No matter how famous the boys got — Ben thinks he’ll never feel comfortable in L.A. Everything felt artificial, like he’s stuck in the Truman Show of glitz and glamour. Even the sunsets were too fucking perfect, streaking the sky in pinks and oranges. Okay — some things about L.A. were nice.

This, however, wasn’t. Why Kellin chose the Chateau Marmont of all places, he’ll never understand. It’s supposed to be his day off — a single precious day when he’s not mothering four overgrown children with too many tattoos. The plan had been simple: his hotel room, a six-pack, and the murder mystery book he had been desperate to read. Mikey would call him boring and old, but fuck it — with all the chaos that came from their lives already, Ben enjoyed the mundane. There’s a beauty in doing nothing. Not that Mikey would understand. He’s practically a tornado with limbs.

But Ben? He just wants to relax for once — maybe even get a massage and bill it to the label as part of his hazard pay for putting up with the boys. However, it seems the universe had other plans. Just as Ben had cracked open his first PBR, a text from Kellin lit up his phone.

Idiot No. 1: Family meal tonight, Benji. No excuses, or I’ll find a way to erase your Google Calendar. Chateau Marmont. 6 Sharp, and don’t wear one of your old man flannels, Grandpa.

Ben groaned — his dreams of a quiet evening in dashed. Family meals always ended with someone breaking a bone or puking in the bushes. “I don’t get paid enough for this,” he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Still, the fact they included him, despite not being an official member of the band, did warm his cold, dead heart. He’s so fucking proud of those idiots and how far they’ve come.

Not that he’d ever say that to their faces. They were already insufferable as it was.

So Ben had changed — pulling on a denim short-sleeved button-down and black jeans, his long auburn hair pulled back in a low ponytail for once. He kept his glasses, though — no matter how many times Vic told him he should try contacts, he never found them comfortable. He preferred the look of his glasses, and well, they felt more like him, even if that meant he looked like a lumberjack accountant, as Davey once so affectionately told him.

The Chateau Marmont is buzzing with people — influencers and celebrities alike flit about the historic hotel as Ben made his way to the restaurant. Whatever Kellin planned to announce had better be important, or he’d turn off the bus’s Wi-Fi for the drive to San Francisco tomorrow and put on his noise-cancelling headphones.

“The reservation should be under Kellin Beckett.” He tells the host. The little smile on the host’s face causes Ben to raise an eyebrow. Odd. But then — maybe he was just a fan of Ashes. It seemed like everybody was these days — a fact that left Ben feeling rather proud.

Only that sense of pride is short-lived as he’s shown to a private table in the back corner of the manicured patio. Because instead of there being five tattooed idiots — there was a single person dressed up like they were on a date.

His phone vibrates in his pocket — Ben’s blood pressure already rising as he reads the message from Kellin.

Idiot No. 1: Enjoy your date, old man!

Ben reads the text once more, a groan of annoyance escaping his lips. There would be a homicide when he got his hands on those idiots, Ben watching as text comes in from each of the boys. Those fucking assholes! Who did they think they were, meddling in his life like this?

The last thing Ben Lazarra needed was romance when he was practically a single dad as it was. But — while a date with a complete stranger is the last thing he wanted to do tonight, it wasn’t his date’s fault. They had been set up just as much as he had.

He sighs, bracing himself for a night of tedious small talk, and approaches the table. “Hi,” he begins stiffly, using his best manager voice to hide his simmering annoyance at the situation. He sinks into the chair across from his date, offering a tight smile.

“Sorry. I’m not sure what Kellin told you when he set all this up, but...” he drums his fingers on the table, wondering if it was too late to release that video Zack had of Kellin sobbing while watching K-Pop Demon Hunter to the world.

“I wasn’t aware this was a date.”