A/N #1 This is my very first story I have ever put onto this site. I've been a huge addict to this stie for a very long time, and I've finally decided to stop being selfish by reading everyone else's stories and now I'm giving back to all of you, so please be nice!

A/N #2 Takes place right after "Big Time Concert"

Breakdown

Chapter 1: Chipped

The four members of BTR were on a high. They had just completed their first concert, and it had gone great! Well, other than the kidnapping and the fact that there almost hadn't been a concert. But in the end, there had been, and what a success it turned out to be!

"That...was...AWESOME!" Carlos gushed as he and his three best friends clamoured into their manager's sleek white limo. He gabbed on and on about how they were real celebrities now, and that this was only the beginning. Kendall and Logan joined in on the gushing, but James stayed silent, lost in his own conflicting thoughts.

They tried to replace me. What were they thinking? Were they thinking?

Of course they were thinking, idiot. They were thinking about moving on, since you made it so obvious that you were ready to do so.

They were the ones who didn't want to get the band back together in the first place. They shouldn't have moved on that quickly. They weren't even the ones who wanted to be famous in the first place! It was me! All me-

"James?" The pretty boy snapped out of his internal arguement and blinked up at the three concerned looking faces peering over at him.

"Yeah?"

Logan's frown deepened. "Are you okay? You were talking to yourself. You must be really tired."

James shook his head. Oops. "No. Yeah. I mean, I'm fine, just...tired, like you said." He leaned his head back and sighed, closing his eyes. "It's been a long week."

The boys, naturally, were exhausted when they finally returned to 2J at one in the morning. Kaite and Mrs. Knight had returned earlier and were already sleeping, so the boys quickly and quietly headed off to bed. Kendall and Logan fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows.

In their room, Carlos and James sat up, chatting softly.

"Aren't you excited, James? I thought you'd be more...I don't know, happy. Your dream was to become famous, and now look at us. We just finished our first concert! And the best part is, we did it together."

James felt anger boil up inside of him at Carlos's last words. Together. Yeah, barely. If he hadn't come back, they never would have had a successful turn out. They would be on a plane, heading back to Minnesota right now if it wasn't for James and his selfless ways.

Then James's reflected on something else Carlos had just said. Your dream was to become famous. Your dream. Yes, it had been his dream. Not theirs. So what right did they have going and replacing him, when they wouldn't even be a band if he had never wanted to go to the audition in the first place? Oh, that's right, James thought nastily to himself. They don't.

"James!"

For a second time that night, James jumped as he was jerked out of his mind's babble by his name being called.

James couldn't see Carlos in the dark, but he knew the Latino was looking expectanly in his general direction.

"I'm am excited, Carlos. Tonight was...amazing." Yeah, the part where you sang and forgot momentarily everything that's happened. "I'm just pretty much dead on my feet, so-"

"But your not standing," Carlos confused voice mumbled. He sounded tired, too, something unusual for the normally energetic boy. Tonight really had sapped them of all their energy. James suspected that the stress of what had almost happened was a pretty large contributing factor to their sheer exhaustion, as well.

He rolled his eyes in the dark. "Expression, Carlos. It means I'm-" He cut himself off with a loud yawn.

Carlos chuckled slightly. "Yeah, me too."

"We can squeal like girls about how epic tonight was in the morning," James added tiredly. Yeah, more like you guys can do that while I put on the same fake smile I've been wearing all night.

"Okay! Good night James. And...great job tonight."

James felt his heart tug a little at that. Carlos was so innocent. He obviously hadn't meant to hurt James by trying to keep the band going without him. He'd just gone along with Logan and Kendall, that was all.

Still, the little devil on James's right shoulder debated, he has a mind of his own. He could have went against them, if he knew it was the right thing to do.

James shoved his pillow over his face to prevent himself from screaming out in frustration. He didn't want to stay awake all night contemplating this. He really was tired. So James shoved the tirading voices from his mind and let the softness of his pillow and the warmth of his blankets and the silence of the night sweep him away into the land of dreams. He didn't even realize he had forgotten to reply to Carlos.

A/N So, I know it's short and not very good. I'm sorry about that. But it's just the first chapter. I wanted to get into James's mind a little bit, but I need to save the angsty stuff for later chapters.

I don't want to sound like I'm begging, but this is my first story, so please please review and let me know if I'm doing a good job so far. And all you experienced writers, a little constructive criticism can never hurt!

Thank you so much for reading!