A/N: Okay so I'm posting this now for a number of reasons. First, this is a request from Gifted Shadows. Honestly I kind of forgot about this little plot bunny so this is way late but I think it came out pretty well. Second, I kind of got a little carried away with this and I'm not sure if this is what you meant but it is Kendall/Katie fluff and is bullying related it's just that I put some of my own experiences into this without really meaning to. And third, tomorrow is Carlos' birthday. This really has nothing to do with him whatsoever but he does make a small appearance... But he's 23 tomorrow! WOAHHHH! And fourth, and this is the last one guys, I know a couple of my friends on here are starting school today- I'm not sure if anyone started before today but I know plenty of you are starting school very soon. So I hope you all have wonderful first days and I hope you all keep your heads held high. And sorry for that waaay too long author's note.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything whatsoever.

Tears burn in Katie Knight's eyes but she refuses to let them fall. She wasn't weak. She was strong. That was what everyone expected of her... Or at least assumed. Katie, the ever-so-clever thirteen year old was fearless. She was the person people expected to bully not be bullied. Smart, cunning, sneaky, strong... All were characteristics one would use if they were to describe her. But there was one they often didn't think of immediately. Katie was a dreamer.

It was hard for people to see Katie as a girl. More so, a girly girl. She was a tomboy, right? She liked wearing t-shirts and jeans and went to the arcade. She could beat up boys in a second and she could win at everything. People didn't often see the soft side of her. And when they did, it would be to extremes. She held everything in until she crashed and burned. And even then, she'd only let the people closest to her comfort her.

But she did have a soft side. Once they got past the stubbornness, sneakiness and cunningness, she was like every other girl. Why didn't they know that? She dreamt of becoming a princess and having her Prince Charming come sweep her off her feet. She dreamt of everyone admiring and looking up to her. Just like every other girl. For some reason though, they all thought she was an outcast. They assumed she wasn't one of them and picked on her. Every single day. And yet she never uttered a word.

Today was the worst though. As she squeezes her eyes shut, the big brown eyes of her hiding sorrowfully, she regrets ever coming to school today. She could have easily pulled off being sick or even having something like a tummy ache. Anything to keep out of school. She wishes silently that she could go back to the morning and pretend to be ill. Then this wouldn't be happening.

The waiting, most of the time, was torturous. She doesn't get why one of the prissy little girls doesn't just hit her already. She wants to get it over with. She knows that she can easily beat these girls up yet she knows that wouldn't be right and refrains to do so. Besides, it wasn't the physical pain that hurt the most.

Her mom had decided that with the exponential growth with Big Time Rush bringing them such luxuries that Katie should be going to a real school. More specifically, a rich private school. Where everyone was filthy rich and didn't hesitate to flaunt their wealth, Katie immediately felt out of place. Growing up with her mom working double shifts and Kendall working at the local grocery store, Katie had never been able to afford a lot of things. But the love she had gotten was enough and she never felt like anything was missing. But since she first started attending the school, she had been getting teased endlessly.

Like she said before, today was the worst. They'd found her diary today. It wasn't that she purposefully brought it to school, it must have slipped in with her other books and Katie could not have been more embarrassed. While she didn't seem like the girl to write in a diary, she did have one that held secrets just like every other diary.

She springs back into reality; she realizes the incredibly long wait is over. Yet she can't decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

A girl with sleek, straight blonde hair with barrettes clipped in shoves her and she stumbles backwards. Her eyes frantically scan around and she hates that no teacher is in sight and there is no way out. There's a perfect circle formed around her and it already feels like its going to suffocate her. Her stomach does summersaults and heat rushes throughout her body. Beads of sweat appear on her hairline and her hands begin to shake, fear creeping throughout her body.

"You think you're so tough, don't you?" Angelina taunts. She whips her curly black hair so that it hits Katie's face.

"We read your diary. Every single page. Though there's not much to read. It seems like you just started it. But it was enough for us."

"Do you actually think you, of all people, can be a princess? Please. My grandmother who's old and wrinkly- not to mention 85- would be a more suitable princess."

"Look at you!" another girl says snobbishly, "Not even in your wildest dreams can you be a princess."

A pair of fingers reach out and pinch a bit of skin that rests on Katie's stomach. "So fat. No one wants a fat princess."

Another pair of hands near her yet this time they squish her cheeks together so that she can barely see out of her eyes. When she's released, the same pair of hands swipe across her cheek so hard that she can faintly hear an echo. She holds her cheek in horror and pain as yet another girl continues to gush out hurtful comments. "See," she grabs her face, "Not even pretty." Then, she pushes Katie away forcefully.

"You don't have anything it takes to be a princess. The looks are out of the question but smarts? You think you're all that, don't you? Well you're not. I don't know if anyone's ever told you this but you're incredibly stupid and I don't understand why anyone would ever want you around," a girl with unruly red hair spat crudely.

Don't let them get to you, Katie, she tells herself, you know you're better than that. But honestly, deep down, she knew that she'd began to believe that she wasn't.

Then quickly, she feels no fingers poking and prodding her and as she opens her eyes and sees through the little slits, she realizes a teacher- a strict one at that- had just turned her attention to them. They scramble and as Katie checks her watch, she realizes that it's almost 3:15 and someone ought to worry if she were going to return home so late. Her cheek still sizzles and she quietly hisses in pain but she knows she's felt worse. Maybe not physically but the little nasty comments here and there were wearing her down. All she really wanted to do now was go home, take a nice warm shower and then curl up in bed, dreaming of a place far, far away from here.

Bending over, she pick up her bag which had fallen to the ground and reaches into the small pocket on the left, pulling out a tube of concealer. Along with it comes a mirror and as she strides down the stoned pathway, she lathers it on generously so that her already swelling cheek can be unseen as she goes throughout apartment 2J. She's grateful that her house is not all that far away because in the overheating Californian sun, the makeup can easily melt.

As she slips inside the cozy apartment, she rushes to her room and pulls out loose pajama pants and a baggy t-shirt before running tithe bathroom and turning on the shower. She steps inside, letting the hot water dribble down her body as her mind drifts off elsewhere.

She finds herself reflecting on the day's events and how... hollow she felt on the inside. Almost... numb. That wasn't normal, was it? The inside of her body felt like it was aching and her knees trembled before they gave way and Katie came crashing down on the shower floor.

You're not even pretty.

So fat.

You're so stupid.

Why would anyone want you around?

These comments and many more haunt her and buzz through her mind, controlling every aspect of it. It's the smallest words, she discovers, that hurt the most.

She feels a lump growing in her throat and tears threaten her eyes. She hated crying. She absolutely hates it. She hates how it makes her weak and how it makes her feel overall. The red, puffy eyes, the constant pouring of tears, the fear of crying so hard that she'll fall sick... everything. She doesn't want to cry but as she peeks out of the curtain and stares at the mirror directly across from the shower, she suddenly sees all the awful flaws in her and in the end, she sobs gut- wrenching sobs. She was fat. She was ugly. She was never going to succeed. And all this time, she thought they were lying but in fact they had been telling the truth. She just hadn't seen anything until now.

She cries and cries for nearly fifteen minutes and the tears fall freely from her face, mixing in with the water from the shower and she's unable to differentiate between the two liquids. She sniffles and sheds a few more tears before she realizes that she's going to make herself sick if she doesn't stop. Though really, would it matter?

Then she quickly, she steps out and gets dressed, making her way to her room to apply more makeup.

Kendall can hear faint noises from the bathroom. Katie's been there for longer than usual and he suspects something is fishy. He stands outside the room, hearing the unmistakable sounds of Katie's crying. He's heard it plenty of time as a child- when Katie was just a baby- but ever since her toddler years, she'd always been a strong, hard-headed girl.

In a hushed tone, he calls Carlos over who had just been passing by, and asks if he hears anything. Carlos confirms it as a cry and being the affectionate person he is, he gets ready to break down the door when Kendall stops him and tells him that he'll handle it. Furrowing his eyebrows in uncertainty, he reluctantly nods, having complete trust in Kendall. With that, he leaves for the pool, leaving Katie and Kendall alone.

Deciding to give her some space- or at least until she can back downstairs- Kendall descends the stairs, waiting on the couch for his beloved sister.

Sure enough, she comes downstairs. Heading straight to the freezer, she pulls out an ice-pack, wraps it in cloth, and then turns to return to her room when Kendall stops her.

"Katie," he calls out.

For a split second, she freezes, then replies, "What?" It is meant to come of as sharp and harsh but her congested nose softens it, making her sound almost vulnerable.

"Are you okay?" he speak in a caring, gentle tone, knowing that Katie wasn't one to jump at the chance to open up to others.

"Huh? Uh, yeah. Just had a little headache and thought I'd ice my head. I'm gonna go to sleep," she mumbles and continues back to her room before Kendall has the chance to say anything.

She had been crying, he could hear it in her voice yet he doesn't chase after her. Instead, when he hears her bedroom door click shut, he walks to her room and sits beside the door... just in case. Maybe she would need him and if that were the case, he should be out there. He leans his head against the wall behind him and under his breath, he hums a soft, random tune. By closing his eyes, he tries to figure out whether or not Katie really fell asleep. Deciding to take the risk, he opens a sliver of her door and at the sight he sees, his heart breaks.

Katie is hugging her knees as she lays on her side with fat tears rolling from her huge puppy- dog eyes and down her rosy cheeks. She stares off into space as she lies on her bed, oblivious to Kendall's presence.

Meanwhile, Kendall is taken aback at how vulnerable Katie looks and as he sits down and touches her shoulder, he's surprised when she doesn't react. He scrambles off the bed and then crouches in front of her, pushing her hair back so he can look into her doleful brown eyes. He cups her delicate face in his hands and cradles it.

"Katie? What's wrong?" He talks in a whisper, in hopes to not startle the poor girl. His thumb wipes away some of the rapidly falling tears from her flushed cheeks and is elated when her eyes flicker up at him.

Letting down her guard, she whimpers pitifully, "It hurts, Kendall. Make it go away." Even though she is referring to her cheek, it's not just her cheek that hurts. The inside of her body feels like it's aching

She confides in Kendall when she sees no point in hiding it from her big brother because by the looks of it, he wasn't going to let it go and even though she thought she didn't deserve comfort, she so desperately wanted it.

"What hurts, baby sister?" he asks with concern.

Even though she wants to say everything, she doesn't say anything at all and instead, lifts her cheek off the ice-pack and pillow, staring up at the ceiling.

He gasps, his wavering fingers gently grazing over her throbbing cheek. There was a hand-print on it and the swelling had gone done a little, though it almost nearly looked the same as before. "Who did this?" he cries out, his voice heavy with anger and worry. When she doesn't respond, he repeats himself, "Katie, tell me who did this to you."

"No one," she mumbles, burying her face into the pillow, "It's not a big deal."

"Katie, no. It's a huge deal. No one can get away with hurting you like this."

"Kendall, you don't need to worry about me," she insists.

"Yes, I do. You're my baby sister, I'm supposed to protect you," Kendall tells her. He pats her head before sitting on the bed again.

Katie shakes her head but is unable to formulate words to speak. There's so much she feels urged to tell him yet she doesn't know how she's supposed to tell him that she feel so unwanted right now. She can't imagine pouring out her feelings and telling him that she feels ugly, fat, stupid, and weak, among other things. She can't tell him that she feels like she doesn't deserve him or anyone else for that matter.

"Katie, I can't protect you if I don't know what's hurting you. Please tell me?" he asks her.

"It's just a few girls at school, okay? That's it. I can handle it," she assures him, a small, fake smile appearing on her face.

Kendall refuses to believe her. He can see that she's lying and that the smile is fake. This was worse than just a few mean comments. No, this was so much worse. "I've never seen you like this before though." And as Katie sits up and leans into him, he's surprised to see her hugging the bunny he had gotten for her as a kid. Smiling at the memory, he still remembers how he mowed every lawn he could that summer so that he could get it for her sixth birthday. He hadn't seen Floppsy in years. Quite honestly, he hadn't even been aware of the fact she still had it- though the fact she did made him happy.

"Tell me the truth," Kendall protests. He's adamant about this, he plans on holding his ground no matter what.

"Leave it," she whispers harshly.

"No. Tell me, Katie."

"Leave me alone, Kendall."

"Not until you tell me."

"No."

"Katie, I'm serious."

And then, after the long argument, Katie finally cracks. She gives in and words and feelings come pouring out of her mouth and she can't stop them. She expects Kendall to get up and leave but is pleasantly surprised when he wraps his arms around her.

"I don't know why this is happening. I didn't do anything to them," she blubbers and until Kendall rocks her back and forth, wiping her tears, she hadn't even realized that she'd been crying.

"Shhh," he calms her, "Sweetie, tell me what happened," he smoothes some strands of hair behind her ear and cradles her to his chest.

Without hesitation, she buries her face in the crook of his neck, letting her tears flow. "Does it really matter?" she remarks bitterly but when Kendall gives her a look, she caves, "Girls are so vicious. They won't leave me alone, Kenny. And I never even did anything to them. They keep pushing me around and calling me names and I can't stand it." She diverts her eyes so that she doesn't have to look into Kendall's emerald-like ones because she knows that if she does, she won't be able to stop herself from telling him even more of the truth.

But Kendall isn't having any of it and guides Katie's chins towards him so that she has no choice but to look at him. "You know this isn't okay, right?" When she doesn't answer yet again, he repeats himself. "Katie, you do know that right?"

Absentmindedly, Katie shrugs. "Maybe I deserve it."

"Why would you think that?" he gasps.

"They said..."

Kendall interrupts, "No, no, no, Katie, you know what they said isn't true, right? Those girls will talk and say mean things but you can't let them get to you."

"What if it's too late?" she questions in a quiet voice, "What if I already let them get to me?"

Without warning or hesitation, Kendall scoops her up and brings her over to the dresser in her room and sets her down, both of them staring into the mirror before them.

"Tell me what you see," he requests, placing his hands on her shoulders and smiling at her in encouragement.

"I can tell you what I don't see," she chuckles humorlessly, "I don't see the confident thirteen year old I was a few weeks back. All I see is limp hair, an ugly face, a fat body..."

"Stop it," Kendall cuts her off, "Do you want to know what I see?" With a hint of fear, Katie nods. "I see my baby sister who's so pretty that it hurts," he smiles at the reference to the song he wrote, "She's funny, clever, fearless and so brave. And she never lets anyone tell her otherwise."

Tears well up in Katie's eyes and a lump grows in her throat for the second time that day, preventing her from speaking clearly. "Th-that's not all true, Kendall. I'm not any of those things. I get scared. I can't be brave."

"But that's what makes you human. Remember what I told you? No one can hurt you without your permission. They can be mean but don't believe anything they say. You're amazing just the way you are."

And despite the fact that Katie nods her head, she can't bring herself believe him. Because Kendall didn't know what it was like to be messed with like that. Manipulated. In a matter of weeks, people have managed to completely manipulate her brain and made her believe everything they told her. It only takes a second, a minute, a day to be completely ruined like that, she realizes.

But that doesn't mean she won't try to believe Kendall.

"And hey, Katie? I'm going to pick you up from school tomorrow."

And at that, Katie attacks Kendall in a bear hug and weeps in gratitude as he whispers comforting words to her, telling her everything would be okay.

The next day, after the dismissal bell rang, the students file out, cheering at the end of another school day.

That is, everyone except a group of girls far off in a corner. They're surrounding a girl who's trembling. That girl is no other than Katie Knight. And she's desperately hoping that Kendall will show up to save her from the girls.

"Hey there Katie," a girl with jet black hair twirls a piece of Katie's brown hair between her fingers. And just as she swings her hand back to hit Katie, it's caught midair.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on her," Kendall says threateningly, "You're lucky. If you weren't a little girl, I would beat the crap out of all of you for hurting my baby sister." He drops her hand and reaches for Katie. "No one gets away with hurting Katie."

The girls all step back, looking with awe at the pop star hugging their victim. "But you're… you're Kendall Knight from Big Time Rush. What do you mean, 'baby sister'?"

Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, he asks Katie, "They don't know we're siblings?"

Katie shrugs as if it's not a big deal, "No."

"Why not?" Kendall inquires slowly.

"Because if they knew I was Kendall Knight's little sister, I would instantly be popular and that wasn't what I wanted! I wanted to earn whatever I made of myself in my new school where no one would know what I was, I didn't wanted people fawning over me and using me to know things about you."

And then the subject is dropped for a few minutes and Kendall, waving a finger in the girls' faces, warns them, "Don't you ever bother her again, understood? Or I swear, I'll do something that'll make you wish you never said anything to her in the first place."

The girls nod their heads, gulping. Then Kendall takes Katie's hand and they walk away with their heads held high. As they approach the car, they climb in and Kendall starts the ignition.

"I didn't want to say this out there but how in the world did they not put two and two together? We have the same last name," he points out.

Katie grins sheepishly, "There are more than two Knight's in the world."

"Ones named Katie Knight?" Kendall quirks an eyebrow.

"Yeah... let's just say they aren't the brightest girls."

"Ahhh," he grins.

"You may have just lost a few Rushers back there. They fawn all over you and the guys all the time."

"You're worth more to me than a bunch of cruel fans." And then, before driving away, Kendall leans over, cups Katie's face in his hands and kisses her forehead. "You look beautiful, by the way."

And it's in those three small words that Katie' heart warms. She knew he'd said it to boost her confidence and so, as she throws her arms around his torso, she knows how truly lucky she is to have a big brother like Kendall. "Thank you, Kenny."

And unlike the day before, she allows herself to believe him. Because even though she still remembers every hurtful comment that was directed towards her, she'll know that her brother believes in her and with a brother as persistent as Kendall, it was hard to not believe him. It would be hard and she would have to work at it everyday, but she would try to believe Kendall and regain the image she once had for herself.

But that didn't change the fact she had been manipulated. Her mind would never return to the way it originally was.

Because all it takes is a second.

A minute.

A day.

Or more.

And that amount of time can alter someone's thinking forever.

So be careful of what you say and what you do. You never know who you're going to effect.

And don't manipulate others and try not to be manipulated because once you are, trust me, there's no going back.

A/N: I think I've pretty much summed everything up. This is probably the longest thing I ever wrote. Lol. :) Now back to working on summer reading! Byeee! Oh and I hope you liked it Gifted Shadows!

Much love to you all.

So... review?