A/N: Heyy folks! I have a few story in the works, but I currently lack motivation in them and after watching the entirety of BTR in the space of two weeks, and completely loving the band, and reading some really amazing fan fiction, I decided to give it a go. I'm still learning and improving my writing, so leaving reviews is most appreciated. I mean seriously, if you like it tell me, it'll very easily make my day. If you have ways I could improve, I'd love to hear those too. Thanks!
Summary: Kendall's pushing himself too hard during the Holiday Season at work. This is then not helped but the fact it's winter and cold.
Timeline: The winter before the boys get taken to LA and made into stars. Not sure what age that makes them.
Hope you like it!
The slowly darkening overhead sky was a cool reminder that the day was falling. With it, was mound upon mound of slowly falling snow. It was a freezing day in Minnesota, most people would argue it was one of the coldest days they'd seen that month. They'd probably be right, and while most would be all wrapped up warm inside watching the snow, or watching their kids as they ran around recking havoc, for some it was still a day like every other that had come before it. Kendall Knight was a teen of many gifts. He was a hard worker, he was a good brother and he was more of an adult than he ever let on. With his friends he could just be Kendall, the leader, the strongest and the one who always enjoyed a bit of fun, to Katie, his little sister, he was the guy she could go to with any problems. She saw him as her own personal Superman. For those that didn't know Kendall, he was that teenager who was always getting into trouble at school, and was slowly falling behind. But Kendall was much more responsible than he would ever say, he needed to be.
A cold gust of wind changed the direction of the falling snow. It was roughly three in the afternoon on a cold Saturday. Kendall was cold, sore and exhausted. He'd been working since eight that morning, and he hadn't gotten in from hockey that night until about eleven that night. He was quietly muttering curses to himself and wishing he was anywhere but in the supermarket parking lot. He was wishing so desperate to be able to go home, and just rest. Spend the day with the friends that meant so much to him. With Katie. But he couldn't, because he had a responsibility to his family, to help provide, be the man of the household. It wasn't easy, but he still had to do it. His mom worked very hard to keep them going, but Kendall knew he had to help out, to be sure they'd never have too many money problems. Just in the freezing cold it was difficult to remember why he was working. Difficult to stay motivated
Pushing six shopping carts was hard, since the snow was coming down thick and the ground was icy in parts and snowy in others, they stuck and refused to budge. He could feel all of his muscles ache as he pushed harder and harder. School, the day before had been exhausting, all his teachers were having a go at him for the simple reason that he was falling behind. Admittedly he knew his grades hadn't really been great as of late, and it wasn't due to the fact the work was overly hard, just Kendall was so exhausted from hockey and work that school work tended to come second. With the Holiday season in full force it had been twice as hard for Kendall to stay completely on top. With him working all the nights he didn't have Hockey and working most of the weekends. It meant his homework could only been done in the early morning hours he had left.
This was his second winter on the job, as soon as he had turned the right age he'd gotten a job, but he couldn't remember the job being this hard the year before. Nor did he remember the weather being this bad. He dressed as warm as he could but there was really only so much that a hat, scarf and gloves could do. Snow was cold, and none of his clothing apart from his jacket was waterproof. After about three hours after arriving the boy had begun to get very cold. Thankfully he was meant to take breaks every five hours, it was unpaid so Kendall tended to only take about ten minutes, with his break he tended to get as warm as he possibly could before heading back out.
The signs of exhaustion were clear on Kendall. People who hadn't noticed weren't looking right. Carlos, James and Logan had all seen it. Kendall was slightly snappier, he tended to fall asleep in class and they'd all noticed the way Kendall wasn't doing as well in classes. However none of them had to worry about having enough money. Logan's mom was in real estate which had a good amount of money coming in, James' mom was CEO of the family cosmetics business, and Carlos' dad worked for the police. They didn't have jobs, they didn't need them.
They'd all seen the small changes to Kendall recently, seen the way Kendall moved more slowly, that the smile didn't reach his eyes as often as it should. That he was working so much, that juggling school, hockey, and his own health was clearly becoming a challenge. He barely slept and he barely found time to eat. It was safe to say that all his friends were worried about him. A lot more than Kendall was actually aware.
The shopping carts halted completely as the snow became too thick, he was about twenty centimeters away from being done with the set of shopping carts so he was pretty certain that nothing could be more frustrating in that moment. He stood up straight and let out a small angry breath. He couldn't deal with this. Not today. He was too tired, too frustrated. He just wanted to go home and be with his friends and little sister. In that moment he really just wanted to punch something. Someone, anything. But with no one in sight, and a slowly emptying supermarket parking lot he didn't. Instead he just let out a long sigh, and with one forceable push, pushed the carts as hard as he possibly could. This caused all six to rush forward and crash into place. It also caused Kendall to be put off balance. He slipped on a bit of ice and fell to the floor. Thankful his reactions were quick enough that he was able to use his hands to break the fall.
"Kendall. Kendall!" A voice sounded in the distance. With Kendall lying face down in the snow he couldn't quite make out the voice, but he was quick to push himself up and on to his feet. He didn't bother looking to see where the voice had come from instead he began to brush off all the snow that had appeared on his clothing due to the fall.
"Hey buddy, you all right?" Kendall glanced up at the voice. Logan. Even with the terrible day Kendall was suffering through, seeing his friend made him smile. He gave a quick nod. From what he could tell he was fine. Still sore from Hockey and working all day but Logan wasn't really asking that. Kendall looked at his friend, he was meant to be staying with Katie for the day, since both Kendall and his mom were working.
"I'm fine, is Katie with you?" Kendall asked glancing around but not spotting the brown eyed girl that Kendall always did anything for.
"You sure? She's with James and Carlos at your house, they wanted me to go get a movie, from the store, and to see how you were doing. Seeing as it's snowing and like minus three degrees." Logan knew he probably wasn't going to get a straight answer from Kendall, he'd really only been sent out for the movie by Katie. But as soon as Logan had seen the snow fall even harder he'd been worried about the friend who was out in it. After sharing his sentiments with Carlos and James, they'd all come to the conclusion that they needed to at least know how he was doing. Logan felt somewhat right about his concerns as soon as he spotted Kendall. He hadn't seen the fall coming, but as he stared at the face of one of his best friends he could see that it probably wasn't the first fall of the day and he was sure it wouldn't be the last.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What movie did you pick out?" Kendall asked, avoiding the question of his well being appreciating the thought, but he didn't want to have to lie to his best friend. Kendall didn't like doing such a thing especially if they just wanted to know how he was. He just couldn't say that he wasn't. He had to be the leader, the strong one. He had to be the one to keep the others going. He had to be he one that knew no fury. That never backed down and always did the best he could no matter the situation. Even if it meant working twice as hard as all the others then so be it.
"Bridge to Terabithia." Logan said in a tone that said he wasn't too happy about the movie choice. "Your sister's choice not ours. I should probably get going man"
"Yeah, and I should get back to work." Kendall nodded in agreement. He would basically anything to be able to go home with Logan and watch the movie with them. Be with his friends and with his sister, watch a movie and be completely warm. "Thanks for looking after Katie."
"No problem, you sure you're okay, man? That looked like a nasty fall?" Logan asked again, but when he noticed Kendall nodding to say he was okay. Logan just smiled and gave his friend a small hug before turning and walking away. Leaving a cold Kendall standing alone in the car park. He sighed to himself before setting off where he could see more shopping carts for him to push into the right place. Getting back to the long boring work that was what he got paid to do.
Finally time for his break Kendall Knight pushed the last shopping cart into the right place and headed back to the store. He wouldn't take a long break, but seeing as he'd been working non stop since about midday, he thought he was entitled to at least a little warmth. The warmth the inside of a supermarket could provide. He had managed to fall over a few more times outside, but he was at least thankful that the snow had stopped.
Kendall stepped into the staff room and took a seat right next to the radiator. He didn't have long left in his shift, another three hours and then he'd be able to go home. So all he had to do at this point was get warm, to be able to face the next three hours, which was easier said than done. He pulled off his hat and placed it on the heater with his gloves and scarf. It was occurring to him now that it would perhaps be beneficial to him to start bringing more than one set of gloves, scarves and hats.
Pulled off his outdoor jacket, Kendall let himself sit next to the radiator, and let his mind drift. It wasn't going to be easy the last part of his shift. He had almost no energy left. He could barely keep his eyes open and the temperature was getting lower and lower as it got later and later. Even with his gloves Kendall was having trouble keeping his hands warm. It was safe to say that he would be pretty thankful when he finally got home. It would be the ray of light from a long and boring day.
The boy's stomach grumbled loudly as Kendall prepared to go back out to the face the snow. He wanted to quit so bad but he couldn't, he worked for a reason and he couldn't give up. He sighed as he pulled his still slightly damp gloves on, getting redressed in his warm clothing and heading outside. It was moments like that, that made Kendall wish he could just leave. Go somewhere warm with sunshine and a pool he could fall in love with. But as much as he wished for that, it was never going to happen and he just had to get used to the cold.
The cold air hit his face almost immediately as he stepped out into the parking lot. He knew that if he just kept working, and kept himself busy that it would be over soon. That he could just go home. Sit on the sofa and relax. Having something to eat and spend time with his sister. He just had to get through this. He'd done it before, it would be fine.
After another fairly spectacular fall in the snow, after pushing a shopping cart into the right area. The snow began to fall in a much more blizzard manner. He was heading to find another shopping cart when he noticed his manager calling him over. Fearing that it was maybe about something he'd done wrong, Kendall was a little wary. He couldn't remember doing anything wrong, he hadn't for a while, while working in this kind of weather his friends tended to not visit so the likelihood of him getting into trouble was small.
"Kendall, go home." His manager said as soon as Kendall was close enough to hear. At first Kendall was sure this meant he was fired, and he'd been about to ask what he'd done wrong when his manager spoke again. "You're not fired, It's just snowing really hard, and you've been at this all day. Go home, get some rest, I'll see you in the morning. And don't worry you'll be paid for the hours you didn't do. Now, go home" Kendall had always gotten along well with the store manager. Which was why he'd even do such a thing, that and Kendall was the youngest person working at the store.
Thanking the store manager, Kendall rushed inside to grab his belongings. He could hardly believe his luck. He was getting to go home, a whole two hours earlier than planned. At this point the boy was pretty sure that a miracle had happened. It didn't matter what had happened, all he knew was that he would be home a lot earlier than he'd planned to be, which would mean he could maybe spend a little time with his friends. He grabbed his rucksack and headed out the store.
Walking home was a trek and a half, but after the bus he took only took him half way he was walking as fast as he could under the conditions that he was faced with. Walking a lot quicker since he really just wanted to be home. The snow falling like in a blizzard, the icy cold winds. The frozen ground and the growing darkness. He didn't even care at this point about any of those things since he was heading home. As soon as his house came into sight, the teen broke into the fastest run that he could. Ignoring the exhaustion, stiffness, pain and cold he felt. He fumbled with the key in the lock before letting himself into the house and closing the door behind him.
The warmth of the Knight household washed over him in one quick motion. He leaned against the door, letting himself regain his breath as he began to pull off his hat, scarf and gloves. Putting all of them next to the door, ready and waiting for work the next day. He pulled off his bag and coat, hanging up his coat, before taking the bag and heading into the main room of the house. He spotted his three friends and Katie sitting watching the movie Logan had bought for them to watch. They were all so into the movie that they hadn't even heard Kendall enter the house.
A smile that reached the green eyes of the boy erupted on his face. This was utter perfection. He was happy that his family were all doing okay. That they were warm, comfortable and relaxed. It reminded him why he worked. Why he went through what he did. He did however notice Logan's glances out the window every few minutes. This too made him smile.
"And here I thought Katie was the only one who liked this movie" Kendall said, giving all the people in the room a rather big shock. Katie jumped, Carlos jumped throwing the popcorn everywhere, James and Logan just jumped to their feet.
"Kendall!" All four yelled, smiling happily at their returned friend. He gave them all a warm smile and watched as Katie walked over and gave him a hug. So glad to see his little sister he lifted her off the ground and gave her a tight hug. He really did do all of it more for her than anyone else. Seeing her happy was what kept him going during the hard months of work.
"What are you doing home so early?" James asked clearly surprised at his friend's early return, although also clearly pleased.
"Yeah, you didn't get fired did you?" Carlos added, hoping that their antics had not resulted in his hard working friend losing his job.
"No, the shop manager just decided to send me home, it was snowing a lot, and I think he saw me fall over a couple of times, and decided it would be better to send me home than I accidentally get hurt on his watch" Kendall said, not meeting the worried glances he was getting from all his friends. Logan had of course immediately told the others of the fact that Kendall had fallen, and that he looked exhausted. Now with him in front of them, they could see it.
"You still working tomorrow big brother?" Katie asked, Kendall could clearly see the hope in her eyes that he wasn't, but he shook his head. He knew that it would mean another day that she couldn't spend with him, but he was just glad to be there now. "You gonna watch the rest of the movie with us?"
"Well, I need to go put my stuff in my room, and see how much school work I have then we'll see, Okay baby sister?" Kendall said, knowing that while it was good to be home so early it didn't mean his work was done. He put Katie back on the ground and watched as she muttered something about food and headed to the kitchen. It was then that his three friends walked over to him.
"You guys can head home now if you want to. But, I wouldn't suggest it, that snow is crazy" Kendall said, more or less hoping his friends could stay. As much as he knew he could handle Katie alone, after the kind of day he'd had he didn't want to. He was too exhausted to be the perfect superhero Kendall that he believed Katie needed him to be.
"We've already called our parents to say we're staying the night" Logan answered. Kendall smiled at his friends. He was thankful he had such good friends, they always knew when he needed them even if he didn't say it. He was unaware that it had been as soon as Logan had gotten back that he'd said they should stay the night, mostly to make sure Kendall slept at least a little. Kendall didn't care what the reasoning really was, he was just glad they were staying. He nodded his thanks and then headed to his room.
Kendall dumped the bag on the ground next to his hockey stuff from the day before. He glanced around his room, his unmade bed and his desk which had school work piled high. It wasn't like he spent much time in his room anyway. It was cold and lonely. He gave a long sigh as he took a seat on his bed. He pulled off his thick jumper, followed by the second, followed by the short sleeved t-shirt and then the long sleeved t-shirt. Until he was just sitting in his trousers. He took a new short sleeved t-shirt and pulled it on. He grabbed all the school work he could from his desk, along with writing materials and headed back to the living room.
It didn't take long for his friends to watch him take all the books and place them on the desk in the main room, where they were all waiting for Kendall to return from his room. Kendall looked over at them and shrugged. It wasn't like it was too noticeable, but he had a small amount of bruises from the amount of falling he'd done over the course of the day. It was the first time in a while that Logan, Carlos and James saw the full extent of how much Kendall was running himself into the ground. It was clear in his movements, his eyes, his entire stance that this was turning out to be a difficult month for Kendall.
"It's not going to do itself." He offered as an explanation. Shrugging to the books and then sitting down at the table. As he did so, Katie re-entered the room with a small sandwich. It wasn't very well done, but when she handed it to Kendall he gladly took it thanked her and then took a large bite. He then looked over to his sister, and his friends as they all watched him eat. Something he didn't like happening "What?" He asked with a bite full of sandwich in his mouth.
"Kendall you forgot to have breakfast this morning and forgot to take lunch. Again." Katie asked, clearly annoyed at Kendall. Kendall finished what he was chewing on and swallowed. He didn't think she'd been studying him that closely. Much less his eating habits. Kendall was always forgetting to eat. But this morning it was less forgetting and more that he'd slept later than planned and ended up not having time.
"Kendall?" Logan asked, his tone telling Kendall that they were all waiting for a response. Logan knew they had to do something to help him.
"Something like that." Kendall muttered, not offering much more of an explanation. He took another bite and then opened the first book and task he had to complete. History. The words seemed to blur slightly. He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus more on the book in front of him. It wasn't really working for him, but he was trying. Slowly he picked up his pen and began working. "Just go back to the movie, and I'll get through as much of this as I possibly can." Reluctantly the three boys and Katie returned to the movie.
Almost an hour later, and Katie was ready to go to bed. It was still early but she'd done a lot during the day snow was fairly fun and with the fact that Kendall was already home she had no reason to stay up late. While the three boys argued over what to watch next, Katie got to her feet and walked to Kendall who was hidden under a large pile of books. It was then she noticed that he was asleep. She knew it would be terrible to wake him, but she didn't want to be put to bed by any of the others. Just her brother, he knew the right thing to do and say. He knew what to sing to make her drift off.
Kendall had begun drifting off to sleep shortly after the boy in the movie had pushed his sister down on to the ground. One thing he thought was hugely stupid and silly for a brother to do to his little sister, no matter how annoying she could be. It was up to the older brother to protect the younger sibling. He would always do that. He jolted awake as someone spoke into his ear. His head shot up narrowly missing Katie's head. He smiled sleepily at her as she said that she was going to bed. He nodded and said he'd be there in a minute.
Watching his baby sister walk away, Kendall rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't believe he'd fallen asleep, the only thing he was pleased about was he'd moved onto the maths work he needed to do. Which was a lot simpler than anything else that he had. Getting to his feet, Kendall slowly walked to his sister's room. Whenever their mother was working late, he would put Katie to bed, sing her song and tell her that mom would be home soon and she'd give her kiss when she did. It was tradition, it was one of the reasons, Kendall and Katie were so close. Once he had finished singing he leaned into Katie and kissed her on the head.
"Kendall?" Katie asked in the tone she used when she wanted to be serious.
"Yeah, baby sister?" Kendall replied looking at her curiously wondering what she would want to say to him. "What is it?"
"Are you okay? The guys are worried about you. They keep saying you work too much. Do you?" Katie asked. And while the questions were just innocent of a soon to be ten year old girl, he knew that she was actually serious. That she was worried about him too. And he hated that he'd been the cause of her worry.
"I'm fine baby sister. I don't work too much. Its just been very busy right now. That's all" Kendall replied with a small smile. "Don't you worry about me, okay?" And with that he left Katie. Switching off the light and heading back to the living room, where all three of his friends were now sitting around the table where all his work was. He looked at them, and had a puzzled expression on his face. He had no idea what they were doing but from what he could tell, it wasn't good.
"Kendall, sit." Carlos said, clearly not as comfortable with the whole set up as everyone else.
"Okay, what is going on guys?" Kendall said as he took a seat. He didn't think they quite got that Kendall just wanted to enjoy being at home with his best buds. He might have a mound of work to do, but he couldn't exactly just leave it, at least he'd gotten a little extra time to get it done. He was still happy, he was home, warm and surrounded by those he cared about and would do anything for.
"We're worried Kendall. I mean how many days this week alone have you worked?" Logan started. Staring at Kendall straight in the face, and wondering if this was a good idea. It was clear their friend was exhausted. Beyond exhausted. Now or never.
"Yeah, and of those days that you weren't working what were you doing?" James added, nodding slightly and keep his gaze on his friends face. "And, by the way Kendall, you look awful."
"Well, last Saturday, I was working all day, same with Sunday, then Monday we had hockey, and Tuesday too. Wednesday and Thursday I was working, and yesterday we had that game and today I was working. So, 5 days working, not including tomorrow, and Hockey the rest of the days." Kendall said, knowing better than to lie to his three closest friends while they sat right in front of him. However his tone was one of not really caring, like it didn't matter in the slightest. "And I look fine" Kendall added, knowing that was really a pointless lie to tell, when it was pretty clear they thought differently.
"When was the last time you took a break? Like had a day where you did nothing. No work, no hockey" Carlos asked, clearly shocked by the fact that his friend was working so hard. He knew that he had been doing a lot recently, but he wondered how long it had been going on for.
"And you don't look fine, you have bags under you eyes, your pale and you've lost weight." James concluded, slightly frustrated at the fact that Kendall was acting like it was nothing. Like it was just as if they were asking him what the days of the week actually were.
"And how many times did you fall over today?" Logan added quickly. Kendall however had had enough of these questions. He didn't care that his friends were concerned, he had work to do. They had probably all already done it, but he just needed it do, have it finished sometime soon so he could go to bed. So, he was going to chose to not answer any of the questions.
"Guys, I'm fine. Stop worrying about me, and If you don't mind, I have to get this done, if not I'm going to fail. And I do have work tomorrow, so I need at least a few hours of sleep. Just go watch tv or something." Kendall said, his voice still steady and calm, a lot calmer than he actually felt. He didn't bother looking back up at his friends, he felt there eyes on his, but ignored it. Slowly they got up and went back to watching tv. Knowing it was probably best just to leave their leader to continue the work he had to complete.
When after an hour passed soft snoring filled the room. Carlos was the first to hear it, he looked to Logan and James who clearly weren't asleep. He got to his feet and went over to where Kendall was meant working. The leader was sound asleep, pen in mouth head on a book. Even though Kendall would have so much work to do when he got up Carlos was glad he'd fallen asleep. It hadn't sat well with him at all seeing Kendall so tired, so completely worn out. But instead of going back to sit with Logan and James, he took one of the homework tasks Kendall had to complete and began working. It wasn't until a full ten minutes later that the others realised what he was doing.
"Carlos, are you doing Kendall's homework?" Logan's voice was quiet. He had become aware that Kendall was asleep as he'd noticed Carlos sitting with Kendall. Carlos just nodded as Logan took a seat, with James following suit just after.
"Well, it's not like he can do it." Carlos just said, continuing to work away. He'd already done most of the work in the exercise, so it was a matter of remembering and making small differences so the teachers wouldn't be suspicious. "Logie, do you think he'll be okay?"
"I hope so." Logan said shrugging slightly. It had been a difficult month and a half for Kendall. He'd started working a lot harder than normal. In Hockey and at work. Taking more shifts and very quickly being the guy that had no personal time. "I don't know the last time he had a weekend off. Or a day off. As soon as the holiday season is over, he'll go back to what it was before."
"Not that it was or is much better" James muttered. While Kendall had taken a lot more shifts than normal lately, but in the months where there was less Kendall still worked a lot harder than most his age would. He felt as though they were losing him. That his need to provide for his family was meaning he had no time for them. "What do we do?" James looked to Logan.
"I don't know. I mean I hadn't even known how bad it really was until today. I mean look at him. He's never been this thin, or tired or this pale. Or this far behind the work Carlos is currently doing I remember doing weeks ago." Logan was maybe the brains of the group but Kendall always had the plan. Like when James was being bullied, it had been Logan who'd said they needed to do something, but Kendall had been the one to come up with a plan. Although the plan had just been beat the hell out of the guys, it was still a Kendall plan. They needed one now, but this was the first time they needed a Kendall plan for Kendall. It just helped prove to them, that while to almost all three Kendall was a hero, a brother, he was still human.
"We help him with his homework, make sure he takes something to eat for work, make sure he gets enough sleep, keep him company when he's working if we can. Be there for him like he is for us" Carlos said. Kendall had given him help on countless occasions. Kendall might have been the youngest of them but he was always helping everyone else out. "We just have to do what Kendall would do for any of us in this sort of situation"
"Carlos is completely right. We're agreed? Keep Kendall going plan is on." Logan said wondering when Carlos had gotten so insightful on such a topic.
"Agreed" said James and Carlos in unison and with that, the three boys began working through Kendall's homework as he caught up on some much needed shut eye. Kendall Knight worked to help keep his family going as strong as it was, Carlos, Logan and James worked to help Kendall keep going to be sure he could help his family. Because to them Kendall was their brother, family. And that's what family does.
A/N: And that's that! I don't know if I'll do a second part, tell if you think I should and ideas as to what I could do. Thanks! for reading.