A/N: Sup Rushers! Part 2 of 2! Enjoy!

Break Down
Chapter 2: Together

It was in that state—that sad, lonely black hole—that Carlos found his youngest (yet somehow oldest) brother. He'd wanted to talk to Kendall alone all day, but could never seem to build up the courage. He knew he'd been acting like a fool, playing right into Griffin's hands with the whole Broadway thing. Truthfully, he didn't know what he was going to do without the guys. Broadway was in New York! There was no way he'd survive the mass scariness that is the Big City without his brothers. But he was scared, too. Logan and James seemed to be fine with the idea of breaking up. He thought maybe Kendall was, too, when he saw him recording with Gustavo earlier…but then he had tried to talk him out of Broadway. He looked so desperate, so sad.

And as far as Carlos was concerned, Kendall should never look sad. He'd already been through far too much in his short lifetime.

So when Carlos silently snuck up to the roof, his loving heart broke at the sight of Kendall curled up, hiding behind an a/c unit; his soft sniffles tore through the air like the sound of broken strings.

Instantly, all of Carlos's apprehension vanished; he inched to Kendall's side and cautiously kneeled next to him.

"Kendall?" he asked, expression knitting with worry. "Are you okay?"

Having been so absorbed in his own thoughts, Kendall jumped with a violent start. He hated being snuck up on. Quickly, he ran shaking hands over his face and did his best to pull himself together. "C-Carlos!" he yelled, a little too harshly, then instantly softened at the hurt flashing on the Latino's face. "You know I hate it when you sneak up on me like that."

Carlos smiled a little sheepishly. "I'm sorry…I just need to talk to you. Are you alright?"

Kendall wanted so much to lie and forget all about the past few days, but he just…couldn't. "I-yeah…no…" he sighed, running that tell-tale hand through his hair. "I don't want us to break up this way," he finally admitted.

Inside, Carlos felt like sobbing with relief. Maybe he wouldn't have to move to New York after all. Suddenly relaxed, he plopped down next to Kendall and sighed, "Me neither!"

"This sucks…wait…what?!" Kendall shouted, shifting to look at Carlos as his words finally sunk in. "You don't wan'na break up either? What about Broadway?"

Carlos shrugged. "I don't want to live in New York…not without you guys," Carlos's eyes were as big as a child's when he looked to Kendall again. "We don't really have to break up, do we, Kendall?"

Kendall took a deep breath and wrapped an arm around Carlos's shoulders. Inside, he was thanking Jo with every ounce of his heart…of course she'd been right. "I sure hope not, buddy…but Logan and James may have a say in that."

"Yeah," another voice suddenly sounded from behind. "We do."

As Kendall and Carlos searched for the familiar voice, Logan and James rounded the corner and plopped down, Logan beside Kendall and James beside Carlos. Kendall and Carlos stared at them expectantly, taking in their guilt-ridden faces. "We don't wan'na break up either," admitted Logan.

James nodded furiously, hazel eyes even wider than Carlos's. "Yeah. I mean, I would be amazing as a solo performer," he gloated for a moment, then quickly deflated, shoulders sagging and expression lost. "But it's no fun alone."

The small group was quiet for a long moment until, slowly, sighs turned into smirks, smirks turned to grins, and laughter burst into the night air like confetti. All four found themselves wrapped in a contagious giggle fit; one by one, they fell over each other in the sheer audacity of the whole thing.

"Wait…" Kendall struggled to speak through giggles. "None of us wanted this, the whole time?!"

Logan, James, and Carlos shook their heads even as they hyperventilated.

"Guys," Kendall tried again, still chuckling. "We have got to work on our communication skills."

Slowly, the loud merriment faded away into a companionable silence, and the boys found themselves sitting in a line, shoulder-to-shoulder, staring out at the skyline like they hadn't a problem in the world.

Logan briefly mentioned that they still had to deal with Griffin, but Kendall wasn't worried. As long as they were together, they could handle anything.

Smiling to himself, Kendall thought back on his conversation with Jo. Could he really have been so foolish as to believe that the guys would leave him without even a care? Suddenly, he frowned. Shame crept up behind him as he remembered all the thoughts that had been swirling through his head. How could he have gotten so low, so quickly?

"You okay, Kendall?" James asked, instantly bursting the silence. When he first saw Kendall with Carlos, he knew something was wrong…something deeper than just a misunderstanding. Even now, he could see the faint redness rimming his best friend's emerald eyes.

Kendall looked at James and felt heat rising to his cheeks; he hated it when the older boy looked at him like that; like he could see right through his soul. And he could. Still, that didn't stop Kendall from trying to lie. "I'm fine. Just tired," he let a sleepy smile crease his eyes, the way it always did when he'd gone too long without sleep.

Suddenly it was Logan sighing, and Carlos shaking his head. "Kendall…you didn't do something stupid like, say, stop sleeping and eating during this whole mess, have you?" Logan questioned, already fearing the answer.

Feeling like a cornered animal, Kendall jumped up and laughed nervously. He really couldn't lie at all. Some might argue he was even worse at it then Kelly. "What? That's ridiculous. Why would I do that? Ha…like I would forget to eat or sleep…psh…"

Before he could react, James was standing before him with Logan and Carlos surrounding. "Dude, you look like you're about to pass out."

Suddenly, Kendall finally gave in. "I was scared, alright!" with his brothers staring at him, Kendall could feel himself crumbling. A part of him couldn't believe how weak he was. Tears started welling up, even though he did everything to force them back. "I-I thought I was gon'na lose you, okay! I was trying so hard to keep us together and I thought you guys actually wanted to leave!"

The other three boys were taken aback by Kendall's outburst, but not entirely shocked. This is how Kendall worked: he worked himself to the bone trying to be a superhero, and when he finally broke, he crashed into a fiery explosion of yelling, punching, and (on rare occasion) crying. Guilt riddled their hearts when they realized just how much this stupid misunderstanding hurt their best friend.

"I thought you didn't care about us anymore…I thought I was gon'na get left behind!" Kendall's voice broke into a harsh whisper as hot tears streamed down his face. Still, even in that vulnerable state, James knew Kendall was anything but weak. With his fists clenched, and expression a fierce amalgamation of hurt and fury, Kendall was at the end of his rope, but James knew he still had fight left in him.

And it was James who was the first to speak. "Ken…there are no words to apologize for how stupid we've been the last couple days. But," courageously, he dared to wrap gentle fingers around Kendall's shoulders. His heart thumped when he felt the trembling through his brother's veins. "We are sorry, Kendall. We were idiots. But you will never get left behind…not unless it's behind together," James smiled a little, hoping to make Kendall believe him even despite James' lack of eloquent words.

Logan and Carlos shared a glance and each placed a hand on Kendall's back. "Yeah, man," Logan stared with a sad smile. "I was a real jerk to you. I'm sorry it took me so long to listen."

"Me too!" Carlos added. "Broadway would be soo boring without you!"

Looking at his friends, a calm sheath started to grasp hold of Kendall's heart. Everything was okay. His brothers were really still beside him, and they had no intention of ever leaving. Shakily, he wiped away his tears and blushed with a little smile. "Thanks, guys…sorry for freaking out."

Carlos couldn't help it; he glomped Kendall like he was made of corn dogs. Laughing, James and Logan followed suit, and soon Kendall was laughing, too. "Okay, okay!" he giggled from the center of the dog pile. "I get it! Thanks…you can get off now!"

Pulling away, Logan's expression grew serious. "Now, how 'bout we go get you some food and a minimum ten hours' sleep, hmm?"

Kendall rolled his eyes, but didn't put up much of a fight. With his brothers all around him, they snuck back downstairs through the unlockable door. More than ever, Kendall knew he had the best friends in the world.

Later, Kendall found himself lying on his bed, feeling more relaxed then he had in days. True to their word, the guys had forced him to eat a huge dinner, and then sent him off to bed as if he was ten again. In truth, Kendall didn't mind at all. After everything had been resolved, he realized all too quickly that he was starving, and if he didn't sleep soon, he'd likely just pass out.

But there was one thing left to do before sleep. Pulling his phone out from his pocket, he opened his messages for a quick note:

You were right. We're okay now. Thank you, Jo.

End.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading!