Prologue
In 2014…
"I am so sick and tired of all your whining, James. You're unhappy? I didn't even want this in the first place! I was supposed to become a doctor." The short brunette reminds his bandmate, looking aggrivated.
"Then why didn't you, Logan? I never forced you to come here. Kendall is the one who suggested we all came here. Gustavo didn't even want me. He only wanted Kendall!" James yells, pointing towards his blonde friend, whose mouth opens in shock.
"Oh no you don't." He started, shaking his head and walking up close to the other tall boy of the group. "You don't get to blame this on me, James. I only suggested that because you were upset. It was your dream to become famous. And now that you are, you're still not happy. That has nothing to do with my suggestion, that has to do with your egocentric, spoiled, pretty boy's ass!" Kendall spits, poking his finger in James' shoulder and walking forward. By the time he is done, James has fallen backwards into a chair.
"You know what? Screw you, Kendall. Screw all of you!" The pretty brunette yells, before storming out of the dance studio.
"Right, just walk away, James. That always helps!" Kendall yells after him, not even flinching when the studio doors slam shut with a loud bang.
"Why does this always happen? Why can't we have one single day in the studio without someone starting an argument?" The short Latino in the band asks with a frustrated sigh, before sinking into a white couch in the corner.
"Because some people are just self centred jerks!" Kendall yells, pointing towards the dance studio doors again.
"Oh, don't act like it's all him, Kendall. You constantly challenge each other into these stupid petty fights, until one of you apologizes and then it starts all over again." Carlos tells him, while looking at the ceiling with a bored expression and letting his head droop backwards.
"Wow, Carlos. Did not know you could be smart. I guess hell finally froze over." Kendall replies with a challenging look. Carlos lifts his head and looks at Kendall in shock. He shakes his head and clenches his fists, before getting to his feet and heading towards his friend, ready for a fight. Kendall just opens his arms, willing him to come forward.
Logan rolls his eyes at the exchange and sighs, before walking over and stepping in between the two.
"Guys, come on. Carlos, just sit down and Kendall, why don't you cool off for a minute." He suggests, giving Kendall a hard look.
"What? It's not my fault that shorty has a short fuse." Kendall says, holding his arms open again for Carlos to come and fight him. Carlos does walk up, but Logan immediately puts his hands on his chest and starts to push him backwards.
"Just don't respond to him. He's just looking for someone to yell at now that James isn't here." Logan tells his younger friend. Carlos fumes, but nods and retreats out into the hallway for a snack.
Logan looks back at Kendall and shakes his head in disbelief. Kendall stands with a strange grin on his face and his eyes wild.
"Oh, what, Logan? Don't act all innocent now. You started the whole fight with James, because he was bitching about stuff again. Just admit it, you hate it as much as I do." Kendall tells him, smiling smugly while crossing his arms.
"Yeah, so maybe I am tired of James complaining all the time. But you keep egging him on with those stupid comments. Why are you so dead set on challenging everyone into a fight lately?" Logan asks him, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.
"I've always provoked people, Logan. It's what I do." He answers with a smug grin.
Logan shakes his head. "You do it with authority, Kendall. Not your own friends. What is going on with you? Are you not happy to be here either, anymore? Is that it?"
"Why do I need a reason? God, Logan. I don't get why you're here anymore. You should've become a psychologist. They're always set on pestering people into telling them what's wrong, too." Kendall chuckles and turns away. Logan swiftly grabs his arm and turns him back around.
"This is exactly what I'm talking about. What do you want, Kendall? Do you actually want to start a fight, huh? Just tell me what's bothering you." Logan gently tells him, believing he will be able to coax his friend into telling the truth.
"For god's sake, Logan. Why don't you just go fuck Camille." Logan's eyes grow wide at the comment. Kendall chuckles and then gasps. "Oh no, wait. I forgot. You can't do that anymore, because she's too busy fucking Steve. Hm. Maybe if you stopped being such a boring prick, you might still be with her." Kendall starts to laugh out loud. Logan watches him and grits his teeth. He clenches his fists and closes his eyes. But when he opens them, he takes a deep breath and relaxes his hands again.
"I just… I can't do this anymore. We've been best friends for years. We've gone through a lot together and I never wanted to change a thing. But now I can honestly say I wish I had never agreed to coming here. It was never my dream to become famous. I wanted to become a doctor. But I also wanted to stay friends with you guys. So I gave up my dreams to live yours. And it was fun in the beginning. And I found out that I was actually good at performing and singing and whatever. But then we started to have success and it changed us. It changed all of us. James won't stop complaining about every single thing. You can't stop picking fights with everyone around you, no matter how badly you hurt them. And I am just no longer happy with any of it. So you know what? I am done." He says, holding up his hands. "I'm done. Go ahead, pick all the fights you want. I don't care anymore. Be famous, live your dream and trash hotel rooms. I'm not staying around to clean up your mess anymore. I'm out of here." He finishes and walks out of the studio doors.
Kendall watches his retreating figure.
"Well, fine! Who needs you anyway? Why don't you just back to Minnesota and become a doctor, Logan. It's all you're ever going to be good at anyway. Just go ahead and be boring, but don't come crying back to me when you end up miserable and alone! Oh and for your information, Hortense, it wasn't my dream either!" He screams at the already closed door.
He stands alone in the studio for a little while, before he stalks towards the doors himself.
"To hell with this. Stupid boyband… Who came up with a stupid idea like that anyway? I wanted to become a hockey player, for god's sake!" he mumbles to himself while angrily walking out of Rocque Records like his other two friends.
The studio is empty, until suddenly a cheerful Carlos bursts through the doors. His arms are loaded with chocolate bars.
"You guys are not going to believe what just happened. So I just wanted to get one chocolate bar, right? I put in a quarter and…" He looks around in confusion when he realizes there's no one there. "Guys?" he looks around, when the doors open behind him. He turns around and puts on a smile, hoping it to be his friends. But his smile falters when he only sees Gustavo and Kelly.
"Dogs…" Gustavo stops when he notices only one of the boys is present. He clears his throat. "Dog. Where are the other dogs?"
Carlos looks around again and innocently looks back at the producer.
"I don't know." He replies in all honesty.
Gustavo growls, but Kelly nudges him and he pulls himself together.
"Well, I wanted to record some vocals with all of you. But since you're the only one here, let's start with just you." He grumbles and grabs Carlos' arm to drag him off to the sound booth. Carlos protests heavily, nearly dropping the chocolate bars as he silently pleads with Kelly for help.
She just gives him an apologetic smile and follows them.
After an hour of doing vocals and Gustavo yelling at Carlos in frustration, Kelly feels more and more anxious for the other guys to show up. She can't handle watching poor Carlos being slaughtered like that in front of her. She knows he's not doing bad, he's even sounding better than usual. But Gustavo is just upset because the other guys bailed on them. And because lately everyone's been more annoying than usual.
Just as Gustavo starts to throw around a drum stick, his phone starts to vibrate. Kelly notices and picks it up, like any assistant would. She sees it's a text message from Kendall.
"Gustavo, I am hereby letting you know that the band is over. I quit and am moving back to Minnesota to become a hockey player. Thanks for the help. But I am done working with egotistic jerks. Thanks for everything. Kendall." Kelly's eyes grow wide when she sees it. Her mind goes in full panic mode. Kendall quit? But how, why?
Immediately she runs out of the sound booth and dials a familiar number.
"Hello?" Kendall's voice sounds through the speaker.
"Kendall, I just read your text message. What do you mean, you quit? You can't quit." Kelly tells him with an anxious voice.
"I'm sorry, Kelly. Things just aren't working out. I've made my decision and I'm on my way to the airport right now." Her eyes grow even wider.
"The airport, but Kendall… What happened? What could have possibly happened in the last hour to make you decide this all of a sudden?"
"I didn't just decide it. We knew this would happen eventually. And frankly, I can't believe we've managed to hold on this long."
"But, but…"
"Look, it's been fun and I appreciate all the things you and Gustavo have done for us. But it's over, okay? Don't try to talk me out of it anymore. We've already agreed to it, so this is it."
"Wait. What do you mean, we've agreed?" She asks as she pokes her head into the sound studio to watch Carlos try to reason with the angry Gustavo.
"We, as in, we the whole group. We're just done with it. We all want to do different things and frankly, I'm just tired of all the fighting. We're just not getting along anymore and are just done with all of it. The band and each other." Kelly stares at Carlos in confusion when Kendall stops talking.
"But the whole group, then why.." Kendall sighs deeply on the other end.
"Listen, Kelly. I appreciate you trying to talk us out of it, but it's just not going to happen. We've agreed on it. There is no more BTR. It's just something you'll have to accept."
"But, Kendall…" She starts again, staring at Carlos.
"I'm sorry, Kelly. I really have to go now. I'll try to stay in touch, alright? Just take care of yourself and Gustavo. Goodbye, Kelly."
"But you can't…"
"Bye." He softly says, before hanging up the phone. Kelly holds the phone in her hand for another moment while she stares at Carlos and Gustavo once again. What just happened?
She then snaps out of it quickly and tries to dial another number. But James' number goes straight to voice mail. He shut it off. Of course he did.
She rushes to dial a third number. But Logan's phone goes straight to voice mail too.
She sighs and looks back at her boss and the last member of Big Time Rush with a heavy heart. How will she handle this one?
Half an hour later…
Kelly stands safely inside the sound studio, flinching every once in a while when Gustavo throws another one of his platinum records to the floor. He screams as loud as he can, but she has turned off the sound and is not regretting it.
She knows he is not the biggest problem right now. She has had to deal with Gustavo's anger before. It's not the first time a band has walked out on him. Even though she really hadn't expected them to do it. He actually liked these 'dogs'. But still, they were a band. Other bands would come along.
No, her main concern right now is the confused boy in front of her. It breaks her heart to see him sitting there, just staring ahead. He's never been this quiet before. She's not sure how to deal with it.
"Carlos? Sweetie? Would you like me to get you some water?" She offers quietly, hoping for any type of response from the innocent looking Latino.
"I just don't understand. Why would Kendall quit like that? And why would he say the band decided on it?" He suddenly quietly mentions. He looks at her with questioning eyes. He looks so confused and hurt.
"I don't know, honey." Is all she can say, while she puts a hand on his arm for comfort.
"I mean, I didn't decide on it." he says, looking at the floor. He seems to be pondering as he scrunches his eyebrows. "Maybe they didn't." He suddenly says and looks up again. Kelly looks confused now. "Maybe it's all a joke. Yeah, I mean, Kendall has been Lord of the Pranks for years now." he says with a small grin, his eyes filled with hope. Kelly gives a small smile herself.
"Yeah. Maybe." She tells him, even though they both know it's not true.
"I'm just going back to the apartment. I'm sure they're all just waiting for me to burst in and they'll laugh and say I fell for it." He says, getting up from his seat. But she can hear the hesitation in his voice. He knows that's not what will happen. But it probably hurts too much to face the truth.
"Yeah, maybe I'll go with you." She offers, getting up as well.
"No, that's okay." He tells her, waving his hands to get her to sit down again. He gulps. "I'll go. I mean, the prank is just meant for me, you know?" She can see the hurt shining in his eyes. Knows he wants to be alone. Because if it's true, he doesn't want her to see him breaking down.
"Okay." She softly tells him. He starts to walk out. "Carlos?" He looks back at her. "Let me know how it went, okay?" He grins half heartedly and nods.
He's not even sure how he got there. He just ended up at apartment 2J suddenly. He lets himself in, prepared with a big grin and swallows heavily. The apartment is hulled in silence. The moment he sees Mrs. Knight sitting on the couch just staring ahead, her face full disbelief he already knows. But he's not ready to admit it.
"Hey, Mama Knight." he says, as cheerful as he can. She looks up quickly, her eyes wide and full of confusion. "Just got back from the studio. Are the guys here yet? Never mind, I'l check myself." He says, moving towards Kendall and Logan's room in one go.
Mrs. Knight stands up from the couch, trying to say something, but he has already opened the door.
His grin falls away immediately at the sight of their closet doors open and all the clothes missing. He lets go of the door and steps inside slowly. He gulps and moves forward, carefully glancing at the emptiness of the room.
Then in one movement he shakes his head and leaves the room. He rushes towards his own bedroom door, the one he shares with James. Surely he didn't leave.
But as he slams the door wide open, his mouth falls open in mere shock.
While his side of the room is still neat and tidy, with all his stuff well in place, James' side is completely abandoned. He runs through the room and opens their bathroom door as well. His eyes are wide as they dart over the missing Cuda products on the now empty shelves.
He steps backwards slowly, not believing his own eyes. But then he is stopped by something soft. He turns around and looks into the caring eyes of Mrs. Knight. She looks apologetic.
"Why is their stuff gone? They didn't leave. I mean, why would they leave? They wouldn't leave me behind like this…" He rambles as his eyes plead with the woman for an answer.
She shakes her head in disbelief of the situation.
"Honey… I thought… I thought you knew. They said that… they said that the band was over and that you all decided on it. That you were done being friends and that you were all going to have your own lives now…" She tells him softly, her hand moving towards her mouth when the realization sinks in. Carlos looks around the room one more time, before his body starts to shake.
"But they wouldn't do this. Why would they do this?" He says in a quiet voice as he slowly starts to sink to his knees. She watches in shock and concern.
"Oh my god… If I had known… I tried to talk them out of it. But I didn't know that you weren't…"
"They forgot about me… They just left without me…" He nearly whispers as tears finally start to come out. The woman immediately gathers him in her arms and tries to comfort him as he silently cries over the friends who left him behind.
"It's gonna be okay…"
It was a day Carlos would never forget. The day Big Time Rush disbanded and the day their friendship died. It was the day everyone literally moved on to finally live the life they had dreamed of. But would it turn out as grand as they thought? Or did they just maybe need their friends after all? A lot can happen in ten years. Good and bad…
A/N Okay. I know my other stories are nowhere near finished. But this one has been going through my mind for a very long time now. I know I am already writing a future fic, called Minnesota Reunions. But honestly, that one will be the fluffy future fic. Some drama will occur, but I don't want to put too much angst/drama into that one. So here's another one in which things are about to get a whole lot worse.
Hope no one minds. I have a lot of ideas for a lot of drama concerning BTR and their families. Some might go into one shots, because I have different versions in my head for them to meet and what is wrong in their lives. But expect a lot of drama for all of them :)
Hope you have great holidays and check out my tumblr .com if you want to get in touch personally ;)
Anyway, talk to ya'll later. I am going to bed (it's 4AM). Very tired and a lot of school work to do, while stressing out over some stuff. So happy to finally feel some inspiration again to write this much :) Let me know what you think, I love constructive critisism, because I want to become a better writer :)
Thanks everyone for your support and until next time!
Love, Baxxie