All members of Linkin Park + eventually appearing members of the Linkin Families belong to themselves; they are merely borrowed for the sake of this complete fictional story. Nothing ever happened like this story is going to describe.

Welcome to Perfectly Imperfect! I am trying it again. Please don't kill/hate me for any mistakes! I try my best and maybe someone wants to help? I updated this fan fiction in the German fandom and want to share it with you now. It will be 17 chapters and it plays back in 2012. This is the first chapter I already translated. I can't promise fast updates.

Have fun? :)

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Perfectly Imperfect

Chapter 1 - Studio

It was a less turbulent moment in the studio. Brad sat in his chair. He had one of his old guitars in his lap and stroked over it as he was just about to tune it again. He just wanted to bridge the waiting time.

Mike sat across the room in front of the computer. As usual he was very preoccupied with a variety of different soundtracks he was working on. The only thing that could be heard was some curses here and there, but even more unnerving was the mouse clicking that could get very frantic. Sometimes he turned up the volume and the sound could be heard through his headphones. It often sounded great, but Mike would change it anyway. For him it had to be perfect.

While Mike changed a sound approximately the seventh time, which brought Brad only to shake his head somewhat smiling, Hahns Hell and Fire Phi competed each other in a game of Texas Hold ‘em Poker. Dave sat on a chair at the short side of the table, across from him sat Joe on a corner bench. They stared sceptical at each other; they didn’t twist their mouths or even blink.

They did the so called Showdown, after Rob was too desperate and threw his cards away. The youngest of the band didn’t have a very good poker face, but still he liked to play even he nearly ever won. He didn’t even have that bad cards but it was just too delicate. He didn’t have the guts even they didn’t play with real money.

Rob adjusted his glasses and smiled a bit as he took his book back in his hands to read some pages until Dave and Joe would start a new round of Poker. Hahns Hell and Fire Phi examined their cards carefully and thought about what they got on their hands; hopefully something to take the trick and to pocket the pot.

Both of them smiled mischievously and widely as they laid down their cards. There was a Full House a higher standing rank than a Straight.

“Ha! I told you. I am calling myself Hahns Hell not for nothing!”, Joe cried out in pure blissfulness as he already reached out for the pot. A scads of chips lay before him and he began to count them just to provoke Dave.

Rob looked up smiling. Dave growled frustrated and took the pile of cards to mix them up again. He would not take this. They would have enough time for another round. After all Chester still wasn’t here. Dave looked to his watch around his wrist. “Do you think Bennington is still coming?”

“He is always late, you know him. Nothing new.”, answered Brad as he stroke some strings on his guitar and twisted a bit more on one of the six tuning pegs. He played some notes again to see if it is the right tune. He puckered up his lips and frowned a bit and had already forgotten about the conversation going on.

“Hm yeah… but he never was that late… almost two hours.”, Dave grumbled and mentioned for Rob if he wanted to join in for a new round of Poker. The younger man just shook his head no.

“What? That means it is already one o’clock?” Joe looked up in shock and searched for a clock. He then nodded and stood up. The Korean smoothed some wrinkles out of his cloth and put on his leather jacket.

As he wanted to leave the room Dave stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. “Where are you going?”

Joe looked kind of puzzled at his friend. “Uh, well… I want to go and buy pizza and Mike would love a coffee for sure.”

The DJ smiled and Dave nodded pleased with this answer. “Okay cool. I wanna have a Hawaiian pizza, please and we’re going to play another round later on. I’ll beat you next time.”

-

Another hour past and Chester still was not at the studio. Joe was back with six pizzas, one coffee from ‘Coffee Fellows’ and a six-pack beer and gave everyone the right box. Dave got his Hawaiian, Rob and Brad something with tuna because it was kosher to eat and Mike loved some Speciale, while Joe got a Calzone for himself.

He carefully tapped Mike on his shoulder. The emcee turned around a bit stressed out and actually wanted to rant because he hated it to be interrupted. And he hated it when Chester was late and they had to wait on him. But then he saw something to eat and smelled the coffee and smiled a bit, almost at ease again. Mike nodded thankfully and took it from the DJ.

“Fellow?” Mike recognised. He actually liked his coffee only from Starbucks, his favourite coffee shop.

Joes smile cracked a bit and he shrugged. “… I know but Fellows was along the way, uh… sorry.”

Mike nodded and took a little sip from his cup. “Yeah… well, ok.”

Joe sighed and sat down to begin to eat his own pizza. His stomach was already growling. As he opened the box, he noted the last pizza box in the middle of the table. “Oh.”, he sighed again. “I don’t know about this one, I brought it for Chaz… I thought he would finally be here…”

“Three fucking hours and a half… damn it, this is his new record.”, Brad spoke cynical and with a full mouth.

“He knows that we wanted to meet up today, does he?”, Rob asked. The band normally met up every Monday but they had a deadline for their new album coming fast and so they decided to meet each other a second time this week.

Mike held up his hand and nodded. “I called him two days ago. He said it would be okay.”, he informed his band mates. Just in this moment the rubber sole from shoes squeaked over the floor in the hall. “Speak of the devil.” Mike mumbled as the door opened.

“It’s about time.” Brad said and the five band mates paused their movements as little Tyler Lee Bennington stormed the studio with a bright smile on his face. “Hello” Tyler squeaked to the friends of his dad. He really loved the days he could see them.

The band looked kind of puzzled and replied their greetings slowly. Joe slide to the side so Tyler could sit with him. Chester’s son giggled amazed and hugged the DJ. “Hi Joey…“

Joe smiled brightly and rumpled up Tyler’s hair. “Yo, little man… everything’s alright?”

Tyler squeaked loudly followed by hysterical giggling, as he cringed away. “Nooot my haaaiir.”

“Like father, like son, huh?”, laughed Joe out loud. “Speaking of him, where is your daddy?”

“I’m here…”, spoke the singer up, before Tyler could answer Joes question. The bands glances turned to the door which Chester kicked closed and the caused confusion within the band continued to rise, as they looked at their singer. He looked like always. Black tight jeans and a body fitting grey v-neck shirt, but he had his sons green backpack on, a towel hung over one of his shoulders and he had a big bag around the other. Chester had stuffed animals under his armpits and his two little girls in a baby carrier in his hands.

“More kids…”, grumbled Mike as he looked at the twin girls with wide eyes. He liked his band mate, he even called Chester his best friend, so he also liked his family and the kids were cute, but Mike didn’t like them in the studio.

Obviously Chester didn’t hear him and Mike took a deep breath. Meanwhile Chester sat down on one of the chairs and put the carrier down beside him. The girls slept and their daddy looked exhausted. He rubbed his temples and sighed. “Sorry I’m late… I had to pick up Ty from preschool and our nanny goes on a family trip this weekend.”, he mumbled quietly.

Mike nodded slowly. “Uh ok? You know… what about Talinda?“

Chester straightened himself a bit and swallowed dryly. It was a reflex and he knew his friends caught his second of unease. He tried to smile broadly to cover it up. He grabbed after Tyler’s backpack a little too desperate and put it into his lap. He hoped to spare himself a few seconds to come up with a convenient answer. Chester took his son’s exercise book and pencils out and gave it to him. “Try your math homework you told me about.”, he claimed and Tyler nodded eagerly.

“Chester?”, muttered Mike again and wanted an answer from his friend.

“She is… away on a business trip!”, grumbled Chester a bit annoyed. He shot his son a warning glare but Tyler was already too preoccupied with his addition and subtraction problems.

“Hm. Chester, you know we want to work here! We can’t have them here! What about Jamie, isn’t he old enough to look after them?”, debated the emcee and shook his head in disbelief over Chester’s actions. His confusion waned and now he was just pissed. Chester didn’t call and let them wait so long, just to turn up with a bunch of his kids.

“My big boys are with their mother.”, muttered the singer. He was bored of the conversation and that he had to explain himself constantly. After all he knew that it was not the best solution to bring the kids with him.

Mike scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Our album-“

“Yeah, I fucking know Shinoda… I know. J-Just stop it.”, growled Chester and turned to the emcee with a stern glare. “Please, would you shut your mouth.”, he snarled and heard his twins whining because he had torn them out of their slumber.

Chester nodded warningly to Mike and turned around. Tyler looked up to him with wide eyes. “Everything’s fine, do your homework, Ty.”, he smiled like nothing happened and then he crouched down to Lilly and Lila. Chester began to rock their carrier. “Hey there, sweethearts. I’m sorry… Daddy didn’t want to wake you up, please go back to sleep. “

“Chester, uh… I brought a pizza for you. May-maybe it’s still warm.“ Joe tried to ease the situation between their vocalists. The DJ had a helpless smile on his lips and pushed the box over the table to Chester.

“Are you hungry, Ty?”, he asked his son, as the twin girls slept again. He opened the box and took a slice of pizza and gave it to the youngster. “Here, but pay attention to your exercise book. Don’t get it dirty.”, he told him with his usual soft but fatherly voice.

-

Five empty pizza boxes lay in the middle of the table. Chester did not eat something. He had given two slices to Tyler and said he wanted to sing some of his vocals. It went surprisingly good. Tyler did his homework and the twins slept the whole time. It soothed Mikes temper but he and Chester didn’t speak with each other except it was about the songs.

After some time Mike let Chester out of the booth to do a break and so he could adjust some of the recorded lyrics.

“Okay Chaz… could you sing the last verse in the second chorus again?” Mike asked and starred mesmerized on the computer screen, but no one answered him. “Chester?”

Brad looked up and smiled a bit. “I think it’s enough for today, Mike.”, said the guitarist instead of the singer.

“Wait what?” No… no no… it’s just half past five!”, complained Mike and looked up to Brad who rolled over to him in his office chair to point in Chester’s direction. Mike turned to find the Bennington family on the couch. Tyler sat beside his dad. He seemed to be lost in another world which he played on his Nintendo 3DS. Chester sat deep sunken in the couch and held his two girls to his chest while all three of them slept.

Mike shook his head and growled lowly. “Okay let’s finish for today.”, he agreed reluctant.

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tbc?