Thanks for all the reviews! It really means a lot to me. This chapter is going to be Kendall's POV, but I promise for some of Alina's point of view and maybe someone else's next chapter.

Kendall's POV

James, Carlos, and Logan were all baffled and speechless when my mom and I told them the news. But really, how else could they have reacted? They were just told that my aunt, uncle, and two have my cousins had been murdered, and that my one cousin who had survived was going to come live with us. Not to mention that Alina was a complete stranger to most of them. Alina had briefly met James last year at Christmas time. Logan and Carlos were far away from Minnesota visiting their families that didn't want to come out to the cold place where we lived. If I remember correctly, James seemed to be "interested" in her.

"Kendall," said Logan, who was the first to recover, "I'm so sorry. We'll all be really nice and welcoming to your cousin, I mean sister."

"What Logan said," mumbled Carlos. The normally happy-go-lucky guy had no idea how to deal with the situation.

"We're all here for you, man. I'm sorry that this is happening to you and your

new sister. She seemed really nice when I met her last year," said James.

"Thanks, guys. It's good to know that you've got my back," I thanked them sincerely.

"Hey, we're a team, right?" asked James.

"On and off the rink," agreed Logan.

"Especially when we're pranking Bitters," added Carlos.

"Group hug?" I asked weakly.

"Big time," smiled Logan, and they all closed in on me.

"Aww… you get in here too, Katie," demanded Carlos.

"Fine," she grumbled and came and joined us.

"Mom?" I asked.

"Of course," she sniffled and we all stayed in the group hug position that was centered around me. Big Time Rush wasn't just a band that I was in, they were members of my family, and my family was about to get bigger.

Later that night, I called Jo and told her that I needed to talk to her about something. She agreed to meet me by the pool. The main floor of the Palm Woods was empty except for, of course, Mr. Bitters, and Camille, who was practicing a scene. She walked up to me like she was going to give me her usual slap, but I stopped her.

"Camille, please, not tonight," I pleaded.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, immediately snapping out of her character and snapping back into herself.

"Yes, but I'm about to explain it to Jo and I've already just told the guys. Ask your boyfriend to tell you. Tell him that I said he's allowed to tell you," I said as I opened the doors and found Jo smiling at me from one of the pool chairs.

"Hey, Jo."

"Hey, Kendall. Here, sit down. What's wrong?"

Jo had her way of reading me like that. We had been "together" for two months at that point and she already was able to know if something was wrong with me from two words and my facial expression.

"It's complicated."

"I'll be a good listener, then."

I explained to Jo about Alina and her family, and how she was going to become my sister sometime within the next few weeks. Jo listened patiently with a thoughtful expression on her face which turned to one of sympathy and sadness as the story unfolded.

"Ken, I'm so sorry," she whispered before kissing my cheek, "If there's anything I can do, please tell me."

"Thanks, Jo. Everyone's being so supportive and nice. I just hope Alina's friends in Virginia are going to support her until she comes to Holloywood."

"I'm sure she has lots of caring and supportive friends. You know that I've never met her, but from what you've told me, she's a very nice person."

"She is. She's really smart, too."

"She'll probably get along with Logan, then. Camille better watch out."

"Don't even joke about that. The one time James met Alina, he seemed to think she was very pretty."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I'm just hoping James will behave considering all that she's been going through."

"James may be an idiot, but I don't think he's that stupid."

"I sure hope not. That would make for some major awkwardness. Want to see a picture of her?"

"Sure."

I pulled out my favorite picture of Alina from my pocket that I brought to show Jo. I hadn't showed it to the boys yet because of well, practical reasons.

"I see why James was interested," laughed Jo.

"Huh?"

"She's beautiful. Is she part Asian?"

"Half Vietnamese, but obviously not on the side that I'm biologically related to her. Her Dad is… was Vietnamese. My mom's sister is how we're related."

Alina was of regular height and was very slim, but slightly muscled. She was a runner, on her school's cross country and track teams. Her hair was black with natural brown streaks mixed in. Alina's eyes were green, kind of like mine, but without the blue in them. Her eyes were pure green.

"I feel so bad for her. I can't imagine going through something so horrible. Who could do such a thing like that to her family?"

"I don't know, Jo, but they better find 'em."

"We just have to believe that they will."

"Thanks for being here for me."

"No problem, Kendall. How are your mom and Katie?"

"I can tell my mom's trying to keep it together so that the rest of us fall apart, but this is really hard on her. Aunt Rachel was my mom's twin; they were really close. Katie… I've never seen her cry like that. As smart as she is for a ten year old, coming to terms with something like this at her age…"

"She shouldn't have to think about things like that."

"No, she really shouldn't."

"I'm sure you guys will pull through, though. You're a closely knit family, and you have your friends to help you out. And you know I won't leave you through any of this."

"We'll get through this, we have to."

"I'm sorry, Kendall, but I have to go. My mom said I could only stay for a little while because of the time."

"It's OK, Jo. As I said, thank you for… everything. I'll call you tomorrow."

"You don't have to if you're dealing with other things."

"Trust me, I'll probably lose my sanity if I don't talk to you."

"Well, call me anytime if your sanity needs saving. Good night."

"Good night."

And with that, Jo kissed my forehead and left to go back to her apartment. I leaned back in my pool chair, and for the first time in years, cried.