Chapter 4

That night, none of the boys could sleep. They kept on thinking about the horrible thing they'd done to Carlos. Something so horrible, it could lead to an innocent boy's death. This was their fault. Nothing they could do could fix the horrible mess they'd already caused.

The three went to bed thinking about the last conversation they'd had with Carlos.

Kendall stared up the dull ceiling. He felt like sobbing into his pillow, but Logan was right there next to him. He had to keep strong for him and James. And… Carlos. Kendall swallowed a sob, and tried to compose himself. He had to keep strong for Carlos. This was his fault, and he wasn't gonna cry about it. He was the one who came up with this destructive prank. What a sick, disgusting person he was. He had to be brave; he had to keep on going. Because if he collapsed, so would his friends and family. The last time he'd spoken to Carlos was two days ago, in the apartment. It was a sunny day.

"Kendall! Can you come to the park with me to feed the ducks?" Carlos asked, plopping himself right next to Kendall, who was hurriedly texting Jo on his cell phone. Kendall didn't even look up, and completely ignored Carlos.

"Kendall!" Carlos yelled loudly, causing Kendall to jump, dropping his phone and sending his unfinished message. Hey, Jo what's-

"Dude! What was that?" Kendall said, annoyed at his friend. Carlos shrugged and smirked when Kendall groaned.

"Can ya come to the park with me?" He repeated. Kendall sighed.

"Dude, aren't you like, way too old for the park?" He asked, trying to get Carlos to leave him. Carlos shook his head eagerly.

"No! Parks are fun!" He argued. Kendall rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, buddy, but I've got a date with Jo." He smiled when he saw the Jo had texted him back, stating that she wanted to meet him at the pool. And no way was Carlos coming with him. He'd completely ruin it like he always did. Kendall loved Carlos, but at this moment, he really just didn't want Carlos to be right in front of him.

Carlos frowned, pouting and crossing his arms. "Meanie!' He left the room, humming some silly tune to himself.

Kendall sighed softly. If he could relive that moment, he'd break up with Jo to go to the park with Carlos. He'd do anything to take back his actions that day. But he knew he was too late. He'd underestimated what could happen in just two days.

Across from the blonde, Logan lay underneath his large blanket. It had always brought him warmth, but not today. Today, he felt cold and lonely, like he was the only one left in the world. This was completely unpredicted. Logan was a logical person; and the chances of their whole world turning in only one day was very low. So low, Logan would've never even considered it. But it was happening at that moment, so he'd better believe it.

"Logie! Smile!" Carlos grinned at his smart friend. He'd recently bought a camera from the money he earned dog walking and from bets. And now, he was taking pictures of everything. Literally everything. Logan couldn't even count how many pictures he'd taken already.

"Oh. My. Gosh, Carlos! Promise me this is gonna be your last picture!" Logan groaned, annoyed and tired of hearing the 'click click' noises all day long. Carlos grinned.

"Anything for you, Logan!" He said, smirking when Logan reached over and punched him in the shoulder.

"Fine. Last one, promise?" Logan asked. Carlos nodded firmly.

"Promise." Logan put on his best smile and Carlos snapped a picture of him.

"Perfect! Now, I'm going to see all of the awesome pictures I took today! Logan, wanna look with me?" Carlos asked eagerly. Logan sighed and nodded, admitting to himself that he was curious about it, too.

But when Carlos opened up the picture album on the camera, all of the pictures were black. "Hey, why are they all black, Logie?" Carlos questioned, his eyes furrowing together. Logan shrugged, and thought about it. Until he thought of the answer.

"Dude, you didn't take of the lenses!" He cried, throwing his arms in the air Carlos stared at him with a confused look.

"What are lenses?"

Logan sighed and showed Carlos what lenses were.

"Oh…" Carlos trailed off, a sheepish look on his face. "Oops."

Logan turned back to math homework. "You're so stupid." He mumbled as Carlos happily too off the lenses and skipped out of the room, not even remembering the promise that he'd just promised Logan.

Logan couldn't help thinking that there was a large possibility that Carlos may never remember that promise again. He'd either lose all his memory, or he'd die. Logan tried to shake the thoughts out of his head. That wouldn't happen, or he'd blame himself forever. He could've told Kendall and James to not go through with the prank, they would've listened. Kendall and James would've listened to anything Logan said if he started begging. Maybe he should've tried harder, then maybe, just maybe, Carlos would be alright.

Logan would've invented a time machine right then and there, but he couldn't. He couldn't go back in time and save Carlos, or prevent the prank from happening. That was one of the things Logan couldn't achieve, no matter what he did.

In the room next to Kendall and Logan's, James was in bed, staring at black nothing, thinking about how lonely the room was without Carlos begging him to read or tell him a story, Carlos jabbering on and on about nothing, and Carlos's snores. Those things had annoyed James before, but now he would've broken his lucky comb for it.

"Carlos! Get off my bed!" James cried, pushing Carlos off his body. Carlos shrieked as he hit the floor, but then started laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" James asked, completely confused. Carlos just pointed to James's hair. James shrieked even louder than Carlos did, and ran into the bathroom He saw that his hair was just fine. Carlos had tricked him.

"Oh, I'm SO getting you back for that!" James shouted, running away to get his needed material. He came back holding clumps of black plastic.

"No way! You broke my Helmet!" Carlos cried, running into his messy closet to check. When he saw that his Helmet was still there in one piece, Carlos knew he'd been tricked, too.

Then, James started laughing about the irony of it all. Carlos started laughing because this kind of behavior was so normal when it came to James and Carlos. The two boys laughed and laughed, and it was 12 and midnight.

"Shut up!" Kendall and Logan yelled through the other room. Their voices were muffled from the wall separating them, but they were heard. James and Carlos just laughed harder, because they just loved that feeling of happiness,

James sighed. If Carlos didn't get better, he'd never have that feeling of bliss ever again. He couldn't help wondering if Carlos would get back at him. He almost killed Carlos, so would Carlos try to kill him out of revenge? James knew it was silly. Carlos couldn't punch someone even if his life depended on it. He was too kind, too innocent, to ever hurt somebody. But James wasn't. He took advantage of Carlos's innocence, and made it into a game. A sick game.

The three boys stayed up all night, until finally, finally, morning came.

Line line line line

"Carlos Garcia?" The boys jumped when they heard the nurse call Carlos's name. Kendall nodded, and James and Logan followed Kendall and the nurse until they got to Carlos's room. Not even caring about the number, the three boys piled in, not being able to live with the guilt any long if they couldn't see Carlos.

The three froze in their tracks when they saw the best friend. Carlos wasn't even Carlos anymore. His face was littered with red and black scratches. Both his legs were in a cast, and his arm was, too. He had a machine attached to him, pumping some sort of medicine into his body.

But the worst part was that Carlos didn't even move. His body stayed still, and his brown eyes were closed shut.

When the nurse left, the boys looked at each other.

Then, Logan put his hand on Carlos's injured head. "I'm sorry, buddy." He started, not being able to say anymore. Tears choked his voice, and he stepped back, sitting onto a chair, burying his face into his hands.

James went up next. "Forgive us, Carlos. Or we'll never forgive ourselves. Please." He said, his voice surprisingly firm. He sighed and sat down next to Logan.

Kendall looked down at Carlos's legs and said, "You're what keeps us alive, Carlos. If you die, we die too." He stated quietly.

Such a simple statement. But so, so true.

A/N- So… unconscious Carlos, that's good angst but never a good thing in real life… how'd ya like the chapter? Please review and tell me? ;)

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