fic: Mike Joins the JoBros
Google Docs informs me I haven't worked on this since the end of May, and since I no longer remember all the details and am busy with other projects, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get back to it. I have written out all the things I do remember.
This plot bunny originally started out as a Mike/Kevin idea, but it quickly morphed (in my head) into a gen story about Mike the gay man joining the Jonas Brothers' backing band and becoming Frankie's mentor.
*
After TAI goes on what looks to be a permanent, or at least semi-permanent hiatus, everyone else has things to do. Bill's working on a book of poetry, Butch is delighted to be able to steal Michael back from them, Adam plays househusband and teaches bass to preteens, and Butcher has his own projects going on. Mike is the only one who's left somewhat adrift. He thinks about going to college, but he mostly just wants to play music.
It's Butch who calls and says he has an opportunity for him. "I'm emailing you some details."
Mike opens up his laptop, and laughs when he sees that Butch has sent him information about the Jonas Brothers.
"It's for real," Butch says. "One of their guitarists got married or some shit, and they're looking for a new one."
Mike skims through Butch's email, picking out the important points.
"Do they know I'm gay?"
"If they hire you, you'll have a morals clause in your contract, but it'll be more about not sleeping around and not getting caught drinking."
*
Mike auditions:
Some guy slides into the room and at a pause, gestures Nick over. After a moment, he pulls Joe and Kevin into the discussion too. Mike's just waiting patiently when a teenager wanders over.
"I'm Frankie," the teenager introduces himself, which must make him the younger brother. "I used to play drums, but I'm not as good as Nick."
"Mike, guitar." Mike shakes Frankie's hand.
Frankie looks at his brothers, so Mike does too. He's been trying to leave them to their conversation, but he can tell it's a tense one.
"Kevin's getting a divorce," Frankie says. "They've been fighting for, like, three years, and now they're fighting about the divorce. Joe and Demi broke up again last week. Nick's mad at Selena because she was flirting with some other guy on Twitter." He makes a face. "I don't think girls are worth it."
Mike considers for a moment the irony that his godless emo rock band has a significantly higher number of stable marriages than the infamously Christian Jonas Brothers.
He doesn't know what to say to Frankie, so he resorts to what he always resorts to when he doesn't know what to say: music.
"You know how to play guitar?"
Frankie shrugs. "A little. My brothers taught me."
"You know how to play 'Stairway to Heaven?'"
Frankie shakes his head, and Mike pulls the guitar over his head. He unplugs it before he hands it over to Frankie, so they don't get in the way of the conversation on the other side of the room.
"Every guy should know how to play 'Stairway.'"
It occurs to Mike while he's showing Frankie where to put his fingers that Frankie's about the same age Adam was when Mike taught him how to tune his bass. It makes him feel unaccountably old.
When Frankie's pretty much got it, Mike looks up to find the room otherwise quiet and the entire Jonas family - the parents as well as Frankie's brothers - watching them. He plugs in the guitar and lets Frankie play it through.
Kevin, Joe, and Nick all come over to high-five Frankie and say things like, "Way to go, Frankster!" (Kevin), "That rocked!" (Joe), and "Awesome" (Nick).
Frankie's grinning in a way that totally belies any too cool for school teenage self-consciousness he might otherwise feel when he hands Mike's guitar back to him.
Mike plays a couple more songs with Frankie's brothers, and then Nick says, "We'll call you."
Frankie high-fives him on the way out, and both of the parents smile at him and shake his hand.
Mike wonders if Frankie was a test or just happenstance.
*
When they send him a contract, Mike takes it to Pete to read over.
Pete laughs for ten minutes straight and then reads it, says it looks good, and tells Mike to make sure he gets a real lawyer to read it too before he signs anything.
A week later, Mike is officially a member of the Jonas Brothers' band.
*
The JoBros, as Mike takes to calling them after one too many conversations with Bill, are serious about rehearsals. They get Mike up to speed on the music, and then they have endless whole-band rehearsals of the whole stage show - and it is a stage show, not just a concert - to make sure everyone knows what they're supposed to do when.
It's more tiring than anything he's ever done with his old band - and they've done Warped - and he throws himself down on the couch one night and calls Bill. "Did we quit because we're just too old for this shit?"
Bill laughs and says, "If I can keep up with three kids, you can keep up with the JoBros."
Mike puts an arm over his eyes and tries to decide if he has enough energy to get up and get a beer. "You have help."
"Don't you have a whole giant backing band to help?"
"I guarantee you," Mike says, "they're all as tired as I am."
Except, he thinks the next day, watching Nick mold them into the shape he has in his mind, that's not true, because Kevin and Joe and Nick never seem to get tired, always seem to have the energy for all of this.
Maybe it's just that they're younger.
*
On the second to last day before they're set to go on tour, the whole Jonas family and entourage come to watch them do a run-through. Kevin Sr.'s been around a lot, but Mike hasn't seen the rest of the family much.
*
I have no idea what this last scene was going to be. Probably something about Frankie coming over to talk to Mike. Here's what I remember of what I was going to do with the rest of the story:
Mike befriends Frankie. Frankie starts hanging around with the band on their bus, and there's some kind of discussion where Mike talks to the Jonas Parental Units and tells them that Frankie's just bored and needs something to do, so they make a deal where Frankie can travel with the band and techs (who start teaching him how to do what they do because that way he can make himself useful, which is good for him) as long as he keeps up with his schoolwork and spends some time with his family.
At some point during his rebellious phase, when they're at home in LA, Frankie disappears and isn't answering his phone. Denise calls Mike who calls Frankie - and Frankie picks up. Mike says, "In about ten minutes your mom's going to remember your phone has GPS tracking. You can wait for her to show up or you can tell me where you are and I'll come get you."
Frankie tells Mike where he is. Mike calls Denise and then gets in the car. Frankie is near the beach somewhere (my SoCal geography isn't good enough for more detail) hanging out a skate shop where he has met some other teenager (who had a name in my original concept, but I've forgotten it now) who is showing him things.
Mike knows what it's like to be a teenage boy, so he's very cool about picking Frankie up - and Frankie totally gets cool points for being picked up by some older friend instead of, like, a parent. But Mike still more or less yells at him and makes him feel bad for worrying his family.
Frankie is still sulky about it.
When they get home, Frankie gets sent to his room, and Mike says to Denise and Kevin, and maybe also Kevin Sr. that teenagers rebel and that's normal and that Frankie's probably bored. Maybe this is where they make the deal about Frankie hanging out with the band. I think perhaps Mike was going to suggest the possibility of regular school for Frankie, and point out that he's not like his brothers in that he doesn't already have a vocation as a teenager.
*
In the meantime, the press has noticed that Mike is gay - not that he was closeted or anything, but the people who pay attention to the Jonas Brothers are not necessarily the same people who pay attention to TAI. Someone within the JoBros media team (or maybe Nick) suggests that he do an interview. So they get him an interview with The Advocate. The interview includes a photo shoot, which Mike wasn't really expecting, but whatever, he's okay at this press thing by now.
He's very surprised when Kevin emails him a link to the preview of the issue online and he's on the cover.
*
Mike takes Frankie on a drive up the coast somewhere. They talk on the drive and eat and spend some time on the beach. Frankie asks Mike something that even Mike clues into means maybe Frankie's gay.
*
Time passes! They tour, etc.
*
Mike goes to Chicago to visit his family and Bill and Adam. That's where he is when Kevin sends him an email that consists only of a link to a gossip site that has a video of Frankie kissing a guy (the guy from the skate shop, of course).
Mike and Bill are out having dinner when Frankie calls, and Mike tells Bill he has to take this, which Bill totally understands because he gets that Mike is essentially an extra parent to Frankie. Presumably this conversation is really important, but I have no recollection of what it was going to be about.
I also have no recollection as to what else was going to happen in this story. Obviously, everyone lives happily ever after, but I don't remember any details of that. Maybe Mike also gets a boyfriend?
This plot bunny originally started out as a Mike/Kevin idea, but it quickly morphed (in my head) into a gen story about Mike the gay man joining the Jonas Brothers' backing band and becoming Frankie's mentor.
*
After TAI goes on what looks to be a permanent, or at least semi-permanent hiatus, everyone else has things to do. Bill's working on a book of poetry, Butch is delighted to be able to steal Michael back from them, Adam plays househusband and teaches bass to preteens, and Butcher has his own projects going on. Mike is the only one who's left somewhat adrift. He thinks about going to college, but he mostly just wants to play music.
It's Butch who calls and says he has an opportunity for him. "I'm emailing you some details."
Mike opens up his laptop, and laughs when he sees that Butch has sent him information about the Jonas Brothers.
"It's for real," Butch says. "One of their guitarists got married or some shit, and they're looking for a new one."
Mike skims through Butch's email, picking out the important points.
"Do they know I'm gay?"
"If they hire you, you'll have a morals clause in your contract, but it'll be more about not sleeping around and not getting caught drinking."
*
Mike auditions:
Some guy slides into the room and at a pause, gestures Nick over. After a moment, he pulls Joe and Kevin into the discussion too. Mike's just waiting patiently when a teenager wanders over.
"I'm Frankie," the teenager introduces himself, which must make him the younger brother. "I used to play drums, but I'm not as good as Nick."
"Mike, guitar." Mike shakes Frankie's hand.
Frankie looks at his brothers, so Mike does too. He's been trying to leave them to their conversation, but he can tell it's a tense one.
"Kevin's getting a divorce," Frankie says. "They've been fighting for, like, three years, and now they're fighting about the divorce. Joe and Demi broke up again last week. Nick's mad at Selena because she was flirting with some other guy on Twitter." He makes a face. "I don't think girls are worth it."
Mike considers for a moment the irony that his godless emo rock band has a significantly higher number of stable marriages than the infamously Christian Jonas Brothers.
He doesn't know what to say to Frankie, so he resorts to what he always resorts to when he doesn't know what to say: music.
"You know how to play guitar?"
Frankie shrugs. "A little. My brothers taught me."
"You know how to play 'Stairway to Heaven?'"
Frankie shakes his head, and Mike pulls the guitar over his head. He unplugs it before he hands it over to Frankie, so they don't get in the way of the conversation on the other side of the room.
"Every guy should know how to play 'Stairway.'"
It occurs to Mike while he's showing Frankie where to put his fingers that Frankie's about the same age Adam was when Mike taught him how to tune his bass. It makes him feel unaccountably old.
When Frankie's pretty much got it, Mike looks up to find the room otherwise quiet and the entire Jonas family - the parents as well as Frankie's brothers - watching them. He plugs in the guitar and lets Frankie play it through.
Kevin, Joe, and Nick all come over to high-five Frankie and say things like, "Way to go, Frankster!" (Kevin), "That rocked!" (Joe), and "Awesome" (Nick).
Frankie's grinning in a way that totally belies any too cool for school teenage self-consciousness he might otherwise feel when he hands Mike's guitar back to him.
Mike plays a couple more songs with Frankie's brothers, and then Nick says, "We'll call you."
Frankie high-fives him on the way out, and both of the parents smile at him and shake his hand.
Mike wonders if Frankie was a test or just happenstance.
*
When they send him a contract, Mike takes it to Pete to read over.
Pete laughs for ten minutes straight and then reads it, says it looks good, and tells Mike to make sure he gets a real lawyer to read it too before he signs anything.
A week later, Mike is officially a member of the Jonas Brothers' band.
*
The JoBros, as Mike takes to calling them after one too many conversations with Bill, are serious about rehearsals. They get Mike up to speed on the music, and then they have endless whole-band rehearsals of the whole stage show - and it is a stage show, not just a concert - to make sure everyone knows what they're supposed to do when.
It's more tiring than anything he's ever done with his old band - and they've done Warped - and he throws himself down on the couch one night and calls Bill. "Did we quit because we're just too old for this shit?"
Bill laughs and says, "If I can keep up with three kids, you can keep up with the JoBros."
Mike puts an arm over his eyes and tries to decide if he has enough energy to get up and get a beer. "You have help."
"Don't you have a whole giant backing band to help?"
"I guarantee you," Mike says, "they're all as tired as I am."
Except, he thinks the next day, watching Nick mold them into the shape he has in his mind, that's not true, because Kevin and Joe and Nick never seem to get tired, always seem to have the energy for all of this.
Maybe it's just that they're younger.
*
On the second to last day before they're set to go on tour, the whole Jonas family and entourage come to watch them do a run-through. Kevin Sr.'s been around a lot, but Mike hasn't seen the rest of the family much.
*
I have no idea what this last scene was going to be. Probably something about Frankie coming over to talk to Mike. Here's what I remember of what I was going to do with the rest of the story:
Mike befriends Frankie. Frankie starts hanging around with the band on their bus, and there's some kind of discussion where Mike talks to the Jonas Parental Units and tells them that Frankie's just bored and needs something to do, so they make a deal where Frankie can travel with the band and techs (who start teaching him how to do what they do because that way he can make himself useful, which is good for him) as long as he keeps up with his schoolwork and spends some time with his family.
At some point during his rebellious phase, when they're at home in LA, Frankie disappears and isn't answering his phone. Denise calls Mike who calls Frankie - and Frankie picks up. Mike says, "In about ten minutes your mom's going to remember your phone has GPS tracking. You can wait for her to show up or you can tell me where you are and I'll come get you."
Frankie tells Mike where he is. Mike calls Denise and then gets in the car. Frankie is near the beach somewhere (my SoCal geography isn't good enough for more detail) hanging out a skate shop where he has met some other teenager (who had a name in my original concept, but I've forgotten it now) who is showing him things.
Mike knows what it's like to be a teenage boy, so he's very cool about picking Frankie up - and Frankie totally gets cool points for being picked up by some older friend instead of, like, a parent. But Mike still more or less yells at him and makes him feel bad for worrying his family.
Frankie is still sulky about it.
When they get home, Frankie gets sent to his room, and Mike says to Denise and Kevin, and maybe also Kevin Sr. that teenagers rebel and that's normal and that Frankie's probably bored. Maybe this is where they make the deal about Frankie hanging out with the band. I think perhaps Mike was going to suggest the possibility of regular school for Frankie, and point out that he's not like his brothers in that he doesn't already have a vocation as a teenager.
*
In the meantime, the press has noticed that Mike is gay - not that he was closeted or anything, but the people who pay attention to the Jonas Brothers are not necessarily the same people who pay attention to TAI. Someone within the JoBros media team (or maybe Nick) suggests that he do an interview. So they get him an interview with The Advocate. The interview includes a photo shoot, which Mike wasn't really expecting, but whatever, he's okay at this press thing by now.
He's very surprised when Kevin emails him a link to the preview of the issue online and he's on the cover.
*
Mike takes Frankie on a drive up the coast somewhere. They talk on the drive and eat and spend some time on the beach. Frankie asks Mike something that even Mike clues into means maybe Frankie's gay.
*
Time passes! They tour, etc.
*
Mike goes to Chicago to visit his family and Bill and Adam. That's where he is when Kevin sends him an email that consists only of a link to a gossip site that has a video of Frankie kissing a guy (the guy from the skate shop, of course).
Mike and Bill are out having dinner when Frankie calls, and Mike tells Bill he has to take this, which Bill totally understands because he gets that Mike is essentially an extra parent to Frankie. Presumably this conversation is really important, but I have no recollection of what it was going to be about.
I also have no recollection as to what else was going to happen in this story. Obviously, everyone lives happily ever after, but I don't remember any details of that. Maybe Mike also gets a boyfriend?