Chapter 1

Logan Mitchell was frozen.

Chills covered his body from head to toe. His pale skin whitened under the red and white plaid shirt plastered on his body. He trembled and shivered from the cold autumn wind and from the sight in front of him.

Logan Mitchell had never been more terrified in his life.

Because in front of him, a figure lay unconscious, beaten, defeated.

But that wasn't the worst of it; that figure was his best friend.

Logan collapsed to his knees.

The day had been normal. The four boys had struggled through another rehearsal at the studio. They had gone out to eat at Fun Burger.

When they got home was where things took a turn for the worst.

James had told Kendall, Logan, and Carlos he was going to try and get Lucy to date him. This would have been his 26th try; Logan had counted it, and he had pointed it out to James.

James only shrugged it off. He strolled out the door of their apartment home 2J, and that was the last anyone saw of James.

Until now.

Logan was frozen. He couldn't move, no matter how hard he willed himself to. He needed to call the police. James needed help.

But all he could see was his best friend's body, bleeding and bruised and broken, where someone, whoever had done this to James, had painted a picture of a diamond on his forehead.

And Logan was positive the diamond on James's forehead wasn't washable Crayola paint, but the metallic-tasting, red liquid blood of James Diamond.

Then his hands moved. His fingers reached for his phone, scrambled inside his back pocket. They dialed three numbers he'd never thought he'd ever have to dial. That sentence he'd thought he'd never have to hear.

"911, what is your emergency?"

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The sound of ear-piercing sirens snapped Kendall Knight out of his lazy position on the soft orange sofa of 2J.

He jumped up and ran to the window. Sure enough, ambulances were piling up near the dumpster side of the building. Paramedics hurried with their white, ghost-colored gurneys, all heading towards the back of a particularly large dumpster.

Kendall furrowed his bushy eyebrows together. Palm Woods was a small place; Kendall knew everyone in the Palm Woods. It was very likely he knew the victim of whatever had happened out there.

A boy stood next to the paramedics, apparently freaking out. Kendall couldn't tell who it was; he just knew that he probably knew who it was too.

"Hey, Carlos!" Kendall called out to the smaller boy. The Latino looked up from reading his cartoon comic. "Check it out... one of the Palm Woods residents is hurt."

Carlos widened his eyes and scrambled towards the window Kendall was standing at. He looked down at the chaos. Now police were coming out of their vehicles, looking around. "Woah!" Carlos breathed out, eyes wide with awe. Then he turned towards Kendall. "Do you think they'll be okay?" He asked with a concerned voice.

Kendall sighed. "I don't really know. Maybe." He shrugged.

Just then, his cell phone buzzed inside his pocket. He reached for it while looking out the window.

The boy standing in the midst of all those paramedics was also holding a phone up to his ear.

Kendall shook his head; of course the kid would be calling someone.

But then he looked at his caller ID. It was Logan.

"Hello?"

Logan's breathing was hard on the other side. "Kendall? K-Kendall?" His voice sounded squeaky, scared, fearful.

Kendall gulped. Logan was one to panic frequently, but Kendall hadn't remembered ever hearing him so scared. "Logan? What's wrong, dude?" Carlos turned his head to Kendall, eyes wide.

"I-It's James, Kendall... he's going to the hospital. Someone... someone hurt him, Kendall."

Kendall froze. Chills covered him up and down. He looked down, out the window.

That boy was Logan. And the boy who was being carried away on a gurney was his best friend.

James.

Kendall felt a soft nudge on his shoulder. "Kendall? What... What's wrong?" Carlos asked, his voice shaking a little.

Kendall took a breath. "It's James and Logan out there. We gotta get to the hospital."

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"It's gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay..." Kendall whispered to himself, stabbing the keys into the engine and starting the ignition.

"It has to be okay."

Carlos watched him worriedly, and his mother and little sister Katie were sitting in the back, faces pale.

"Kendall, sweetie? Are you sure you don't want me to drive?" Mrs. Knight asked gently.

Kendall shook his head. "No, no... I'm fine. James is fine. Everything's fine. Everything is fine." He took a few deep, calming breaths before reversing the car and pulling out of the parking lot.

No one else said a word.

The ambulances and police cars and fire trucks had pulled out of the Palm Woods by the time Kendall had gotten his family and Carlos together and into the car. Kendall's hands shook a little, but he kept the wheel steady.

Wouldn't do them and James any good if they got into a crash on the way to the hospital, right?

Kendall laughed bitterly at that. Carlos turned to look at him, confused. "Are... are you okay, Kendall?" He asked meekly.

Kendall scoffed. "Yeah. Of course I'm okay... I'm totally fine. Don't worry." He answered curtly. Carlos bit his lip and sat back in his seat, a sad frown on his face.

The rest of the ride was silent, other than Kendall's loud breathing. They got to the hospital in about 10 minutes. Kendall practically jumped out of the car when he'd parked.

The other three passengers got out slowly after him. Kendall tapped his foot impatiently and locked the door right after Katie slammed her door shut. He turned and paced towards the entrance of the hospital.

Mrs. Knight sighed and shook her head. Katie hurried after Kendall, half because she was worried about James too and half because she wanted to slow her older brother down. Carlos turned to Mrs. Knight.

"Why is he acting like that? Is he okay?" He asked worriedly.

Mrs. Knight sighed again. "He's just... he's just in denial a little, sweetie. He's just in a little shock about this whole James thing. Don't worry, okay?" She told Carlos gently.

Carlos nodded obediently. "Okay..."

The two hurried to catch up with Kendall and Katie.

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Logan paced back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. The stuffy waiting room was filled with empty white plastic chairs. There was no one in sight except for him and the nurse at the desk. Why wasn't Kendall here yet? Why weren't they telling him anything about James? Why was-

"Logan!" The smart boy turned around quickly, almost losing his balance. It was Kendall, with a tired looking Katie stumbling in after him. He breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Kendall? I- they're not telling me anything about James... but the last I saw him... he was still alive." Kendall's face paled at that.

"Oh my gosh... oh my god. What... what happened to him?" Kendall asked. His mind had cleared a little; he had to take control again. His best friend was hurt; he had no time to freak out and panic. It would do no one any good.

"That's what we'd like to know too." The two boys and Katie turned around at the voice. A man about 6 feet tall stood in front of them. His blonde hair was darkened by the black suit and black sunglasses he wore. Kendall and Katie glanced at each other.

He seemed to sense their suspicion. He reached his hand out to Logan. "Hi, I'm Detective Josiah Borg. We're here to investigate the assault on Mr. James Diamond, and we would like to talk to the witness here about what happened." The man introduced himself, pulling out his badge for proof.

Logan shook the man's hand hesitantly. "I'm Logan. I'm... I'm the witness, right?"

The man nodded. "Yes. Could you tell us what happened from start to end?"

Logan nodded, his face paling a little. "Yeah, sure. If... If it helps catch whoever did this to James."

Just then, Mrs. Knight and Carlos came walking in, the former relieved to see her son had calmed down. Josiah turned to them. "Hello, I would assume you are James Diamond's parent or guardian?" He asked Mrs. Knight formally.

The woman nodded. "Yes, I am his guardian. Are you here to talk to Logan?"

Josiah nodded. "Yes. The details he will provide us with will be very beneficial to helping find James's assaulter." The word echoed in everyone's mind. James had been attacked, assaulted.

Logan nodded. "I understand. Can... can we talk in private?" He asked nervously. Kendall raised his eyebrows.

Detective Borg nodded. "Of course. There's a room especially reserved for us in case you wanted this to stay between you and the professionals." He explained.

Logan nodded in acceptance. "Can my friend come too?" He asked, motioning at Kendall. The detective looked at both of them.

Finally, he nodded. "Yes. As long as he keeps the information discussed confidential until further notice."

Kendall nodded, determined to find out what had happened to James. "I promise I'll keep the stuff between us. Now let's go."

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"So, Logan, start from the beginning of today. Every single tiny detail you can think about of James, tell me. Got it?" Josiah asked. Logan nodded and took a deep breath. Kendall bit his nails nervously.

"We woke up at about 7:30. James took 20 minutes in the bathroom as he always does. We went to Rocque Records to rehearse for our upcoming album. James acted like he always does. We ended rehearsal at about noon, and we headed to Fun Burger's to eat lunch."

"We got home at about 2 and played dome hockey for a while. Then James told me he was going to ask this girl out on a date, Lucy Stone. She's always rejecting him and this was his 26th attempt at trying to get her to date him. So James left the apartment after spraying a bunch of his Cuda spray on. That was about 5:30. We thought nothing of it. Nothing of it..." Logan trailed off, eyes blanking a little.

"Logan? Dude, it's okay, just keep going, you're doing great." Kendall urged him on. Logan shook his head and continued.

"Yeah. Sorry. So... um, he hadn't come back for quite a while, and I doubted Lucy actually was on a date with him. I had nothing else to do, so I headed out to look for him. That was about 7, and it was getting dark."

Josiah nodded. "What was James wearing when he headed out?"

Logan shrugged. "I... I can't really remember. He was wearing his favorite leather jacket and jeans... that's all I know."

The detective nodded. "That's alright. No jacket was found on the victim when paramedics boarded him onto the ambulance. Too much DNA evidence on it, probably." He told them.

Logan just looked down for a few seconds. "Yeah... that's what I would suspect. I checked the pool and lobby for James, but I didn't find him. I got caught up a little in a conversation with my girlfriend, Camille Roberts, that probably lasted for 15 minutes. By the time I made my way to the dumpster, it was probably 7:30."

"I... I don't know why I decided to check the dumpster. I really don't. Something just told me to go there and check, even though I was almost sure he wouldn't be there. James hates garbage; he's always worried about his hair and his face staying clean."

Logan bit his lip. "And... and then I saw him." He whispered. The room was silent. Josiah scribbled some things down on his notes.

Then he stood up. "Okay... thank you, Logan. That's all we need to know for now. Thanks for taking the time to do this. I'm really sorry about your friend." He nodded at the two and walked out of the room.

Logan stared off into space, a haunted look in his eyes. "Logan, are you okay?" Kendall asked, his voice hoarse. He was already shook up by the events, and there were still the horrific details Logan had not yet shared with him.

Logan shook his head a little. "I never want to see that again."

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Carlos brought his knees up to his chest, burying his face in his arms. Everything had happened so fast, he didn't know what to think.

James had been hurt by someone horrible, Kendall had been freaking out, something that Kendall Knight never did. Never. That's really all he knew at this point.

And the fact that Logan and Kendall had gone off to talk with the detective about James without Carlos. They had left without him.

Wasn't Carlos James's best friend too? Why didn't Logan think Carlos deserved to know what had happened too? Why did he only take Kendall? All four of them were best friends, right?

He looked up, bringing his legs back down. Katie was asleep on Mrs. Knight's shoulder. Mrs. Knight sighed to herself, the wrinkles around her eyes especially wrinkly. "Mama Knight?" He got out, his voice squeaking a little.

The older woman turned to him. "Yes, sweetie? Is there something wrong?"

Carlos was never one to keep secrets, especially if he was upset. "It's just... why did Logan only let Kendall listen to what happened to James? Aren't I his best friend too?" He asked sadly.

Mrs. Knight sighed. She set Katie down gently on her purse and scooted over to where Carlos sat. "Carlos, honey, it's not that. Logan's overwhelmed about all this. He doesn't want more people listening in than there has to be." She explained.

"Yeah, but... I'm James's best friend too." He got out bluntly.

Mrs. Knight wrapped her arm around Carlos. "Carlos, I know this is hard for you. I know James means a lot to you. But Logan just needs time to recover. I'm sure he'll tell you soon, maybe even right when he comes out."

Carlos sniffled, tears brewing in his eyes. "But why did he tell Kendall then?"

"Carlos, Logan was in shock. Kendall was the first person he thought of, so he asked for Kendall. I'm sure it was a fifty-fifty chance. Don't worry about it, okay? Kendall and Logan love you, Carlos; you guys are all best friends." Mrs. Knight assured Carlos.

Carlos just sniffled and leaned his head against Mrs. Knight's shoulder. Just then, the detective walked in, looking like he did before.

"Jennifer Knight?" The woman stood up, gently pushing Carlos's head off of her shoulder.

"Can I talk to you too?" He asked, just as Logan and Kendall walked out of the room. They both looked like they'd just been in a horror movie.

Mrs. Knight nodded firmly. "Of course, detective. What about?"

The detective looked at her. "About James's family."

A/N- 3 STORIES AT ONE TIME?! I'm crazy, I know. But this has been on my mind for a while, and I've been planning it out for the past month or so. It's a James angst story, but it focuses equally on him and the three boys.

Anyways, I hope you guys really enjoyed, or enjoyed, this chapter. I hope I'll update soon, but you know me... Please review this chapter and tell me what you think though, okay? I need to know if anyone's gonna want me to update this story at all. Hehe.

Peace, Love, and Giraffes,

Anonymous Skrtle