Hey guys, I realize that four years between updates is kinda a really long time, but I know a few of you are still floating around on here (both reading and writing!). I've had this chapter typed up for ages, since the last time I posted, and wanted to write another before I posted this one... Kinda never got around to that. Either way please enjoy this update, and as always, read, review and favourite if you'd like some more.

If you guys are still keen on reading this I'll endevour to have another chapter out in the next week or so :)

- Caitie

** This chapter will be a real heartbreaker, but there's more to come! **

Cold.

All James cold feel was cold. The air around him, the white walls, the early morning fog outside the window, the bed he was lying in. He cuddled further into the sheets, the smell of the blonde he loved so much reminding him of where he was. James smiled, reaching out across the sheets to find his lovers hand, realising that the covers where too cold for Kendall to still have been in bed.

He's an early riser. He'll come back and get me when breakfast is ready at nine.

Smiling, the brunette willed himself back to sleep.

7am.

9am.

12pm.

A knock came at the door, James rubbing his eyes slightly. "Yo, wassup?" he replied labourly.

"James, its Logan. Its Lunchtime, you and Kendall wanna come out here to eat something?"

The brunette ran a hand through his hair, tousling it slightly with a small groan. "Yeah, we'll be out in a sec." He heard the footsteps get more and more faint, eventually leading back towards the kitchen. Rolling over, he realised the other body still in bed, pillow over his head. Maybe he decided to come back to bed. When Kendall wanted to sleep in, he would do anything to keep it that way, and was like a bear coming out of hibernation if you ever woke him up too early.

"Kendall baby, its time to wake up."

No answer.

James reached over, intertwining his hands with the unusually cold fingers.

Still no movement.

"Babe, I know you're tired. Last night was amazing, but we gotta get up and eat." He pulled back the covers, gasping. Kendall's eyes were closed, a slight smile still tugging at the corners of his lips, but his whole body was limp and cold. His chest was no longer moving rhythmically with his breath, and the heart of gold was no longer beating.

Panicking, the first thing that came to mind: He's choked during the middle of the night somehow. "LOGAN!" James called, the smart boy running down the hall.

"James, whats-?" He walked in, seeing his best friend lying in the bed, body lifeless and blue. "Call 911, right now."

Logan paced from one side of the room to the other, machines beeping in the corner of the stark white room. The chairs in the other corner held the other four, Mrs Knight with tears in her eyes holding Katie tight, Carlos with his hand on James' shoulder while his face was as pale as a sheet in shock. The doctor walked in, a clipboard in his hand, and everyone waited patiently for the diagnosis as the man in scrubs walked over to the computer on the desk in the centre of the room.

"S-sir, have we found out what happened to Kendall?" Logan asked tentatively, hands balling into fists at his side in nervousness.

"Well," The doctor started, clearing his throat and grasping the clipboard he had just walked into the room with. "I'm sorry to say that Kendall is gone. We tried all that we could, but it was too late at this stage to help." Mrs. Knight let go at that point, turning to Katie and letting go of the littlest wall of strength she had left. James' eyes went from the usual warming brown ombre, to dark and lifeless from hurt. His face fell, like someone had tried to pull out his heart roughly with a blunt rusty barb.

"What went wrong? How did he…?" Logan trailed off, looking at his hands.

The doctor briefly checked the papers on the clipboard, wiping his brow slowly. "We found that the last time Kendall visited the doctor, just a week and a half ago, he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. He was told to be careful about this, as too much excersize or excessive excitement could severely damage his heart."

James looked up, asking quietly, almost a whisper, "Atrial Fibrillation? W-what's that?"

The doctor placed a clip on his finger, the wired leading to one of the beeping machines in the corner of the room. "You see the heartbeat monitor when I hook myself up to is, how there is three different peaks? That first peak shows whether you have a good heartbeat or not." He pointed to the first peak, on the screen being about .5cm in length. "Kendall did not have that peak at all. He had a recurring/advanced case of atrial fibrillation that had started just two months ago. Some tell-tale side effects, if there was any at all, often include fainting, chest pains, and palpitations, or skipping or accelerated heartbeats which cause dizziness."

Logan stood up, walking over to the side of the doctor. "What? Was he prescribed any anticoagulants or anything?"

"Yes, we have records signed saying that he was and picked some up at the hospital chemist on the way out. But that's not all – Kendall, at the time of death or just a few minutes before, experienced auto-regulatory dysfunction, which then lead on to a blood clot in the brain, and as a result of everything-"

"-H-he had a brain haemorrhage…. W-which lead t-to a stroke." Logan finished the sentence as the doctor nodded sadly, confirming the brunette's suspicions while running a hand through his hair. Reality was finally setting in, the churning of his gut finally ceasing and just becoming a stubborn knot.

James sat on the chair, hand in his hands, silent tears falling to the floor. He could still feel Carlos' hand on his shoulder, the hand now trembling at the thought of Kendall, their best friend, was now gone for good.

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