Hi my lovelies!
I'm BACK! Exams are over and I've started writing again! So, if you like my stories, keep your eyes out for updates! I promise, they will be much more frequent.
Also, I have an announcement, After I finish my current stories, I will be switching fandoms. I will still write BTR from time to time, but I think its time I tried experimenting. I love the guys, but I want to try out different characters. I was thinking maybe Supernatural or something like that. I haven't decided yet. Also I'm going to start a livejoural account to keep you eyes out for that, I;ll give out more details once I've finished all my stories, which I promise will happen 3
I love you guys and I'm sorry you've had to wait this long for an update!
Chapter 4
Kendall came back the next day and got to work on the fountain early. Which was why he was surprised to see Carlos and James already awake and running.
"Good morning, Kendall," Carlos greeted him cheerily.
"Hey morning, Carlos. How was you date with Loges? He got home and went straight to bed and then straight to work" Kendall replied.
Carlos blushed, looking away from Kendall, as if he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He shrugged his shoulders our, ducking his head back and then straightened his spine, gaining back his "professional" butler look "Alright. It was nice." He said and began his work for the day, starting with caring for the plants.
Kendall smirked knowingly. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship, he knew Carlos would be good for Logan and if anyone needed someone like Carlos, it was Logan. "Good, so anyway, James told me to talk to you about the fountain. Is there any specific design you want? Or I could just replicate the old one?" Kendall asked.
Carlos sighed. "I swear that man doesn't care about anything unless its on a piece of sheet music," Carlos rolled his eyes. "Surprise me, nothing too Greek-God-like though. I want it to be elegant, to go with the house, and most importantly, indestructible." Carlos smiled, with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
Kendall chuckled. "And so it shall."
Line Break
The two went to their separate work. Soon after his conversation with Carlos, Kendall saw James walking down the large stairs. He looked tired and pissed off.
Carlos obviously noticed Kendall's sudden lack of work related enthusiasm, as his gaze followed James' form from the top of the stairs to the bottom. James stomped off to the kitchen
"I wouldn't get too close to him this morning, he has his days," Carlos whispered while watering the flowers in the front garden. It was Kendall's first time seeming James go straight for his into the kitchen, instead of detouring for his beloved piano. James grabbed a bottle of scotch and a glass, and sat on the couch in the living room. He sat there facing the fireplace and stared at the pictures above it, while pouring himself glass after glass of scotch.
"Oh, one of these days, is it?" Carlos sighed. He put down the hose he was using to water the plants and went inside.
Kendall, clearly confused on the actual content of the situation, only helplessly watched James distress on his face. He saw master and butler speak for a moment, James was obviously angry as usual. Carlos turned and picked up a picture off of the mantle and threw it in the trash before turning and saying something to James, who stared silently. A moment passed as the two looked at each other but it was broken when James poured himself another glass. Carlos rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the 'I give up' motion. He stormed back outside and left the door open, continuing to water the plants. Actually something was different, Carlos started to water the plants with much more anger this time around.
Kendall began to get back to work on the fountain. After watering the plants Carlos puttered around doing small tasks, seeming to try and stay in the warmth of the morning sun. Eventually he had to go inside and make lunch. Once again leaving Kendall to his thoughts.
When Carlos came out and told Kendall he had made him lunch, Kendall saw James still slouched in the couch in front of the fireplace.
"Isn't he eating?" Kendall asked as they sat down to eat.
"On days like this, it's best if we just leave him alone. Things will be better for him tomorrow," Carlos added without looking up. They continued to eat, making small talk, when they heard a large crash and saw James storm upstairs, now clutching to a whiskey bottle, swishing from left to right.
Carlos peered into the living room, shrugging his shoulder, looking unimpressed. "Huh, he usually waits until later to do that." Carlos sighed and grabbed the broom from a closet. He came back a few minutes later with the remains of a broken bottle and a towel soaked with wasted scotch.
"At least he took the rest of his bottle to his room, this time," he muttered as he put away the broom and dumped the glass into the trash.
"He does this often?" Kendall asked. Carlos looked up like he had forgot Kendall was there.
"Yes actually. Like I said, he has his days."
"And this is a bad day?" Kendall asked.
"Oh no this is actually about a six on a scale of one to ten." Carlos nodded his head as he sat back down to finish eating.
"Jesus, what the hell is a ten?" Kendall laughed.
"You hear about the earthquakes in Japan?" Carlos joked. They chuckled quietly before the silence got awkward with the obvious question in the air.
"What happened to him?" Kendall asked, laughter gone. Carlos stared at him for a moment, as if trying to decide if he should tell him or not.
Carlos sighed, his eyes aging nearly twenty years. He looked desolate, even muttering the words seemed too much for him. "That's not my story to tell," he finally answered. Kendall just nodded in understanding. After eating, Kendall thanked Carlos for lunch and Carlos told him if he needed anything to find him. Kendall headed out to get back to work on the fountain.
He looked up at the beautiful house. The large windows all had their curtains drawn but were perfectly clean, even though they were never used. Carlos kept them clean just in case.
Line Break
Eventually the clock struck four and before Kendall knew it, Katie was sauntering into the living room, and walking into the kitchen. Carlos, who was already preparing for dinner, greeted her.
He looked up at her, while he was chopping shallots and she slid onto the counter table. "Hey Katie, how was school?" He asked, in a strangely parental way.
Katie slumped her shoulders. "School's school." She replied with a slow outward breath.
Carlos stopped his chopping, giving Katie his full, undivided attention. "Wanna talk about it. I promise I give good advice." He grinned.
Katie folded her hands on the counter top and rested her chin on it. "I don't have any friends." She admitted.
"I find that hard to believe. You are one of the most out going people I know, actually you are the only out going person I know and from what I've seen, I'm sure you can talk your way through anything." Carlos cheered.
Kate huffed. "All my classmates are older than me. And I'm the smallest girl in class, height wise and…you know." She said, giving Carlos 'isn't-it-obvious' look.
Carlos was stunned. He stared at her, his lips slowly moving to a soft 'o'. Then quickly pursing his lips, he popped them. "Well." He started. "Um...Uh…" He let out a little awkward cough. "Well, I think they are just stupid. You are beautiful. And you're like what? Thirteen? Fourteen?"
Katie chuckled. "I'm twelve, but that's for the ego boost."
"All I'm saying is that, you're still young and you can't be expected to compare yourself to these older girls, how old are they?"
"Sixteen, but some of them are seventeen." She shrugged.
Carlos' mouth dropped. "Daaamnn gurl!" He said, using the best accent possible. "You're a little smart one, aren't you." He beamed.
Katie gave him her famous pouty lips and kitten eyes. "Small?" She said, with an added lip quiver.
"Uh…did I say small? I mean, compact? Uh. Look Katie, you are currently the smartest twelve year old I know. I mean, as soon as I graduated from high school, I've been working here. You get to do anything you want with your life, and to boost; you have a little extra time, that people who are my age can only wish they had. " He reinvigorated.
"My mom used to say the same thing." She said quietly.
"Yeah, mom was always good with words of wisdom." Kendall said, from the doorway. Katie jumped a little, but quickly recovered.
"Hey big brother." She greeted.
Kendall walked across the room, all sweaty and dirt stained. His blond hair matted to his forehead. He swept his hand across his forehead, adding to the growing mess. "Hey baby sister." He said, leaning down to kiss her.
"EWWW. Kendall! You're all gross." She said scrunching her nose, but not moving one bit. "At least when Logan kisses me, I know he's been disinfected or something." She complained.
"Anyway, speaking of Logan." Carlos coughed in between. "I never really got around to asking; who's older?"
"Logan." Katie answered. "He's gonna be thirty soon, Kendall is going to be twenty-four soon and I still have months before my next birthday." She said in self pity.
"That's quite an age gap between all of you guys." He said looking impressed.
"Yeah. We are all actually half siblings. Logan's actually from our mom's first marriage, then Logan's dad passed away and then a couple years later, she met Kendall's dad and then a decade later my dad and the story goes that because I was such a huge surprise, or something, he-"
"Katie." Kendall scolded, silencing any revelation that could even be spoken.
"I'm sorry." Katie said quietly. She bowed her head. She always had a problem with over sharing with people she was fond of. She was a ruthless business woman, anyone could verify that, but she was also just a little girl, who was starved of a mothers gentle touch and affection. Living with two men for the majority of her life had proved it hard for Katie to make any girl friends, so whatever affection she got outside of her two older brothers, she marveled in, to the point where she couldn't stop herself from over sharing.
Kendall sighed. "I think it's time to go home."
"But I just got here!" Katie protested.
"And I'm making dinner for everyone! And Logan's coming, too!" He whinned.
Kendall quirked an eyebrow; "He is?" He questioned.
"I texted him, he said he'd be a little late, but yeah." Carlos said sheepishly.
"Is James gonna join us?" Katie asked tentatively.
"Um…" Kendall started, looking at Carlos for help.
"James...He's kind of troubled." Carlos chose his words carefully.
"What type of troubled? Like he's mad, worried, depressed?" Katie asked.
"Katie!" Kendall scolded again.
"What? I'm just curious." She said, e the most obvious tone ever. She turned back to Carlos, expecting him to answer.
"No, not exactly. Troubled as in…uh… like when... something happens that you can't control. Causing you problems. Making you nervous or irritated," Carlos tried to explain.
"Why is he 'troubled'?" Katie asked like a two year old.
"Long story and not mine to tell, so don't ask." Carlos said, going back to chopping. "Dinner will be ready soon, so finish your homework and Kendall go back to work, you need to work up an appetite, I'm feeling like one of those nights." He smiled wild, looked up at the both of them. "Its been so long since we've had company! I'm bringing the good stuff and I expect compliments!" He said, pointing the knife at them with a huge smile, which freaked, the both of them, out.
Line Break
"Jesus Christ," James heard. He tried to open his eyes but found one of them swollen shut. He hurt everywhere. And his one good eye was blurry and covered in something sticky. He didn't need eyes to know who had spoken though. He would have recognized that Czech accent anywhere. He worked to be able to see and when he did he saw Carlos standing before him. His skin was pale and he looked like he was going to be sick. "Quiet, don't speak. We need to get you to a hospital," he felt Carlos s arms under him. Picking up his small frame and pushing the door open with a shoulder. "Can't see," he coughed. "No shit?" he could hear the panic in his voice. He felt himself being laid down in the back seat. After a drive that seemed like eternity he felt the car stop and Carlos pick him up again. He heard the sounds of a hospital and Carlos 's frantic voice. "Can we get some help over here?" he shouted. He heard orderlies and doctors speaking. "What happened?" a woman's voice asked. "I don't know, I found him like this. If I had to guess, though, it would be his boyfriend. He's an abusive asshole," Carlos cursed. "You know him?" the woman asked. "What's his name?" " James Diamond." "Okay, we will let you know how he after we assess him, but you have to stay here," he heard the woman say. He no longer felt the familiar presence of Carlos. " James, we're going to take care of you, okay?" he heard, but her voice was fading fast. Soon he drifted off into nothingness.
" Carlos," he spoke and was rewarded with a coughing fit.
"Yes."
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Love you guys
Susuki