Chapter 1 Exhaustion is the first sign...
Carlos Garcia doesn't mind putting his own life in danger to perform dangerous stunts. He feels invincible. Not because he never gets hurt, because he does. A lot. But more because he never gets sick. Well, almost never. In his whole life, Carlos has only gotten sick twice. Bad news was, both times, it was a lot worse than it should have been...
The first time was when he was just 9 months old. Of course he doesn't remember this, but his parents and four older siblings have told him many times. He got a very bad case of colic. This usually just causes babies to feel pain in their bellies and cry a lot. But he cried so much, his parents went straight to a doctor, who proceeded to send them straight to the hospital because of the fever and infection that had already started. He spent three weeks in the children's ward, of which two weeks on the intensive care. His parents were just glad he survived.
Then, strangely enough, he did not get sick again until he was four years old. Every child gets the chicken pox. It's normal and just something to go through. It itches and causes them to feel yucky and then after a few weeks of ointments and a lot of baths, it's over. At least, that's what it should be like. For Carlos, it started out like this as well. His skin started to itch and he felt sleepy a lot. His parents noticed right away when their usually bouncing child slumped down on the couch with them and didn't feel like moving all day. Then, they noticed the tiny red spots and the slightly flushed cheeks of the small Latino boy. They took him straight to bed and called the doctor to ask how to handle it.
The first two days Carlos' condition didn't change. He just slept a lot and let his parents smother him with attention. He loved it, despite all the itchiness and feeling so tired. His dad played video games with him, while his mother watched cartoons with him and gave him a lot of kisses and hugs. At the end of the day they tucked him in. His mother rocked him to sleep and sang to him, as his eyes slowly drooped.
the first sign that he wasn't getting better, was when Antonio Garcia woke up in the middle of the night to his son's screaming. He ran for the bedroom and his heart dropped at the sight of his son crying and screaming his lungs out. His entire body was covered in angry looking red spots, which now caused him pain instead of itching. Antonio panicked and called for his wife that they were going to the hospital. It was difficult, because every touch seemed very painful to the young boy. At the hospital, the doctors were baffled at what happened. Never had they seen a case like this. Chicken Pox weren't supposed to hurt. In the meantime, Carlos had stopped crying and his eyes glazed over. That is when they noticed how much heat he seemed to be giving off and then the seizure started.
His parents watched in horror as the young boy's body trashed around involuntarily. The doctors tried to keep them away and tried to calm the boy down. They admitted him right away and started to research on how to help him. Carlos spent four weeks in the hospital this time and his parents were relieved to see his eyes open and hearing him laugh. Carlos only remembers bits and pieces of being sick this time. he definitely doesn't remember spending all that time in the hospital. In his mind, he was there for two days before the doctors let him go home.
Two weeks later he started school and he met his three best friends. His parents were very careful with him, keeping a watchful eye on everything he did. They wouldn't allow Carlos to do too many things, in fear of him getting sick again and this time maybe not surviving. But their little boy didn't respond well to this. Like all kids, he tried hard to do exactly those things he wasn't allowed to do the moment he left the house. His friends just laughed and joined in with his crazy antics and stunts. His parents noticed and yelled at him for it. Didn't he realize how dangerous those stunts were? For protection, they tried to pull him out of school and wanted to home school him. They found out just how much Carlos didn't want this, when he ran away. When they found him again two days later, hidden away in Kendall Knight's tree house, they were so glad he was home, but they were sure home schooling was the best option.
Carlos cried his little eyes out. It wasn't that he liked school. Who did? But they couldn't pull him away from his friends. They were his brothers and he needed them. His parents were astonished at how much he had attached himself to the three little boys and were afraid maybe it only went one way. But they found out just how strong their friendship was, when those three little boys separately and together came to inform the grownups exactly why Carlos couldn't stay home. The Garcia's watched in amusement at how they used puppet shows, theatrical acts and even charts (made by the way too smart Hortense Mitchell) to prove that Carlos would die if they kept him at home and away from his friends. But not matter how amazing the parents found these 'presentations', they had made their minds up. It was too dangerous for Carlos to go to school.
Then, the boys suddenly showed just how observant they were. Well, at least Hortense did. They figured out why the Garcia's wanted to home school the boy and came up with a way to convince them there was another way to keep him safe. All three the boys promised they would look after him and make sure that he stopped performing the dangerous stunts.
The Garcia's weren't convinced, until the boys came up with the best plan yet. Kendall, James and Hortense somehow managed to get their parents to give them extra allowance and had gotten together to buy the small Latino a black hockey helmet for protection. Carlos was ecstatic and put it on right away. His parents were so baffled by the continuous attempts of his friends to keep him in school they finally gave in. They still kept a close watch on his every move, but after not getting sick for five more years, they decided he was even allowed to join the hockey team. They pretended they didn't know about all the stunts he still pulled, because he seemed happier than ever. They almost changed their minds when he had hit his head so hard, he needed a metal plate to protect his brain. But once again, the boys banded together and convinced them everything would be fine and he would be careful.
They didn't know how they did it, but the Garcia's started to get used to visiting their mijo in the hospital all the time. Maybe it was because of the huge grin he kept on his features every single time. But it seemed far different from both moments when he got sick. They even let him go to LA with his friends when he was 16. Mainly because he still hadn't gotten sick in 12 years.
His friends still don't believe that he never gets sick. Even though they spend more time with him than his parents do. But if they are honest, they have noticed it. Even when the entire Palm Woods gets sick, Carlos doesn't even sneeze. He always seems to avoid all of the viruses and his friends are jealous of it. The Latino himself always rubs it in their faces and then proceeds to take care of them, since he can't help it. He thinks of himself as a superhero, invincible. But his friends know differently, with all the injuries he gets. Carlos just claims he is invincible, because germs have no effect on him. He has tried to prove it to them by eating food that should be thrown away, which oddly enough had no effect. His friends stopped arguing him after they had to throw up themselves watching him drink an entire gallon of milk gone bad.
Needless to say, Carlos feels strong, like he can handle anything. He holds endless amounts of energy, no matter how hard record producer Gustavo Rocque makes him and his friends work. He can dance and sing for hours and besides falling into a deep sleep when he goes to lie down, it doesn't affect him. Another thing his friends are jealous of and find very annoying, especially because his ADD tendencies are bounced off of them all day.
It's 6AM when an alarm clock starts to wail in Kendall and Logan, aka Hortense,'s bedroom. A hand reaches out from underneath the covers and hits the off button. Logan Mitchell sits up slowly and stretches his body. He looks over towards the other bed and with a grin throws a pillow directly for the sleeping blond in it. A loud groan is heard when it hits him in the head with a thud. Logan sighs and slowly walks over to the bed.
"Come on, Kendall. We have to be at the studio in an hour." He says with a yawn. He stretches again an then winces as his muscles are still strained from the gruesome dance rehearsal the day before. The blond just grumbles and turns around.
Logan sighs impatiently. "Every morning..." He mumbles to himself and reaches over to shake his friend.
"Come on, Kendall." The blond groans again and pushes himself further into his pillow. Logan rolls his eyes. "You know, I can just get Carlos to wake you up instead." He says and starts to walk away. In an instant, the blond shoots out of bed with wide eyes.
"I'm up, I'm up." He mention in defense and then winces as his muscles too feel strained.
Logan chuckles. "You want to take a shower first? Better hurry before James hogs the bathroom." Kendall nods and heads for the bathroom. But he is too slow and before realizing it, James runs past him and slams the door in his face. Kendall pounds on the door.
"James! For god's sake.." he yells as he keeps pounding and jiggling the door handle.
Logan shakes his head in amusement and walks into the kitchen.
"Goodmorning, Carlitos." He says with a smile. But as he really looks into the kitchen, he notices it's empty. the light isn't even on yet. He frowns and flicks on the lights, when Kendall shuffles in, grumbling under his breath. Logan still looks around with a frown.
"What's wrong?" Kendall asks him.
"I don't think Carlos is up yet." he mentions, sounding confused. Kendall looks around.
"How is that possible? He's always up before any of us." He says in response.
"Yeah, I know..." Logan mentions, trailing off.
"Maybe he went out already?" Kendall asks him as Logan starts to walk towards James' and Carlos' bedroom. He almost bumps into the brunette, who suddenly stops in the doorway. He looks ahead and raises his eyebrows. "Or he's still in bed."
The two walk towards the bed holding the still deep asleep Latino and watch him with crossed arms.
"I don't think I've ever had to wake him up before." Logan mentions, sounding unsure. Kendall ponders it for a second.
"Hm, come to thin of it, I think no one has." He says, before a sly grin makes it appearance on his features. Logan looks at him and his eyes grow wide.
"Kendall, no." he warns, but the blond is already walking backwards to get a head start.
"Hey, he has woken us up like this for years now. It's finally time to take revenge." he says with a mischievous grin. "Come on, Logie. You know you want to." He challengingly says. Logan looks back at the slumbering Latino and then back at Kendall.
"Alright, fine. But if he kills us, I'm blaming you." He says as he joins Kendall. The blond just grins.
"Dude, it's Carlos. He'll probably just laugh right with us." he says with a shrug. "Okay, ready?" he asks as they both get into position. Logan nods. "And... Go!"
With a sprint and a leap they throw their bodies on top of the sleeping Latino, who instantly wakes up with a loud groan. The two friends laugh out loud, but quickly stop when in a swift moment, they suddenly end up on the floor with a thud. They look up and stare into Carlos' glaring eyes.
"Jesus, dude..." Kendall complains as he helps Logan off of the floor. Carlos doesn't say a word, he just glares daggers at them and then gets out of bed and stalks towards the kitchen. "No need to be rude!" Kendall yells after him. "Well, I guess someone didn't wake up on the right side of the bed this morning." The blond whispers with a snicker in Logan's direction.
"That was kinda weird..." Logan ponders in response.
"Oh come on. He's just mad about the way we woke him up." Kendall shrugs. "At least now he knows how we feel." Logan still looks unsure, but follows his friend into the kitchen.
They are met with a peculiar sight. Carlos is trying to drag a chair towards the kitchen cabinets holding the cereal. Normally it wouldn't be placed this high, but Mrs. Knight decided that everyone needs to eat healthier, so all the sugary snacks are off limits.
"Uh, you do know you're not allowed to eat that, right?" Logan asks him. Carlos turns around swiftly with suck a death glare, that Logan steps behind Kendall for protection. He grumbles something under his breath and turns back to his job at hand.
"Okay then..." Kendall trails off with raised eyebrows. He walks forward towards the fridge and starts to take out the healthier breakfast items. Logan and Kendall set the table and keep an eye on the Latino who angrily slams the kitchen cabinets as he pulls out everything he needs and slams it all down on the counter. He starts to walk towards the kitchen table, not looking at anyone. He sets down the cereal and wants to set down his bowl, when he fumbles it and it falls to the ground with a loud shatter.
The guys look at him in surprise. He just sighs loudly and closes his eyes in frustration. He leans down and starts to pick up the shards quietly and slowly. Logan gets up and leans down next to him.
"Here, I'll help you." He softly says, giving the boy a warm smile. Carlos looks up in disbelief, but the anger is finally gone.
"Thank you..." He softly tells his friend, who just smiles and nods. "I'm sorry for how I reacted. I don't know what happened..." He trails off, but Logan shakes his head.
"It's okay, buddy. Everyone has a bad moment once in a while. Though I can't really remember you having one, ever. But there's a first time for everything, right?" He asks with a small grin. Carlos grins back and together they clean everything up. The Latino even lets Logan put the cereal back in the cabinets so he can eat healthier.
When James comes into the kitchen, he's not even aware of anything happening, even though he does notice the broken shards of a bowl in the trash can.
"We had a little accident." Logan explains, sending a smile towards Carlos, who smiles in return. James looks suspicious, but drops the subject.
After breakfast everyone goes to get ready to head towards the studio. Logan keeps a weary eye on Carlos, who keeps on yawning and seems slower than usual. Carlos has noticed, but he just throws his friend a huge smile to let him know he's okay. Logan puts it aside in his mind. Everyone gets tired, even Carlos. No need to worry.
But Carlos himself has noticed it as well. He wants to jump around and annoy everyone, but he doesn't seem to have the energy for it. It's not something he's used to, but maybe it's because he's getting older. Plus, they have been working really hard lately. His energy was bound to give out sometime.
They head outside and in the car. Kendall drives as James sits in the passenger seat, while Logan sits behind Kendall and Carlos behind James. The guys are talking and laughing animatedly. Carlos wants to join in now as well, but he can only smile as he watches them. He yawns and feels his eyes drooping. Unable to stop it, the motion of the car lets him fall into a deep sleep.
"Dude, you are so full of it. Gustavo is not going to let you sing a song by yourself. You get enough attention already, right Carlos?" Kendall asks with a grin as he looks into his rear view mirror. He frowns when he sees Carlos' head slumped against the window. "Carlos?" He asks again and turns around a little.
James is pouting and has his arms crossed, but when he hears Kendall asking this, he also turns around. Kendall goes back to driving, but keeps an eye on his friend.
Logan turns to him as well. "Carlos?" He quietly asks and shakes him lightly. The boy doesn't respond. He leans over and pulls his body a little towards him. He chuckles. "He's fast asleep."
The other two exchange a glance. "What?" "You can't be serious." They mention in disbelief.
"Carlos, yo!" Kendall asks, while James claps his hands. But Carlos doesn't even stir.
"Wow, he's completely out of it." Logan says in a near whisper as he tests his friend's reaction.
"Well, let's just enjoy it while it lasts." Kendall mentions with a grin. The rest of the ride is silent, while Carlos sleeps peacefully.
When they arrive at the studio, Kendall parks the car, while Logan tries to wake Carlos up.
"Carlos. Carlos, wake up, we're here." He quietly says, while shaking the boy. He keeps trying, but gets no reaction. He sends a pleading look towards his taller friends and shakes him a little harder. "Carlos, come on, buddy. We're at the studio. Carlos!"
"Here, let me try." James suggests and he takes out his water bottle with a grin. Kendall grabs it out of his hands with a warning look. James rolls his eyes. "Fine, take away my fun."
Kendall opens Carlos' door and squats down.
"Carlos? Carlos!" He calls out, also shaking the boy. Again no response. He goes to try again, when James yells out his name as loud as he can. Kendall sends him a stern look, while James holds up his hands in defense with a smirk on his lips.
But surprisingly, Carlos slowly starts to move around and opens up his eyes. Through half lidded eyes he peers around and notices his friends staring at him.
"Uh, hi..." He slowly says, while trying to blink away his sleep. "Did I fall asleep?" He asks, making his friends chuckle and shake their heads.
"Dude, you didn't just fall asleep, you were completely out of this world. Been trying to wake you up for half an hour." James tells him. Kendall sends him another look. "Dude, what's with all the buzz killing?" He says as he stalks off towards the studio. Kendall just shakes his head and sends an amusing smile towards Carlos and helps him out of the car. He stretches loudly.
"So, you fully awake now?" Kendall asks him. Carlos just nods with a smile. He watches as his blond friend runs for James and with a loud cry jumps on his back. James cries out and they start a small fight, while Kendall laughs. Carlos smiles, but keeps walking.
Logan walks up beside him. "Are you okay?" He softly asks and the boy looks up.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess all this hard work is finally catching up to me, right?" He explains and Logan smiles. They laugh when James chases Kendall around the parking lot after the blond grabbed his lucky comb. Carlos then starts to run for them as well and asks Kendall to toss him the comb.
Logan shakes his head at the maturity level of his friends, but smiles amusingly. He keeps an eye on Carlos, because maybe he was just reacting to all the hard work. He seems to feel fine now.
Then Logan heads for his friends and quickly catches the comb mid-air when Carlos tosses it over James' head. The two whine loudly and James grins.
"Haha! Thanks, Logan. At least you're not mean." The pretty boy says as he walks towards his friend and holds out his hand. Logan just looks at his hand with raised eyebrows. James' grin fades, while the grins of the others appear again. "Logan, come on, give me the comb." Logan just walks away. "Logan, I'm not kidding. Give me my comb." He says, walking after him. Just then Logan smiles wickedly and runs off towards the studio entrance. "Logan!" James yells and runs after him, while Kendall and Carlos pound fists and laugh out loud.
Five hours of gruelling dance rehearsal later...
"No, no, no!" Mr. X yells for the tenth time in ten minutes, grabbing his hair in frustration. "What is wrong with you? You use your left foot, not your right! How many times do I have to show you?" He yells at Carlos and the others watch as he hangs his head and just nods. "Again!" he announces and the guys get back in their starting position.
He starts the music and the guys start their new dance routine for Show Me. It goes well for the first minute, but then Carlos fumbles again. He can no longer keep up with the fast paced moves and bumps into Kendall. Mr. X stops the music right away. Carlos looks up and gulps while he breathes heavily.
"I'm sorry, I can do better..." He says in a pleading tone, but Mr. X just shakes his head.
"No, I am X-done. Come back here tomorrow at 7AM and make sure you know the right steps. If you don't, don't bother showing up." He warns, before giving the X-signal one more time and then turning on his heal and walking away.
The guys stand frozen, while Carlos hangs his head and stands still. No one knows what to say.
"Carlos..." Kendall eventually starts, while placing a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. He shrugs it off immediately.
"Just don't." He softly tells him without looking up.
"You tried your best, everyone makes mistakes..." Logan tells him, trying to reassure his friend.
"He already taught us the dance yesterday and I still can't get it right..." He says in a dejected tone.
"It's okay..." Logan starts again, but Carlos turns away.
"I'm going to get some air. Just leave me alone for a while..." He says, sounding sad and walking out. The three others stare after him and exchange glances. They feel helpless.
Carlos slowly walks out with his head down. He heads outside and walks towards a small field behind the studio. He plops down in the grass and rests his head on his hands. He yawns again and sighs as a soft breeze washes over him.
He looks around and starts to pick grass absentmindedly, while staring ahead. He doesn't understand what's wrong with him. He's never had this much trouble learning a dance. Usually he's the first to get it right. And because he always has so much energy, he can handle sped up moves perfectly. But all day he is feeling utterly exhausted, making him react slower to everything.
He yawns again and feels how heavy his eyelids are starting to feel. His head starts to drop and he suddenly shoots awake when he feels himself almost falling over. He tries to keep his eyes wide open and rubs them to try and stay awake.
He feels frustrated and guilty as well, because dance rehearsal could have been done hours ago if he wasn't so tired and kept messing up. And now Mr. X has walked away from them. He didn't want to leave his friends behind like that, but he just couldn't handle it for a moment.
People walking by look at him funny. He just ignores them. He knows how it must look. A boy wearing a helmet in sweat pants and a tank top, sweat covering his body, rubbing his eyes tiredly in the middle of the grass.
He just sits and stares ahead, yawning every once in a while. Just then, a shadow looms over him. He looks up, not surprised to find all three of his friends worriedly staring at him. He sighs and looks down again. They immediately join him. Kendall and Logan sit on his sides, while James takes a spot in front of him.
"So uh, you ready to talk about it?" Kendall asks him. He looks up and shakes his head. "Ok." They sit in silence for a while.
"Are you ready now?" Kendall asks again. Carlos looks up with a frown and shakes his head again. Kendall waits a few seconds. "How about now?" Carlos snickers lightly and Kendall smiles. "Ah, there's that famous smile." He says, pointing a finger towards it. Carlos can't keep his smile away, but looks down again.
"You're so lame." Carlos mumbles, making James and Logan laugh.
"Maybe. But it worked, didn't it?" Kendall mentions with a shrug, pushing his shoulder against Carlos'.
"Today just sucks..." Carlos complains, before letting his upper body fall down onto the grass. Kendall and Logan quickly join him, while James moves behind them, so al their heads are almost touching and they lie in a circle. It's something they did often when they were children, just watching the clouds passing by.
"You did your best, Carlos. Tomorrow things will be better, you'll see." James tells him. Carlos smiles.
"Yeah, I guess." He says in response. "I just feel bad that I caused us to be in rehearsal for five hours." He says, sadly.
"Trust me, if this hadn't happened, we'd still be dancing right away. Just look at it this way, because of what happened, we get to go home early." Logan explains logically with a smile. Carlos chuckles.
"So I guess it's a good thing I'm such a screw-up then, huh?" He jokes back.
"Totally." Logan tells him. It takes a moment, before all four of the guys burst out laughing.
They laugh for a good ten minutes, when all four are holding their stomachs in pain and the laughter dies down.
"Oh my god... I so needed that." Carlos says as he wipes off tears from his face, sniffling a little and still laughing a little. "Thanks, guys..." He tells them and they smile. They lie there in silence, just watching the clouds peacefully floating by.
"Hey, look! It's Gustavo!" James blurts out as he points towards a cloud. Logan twists his head.
"He looks grumpy." He mumbles. Kendall suddenly starts to giggle.
"The one next to it. It looks like Griffin, dressed like a fairy." He says as he laughs again. The other two try to find it, but just shake their heads at how insane the blond giggles.
"Carlos, it's your turn. What do you see in the clouds?" James asks. They wait, but receive no response.
Logan turns his head and looks Carlos' way. "Carlitos?" He asks, poking him in the side playfully. He sits up when he still doesn't a response and looks atthe Latino. He chuckles.
"What?" James asks him as he slightly sits up as well.
"He fell asleep again." Logan answers. The other two both sit up fully now and look at their younger friend with a frown.
"Hasn't he had enough sleep today?" James asks questioningly towards Logan.
"I don't know. I guess not." He answers. They look at him for another moment, smiling at how peaceful the boy looks again.
"He always seems so much younger when he's asleep." Logan ponders.
"It's why he'll always remain the baby of the group." Kendall mentions.
"Too bad he wakes up again." James says, before wincing as he receives a punch in both his shoulders from the other two.
"Come on, lets just take sleeping beauty home. I think his bed will be a lot more comfortable than the grass." Kendall tells his friends.
"Why not just leave him here. Dogs always find their way home, I'm sure he will, too." James suddenly jokes. In an instant, Logan grabs his lucky comb out of his pocket. James' eyes grow wide and reaches out for it. Logan pulls it back.
"Nope. You're not having this back for the rest of the day for being an ass." He warns him.
"Oh come on, we always joke with each other like this." James argues, while Kendall rolls his eyes and stands up.
"Yeah, but not when we're already having a bad day. So leave Carlos alone for the rest of the day and you can have your comb back. If not, I'll just break it." Logan warns. James gasps.
"No, no, I'll stop. I'll shut up." James says, keeping an eye on his precious comb. Kendall shakes his head and just starts to lift Carlos off of the ground bridal style. He heads for the car and the others follow quickly.
Needless to say, Kendall's mom and younger sister are kind of shocked to see the guys coming home happily, while James holds a slumbering Carlos in his arms.
He is put to bed immediately. And not even the corndogs on the menu that night can pull him out. Carlos has fallen into a deep sleep. His friends worry a little, but all that bouncing around had to take its toll sometime. At least they could enjoy a full night of peace and quiet for once. Which is why everyone went to bed early. Because peace and quiet in this family is just plain boring...
A/N Ok, so I wasn't planning on writing another story. But I received a special request from Meanxruki for a story of Carlos getting sick and I thought, why not? There just aren't enough Carlos angst/whump stories around here. And especially him getting sick. So here is my take on it. I'm not sure how long it will be, but I hope you enjoy it :)
So, exhaustion is the first sign. He just seems tired. How bad can it be? Just wait for it ;)
Thank you again to Meanxruki for the idea, I hope this is what you had in mind :)
Love, Baxxie