A/N This is my first story so please R&R and tell me what you think. I know its not great but I tried :)

"Mom please…I can't handle the tears right now." The blonde whispered as his mother embraced him. "Mom I just want to go to bed. I have to be up early tomorrow." "I know baby. I am so proud of you. I am. It just breaks my heart to let you go to boot camp. All by yourself." He wanted to tell his mother that everything was going to be alright but he couldn't mutter those simple words as he wasn't sure himself. He knew that he wanted this more than anything but he also knew that leaving his mother alone with his little sister was going to tear her heart right out of her chest. "Mom I will see you in the morning."

"Get up! Get up right now you fucking maggots. We have lots of fun to get through today!" Kendall opened his eyes as the lights brought the plain white room to life. The heart inside his chest pounded against his bones. Flailing out of bed he grabbed the clothes that were distributed to him the night before. The entire time he was franticly trying to throw on the cloth the drill sargent, who was a tall, dark-skinned, muscular man, was screaming insulting phrases in their faces. When he was finally dressed through the madness he threw his bed together and stood to attention at the end of his bed. He stared at the boy who stood across from him. Their eyes locked taking in each other's frightened expressions. Chest's heaving as they tried to bring in as much oxygen as possible. He noticed that the other boy had tears already building in his blue eyes. Kendall felt bad for him. He didn't have the urge to cry though he knew that, most likely sooner than later, his time would come when he broke.

"Great! You all have survived your first night at Marine Boot Camp." The strong deep voice ripped him from his thoughts and they faded to the back of his mind as he dealt with the task at hand…Surviving this very moment.

"Knight! Run faster you filthy son of a bitch!" It was the sixth day of boot camp. Kendall put his head down as he was called out at the end of the pack. They were just entering the second mile of their morning run. He felt as the pain in his legs shot up his body into all the aching parts. Yesterday afternoon he was doing push-ups when Drill Sargent McCoy called him out for not being able to finish five sets of fifteen. He felt himself coming to his breaking point. He thought about what his mother had told him as she hugged him for the last time.

"It's OK to cry, baby. They are there to break you. It's their job so that they can build you up stronger."

At that moment Kendall had blown off her words of advice, though, now that he was running as hard as he could with a large, grizzly man screaming at him he knew his time was coming.

"What's wrong? Did you expect us to be your mommy and hold your hand? Did you think that you would get treated like a king? NO! You are a filthy maggot who has no ability. You can't even make it through this little run!" As Kendall listened to the words spoken behind him, though he knew he shouldn't, he snapped.

The tears he had been hiding finally fell. He let a whimper escape his burning throat as he breathed in the smoldering air that surrounded him.

"Don't you dare cry you weak little bitch!"

Kendall knew that he couldn't do anything about what was being said or else his division mates and he would be punished for his actions. The last thing he needed was more attention drawn to him.

He could see the end of the run as he came over the hill pushing himself harder to get away from the angry man behind him. When he passed that 2 mile mark he stopped within the other gathered boys and bent over his knees. He felt as though he was going to vomit as the sobs erupted from the bottom of his stomach.

Kendall turned as he watched the DS began to harass another boy who began to become sick. He straightened himself looking at the boys that surrounded him with sympathy in their eyes.

It was the third week of boot camp. He hadn't exactly gotten a chance to meet many of the other boys, though did meet one that he had become fond of. He was a shorter boy with dark skin and blue eyes. His name was Mathew Alexander though everyone called him Xander.

"Hey, Knight. Guess what!"

"What?" Kendall muttered to the boy lying on the floor next to him.

"I think we are gonna get out of here alive" Xander gasped between sit ups.

"Why do you say that?" The blonde boy asked after a soft chuckle that was subsided when he remembered the run that made him think the world around him was going to come crashing down.

"Because. This is getting easier. I mean. The two mile runs, the push-ups, and the sit ups. I thought I would never survive after that third day."

Kendall thought back to the first time that he had officially met Xander. They were being shown how to properly make their beds. Kendall thought that the entire thing was a piece of cake between getting the sheet one inch from the top of the bed, pillow square in the middle of the head of the bed, the tucked and angled corners at the foot of the mattress, and being able to do it in 50 seconds. Though, the boy next to him couldn't even get the sheet straight as it folded back over the top blanket. Kendall leaned over to help him perfect this simple task when suddenly he heard "Knight, Alexander!" Kendall and the other boy scrambled to the end of their beds and stood at attention. Kendall prepared for humiliation.

"Knight, just what the fuck do you think you are doing helping this piece of shit?" Kendall was just about to speak when more came flowing out. "I know that we are supposed to learn to work as a team but how the hell are we supposed to trust someone who can't even manage making their own fucking bed?"

The man told them to relax then walked away never looking back at them.

After they had been dismissed for dinner Xander introduced himself and said "C'mon, we can eat together."

Kendall shook his head and looked at the boy next to him and said "Yeah, not exactly how everyone meets their friends, heh?" They both chuckled as they finished their afternoon exercises.

"Hey, I want you to meet a few people at dinner!" Xander exclaimed as they jumped to their feet.

Kendall hadn't really talked to anyone else more than the working together as a group though he didn't remember many names. He was excited to meet new potential friends.

As they walked away from the food line and towards a table where three other boys sat Kendall took in their faces trying to find any recognition. There was some though he didn't know their names exactly.

Xander pointed to each boy and pointed to each as he introduced them as Marcus, Ryan, and James.

The boy called James jumped to his feet and extended a hand to Kendall and said "My name is James Diamond, though, just call me James."

Kendall looked at the boy with a questioning look and set his tray down and shook his hand with a smile. "I'm Kendall."