This is for Fred And George Freak! And it's COMPLETELY inspired by "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane because... I don't know. I'm in such a Winnie The Pooh rut. That, and it's just SO cute and makes me SO emotional, so I found it good as a muse...
SERIOUSLY LISTEN TO THE SONG! THIS IS MEANT FOR THE SONG! It was CREATED for the song, so for the love of all that is good and holy LISTEN TO IT! Seriously guys, this is what YouTube is for! LISTEN TO THE SONG!
Overwhelming: Adjective. So great as to render resistance or opposition useless. Origin- 13th century Middle English (whelm: vb. 1) to take on water [ie, when a boat starts to flood during a storm] 2) to submerge)
Overwhelming: The perfect word to describe how Kendall Knight used to feel about life.
Kendall would definitely say he was taking on water. His grades, his team, his family, his job, his home, his bills, his friends... it was consuming. He was being flooded with new stresses and responsibilities because, let's face it, growing up is hard, and life is hard. And it just doesn't get any easier no matter how much work you put into it, instead life allows more pressure to build and build until you blow open like a tube of confetti on New Years.
Except, there's no party with this explosion. It's just you and pain, battling it out until one claims it's victory.
Kendall wanted to explode. He wanted to burst open, raw and hurt, and let the wind sweep him up and away to a place where he could be Kendall, and not the son struggling to help support his family, the captain in charge of looking out for his team, the leader trying to make the right choices for his friends. He was tired of being the hero. That stupid, perfect, hero that had to be just so strong all the time and suffocated him in the process. He couldn't breathe, he just couldn't breathe, he couldn't-
Breathe! His brain screamed, and Kendall gulped in air, choking on his tears. No, not here, not alone. He told himself, but he was out of options, wasn't he? His brain was exhausted from all the mental effort put into constantly worrying about everything. He was ready to give. Kendall was spent and scraping for answers that just weren't there, and it was just so hard. Everything was, and he couldn't hold himself up by himself anymore.
Somehow, the phone found it's way into his hand, the cord tangling itself between his fingers. Three rings in and he wasn't sure who he was calling, just sure that he wanted them to pick up. In the middle of the fourth, it picked up and a groggy voice cackled over the line. "Kendall, are you okay?" was Logan's immediate response to being called at three a.m. understandably. Kendall wanted to scream "NO, NO, NO!" at the top of his lungs, but his family was asleep, and his voice was hoarse from crying, and he didn't want to do this now, and, and, and...
"I miss my daddy!" he blurted suddenly. His hand flew up to cover his mouth, but then he shook his head and wiped at his tears. "Grab your sneakers, we're going on a hike," he told him in a shaky voice, dropping the phone and stuffing his feet in his converse. He pulled a windbreaker on over his t-shirt, glad he hadn't bothered to change into pajamas. He threw open the front door, chilly night air hitting his face as the screen door slammed behind him. It was early spring in Minnesota, but Kendall could care less about what time or temperature it was. He wanted to fall away, permanently, and he freaking wanted a hike, so he was going to get one.
Logan met him at the corner of their streets beneath the big oak tree they used to climb when they were little. Logan blinked owlishly at him, horribly confused and worried. He looked young in his four sizes too big sweatshirt, it falling off one shoulder, and way too long pajama pants, the cuffs stuffed in his shoes. "Kendall, what's going on?" he asked, innocence hitting him in the face, but there was no turning back now.
Everything. "Come on, we're going for a little walk," he told him, grabbing his wrist and dragging him off down the path they used to walk to elementary school. They started walking across the field for recess and Kendall's heart rate started to speed up unexplainably. They walked through the play ground, and halfway through Kendall broke off into a sprint. Get away, get away, get away.
His grasp on Logan's wrist was beyond tight. He could feel every bend of his bones beneath his grip. His feet tore up the ground as he ran into the woods, blindly racing through the trees and... away. He had to get away. Kendall kept pulling and pulling on Logan's arm, not caring if he was hurting him, just caring that they kept moving faster and faster. Logan let out a short yelp when he tugged to hard. He slowed their pace, sun light now beaming through the trees. Logan held his shoulder in one hand, the other tight beneath his arm. His eyes reflected his own with unshed tears. The paler boy gritted his teeth. "Lead the way," he told them, and Kendall released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
The rising sun had him wondering how long they had run, but that was the least of his concerns right now. The most pressing matter to him was leaving everything behind him except for Logan. Logan was his everything right now. He nodded and turned around, pushing through bushes and ferns, the crackling of leaves behind him keeping him from having to turn back. Soon, the sun was visible in the sky, just barely visible above the tops of the trees.
"Maybe we should go back..." Logan said, biting his lip. "Our parents will be up soon, and they'll wonder where we are..." he trailed off, waiting for Kendall to truly hear him and turn around. Too much time passed as they moved forward. "Dude, I think we should stop."
But Kendall wasn't stopping. He didn't want to slow down or take a break. He just kept walking, and walking, and walking until they got to where he wanted to be. He hadn't known where that was, but he knew it when he saw it. It was untouched, open and flat in the middle of the woods with wild flowers growing, untrampled by human feet. His face lit up for a second as he came to his place, his eyes shining as he opened his arms as if to give the place a hug, a pair of birds almost on cue flitting up through the trees. He smiled. "Ours," he said, satisfied, before finally falling to his knees with a cry.
Dew seeped through his clothes, and he toppled over into Logan's awaiting lap. His brain gave him the okay, and he let himself full out sob into Logan's legs. "I miss him!" he gurgled out, and he felt fingers tracking through his hair. His mouth floundered as words tried to push through. He needed to explain. With his dad... bills weren't an issue. Family wasn't his responsibility. He had his own leader. With his dad, he wasn't alone, and Kendall just felt so alone. However, a gentle hand rubbing his back told him otherwise.
"Shhhh," Logan hushed him, "It's okay, I've gotchya, buddy." Kendall nodded and felt himself being lifted up and fitted into Logan's lap properly. Warm arms wrapped around him comfortingly in just the way he needed. He let himself cry so hard, he was practically seething. And, strangely.
It felt good. It felt like everything inside him had been pressing hard to get out for so long, and now he was finally letting it go. After what seemed like hours, he stood up shakily on his feet, feeling empty, but Logan pulled him back down. "Dude, this is serious," he said, locking eyes with him. "I don't really know how you're feeling, but you have to know that me, and James, and Carlos, and Katie, and your mom are all here for you. Even if you want to drag us through the woods at three in the morning and dislocate our shoulders in the process," he said with a mini-laugh, lightening the mood considerably.
Kendall nodded, and started the long trek home, the trees so tight together, they had to walk single file instead of next to each other. The sun was now high above them, officially starting to lower now, proving it was past noon. The two laughed and talked about just stuff on their way wormed it's way through his heart as he thought about how worried his mother was about him. He winced.
The two separated and Kendall found himself being engulfed in a hug by his mother upon entering his house. He felt bad about for sicking Mama Mitchell on Logan, but he had really taken what he said to heart. He was loved, and that could fill him up in a good way.
And on the off times when it didn't, he always managed to pull Logan away and find their clearing out in the woods.
Overflowing: Verb. To have the contents flowing over or spilling. Origin: before the 900's Middle English (Flow: to stream or go forth)
Overflowing: The perfect word to describe what Kendall Knight turned his life into meaning.
Favorite part of mine is actually the definitions and how they sort of tie together. Hope that made sense to you (If you actually read them... Knowing me, I probably wouldn't...)
Hoped you liked it!
Fact: Food has heritage too! Carrots first came from Afghanistan!
