The Boys are Back in Town
Kendall had crossed the Palm Woods lobby, pressed his lips against Jo Taylor's, and was perched in the chair across from her before she had even realized that he was there. With a smile, he watched as her warm brown eyes widen with recognition and sparkle with excitement as her pale pink lips parted to allow her to let out a loud "KENDALL" before she launched herself into his arms.
Kendall got to his feet and hugged her back just as tight as her bone crushing hug. Shifting his weight back onto his heels, he spun her around in circles before setting her back down onto the dull carpet. Jo sighed as she buried her head into his shoulder. Kendall ran his fingers through her silky blond hair, taking in a deep lungful of her honey scent. It warmed him from the inside out just like it used to.
"I can't believe you're here," Jo said, her words muffled before she took a step back to peer up at him, a smile so wide, Kendall was sure her face would be stuck that way. Not that he would complain about it, he loved her smile.
"I've missed you," Kendall said before bending his head to kiss her a second time. Jo wrapped her arms around his neck, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him back. Kendall smiled as he pulled away from her before a serious look crossed is face. "Just don't tell James I saw you first. He'd kill me."
Jo giggled. "Don't worry about it," she replied, wiping his lips with her thumb. Kendall caught a glimpse of a shiny, glittery, pink smudge on the pad of her thumb and lifted his shirt collar to wipe any excess lip gloss from his lips. She waved her hand in the air before sitting back down in the chair she had vacated. "I won't be seeing him for a little while anyway. He moved out of the Palm Woods a couple months ago into a small apartment at Echo Park."
Kendall blinked; doing a double take as he slowly lowered himself down into his abandoned chair. He stretched his legs out in front of him before setting his feet flat on the floor, his lips twitching as his pants leg pulled taught over his knee brace. He wondered if he should reach down and adjust his pants leg, or let Jo notice and ask. If there was anyone he knew who would keep his secret it would be her.
He just didn't want to make her cry. He hated seeing her upset and never wanted to be the cause of it. He had never gotten over how he had made her feel unwanted when he tried to get her to break up with him before moving to New Zealand. All that because he couldn't tell her that he A: didn't want her to go film her new movie and B: that he wanted her to go film her movie. It was a confusing and stressful time and while things worked out between the two of them, it was pretty touch and go at times.
"Really?" he asked. Why hadn't he told me that?
"Yeah, with Lucy," Jo said.
That's why. Kendall slowly nodded his head. "Oh," he replied. "And…that's not weird for them at all?" He paused for a moment, looking over at her. "Or you?"
"Why would it be a problem for me?" Jo asked with a short laugh. She crossed her arms over her chest, giving him an amused look. "You're not the only thing we talk about, you know."
"What else do you have to talk about?" Kendall asked with a chuckle. He put his hands up defensively when Jo gave him a pointed look. "I'm kidding." He let out a sigh of relief.
He did have feelings for Lucy Stone when she was at the Palm Woods. She was different, unpredictable, and found a way to get under his skin barely uttering five words. But, he always loved Jo; despite taking a long time to actually tell her those three words.
He gave her a peaceful smile as she looked back at him. "What?" he asked.
"I just can't believe you're here," Jo replied, slowly shaking her head from side to side. "You haven't been back since you left for hockey. How's that going? I want to hear everything."
"I don't want to bore you with the details," Kendall quietly replied, letting out a nervous chuckle. He cleared his throat, clasping his hands together in his lap. "A lot of skating, a lot of bruising, a lot of games." He shrugged. "What about your acting? I'm not holding you from memorizing lines or working on an audition am I? I know I kind of just dropped in on short notice."
"No, you're fine," Jo replied.
"Well, I know that," Kendall joked and Jo let out a tinkling laugh. Kendall got to his feet and held his hands out towards her. Jo took his hands and allowed him to pull her to her feet. "Would you let me take you out to dinner tonight? I'd go now, but Carlos said he was going to be in and Logan's plane lands in a couple of hours, and then we were all going to head over to see James—"
"It's ok," Jo said, putting a hand over Kendall's mouth, stopping him from talking. Kendall pursed his lips, placing a small kiss on the palm of her hand. "I understand. Yes you may, but only if you don't mind the girls coming?" Jo said it as more of a question, giving him a sheepish look as she slowly removed her hand.
"Yeah, we can make it a group thing," Kendall replied with a nod of his head. "You me, James and Lucy, Logan and Camille, and Carlos and Stephanie. It'll be fun." He then gave her a boyish grin. "Will you come see me on tour?" He pressed his forehead against hers.
"Us girls are already working it into our schedule," Jo replied with a grin, reaching her arms up to wrap them around his neck. She scratched her nails through the hair on the back of his neck, sending shivers down his spine.
"No kissing in the lobby."
Kendall closed his eyes as the familiar, nasally; tone of Mr. Bitters rang in his ears. He let out a sigh of annoyance before dropping his arms from around Jo's waist to look over at the owner of the Palm Woods. Mr. Bitters angled his head back before taking a few steps back from Kendall, squinting at him through his large glasses.
"Since when?" Kendall demanded, feeling his eyes widen.
"Since you came back," Mr. Bitters said in a low tone, his eyes narrowing even more. Kendall had to hold back a laugh. All he had to do was set foot in the Palm Woods and he was already getting on Bitters' nerves. He couldn't hold back a grin. It was already starting to feel like old times. "It's bad enough one of you guys stayed behind, now there are two of you here?"
"Don't worry, Mr. Bitters, we're not going to be here long," Kendall said, putting a smile on his face. "We're heading back out on tour for a month."
"A month?" Mr. Bitters repeated, a wide smile coming to his face. He curled is meaty hands into fists and tilted his head back, mouthing 'Thank you' to the ceiling. Kendall gave him an odd look before exchanging amused glances with Jo. Mr. Bitters then cleared his throat, plastering a wide smile on his face, adjusting his tie. "Have a Palm Woods day."
"You know, I'm pretty sure I have a stink bomb reserved for him," Kendall commented, slowly shaking his head from side to side as he watched Mr. Bitters scurry away. Jo chuckled, swinging her am to gently hit Kendall's stomach with the back of her hand. "I'm going to go see Carlos, but keep your night free. Tonight will be romantic."
"I wouldn't expect any less," Jo replied, taking his hand to give it a gentle squeeze. "I'll see you later. Go see Carlos."
Kendall squeezed her hand back before making his way over to the elevators. His eyes shifted towards each person that he passed, expecting them to stop, stare, or do something in recognition of him being there. It was weird in one sense to be walking through the Palm Woods and not recognize anybody that was there, but it was even weirder when no one seemed to notice that he was there as well.
Not that it he was entitled to it, he was just used to it. So much in fact that he and his friends had practically become obsessed with getting people to recognize how important they were to the Palm Woods after their second tour. But, they had been "broken up" for months and if it was something he had learned about the music industry, it was that people moved on to the next big thing pretty quickly.
One Direction was still gaining momentum, The Wanted were forging their own path, who knew when Big Time Rush would put out any more music? Winning a Tween Choice Award did bring a little bit of a spike toothier music, but he could see it himself though; the boy band era was slowly dying out again. It made his decision to continue his hockey career just a tad bit easier. Walking through the lobby of the Palm Woods, all of his memories rushed back and he wondered why he even left in the first place.
The elevator doors dinged and Kendall stepped inside, jabbing his thumb into the round 2 before slumping against the back of the elevator. Rubbing his arm over his forehead, he carefully stretched his leg forward before slowly pulling it back. It hurt a little, but he chalked it up to not being able to stretch his legs out while on the plane due to the person sitting in front of him who thought it would be a good idea to lean his chair back as far as he could.
Just another excuse. Just for a little while he wanted to forget about his knee, but he knew that it wasn't going to be easy. It was like his doctor had said; everything he did was based around his knee. As soon as he landed in California and turned on his phone, he was greeted with calls from his mom, sister, James, Carlos, Logan, Dr. Maurer, and his hockey coaches.
They had taken his leave pretty well, but Kendall could see that they were disappointment. "You have so much potential, Knight," Coach Sanders had said over and over again, accompanied with a brief shake of his head. "So much potential."
"I know," Kendall had replied, twisting his fingers in his lap. "But, my brothers need me."
"Family has always been important to you; always been a great quality," Coach Enders agreed, tapping his pen against his desk. "We're a family here, too." Kendall bowed his head just slightly. "You hear back about your knee?"
"It's all good," Kendall had quickly replied. He fought hard to stop his lips from shifting down at the corners. Maybe a little too quickly. He held his breath as Coach Enders and Coach Sanders' eyes narrowed just slightly as if silently daring him to tell them the truth. Kendall shifted just slightly in his seat before giving them a close-lipped smile.
"If this is really what you want to do," Coach Sanders had finally said, hitting the edge of the desk with his fingers. He got to his feet, offering Kendall his hand. "We're sad to see you go, but, it's clear you've thought long and hard about this decision. Maybe in a month we could have an assistant coach position lined up for you, if you're still interested in working with us."
"A month is a long time to be off the ice, but you're a natural player and a natural leader," Coach Enders had added, taking his turn to shake Kendall's hand. "We think a coach position would be a great place for you to stick with the game and get your skills back up."
If I'll even be around to get my skills back up, Kendall had thought, keeping the smile on his face.
Kendall let out a sigh, raking his fingers through his long dark locks as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. It wasn't that he was never going to tell anyone, he just didn't think it'd be a good idea until he figured out whether or not the freezing treatment was going to work. He knew his mom, and Logan for that matter, would throw a fit if they knew he was experimenting with a treatment.
Lifting a hand, Kendall knocked on the door of apartment 2J. It was weird to not just barge in like he was used to doing. He knew Carlos would throw a fit if anyone would try and get rid of the swirly slide, but he wondered what else had stayed the same. He didn't have long to figure out for as soon as Stephanie King had opened the door to the apartment and greeted him, Carlos Garcia let out a loud scream, grabbed him around the waist and carried him into the apartment.
"You're here!" Carlos said between a fit of giddy laughter.
"Ow!" Kendall groaned as Carlos's bony shoulder was rammed into his stomach with each jump.
"You're here!"
"Carlos!"
"You're here!"
"Put me down!"
"Carlos," Stephanie said with a small smile, putting a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, "put him down." Carlos did as he was told, practically dropping Kendall to the floor. He stumbled as his knee throbbed with pain and Kendall grit his teeth before straightening, turning it into a smile.
"Hey, Carlitos!" Kendall said with a smile, slapping Carlos's back in a hug. "How've you been?" He then turned towards Stephanie, giving her a hug as well. "Have you been keeping him in line?"
"Of course," Stephanie replied with a wicked grin. Carlos just smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "Do you want anything to eat or drink? We have chicken nuggets."
"With tots," Carlos and Kendall said in unison. He then blinked in surprise looking over at Stephanie as she made her way into the kitchen and then back at Carlos. "You're living together?"
"Yeah, didn't I tell you?" Carlos asked, his eyebrows knitting together just slightly. Kendall shook his head back and forth. "Huh. Maybe I told James." Because he's here? Kendall thought to himself, sliding his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. "Yeah, I asked her to move in a little while ago."
"Cool," Kendall replied.
"Yeah, dude," Carlos said, lowering his voice, shifting his gaze over towards his girlfriend. He grasped Kendall's arm, pulling him through the living room and into the room he used to share with Logan room…which now had a king sized bed in it. Carlos closed the door behind him. "I'm uh…planning on asked her to marry me."
"You're what?" Kendall asked, his eyes popping open.
On the one hand, he should've seen it coming; Stephanie and Carlos had been the only couple in their group to get together and stay together without any big problems, but on the other hand, he was still his wacky friend who Kendall was sure would drive any other girl crazy. But Stephanie wasn't any other girl.
"Yeah, man," Carlos said, rubbing his hands together. "I've been planning it for a little while. Whenever she comes down to visit while on tour, I'm going to propose." His smile faded just slightly. "I hope it's while we're in South America, more scenic if you think about it. She'll really remember that."
Kendall could just nod his head, chuckling. "I can't believe that, man, congratulations," he said, moving to give Carlos another hug. "Do James and Logan know?"
"Nah, I was going to tell them when we all got together," Carlos replied. The excitement returned to his eyes and he started bouncing back and forth on his feet. "We're getting back together, dude!"
"I know, I can't believe it, either," Kendall said, shaking his hair out of his face. "So…do you share this room or…?"
"Guest room," Carlos replied, shaking his head. "Mr. King only agreed to let Steph move in if we didn't stay in the same room." Kendall gave Carlos a weird look and he just shrugged his shoulders. "So, I'm staying in my old room, James's bed is still there, and Steph is in Katie and Mama Knight's old room. After…everything, we want to turn Katie's old room into another guest room."
Guest. The apartment wasn't even his anymore and yet everything was still there. The swirly slide, the arcade game, the see through refrigerator, and most likely all the holes they punched in the walls. Kendall swallowed thickly and decided to change the subject. He grinned, twitching his eyebrows. "Gustavo's head is going to pop having us all back." Carlos let out an evil laugh.
"Boy, do I not like the sound of that." Kendall watched Carlos grin as Stephanie's voice floated through the door. Carlos waggled his eyebrows before pushing the door open.
"We were talking about how we're going to turn what's left of Gustavo's hair gray, babe," Carlos said, earning a laugh from Stephanie as he took quick strides across the apartment. He stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her cheek.
Kendall relaxed into a smile as he watched the two of them. He could tell his friend really was in love and hoped to one day be at that same place with Jo.
As James, Carlos, and Logan doubled over laughing, Kendall smiled around chewing the taco that sat in his hands. The table in front of him was covered with bowls of lettuce, meat, cheese, onion, and taco sauce, all of which had been dripped and dropped onto the table top.
James was just as excited, if not more, than Carlos when Kendall had shown up on his doorstep. A bright smile and a loud shout of "DUDE" ricocheted off his ear drums before he was pulled into James's hard chest in a tight hug. Kendall caught a glimpse of a hint of dark fuzz on James's upper lip before noticing the short, square cut f his friend's hair.
He remembered when James was so adamant about cutting his hair to begin with. He had barricaded himself in the bathroom at the hair salon the instant he had heard the clippers turn on with a low hum. After bribing him with any Cuda product he could get his hands on, his next issue was dying it a dark brown color. In the end it had worked out as after it was all over, he had his usual confident attitude, and was talking about how they should "mix up" their styles for each album. Kendall, Carlos, and Logan were rolling their eyes for days after that episode.
"You need to cut your hair, man," James had said as he ruffled Kendall's over grown bangs. Kendall had batted his hand away, giving a half smile as he stepped into the foyer of James's home.
One of the main reasons he had kept it long was to keep his head warm while he was out on the ice. Plus, it caught sweat well. He also kept it that way because he heard that chemotherapy caused hair loss. The more hair he had, the less noticeable it would be if he were to go down that route.
"I think its fine," Lucy Stone had given her two cents, arms crossed over her chest, her usual smirk on her face as she regarded Kendall. She had looked him up and down. "Brings more of an edge to your music."
"Ha, ha," Kendall had let out a sarcastic laugh despite stepping towards her to give her a quick hug.
"You're not going to ask me how I'm doing?" she had asked, giving him an amused look. Kendall looked over at James—who was giving Carlos a quick hug—and then back at her. She jumped in before he could say anything. "I'm fine, by the way. Just about to head out." She patted James's shoulder and he turned his head to give her a quick kiss.
"Don't eat everything in the fridge," Lucy had called over her shoulder as she made her way towards the front door. "You'll ruin your appetite." Kendall turned to watch her go and she let out a small laugh. "Or maybe not. We'll meet you at The Grove."
"We won't be long," James had said, following her to the door. "Gustavo and Kelly are on their way over, we'll talk about the tour, and then we'll be down there." He had then kissed the side of her head as she reached the closet door. She reached inside and removed a motorcycle helmet. "Drive safely."
"I will," Lucy replied, pulling open the front door. "Have fun, boys."
James had then given Carlos and Kendall a quick tour of the home where they ended just in time for Logan to arrive. After going through the tour the second time with the four boys catching up and shoving each other into walls and banisters, they raided the kitchen for food before congregating in the living room.
"Kendall," Logan said, catching his attention. "How's your knee? You said in an e-mail it was acting up again." Kendall chewed the lump of meat, onions, and cheese at the side of his mouth. "I looked up some of those pain killers for you."
"Logie, you're a life saver," Kendall said after a loud swallow.
"Your knee's bothering you again?" Carlos asked, lettuce hanging out of his mouth as he chewed. Kendall reached for a napkin, throwing it in his friend's face.
"Just had a hard check at a practice one day, that's all," he replied, waving his hand in the air. "The team medic gave me some stuff, and I asked Logan what he professionally thought would be the best to use." He licked the sauce off of his thumb. "That's all."
Logan's eyes narrowed slightly. Kendall looked back at him and gave a slight shake of his head from side to side. Logan was just too good at noticing when things with his friends were wrong; there was no way Kendall would've gotten anything past him. Logan swallowed but didn't say anything else.
"It'll be fine for the tour, trust me," Kendall added. He laughed. "I'm going to need it to if we need to run away from any problems we cause Gustavo."
"And you know we will," Carlos said before tilting his head back, letting out a loud, "Whoop, whoop."
"Kelly, the dogs are howling already," Gustavo Rocque's loud voice echoed from the foyer as the front door crashed open, mixing in with the peal of the security system and the sound of Kelly Wainwright's heels.
Kendall started making barking noises and James, Carlos, and Logan joined in with higher and lower pitched barks and growls. "What have we gotten ourselves into? We still have time to run. Let's go." He must've tried to make a move for the exit. Kelly's words came out as a grunt. "No! We're all in this together," she cried. Moments later she was seen pushing Gustavo into the living room.
"Gustavo!" James loudly called, getting to his feet.
He opened his arms and with a wide smile, walked over to their music producer to give him a hug. Kendall was right behind him and soon found himself crushed by Logan and then Carlos who literally jumped to join the group hug, with Kelly standing off to the side, peering at her palm pilot, just like she used to.
"Down, dogs, down!" Gustavo shouted in Kendall's ear. He let out a huff of air and lifted his hands to pat James and Kendall on the head once, twice, three times. "Alright, alright." An uncomfortable look crossed his face. "I missed you dogs, too."
"Now if we could get down to business—"
"Kelly!"
Kelly smiled as she was then enveloped by the four boys in a tight hug. Wiggling her arms free, she managed to give the boys a hug in return. "I've missed you boys, too," she said as she brushed her hair out of her face. "We have a lot we need to get done for this tour."
"Like choosing a tour bus that can hold all my Cuda products?" James asked with a charming smile. "I was thinking the exact same thing." He moved to sit back down at the spot he had just vacated on the floor. "I was thinking of a Lazy Susan type of mechanism."
"Ooh, or we could have a rotating corn dog plate," Carlos said, waving his hand in the air. "Huh? Huh? Who's with me?"
"So…those two could share a tour bus together," Logan said in a stage whisper, elbowing Kendall in the side. "Bet?"
"Bet," Kendall replied. "If they want to asphyxiate on Cuda products and corn dog fumes all day, be my guest."
They all had pros and cons of sharing tour buses with each other and on more than one occasion had driven each other crazy. Logan had the tendency to be too clean, but did have a lot of healthy stuff for his bus-mate to eat. Kendall was laid back about a lot of things, but could rally his bus-mate into getting things like song-writing and on-bus studio recording done. James was too focused on his looks, but helped his bus-mate look his best, and Carlos stayed up way too late bouncing off the walls, but made sure you were never bored during travel.
Together, and with Gustavo and Kelly, they were one unstoppable team. And this tour was going to prove it.
