San Francisco

Author: Malachite

Disclaimer: So I have several of these little blurb/drabble/fragment/whatever type fic-lets hanging around, so I figured I'd post a few here and see what people think. Some may be inserted into fics (such as Celerity) in the future. BTR is not mine. This story is. Please review.

"And then we went shopping at Union Square in San Francisco. James got this weird furry hat at some fancy department store with this really cool glass dome. You know, San Francisco is a really nice area."

"That's where all the gays live." Carlos' eyes bugged out at Mrs. Knight's deadpan tone of voice, mind scrambling as he tried to figure out how in the world this conversation twist had occurred.

"Why do all the gays live there?" Katie asked, voice a mix of honest curiosity with a tinge of…disgust?

Thankfully Kendall had stepped in just there, gave Carlos a glance that was a thousand words, and somehow got them to change the subject to suburbs of San Francisco, which led to Anaheim, and before you now it they were talking about Disney Land…which unfortunately led to Katie asking about "gay days."

Carlos slipped out the room, crestfallen as he headed towards Kendall's room. He just couldn't catch a break lately. It was like the world was out to get him with anti-gay pimp slaps every day. First, his parents refused to ask his grandmother if he and the guys could stay at the Garcia family beach house for a couple weeks during the summer. His mom had said something about how they knew he wouldn't attend church there…well, yeah, she was probably right. If he hadn't had the guys support his cover story excuses of what he did in LA, they'd never let him go back there either when this summer vacation was over.

As he sat down on Kendall's messy, unmade bed, he clutched his head, wishing he had his helmet so he could bash his head against the wall a few times without having Kendall freak out. "It's not fair…"

"Yeah, I know." Kendall's lips twisted into a small, sad smile as he stepped in, sitting down on his bed and wrapping an arm around the smaller boy. "It's not, and it sucks."

"I just…every time I think things are getting better, everything just goes to…"

"Yeah. Look, Carlitos, I'm really sorry about my mom and sister back there."

"It's not your fault, Kendall." Carlos slid his own arm around Kendall's waist, hugging him tight. "You're always really…sweet, though."

"Aww." The blonde boy blushed, ducking his head a little and smiling down at the latino. "You are too, buddy."

"Kendall? Why….why can't I be myself? I don't like being depressed like this all the time. I wanna be hyper and happy and crazy again. I wanna do stupid things, and eat too much, and laugh a lot. I…I'm so sick of feeling like crap."

Kendall found himself nodding in agreement. "It's like, we got so used to being ourselves, being relaxed and happy all the time…"