A/N So, as a few of you know, for some reason lately I have been having recurring dreams of evil teddy bears coming to torment me. Well, when I had one last night of my friend Courtney (Twisted Illusions) turning into a tiny brown teddy bear with this evil smile and beady eyes, I finally decided that I need to write a one shot about the only other person who would ever have the same problem as I do: Carlos Garcia. So yes, please enjoy this nightmarey goodness. I do not own the Fro-yo hut "Cherry Berry" which is popular around town. But I do however, own the figment of my ridiculous subconscious, Cheery Beary, who is anything but Cheery. Ok stop laughing and read now, k?
Cuddly. Wuddly. Stuffed-ed. Fluffy. Cutesy. Wuzzy. Fuzzy. Snuggly. Nuzzly.
There were several different ways to describe a teddy bear. To the average normal human being, they were adorable sentiments of childhood whom brought comfort to children and adults across the world during a cold, lonely, or stormy night. Everyone loved teddy bears. Everyone except Carlos Garcia, that is. In fact, he would not ever describe a teddy bear with the endearing words listed above. Not at all. He would describe them more as vile, mangy, snarly, or just plain evil.
"Cute my butt," was Carlos' first thoughts when he woke up from yet another heart pounding, teddy bear-filled nightmare. 5th one this week, if he counted correctly, and he hated to admit that he was really getting scared of the fuzzy, claw-filled dreams.
Carlos knew that even though it was only 4 AM, he would never be able to go back to sleep after his dream, and he most certainly couldn't lay awake in bed all night with all of the potentially evil teddy bears that could be hiding under his bed, so the dark haired and unusually short Latino padded to the kitchen, turned on all of the lights, and poured himself a tall glass of milk.
With his creamy drink in hand, Carlos let out a frustrated huff and plopped down onto a stool at the bar. He was so tired. Exhausted, really. His friends were noticing his lack of sleep and the over-all crankiness that it was causing him, but Carlos was having a dilemma. The dilemma was the fact that he had just turned 17, and even though he was the "baby" of the group, he was determined not to be babied anymore. He hated it. It was annoying and clingy and overbearing and he simply was not a baby anymore. And crying about having nightmares about stuffed animals would only make the boys baby him even more than he already was. He shuddered at that thought, no matter how badly he just wanted to hop into James' bed every night and cuddle into his strong, protective side after his nightmares. James could tear any teddy bears head off with one single flick of his wrist, Carlos was sure of it.
But Carlos didn't want to need James' incredible muscle mass anymore. He wanted to use his own muscle mass for once, even though it wasn't half as huge as James'. He wanted to defeat these tiny, stuffed creatures all by himself.
So far he wasn't doing a very good job though.
~~~~~~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Dude, should we wake him up?" James asked. He lifted Carlos' dead-weight hand and let it flop on to the table, and the tall boy let out a snort of laughter.
"Is he dead?" Kendall asked, poking Carlos in his squishy cheek with his forefinger, which made him and James let out more annoying giggle snorts.
"Just leave the poor kid alone," Logan warned his immature friends. It was 10 AM, and the boys had wandered into the kitchen for a late breakfast (they had the entire weekend off) to find a snoring, drooling Carlos sprawled out on the counter in a dead sleep. "I think he's been having nightmares or something."
"Nightmares?" Kendall repeated, ceasing his Carlos cheek poking for a moment, his immaturity being replaced with concern. 'What makes you say that?"
"He's acting the same as he did back in the 4th grade, when he was having those nightmares about the clowns after we went to the circus. Remember how cranky and tired he was, and how he always had that paranoid look in the back of his eyes?" Logan asked, and James and Kendall thought back to that era before the memories finally dawned on them. Leave it to Logan to remember something like that so cleary.
"Oh yeah! He stayed awake for 3 whole days before he went insane and started beating up Ronald Mcdonald when we went to Mcdonalds playland," James said. "Awe, poor Carlos. Something is scaring our little buddy." James reached over and ruffled his sleeping friend's hair lovingly.
"Should we ask him what's wrong?" Kendall asked. "Maybe he'll be fine if he just told us what's the matter."
"Worth a try, I suppose. Wake him up- uh gently!" Logan warned a beat too late. Kendall had already reached over and grabbed Carlos' ticklish love handles, causing the Latino to wake up with a start. He flailed for a nanosecond, his butt slipped off the wooden stool, and he fell to the tile floor with a loud "smack!"
"Ow!" Carlos yelled.
"Whoops, sorry man!" Kendall apologized. He lifted his youngest friend into the air and carefully placed him back on his feet. Carlos rubbed his tired brown orbs groggily and groaned.
"What happened buddy? Why did you fall asleep in the counter?" Logan asked, handing Carlos a cup of apple juice. Carlos drank it down thirstily before replying,
"I dunno, I woke up early thinking we had to go to school," Carlos mumbled, his eyes cast downward in an obvious lie.
"Dude we don't have school today!" James said with a laugh. Logan rolled his eyes. Apparently he was the only one who heard the lie in Carlos' voice, but he decided to ignore it, to which Carlos looked relieved.
"Well we have something planned that might cheer you up, Carlitos," Logan said. "You know that new awesome fro-yo place that just opened up, Cherry Berry?"
"Yeah!" Carlos said, jumping from foot to foot in anticipation.
"Well I say we have endless bowls of fro-yo for breakfast," Logan said, and his friends erupted into a chorus of cheers. The boys were a tangled mess while tripping over each other to grab their appropriate sneakers and jackets and were soon out the door, having decided to walk the mile and a half to the Cherry Berry since it was such a beautiful day outside.
After having a delicious, sugary breakfast of frozen yogurt of all different flavors topped with fruits and chocolates and marshmallow syrup, the boys spent the day relaxing at the park. Carlos felt more refreshed than he had in over a week. Maybe that was all he needed, he decided, was just a day off to hang with his buds.
When the sun went down the boys watched a couple of movies back at the apartment and all headed to bed. Carlos snuggled down into his comforter with a smile on his face. Without the stress of homework and Gustavo's nagging, he felt very content and fell asleep quickly. The first couple of hours of sleep were peaceful and dreamless, until a huge brown bear the size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex popped up out of literally nowhere and pointed it huge, furry clawed finger right at Carlos' nose. He announced his name was "Cheery Beary", even though he was anything but cheerful. He suddenly snatched up James, Logan and Kendall in his giant chenille hand, squeezed them so hard they squeaked, and in a puff of smoke they were turned into little miniature teddy bear with red lips and beady eyes. They squirmed around for several moment as Carlos watched helplessly, and then their eyes turned into tiny X's and it was clear that they had died. Carlos screamed out in terror and tried to revive them, but it was no use, they were lifeless balls of fluff now. Carlos wailed and wailed, begging for anybody to hear him and try to comfort him, but his cries went unanswered. They seemed to annoy Cheery Beary though, because the demonic teddy bear lifted a hefty paw way above Carlos' head and chuckled menacingly. Carlos looked up from his sobbing when he saw a shadow over cast him, and he screamed in terror just in time for the oversized paw to come crashing down on his head.
"Cheery Beary, no!" Carlos yelled out. He thrashed against his tangled blankets in a fit of terror, unaware that James, Logan and Kendall had heard his crying and were trying to wake him up to no avail.
"Carlos it's just a dream!" Logan cried out, giving the small boy a rough shake to his limbs. Finally, Carlos woke from his nightmare with one last scream, and Logan stared at him in alarm. The Latino was pale gray and had a thick sheen of sweat across his forehead. He was scared something awful, and his entire body was trembling.
"You're alive!" Carlos wailed with relief, feeling his heart slam in his chest uncontrollably. He threw himself into James' arms, no longer caring about being strong at the moment. James held him for a bit, rubbing his back and patting his back and ssh-ing at him to calm down.
"Dude, did you have a nightmare about frozen yogurt?" Kendall asked, remembering Carlos' shout while he dreamt.
"N-no," Carlos said, feeling shameful. He pulled away from James' arms and settled back against his pillow, which was damp with his own sweat and tears. He turned on his side, silently dismissing his friends. His cheeks were flushed hot with embarrassment and he really wanted them to leave now.
"But Carlos-"
"Leave me alone," Carlos snipped, cutting Logan off mid-question. The 3 eldest boys shared concerned glances and shrugged.
"We know you've been having nightmares," James said gently, placing a strong hand on Carlos' shoulder. Carlos closed his eyes, forcing back salty tears form trailing down his boiling cheek. "Talk to us buddy."
"I don't want to," Carlos said stubbornly. James sighed and waved at Logan and Kendall, letting them know that it was ok to go on back to bed and he would take it from there.
"What are your dreams about?" James asked when the others had exited the room.
"I don't want to talk about them," Carlos mumbled. "You'll think I'm stupid."
"I already think you're stupid."
"James, just go back to sleep!"
"Ok, ok. Fine. Good night Carlos. I love you." James leaned over and gave Carlos' arm a squeeze. "I'll be right over there if you change your mind too, ok?"
"Ok. Hey James?" Carlos asked meekly.
"What's up buddy?"
"Can you check under my bed really quick?" Carlos cringed at how childish that sounded, but James didn't mind at all. He didn't talk to Carlos as if he was talking to a baby, nor did he tease him. He just simply lowered himself to his belly and peered underneath the dusty, cluttered bed.
"Sure… But what exactly am I looking for?" James asked. He coughed after inhaling a dustball and let out a sneeze.
"Just make sure there's nothing evil down there."
"Nope, nothing evil that I can see. Except this peanut butter and jelly sandwich…" James said with disgust. He couldn't even recall the last time that any of them ate pb and j. The tall boy hopped to his feet and brushed his pajama pants off. 'Well 'Litos I am going to sleep now. Wake me if you need me."
Carlos listened to the sounds of James shuffling back to bed and curling up under the covers. Soon, James was snoring softly and Carlos was left alone with nothing but his over active imagination to keep him company. Even though James had just checked underneath the bed, the Latino could have sworn he heard scittering noises under his mattress. He was almost positive that something that sounded strangely like Cheery Beary was whispering his name, beckoning him to crawl underneath the bed and plot world teddy bear domination with him.
Carlos yelped and literally jumped 3 feet away from his bed, so that way the bear could not grab him by his ankles, and dove into bed next to James.
"Dude, what the heck?" James mumbled.
"Just shut up and go to sleep I'm not a baby!" Carlos snapped. James looked at him with wide, taken aback eyes and shrugged, too tired to care, and fell asleep immediately after his head touched the pillow.
Carlos slept fitfully, kicking James repeatedly in the kidneys until the pretty boy decided to give up on sleep at around 8 AM. He stumbled to the kitchen, where Logan was already awake and eating a bowl of cereal.
"Lo-Gan," James whined. "Carlos is being weird."
"Yeah?" Logan asked, as if to say "What else is new with that kid?"
"He nose-dived into my bed last night and kept fussing in his sleep. He was kicking me and mumbling out 'Cherry Berry' over and over again. How does a frozen yogurt parlor give a 17-year-old dude nightmares? It's weird, Logan!"
"It's Carlos, James. His brain is afflicted. Whatever is going on he'll get over it soon, he always does."
"But he is so scared and sleepy," James said, feeling bad for his little friend. "There's gotta be something I can do to help." James put his face in his fist, scrunching up his brow and concentrating for 3 seconds, which was a long time to concentrate for James Diamond.
"I got it!" James announced, throwing his fist in the air. Logan jumped at the sudden break in silence, spilling cereal all over his lap. He gave James a dirty look while the taller boy paraded around the house victoriously. James threw on his shoes and headed out the door, searching for the perfect thing to help Carlos sleep better at night.
When James arrived back at the apartment it was noon and the boys were all situated on the couch, watching "The Land Before Time." He skipped into the room jovially, holding his new and dear present for Carlos behind his back.
"Oh Carlos, I have a surprise for you!" James sang out. Carlos jumped to his feet with a huge grin on his face.
"Oh boy! What is it?"
"It's something I searched all over for to find the perfect one. I thought this might help you sleep better at night, you know if you had a buddy next to you at night to snuggle with that, oh I don't know, isn't me." James revealed what he had hidden behind his back, and Carlos felt bile rise to the back of his throat as he looked at the creature in horror. Black, beady eyes staring at him with a vengeance. Brown curly fur covering his entire evil body, and a huge menacing smile. He forced himself to keep calm, as he didn't want his friends to find out his fears, but he felt black creep around the edges of his vision as James came closer and closer to him with the bears arms outstretched, just begging for a hug.
"Isn't he cute?" James cooed, and Carlos wavered on his feet for a second before he face planted onto the carpet in a dead faint.
"Oh my God!" Logan cried out. He shoved his hands underneath Carlos' armpits and dragged him to the couch. He ran to the bathroom to get a wet washcloth and placed it on Carlos' forehead, hoping the coldness would wake him up. The young boy stirred and woke slowly.
"Carlos! Are you alright?" James asked. "Are you sick?"
Carlos moaned. "I don't know… What happened?"
"Well I was giving you a present and you suddenly passed out," James said. He held out the teddy bear and Carlos shrieked in terror, pushing the critter away from him.
"Dude, are you scared of teddy bears?" James asked, looking from Carlos' scared expression back to the adorable fluffy animal in his arms.
"No, that's ridiculous!" Carlos said, letting out a forced laugh. He mustered up every brave cell he had inside his body and reached for the teddy bear. He wanted to burst into tears when his fingers closed around the soft fur, and when it squealed in a high pitched voice that it loved Carlos, he nearly screamed. But, Carlos somehow managed to keep his composure and held the bundle of horrid fur to his chest, proving to his older friends that he, 17 year old Carlos Garcia, was not a baby who was terrified of teddy bears.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Logan asked carefully "You look like you're about to puke or something." Logan outstretched his hand and placed it on Carlos' forehead. "Hmm, no fever that I can tell. Maybe I should take your temperature-"
"No, Logie I'm fine," Carlos said, though his voice wasn't very strong. "Can we just watch a movie or something?"
"Yeah sure, whatever you want," Logan replied. They watched movies for most of the day, than the boys went to dinner. Carlos was thankful to get out of the apartment and away from the teddy bears scrutinizing glare. He swore he saw the bears eyes turn a deep shade of scarlet while he sat motionlessly on the couch, silently warning that tonight, he would be coming for the Latino.
Carlos dreaded going back to the apartment that night, where his new "friend" would be waiting for him, just so he can sink his fangs into Carlos' neck.
The boys entered the dark apartment, chattering about the yummy dinner that they just had. Carlos was last to enter, cowering behind James. His chocolate eyes darted around the apartment, searching for his evil nemesis and fully expecting the ball of fur to jump off the ceiling and maim them all any second.
"Oh man!" Carlos whined when he stepped on something soft that said "I LOVE YOU!" He ran from the lump on the floor and clung to James' arm. "THAT'S NOT WHERE I LEFT THE TEDDY BEAR, JAMES!"
"You mean Mr. Fuzzelles?" James asked. He lifted the teddy bear off the floor and raised his eyebrows.
"He's alive James he's alive! And his name isn't Mr. Fuzzelles, his name is Cheery Beary only he's not cheery and friendly. He's out to kill all of us!" Carlos panted after his senseless rant, blushing underneath the confused stares of his friends, who looked utterly perplexed by the strange, hysterical rant.
'That's it, I am taking your temperature!" Logan said. He dragged Carlos into his bedroom, laid him down, and shoved a thermometer into his mouth.
"I'm not sick, Logan! Cheery Beary told me all about his plot to murder everyone and turn them into teddy bear minions!" Carlos cried. Logan frowned. Obviously the poor boy was either burning with fever or overly exhausted.
"'Litos, you do realize that there are no such things as violent teddy bears set on world destruction, right?"
"But he's a witchy teddy bear who set spells on innocent people and turn them into minions! He turned you guys into teddy bears and killed you!"
"Last I checked, I am not furry, or a bear! And I am alive" Logan said. Carlos pouted.
"Well your temp is normal," Logan muttered, reading the low numbers on the thermometer after it beeped. "Please just get some sleep bro. You're freaking yourself out."
Carlos nodded. He was feeling very sleepy. He let Logan tuck him in sweetly and soon fell asleep.
Once again, Carlos was plagued by Cheery Beary in his sleep. The giant bear turned his brothers into teddy bears and forced them to work until they cried for them, only for the evil bear to kill them easily. Carlos woke up in a silent fit of tears, determined not to wake his buddies again. The dream left him reeling. He did not know why he was having such terrible dreams that ended with his friends dying. It scared him to no end.
Shakily, Carlos got out of bed and walked down to the kitchen for his nightly glass of milk, forgetting that his new present would be sitting daintily on the couch just waiting for a chance to attack. The Latino turned on the lights and was met with black eyes that reflected the soul of the devil. He could have sworn he heard the bear growl at him, and Carlos decided he had had enough.
"Stay away from my friends you fuzzy freak!" Carlos wailed.
James woke up to the sounds of a fight in the living room. He hurried out, confused and worried. Logan and Kendall appeared in the hallway looking just as surprised as James. The trio ran to the living room to find Carlos rolling on the floor with Mr. Fuzzelles, punching and strangling and tearing the stuffed animal to pieces while yelling out obscenities.
"Carlos what the hell is the matter with you?" Kendall cried, tearing the small boy off of what was left of the teddy bear.
"You killed him," James said sadly, lifting up the detached head Mr. Fuzzelles. It let out a warbled sounding "I love you" and then its little ear fell off.
Carlos slumped to a heap on the floor and sobbed, feeling utterly ridiculous. He just killed James' teddy bear.
"Alright Carlos, speak up now," Logan warned. The older boys sat in a protective circle around Carlos. Carlos sighed. He knew he was caught.
"I keep having nightmares of you… Of you guys dying!" Carlos cried. "You turn into teddy bears and die and it's all Cheery Beary's fault! I don't want you guys to die, I'll be all alone." Carlos looked up at his friends with tearful brown eyes, and the pitiful look melted the hearts of 3 grown boys, who gathered the distraught boy into their arms and hugged him and rubbed his quivering back.
"Carlos we aren't going anywhere," Kendall assured him, pushing his soft bangs off of his forehead. "We're not going to die and leave you, buddy."
"Yeah, why would you ever think something like that?" James asked, appalled at the idea. "No teddy bear or anything else will ever tear us apart."
Carlos sniffled and wiped at his wet eyes. "Good, because I was lonely. I didn't like it."
"Nobody likes to be lonely," Logan said. "But you don't ever have to worry about that, alright? We'll always be here for you, no matter what."
"You going to be ok?" James asked, ruffling his hair sweetly.
"Yeah," Carlos said, drying the last of his tears. "Can you just do me one favor?"
"Yeah," James said.
"Can you throw Mr. Fuzzelles away? I don't ever want to see a teddy bear again in my life."
"You got it," James said, scooping up the strewn about remains of Carlos' tormentor.
A/N. Haha. Was that ok? Please review and you get cookies!