[center][img]https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1245475943969361922/wem5HxS9_400x400.jpg[/img][img]https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/itzan-escamilla-1539768710.jpg?crop=1xw:0.8xh;center,top&resize=480:*[/img]

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[hr][b]A [@BrutalBx] & [@KatKook] Collab[/b][hr]

Enrique could not take his eyes off of Ellie; the way she was moving, the way she looked, she was as perfect as she could have been and it made him loathe himself even more. He wanted to lose himself even more. It wasn’t until he felt Jo’s hand on his forearm that he was able to snap out of his daze and acknowledge her with a look. 

[i]Hop on the mic?[/i] Is that what she just said? Rico would be lying if he said the thought hadn’t crossed his mind when he first arrived. The DJ was good and he was throwing out some great tunes but in his experience there was nothing like a live act. From both sides of the stage, on and off there was a raw connection that could only be felt when performing and being performed to. One could reach out and touch the world and the world could hold your hand back through the medium of love music. 

There were few people who understood this in Rico’s bubble but Jo was one of those few. They had shared a stage and a mic many times during the summer and he had even coached her a little. The girl had talent but just needed someone to push her in the right direction, luckily or perhaps unluckily for her, Enrique was just that sort of bastard.

[color=FF8B00]”Oye, JoJo. You wanna play on that stage? We can make that happen, mi estrella”[/color] Rico did his best to clear the cobwebs in his mind formed by his indulgence in cocaine and booze before carrying on. [color=FF8B00]”I’d say make yourself look pretty but you’re already looking diez perfecto. Go sweet talk the DJ, think about what you want to sing and I’ll go find a guitar. Sound good?”[/color]

Seeing that look on Rico’s face after suggesting such a thing made Jo’s face light up, she knew he was on board before she even asked, but of course, being Jo, she had to ask. Rico then started to explain his plan, and Jo could not help but smile.

"[color=#52ADE0]Pretty? Yeah! With my totally existent femine charm.[/color]" Said Jo, she knew she was not exactly the most girly of girls, especially being part of the main roster of the women’s basketball team. "[color=#52ADE0]But hey! I’ll give it my best shot, you go on and find that guitar.[/color]" She said practically shooing him off.

She fixed her hair, and tried to keep her drunkenness from affecting what she was going to say but she knew it was not exactly easy. She quickly fixed up as much as she could and went over to the DJ. She looked the man on the turntables up and down and started with.

"[color=#52ADE0]Hey! You’re doing a great job![/color]" What the fuck was she saying at this point? Great job? What is she, this guy’s mom? "[color=#52ADE0]I mean… I… I like the way your hands move on those spinny thingies- turntables.[/color]" Alright, maybe she is hammered.

As this weird interaction goes on, she sure hopes that Rico is doing a better job than her.

As Jo headed off on her mission, Rico let out a great sigh. He had to get Ellie out of his head and music was probably the healthiest escape route he had. He darted through the crowd of drunk teens, doing his best to avoid meeting eyes with his ex. He wound up somehow upstairs; moving from room to room doing his utmost in his current state of mind not to trash every inch of them whilst he hunted for a six string.

He didn’t know much of their host Christian as the guy was a Liberty but from what little rumours he had heard, the kid was into music, which meant that there had to be a guitar somewhere in this McMansion. As he began to feel that his journey was fruitless, Enrique found one more room he had yet to destroy and sure enough, there they were; multiple, beautiful, sleek axes of varying types.

[color=FF8B00]”Fuck yeah”[/color]

Now came the hard part of deciding which guitar he would steal. It would hinge on what type of songs Jo would want to sing. He thought back to their summer duets. Her voice was quite soft but there was a power to it, there was soul. Electric guitar was definitely not the way to go. He grabbed a gorgeous looking piece and slung it over his back. Time to do work. He began to hurry down the stairs when he noticed Jo at the DJ decks.

[color=FF8B00]”JO! I GOT ONE!”[/color]

"[color=#52ADE0]-I know, hey, just hand me a few mics okay?[/color]" She said, giving the guy a few pats on his hand before she turned to Rico. She saw him holding the guitar and she quickly made her way over to him. She looked at the guitar and thought about what they could do for a second.

"[color=#52ADE0]So… What do you have in mind? You wanna do Bailando or something?[/color]" She asked, she was pretty much down to sing anything as long as it was tasteful of course.


It was not lost on him that he shared a name, a vocation and a passing resemblance with one Enrique Iglesias and he had heard pretty much every joke that could be made when he moved to Ohio seven years ago. It was also not a rare thing for people to request he sing the famous Latin idols songs. Hell a lot of the time he did for the lolz and tonight would be no different. If that’s what Jo wanted, then that’s what she would get.

Rico tuned the guitar he was holding. Finding the right sound was a  difficult task. Ask any of his friends that would watch home zone out mid conversation as he worked on getting the strum just right. He looked up at Jo and did his best to stop his eyes from watering. [color=FF8B00]”If you wanna do Enrique then I say let’s take it old school. You know Escape? I can do that acoustic and alternate the Spanish, get the DJ to add a few beats too. Could be sick”[/color]

Joanne nodded at Rico before gesturing with her head to follow her, she made her way to the DJ station and told him to hop on the stage next to it. She called for the DJ to help her set up everything, and he obliged surprisingly enough, was Jo supposed to pay him extra for this? She has about… 6 dollars. Hopefully he was not the type.

As soon as the mics were set up Jo looked at Rico and nodded at him, she looked through the crowd to see Sam sat there, she could not be more thankful that people like her are staying for her antics. She tapped the mic a few times which definitely caught the attention of some people. She blinked as soon as eyes were now on her and she took a deep breath before speaking.

"[color=#52ADE0]Didn’t really plan this but whatever right?[/color]" She looked deep into the crowd until her eyes met Sam’s, "[color=#52ADE0]This one’s for you.[/color]" She said in a deeper voice than usual. She looked at Rico, waiting for his cue to start.

[color=FB8B00]”Make sure you move, mami. This ain’t a song for standing still”[/color]

Rico made the sign of the cross as he did before every performance and took a deep breath as he began to pluck at the strings of the guitar. In a strange way, being on a stage was a sobering experience. He had lost count of the times he had been performing and was probably six drinks and four lines deep when he started only to feel sober by the end. It was likely the electricity that coursed through his veins whenever he got to do anything like this. On the floor, Enrique was a mess, on a stage, Rico was at home.

He leaned into the microphone that he was now sharing with Joanne and smiled  at her. He had been pushing her for weeks to get out of her comfort zone and this was it. This was the time.

[color=FF8B00][i]”Here's how it goes, you and me, up and down
But maybe this time we'll get it right, worth the fight
'Cause love is something you can't shake
When it breaks
All it takes is some trying”[/i][/color]

The base then hit, the DJ even made it sound better than it originally was, which was a little feat by itself because how often can you improve Enrique Iglesias. Jo’s foot was tapping when it started and when it was her turn she was bouncing like she was the most excited person on earth, one hand locked on the mic while the other was dancing along to the beat.

[i]"[color=#52ADE0]If you feel like leaving
I'm not gonna beg you to stay
But soon you'll be finding
You can run, you can hide
But you can't escape my love
You can run, you can hide
But you can't escape my love
[/color]"[/i]

[i][color=FF8B00]”Hoy, si te vas, ya verás
Que no es tan fácil olvidar
Sabe bien, sabe mal
Como sea, pero es tan real
Que al final
Lo demás no te importa, no, no, yeah”[/color][/i]

With a switch to Spanish, Enrique heard a select group of young ladies (and men) drop a collective squeal. It was arguably the move over thing he ever did on stage whenever he jumped to his native tongue. For some reason it drove people wild.

The crowd was obviously getting into it; the flowing mind altering chemicals probably helped but who was he to judge? He glanced over towards Joanne and it was like he could see the music flowing through her body as she moved in rhythm. She was like him, even if she didn’t know it, she belonged up here. The spotlight was meant to be hers. He looked out towards the crowd of dancing teens and began to play a little faster, doing what he could with his feet and hips to dance as he strummed away. Locking eyes with the brunette in the middle of the room, his heart began to pump blood around his body at an incredible rate as he remembered playing this song to her multiple times. Subconsciously, maybe that’s why he was playing it now; for her.

As Jo sang her heart out, she saw in the corner of her eye that she was not the only one singing for someone in the crowd. That was something they shared, that and their love for performing and singing.

"[color=#52ADE0]That felt amazing![/color]" She said to Rico as the song ended, Jo gave Rico a little hug and was too ecstatic to not thank the crowd, "[color=#52ADE0]Hope you guys like that! My name’s Joanne- Jo Lynn, this was Rico Nunez! Have a good night everyone![/color]" she exclaimed, albeit she was a little out of breath since she usually performed songs not as energetic as what she had just done but it was a great change of pace. She turned to Rico and nodded at him, "[color=#52ADE0]Let’s do this again yeah?[/color]"

She then hopped off the stage and made her way through the crowd making her way back to Samantha. As she went through the crowd, people started complimenting her and it really felt great, hopefully Sam loved it as much as she loved doing it.

[color=FF8B00]”You shone bright Estrellita”[/color] Rico took a final bow to the crowd before jumping down from the stage himself and allowing the DJ to get back to work. He made his way down through the crowd of congratulatory people but there was only one person whose opinion he cares about and his eyes hidden left her since the moment he got on stage.[/center]