[Joel/Closed] It's A Liberty Walk

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Claire pulled her legs up in her chair, looking around the studio that Blake had insisted she have on her own, since she would ‘never get any work done in Shane’s studio’. Probably accurate. But still, at least she felt normal in Shane’s studio. Looking around this one it felt so foreign. But she wasn’t alone long, actually she never really was. Cody was always stopping in, or Shane, or any of the guys from All Time Low. Or Dani. Or some of the interns. She seriously had not spent five minutes in her studio alone, but that was probably a good thing. Her own thoughts were starting to destroy her. Claire took in a deep breath and sighed, turning in her chair to see that Joel was leaning against the doorframe with a smile across his lips. She smiled as she looked over at him, “ What are you doing here?” she asked, knowing he was supposed to be on tour, ‘ Well.. I had some business to do in town. Two days off from tour, figured I’d get some work done, go and surprise Tori, head back on the road’ he said, stepping inside of the studio. “ Welcome to Taboo, babe” he said, leaning down to wrap his arms around her in a hug. Claire lifted her arms up and wrapped them around him before sitting back, “ Thanks” she said lethargically. Joel narrowed his eyes as he looked down at her. ‘ What? Most people are excited about this..” he said and Claire nodded, agreeing with him. “ I know.. I am..” she offered before licking the corner of her lips. “ Joel… Who am I?” she asked and a slow smile spread across Joel’s lips and he held his hand out to her. ‘ Come with me’ he said as she slid her hand in his and stood up to follow him as he dragged her out into the hallway.

‘ You know… that question is going to get asked a lot in the next few weeks,” Joel said as he looked over at her, walking through the hallways of the studio like it was his home. Wasn’t it? Claire opened her mouth to question him but he shook his head, “ Logan will want you to go what direction you want. You gotta decide first. Then there’s stylists, producers, choreographers, production teams, public relations on your ass.. you gotta figure out who you are and what you want to sell. That’s everything this is. We’re all selling something,” he said before he pushed open the doors to the dance studio and stepped inside. Claire narrowed her eyebrows as she followed him inside. ‘ What’s one thing Madeline and I have in common?” he asked, taking his phone out of his back pocket as he walked over to the sound system. “…. A killer bone structure…” Claire offered, shrugging her shoulder slightly. ‘ Maybe. But what I was going for… was confidence. Madeline walks the streets of New York, the hallways, her home… like it’s a runway. Why? She’s confident in who she is. To her life is a runway. That’s all she knows. Me on stage? Same exact person. I’m not about ‘swag’ on the stage and then being some nerdy at home kid when I get off of it. That’s not me. Shane is the same exact person on stage as he is at home. Blake is just as much a diva. Dani is one of the most caring people I know, unless you’re Jake, and she connects to people through her music that way,” he said, hooking his iPhone up to the cords. “ Why are you telling me this?” Claire asked as she watched him and Joel smiled as he walked over to her, waiting for the music to start. “ Because as much as it makes me uncomfortable to say this.. they call you the mini-Madeline. Sometimes people believe in themselves and shove it in other peoples faces, I’m one of them. Sometimes people see it in you and have to inspire you. Claire.. you’re hot as hell. And you need to accept that. Right now. Because they aren’t going to market you as a nun. You aren’t leavin’ Disney channel.. you don’t have a reputation to uphold. You got pregnant at seventeen. Sex is gonna sell. And I’m also not an idiot. You think pop music is stupid. I’ve seen your itunes. So does Shane. He mocks it.. take advantage of that. Use it for you. Mock it if you want to… but look sexy doing it. Be confident. Because if you lose your confidence.. you won’t be selling anything. You’re mini-Madeline… let’s find your sexy,” he offered before he stepped closer to her and Claire started laughing with a shake of her head. “ How are we going to do that, Foster?” she asked before she watched him. ‘ Dance with me,’ he said, smiling at her. ‘ That’s when you’re most comfortable. Come on. You gotta take situations where you are most comfortable… and then shake it up a little bit” he said as he bounced his shoulders.

Claire turned her neck from side to side and looked over at the mirror, stepping out of her high heels as she stood up on pointe on her bare toes and started to collect herself, turning her hips out so she could start a fouette before she felt Joel gripping his hand against her foot. ‘ Not ballet. I said dance with me. Look like I’m wearing a tutu and about to bust some fuckin’ nutcracker out? Hell no’ he said, pulling on her foot to turn her out until she turned and caught herself clumsily against the floor. ‘ Dance WITH me, Claire’ he said, wiggling his finger towards himself so she would come near him. She watched as Joel licked his lips, taking in her own deep breath as she listened to the song that was his own, Boyfriend, blasting through the speakers. She cleared her throat as he placed his fingers against her collar bone before standing behind her and spun her around to make her dance with him, where he had his hand placed against her lower back, trying to get her to move her hips. She kept her eyes focused on the mirror, straightening her shoulders again before she felt Joel flick her on the forehead. ‘ Quit looking in the mirror and trying to find your center. Yeah I know what trying to find your center means. Stop it.’ he said before he walked over, shut off the lights and found his way back to her in the darkness. ‘ Now.. Claire… dance with me.’. Claire straightened her back slightly. In love with Shane or not.. there was something about Joel Foster that every god damn girl in their right mind got weak in the knees for.

A little while later they had danced to everything from hip hop to rock, pop, everything. Natalia Richmond, All Time Low, The Maine, Joel’s music, Logan’s music, Braison’s. Claire was all danced out and she stood there trying to catch her breath before Joel flipped the lights back on and strode back over to her. “ How do you feel right now?” he asked and she nodded slowly, smiling at him, “Good,”. Joel nodded back at her, seemingly glad that she figured things out for herself. “Good.. you got someone that makes you feel that way?” he asked and Claire looked up at him slowly. Was she that transparent, really? Was it that easy for people to tell that she was confused. ‘Go..’ Joel said, before stepping away from her and tilting his head to the door. Claire smiled instantly, running past him as she left the dance studio and pushed the button for the elevator doors. But after about five seconds she decided that, it was going taking too long and bolted for the stairs instead. As she came into Shane’s studio she knew she probably looked winded, out of breath, let’s face it she was a little sweaty from her encounter with Joel, which while it may be attractive on guys was not a strong selling point for Claire herself. “ Hey,” she said breathlessly as she was thankful to find Shane alone in his studio. The other guys were probably off grabbing something to eat. Claire smiled as she came over to him, sitting in his lap before she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned down to kiss him.

[Joel Carter Foster]

Joel stood still in the dance studio, catching his own breath as the silence emptied through the room. There was a reason he was always working, a reason why he had to help people, why he had to be in a rehearsal for something. Anything. Silence to him meant destruction, completely. Every time he was still his own thoughts became his enemy and single handedly sought to destroy every happy thought that entered him. Could he have saved David. Is he helping save anyone else right now? The last thing he ever wanted for anyone else in the world to experience, was the loss of a loved one. Maybe that was why he and Shane had such a mutual understanding of each other without ever talking about it. Shane and Joel had both lost a brother to suicide, and they talked about it with less than a handful of people. They had gone through the same exact situation, and hadn’t ever breathed a word of it to one another. In fact the only person the Joel felt he could just bring it up in conversation with, was Ryan. And he knew for a fact that Madeline had brought it up for the first time only a week or so ago with him. He looked in the mirror, looking at the tattoo etched across his skin that had been seen by two, three people. Well now four including Claire, though he had lied to her about its’ meaning. He leaned down and picked the shirt up off of the ground, pulling it back on over his bare chest. Once he was out of the dance studio he headed over to the elevator where he got inside and leaned against the railing quietly. There was a slight ding with each floor they passed and suddenly the outer silence paired with the mental crucifiction he was doing to himself caused him to snap and he turned, punching his hand against the wall inside of the elevator. Suddenly it came to a stop and Joel looked up, watching as Dani came strolling inside.

‘ Hey kid’ she said, looking down towards the wall, and back up at Joel. ‘ Someone Hulk out?’ she asked and Joel laughed, putting his hands in his back pockets. “ I’m sure someone got pissed that Logan didn’t sign them,” he said casually, offering a shrug of his shoulder. “ You smell” she said, scrunching up her nose as she moved past him to push the button to close the elevator doors. “ Like success. Which would be why you don’t recognize it,” he said teasingly before she flipped him off sarcastically. ‘….. Wanna grab lunch? I gotta finish up a meeting with Collin real quick. I took a fiver to call Jake about our plans tonight. It won’t take much longer,” she said, turning to Joel and he nodded. “ Yeah that sounds great. I’ve been here since like.. 5 am,” he said with a slight laugh. “ I wanted to get work done so I could go see Tori later tonight.” he said, licking his lips. “ She doesn’t know you’re here?” Dani asked, looking up at him. “ Not yet, I want to surprise her,” he offered, stepping out of the elevator as the doors opened. “ How is that going by the way? I mean you’re so… work oriented. We were always wondering how a relationship would play out,”. Joel took in a deep breath and sighed, “ I care about her.. “ he said, knowing it was true. “ I want it to work,” also true. “ But?” Dani asked and Joel turned to her with a slight smile. “ But I came to the studio before I told my girlfriend I was in town. Clearly work came first… I wanna give her the world, Dani. I just.. I gotta conquer it first,” he said and Dani rolled her eyes at him though she was smiling. ‘ You’re sort of a romantic’ she said before Joel laughed, “ A workaholic romantic. We’ll go with that.” he said, shaking his head at her. “ Nah I think she.. understands how important my career is to me. I’m on a window here. Gotta strike while the iron is hot,” he said, looking into All Time Low’s studio , seeing that Claire had wrapped herself around what looked like a willing Shane. Joel stepped to the side, shutting the door to the studio before he continued walking with Dani. “They’re going to have their second kid before the rest of us have our first,” he said, shaking his head before he wrapped his arms around Dani’s shoulders. “ C’mon. Let’s go fuck up Collin’s day,” he said before Dani chuckled to herself again and headed towards his office.