Rally 'Round the Rap God - Fan Fic Eminem

Marshall's Concern

"Yo, man. It's been too long." Dre said as I shook his hand. I was still riding on the sales of my most recent album and had been focusing on my production work, so I hadn't been in the studio and as a result, hadn't spent a lot of time hanging with Dre in a while.

"No shit, man." I agreed. "What have you been up to?" I asked and he shrugged.

"Same as usual, really. Have a new kid that has some real promise. You should come by and hear him sometime." He responded and I nodded.

"You just tell me when." I replied as we walked into the restaurant.

We'd set up to meet for lunch since we were both available and knew that we'd gone a few months without really doing much together. Once our hostess had brought us to our table and settled our drinks, Dre leaned forward and smirked.

"Sounds like you got yourself a piece of pop candy these days." He said and I shook my head. While it might spark my anger for others to comment on Rally, Dre had a way about him that rarely did anything to rile me up.

"She's a cool chick." I said in response, taking a sip of my water. "She's got a new song coming out that's pretty fucking hot, too." I commented after I swallowed. "She wants me to be the actor for the love scenes in it." I said and Dre choked a little on the water he was drinking.

"No shit. Really?" He asked and I nodded as the waiter came up to take our orders. Once he was gone again, Dre cocked his head at me, amusement in his eyes.

"You telling me that you're going to have what amounts to a sex tape with your woman for all to see?" He asked, taking it to the extreme. I shook my head, chuckling as I did.

"Nah. I won't let it go that far." I denied and Dre raised his brows.

"You're really considering it?" He asked and I nodded.

"More than," I said. "I've already talked to the director. We start shooting next week." I admitted and Dre whistled lowly.

"I know you like to act, man, but I wouldn't have thought you'd do a pop video." He said and I nodded again.

"I know, but I couldn't fucking stomach the idea of someone else touching her." I noted, my voice lowering. "She gave me complete control over which actor to use, letting me be there at the interviews and everything." I said with another drink of my water. "After twenty of them, I finally just told her I'd do it." I finished with a twist of my lips.

Rally had been really cool about the video thing. Instead of getting all defensive about my concerns, she'd handed me the binder of the potential actors and let me pick the ten she'd been told to select for interviews. The director had selected the other ten and then set up times for the men to come in. I'd been there for each one, watching. Some of them salivated over Rally. Others considered themselves to be doing her a favor. In the end, there were only three that I thought would actually be professionals about it.

When the director had said that they'd need to shoot a couple of examples to get a feel for the chemistry between Rally and the three, however, I'd lost it. I realized, even if there was nothing to it on Rally's side, that I wasn't fucking okay with anyone pawing her. So, I'd pulled her aside and told her that I'd do it. Once again, she proved to me why it is that we seem to work – instead of getting pissed about the wasted time in interviewing or ragging me about being a jealous and possessive ass, she'd just nodded and told the director that she had a leading man.

After that, I spent some time with the director and Rally going over the scene ideas. Because the song was going to be split into two, flashing between Martin and his actress and Rally and me, it was going to be hot, but more suggestive than detailed. I'd end up with my shirt off and Rally would be scantily clad in some of it, but not so much that I'd lose my damn mind. It was a compromise that the director thought would work well with the song, since the theme of the song was about anticipation anyway.

The waiter joined us to bring our food just as Dre was about to speak and we paused all conversation as we ate. When we were a few bites in and settled with any additions we needed, he looked up at me with a question in his eyes. I knew what he was wondering about and I nodded once more.

"Yeah," I said, hoping that would be enough. Dre, however, wasn't the kind to let things be ambiguous.

"Yeah, what?" He asked, prodding me to spill it all. I shrugged as I ate, thinking about how to word things.

"She's taken over my mind, man." I said quietly. "I can't go more than a few minutes without thinking about her." I sighed as I leaned back in my chair, looking around the room for a minute before looking back at Dre. "I love her." I admitted.

"You tell her that?" Dre asked and I shook my head.

"No." I said. "I'm not sure how to." I muttered and Dre snorted.

"Bullshit, Em." He said, shaking his head as he leaned back and gave me an assessing look. "You know damn well how to say it, so what's the problem?" He challenged. I looked away instead of answering. He knew exactly what the fucking problem was. I looked back when he sighed.

"Not everything turns to shit, you know." He said and I twisted my lips. That hasn't been my experience with women at all.

"Alright." He said, raising his palms in mock surrender. "Maybe a lot of it turns to shit." He conceded. "But, what if this doesn't?" He asked and I nodded.

I knew he was right. As I was about to say so, my phone buzzed. I usually ignore it, but didn't this time. When I looked at the screen, I saw that Rally was calling and I raised a brow at Dre, hoping he wouldn't mind if I took it. He raised his chin at me, giving the go ahead, and I swiped to answer the call.

"Um, Marshall?" I heard Rally's tentative voice call into the line. I frowned as I responded, she sounded apologetic.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"My brother just showed up out of the blue and wants to meet you." She said, her voice a little tense. "Are you okay with that?" She asked, her voice turning tentative. I looked at Dre as I answered.

"Yeah, I'll meet your brother." I agreed and Dre nodded in approval as I did. "How about dinner tonight?" I suggested and I heard Rally sigh in relief. I smiled just slightly, knowing she'd worked herself up to ask.

"Perfect. See you at 7?" She asked and I murmured a yes before hanging up. Dre grinned at me as I did, his amused voice carrying a slight chuckle.

"Well, nothing like telling your woman how you feel under the careful watch of an overprotective brother." He snarked and I flipped him off. He laughed as I shook my head and we finished our meals.