.:Chapter 03:.


"Hawaii can be heaven and it can be hell." ~Jeff Goldlum


"When's our flight again?"

Carlos watched as Logan let out an exasperated sigh and lowered the scientific journal that he was reading and collected himself before replying. Carlos stretched his legs out on the orange couch and drummed his feet against Logan's side, hoping to piss him off even more. Logan merely reached out and smacked at Carlos's feet with the scientific journal until he pulled his feet away.

"Our flight isn't until later this afternoon, like I told you five times already. Go bug someone else!"

Carlos shrugged. "But it's not as much fun if I'm not bugging you," he said honestly. At Logan's glare, he smiled impishly. "That constipated, I'm-so-annoyed-that-my-head's-going-to-explode is so funny that James, Kendall, and I make bets to see who will make you crack first."

Logan's mouth dropped open in indignation and he stuck his nose in the air, purposefully turning away from Carlos. Giggling to himself, Carlos lifted his foot, ready to deliver a swift kick to Logan's side. Shifting to the edge of the couch in case he needed to make a fast getaway, Carlos shot his foot forward, only for Logan to catch it at the last second and push hard, knocking Carlos to the floor. Carlos landed on his face with a dull thud.

Carlos rolled onto his back and pouted at Logan's smirk. "No fair!" He rolled onto his stomach and rested his chin in his hands. Now what was he going to do to entertain himself while he waited to go to Hawaii? He wasn't going to unpack and repack his bags again; he did that earlier that morning. And they had already looked online to see some of the things that they planned on doing while they were there; paddle boarding, snorkeling, surfing of course…it was going to be a blast! He just wanted to get there!

"Hey!" James greeted as he walked through the front door of the crib. Carlos perked up. Maybe James had something that they could do. "What are you doing on the floor?"

"He was bugging me." Logan's answer was all the explanation that James needed. Though Carlos was his best bud and they shared rooms, there were many times that they would get into small, pointless fights, because of little nitpicks that they had with each other. Logan usually could keep his cool for a while, but if it was anything math, science, or homework related, everyone knew not to bother him.

"Oh, ok." James shrugged and closed the door behind him. "Where's Kendall?"

"In our room," Logan replied. "Why what's up?"

"I got a text from Sydney saying that we needed to get to Blazing Phoenix," James explained. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at it again. "He said that there's something that we need to help them with and it'll help us with our own band in the future so I guess it's important." His hazel eyes lit up. "Maybe they're going to ask us to be backing vocals on a new track or something." He looked pointedly at Logan. "Especially because you and Kendall were the only ones that got onto their album."

Logan rolled his eyes, tossing the scientific journal onto the coffee table. "I can't believe that you're bringing that up again."

"Yeah, Jelly McJealous!" Carlos added teasingly.

James looked down at Carlos, who was still on the floor, before looking at Logan with a hard, slightly wide-eyed stare. "I'm just saying that credit needs to be given where credit is due." He held his hands up, palms out. "I was the one that wanted to do this in the first place, remember?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, but Kendall was the one that got you out here," Carlos reminded him.

"Do you want to lose your fucking head?"

"No, not really." Carlos smiled when he noticed the familiar twinkle in James's eyes, letting him know that he wasn't in any real immediate danger. Carlos pushed himself to his knees and he got to his feet. "I'll go get Kendall and then we'll go to Blazing Phoenix." Carlos walked into Kendall's room and glanced over at his bed before taking a flying leap onto him.

"Ow!" Kendall shot awake at the sudden pain and turned his head to glare at Carlos. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to sleep." Kendall rubbed his eye. "If our flight isn't until late tonight, I know that I'm going to be up for hours, so I was trying to get a nap in before I was rudely interrupted."

"Oh." Carlos shrugged. "Well, anyway, the Jacksons want us to go to Blazing Phoenix Records because they need our help with something." He noticed Kendall's confused glance. "Yeah, I know. We're not usually asked over there, and they typically come to us. But we really want to see what's going on and we're not going to know unless you wake up." Carlos sang the last few words, shaking Kendall's arm as he did so, causing Kendall to smile a little.

"Alright. Alright. I'm going."

Carlos rolled off of Kendall and slid off of his bed, waiting for Kendall to get up. Once he was sure that his blond friend was awake, he left the room and grabbed his helmet from the kitchen table, slipping it onto his head. Kendall then left the room and grabbed the keys to the Big Time Rush mobile. They left the PalmWoods, got into the car, and drove into LA to get to Blazing Phoenix Records.

Carlos's mind wandered as they maneuvered through traffic. He was so excited for Hawaii; ever since he was a kid, he wanted to go to Hawaii. The look of the forests, the blue sky, the equally blue water, the rainbows, the surf, the sand, the waves, and the food…There wasn't anything that he wasn't excited about being able to see, especially since his best friends were going to be involved with it. It was good enough that Logan, Kendall, and James were going with them and that they were being able to make a fun music video for their fans. It was even better that they were having the Jacksons go along, but he was worried about it too. There was so much that they had gone through and so much that they were going to have to deal with in the future, so being able to have one good vacation, to be able to get away from the pressures of LA and from their work just for a little while should do them some good.

He just wanted everything to go right for them, they deserved it.

When Big Time Rush arrived at Blazing Phoenix, they were surprised to see that there were lots of cars and people waiting around. Getting out of the Big Time Rush mobile, they were suddenly surrounded by screaming fans that begged for their autographs and pictures. Carlos happily signed as many pictures and shirts and posters as he could while also happily posing for pictures. He looked over at James, Kendall, and Logan and saw that they were taking the time to stop and take pictures and sign autographs as well. Unlike most bands, they really cared about their fans and were very well aware that they wouldn't be where they were without them around. Even if a minute out of their day made someone's life, they were going to be grateful for it.

"I wonder what all of these people are around for," Logan mused as the boys headed inside the record company. "I don't think I've ever seen the place this packed."

"Maybe they're signing someone new to the company," Kendall suggested. "Having an audition process or something."

"You got the audition part right," Sydney commented as he walked over to the four boys. He gave each of the boys a high-five in greeting. He pushed his bandana up his forehead, wiping sweat off of the side of his neck. "But it's not for a new talent to sign to the label." He gave a bright smile, his dimples appearing in his cheeks. "Are you guys excited for Hawaii later?"

"You have no idea," Carlos replied. "I haven't been able to sleep, I've been so excited." He studied his friend and the youngest of the Jacksons and their band, the DarkElements. He was only ten years old, but still had to go through a lot more than Carlos ever had in his whole life. There were many times that he was surprised to see that Sydney acted like a wise old man, which helped that he was certified as a genius, and then there were other times that he acted his age and was as rambunctious and crazy as Carlos could be.

"I'll bet," Sydney agreed. "We're the same way whenever we're going back to Oz. Most times we don't sleep before the flight and try to take as much time as we can sleeping on the plane so we can get used to the time change."

"Sydney!"

Sydney turned to address the receptionist as she waved to get his attention. "Yes, Annaleigh?"

"They really need you back there," Annaleigh said. She turned back to her desk before holding up four laminated passes. "Give these to the guys and they can get back there with no problems."

"No worries, thanks." Sydney turned back to the boys. "I don't know if you guys heard, but we're auditioning for some backup dancers." He waved a hand and led the boys over to Annaleigh's desk. "It's stupid really, there were problems with our original backup dancers' VISAs or passports or something, so we have to rush to get these guys put together." He took the badges from Annaleigh and passed them out to the boys. "So we thought that we'd get you guys to help us figure out which ones that we're going to hire."

"Awesome!" James cried, his eyes lighting up. "We get to watch girls dance for us?"

"And guys," Sydney quickly reminded him. He gave James a stern look as he led them down a hallway to the left. "Don't think that this is supposed to be for your enjoyment, you're helping us with this and if you make a bad decision, it's not only reflected on us, it's also reflected on you."

"Wow, way to bring down my mood." James pouted.

Sydney smiled.

Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James followed Sydney into a large dance studio where girls and boys of all ages were in the room, stretching, talking, and practicing some of their dance moves. Sydney led the guys over to his siblings, who were all standing around a table with Ronan and three other men that Big Time Rush had never seen before, all talking quietly.

"As you can see, even though we're going on vacation today, we still don't have the day off." Sydney turned and poked Ronan on the arm. "The guys are here."

"Oh, good." Ronan turned to Big Time Rush with a warm smiled. "Glad to see that you guys could help us out." He picked up a stack of pictures and handed it over to the boys. "Here are the resumes that you all are going to be looking over as each person performs the routine that we showed them. And you're going to give your scores on all of them, guys and girls, so you can help us have a wide variety of opinions before we figure out who we're going to choose for their replacement backup dancers until their real ones get everything sorted out."

"Sure, no problem." Logan smiled and nodded.

"Cool! Then let's get started."

Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James all settled down on the floor and got the resumes and score sheets situated before the auditions started and they watched the process. There was a lot more involved with it than the originally thought. They kids were all grouped together by gender and by age and then each of them were called upon and explained how long they had been dancing and for which companies and productions. Then they had to showcase some of their own dancing talent before they moved into groups to start working on the choreography that the Jacksons had shown them to Taylor Swift's I Knew You Were Trouble.

Pushing their very obvious thoughts aside, the guys watched each of the groups with a critical eye, looking out for imperfections that Rhuben or their new choreographer, Hi-Hat, had been pointing out to them in their own routines. Was anyone off time? Too fast? Too slow? Not showing enough confidence? Not looking like they were having a good time? Even what they were wearing had to be scrutinized, to see whether or not it would fit with the style that the DarkElements exuded.

Carlos shifted the stack of resumes that was in his hand and stared when his girlfriend's face looked up at him. He knew that Stephanie liked to dance on the side whenever she got a chance, but he didn't think that she would try out to be a band's backup dancer. He looked up and watched as she went through the motions of her audition with a group of three other girls. They were all really good. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride as he watched her, knowing how hard she must have worked to be able to get to that point. Once she was finished with her audition and there was time for a break, Carlos got up and followed her outside.

"Steph!" He got her attention.

"Hey Carlos," she greeted him, giving him a hug and a kiss. "I didn't know that you were coming today."

"Neither did I," Carlos replied. He grabbed onto her hands, swinging them back and forth between them. "Why didn't you tell me that you were going to be auditioning for them? I would have helped you if you need it? I'm good." He then started to spastically flail around, making Stephanie laughed. Carlos beamed as he stopped dancing.

"Well, Patrick and Noah convinced me to do it." Stephanie pushed her hair behind her ears. "I wasn't sure at first, but they thought that it'd be a good idea. And…I don't know, I didn't tell you because I wasn't sure how you'd react to it." Carlos frowned. She didn't know how he'd react? Would he be anything but supportive? She quickly explained. "I mean, what if I didn't get it? Or, what if I was bad or something? I'm really good at films, but this is something that I've just done for fun. I've never really tried it."

"You're going to do fine, Steph, you've already done a great audition," Carlos reassured her. "They'd be crazy not to hire you."

"That's the other part." Stephanie frowned. "You know those other guys that were in the room with them?" Carlos shrugged and nodded. "Those are the marketing team for Blazing Phoenix. They're the ones that make the ultimate decision, along with Ronan, because it has to represent the image of the band as well as the image of Blazing Phoenix. So, even if I wanted to have favoritism, which I don't, I'm not sure if I could get it."

Carlos smiled a little. It was the first time that he had seen her insecure about anything. She had been so serious about her filmmaking and all of the ideas that she for new movies that she wanted to try. Ding everything on no-budget made her become very creative as well as confident in what she wanted it to turn out like, but when it was something else that would be viewed by hundreds of people each time she went to do a show, they would voice their opinions pretty quickly.

That was something that Carlos didn't like about being in the music industry. He was already, arguably, the weakest of the four guys in all aspects of their band so he knew how she felt. He found himself, even though he was told not to, going on the internet and looking at the comments that people had about their shows in their reviews. His fan's comments about his singing and performance could make him smile, but he wasn't sure if they were being completely honest or if they were just trying to be suck ups. Usually he could see the difference between real praise and insincere praise but you had to have tough skin in his part of the entertainment business or any part really.

So he understood her fears.

"Listen." Carlos grabbed onto her shoulders and gently shook her. "You did an amazing job; you're going to get this." He gave her a kiss. "Trust me." Stephanie smiled and gave him a kiss back.

"Thanks." She squeezed his hand.

"You're welcome."

Carlos led her back into the studio and she rejoined her group as they waited for the rest of the dancers to go through their auditions. Riley and Rhuben moved to the floor to sit with the guys. "So what d'you think?" Rhuben asked, twisting a pen in her fingers. She looked them all in the eye. "Apart from the obvious, I mean."

"I'm not thinking anything other than how much I would love to go on a date with her!" James said, pointing to a tall brunette across the room.

The twin girls followed his gaze. Riley raised an eyebrow as she turned back to the boys. "You can try all you want, mate, but good luck trying to tell her that she has chronic bad breath." She smirked. "But, hey, if you can hold your breath long enough to get a date, then by all means, go for it."

"So how come you guys didn't tell us that you were having trouble with your backup dancers?" Logan played with his shoelaces. "It seems like you were really down to the wire when it came to getting this done and going to Hawaii."

"Steph wanted to keep her audition a secret," Rhuben said. "What'd you think of her?"

"She's really good," Kendall said, as supportive as ever. "In fact, we wish you didn't get to her before we did. She could have been in one of our videos or something." He started to trace a circle on the ground with his index finger. "And, well, we're going to be doing the video for Music Sounds Better With U soon and we were thinking that you could-"

"You know, you're going to have to stop using us for your guys' band at some point," Rhuben interrupted. Her eyes flashed with an emotion that the guys couldn't place. "We're not contracted to work with you anymore."

"So you're not going to help us when we need it?" Carlos asked. He stuck out his lower lip.

"That's not what she meant," Riley said quickly. She exchanged a glance with Rhuben. "We just mean that at some point or another we're not going to be able to help each other." Her hands tightened into fists. "And we're not contracted to work with you anymore. So you're going to have to get used it sooner rather than later."

"You make it sound like you're dying," Kendall said, repeating her words back to her.

The twin girls looked at each other for a few moments before changing the subject to Hawaii, easily grabbing the boys' attention, though they all ended up tuning out as Logan continued to talk about the history and the science behind Hawaii, it's formation, and it's chief imports and exports. They all turned to attention when Ronan clapped his hands loudly.

"We'd like to thank everyone for coming out to audition for us today," he said diplomatically. "Everyone did a good job, but we can only choose a few of you." He lifted his score sheet to his face. "So numbers 25, 42, 21, 8, and 60, congratulations."

Stephanie beamed when she heard her number called. "Thanks so much!" She said, reaching out and shaking Ronan's hand firmly. "I promise that I'll do my best with this." She turned and gave Riley and Rhuben a hug as they and Big Time Rush got up from the floor to congratulate her.

"Congrats, Steph!" Noah said with a warm smile, giving her a high five. He motioned to himself and Patrick."We knew you could do it. Aren't you glad that we talked you into it?"

"Yes, of course! Thanks guys." She gave the twin boys a hug before turning to acknowledge Kendall's, Logan's, and James's congratulations as well.

Carlos glanced over at Noah for a moment before listening to what his girlfriend had to say about how excited she was about being able to start working with their friends as soon as they got back from Hawaii. Carlos did have moments where he was insecure, but he never thought that he would ever get to that point when his girlfriend was involved.

"Now all we have to do is get to Hawaii," Sydney smiled.

At least for a while he wouldn't have to worry about it.


Hawaii.

The ocean-blue views, the sandy shores, and green plants that covered everything. The natives who greet tourists with warm affection, the bright, white, fluffy clouds that dotted the sky. The golden sunrays that filtered through the clouds, the smell of the natural freshness of the flowers. It was paradise and the Big Time Rush boys were definitely feeling it. Fresh out of the airport and abandoning their bags in the hotel lobby, Big Time Rush and the DarkElements were already headed down to the beach to get a jump start in what Hawaii had in store for them.

"So what are Gustavo and Kelly doing for their time off away from you guys?" Noah asked, dropping his sunglasses from his head to cover his eyes.

Carlos snorted. "Who cares?"

Patrick laughed along with him and smiled. "Hey, I'm complaining, a whole vacation free of Gustavo screaming at us is what I've wanted since I first met him."

"Where are Mama Knight and Ronan anyway?" Logan folded up his tourist map and stuck it in his trunks pocket. He looked at his watch in concern before crossing his arms over his chest. "We have to get going or we're going to miss the boats.

"Mom's sleeping," Kendall replied. He scratched the back of his neck as he looked around the lobby, being sure that all of their bags had been taken up to the rooms. As soon as they had arrived in Maui, he and the guys were completely energized. His mother, on the other hand, seemed to be dead on her feet as she could barely book the massive suite that they were all going to be staying in. Even the idea of checking out a suite that was going to hold twelve people didn't excite them as much as the idea of being able to get to the beach so quickly.

"Jet lag must have really gotten to her," he explained. "Katie said that she's going to stay in the suite and use the mini-fridge, the big screen, LCD TV, and the room service all vacation, so I didn't think she was going to come with us." He put his hands on his hips. "And Ronan, I think he said that he was going to go into town?" He turned to the Jacksons to get some clarification on what their father had said.

"Yeah, he said that he was going to do some sightseeing while we're out," Patrick agreed. He scratched his bare chest underneath his open button down t-shirt before pulling up the waistband of his swim trunks. "And Riles and Rhubes are waiting for us outside." An impatient look crossed his face. "So can we get going please?"

"Yeah, we're going," James said. He was as eager to get going as the others were. The beach in Hawaii was already ten times as different as it was in LA. The whole atmosphere was much more relaxed, he could already feel himself loosening up without having someone breathe down his neck. As the boys started to walk out of the lobby, James noticed the bag that was tucked under Logan's arm. "What's that?"

"A first aid kit." Logan proudly showed off the contents before zipping the bag back up and tucking it under his arm pit. "You never know if someone is going to step on some coral-"

"We're in Hawaii not Australia, Logaine," Patrick pointed out.

"You don't know if you're going to step on a sea-urchin, a jelly fish, get stung by a manta ray." Ignoring the looks and rolled eyes he received, Logan gave a smug smile. "Don't come crying to me when your foot swells and falls off."

"All right." Carlos shrugged. "We'll just chop off one of your feet and sew it onto our leg to replace ours." He laughed along with Kendall, Carlos, Patrick and Noah as they walked outside to Riley, Rhuben, and Sydney, who were impatiently waiting for them.

"Finally," Sydney cried. "Let's go! We're going paddle boarding and snorkeling!" He reached up and gripped the dog-tag necklace that was around his neck. He had gotten it from his parents before they died, and on each side had an 'S' printed on it. "We haven't tried paddle boarding, but it sounds like it should be fun."

"You can paddle board all you want, but I don't plan on going snorkeling," Riley commented, pushing up the sleeves of her light mesh jacket.

"Why?" Confused, Logan studied her. She and her siblings were well known for trying out basically any water sport that anyone could come up with. If they had the day off from everything, they could easily be found spending the whole day hanging out at the beach. So what was so different about snorkeling? "You guys are always so gung ho when it comes to water sports, how come this one is different?"

"Gee, I don't know…" Rhuben pretended to think about it. "Maybe the fact that you're underwater with a stupid tube in your mouth, trying to remember not to breathe in when you're down there." She shrugged. "But, I don't know, there could be a number of other reasons to not want to go snorkeling."

"Oh, don't worry!" Carlos grinned. "I'm a certified SCUBA instructor, so I can rescue you if you're drowning."

James then reached out and shoved Carlos out of the way, knocking him to the floor. "And I can give you CPR." He said. Kendall chuckled as he reached up and patted James on the arm, grinning as well.

"Well, then I'll be sure not to drown," Riley said and laughed along with her siblings. "C'mon, we got the keys to the jeeps that we're renting." She pulled a pair of car keys out of the pocket of her swim shorts and jiggled them around. "And you know what the best part is?"

"What?" Carlos asked as Noah helped him up off the floor.

"Since Logie is the only one with his license, that means that he, Riles, and I get to drive the whole time that we're here!" Rhuben laughed and high-fived Logan who took an extra set of the keys to the jeep as well.

"Oh come on," James groaned. He motioned to himself, Carlos, and Kendall, who were pouting as well. "We have our permits and we're getting our licenses sometime."

"Well, unless you find a DMV here that will be bribed with coconuts, you're not driving." Rhuben said. "Now come on, you blokes said that you were going to film this for your music video, so let's get filming." She nodded over to Sydney, who pulled a hand-held camera out from a bag that he had around his neck. "Syd brought his video camera too, just in case you guys want a different sort of shot. And, of course," she pointed to her own bag. "I have my digital camera."

"Photo-Op!" Noah said. The two bands shuffled together as Rhuben went over to a person at the front desk, asking if they could take a picture of them. Once they agreed, she went back over to her friends and siblings and smiled along with them as they took the picture. "Alright, let's go!"

They went outside and got into the two jeeps that they had rented for the duration of their stay in Hawaii, and climbed inside both of them, Logan behind the wheel of one, and Riley behind the wheel of the other. Once they were all buckled in and were sure that they had everything that they needed, they started the jeeps and were on their way to the docks, where they were going to meet up with some locals to take them snorkeling and paddle boarding. Once they were on the road, Kendall, James, and Carlos had turned on the hand held cameras that Gustavo and Kelly had given them (after making sure that they were water-proof and they had insurance on anything else that the guys could do to ruin them) and were leaning out of the cars, filming each other as Logan blasted their song, Windows Down, from his jeep's speakers and everybody sang along to it, having to practically scream it at the top of their lungs to be heard over the rushing wind.

When they pulled up to the dock, Carlos practically sprinted out of the cars and went over to the docks. "Hey," Kendall greeted the two men that were waiting for them with a light wave. "I'm Kendall, that's Carlos, Logan, James, and the Jacksons-"

"How come we're never introduced by name?" Noah asked, tilting his head to the side as he looked at his siblings. "They're always mentioned by name and we're just grouped together."

"Trust me; Buddy, when I say that it's better than having to worry about people trying to remember our names," Patrick patted Noah on the shoulder as Sydney smiled and laughed to himself. He turned back to the others. "Hi, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you all too," The man on the left said with a wave. "I'm Jordy and that's Hank." He clapped his partner on the shoulder. "We're going to be your captains for today. I understand that you all want to try paddle boarding today."

"That's right," James agreed. "We heard that it's the number one thing that you should try when you go on vacation to Hawaii. And it sounds really rad, so we thought we'd give it a go."

"Alright!" Jordy clapped his hands together. "We'll get you on board, go over a few safety precautions and then we can be on our way." Jordy and Hank climbed onto the boat and the others got on as well. Hank started up the engine and they pulled away from the dock, heading out into the open water. "Ok, first thing that you guys have to know-" Hank called over the roar of the engine as Jordy steered them. "-Is that once you start Paddle boarding, you're going to be addicted to it as soon as you try."

"That's what we're hoping," Kendall said, putting his sunglasses down over his face.

"To learn how to paddle board, you start out by standing up on the board and holding the paddle with one of your hands about one-third of the way down the shaft of the paddle and one hand on the handle of the paddle." Hank instructed by holding onto a paddle in his hands. He was standing up in the middle of the boat, not seeming to be bothered by the rocking motion that it made as they zoomed out into the ocean. "When you paddle on the left side of the board you hold the paddle with your right hand, and then switch hands for the other side." He explained. "Put the blade about one and one-half feet in front of you on the side of the board in the water and then smoothly pull the blade of the paddle through the water."

"Just like you would do if you were kayaking or canoeing," Logan spoke up. "In fact, did you know that paddle boarding is closely related to-"

"Shhh!" Carlos shushed Logan loudly, slapping a hand over his mouth. "I'm trying to hear!" Logan frowned at Carlos and opened his mouth, running his tongue over Carlos's palm. Carlos pulled his hand away and wiped the saliva off on Logan's shoulder, causing the smarter teen to make a face of disgust and horror.

"When the blade reaches a point that is about one foot behind your body, that's when lift it up from the water and put it to the front again," Hank continued. "And that's how you paddle board. But the key to being able to stay up is if you figure out how to balance your body weight over the board."

"Oh so kind of like surfing," Riley said.

"Exactly, Little Lady," Hank said. "You might want to paddle several times on one side before alternating hands and sides, just so you don't get tired too quickly. But it also depends on the weather and currents in the water."

Sydney shot his hand into the air. "We're all really big surfers," He said. "Can you use these things to surf too? Or is it harder?"

"You can use paddle boards as an alternate way for you to surf," Hank placed his hands on his hips. He started to pace back and forth, his expert balance obvious from the way that he didn't wobble at any turn or slight jump of the water as a wave rolled under their boat. "In fact some people prefer it because you have a higher view point when it comes to be seeing the waves that are coming closer. And you also have a paddle to keep you afloat and to keep your balance, since you're not strapped onto the board."

"Cool!" Kendall rubbed his hands together. "So when can we get started?" he asked as the boat slowed down.

"Right now," James replied. He and Logan grabbed onto Kendall's arms and legs and tilted him backwards, knocking him over the side of the boat and into the water. The Jacksons, Logan, Carlos, and James laughed as Kendall disappeared in a large splash of water and then resurfaced, shaking out his blonde hair, spitting water out of his mouth. "Oh, that was classic!" James declared, clapping his hands together. "Did you get that on tape?"

"Got it!" Sydney replied, waving his video camera around.

"You know, it might have been a good idea if you waited for K-Dawg to get his shirt off first," Rhuben remarked as Kendall pulled the soaked object off of his head and tossed it into the boat with a loud smack. "That way we wouldn't have to worry about him possibly drowning."

"And miss that look on his face?" Carlos replied. "I don't think so. Whoa!" When Carlos wasn't looking, Kendall had grabbed onto his arm and tugged him into the water as well. "That wasn't funny," he pouted as he popped back up, treading water.

"It was funny to me," Kendall shot back before sloshing a wave of water at him,

"All right, go out there and have some fun then," Jordy said as he killed the engine. He turned and started to throw some paddle boards and paddles out into the water as Hank moved to drop anchor. "We're just going to be sitting here in the boat, call us if you need us."

"No problem!" Patrick replied as he stood on the side of the boat. He did a flip into the water, landing beside Kendall and Carlos with a big splash. "Ooh, the water's warm too!" He floated on his back and lazily kicked his feet up and down as he moved towards a paddle board.

"You didn't pee did you?" Noah asked and then laughed before he, Sydney, Riley, and Rhuben jumped into the water as well. "It wouldn't be the first time," he added to James as he climbed onto a paddle board.

"Ha ha." Patrick rolled his eyes.

"Logie-Bear, aren't you coming?" Riley asked as she got up onto a paddle board and crouched low; balancing enough to be sure that she didn't knock herself back into the water. When she was sure that she had her balance she slowly stood up before grabbing the paddle. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure that I have everything that we could need in the First Aid Kit," Logan replied, moving through the contents of the small black bag. "I'm not sure, but I think I forgot about the water proof bandages."

"Logie, come on!" Sydney called. He was already standing up on his board, paddling a little bit away from the boat. He turned and started to circle it as the others got up onto their boards as well. "This is fun, you're missing out."

"All right, I'm coming!" Logan rolled his eyes before climbing out of the boat and sliding into the water. He swam over to the last paddle board and grabbed the paddle before climbing on top of it. "But if any of you guys get stung by a jelly fish, don't expect me to pee on your foot."

"Trust me, Logan, we wouldn't want you to." Rhuben replied.

Carlos laughed loudly as he put his paddle in the water and started to follow his friends through the water. Small waves rolled under their boards, threatening to knock them over. That just caused them to make a game of lifting their paddles and try to knock each other off of their boards. Sydney laughed the hardest when James tried to knock him off and he just grabbed onto James's paddle and pulled hard, knocking James off of his board. Carlos couldn't keep the grin off of his face as he watched his friends. The sky was a brilliant shade of blue, there was hardly a cloud in the sky, the sun was shining, there was a light breeze, the water was crystal clear, and they were going to be there for the rest of the week. He couldn't think of a better place to spend a vacation with his best friends to make a music video.

"Oh no!" Carlos cried, as he accidentally dropped his paddle. He got down onto his stomach and started to paddle back towards it, but his frantic movements caused the paddle to move further away from him.

"Carlos!" Kendall was sitting on his knees on his own board, making faces into the camera that Noah was holding onto. He turned away when he heard Carlos's cry. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I dropped my paddle and I can't get it back!" Carlos cried.

"That's because you're pushing it away from you," Logan said, laughing as Carlos continued to windmill his arms, trying to get to the paddle. He moved forward and reached out, latching onto the back of Carlos's paddle board. "You have to move forward in slow, even strokes to get there." He sputtered and spit water out of his mouth as Carlos continued to do what he was doing before. "I said slow, even strokes, not spastic strokes!"

"I'll get it," Patrick offered, putting down his own paddle. He took a breath before diving off of his board and into the water.

"Have you noticed that he got the show-off gene in the family?" Sydney asked as he tilted his head to the side, watching as Patrick swam over to the paddle, watching him underwater as he went as far as he could without having to come up for air.

"It took you that long to figure that out?" Kendall snorted. "I've known that since I met you guys."

"And yet he still has friends," Rhuben shook her head. "That's a shock." She leaned over and held out her had for a high-five as Kendall laughed.

"Nice one, Benny," he said, giving her a high-five.

Patrick resurfaced by the paddle and shook the water out of his long black hair before holding the paddle up with his other hand. "Got it!" He treaded water over to Carlos. "Here you go, Carlitos." His eyes were shinning as he held the paddle out to him. "You guys should see it down there! The water's so clear; you can see the fish and everything!"

"Sounds good to me!" James grabbed onto the snorkel gear that he had hooked to the side of his trunks before doing a back-flip off of his paddle board and into the water. Holding his breath, he put the goggles over his face and the breathing tube in his mouth before he started to slowly swim through the water.

Patrick was right, it was cool.

Bubbles rose from James's mouth, to the surface, he swam past silver fish, past a turtle. The water was as warm as it was at the water line. He tried not to smile, knowing that he would just get water into his mouth if he did, as he looked around at everything around. The view was just spectacular; it was enhanced by the filter of sunlight that streamed in from above him. James rose to the top of the water, getting air. His eyes grew wide with excitement and amazement, as he ripped off the goggles that were over his face. Cool air moved across the shoreline, giving him the chills, but it still didn't dampen his mood.

"Oh my god, guys you have to get under there!" James said, brushing his hair back off of his forehead. "It's amazing!"

"I told you before, I'm not going under there," Riley said, shaking her head, her stringy hair plastered to the sides of her face. "And you can't make me." Her eyes widened when she noticed Logan and Carlos look at each other before swimming over to her. "I shouldn't have said that." She said before they grasped her arms. Forcing a pair of goggles over her face and a snorkel in her mouth, they dunked her head underwater.

"You should try it too, Rhu," Kendall said as he put a pair of goggles over his face as well. "You could get some really good under water shots for your portfolio," he said in a sing-song voice.

Rhuben twisted her mouth to the side, thinking about it. "You guys aren't going to leave me alone about this unless I agree are you?"

"Nope," Sydney said as he slid off of his board and fitted himself with a pair of goggles as well. "You should know that by now." He raised an eyebrow. "How do you think that we keep getting roped up into their crazy schemes? I mean, remember what happened at the prom? That was the only time that we didn't help them and we were the ones that ended up having a good time." He smirked, his eyes flashing. "And it was their prom."

"That's not funny," Kendall said, shaking his head.

"Yes it is," Rhuben said as she got herself ready as well. "I mean, you're the one that ended up being put on the watch list for the CIA, not us."

"And all signs pointed to us," Sydney replied.

Kendall rolled his eyes and stuck the breathing tube into his mouth before he ducked underwater along with his friends. He looked around and watched as Logan and Carlos, who were still holding onto Riley, were lightly swimming through the water, Patrick and Noah were swimming circles around everyone, and James, Sydney, Rhuben, and Kendall were treading water with them. Rhuben pulled her water proof digital camera out and turned it on, starting to take pictures of their friends as Sydney used his video camera to tape them.

The group of friends then started to explore the ocean, swimming over and under each other, twisting this way and that as they went. Kendall turned onto his back and looked up, fighting to stay still in the undulating surf. He wiggled forward to allow a tangle of seaweed to pass, bouncing across the sandy bottom like tumbleweed in one wave and then slinking along the ocean floor like a flounder in the next. He wiggled forward, lost in the pure joy of the water against his skin.

The group explored the ocean as long as they could before they got back up onto their paddle boards and started to play around on those again, knocking each other off and tipping their boards over so they continued to fall off. Soon Carlos was complaining about how hungry he was.

"Let's go back to the hotel and raid room service with Katie," he suggested, his eyes growing wide at the thought.

"And who do you expect to pay for it?" Patrick inspected his pruned hands. "Because I'm sure that Mama Knight and Ronan wouldn't be too happy if we ran up a large bill on those Macadamia nuts." He lifted his head and grinned. "Though that would be so worth it."

"You're forgetting," Carlos said, holding up a finger. "That Gustavo is paying for our whole trip. And that includes the room service."

Kendall, Logan, and James all looked at each other before they started rapidly paddle back towards the boat as fast as they could pushing each other out of the way as they tried to grab onto the ladder to get back inside. Carlos hurried after them.

"How long do you think it's going to take for them to realize that if Mama Knight had woken up and she and Katie went into town with Ronan, they have no way for them to get into their suite?" Riley asked as she and her siblings slowly paddled after their friends.

"Considering how dumb they can be sometimes…" Sydney pretended to think about it. "I give them about an hour."

Their vacation had just begun and they were already having a blast.


A/N: As for the guys cursing, like I said before, I'm writing them in a more realistic way and teenage guys curse a lot from what I've seen, so while I'm trying not to keep them out of character, they'd be cursing a bit more freely, though in moments that make sense for them to do it as opposed to my characters where it makes sense to their personalities if they curse. Yeah, first time we saw Stephanie's audition, though it's been mentioned. Ok, well, not exactly as it's kinda hard to explain the audition process for dancing that makes it interesting.

And now they're in Hawaii, more is coming up with the next chapter and the drama starts in the next chapter as well. If you didn't get it, BTR and DE haven't seen the inside of their suite yet, as soon as they got to the hotel, BTR and DE raced off to the beach.

So, sorry if that was confusing.

Constructive Criticism is welcome.

Cheers,

-Riles