Never Again
By: Rhuben
Summary- (Rewrite of Welcome to the Big Time) Kendall, Carlos, James, and Logan are off to LA to help make James's dreams of being a pop star become a reality. But, with the move, Kendall didn't expect his nightmares, or memories, he wasn't sure which, to become a reality as well. Especially when, for years, he was reassured that it never happened. ~Based off the song by Nickelback~
~1~
Kendall Knight couldn't believe it. He was actually going out to Los Angeles, California, of all places, to become the next hit singing group with his best friends James Diamond, Carlos Garcia, and Logan Mitchell. And to think, all he wanted to do in life was play hockey. It was the main thing people knew him for.
"LA! Can you believe it?" James Diamond asked as he dragged his suitcase into the middle of Kendall's living room. It was practically spilling open with the clothes, bags of hair care products, and body spray. "We're actually going to LA!"
He moved to give Kendall a bear hug, which he had been doing every time he saw Kendall since Kendall agreed to go out to LA with his friends, but Kendall was prepared. He grabbed the hockey stick that was lying against the back of the couch and held it out threateningly, the curved part, poking James in the chest.
"Don't even think about it," he said in a low voice, giving James a warning look. He then tilted his head to the side, raising the hockey stick so it was level with James's cheek. He grinned as he lightly prodded James's cheek. "Hmmm. Your head's about the perfect shape for a hockey puck."
James rolled his eyes pushing the hockey stick away. "So, I need your guys' help with packing," James said, motioning towards his overstuffed suitcase. It looked like it was going to explode at any minute.
"I'll say," Logan Mitchell commented, from where he was sitting on the couch, his head buried in a science magazine. He looked over at James's bag, his upper lip curling. "I suspect there's a 75% chance that the bag will explode if you put one more thing in there."
"Lucky for us, he keeps his headshots and lucky comb in his pockets," Carlos Garcia, the last to round out the group of friends, commented with a grin, where he was jumping up and down on his own suitcase as Kendall's little sister, Katie, tried to zip it shut.
She let out a huff, blowing her bangs out of her face as she straightened, throwing her arms in the air. "You should talk," she cried as Carlos jumped to the ground, frowning. "Do you have to pack all your helmets? The one on your head should be fine."
"I like to have options," Carlos replied with a grin, slapping the hockey helmet he wore on his head, two times. He then spun around to face his friends. "I can't believe this is really happening. I've always wanted to go to California."
"Hey, there was no way I was going to do this without my buds," Kendall said with a grin offering his hands for high fives. "This was too much of an opportunity to miss. And I decided to take it big time!"
"It's going to be an amazing three months though," Katie said with a sigh, fanning her neck with her hand. "And no school for three months, too!" She rolled her eyes as she watched Logan's smile slowly fade.
"Aw yeah!" Carlos cheered, doing an odd dance. "I can't wait to get on that airplane tomorrow."
"Me neither," Katie replied with a smirk, "then you all will finally be quiet for once."
"Katie, be nice to your brother and his friends," Kendall and Katie's mother, Kacy, called over her shoulder as she made them all dinner. She stopped stirring whatever it was that was in the pot she was standing behind and turned, wiping her hands on the dish towel that sat on the counter near her. "I don't understand why you always have to pick on them."
"Because it's fun," Katie replied with a shrug and a smile, "and it's easy."
"You should be grateful that I decided to bring you with us," Kendall said in a teasing tone, walking up behind his sister to muss her hair.
"Mom's looking out for all of you guys so you don't have a choice," Katie replied, sticking her tongue out at him before she started to fix her hair.
When James, Carlos, and Logan broke the news to their parents that they were going to California to sing, they were, naturally worried. They all had important jobs (James's mom, Brooke Diamond, being the CEO of her own cosmetics line which gave her the connotation of "Estee Lauder of the Midwest, Carlos's mom, Sylvia Garcia, works as an IT systems analyst, and Logan's mom, Joanna Mitchell, was a real estate agent) that they just couldn't leave.
With Mrs. Knight serving as a part-time waitress at one of the local restaurants, she was the obvious choice to go with the boys to look after them. Not only that, but they all hung out at Kendall house all the time, so Mrs. Knight felt like James, Carlos, and Logan were her kids as well.
"I just hope you boys know that you're going out to California for work, not for play," she said, turning towards all of them. "The music business is a tough thing to get into. I want you to take it seriously."
"We know, mom," Kendall said with a small sigh.
"I'm serious, Kendall," Mrs. Knight said, leaning against the counter, putting her hand on her hip, "I know you boys love to have fun, but this is going to be a lot of hard work. More hard work than I'm sure you're used to doing."
"Your puny brains might explode," Katie added. Mrs. Knight gave her a warning look and Katie gave a sheepish grin in reply.
"Don't worry, Mama Knight, I'll make sure to keep them in line," Logan said with a smile.
Mrs. Knight briefly closed her eyes and laughing quietly. "Thank you, Logan, I appreciate it," she said to him, causing him to smile a little wider. She then turned and looked at her son. "Kendall, I know you hate being told what to do, especially when you're stressed out, but please don't put up a fight when things aren't going your way." She raised her eyebrows when she didn't get a response. "Promise me."
"Promise her," Katie prompted.
"Promise, mom," Kendall replied with a nod, making his way over to her, hopping over suitcases and piles of clothes. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for letting me do this."
"Of course," Mrs. Knight said with a sigh, giving her son a hug in return. "Dinner should be done soon. Wash your hands, please. And if you have any clothes you need to be washed, leave them in a pile on the couch, I'll get to them tonight." Carlos immediately went back to his bag and started searching through his stuff, sniffing his clothes, to see if he needed anything washed. She let out a heavy sigh, and gave Kendall and amused look. "What are we going to do with him?"
Kendall laughed in reply. He watched as James and Logan hurried to the bathroom to wash their hands. He still couldn't believe they were leaving the first thing the next morning.
You do as you're fucking told! Got it?
Kendall was going to do anything he could to make James's dream come true. He wasn't going to be the person that single handedly crushed his friend. He knew what it was like to get your hopes up and then have them dropped in a second.
A/N: Before anyone says anything, I HAVE seen Big Time Moms and I KNOW Mrs. Knight's first name is "Jennifer" and not "Kacy." I just like the idea of the K-theme running in this fictional family as it does in Kendall's real life.
In case anyone is confused, no one thought, or said, the line in italics at the end. This'll happen throughout the fic until it's revealed as to why. Anyway, this was a short chapter to bring up the tone of the fic. Short chapter, to kinda set the tone. This fic is centered, and not-centered, around Kendall (if that makes sense).
Like I stated in the summary, this is a re-write of my first BTR fic, Welcome to the Big Time. I'll also have Jo, Stephanie, Camille, Dak, WayneWayne, and Lizzie in this fic. This fic does feature our OCs, but they won't come for a little bit. And like I stated in the summary, I got the inspiration from the song, "Never Again" by Nickelback.
I'll have So Wrong, But Feels So Right updated again soon.
Cheers,
-Rhubes