The Unknown: A Big Time Rush Story

"And at once, all I could see was darkness. And all I could feel was pain. Not the blinding pain that makes you wish you weren't alive, but the annoying pain, which in my opinion, is almost worse. I felt like someone had my head pressed up against a wall and wasn't letting up the pressure. And the noise...it still won't stop..."

/

"DOGS!" Gustavo belllowed from across the studio.

Logan sighed. "And, that's our cue." The teenager pushed up from his sitting position against the Rocque Records dance floor wall, and once standing, turned to face his friends. "Let's go."

Carlos exhaled in exasperation. "But we barely got a break! I'm still tired!"

"Sorry, buddy. Duty calls," Logan grabbed the Latino's hand and pulled him up to his feet, before turning and doing the same to Kendall. The blonde and Carlos started making their way back towards the recording studio, Logan not far behind. Halfway to the door, the brunette turned around. They were missing one..

"James, you okay, man?" Logan asked, concerned.

James didn't answer. The tallest member of the band stayed sitting against the wall, his expression blank, his eyes cold and staring hard into space.

Logan walked back over to the wall and bent down in front of his friend. "James?"

James snapped to attention. "What?"

"Break's over," Logan informed him.

"Oh."

Logan went to grab his friend's hand, like he had for the others, but James quickly shoved it away. "I can get up myself," he snapped, before pushing off the wall and standing up.

"Uh, okay," Logan said, slightly taken aback. James usually wasn't this irritable. "You sure you're okay?" he asked once more, following James back to the studio.

"Fine. My head hurts a little, but I can deal. If Gustavo runs this train into the ground, he better give me a nice funeral," he grumbled, trudging back down the hallway.

Logan shrugged. Everyone's entitled to a bad day, he thought. No big deal.

/

Later, the door to Apartment 2J burst open as the four rowdy boys returned home, fresh from rehearsal and ready to party after being cooped up for hours.

"LET'S ROCK N ROLL!" Carlos hollered, throwing a fist in the air and darting for the kitchen.

Upon the younger boy's enthusiastic statement, James, who was standing right behind him, immediately clutched the sides of his head and winced in pain. "Carlos, would you keep it down? That really hurt," he said, trying not to let an annoyed edge take over his voice.

Carlos blinked. He wasn't acting any different than usual, and James had never been this opposed to noise before. "Sorry, buddy," he said in return, still a bit perplexed.

/

"My head just won't stop pounding. This is the worst headache I've ever experienced in my life. And it wasn't even that hard of a rehearsal! I hope Carlos isn't too upset at me. I didn't even mean to get mad at him - he wasn't doing anything wrong. Well, for Carlos at least. Same with Logan earlier. I just can't seem to control myself anymore. Especially when this head trauma attacks..."

/

"James?"

He snapped back to reality to find Kendall's green eyes full of concern. "You okay, man? I'm not gonna lie, you've been off all day. Is anything bothering you?"

James considered telling his friends about his confusing thoughts. Logan wanted to be a doctor, he'd be able to help, right? He shook the thought away seconds later. It's just a headache. Stop being a baby, God. "Yeah, I'm fine, Kendall, sorry. Rehearsal just took a lot out of me, I guess. My head kinda hurts. I think I'm gonna go lie down for a bit."

Kendall nodded understandingly. "Feel better, dude," he told James, patting his shoulder comfortingly before letting the taller boy trudge towards his room, a hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"Is Jamie okay?" Carlos asked from the kitchen, his mouth full.

"He says it's just a headache," Kendall said, staring after James. "I'm sure he'll be fine tomorrow."

"Yeah." Logan plopped down on the couch. "His blood sugar is probably low, too. Everybody has those days."

"What's low blood sugar, Logie?" Carlos asked curiously.

Logan chuckled. "Nothing you'll ever have to worry about, I promise."

/

James tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep. He was exhausted, but couldn't seem to relax enough to let himself fall under. The curtains had been drawn, but light still peeked through around the edges. It wasn't even dark out yet, and that annoyed him anymore. On top of it all, his friends were out laughing and watching a movie in the front of the crib, and he was upset he was missing out, too.

With an angry growl, James picked up his alarm clock and threw it across the room. It hit Carlos' closet door with a loud bang, and then dropped to the floor. James was sure it had been cracked, but he just turned over and closed his eyes again. Maybe now he could sleep without the time ticking in his face.

Wrong. The door opened with a click, and Logan poked his head in. "I heard a crash, is everything okay?" he asked, looking around.

James didn't answer, pretending to be asleep. He didn't really want to talk to anyone right now, and wished Logan would just go away.

The shorter boy remained silent for a moment, just looking at James' sleeping form. Then he reluctantly backed out and closed the door behind him, still without an answer.

What do you think so far?