Chapter Text
7:00 AM – Othmer Residence Hall, Brooklyn, NY
It was the crack of dawn, Amy knew that without having to get up. She knew that without having to open the blackout windows or look at the clock that rested on top of her desk. The digital alarm clock with the red numbers reading: way too damn early blared forcing her to get up and turn it off. Why had the editor-in-chief of the NYU Gazette called a meeting? God knows why. She stumbled into the kitchen, eyes half-lidded and grumbled a ‘good morning’ to her roommate Kylie, editor-in-chief.
“Why the fuck do we have to go in so early?”
This is an angry, non-morning person, Amy Santiago. A 22-year-old, junior at NYU studying Art History and Journalism. Standing about 15 feet away was Kylie Baker, 23-years-old, a senior studying Journalism and Communications, and a complete asshole in the mind of her roommate at the moment. She popped open the container of coffee, got a spoon and scooped the coffee grounds into two nearby cups.
“We have a big event tonight, it might be the biggest thing to be covered by the Gazette! I’m sorry it’s so early but this is important to me, okay?” Kylie had determined that Amy would not cause immediate harm in her sleepy state and had come close to take over coffee duty. “I know you think I’m an asshole, it’s written across your face, but I love you.”
“You’re still on thin ice.”
7:30 AM
The two women got ready quickly neither being one to be very high maintenance. They walked two blocks to the student union where the NYU Gazette headquarters were held. Once there, Kylie opened the door making all eyes go on her. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and placed her very well organized binder on the podium. Amy sat down next to Fer, a photographer, and awaited Kylie’s announcement of the so-called ‘big event’.
“I know it’s early, I know you all have classes to attend at 8, but this is the most important thing that has ever happened to the Gazette.” Eyes are rolled and groans arise. “I don’t want to hear it.” She took an overdramatic breath and scanned the room. “We have the opportunity to cover the hottest event of the year. My esteemed members of the NYU Gazette, we have the one in a lifetime chance to go to Die Hard’s concert AND interview the band afterward!”
Cheers, screams, gasps, and one sole groan came from the members. It was a known fact that Amy Santiago hated Die Hard, the band. The movie was okay, but the band, she had heard some things about its members.
You may be thinking, who exactly is Die Hard? Well, let me butt in and introduce them to you. We have leading man Jake Peralta on vocals, Charles Boyle on bass guitar, Stevie Chillin’ Schillens on electric guitar and Terry Jeffords on drums. Who am I, well I’m your friendly neighborhood narrator, filling you in. You will hear from me often. I both apologize and say you’re welcome.
Well, our dear Amy first started as a fan of a few songs from Die Hard, believe it or not. Back when they were first starting out some years ago, their song The Call was the center of Amy’s world. The love for that song was how she actually first connected with Kylie. She was a freshman had been assigned to a dorm with Kylie after an error in room assignment occurred. The blond upperclassman had been playing the Die Hard song in her bedroom as she arrived. Kylie heard a soft knock at her open bedroom door and smiled brightly at the brunette who donned huge pink-rimmed glasses and a large vintage floral tote. She got up from her desk and welcomed her apologizing for the loudness of her music.
“No, no, I actually love this song.”
“Oh, my gosh, finally someone who agrees with me. C’mon, let me give you the grand tour of our luxurious dorm”, she said with a tinge of sarcasm. The two became the best of friends in the months following. Kylie always advising Amy and setting her up on dates with the guys she knew. She was the extrovert of the two roommates.
Amy had always been reserved but in no way shape or form, a pushover. The woman was brilliant reading more than 100 books a year, every year. She also swore like a sailor, something that was unexpected from her preppy, polished style. No one underestimated Amy Santiago, and if one did, well, honey, they had a storm coming.
Back to present time, Amy had locked her eyes on her desk, everyone still highly excited about the opportunity. See, it was not the music that had turned her off from the band, it was the reputation Jake Peralta had garnered in the last few years. Accusations of being violent towards paparazzi and other people whom he encountered on the streets had reached the ears of everyone. Whether they were true or not, Amy did not know. She frankly didn’t care anymore. Their overexposure had worn her down after a couple of months and she dropped the band altogether. Jake Peralta, she had decided, was very talented, but was no more than a problematic piece of shit.
“Alright we have limited seats open so I’m gonna take essential people, also known as upperclassmen who need this for credit. Amy, Fer, Michael and I will cover the concert. The rest of y’all get to go but not front row. Thank you for coming to this at these ungodly hours, everyone but the 3 people I’m taking can go.”
12:00 PM – Schur’s Café
While Kylie was at a lecture, Amy sat down with her laptop at the back of Schur’s, a café that had opened up a few blocks from the residence hall. At the request of her editor-in-chief, she brainstormed a few possible headlines for that night’s concert coverage. Her ideas were, well, see for yourselves.
“DIE HARD MAKES ME WANT TO DIE, HARD.”
“DIE HARD FRONTMAN JAKE DOUCHEBAG PERALTA TAKES THE STAGE IN BROOKLYN”
You get the gist.
Amy stopped and erased the two headlines seeing as they would be approved over her best friend’s dead body. She also started thinking about the possibility of bailing and letting one of the underclassmen in the Gazette take over for her. It would be pretty easy to find a replacement seeing as everyone would want front row tickets and a chance to interview the band.
Oh shit, she had to interview the band.
“Okay”, she thought, “if I get someone else to cover I won’t have to face them at all, surely Kylie will forgive me. It’s her last semester, she needs this more than I do.” Yet another roadblock cut off her train of thought.
“I can’t bail on her. She’s graduating, this is one of the last memories we’ll have from college together. While I have two more semesters, she’ll be in the UK working with the BBC.”
Putting aside her feelings for her friend was what she would have to do. A man she highly disliked would not be the cause of a possible rift in their friendship. She took a long sip from her coffee and continued brainstorming headlines.
After a while, she closed her laptop, packed up, and left. The cool air hit her face making her adjust her coat. She really loved Brooklyn, but she was itching to go explore the world beyond it. She’d grown up in Queens and after graduating from high school, NYU was close enough to home and too good of a school to pass up.
She daydreamed about traveling to other countries and documenting their art and culture, but for now, she had a degree to work towards. And an upcoming living readjustment.
3:45 PM – Barclays Center, Green Room
“Alright, we are 15 minutes from a soundcheck. I want all of you dressed and on stage by then. I’m looking at you, Stevie.”
The booming sound of Raymond Holt’s voice bounced off the walls and created an echo. Not too far away were Charles and Jake, up to their usual antics of playing mini basketball in the hall.
To say Die Hard’s manager, Holt, was tired of the four adult toddlers under his care was a total understatement. From the smell of Stevie’s blunts, that still stunk up the tour bus despite him smoking in the restroom with the extractor on, to Jake’s- how do you even describe his problematic behind?
Speaking of the king of Rome, Jake’s lip was still bleeding from an encounter he had with some “asshole at the bar”, as he put it.
Raymond was tired, but he knew no one else was cut out for this job. And he loved them like his own children. Especially Terry, the only mature one of the bunch. Marriage, twins, and another child on the way does that to a person.
“Okay, everyone in here”, he shouted, rolling his eyes as Jake and Charles came in bumping into each other. “I already mentioned the soundcheck, so next is a series of interviews at 5, you’re on stage at 7, and at 9, we have one last interview. It’s a favor for one of my husband’s students. I expect you all to be on your best behavior.” He looked around to see them all attentive to the schedule.
When he was done speaking he looked at Jake, “Jacob, I don’t mean to do this in front of everyone but, you need to get your house in order. It’s been too much of your antics and it’s hurting the band.”
“I’m not sorry for the actions I’ve taken to defend myself and you. I am sorry that it’s hurting you all.” Jake looks defeated and walks out of the room towards the stage. The room is tense until Charles breaks the silence.
“There have been homophobic and racial slurs being yelled at Jake and me whenever we’re out. It started a couple years ago when someone called Terry and Stevie- well, I won’t repeat those words. Then, you were the target following your public coming out. You all were not there to defend yourselves- so Jake acted.”
Terry looked down and speaks up, “He never said anything.”
“He never wanted you all to ever hear that type of discrimination. Because you all get it enough.”
6:55 PM – Barclays Center, Front Row Barricade
“This is the best day of my life!”
“Kylie, you’re engaged.” Amy tilts her head in confusion and amusement but lets the comment go. The only thing that saved this situation from being absolutely horrible was that her best friend was not obsessive over the band. Not that it would be a bad thing if she were, but she would have been dragged back to their hotel if that was the case.
Trust when she says she does not want to be near them longer than she has to.
The band comes on stage and everyone goes absolutely wild. Kylie is jumping up and down, Fer is on the other side of her screaming, and Michael is busy in front of them taking pictures. Amy feels a hand grasping her’s and it’s Kylie giving her a look that could only read as “please-lighten-up-and-cheer-for-the-band-this-is-important-to-me”.
She just smiled at her and turned her attention to the band who was now starting to play No Control, a song that she really liked back in the day.
From the stage, Jake Peralta waited for the musical cues to start singing. He scanned the audience, or what he could see of it, the lights blinding his view.
That’s when he spotted a brunette who was nonchalantly standing in the front row. He began the song and watched as she leaned on the barricade, followed along with the song and occasionally watched the stage. He watched her throughout the concert, making sure to give the rest of the crowd attention too, and came to the conclusion that she was dragged to the concert by the blonde girl beside her.
Amy felt the eyes on her, Jake wasn’t exactly sneaky, he was the opposite. The rest of the team caught on and were smirking at the end of the concert. They waited in their spots after Die Hard closed out with Heartbreak Girl.
Fer was the first to address the blatant heart-eyes Jake Peralta was giving Amy Santiago. “Dude, he’s into you. This is something out of a book- a fan fiction.”
“Totally, he’s in love with me and wants to marry me.” She said her words dripping with sarcasm. “Come on, he was probably looking at the girl behind me, not that I care. He’s pretty much human garbage.”
“Well, here comes security to escort us to the interview. You guys ready?” They all nodded. “Alright, let’s make history.”
9:00 PM – Green Room
“Welcome NYU Gazette team, I’m sure you’ve all had or will have my husband Kevin Cozner as your professor,” Holt said in his monotone voice greeting us with a firm handshake. The members of Die Hard were sat in a black leather couch and talking amongst each other.
Kylie introduced herself shaking their hands followed by Michael and Fer. Amy went last greeting Charles, Stevie, Terry and finally Jake who was not hiding his attraction at all. She placed her phone to record the conversation for the podcast and the rest of the team worked on the video and stills for the online paper.
The questions were light and breezy, nothing was spoken about any recent or past problems coming from Jake Peralta. Kylie and Amy covered some of their own questions such as their favorite places to visit and what they miss more when they are on the road. Then they asked questions from Twitter. They were surprised to get any at all but they guessed the fanbase the band had was bigger than they thought.
“User, jakepineapples asks, ‘What do each of you all look for in a partner?’” Amy said very focused on trying not to sound unenthusiastic. “Terry?”
“Well, I have my wife at home, and what attracted me to her was her ability to put me in my place and her strength.” He said thinking about Sharon, who he was itching to see after this leg of the tour ended in a week.
Jake answered next to the surprise of everyone, “I’m really just looking for some loyalty. I haven’t had too many steady relationships, especially since I got dumped at my Bar Mitzvah”. He chuckled at the last bit. Amy hid a smile, the guy wasn’t supposed to be funny or attractive. Oh boy. She shook all thoughts of how his answers made him seem like not so bad of a guy and helped Kylie wrap up the interview after a few minutes.
9:30 PM – Outside of the Barclays Center
“My suspicions were confirmed in there”, said Kylie with a smirk. She got closer to Amy and grasped her hands in hers. “I can’t believe you’re gonna marry a Die Hard member.”
“Shut the fuck up, let me call Phil to tell him you called this the best night of your life and not when he proposed in fucking Disney World.”
“I will burn your Harry Potter books”
“Try me, bitch.”
They both just ended up in each other’s faces to laugh at the ridiculousness of their argument and the night’s events. They were waiting for their Uber back to the residence hall, Fer and Michael deciding to get some food a few blocks away. They separated and sat on a nearby bench, Amy resting her head on Kylie’s shoulder.
“Excuse me,” they heard a male voice speak breaking their comfortable silence. They jumped at the sudden interruption and saw it was Jake Peralta. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. It’s Amy and Kylie right?”
Kylie smiled, she somehow knew this was coming. “Yes, that’s us. I’m surprised to see you again.” She was not.
“It was nice seeing you both come out tonight. I really came out here to ask Amy something.” Amy heard a record scratch sound in her mind. Oh god, what did he want?
“I’ll give you all some space so you all can talk. I have to call my fiancé and catch him up on what happened at the concert. Great show, by the way!” She walked away before Jake could say a ‘thank you’. Amy sat there glaring at Kylie who was now on the phone in the near distance.
Jake felt his heart beating out of his chest and he began speaking from the heart.
“Amy, I was watching you from the stage the whole night, and I would hate for me to leave without saying that you’re gorgeous. This may be creepy coming from a dude you barely know, but trust me, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable at all.”
“Listen, Jake, that’s very flattering.” She looked up at him and continued. “But I kinda do know that you’re a douchebag and that whatever you’re trying to pull isn’t going to work.”
“I’m very aware of how I look in the eyes of the public, but that’s-“, he paused not wanting to share the true intentions behind his many violent stints. “Well, that’s not me. Not everything you see is true.”
“Say that to your fat busted lip”, Amy scoffed.
“Is there anything I can say for you to change your mind about me?”
She thought about it and came up empty, “No Peralta, I don’t think so.” She got up from the bench walking towards Kylie. She was still on the phone with Phil.
“Want to bet on that?” She turned and faced him.
“I’m listening.”
No woman had made Jake Peralta this nervous before, but there was a first time for everything. “We spend the whole night walking around Brooklyn, if I can change your mind about me, you have to go on a date with me.”
She took a beat and then countered him, “If you can’t change my mind, you have to buy me old expensive books.” He smiled at her counteroffer warmly and extended his hand for her to shake.
With a handshake and a quick text to Kylie, they were off to some of their favorite places in the city. Each hoping to get something out of this bet.