Thank you for all your reviews and responses to this story! Hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think please! And what you like. Cheers ~ hereiamdestroya

Once Carlos had made the girls' food James had put them to bed in his room, letting Scarlett sleep in his bed and laying Zoey down in a fold up cot. Zoey had fallen pretty much fast asleep after a busy but Scarlett was still awake, chattering away to her Uncle. It was gone six by now and he was surprised she was still so energised.

"Go to sleep Scar, we'll do something fun in the morning" James smiled as he gently tucked the small girl into the large bed.

"But I'm not tired!" she told him, with all the Diamond sass of her mother…before everything of course. She was the spitting image of Lindsey.

"You must be Scarlett!" James sat down on the side of the bed, a hand caressing the little brunette's hair.

"Sing sing sing!" She grinned up at her Uncle and he could only comply.

"Wait…a minute…before you tell me anything, how was your day?" He had sung the random words to her so many times before, ones that had just come off the top of his head. She closed her eyes. "Because I've been missing…you by my side…"

He sung a few more lines until the girl's breathing evened out and he knew she'd fallen asleep. Quietly, James crept out of the room and down the hallway to the living room, where Carlos lounged easily watching tv. He wore a smirk as James sat down next to him.

"So…when are we going to talk about last night then?" The Latino laughed.

"Oh god, don't." James sighed.

"Hey hey, what did I say? Didn't I tell you he was your type?! And how was it? Did you get his number?" Carlos laughed but he really was interested on what the hell going on last night when he interrupted James and their hot blonde next door neighbour.

"Look, he kissed me ok, that was it. Totally was not prepared. I didn't even know who he was!" James defended himself. He really hadn't known that the most attractive man he'd ever seen – other than himself of course – was their next door neighbour. He didn't really care as long as he never had to talk to the guy again.

"Ok bro, ok." Carlos chuckled. It had been a good night overall. They'd met their other neighbour Logan and his girlfriend and they both seemed really cool. They all seemed about the same age which was good. It'd be nice if they made some good friends in L.A.

"Did the girls get to sleep ok?" Carlos asked changing the topic.

"Eventually. You know what Scarlett's like, she's a live wire" James smiled fondly. Carlos grinned in agreement. He still remembered when he'd been at hanging at James' house when they were sixteen and Lindsey had rushed over to the family house from her house in Long Beach and had told Brooke and James she was pregnant with Scarlett. Everyone had been so happy then. But now it was hard to think of the happiness when there was so much pain for all of them.

"You going out tonight?" James asked, grabbing the controller and switching it to the baseball game.

"I don't know. Turns out Number 12 upstairs owns a bunch of bars across town and he invited us both out to one tonight but I told him we've got the girls…" Carlos told him.

"Dude, you should totally go" James instructed him. "I'm completely fine with the girls and this is a perfect opportunity to check out the competitors!" Carlos nodded. Carlos had been saving up every dime he earned to one day be able to start up his own restaurant bar but it was slow going and he really didn't have the money yet. But James was right. He should check out others.

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Los, don't be stupid. Go get ready!" James pushed his friend until he got up off the couch and grinned as he went down the hall to his room.

A quiet night in was all James needed after last night. He'd put a film on, check the girls were sleeping ok and make some dinner. He just needed some quiet.

LINE

"No, no don't go to work! Stay in and watch CSI with me!" Kendall cawed as he grabbed Logan's leg from the sofa. He'd finally managed to sleep and once he had, he didn't wake up until the late afternoon, having collapsed onto the sofa. He should've gotten up and been productive – written some songs or something but he just didn't have the energy. He often had days like this.

"Let me go man. You'll crease me up" Logan laughed as he flounced out of the boy's grip and patted down his white shirt and black trousers. He wanted nothing more than to do as Kendall had said but he needed this job and couldn't afford to lose it. It was a nice bar too so he couldn't complain about it. He just had to get on with it. "Record the episode for me, ok. I gotta go."

"You're no fun!" Kendall called as Logan left the apartment in a hurry.

Fine, Kendall thought. He didn't need anyone. He picked himself up and wandered over to the outside balcony, lighting up a cigarette and looking over the setting sun. Logan hated the fact that he smoked but it was one addiction he couldn't quit, though he tried to smoke outside at least, so as not to bother the health freak.

He heard the door open and expected to see Logan forgetting something but was happily surprised by seeing Camille. He stamped out the cigarette and wandered back inside.

"Hey!" She smiled widely. "Nice to see you awake. You weren't went I left at lunch." She laughed.

"Hey you" He hugged her easily and smiled. "Whatcha doing back so soon? You know Loverboy's at work."

"I know. I came to see you! Thought we could hang out…order some take-out? Have some wine if you're feeling up to it?" Camille grinned, pulling a bottle out of her bag.

Kendall just smiled. This girl knew him better than he knew himself.

LINE

"I should just go over there…and talk to him!" Kendall slurred his words as him and Camille sat on the floor of the apartment with the tv on and wine and Chinese food in front of them. It was entirely possible that Kendall was tipsy but Camille was fairly sober surprisingly.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Camille asked, leaning her head back on the sofa. "I mean, are you going to like, apologise?"

"I don't know…I guess. I just need to see him and…clear the air" Kendal told her, sipping another mouthful of wine.

"I need the bathroom. Don't steal my spring rolls when I'm gone! I know what you're like." Camille paced down the hallway and to the bathroom and before Kendall could talk himself out of it, he had gotten up and was making his way out of the front door and across the hall.

James heard the loud knock on the door and was surprised. It was only half ten and if he knew Carlos, the guy would be out until the early hours for sure. He got up from the sofa, in just his sweatpants and a tight black vest and opened the door to see something he definitely wasn't expecting.

LINE

Kendall stood in his clothes from last night, hands in his pockets and cheeks a little pink on the threshold.

"Hey" The blonde started. "I just wanted to…say sorry? Yeah, sorry…about last night…"

"About kissing me?" James asked. He had to admit he was pretty flustered right now seeing the man again, whether or not he showed it. Kendall said nothing for a moment, just stood thinking, looking into the other man's hazel brown eyes.

"You didn't stop me…in fact, you kissed me back…" Kendall exclaimed.

The two men were interrupted by a quiet voice. "Uncle James?"

Kendall looked over James shoulder to see a little girl who couldn't have been more than four in her pyjamas, looking up at the pair of them. She looked so sweet. Her long hair up in tufts.

"Scarlett, go back to bed please" James told her before snapping his head back around to Kendall and saying sternly "Can we talk about this tomorrow?"

Scarlett ran up to the two men and wrapped her body around James' leg, looking up at the blonde. "What's your name?" She asked.

Kendal knelt down to her level so his eye line matched hers. He'd never liked kids but she was the cutest little thing he ever saw. He extended a hand. "I'm Kendall" The blonde smiled as she shook it with a huge grin on her face.

"Scarlett, it's very late" James said picking the small girl up in his muscular arms. "We'll talk tomorrow, ok." His eyes begged for Kendall not to cause a fuss and the blond did as he wished.

"Nice to meet you, Scarlett." Kendall grinned at the girl before James closed the door on him.

LINE

Logan sighed as he poured the last set of drinks of the night. It was just gone two and his shift was literally over - he could go home hopefully to his beautiful girlfriend and not just his hung over flatmate. He loved Kendall like a brother but the guy needed some motivation for life, for anything.

He gave the group of girls their drinks and darted out from behind the bar and to the staff room, signing out on the electronic card swiper and said bye to the last few people milling about. He threw his jacket on and made his way out of the hectic building.

The first person he saw when he felt the fresh air outside was, to his surprise, Carlos. The Latino man stood in a group of guys, talking loudly. But when Carlos spotted his next door neighbour, he excused himself.

"Hey man, how's it going?" Carlos grinned as he shook Logan's hand. "You work here?" He pointed up at the bar.

"Hey! Yeah, just part time. Pays the bills. Sampling the nightlife?" Logan laughed looking at how sharply dressed the man was.

"Sort of. Hey, are you going back to the apartments?" Carlos asked.

Logan nodded. "Yeah, just going to hail down a cab. Do you want to share?"

"Great idea! I'll just say bye to these guys…" Carlos went back to his group and said a few words before shaking all of their hands and returning to Logan.

They managed to get a cab quickly and Logan relaxed back tiredly into his seat. He felt exhausted. "Did you like the bar?" He asked.

"It was good…I was actually looking at it for research" Carlos smiled.

"Research?"

"I'm looking to open up my own bar in the near future and thought I'd check out what's around this part of the city." Carlos explained.

"Wow, that's very cool." The pale guy smiled. He had no idea Carlos was the sort of guy who was into business management. That was different.

"Thanks…but don't worry, I won't take all of your trade away." Carlos joked.

"Tell you what, if you become successful and take our customers just give me a job and we'll call it even" Logan half laughed. "It's not the best job I've ever had".

"Deal…what do you do with the other part of your time?" Carlos asked, interested. He'd only had a quick chat or two with Logan and Camille last night at the party and they hadn't really talked about their jobs at all.

"I'm actually studying Medicine at university." Logan told him.

"Woah, awesome…so you're a scientist and a barman? That's pretty epic." Carlos smiled.

"It's something different, I guess" Logan laughed. "Man's gotta work right?"

"Absolutely...well, if I hear of any better jobs around in the bar world, I'll let you know. Or if I ever run my own, I'll make you bar manager!" Carlos smiled.

"I'll hold you to that".

The pair of them chatted easily whilst the cabby drove to their apartments and once they'd paid him and gotten out, all Logan wanted to do was cuddle up to Camille. They climbed the staircase together and once they reached their floor, shook hands easily again with a pat on each other's back.

"Good seeing you again, neighbour" Logan grinned as he found his keys.

"You too, man. Night!" The Latino guy pushed open the door and waved a hand before shutting it behind him.

Logan walked into the dimly lit flat and found Camille and Kendall sprawled out on the two sofas, empty Chinese food boxes and empty wine bottles on the floor in-between them. He smiled. He grabbed a couple of blankets they kept on the edges of the sofas, slid out of his shoes and laid one over his best friend and one over his girlfriend. As they slept peacefully, Logan paced down the hallway didn't bother getting undressed before falling asleep on the bed.

LINE

Carlos thought about how random it had been to bump into Logan like that as he locked the apartment door behind him. He took his smart blazer off and rested it on the sofa before hearing the sounds of little Zoey mumbling through the baby monitor James had left resting on the coffee table.

He quietly paced down the hallway and into James' room to find his flat mate lying comfortably with Scarlett tucked into his side. James looked so calm in his sleep – so unlike his conscious expression of stress, or worry, or distance. And little Scarlett was smiling as she slept and Carlos wondered what she was dreaming about.

He turned around and saw Zoey sitting up in her cot, blabbering but not loud enough to wake her Uncle. Carlos easily picked the little baby up and kissed her forehead. She was the cutest little thing and she had exactly James and Lindsey's hazel brown eyes.

"Go to sleep, little Zoey" Carlos sung so quietly. He looked around and saw James' favourite armchair, a green velvet rickety thing he'd bought at a fair because he like the colour, in the corner of the room. He sat down and laid Zoey on his chest facing him, stroking her fine hair and singing quietly a lullaby.

Carlos smiled as the little girl and himself fell into sleep. They might not be biologically related, but he knew this was his family.