I just want to thank those who have reviewed the story so far and that I am so sorry that I have not updated in a while. I was swamped with school because it was my senior year of high school. (Off note: I AM NOW DONE WITH SCHOOL!) Anyways, I should be able to update more often now but I also have to work as well. Got to pay for college somehow. Right? But I only work like three days a week for like four or five hours.
Expect updates at least every two weeks. I mean I'll try and have new chapters up every week but I'm setting it for two weeks to go with my process. I write the chapters out on paper to help see where I want to go and then I type it up and post it. So depending on how fast I write I should be able to get updates soon.
Waffles of Doom - Ha. I love your pen name. I'm glad you find the story interesting. I wanted to do something different. I've been seeing stories about another girl group coming to the Palm Woods and the guys falling of them and while I liked the concept of one of the guys falling for someone that is not a character on the show I didn't want them to from a girl group. Then my mind formed the idea of what would happen if one of the guys fell for Kendall's cousin. Then Logan being the guy who fell for came to mind and I finally added James being the girl's best friend. I honestly didn't think that i would have any readers on this since its from a character's point of view that I had created.
JamesMaslowBTR100 - It's fun to write this! Thank you, I love hearing people say that I'm a good writer. Oh wow. I hope that doesn't sound cocky or anything. LOL. By the way, awesome pen name.
Cali OzeraKaulitz - Thank you. I'm glad you love it. Yeah, I know I'm trying to fix them while writing the other chapters. I'll probably end up fixing them once the story is done.
KyroxIsxSmexy - I know Logan is totally being a jerk! LOL. Which I know is totally out of character for him but his side of the story will be explained in either chapter 4 or 5. The relationship between James and Nicolle is so much fun to write. I wanted to give James a softer side to those he cares about. Don't worry Nicolle will react to Logan in two ways.
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING AUTHOR NOTE!
Another thing I wanted to say was that I changed something things around in chapter 1. I realized that how I was writing chapter 2 didn't match up with the last chapter. For instance, Nicolle's friend from Michigan is changed to Carson. This is because I used the name Cameron in my Pair of Kings story and I don't like using the same name for a character that I made. Weird I know. Also its small but at the end of the chapter when Kendall asked Nicolle about Chase had thought about their mother kicking her out. You'll noticed that I added a word to the line which changed the whole thing completely but it fit with how I ended up going on in this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush. I only have their album so that is about the closet thing of owning them I have.
Chapter 2
Pictures, Stuffed Animals and a Memory or Two.
Ashley woke up earlier then she had wanted to the next morning. it was about seven in the morning and she wanted to get some of Nicolle's things packed and sent over to the Palm Woods as soon as possible.
She was sitting at the table with her hands wrapped tightly around a cup of coffee (the transfers from the California heat to Michigan cold kind of shocked her system a little. And I thought Minnesota was bad in the fall, she thought) when James walked in. His hair was tousled and his nightclothes were rumpled with sleep. He rubbed his eyes to wake himself up as he walked over to the table.
"Mornin' Ms. Knight." he mumbled tiredly. She faintly smiled at the boy.
"Good morning James. How did you sleep?" she asked him. He yawned before he could say anything and looked up at her. She could see faint dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep.
"I've had better nights," he stated. She knew that he was worried about Nicolle and her heart swelled with gratitude at the younger boy. She also knew that out of all of the boys that Nicolle was probably closer to James, not even Kendall, her own cousin, was as close to her as James was. She knew that he would do absolutely anything for her (not that Kendall, Carlos and Logan wouldn't either but James wouldn't let absolutely anything stop him from getting to her niece) and she was grateful for the loyalty he showed her.
"Once Kendall wakes up and we have breakfast we're going to go pick up Nicolle and then head over to her house." She told him gently. He perked up at the mention of his best friend but faltered once he realized what was going to happen.
"You're going to talk to her and then she's going back to that house, right?" he asked in a small voice. Her heart broke at the sound; he sounded way to young to be sixteen. She shook her head slowly.
"Why don't you go wake Kendall up and I'll explain over breakfast, okay?"
James nodded before going back to the room that the two boys had shared the night before.
She sighed tiredly once he was out of sight and drank the last of her coffee.
It's going to be a long day.
ROQUCE RECORDS
LA, CALIFORNIA
WITH LOGAN AND CARLOS
Carlos and Logan entered Gustavo's office only slightly hesitant. While Logan had told Kelly that Kendall and James were out of town he didn't explain the whole story to her. They had left Katie back at the Palm Woods with Camille, Jo, and Stephanie to keep her company. They had given them a quick and condensed version as to what had happen the day before and they were all the more willing to help. With the door open they saw Gustavo yelling at Kelly, not noticing that half of the band was standing in his door way.
"What so you mean they're out of town? I didn't give them permission to go out of town!" the larger man screamed at his assistant, who merely rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh.
"Logan didn't tell me why they left, just that they did. I'm sure that once they arrive they'll explain what is going on." she reasoned with him. He gave her a glare that didn't faze her at all.
"Then call the two here now!"
Carlos chose that moment to say something.
"But we're already here." He said to them only slightly confused. Kelly whipped around, startled at the new voice while Gustavo just turned his head as he sat behind his desk.
"Dogs! What's this about Kendall and James being out of town?" their manager demanded. Both teens were hesitant to say anything but they figured that it would be less of a hassle then for Gustavo to start screaming at them.
"There was a family emergency that they had to take care of." Logan replied vaguely. He could feel the glares that both Gustavo and Carlos were giving him, the latter obviously still upset about yesterday. Kelly raised an eyebrow.
"Kendall and James aren't related." She stated, the confusion was clear in her voice. Both the boys shook their head.
"No, they aren't but they had to go to Michigan to deal with something that had happened to Kendall's cousin, Nicolle." Logan started. He saw Kelly was about to say something but he continued on, "Nicolle is James' best friend. The three of us have known her since we were about four years old and while Nicolle is close to all of us; she and James have this bond making them even closer. Not even Kendall is that close to her."
"Fine. When will they be back?" Gustavo asked although reluctantly.
"A few days, a week the most." Carlos answered. They saw the older man start to run red as he realized how much time they would lose from work. Kelly also noticed this and intervened before anything major could happen.
"What happened for them to go to Michigan? If you don't mind me asking." she asked curiously. Logan and Carlos glanced at each other, unsure if they should say anything but ended up shrugging their shoulders in defeat knowing they would find out sooner or later.
"Nicolle's mother kicked her out of her house for something. They went over there so she could move in with us." Logan said slowly, "Ms. Knight is going to be calling you later that has something to do with that." He finished, his last sentence directed toward Kelly.
"Oh that poor girl. How could someone do that to their child?" she asked rhetorically, the anger was subtle but there in her voice.
"Even I'm disgusted." Gustavo agreed with a revolted look on his face. The boys glanced at him in surprise.
"You two can go back to the hotel. We'll work on choreography when they get back." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
The two teens backed out of the office, just a bit apprehensive, closing the door behind them. They looked confused as to what had just happened.
"What the hell?"
"Did that just happen?"
"Not going to question it."
"Might want to leave before he changes his mind."
They muttered back and forth between them before deciding to rush out of the building, leaving the slightly weird encounter behind them.
NICOLLE'S HOUSE
CHANCELLORSVILLE, MICHIGAN
After having a quiet and tense breakfast Ashley, Kendall and James had picked up Nicolle from her friend's house. Once Nicolle was close enough she practically latched onto her cousin and best friend; the same being said for the two boys. All three were seated in the back of the SUV rental. She was sitting between them with her head resting on James' shoulder and her feet, the shoes off, were snuggled under Kendall's right leg. Her right hand was clasped with her cousin's, where they rested on her knees and her left one clutched the brunette boy's hand, where they were on his leg. Every so often, he would rub his thumb over her knuckles softly, while Kendall gently squeezed her hand reassuringly. Those gestures, paired with her feeling safe and warm for the first time in twenty-four hours she drifted off to sleep.
In less than five minutes she was fast asleep. Both boys looked at the girl who was one of the most important people in their lives.
"I hate this," James said quietly for only Kendall to hear, "I hate what this is doing to her."
"I know James. I hate this too." Kendall agreed with his friend. He would be lying to himself if he never thought of James having feelings for his cousin. Even back when the whole group was still together in Minnesota, those two were always at each other side. Also, they seem to need to have some sort of physical contact, whether it is a brush of the arm, a punch in the shoulder, touching of the hands, arms, or shoulder, or even holding hands with the more than occasional hug. He honestly doesn't understand the bond the two have; he just knows that he's a little jealous. He knows he has no right to be jealous over something that he does not understand he can't help it; Nicolle is his cousin, not James'.
"Kendall? Man, you okay?" his friend asked. Kendall blinked, apparently lost in his thoughts before moving his eyes to James.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, I was just thinking." He told him, not wanting to bring that subject matter up just yet with everything that is going on.
They were silent after that for a few more minutes before James spoke again.
"What are we going to do about Logan?" he asked. Kendall, having forgotten about Logan hurting his cousin, furrowed his eyebrows in deep concentration.
"Personally, I think we should let Nicolle go after him," Kendall told him. James opened his mouth to say something but the blonde continued, "and then we go after him, but we'll need Carlos and Katie's help. So, we can figure it out when we're back at the Palm Woods." James thought the idea over before agreeing. A half a moment later a smirk appeared on his face.
"We need to get Camille, Jo and Stephanie to help too." James said causing Kendall to smirk, though more for a different reason.
"Sure you just don't want to spend more time with Camille?" he asked him. His smirked grew when he saw his friend look uncomfortable and the feeble glare that he was receiving.
"Like you wouldn't want to spend more time with Jo?" James retorted. He was satisfied when his friend's smirk was wiped away and started to blush faintly. Kendall opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted.
"You know, you really need to tell me about your friends very soon." The muffled voice of the girl between them said. She lifted her head from James' shoulder and removed her feet from underneath Kendall's leg. She started to put her shoes back on.
"Though, I'm guessing that this Jo is the reason why pool time was amazing?" she asked with a snicker as she made a reference to their email from the day before. She grinned widely as her cousin blushed deeply. James snorted a laugh beside her causing Kendall to glare to the two.
"Yeah, well why don't you ask James about Camille?" Kendall shot, hoping to get the coming interrogation away from him. It worked as Nicolle snapped her head to the other boy, who glared at him again.
"Camille, huh? Pretty name." she stated calmly. James raised an eyebrow.
"Mmh-hmm."
Before any more words could be said, the car finally stopped in front of a house. The carefree and teasing atmosphere that had surround the three teens just moments ago disappeared as they gazed at the before them. Both Kendall and James felt Nicolle tense at the sight of her house and reached to grab her hands again.
Glancing at the clock, which was thankfully still on, Nicolle sighed in relief.
10:08 AM
"She won't be here." She said to her aunt, who had been quiet, the whole car ride. "She's at the hospital working."
"Do you know when she'll be back?" her aunt asked. Nicolle didn't look at her while she answered but instead straight ahead.
"It's what? Saturday. Meaning she's been at the hospital since seven this morning and won't be home till six tonight. If we're lucky she'll be home to fix lunch and check to make sure the house is still standing at 12:30 on her lunch break."
"Nicolle? Is she gone a lot?" her aunt asked gently. Nicolle shook her head.
"No. She usually only works nine to six on most days, which is mainly during the week; weekends she tends to have off but she'll end up with an eleven hour shift occasionally." She explained.
"Alright then. Why don't you three go up to Nicolle's room and start packing." Ashley told them as they got out of the vehicle. James and Kendall, though reluctant, released their hold on Nicolle and went to grab the boxes from the trunk.
As they made their way to the porch, the front door opened revealing a boy about fourteen years old. He stood about as tall as Kendall maybe a couple of inches shorter and he had the same dirty blonde hair. If Kendall and the younger boy stood side by side they could have been mistaken for twins. The only differences, besides their age, were the eyes and the build of their bodies. Where Kendall had green eyes, the boy who stood before them had hazel, he also had a more muscular built as opposed to Kendall's more lean body.
"Aunt Ashley? Kendall? James? What are you guys doing here?" the boy asked confused. He looked over to his sister hoping for some answers but she refused to look at him.
"Nicolle?" her younger brother asked. She didn't want to look at him and hear his words again. She didn't want to hear what he said to her. So instead of looking at him she turned her back on him, facing the neighbor's house across the street.
"We're here to pack Nicolle's things, Chase." Their aunt said as gently as she could.
"Pack? What are you talking about?" he asked. The confusion in his voice caused something to snap in Nicolle. She spun on her heel and gave him such a heated glare that he actually flinched and stepped back.
"I'm sorry were you not here last night? Or did you forget that she threw me out last night just because I told her that I thought her boyfriends was a creep? Or was I just being delusional?" she asked stressing out the last word. Unfortunately, it triggered something for her to hear the rest of his words from the night before.
"Stop being delusional Nicolle. I know that you don't like mom's boyfriend but I didn't think you would be such a cold bitch and try to ruin something that makes her happy since dad died."
Tears gathered in her eyes as she felt Kendall and James move to stand behind her for support. It was one thing for him to call her cold and a bitch, she could handle that but to bring up their dad was completely differently story.
"Nicolle—" she cut him off not wanting to hear what he had to say.
"Don't. I'm just some cold bitch that ruins everyone's happiness, remember?" she asked rhetorically. She could practically feel Kendall and James tense up behind her. She took a deep breath hoping to calm down a little then turned her head toward Kendall.
"Come on. Let's get started on the packing." She told them. Nicolle, going back to ignoring her brother, walked up to the porch and into the house. She closed the door behind her and lent back while closing her eyes and took a shuddering breath. She tried to push the tears away but a few escaped and leaked out of the corner of her eyes. Quickly wiping them away, she could hear James talking to Chase angrily, though she was only able to catch a few things from both of them.
"Mind tell me what that was about?" her best friends asked, strangely calm. Do not hurt him James, she thought recognizing the tone.
There was silence after that or at least that's what she thought.
"Sorry. What was that?"
"She's just being dramatic James. Nicolle's not the nine year girl you used to know. She's changed and I don't know if it's for the better. Get out while you can." She heard her brother tell him. She choked out a sob at his words.
"Nicki?" she heard her cousin whisper in front of her. Looking up at him through her tears she fell into his arms and cried into his chest. His arms wrapped around her shoulders protectively, pulling her closer to him, as she encircled her arms around his waist.
I hope you hurt him James, Kendall thought to himself as he whispered random things to comfort the distraught girl.
FRONT PORCH
WITH JAMES
James felt helpless as he watched Nicolle brush past her younger brother, her body tense with emotion. He looked over to Kendall, who nodded, understanding what he couldn't say out loud.
Follow her. She's needs her cousin for this one.
He looked back at Chase, the anger simmering just under his skin but he kept it in check. He could practically hear Nicolle thinking Don't hurt him James. As Kendall and his mom walked behind the house, hopefully there was a door, he made his way over to Chase.
Once he was close enough he met the hazel eyes of the younger boy—the same hazel eyes as his sister.
"Mind telling me what that was about?" he asked calmly. I swear to god if he says the wrong thing I'm gonna kill him, he thought honestly. He wasn't a violent guy by nature, not counting when he's playing hockey of course, but if someone wronged somebody he cared about then the fists would just started flying. He could count the number of times he actually threw the punch first on one hand. Add to the fact that it was Nicolle that was hurt made it almost unbearable for him.
He heard Chase mumble something along the lines of nothing. Nothing. Nothing my ass, he thought sarcastically.
"Sorry. What was that?" James asked crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at the fourteen year old. He watched as Chase sigh in annoyance and roll his eyes before speaking louder.
"She's just being dramatic James. Nicolle's not the nine year old girl you used to know. She's changed and I don't know if it's for the better. Get out while you can." If it was at all possible his body grew even more tense at the words but once he heard a muffled sob through the door he just absolutely lost it.
Before he even registered what was happening his fist connected with the side of Chase's jaw. He hissed as pain shot through his hand but ignored it as he roughly pushed the kid into the side of the house. His arm was just underneath his chin, applying just enough pressure to make him uncomfortable but still be able to breathe. James looked him in the eye, his own hazel orbs were blazing with anger. He brought his face closer to his, their noses almost touching.
"You're sister was kicked out of the place that she has called a home for the past seven years by your mother," he said softly, the cool and collected anger just oozed through his voice like a soft silk, "and only because she told her mom that her boyfriend made her feel uncomfortable. Also from what Kendall had told me last night was that Nicolle said you knew he made her feel weird. So , why are you turning your back on her?" he asked, spitting the last question out as the anger let loose a little.
"You don't understand James. Trust me when I say its better this way." Chase told him seriously. There was something in his voice that cause James' anger to deflate some. Slowly, he nodded to him, understanding that to some degree Chase was just protecting his sister. He stepped back, giving Chase some room to relax before punching him in the cheek this time.
"Shit James! What the hell?" Chase yelled through the pain that was radiating from his face. He probed his cheek and jaw causing him to wince in pain – and fuck that hurt, he thought.
"You still made my best friend cry. I can't just let you go for that just because you're her brother." He said with a shrug, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He walked past Chase, who was not sitting on one of the chairs that were set out there and opened the door carefully to make sure no one was leaning on it on the other side. Never did understand Nicolle's thing with leaning against a door that could open at any moment, he thought to himself.
When no one was there he opened the door wider and quickly walked in, accidentally slamming it behind him. He rushed over to the kitchen, hoping to get some ice for the pain that he could suddenly feel coming from his hand. He nearly jumped when he spotted Ms. Knight sitting at the table, already wrapping a bag of ice in a towel. She stood up and walked over to him, handing him the bag of ice.
"Thank you." He whispered looking down waiting to be scolded like he something wrong. He mentally rolled his eyes, Idiot! You just sucker punched her nephew. Twice! He thought to himself. So when Ms. Knight pressed a motherly kiss to his forehead he was more than a little surprised.
"Keep the ice on your hand for at least ten minutes to stop the swelling. Twenty to be sure." She instructed him. He could only nod as she started to walk out of the kitchen.
"You're not mad that I just punched your nephew twice?" he asked her dumbly. She gave him a gentle smile at his confusion.
"I'm disappointed that you ended up using violence," she started but quickly continued on when she saw that he was about to say something, "but you were protecting Nicolle. James," she paused again still smiling gently, "you react intensely when she's hurt or in trouble. So, I can't say that I'm surprised that you hit Chase but to some degree I can't fault you for protecting your best friend." She finished. He nearly sank to the floor in relief.
"Kendall and Nicolle are upstairs in her room." With that said, she made her way to the living room and relaxed on the couch.
Honestly it's not even eleven yet, she thought as she let her body sink into the soft cushions of the couch while she heard James make his way up the stairs.
NICOLLE'S ROOM
WITH NICOLLE AND KENDALL
After Kendall had came in and comforted Nicolle about Chase's seemingly betrayal, they made their way up the stairs to her room.
As soon as Kendall had walked in there was no doubt in his mind that this was his cousin's room. It was a fairly decent size room with neon electric light blue walls with splats of lime green (Two favorite colors, he thought remembering from when they were about seven years old and were debating what were the best colors.) The ceiling was the same design as the walls but with darker colors; the base was a deep navy blue while the accent was the color of grass after a light rain. There were an array of pictures and posters on the walls and onto the furniture, all of which were just basic midnight black with accent of a sky blue and a soft sea foam green; the same splattered design.
Her bed had a simple white comforter with pillows of all of the blues and greens used on the walls, ceiling and furniture, with some black ones as well. He spotted four stuffed animals that looked very familiar to him. He grinned as he walked over to them and picked one up.
It was a penguin (My favorite animal Kenny. Duh, he heard her words from a trip to the zoo once with the guys) that had their youth league hockey team jersey on it while holding a hockey stick and wearing a helmet.
"Carlos got me that one." his cousin said as she walked over to him. She had been watching him look around her room since they had walked in, wondering what he was thinking but couldn't tell unfortunately.
"These were your going away presents from us." he said remembering that day very well. He didn't like how he and the guys acted like they completely lost. It was weird not seeing her everyday; she had lived next to James since practically forever. James was obviously the worse of them all, having lost his best friend but after a call from her a few weeks after she had left, it seemed to have knocked them out of their funk. He could still hear her yelling at them for being stupid and moping like the world had ended.
"Yeah. Logan got me the soccer playing fox; James gave me the gecko wearing sunglasses; and you got me the bear playing a guitar." she reminded him softly as he placed the animal toy back in its place with the others. He took a seat next to Nicolle, who had sat on her bed after she walked over. She placed her head on his shoulder as they both stared at the four stuffed animals that she received from her four boys.
He felt her tense up as they heard footsteps coming towards her room. They heard who ever it was stop in front of her door and slowly opened it. They continued to stare at the animals tensely, not seeing that it was James poking his head in.
"Hey." he said quietly as the two cousins relaxed at the same time and looked over at him.
"You didn't kill him, did you?" Nicolle asked. She watched as James put on an offended look but noticed that he was hiding his right hand. She narrowed her eyes that made him start to shift uncomfortably.
"James show me your hand." It was a simple statement but both he and Kendall had heard the underlying tone in her voice before in the past. Deciding to play dumb he showed her his left hand.
"James. Your right hand." He almost didn't show her but he knew that look on her face. It was one she impressively mastered when they were they seven years old. He and the guys have been on the receiving end of it too many times to count, for doing something stupid. Usually it also came up when they were hiding an injury from her but somehow she always knew.
Reluctantly, he lifted his right hand while removing the ice. He grimaced at the sight for the first time. No wonder his hand hurt like hell; it was a bright, ugly red and swollen slightly. It was also bleeding a little at his knuckles, Crap. I must of hit teeth, he thought both in pain and pride.
"James, you idiot." she sighed in disappointment. He winced not knowing if it was worse disappointing Ms. Knight or Nicolle.
"He deserved it Nicki." Kendall reasoned while James nodded in agreement. Nicolle just shook her head at the two, not in the mood to deal them wanting to hurt her brother right not. She'd worry about it later.
"You could've at least let me deal with him." she said, "You'd be surprised on how much damage I could do to his reputation." James and Kendall grinned knowing they weren't in trouble, for now. Though Kendall did seem a little worried on what she would possibly do to him but instead of focusing on Chase he thought of someone else and his grin turned into a small smirk.
"Don't worry, we'll let you have Logan when we get to the Palm Woods." he told his cousin. He watched as an annoyed and devious look filtered into her eyes and for a moment he felt bad for Logan but a minute later it was gone.
"How about this we join forces because I know you guys are just going to do something to him too." she suggested. They didn't know if they were surprised or not that she knew they would have done something to him.
"Deal." The two boys said together. James took the time to look around the room and was impressed. His eyes looked over the multiple photographs and posters, before they settled on one poster in particular. He didn't know if he should smile or smirk.
"Nice poster." he commented lightly. She and Kendall tuned to see what he was talking about and nearly laughed at their reactions-well more of Nicolle's then Kendall's as he smirked. His best friend's face turned a faint pink, which in itself was weird. She also tired to stutter out a response thought once she saw their smirks and amusement, she narrowed her eyes a little.
"I knew I kept forgetting to do something." she started as she got up from her bed and over to James and the poster with Kendall behind her, "I wanted the person on the other side, not Big Time Rush," she said as she took the poster down and turned it over, "I mean why would I want to have more photos of my friends when I could have Dak Zevon on my wall." she finished. Both boys reacted the same as the quickly turned around wildly as they waited for the mob of screaming fan girls. Once they realized they were safe they sighed in relief. Turning back to Nicolle they were met with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression. They glared at her joke.
"Long story." Kendall said shortly.
"Long and painful story." James said, wincing as he remembered that day.
"I'm so not going to ask. So, why don't we just start taking down the pictures." she suggested breaking them out of the painful day.
After about ten minutes of taking the picture down from the walls (which they hadn't even been a quarter of them-"Geez how many pictures do you have Nike?" James asked) Kendall noticed on in particular. He slowly took it down as he stared at the photograph.
It was taken in Minnesota, most likely in the late spring, early summer. They were about eight years old, save for Nicolle and Carlos, who were seven. James and Nicolle were wearing matching blue and yellow soccer uniforms and Nicolle was on James' back with her arms wrapped around his neck and head leaning against his. James was holding onto the soccer ball from the game in his hands. Kendall was to the right of James in a simple red tee-shirt and black basketball shorts with white tennis shoes. He leaning his shoulder against the two next to him gently as to not knock them over. Logan was on the other side of James in a green tee-shirt and blue and black basketball shorts with black and white tennis shoes. He had an arm thrown around Carlos and Nicolle. Carlos, who had his helmet on even back then, was wearing a gray tee-shirt and white basketball shorts with blue and white tennis shoes. He had an arm thrown around Logan's shoulder as well and was waving wildly at the camera. Everyone had big grins on their faces, happy that James and Nicolle and had the game.
"That's one of my favorite pictures." he heard behind him. Turning around he saw his cousin looking at the photo fondly. James had stopped what he was doing for a moment and walked over. He looked at the picture and laughed lightly.
"It was the one game where you didn't end up hitting Logan with the ball." James said still snickering. Kendall chuckled, remembering how relieve he had been for not being injured.
"But I made up for it later when out mom's had that barbecue for the team." Nicolle pointed out, "He didn't talk to me for like three days after that." she said sadly. Kendall and James clenched their jaws angrily knowing that he hurt her worse then just not talking to for three days.
"It was the first time you two go into a fight, I think." James said, the question was in his voice, making sure that he was right. Nicolle nodded confirming James' comment.
"The first of many to come. I hated fighting with him. It absolutely sucked." she told them, "Though we never stopped talking to each other for more then a day."
"I'm surprised you guys were still friends when you left. I was sure that you two would've ended up hating each other before then." Kendall wondered. Nicolle shook her head with a sad smile.
"After that first fight we had some sort of unspoken agreement that if we fought again we wouldn't leave each other alone for the rest of the day and then the next it would be forgotten like it never happened."
"The week you guys were leaving was your worst one ever, wasn't it?" James asked softly, as he went back to removing the pictures. Kendall and Nicolle followed soon after. She nearly flinched at the memory of that particular fight between her and Logan.
MINNESOTA
NICOLLE'S BACKYARD
SEVEN YEARS AGO
It was a hot day in Mid-July in Minnesota. The heat of the sun made her feel irritable and even more upset about what she was about to tell her four best friends. She was waiting for them to come over, not want to do this. She muttered darkly about her mother moving them to Michigan. Michigan! What was in Michigan that Minnesota didn't have? And really why would she want to live in a state that looked like a gloved hand, cause seriously that's just stupid.
"Stupid." she mumbled her thoughts as she kicked a pebble into the grass of her backyard.
"What's stupid?" The voice of her next door neighbor and absolute best friend, James asked. She willed the tears to go away, not wanting to break down just yet. She took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Nike?" That did it. Knowing she would never hear that nickname James gave to her when she was five again, the tears came out as she buried herself into James' chest. She felt his arms wrap around her awkwardly, not used to dealing with a crying girl. Though he knew he never want to hear Nicolle cry ever again as she sobbed into his shirt.
About ten minutes later her sobbing had quieted down into soft hiccups. He rubbed his hands up an down hers in a soothing measure. She sniffled loudly as she heard their three friends make their way from the kitchen to the backyard. She quickly wiped her eyes, not wanting them to know that she had been crying. Kendall, her cousin, would especially be worried.
"Nickie! Hi!" Carlos said happily as he bounced his way over to them. Kendall and Logan also quickly made their way over, though slightly calmer then Carlos, who stopped short, his happy grin turned into a worried frown, when he noticed her red eyes.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" the Latino boy asked causing Kendall and Logan to slowly frown. She didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything. She saw Logan look to James through her lashes as she stared down at the ground.
"James?" the boy genius' voice asked, the worry in there caused her eyes to form more tears. She pressed the heel of her hand into her eyes, hoping it would make them disappear.
She felt James shrug as he said, "I don't know what's wrong. She just started crying when I came over."
She heard a rustle of someone walking over and then her hand was encased in a slightly larger and warmer one. Looking up she saw that it was Carlos.
"Don't worry Nicki. I'm sure whatever is wrong we can fix it." he said reassuringly. A couple tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes as the other three boys nodded in agreement. She shook her head sadly when Kendall and Logan walked closer.
"Nothing can fix this Carlo. This is something that not even one of Kendall's plans can fix." she said. She watched as his eyes widen at her words.
"I'm sure that's not true." Logan said ignorantly. She let out a too bitter of a laugh for a nine-year-old and glared at the boy.
"If he or you for that matter can come up with a plan to convince my mom to not move us to Michigan then go ahead. I'm all ears Logan!" she yelled. James and Carlos pulled way from her and she felt colder without them despite the ninety degree heat. All four boys looked at her.
"What?" Kendall asked speaking for the first time since arriving. Nicolle finally let the tears silently fall as she looked at her friends They were wearing various degrees of shock on their faces.
"My mom decided to move us to Michigan. She thinks that it might be good for us to finally move on from my dad's death if we weren't here." she said, her voice catching at the mention of her father.
"When do you leave?" Carlos asked, she could see the tears in his brown eyes and her heart broke at the pain she was causing him.
"This Saturday." At her words James shook his head from side to side.
"No. You're lying." He whispered in denial.
"Jamie, I wish I was but..."she trailed off.
"No!" he yelled before he ran back to his house.
"James!" If her heart broke at Carlos' expression then it completely shattered at her best friend's reaction.
"Give him some time to process what you just told us, Nicki." Kendall whispered in her ear, having walked over to her when James had run away.
"I'm going to go follow him make sure he's okay." Carlos said softly and before they could say anything he left in the direction James had went. She could only watch sadly at his retreating back. Sniffling she looked up at her cousin.
"He hates me." she whined, choking on a sob. Kendall started to rub her arms reassuringly just like James had done not even twenty minutes ago. That thought caused her to cry harder.
"No he doesn't. He's upset that his best friend is leaving." Kendall reasoned to which Logan agreed.
No one said anything after that for about fifteen minutes until Kendall's mom, her aunt, called Kendall letting them know that they had to leave. The two cousins hugged each other tightly like she was leaving that day and not the end of the week.
Soon it was just her and Logan. She stared at him apprehensively waiting for him to react. For some reason she just knew that he wanted to say something that would end up with them fighting again.
"What? Got nothing to say?" she snapped unintentionally. She closed her eyes in regret, Crap. I so don't want to fight with him right now, she thought exasperatedly.
"What do you want me to say?" he snapped back causing her to open her eyes and glare at him.
"I don't know how about anything!" she exclaimed. "Just say something!"
"Fine! How about I say this?" Logan yelled, "I hate that you're leaving. I hate that you made Carlos and James, who no doubt is, cry because you won't be here. I hate that Kendall won't be himself once you're gone. And right now I hate you!" he finished screaming his last words.
Nicolle stared at him, wide eyes in surprise, which promptly filled with tears once again. No matter how much they fought and annoyed each other these days they never, not once, said that they hated each other. Once he realized what he actually said his own eyes widen in disbelief.
He took a step forward hoping to apologize, "Nicki..." he trailed off. He tried not to flinch with hurt when she stepped back from him.
"Don't Logan. I think you've said what you needed to say." she spat at him, "I think it's time for you to go." Logan looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it. Smart boy, she thought angrily.
On his way to the door she stopped him.
"I hate you." It was different then the way he had said it. He said it in the middle of an argument, the heat of the moment. She, though, seemed to have meant it. Her voice was too cold for a nine-year-old girl.
Once he left her home, she had rushed upstairs to her bedroom. She climbed onto her bed and buried her head in her pillows, hiding her tears.
That was the first time she cried over Logan Mitchell.
It was honestly one of the worst days of her life right after her father dying and her mother kicking her out. She never liked fight with Logan, it hurt too much to have him mad at her, but for some reason they just could not stop. He was one of her best friends and the fact that he hurt her and she hurt him, it made her feel absolutely awful. After that fight she was worried that he wouldn't come and see her when she left, especially when she told him that she hated him. So when the day came for her to leave, was surprised at what happened.
MINNESOTA
JAMES' HOUSE
SEVEN YEARS AGO
The week of her move went by painfully quick yet at the same time agonizingly slow. She spent as much time as she could with James, Kendall, and Carlos. Logan refused to be anywhere near her and she felt the same, thinking of what she might have done to him if he were there. Though that didn't mean that she didn't regret what happened between them. Unfortunately because of he refused to be here with her, it also meant that he wasn't with the guys, which was something she never wanted to happen.
It made her feel worse because apparently James and Carlos had heard them fighting. She figured that they would pick sides but they decided to weirdly be mature about the whole thing and quite frankly it scared her a little cause seriously, James and Carlos being mature? Impossible.
"Look at it from his side Nike?" James said as they got ready for a movie marathon. Carlos was in the family room, getting the area ready from them and Kendall had yet to arrive at James' house with the soda. Logan would've brought candy, her mind whispered, sounding strangely like her father.
"I know Jamie. Trust me. I know I made a mistake and I feel awful about it. I just," she paused remembering his words from only three days before, "didn't think he would ever say that he hated me." She could feel the tears form again.
"He doesn't hate you. Trust me when I say it's impossible for him to hate you." Carlos told her from behind them, causing her to jump, not having heard him move.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked curiously.
"Nothing you need to worry about." James said, cutting in while giving a glare to Carlos, who merely shrugged.
"Its hard on him like it is for all of us. He would be here giving you chocolate had it not been for that fight." James reasoned, "He thinks that you're the one who hates him." Carlos popped up again, his face as serious as it could being eight-years-old.
"Give him some time to cool off Nicki." the Latino boy told her. She knew they were right but still she wanted Logan there with her and the guys, being with each other as much as possible.
"How much time though? I leave the day after tomorrow." she reminded them, her voice sounded dejected at the thought of leaving with Logan thinking she hated him.
"He'll be there. I know it." Carlos said, sounding absolutely sure of it.
"How though?" she couldn't help but be skeptical.
"Because he's Logan and you're Nicolle." he said, "And you're supposed to be with each other."
There was a slight pause after his words. She could feel the blush form on her cheeks. She saw James give Carlos a weird look that she couldn't identify but let it go as the doorbell to James' house rung, signaling that Kendall had arrived.
MINNESOTA
NICOLLE'S FORMER FRONT YARD
SEVEN YEARS AGO
Nicolle sadly watched as her mother and aunt place the last few boxes of their things in the trunk of the car. She could feel three out of four of her boys walk up behind her just as sadly.
She turned around to face them. Kendall, ever the leader, was trying to be strong for all of them but she could spot a few cracks in that armor of his. Carlos already had tears running down his face which caused the tear she was trying to hold back fall down silently. James, her Jamie, was looking down at the ground refusing to look at her, which hurt almost as much as the fact that someone was missing from their group.
Kendall cleared his throat as he stepped forward, the other two behind him. Each one had their hands behind their backs.
"We wanted to give you something to remember us." her cousin said softly. She chuckled thickly through her tears.
"I could never forget you guys. I hope you know that." she told them seriously, "It's like impossible for that to happen." She saw the three of them smile sadly.
"Still though we each got you something just in case you need anyone of us." he said. She nodded understanding the meaning, So, we'll always be there for you. No matter what.
Kendall removed his hands from behind his back revealing a black grizzly bear stuffed animal with a blue guitar in its paws. She took it softly with a small chuckle. Carlos quickly pushed his arms forward with a penguin wearing the jersey of the boys youth hockey league team. She shook her head as a small smile grew on her face as she added the penguin with the bear. She turned her head to James and she could feel herself becoming depressed again at the sight of her best friend. He held his present out with shaky hands and she smiled because this would absolutely remind her of him. She grabbed the medium size green gecko that was wearing a pair of bright neon orange sunglasses.
"Thank you." she whispered, afraid that her voice would stop working if she spoke any louder.
"Nicolle." the voice of her mother cut through them, "It's time to go." She could feel her heart stop at the words and the fact that-
"Nicki?"
Logan! He's here.
She pushed past Kendall and Carlos, shoving the three animals into her cousins arms then launched herself into Logan's. She was surprised that they didn't end up falling backwards at the force as she wrapped her arms around his neck and felt his move around her waist.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." she mumbled repeatedly into his neck. She felt him tighten his grip reassuringly.
"No. I'm sorry. I was a complete jerk to you." he whispered.
"You were upset. I get it but that didn't give me the right to say that I hated you because I don't. I swear I don't hate you Logie." she told him as more tears started to fall. She was vaguely aware of their friends leaving them to themselves.
"Yes, I was upset but so were you. You just told us that you were moving away and I yell at you. What kind of friend does that?" he asked rhetorically but she answered anyways as she pulled back a little to look at him.
"One who is hurt because friend is moving and their friends are suffering too." she told him in such a voice that he couldn't help but be comforted by her words.
"I don't hate you." he said softly causing her to grin and pull him in for another hug.
"Nicolle come on! We need to leave." her mother yelled from the car after giving tearful goodbyes to her sister and the mothers of her daughters friends.
"I got you something." Logan said, both of them ignoring Nicolle's mom for a moment. He pulled back from her just enough to show her another stuffed animal. This one was a fax in a soccer uniform with a soccer ball at its foot, making it look like it was about to kick it. She laughed because it was slightly ironic coming from Logan.
"You're probably happy that you won't get hit with soccer balls anymore, huh?" she wondered lightly as she grabbed the fourth and final stuffed animal. Collection completed, she thought bittersweet.
"It would mean that you're really gone, so no. I'm not happy about that." he told her seriously. She didn't really know what she was thinking but when she heard that, she couldn't stop the smile from forming onto her face. Next thing she knew she stood on the tips of her toes a little and pressed her lips to his with her eyes closed.
It was a small and quick kiss but with her only being nine-years-old, it felt like nothing could be better than that moment. Unfortunately, she pulled back blushing and opened her eyes cautiously to see that he was opening his as well as his cheeks were also stained pink.
"I gotta go." she told him quietly before running to her mother's car, the animal clutched to her chest. She stopped by Kendall, not looking at him and grabbed the other three toys. She quickly gave him a hug a muttered a 'Bye and I'll miss you' to her cousin and aunt. Then she made her way to the car and found that Carlos and James were by the door. She gave Carlos a quick hug and told that she would miss him before turning to James. Like with Logan, she also launched herself into his arms.
"I'll miss you Jamie." she whispered. She felt him squeeze her tight to him almost like he never wanted to her go.
"I'll miss you too Nike."
With one final squeeze she climbed into the car, pushing the stuffed animals away, having placed them in there before she gave Carlos a hug. Looking back, saw the four boys wave at her sadly that she returned before closing the door.
Once she had her seat belt on, her mother pulled away from their former home. She look back at them already knowing the sight she would see-them standing all together; Logan and Carlos on the outside with Kendall and James in between them.
She could feel the tears, that had surprisingly dried up, fall again. Feeling her chest hurt she blindly grabbed for one of the stuffed animals and buried her head into as she held it to her tightly.
Nicolle pulled away slightly to see which one she grabbed and she didn't know whether to laugh hysterically or cry harder.
She did a small combination of both-letting out a distraught laugh and the tears fell faster as she stared at the soccer playing fox.
"Nicolle are you okay?" Kendall's voice broke her out of the memory. Blinking, almost confusedly, she looked over to him to see that he was staring at her worriedly.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking." she told him reassuringly with a small smile that she really didn't feel was genuine. He nodded but looked like he didn't believe her.
After that the three teens worked in silence, save for when it was decided onto how to pack the picture. She told them to wrap them in newspaper and gently place them in the boxes.
By the time of noon rolled around they had a fair amount of pictures in the boxes. Kendall was taking down the few pictures that were still on the wall as James wrapped and packed them. She, however, started to pack her clothes in a few suitcases and the rest would go into boxes to be shipped to LA.
Though once they heard the door open and then close shut they froze, not having heard a car pull up driveway. They could hear the voice of the woman clearly.
"Ashley?"
Nicolle's mother had returned home.
The three teens shared the same thought, Let the battle begin.
Chapter two is finished! 44 and half written pages front and back. Hope you all liked it.
Oh! I also wanted to let everyone know that I now have a twitter account if you want to follow the progress of my stories and what new ones I might be working on too. Just click on the homepage button on my profile.
Reviews are loved and for a quicker update. :-P
-ARF