PROLOGUE

As Kendall walked around the icy corner he caught sight of his friends, that's if they still were. He could see straight away that each boy looked different, none of them had their innocence anymore; it's amazing what six years apart from your best friends can do to you. Kendall flicked his hair to the side and stuffed his hands into his pockets, the cold Minnesota air nipping at his fingertips, as he neared his friends, his heart began pounding viciously in his chest and his hands began sweating despite the cold temperature. James was sitting on a bench, Carlos was leaning against a tree and Logan was standing there looking extremely scared and timid. What the hell had happened to them? Kendall could see straight away that none of his friends were how he had left them; he could see it in their eyes. Kendall finally got to them and stood before the three other boys, he heard Logan gasp and shuffle backwards a few steps, squeaking loudly as his back hit the tree next to the one Carlos was leaning against. Having no idea what was wrong with Logan, Kendall looked to him with gentle and confused green eyes, Logan began breathing heavily as three eyes focused on him. Suddenly he saw Logan's face properly, thoughts raced through his head, unknowing of what had happened in the past few years; Logan looked like he'd had a rough life so far.

"It's been too long, guys." Kendall spoke out, running his hand through his blond hair nervously, Logan, James and Carlos turned to look at him; adjusting to the sound of Kendall's voice, it was definitely deeper than when they'd last saw him. Then again a lot of things were different, Kendall looked up at the sky and took a deep breath, trying to control the tears that were threatening to fall; there was no way he was ever going to make the mistake of leaving again, ever.

James was the first to get to the lake; he sat down on a bench and blew his warm breath into his hands, attempting to warm them up. He looked around and smiled slightly as he saw a small form coming towards him, it was definitely Carlos, he could tell from the moment he saw him, he didn't know how he could tell but he could. James leaned forwards and rested his arms on his legs as Carlos drew nearer and nearer, the small boy had grown up quite a bit since he was ten but then again it had been six years. Feeling butterflies in his stomach, James smoothed his already perfect looking hair down; it had become quite a habit. Carlos walked the rest of the way and leaned against a tree opposite the bench James was sitting on, the two boys smiled at each other but had no idea how to react to the other.

"Hey," Carlos croaked out, his voice almost made James jump, even though they hadn't seen each other for quite some time, James wasn't expecting Carlos and his high pitched voice to go away and come back quite like this.

"Hi," James smiled back, showing his perfect teeth. Carlos looked a little shocked at first but smiled through it, before either boy could say anything, Logan slowly made his way towards them; he was only about ten steps away but made it seem like a journey to the opposite poles. James smiled at his old friend, surprised when Logan didn't even look up from the ground, he looked terrified of something. Kendall was walking towards them in the background. James wasn't sure if it was just the cold but he was sure he could see Logan shaking, once Logan lifted his head James and Carlos gasped.

As Carlos walked towards the lake, he saw that James was the only one there; he was sitting upon a bench dragging a hand through his hair. Carlos smiled to himself, happy that all of this was actually happening; he had so much to tell the guys, so many things had gone on in his life. Carlos wasn't sure if any of the other guys had experienced a rough time during their lives apart, he was almost positive that they'd all have stories to share though. As Carlos approached James he began to wander just how tall his friend had gotten. He leaned against a tree opposite the bench that James was sitting on because it was the only way he was going to keeps himself believing that this was all real and happening.

"Hey," Carlos croaked out, he watched as James face switched through emotions, from lonely, to surprise and then to happiness. James leaned back a little before answering,

"Hi," James smiled back at him, his teeth were perfect; Carlos began wondering whether he'd had braces or not. Before Carlos could say anything in response he realized that James was looking to the side of Carlos rather than straight at him, turning his head to the side, Carlos caught sight of Logan standing there looking timid and afraid. Carlos noticed that the slightly taller boy wouldn't lift his head up and his hair was a little damp from the light snow therefore most of it was sticking out at strange angles and covering his face. Taking a deep breath, Carlos fought the urge to throw himself at both Logan and James and encase them in a bear hug. Carlos could faintly make out another figure walking towards them, it looked like Kendall; it could have been anyone else though. He stared to the side of Logan for a few more seconds, no it was definitely Kendall; he could see the blonde hair and green eyes. Carlos shifted his weight to the other foot, causing a quiet crunching sound to appear, Logan's head shot up; his were eyes wide. Carlos and James gasped, not expecting what they were witnessing.

Logan began walking towards James and Carlos, he was incredibly unsure of whether or not he should trust them. After the events of the past six years Logan were finding it hard to trust anyone, thoughts were constantly racing through his head, his palms were sweaty; his heart pounded painfully in his chest and his face was stinging. Logan traced his hand across the cuts gracing his face, not sure whether he should show his face, what would they think of him? Should he tell them what happened? Should he even talk to them at all? Logan took a deep breath and trekked on, walking until he reached his destination, he stood to the side of Carlos but there was still enough room to raise his arms and spin around, enough room to make a quick exit without getting caught. He kept his head down but could feel the other two pairs of eyes staring at him, even when he wasn't looking. Hearing the snow crunch, Logan suddenly thought that someone was coming after him, his head whipped up not realizing that he had just revealed his injuries. He heard two gasps as his old friends caught sight of his partially faded black eye, still not completely healed, and various cuts to his face and neck. Some of the cuts were only thin, like that of a paper cut, but others were a little thicker and shorter. Logan wasn't proud of his injuries and he sure as hell wasn't proud of how he had gotten them, Kendall suddenly appeared behind him causing him to shuffle backwards. Logan didn't like people invading his space anymore, he needed enough room to get away, Logan backed away and felt his back hit a tree, he squeaked loudly, thinking that someone was behind him.

Logan wished nothing had ever changed, he wished that the four of them were never split up and nothing went wrong. Their lives had changed completely due to the event of moving to different states, nothing was ever going to be the same again, that's what worried Logan and he was pretty sure the others were feeling the same was about it too.

A lot could happen in six years and these boys had found out the hard way.

Review, please? :D