(415)
The corner of Kendall's mouth twitched up in a lopsided smile. Licking his lips, he brushed back a loose curl from Camille's face, tucking it behind her ear. He would miss her more than anyone else, but they both knew this- whatever it was- would always come to an end.
It was just up to them how it happened.
"Don't forget me… okay?" Camille breathed, her voice cracking. She was only seconds away from crying, and Kendall understood, which was exactly why he let his hands slip away from the sides of her face and fall back to his sides. He shut his eyes, swallowing thickly. Camille's breath hitched in her throat.
"How could I?" he replied, a ghost of a laugh in his words. He wouldn't remember anything else. Kendall was trying to smile, trying to make this easier on her. This was her choice. She knew what was best. Kendall never doubted her for a second.
But that didn't make his want for her to stay just disappear. This was hard for him too. He wanted her to stay. He wanted her to stay, and he wanted everything to stop being so… difficult.
Logan didn't know Camille was leaving. He was back in 2J studying for his college entrance exam. Would he have come had he known? Kendall and Camille both knew the answer to that question. Even so, they hadn't told anyone else that today was Camille's last day at the Palm Woods. No one else needed to know. Camille had done everything she wanted to do here. Everything she *could* do. She had to follow the opportunities of making it big.
"I love you, Kendall. I really do," Camille's voice cracked and her almost-smile vanished, along with any restraint she had. Kendall's arms wrapped around her and he kissed the top of her head, squeezing her in his embrace as she cried. He could feel his throat tightening, his heart racing. Once he let Camille go, she was going to board that bus, and drive away from him.
It was Jo and New Zealand all over again.
(1)
Sitting at the edge of the pool, Kendall swung his feet in the water, watching as the lights that reflected on the surface rippled. Everyone was either enjoying a peaceful night indoors, or out having fun in the city. No one but Kendall was at the pool. No one but Kendall was alone. He sighed, leaning back and staring up at the sky.
There wasn't much for him to think about these days. Recording was normal, production of BTR's second album was normal, and life in general was normal. Kendall could've help but feel like something was still missing though. He knew what it was too; even after three months, even after he'd convinced himself he was over her, Kendall still missed Jo. However, something else was weighing him down. When Kendall accepted he still missed Jo Taylor, he expected the funk he was in to disappear. Yet it was all still there. Something else was on his mind, and he just couldn't place it.
"Hey! What are you doing out here?"
The voice snapped Kendall out of his thoughts, and he blinked several times before realizing who was behind him. Looking up, he grinned back at the girl grinning down at him.
"Hi, Camille," Kendall greeted her, moving over just an inch when she took a seat beside him. She tucked her legs beneath her, setting her script down on the concrete. Her hands in her lap, she looked to Kendall, waiting for him to answer her question.
Since his breakup with Jo, Camille saw changes in Kendall that his friends seemed to be missing. They were subtle changes, but they were still there. Although Kendall slowly seemed to move on, there was still something in his eyes that told Camille he still wasn't okay. How James, Logan, and Carlos couldn't see it, she'd never know. Camille had actually been good for Kendall in the last several weeks. Whenever he couldn't go to the guys with something, somehow, he'd always find his way to Camille and talk to her about what was on his mind. It was always something small, but he still talked, and she still listened.
"You gonna tell me what's up with the angsty look?" Camille asked, pouting when Kendall finally looked at her. He chuckled, looking back down at the water. Shrugging, he bit his lip and thought about what could've been bothering him.
"I really don't know this time, Camille. I'm just... here, you know? I feel fine, everything's fine. Maybe I'm just waiting for something to happen," Kendall stated. He seemed to be talking to himself more than he was talking to Camille, and she stared at the frustrated confusion playing across his face. Resting a hand on his shoulder, she gave him a small squeeze, smiling as she attempted to comfort him.
"Why wait?" Camille questioned, tilting her head to the side. Kendall frowned, peering over at her. She shrugged, staring up at the sky. "Why wait for something to happen? Why not actually make it happen? Whatever it is!" Kendall cocked an eyebrow, chuckling as he gave Camille a small push.
"You're so weird sometimes," Kendall said, laughing when Camille pushed back. Playfully, Kendall pushed her again, but this time, Camille slipped, shrieking when she fell into the pool. Kendall's eyes widened and he leaned forward, holding out his hand as Camille sawm up. "Oh shit, Camille, I'm sorr-" When Camille took Kendall's hand, she pulled him into the water with her, laughing once he resurfaced.
Gasping for air, Kendall shook his head, water splattering everywhere. Camille laughed, splashing him before pulling herself out of the water. Pushing her hair out of her face, she twisted her clothes over the pool, trying to get some of the water out. Kendall remained in the pool, floating carelessly as he laughed. Camille picked up her script and stood, holding out her arms as the water continued to drip from her body.
"I try to be nice and you shove me in the water!" Camille joked, laughing when Kendall did. He shrugged, swimming around the edges of the pool to follow Camille as she walked. His arms rested on the pavement, and he smirked up at her.
"I'm sorry. Okay?"
With a smile, Camille rolled her eyes and nodded.
"I'm gonna go dry off. I'll see you tomorrow, Kendall," she said, laughter still in her voice. Kendall couldn't wipe the smile from his face as he watched Camille walk away. He stared for a few seconds longer than he usually would, licking his lips when he took notice of how she moved her hips when she walked, and how her tights really brought out the nice shape her legs had.
Then Kendall realized what was clouding his mood. It wasn't Jo. He was over her for the most part, and right now, he didn't even miss her. As expected, the weight was lifted from his shoulders, but just seconds later, it was replaced by a new weight - the weight of knowing that he wanted his best friends' girlfriend.
"Oh my God," Kendall breathed, his eyes widening. He had a crush on Camille Roberts.
(205)
"I'm really sick of it, Kendall," Camille admitted. She sighed, shaking her head as she turned to walk away. Kendall frowned, his eyes widening when he realized she was going to storm right out of the venue. He reached out, trying to grab her hand, but she pulled away. "Don't! I can't take this anymore, okay? What are we even doing?" Kendall's hands fell to his sides. The band playing was in the middle of their set, and here Camille and Kendall were, arguing.
"We're on a date, Camille. We're doing what we always do- What's going on?" Kendall tried to grab Camille's hand again, but her glare ceased all his attempts at trying to touch her. She shut her eyes for a moment, her shoulders sagging. Her bottom lip quivered and she slowly started backing away from Kendall. He followed after her, persisting even when she got past the crowd of people and started running. "Camille! Camille, wait!" She ignored him, briskly walking down the street until Kendall caught up with her. He held her arm, turning her to face him. "Camille, you've been acting crazy all day, and not the good crazy! What is up with you?"
The way Kendall's eyes were trying to look into hers made Camille squirm in his hold. She looked at anything but him, doing everything in her power to not cry. Kendall frowned, noticing how she wouldn't look at him, and his stomach soured. Everything was pointing to a breakup, and that was the last thing Kendall ever wanted from Camille. Kendall had to remind himself though, they weren't officially in any type of relationship.
"You! Kendall, you're what's up with me!" Camille shouted, tears beginning to slide down her face. Her head was turned to the side, and Kendall let her go, backing away from her. Crossing her arms, Camille pursed her lips, looking Kendall in the eye at last. "I can't- You- Kendall, your type is those little blonde bitches that look like they're a size negative three, and they fit in your palm, and they have really stupid laughs, and they look better with you than I do, and that's what you're into."
Kendall's concerned expression became confused, and he held up his hands, gaping at Camille. He didn't know what to say to any of that, frankly because it was all so sudden. He thought they were doing just fine. Nothing was out of the ordinary! He hadn't done anything wrong, or so he thought. Camille had never been the jealous type, and seeing her like this was a first for Kendall. It might've been the first time she'd been like this in her life.
"Cam, I have no idea what you're talking about. What did I even do? I haven't- Camille, you are my type, okay? My type is you, my type is Camille Roberts. Where's this coming from, babe? You've never been... insecure or anything like that," Kendall stated, hesitating each time he lifted his hand to reach out for Camille. She flinched every time his hand came near her though, and he couldn't do anything about it. "Hey, I love you, alright?"
Camille's eyes held something Kendall couldn't place when she looked at him. At first, he thought it was anger, then he thought it was anger and fear. Now he wondered if misery was in that mix. He just couldn't understand why she was looking at him like that.
"That's the problem," Camille finally breathed, her voice shaking. "I'm starting to love you back." Kendall smiled at the statement, only to immediately have it falter. Camille knew when Kendall fell in love, he meant it with all his heart. His love was blind, and he would do whatever he had to in order to get loved back. He made himself lovable - he made himself whatever he needed to be in order to keep his love, and with Camille, all he had to do was be himself. It wasn't like that with anyone else, and for that, he didn't want anyone else. Camille knew everything, except for that.
Cautiously, Kendall held out his arms, pulling Camille into them. He held her close, feeling every tremble, whimper, and hitched breath. He rubbed her arm soothingly, his chin resting on the top of her head. He didn't want to let her go, and he tried letting her know this through his hug. She was it for him; Kendall made up his mind on that. Whatever she was feeling, he was going to help her get through it, because he loved her and wanted to love her for as long as she would let him.
(13)
For a little over a week now, Kendall had been trying to avoid Camille, and not make it obvious he was doing so. He didn't realize how often he saw Camille until he started withdrawing from her. The more he wanted to get away from her, the more he saw her and heard about her. Luckily for him, no one seemed to notice the small change in his behavior. Even Logan, who was the most observant of his friends, didn't seem to detect anything was wrong. Kendall found himself hoping Camille didn't notice anything different either, but also wondering if she thought about him, and how they'd hardly seen each other since that night at the pool.
"Hey, doofus, what are you doing?" Katie snapped her fingers in front of Kendall's face, taking a seat beside him as she sipped from her smoothie. Blinking several times, Kendall shook his head, focusing on his sister. She followed where his gaze had been, seeing nothing of interest. It was only Camille practicing her lines.
"Uh, um, yeah, nothing," Kendall stumbled over his answer, seconds too late. Katie's eyebrow rose, and she glanced back at Camille. When she looked at her brother again, his ears were slightly more red.
"Oh, no," Katie began laughing, covering her mouth when Kendall shot her a glare.
"Shut up- I don't care what you're thinking, just, stop," Kendall ordered, his voice sounding more exasperated than authoritative. Katie continued to laugh, her entire face turning red. Sighing, Kendall's face fell into his hands and he nodded, motioning for Katie to go on. "That's right, keep laughing. Keep pissing on me." Wiping the tears from her eyes, Katie caught her breath, her hand on her stomach.
"Aside from the obvious, she has that on-again, off-again thing with Logan, have you actually thought this through?" Katie questioned, her arms folded on the table. She gave her brother the inquisitive stare she always wore when she interrogated him, and he sighed, nodding. "Have you been ignoring her?" Kendall stole a peek at Katie, and once he met her gaze, she tsk'd and shook her head. At twelve-years-old, she already knew him better than anyone else on the planet. Taking another sip from her smoothie, Katie licked her lips, pushing herself out of the chair and walking around the table to Kendall. She pulled the lid off of her smoothie, looking into the cup before holding it over Kendall's head and pouring it on him.
"Katie-"
"If you don't want her noticing something's up, at least talk to her like you normally would," Katie advised, pulling Kendall's ear so he would be closer to her, and no one else would hear. Letting him go, she gathered the lid and empty cup, mumbling, "Idiot," as she walked away.
Sweeping his hair back and out of his face, Kendall shook the smoothie from his hands as he stood up and looked around. Everyone at the pool was laughing, and when his gaze wandered to Camille's direction, he saw she was smiling at him. He smiled back, turning away to go back to 2J. Though he trusted Katie's advice, he wasn't entirely sure he trusted himself.
(407)
"FUCK! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!"
Logan's outraged cries could be heard from the entrance of the Palm Woods. Everyone knew this was coming. In fact, Logan was the last to know, if James and Carlos weren't counted. Kendall stood outside of the bedroom door, his forehead pressed against it and his eyes clamped shut as he listened to Logan breaking whatever he could. None of the boys ever knew Logan to be a violent person outside of the ice rink. The small brunette could never really bring himself to hit anyone or stay mad over anything.
This time was different though.
Neither Camille nor Kendall could take sneaking around any longer. They found Logan outside, and sat him down, not rehearsing anything, just hoping for the best.
"We're dating. Not- Not, we want to date, and this is us asking you for a blessing, but... We're dating."
Kendall didn't know how else to word it. He didn't know how else he could tell his best friend of eighteen years that he was dating his ex-girlfriend. Logan scoffed at first, thinking it was all a joke, but when he saw Camille's hand rest on Kendall's, something in him snapped. He started swearing at the both of them, attracting the attention of everyone outside.
"You're a fucking slut, you know that? First you cheat with James- You fucking CHEAT, with my best friend, and now you're telling me you've been dating my other best friend? What happens next? Are you gonna let Carlos slip you one? You fucking slut!"
The last thing Kendall wanted to do was hit Logan, but he couldn't control himself. Just like Logan couldn't control his mouth when he was angry, Kendall couldn't control how aggressive he was. He did everything in his power to hold himself back while Logan called Camille a slut the first time, but when it happened again, and Kendall saw how Camille was just taking it, he broke. When it escalated to throwing punches, James and Carlos got involved, holding their friends off of each other.
Now Logan was isolating himself in the room he and Kendall shared. Kendall took a teary-eyed Camille home, and returned to his apartment to try and talk his friend down. There had to be some way to fix everything.
But when Kendall saw the disapproval in James and Carlos' eyes, and could feel their disappointment in his, he knew there probably wasn't a way to fix it.
(27)
Although the ice skating competition play turned out to be a bust, Kendall got something he desperately wanted with Camille.
Time.
Each training session they spent together, Kendall was able to hold her close, breathe in her perfume, and have the most intimate contact with her he could have without giving himself away. Every time he lifted her into the air, and slowly brought her back down, Kendall had to force himself not to kiss her. Whenever his hands were on her waist, he had to be careful not to pull her closer. Camille would laugh when he twirled her around, and each time she did it, his heart fluttered just a little bit more.
All of it came to an end though. Kendall saw how Logan reacted when he thought something was going on between the two of them. He didn't want to make it worse, and risk ruining his friendship. So here he was, lying on his bunk in the tour bus, thinking about Camille and finding himself hoping she was thinking of him. He missed her, and at every stop the band made, there was something to remind him of the method actress back at home. Over every state line, and every highway, Kendall thought about Camille. He considered bringing her back a gift, but stopped himself when he rationalized that the guys would find it and question him about it.
Kendall spent a majority of the nights on the road staring up at the stars. He found comfort knowing that, if at that very moment, Camille were to look up, they would be staring at the same sky. The same stars. It made him feel closer to her again. It gave him a little bit of peace to know he wasn't ever really that far from her.
(124)
Autumn leaves rustled over the ground as the wind blew. Buddha Bob never usually had the leaves raked into the giant piles they were in now. Bitters would complain about how the Palm Woods had to look nice, and Bob would ignore him until all the leaves had fallen, and then blow them away to the streets of the city. As long as they weren't on the park grounds, it didn't matter.
"Buddha Bob, did you do this?" Camille asked as she approached the Palm Woods maintenance man. Her arms folded over her chest when he shook his head and scratched his chin, staring curiously at the piles. Suddenly, a pair of hands covered Camille's eyes, and she chuckled. She knew these hands anywhere - large, calloused, careful. "Kendall, what are you doing?"
Kendall's grin stretched across his face, and he held out his arms, walking past Camille to the nearest pile of leaves.
"I had the morning off, and thought I'd rake some leaves," Kendall answered nonchalantly. His sarcasm didn't go unnoticed, and Camille rolled her eyes when he took her hand. "You said your favorite part of the season was jumping in the leaf piles your brother raked up. I thought it'd be a nice surprise."
Looking around at all the piles, Camille knew Kendall had to have spent hours working. She didn't want her eyes to water up, but this was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her. Biting her lip, she covered her face with both hands and laughed. When she faced Kendall again, he was still grinning, and Camille closed the distance between them, kissing his cheek. His grin becoming goofier, Kendall's eyes rolled back, and his hands flew over his head as he fell back onto the leaves. They broke his fall, scattering in the wind. Camille and Kendall's boisterous laughter filled the park as they ran through it, destroying the neat piles of leaves Kendall had raked together.
(97)
"Why're you with him? You don't deserve this, right?"
Camille wiped her eyes, confused as she stared up at Kendall. This was his best friend they were talking about. She didn't expect to hear Kendall saying any of this. Instead of answering him, Camille collected herself, refusing to cry anymore over what had happened. Logan broke up with her again, this time because she was "too jealous" of a new girl that she'd caught Logan staring at. Kendall waited beside her, his hand finding its way to her shoulder as he comforted her.
Upon seeing Camille run into the little green cabana, Kendall had hesitated before deciding to go in after her. Finding her crying, he was glad he did. He didn't know what had happened exactly, but he knew that he wanted to be there for Camille. He didn't want her to be alone like this. Now that the story was out, and he knew that she and Logan were once again broken up, he felt tense. Control was slowly leaving his grasp and he could feel it, but he couldn't bring himself to leave. Not when Camille needed someone.
"Why do you go back to him? Why do you stay with him?" Kendall pressed further on the subject, wanting to know why Camille liked Logan so much.
"Why did you stay with Jo?" she responded, knowing exactly how to get Kendall to stop questioning her. He bit his lip, pulling his hand off of Camille's shoulder and staring down at his hands lamely. The two were quiet for a minute before Camille asked again, this time more seriously. "Why did you stay with her?" Kendall averted his eyes when Camille faced him, wishing he hadn't said anything at all. He had an answer in mind, but he'd spent so long trying to get over and forget Jo, he didn't want to bring her back up ever again. Camille didn't stop staring at him though, and he knew he'd have to answer sooner or later. He didn't want to go back to avoiding Camille.
"She was my first girlfriend," Kendall admitted. He shrugged when Camille's eyes widened with surprise. "She was... a lot of firsts for me. You never really let go of the person you lost your virginity to, I guess." Camille nodded, finally dropping her stare and looking to her feet.
"You know she cheated on you, right?"
Kendall was quiet for a second. Then he sighed and said, "I know."
Camille's eyes darted to Kendall, then back to her feet. Jo had confided in her all those months ago when she was dating Kendall. Now that she was gone and her relationship with Kendall was over, Camille didn't see the point in keeping secrets. She hadn't felt right doing so in the first place, but Jo trusted her, and Kendall was too happy for her to spoil it all. He made it seem so great being with Jo, like there were never any problems in their relationship. When she realized the truth about their relationship, she thought Kendall was a better actor than she could ever hope to be.
"I stay with Logan because... who else is there for me?" Camille finally revealed, her hair falling over her face as she looked down. Kendall frowned, but before he could ask, Camille continued. "No one wants to be with me like Logan does. Or, did... I don't know anymore. Logan's the only one who'll date me. You take what you get, you know? I really did like him too, we just- It's not what I thought it'd be. But like I said, no one else really cares, so..."
Kendall's eyes didn't leave Camille, even when she looked back up at him. He gulped, moving to be closer to her, shaking as he leaned in, pressing his lips against hers. Five seconds passed and when Camille didn't push him away, Kendall started to feel hope for his fantasy of being with her.
(375)
"You wanna get out of here?"
"I wanna get out of here!"
"You wanna drive away? Far away?"
"Far away!"
"Let's leave!"
"Let's go! Far away!"
"Just us?"
"Just us!"
Kendall and Camille were in his car all day, driving all around L.A. and threatening to leave the city several times. It was Kendall's way of getting her mind off of what was bothering her, and what was bothering her wasn't something he could easily fix. Fans started noticing all of their outings together, as much as they were trying to keep it secret. Thankfully, no one but the fans were noticing yet, but there was still a price. Camille received so much hate for being with Kendall, especially after it was official that she had been Logan's girlfriend.
Seeing how hurt Camille was over all of it, Kendall lifted her chin up and offered her an escape for the day. He suggested they drive until they were away from it all. They both had obligations preventing that from truly happening, but Kendall made good on his promise of getting her away from it. He made her happier.
They spent all day singing to the music that played on the radio, and goofing around in shops at different piers.
"What you feel is what you are, and what you are is beautiful."
Kendall sang the lyric once in the car, and for the rest of the day he would repeat it to Camille.
Grinning at the ceiling, Kendall closed his eyes and exhaled. Camille was asleep in his arms, her hand resting on his bare chest. Her cream colored skin was soft under his fingertips, and Kendall brushed along her shoulder, staring at her peaceful expression while she slept. They rented out a hotel room for the night, throwing all care to the wind and deciding they wouldn't regret anything that happened from now on.
Whatever happened, they would face it together. Kendall loved Camille, and she loved him right back.
(465)
Most of Kendall's time was spent in bed now.
There wasn't a tour to worry about yet, and recording for a third album was still quite some time away. It was a relief for Kendall, because his heart wasn't in it anymore. His heart wasn't in anything since Camille left, and this time, there was no one to help him back on his feet. Logan was still in the process of trying to forgive him, but it was difficult. Neither of them were good at dealing with their feelings, but they were boys - it was to be expected, wasn't it?
James and Carlos didn't serve as much help when it came to comforting. They were torn between their friends, knowing if they tried to help Kendall, Logan would be upset, but keeping Logan happy meant letting Kendall suffer in silence. Their friendships were being tested to the point of no return, and all the blame was directed at Kendall for involving himself with Camille the way he did.
But now she was doing a movie in Alaska, and Kendall hadn't heard from her in two months. They established that they'd try to move on, but neither of them felt that they meant it. So why wasn't she calling? Why couldn't Kendall bring himself to call? Maybe it was because neither of them wanted to have it confirmed that whatever they had, was over now. After Logan found out, their relationship hit a complication that they weren't sure how to overcome. They weren't ready for it yet. They were too young to know how to fix any of it, and that scared them.
Then Camille got the callback, and it was easy for them to drop the tension, and think that something good was going to come.
They didn't really acknowledge the fact that it meant Camille would be leaving. They knew perfectly well that's what it meant, they just didn't pay it any mind. They were just two stupid kids in love.
(477)
With Kendall's pain, came Logan's forgiveness. Slowly, but surely, the boys mended their friendship. Kendall still suffered from his heartbreak, but he didn't voice it. He kept his mouth shut about how much he wanted Camille to come home and be with him again, because now that Logan had forgiven him, he had also admitted that he and Camille weren't good together anymore. He gave Kendall his blessing, and what was keeping Kendall and Camille's relationship secret finally disappeared.
Kendall figured that with every obstacle gone now, Camille would show up at his door and run into his arms. He thought they would kiss and everything would be good again. It didn't happen though, and he had to face the fact that she was finally living her dream and starring in a movie. He was happy for her, and he wanted her to make a name for herself and have success, but he still missed her.
All he wanted was one more chance to hold her again and tell her how much he loved her.
(489)
Time kept moving, even with Kendall stuck in the times when he had Camille. He began to realize though, that he couldn't stay hung up over the past. He'd already wasted time on Jo doing that exact same thing. Camille meant more to him than Jo did, but Kendall knew he couldn't go on like this. After seeing pictures on TV and on the internet, talking about rumors of Camille having a romance with her co-star, Kendall thought he was falling into an even worse depression than he had already been in.
Fighting it, Kendall convinced everyone that he was okay. While he died on the inside, he slapped on a faux smile, thinking that if he pretended enough, he would eventually believe himself that he wasn't still in love with Camille.
(500)
Having spent Christmas being miserable, Kendall was finally sat down by his mother and sister, and told that he couldn't keep torturing himself. Logan, James, and Carlos tried helping, but they were ignored. Kendall's dead eyes slowly came back to life, but it wasn't because of anything his family was saying.
"Come on, it's New Year's Eve. You can start over! You can find someone new! It won't kill you," James insisted, running out of things to say to his almost-catatonic friend.
Kendall ignored them all. His eyes were on the TV behind them. Camille was being interviewed. She was in New York, spending her holiday there after several weeks of filming. Since the TV was muted, everything she said came up in the captions, and Kendall read every last word.
Now Kendall was on a flight to New York. He left without telling anyone, knowing that they would all try to stop him. They would tell him that she had moved on, and he should do the same. They would all say that running off to find Camille was crazy. Kendall had always been pretty crazy though, and he wouldn't give up until Camille herself told him to.
Once the plane landed, Kendall left the airport as fast as he could. He spent twenty minutes trying to flag down a cab before he realized how impossible it was going to be. Catching a bus, he made it to Times Square with five minutes to midnight. Everything he'd been through in the past year and a half replayed in his head. As he ran through the streets, pushing his legs to go faster, he thought about the day he realized he liked Camille, to the first time they spent the night together. He thought about the beauty mark on her lip, and how if her hair got wet after she straightened it, the locks would curl up again. He remembered how frustrated she got over her hair, and how he would always calm her down by telling her she still looked gorgeous.
Pushing through the mob of people, Kendall spotted where Camille had been interviewed. There were people holding up signs and screaming, and he could see other celebrities in the distance. Camille wasn't there, however. Panting, Kendall placed his hands on his hips, breathing in and out as his heart raced. His eyes searched everywhere, trying to find the familiar curly, dark brown hair of the girl he flew miles to see.
"CAMILLE!" Kendall bellowed. People around him turned their heads, and some of them recognized who he was. "CAMILLE! CAMILLE!" Just as his heartbeat was returning to normal, Kendall started running again, screaming Camille's name. Music was booming from stereos and the parade, people were shouting in excitement with each other, and Kendall felt desperation clutching him. He was going to find Camille. Reaching into his pocket, Kendall pulled out his phone, fumbling over the keys as he typed in Camille's name and hit send. He continued to scream out for her, searching the dozens of faces around him and hoping that one of them would be hers. The phone rang several times, until finally-
"Kendall?"
Pausing, Kendall took a moment to breathe. It was the first time in months her voice had said his name, and it was only just now that he realized how much he missed it. Down the street, Kendall could hear his name being called again, echoing through the phone. Camille stood on one of the floats, and Kendall could just barely make out the phone in her hand. His eyes almost couldn't believe that she was there, only a few yards away from him. Hell, had he thought that he'd be in New York when he woke up in L.A. this morning, he wouldn't have believed that either.
But a string of choices led him here, and Kendall was going to get what he came for.
"KENDALL!" Camille shouted, thoughtlessly fleeing the float she was on. She landed in the snow, not bothering to brush it off of her as she ran to Kendall. His arms opened up to her as the distance closed, and Camille shrieked with laughter as she felt his hair in her hands again. He held her as tightly as he could, knowing that this time, he wouldn't be so stupid when he let go. "Kendall, what are you doing here? Why are you-"
Kendall shook his head, pressing his lips against Camille's. He didn't pull away until a long minute later, and they both laughed, neither one of them letting go of each other.
"We'll talk about it later," Kendall answered. There wasn't any need though. Camille wanted him there, and Kendall could see it. That's all he needed to know. She still wanted him, and he still wanted her. It was never over for them, and deep down they both knew it. The tears in Camille's eyes were happy, and her fingers tangled in Kendall's hair as she kissed him again.
Around them, everyone was counting down, but Kendall and Camille were already one step ahead of them all. They kissed as everyone cheered, and the clock struck twelve.
(501)