Merry Christmas to all of my amazing readers! I hope you enjoy this Of course I couldn't just make this a oneshot… Haha.
Crunch crunch, crunch crunch, crunch crunch…
Carlos listened to the sounds of white, icy snow underneath his leather boots, making up a rhythm with each step he took. His heavily bundled body shivered underneath his black, woolen, snowflake-covered coat and the blue scarf his mother knitted him. Silver stars twinkled in the dark sky above him, making the snow beneath him glisten beautifully. His warm breath could be seen in puffs of fog, and carolers singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" could be heard in the distance. For a moment, Carlos stood still and took in the sights around him. Though they were familiar, they were also somewhat strange. It had been nearly 2 years since he had been home in Minnesota. He was used to palm trees and the ocean now, not pine trees and snow. But he couldn't be any happier that he was finally home for the holidays.
"Carlitos, come on! We want to get the best tree before someone else does!" James called through the cold night air. The small Latino smiled and did a sort of stumble/run through the deep snow over to his friends, who stood at the entrance of a large tree farm. They were doing their annual (well, annual back when they lived in Minnesota) "tree shopping." Every year, the boys would traverse around town to every tree farm they could find and look for only the most wonderful Douglas fir that the sellers had to offer. They were always quite picky about their tree, and this year they were more so than usual. They wanted to buy the biggest, fluffiest tree ever grown for one simple reason: They longed to see Kendall's sick and dull green eyes light up with delight and his pale lips to curl up into a grin. They wanted to make this the best Christmas that Kendall Knight had ever experienced.
"None of these are good enough," Carlos mumbled with a pout as they weeded their way through an endless maze of evergreens.
"We'll never find the right tree for Kendall," James said sadly. He rolled up a fluffy snowball in his gloved hands and threw it spitefully at an evergreen branch, causing a tiny avalanche of snow to fall off and splat onto the ground.
Logan searched his mind for something positive to say to lift their spirits but for once, he couldn't think of anything. They had never gone tree shopping without Kendall before. The blonde leader always picked out the perfect tree. Somehow he was always able to mentally imagine lights and ornaments covering the green giant, surrounded by presents on Christmas morning, and after they would go through the process of cutting it down and tying it to their van and brought it home and decorated it, the tree always looked like something out of a storybook.
"I wish he were here," Carlos whispered, speaking for all of them. It just wasn't the same without the blonde's boisterous laughter or calming demeanor.
"Me, too," James said with a huff, causing a puff of fog to splay out in front of him. He waved it away and looked up at the stars, trying to forget how empty it felt to not have Kendall by their sides all the time. It hurt a lot when he wondered if Kendall would ever be the same again. The poor boy spent nearly all of his time locked in his room, fighting infections and battling fevers. Mama K had to explain to them every day that his immune system was still very weak. James just wanted his best friend to get better already.
"Guys, he'll be back in action soon enough," Logan said. "Need I remind you that we are incredibly lucky and blessed that Kendall is even here to experience another Christmas? The least we can do is make this a Christmas for him to remember, rather than spend it moping about something we have no control over."
James and Carlos winced at the harsh reminder. It was true, after battling a double kidney infection and septicemia, Kendall had nearly not made it to see another Christmas. Carlos turned his head slightly to hide his tears. He hated it when somebody brought up Kendall's sickness. He spent every day trying to forget what happened over a month ago. It had been an absolute nightmare, spending week after week at a comatose Kendall's bedside, begging him to stay alive for another day.
"Carlos? Hey it's ok buddy," Logan cooed, leaning forward to bring the quivering Latino into his warm arms. Carlos spun around and buried his face into Logan's welcome chest, holding on desperately to his tears.
"Is it selfish of me that I want him back?" Carlos choked out. "Having him alive isn't enough. I want him with us, looking at trees and keeping me from doing crazy things. I miss him practicing my slap shot with me and singing with him and... I just miss him. Does that… Does that make me bad?"
"No, no Carlos that does not make you bad," Logan assured the sniffing boy, cupping the back of his neck with a caring, gentle hand and bringing him closer to his chest. "We all miss him and want him back. We just need to be patient. Come on buddy, this isn't supposed to be a sad day. We're doing this for Kendall. Now let's go find him the biggest, greenest tree in the lot so we can get home and visit him."
James scanned the trees with his eyes. "All of these are puny, though. I know! How about we go hiking and cut down our own tree?"
"Um no, that would be illegal James," Logan said, still holding Carlos tightly in his arms.
"Maybe, but he deserves it! The trees are way better in the forest preserve," James said.
"Are you kidding me? It's called a forest preserve for a reason, James!"
James shrugged, still not getting Logan's point. "Yeah but the trees are prettier."
"Ok just stop talking," Logan said, rolling his eyes at James' blasphemy and trying to hide his amusement. "Carlos, how about you pick out the tree for Kendall? Does that sound good?"
Carlos pulled away from Logan's arms, excited and surprised at the aspect of picking out a Christmas tree by himself. "Really? By myself?"
"Yeah, go for it," James said, watching Carlos' eyes light up like the stars above them. His heart swelled at the sight as Carlos searched deeper through the maze of trees for the perfect one. This was the happiest he'd seen him in a long time. After Kendall fell ill, he slowly became less enthusiastic. He stopped doing reckless stunts and in some ways gained more maturity and responsibility, and in other aspects he grew even more childlike. He was excessively clingy and suffered nightmares at least once a week. It was always the same dream that Kendall had not woken up from his coma, and it broke the hearts of his brothers every time it happened. Carlos didn't deserve to wake up crying. None of them deserved the hellish 2 months they had been through.
And no matter what, Kendall Knight was going to have the best stinking Christmas ever.
A/N So what do you think, will Kendall get the amazing Christmas he deserves or will I screw it up for him? This will probably be just a few chapters and I will do my bestest to get it done by Christmas. Reviews encourage me. Reviews are elves! Love you all!