Never thought I'd write a futurefic O.o But, well, here it is... It just kid of popped into my head and wouldn't get out. But I'm kinda thinking I should continue it...

Disclaimer: BTR isn't mine. Or would it be aren't mine? I guess it depends if I'm talking about the show or the band...

ANYWAY...

- Shadow

The words of the minister rang out through the church loud and clear.

"And now, by the power vested in me by the State of California, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. Kendall, you may now kiss your bride."

Jo smiled up at Kendall, their lips met, and the moment was perfect.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I now present to you Kendall and Josephine Knight."

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There was a dark blonde haired man, sitting at a bar, who didn't look like he belonged there. Clean cut and clean shaved, he cradled his almost full glass of gin between his hands, staring down at it like it held all the answers in the world. With the rough-around-the-edges patrons that surrounded him, it was no surprise he was recognized easily.

"Hey, can I have a- Kendall?!"

Kendall lifted his head, his eyes widening in surprise when they rested on a woman with red-streaked black hair. "Lucy!" His face split into what was the first real smile he's shown in weeks.

The bartender, a balding man with a short temper, cut in. "Whatd'ya want, lady?"

"Uh, whiskey," Lucy responded, only half paying attention, "on the rocks."

"On me," Kendall added, standing and sliding a bill over the counter. "Thanks Greg."

Greg just grunted, pocked the bill, and got the ordered drink.

"Isn't gin an old man's drink?" Lucy inquired teasingly, nodding at Kendall's glass while they waited.

Kendall rolled his eyes. "It's a drink for anyone who doesn't exactly want to get too drunk. I have to go home to-"

"Jo." Lucy interrupted tonelessly. "How is she, by the way?"

Kendall cast his eyes down and leaned against the bar counter. "I was going to say 'my daughter', actually. You can ask Jo and her new husband how their health is fairing, because personally I don't give a shit." His voice was raw, and Lucy could tell that he did care.

Greg set her drink down on the counter next to Kendall with a clink. Lucy nodded at him, picked it up, and nudged Kendall towards a booth in the far corner. "Come on," she ordered. "We apparently have a lot of catching up to do."

Kendall let her lead him away and slid into the used-to-be plush booth across from her.

"What's happened since we've last seen each other?" Lucy asked first thing, taking a searing sip of her whiskey.

Kendall laughed humorlessly. "You've become a famous rockstar, and I lost my wife to a posh movie actor."

"Kendall," Lucy reprimanded mockingly.

He sighed. "I don't know. Claire's third birthday was rockstar themed."

With a warm smile, Lucy leaned forward. "I'm sorry I missed it. How is she?"

Kendall offered up a small smile in return. "She's doing well. Growing up fast. She's been a bit quiet since the divorce, but I guess that's to be expected. I always play her your songs, though. Well," he added with a smirk as an afterthought, "the cleaner ones anyway."

Lucy's smile got a bit smaller. He was trying very hard to hide it, but she could detect the underlying tone of despair in Kendall's words. "And how have you been?" she inquired softly.

He looked into her eyes for a few seconds before lowering them down to his drink. "I've been better," he admitted. "Having Claire's helped a lot."

"Jo let you keep her?"

"The court let me keep her," Kendall scoffed, meeting her brown eyes again. "Having an affair kind of ruins your chances of custody."

Lucy returned his gaze sympathetically. "When did all this happen?"

Kendall sighed and leaned back in the booth. "About three months ago. I came home from a hockey game one day and found them in our bed. I left, picked up Claire from Mom's, and drove to Logan and Camille's. Everything happened so fast from there. I let her take everything without a word. I would have sold it all anyway. But when it came to Claire, we fought. It was a losing battle for her, though. We all knew it."

Lucy pushed her half-empty glass of whiskey across the table in front of him, moving Kendall's gin out of the way. "How long were you two married? Three years?"

Kendall stared at the amber liquid before decisively talking a swig. He didn't even react as is burned a path down his throat. It was easier to handle than the memories running through his head in a torrent. "Would have been three and a half last Wednesday," he eventually responded.

Lucy grimaced and fished around for a different topic. "What are you doing with yourself?" she asked sincerely. "I know you're loaded from your time in BTR, but you can't just be sitting around all day."

Kendall chuckled, appreciating her efforts at a topic change. "I coach the ice hockey team at the local high school," he replied, finishing off her whiskey. "And substitute when a teacher needs me."

"Hm." Lucy laughed quietly. "Yeah, I can see you doing that."

"What about you?" Kendall inquired. "I mean, I know your music career has taken off, but why are you all the way out here?"

Lucy shrugged. "When they don't need me at the studio and I'm not on tour, I kind of just wander around. You know, looking for inspiration." A frown pulled down at the corner of her lips. "And a place to call my own, I guess," she sighed. "I haven't had one of those since my parents died."

Kendall unconsciously reached a hand across the table and touched Lucy's arm sympathetically. "What happened?"

"Car crash," she replied bluntly, though she didn't meet Kendall's gaze. She sighed. "It happened about two years ago."

"I'm sorry," Kendall murmured.

Lucy looked up and met his gaze. "It's okay, I guess," she said quietly.

Just then Kendall's cell phone rang, breaking the scene. They both leaned back, hardly having been aware that they were leaning towards each other in the first place. Kendall pulled his phone out of his pocket and, upon checking who was calling, looked back at Lucy a bit guiltily. "One second, I have to take this."

Lucy shrugged nonchalantly and picked up Kendall's still-almost-full glass of gin, looking at the clear liquid suspiciously.

"Hello?" Kendall answered the phone. "Is everything alright?"

Lucy could just make out the words coming from the other end of the line. "Yes, did you expect something to be wrong?"

"No, I didn't expect anything to be wrong…"

"In all reality, I should be asking you if everything's all right. It's getting quite late."

"It's not that late…" Kendall glanced at his wrist watch. "Oh, wow. It is pretty late. I'm sorry, Sarah. I ran into an old friend." He glanced at Lucy who had taken a sip of the gin and was now scowling down at the offending liquid in disgust. Kendall chuckled.

"Was that a laugh, Mr. Knight? I haven't heard one of those from you in ages."

"What?" Kendall scoffed. "No. Listen, I'll be home in a bit. I'm sorry for being late."

"It's not a problem. Claire was an angel, as always."

"That's good." A faint smile lifted the corners of his lips. "Thanks, Sarah."

"Like I said. Not a problem. Anyone who can make you laugh again is okay in my book. I'll see you when you get home."

"Bye."

Kendall ended the call and stuffed the phone back in his pocket, looking back at Lucy only to meet her curious gaze. "That was Sarah, Claire's part-time nanny." He sighed. "Kind of my part-time nanny, too. She moved from California with Claire and me after the divorce. Rented the apartment below us. Said she needed a change of scenery anyway. I don't pay her enough."

Lucy chuckled. "I take it you have to go?"

Kendall smiled softly. "Yeah." After a moment of uncertain silence, he asked, "has your hunt for inspiration lead you to a place to stay for the night?"

Lucy shrugged uncaringly. "There's a motel down the road."

Kendall stood up and shook his head. "That rat nest? What kind of friend would I be if I let you stay there?" He motioned toward the door. "You can stay at my place."

Lucy smiled and got up from the booth. "Pest free?" They made their way to the door.

"Well, there is this one irritating pest. Been bothering me for three years now. Couldn't part with her to save my life." Kendall's warm grin turned mischievous. "I heard there's this other pest staying the night, though. Rumor is she can be a god-awful handful."

Lucy laughed and playfully dug an elbow into his ribs. She was reminded of their time at the Palm Woods, when they would mess around like this, not a care in the world. She was glad that they could still do it. "Are you sure that you don't mind me staying?" Lucy led Kendall over to her car, a black camaro that shone even in the dark.

Kendall waved off her worry. "I'd be more than happy. Pick up what you need and leave your car here. I live like two blocks away. It's a nice night for a walk."

Lucy frowned. "It'll be safe here?"

Kendall laughed. "This is a small town. Not nearly as big of a crime rate as Cali. Besides, you saw Greg. Would you mess with anything on his property?"

With a grin, Lucy popped her trunk. "I guess not." She pulled out a small black duffle bag, which Kendall took and hung over his shoulder by the strap, and her purse before closing it. She beeped it twice to make sure it was locked before following Kendall down the sidewalk.

The night air was pleasant, and the slight breeze brushed their faces. "It's very quiet here," Lucy commented in a low voice.

"It's nice when you have to clear your head," Kendall responded, "though it gets quite noisy during the day. Especially on the weekends."

Lucy cast a glance over at him, curious. "You like it here," she said. She didn't need to ask. It was obvious in his tone.

Kendall took a deep breath, letting it out with a small smile. "Yeah. I've always been more of a small-town guy. I'll leave the paparazzi to James."

Lucy laughed at that. "I hear he's on the audition list for some big movie."

"Yeah, his manager snagged him a spot last minute," Kendall said matter-of-factly.

"Who's his manager?"

Kendall smiled. "Katie."

Lucy gasped. "Really? And how is that arrangement working out for the two of them?"

Kendall chuckled. "Pretty good, considering they've been together for… four months now?"

Lucy looked at Kendall incredulously. "Like, together together?"

Kendall nodded with pursed lips. "Not sure exactly how I feel about that one."

Laughing again, Lucy looked up to see a cluster of smaller garden-style apartments. Each had four apartments, two on bottom, two on top, and the entire setup just looked… cozy. "This is where you live?" she inquired.

Kendall nodded, leading her down a path to one of the buildings. "Home sweet home," he mumbled. "We're 607 A."

They entered the small hallway, climbed the stairs, and stopped at the door. Kendall stuck in his key and turned the knob, opening the door with a click.

They entered a kitchen area, a three-chair table against the wall beside the door. From what little she could see of the place, it definitely looked like a man and his young daughter lived here.

"Sarah," Kendall called in, keeping his voice low so as not to wake Claire.

"In here." Sarah, an older lady who reminded Lucy of her own grandmother, appeared from where she assumed was the living room. "Good evening, Kendall. Oh, and I see you brought your friend home. I hope you two will mind yourselves around the little one."

"Sarah!" Kendall gasped, dramatically scandalized.

Lucy laughed and held out her hand. "I'm Lucy Stone," she introduced herself.

The nanny shook the rocker's hand with a maternal smile. "Sarah Baker. It is nice to meet you. Kendall buys all your albums."

Lucy giggled and Kendall cut in. "Thank you, Sarah. But shouldn't you be getting home?"

"Quite right," Sarah agreed. "You two have a lovely night." She winked at Lucy behind Kendall's back and left.

"She's…" Lucy trailed off, stifling another laugh.

"A character?" Kendall supplied dryly.

"Charming," Lucy amended, gazing around the apartment. Her hunch had been right, and around a dividing wall was a living room, complete with furniture, flat-screen tv, game systems, and kids toys. She smiled. Down the hall she could see three doors. She assumed that the one with self-drawn pictures all over belonged to Claire.

"It's not much," Kendall broke the silence. "But like I said, home sweet home."

Lucy turned her brown eyes on him. "No, it's nice. I like it."

Kendall shrugged, but a small smile briefly flashed across his face. "You can have my bed. I'll take the couch."

"I can't kick you out of-" Lucy began, but Kendall stopped her.

"You're my guest. I can take the couch."

"There's no reason we can't share the bed, Kendall," Lucy began. "It would be weird, but we're just friends. Right?"

Kendall knew he was being teased, judging by the smile on her face, and the one he could see in her eyes. "Right."

"DADDY!"

Both adults turned their heads in the direction of the hallway. Lucy looked at Kendall questioningly.

"Nightmares," Kendall answered, setting Lucy's bag down and striding towards his daughter's room.

Lucy listened to the sounds coming from the room, both the frightened murmurs of Claire's voice and the low rumbles of Kendall's. Eventually Kendall walked back out, Claire cradled in his arms against his chest. One of her tiny hands was fisted in his shirt, the other holding a red blanket so tight it was like she thought it would try to run away.

"Look who's here, Claire bear," Kendall cooed at the toddler as he rubbed her back.

The little girl sniffed and shook her head. "No. 'gonna get me too."

Kendall couldn't help but smile. "She's not going to get you, too. You're safe."

Claire still whimpered.

Lucy tried to hide a smile. "Get her?"

With a shrug, Kendall replied, "she's convinced that there's monsters under her bed that are going to get her."

Lucy grinned and held out her hands. "May I?"

With a shrug, Kendall pried the little girl's fingers off of his shirt. "Claire, why don't you go to Lucy? You know Lucy, right?" Claire peeked up at him. "From the songs you hear on the stereo," he added.

"Rockstar?" the toddler wanted to know.

Kendall looked up at Lucy and smiled. "Yeah, the rockstar."

Claire lifted her head and turned to look at Lucy. With a still-trembling lower lip, she shyly held her arms out.

"Hey there, Claire," Lucy soothed, brushing her light blonde hair out of her face. "You probably don't remember me. I saw you when you were no bigger than a potato." Claire didn't say anything, but buried her face in Lucy's neck. "You're scared of monsters?" the rocker continued. "The monsters under your bed are pretty scary, huh?"

The toddler nodded her head.

"Well let me tell you a secret, Claire." Lucy looked up at Kendall, who had started tidying up the apartment. She knew he was listening. "Your daddy is the best man I know for getting rid of monsters."

"Daddy?"

"Mmhm," Lucy agreed. "He helped me get rid of a few monsters before. He also helped me when I became a monster myself."

Claire looked up at Lucy with big green eyes. "You were a monster?"

Lucy nodded. "Yep." She thought about her debut album. "I wanted to hurt the people I cared about the most. But your daddy helped me see that it was wrong."

The toddler seemed to think about this for a minute. "Daddy keep me safe?" she finally questioned.

Lucy smiled. "Your daddy'll keep you safe."

Claire turned her head so she could see Kendall. "Daddy, can I sleep with you?"

Lucy hid a laugh at the perfect puppy-dog face the kid was pulling off.

Kendall sighed and walked over, taking his daughter from Lucy's arms. "I don't know, Claire, Lucy's going to be sharing my bed tonight."

"There enough room," she bargained.

Kendall grinned. "There's enough room, huh?"

"Mmhm. And then you keep both of us safe."

Kendall glanced over at Lucy who shrugged, still trying not to laugh. "Alright," he finally said to the toddler. "You can sleep in my bed."

Claire squealed, which ended up turning into a yawn.

Lucy grabbed her bag and headed to the bathroom. "She has you wrapped around her little finger, doesn't she?" the rocker teased.

Kendall laughed. "Every single one."

So what do you think? Continue? (._.)