Chapter 7 exists! It actually does! Are you shocked? I'm shocked!
Disclaimer: It's sad...it's tragic...it's horrible! *Sniff* I do not own Big Time Rush! Goes off into a corner to cry.
Anyway...It's been...what...three weeks since I last updated? I'm so sorry! I've just been so busy lately! Classes started up again, and I've been hanging out with friends and I've been working on other stories (Jatie, of course;)), but I finally got this done! Yay!
PopcornLover: Thank you so much! I'm so happy you're enjoying it! And thank you for reviewing :)
Jatie 4 ever: Thank you so, so much! Awww, thank you! That means so much! You're so incredibly sweet! 3 (that's a heart). Kendall's not really blaming Katie, he's just angry. And as for Mrs. Knight...you'll find out eventually ;) Thank you very much! I'm glad you like the Jatie in this story. Thank you again, and thank you for reviewing! :)
A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has alerted or favorited this story (or reviewed)! I love you guys soooo much! You're all so amazing :)
Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 7 – Guess Who Gets Around
Katie's POV
May 1st, Friday, 9:31 PM
There was compete silence as we all took it in Logan's announcement. Captain Montgomery was dead. He was dead. As in D.E.A.D. Dead. The man who, just a few hours ago, had been bouncing around the ship, introducing himself, letting us know the schedule for the cruise, with no hint of suspicion. He hadn't seemed to have a clue that something besides just a regular cruise was going on.
And now here he was. Sprawled in his chair, with a bullet through his heart.
"What do we do?" Carlos whimpered, clutching James's and Stephanie's arms. "He's – he's – he's dead! What do we do now?"
"Call the police," Logan answered immediately.
"We can't!" Gustavo yelped. "You remember in the letters – we get the police involved – "
"Certain people die," James said with a nod. "That doesn't matter now, we're going to die no matter what."
I dug out my phone from my purse and dialed 911…and let out a scream. "Hello, my dears," said a deep, smooth voice with a hint of computer-generation. "So you have decided to go the street route and try to contact the police. Sadly, though, all communication out from beyond the ship has been blocked, which means, it is impossible to contact anyone back home. It was a nice try though. Well, I'm out. And I think you can guess who I am. But if you can't…I am The Replacement." And the recording ended.
I turned to the rest of them. "The Replacement blocked all outgoing calls. They – I guess it's a 'he', the voice was male – left a voice message, and identified themselves as The Replacement."
Kendall punched his fist into his hand. "Of course he did! We should've known!"
"So we know The Replacement is male at least," Logan said, going into logic-mode. "So we can rule out any females who might want to harm us."
"Yeah, that's comforting," Kendall muttered.
"Hey, it should be!" Logan roared. "We can rule out girls, like Sandy, for instance. Remember, the psycho who thought she was your girlfriend? And any of our exes?"
"It's true," I piped up. "James had a lot. What about that manic depressed actress who he took to prom?"
"I don't think she had enough energy or enough of a brain to plan something this intricate," Logan admitted.
"That's true," James agreed. "I mean, whoever came up with this was a freaking genius. A deranged genius, but a genius nonetheless."
"They're probably watching us right now," Jo spoke up. "I mean 'he'. He's probably watching us right now."
"Yeah, he's got cameras up all over the place, right?" Stephanie said.
"He's probably laughing at us right now," I groaned. "Great. Just fantastic."
"Should we do something with the captain's body?" Gustavo asked, sounding slightly queasy.
"I don't know what we would do with it," Logan admitted. "We need to dispose of it in some way, but…"
"There should be a proper funeral service," Camille finished for him.
Griffin groaned. "And how do you suggest we do that? Anyone bring an extra casket with them?"
"Sure, I'll go fish it out of my luggage along with my life raft," Logan snapped.
"Hey, you're the one who – "
"We just have to be creative!" Kendall interjected. "Otherwise we're going to have a rotting body onboard the ship. I'm not Doctor Logan Mitchell, but I suspect that might not be a healthy living environment."
Logan sneered with him. "And you would be right, player number five."
Kendall glowered at the mention of his jersey number. "You're the genius. Come up with something to do with Captain Montgomery."
"And how do you expect me to do that when you're breathing down my neck?"
"You're a doctor, aren't you supposed to be all calm and cool and collected?"
"You are purposefully aggravating me!"
"Fucking live with it, just like I have to live with the knowledge every day that my best friend fucked my girlfriend!"
There was a sharp intake of breath from every corner of the room. Whoa. No one had suspected that.
"What are you talking about?" Carlos asked, every bit as confused as the rest of us. "Logan had sex with Jo? When?"
"Remember when he took that trip so he could go to that Young Medics convention in New Zealand?"
"Yeah…"
"He was in the same hotel that Jo was staying in. I flew out there to surprise both of them, and I found him in her room, passed out in her bed, in just his boxers!"
"And for the last time, nothing happened!" Logan roared at the same time Jo screamed,
"I can't believe you still think that I would actually sleep with Logan!"
Logan paused. "What's wrong with sleeping with me?"
"Well," she answered uncomfortably, "you're not really my type."
"So you'll only sleep with someone who looks like Kendall? Congratulations, that means there's about three or four other people out there who look like him."
Kendall frowned. "Wait a minute – there's plenty of people who are tall and blond with green eyes."
"I was talking about your eyebrows."
"What's wrong with my eyebrows?"
"They look like caterpillars who have a tendency for tanning salons."
"Hey, at least they have personality! What can you say about your appearance that has personality, hmmm? I'll tell you what! Nothing! Hah! Why Jo would ever want to sleep with you – "
"I didn't sleep with Logan!"
" – is beyond me, but – "
"Hey!" Camille jumped in. "He's got an adorable crooked smile that has plenty of personality!"
"He looks like his mouth's broken!"
"Hahahahaha soooo clever!" was Logan's equally witty retort.
"What are we, five?"
"Well, you're acting like it!"
"You had sex with my girlfriend!"
"Correction – ex-girlfriend, and no I didn't!"
"Oh puh-leeze, like I'm really going to take your word for it – "
"HAVE YOU ALL GONE INSANE?" I screamed. The four arguing twenty-one year olds turned to look at me. "YOU'RE ARGUING WHILE WE HAVE A DEAD BODY RIGHT IN FRONT OF US, AND A STALKER IS PROBABLY WATCHING US ON CAMERA RIGHT NOW! SNAP OUT OF IT!"
There was a pause, and then everyone took a step away from each other.
"You're right," Jo said softly, twisting her hands ashamedly. "We were acting really petty."
Camille nodded. "Yeah. We'll behave now."
"Speak for yourself," Logan snapped, crossing his arms across his chest. "Kendall's the one who goes around making false accusations."
"I saw proof – "
James cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered, "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH CAPTAIN MONTGOMERY'S BODY?"
Logan bit his lip. "There's really nothing we can do, except drop him into the ocean, but somehow, that just doesn't seem right. If he's going to be lowered into the ocean, it should be properly, with a memorial service, not just pushed overboard."
Mom cleared her throat. "Why don't we decide tomorrow?" she suggested. "We'll all go to bed and think on it."
"We should lock the door, so no one but us can get in – we don't need the staff jumping overboard with fear," Logan added. He fumbled around in the desk drawers, trying to maneuver awkwardly over the Captain's body, and finally extracted an old-fashioned iron key ring, with keys the size of doorknobs dangling from it.
He tried several of the keys out before finally selecting the right key for the door's lock. He locked the door behind us, and we all headed back quietly towards our rooms.
Mom, Kendall, Jo, Camille, Gustavo, and Kelly continued up to the third floor, leaving me with James, Carlos, Stephanie, Logan, and Griffin.
"I'm going to bed," Griffin announced. "If I don't get my eight hours of sleep, than I can't function properly." With that announcement from the fourth most powerful CEO in America, he walked down the hall to his room, leaving us three standing out in the open.
Logan glanced at us. "Which rooms are you guys in?" he asked stiffly.
Carlos immediately brightened up at the question, even if Logan's tone was less than friendly. "Stephanie and I are in 2N," he said cheerfully, "and James and Katie are in 2K."
Logan immediately started laughing. "James and Katie are sharing a room?" he choked out. "Does Kendall know?"
James shifted his feet awkwardly. "Ummm…we haven't actually mentioned it…"
Logan's laugh got louder. It had already sounded dry, but now it sounded bitter to boot. "Of course
not! No one ever tells anyone anything around here! With us, it's just lie, lie, lie, one after another."
Carlos frowned, pouting. "I haven't lied," he protested.
"You and Kelly are the only ones who haven't, as far as I know," he said, causing James's, Stephanie's, and my heads to snap around to stare at him. As far as he knew…?
"The Replacement filled me in when he sent me my letter," Logan explained. "I have pictures, texts, e-mails, Facebook messages, etcetera that are all very damaging." He threw a dirty look at James and me, as if he…Oh God. He knew. He knew about our relationship.
Stephanie crossed her arms and glared at him. "You are so judgmental, when I know for a fact that you're not as perfectly innocent as you would have us all believe. We both know what I'm talking about."
Logan's face went white. "That was an accident."
"Sure it was. Just a slip of your wrist, a quick flick of your fingers."
"I had nothing to do with that!"
"Really? Because I could have sworn you were the one who – "
"Yes?" Carlos spoke up eagerly, and then smacked himself in the face as Logan and Stephanie turned to look at him. "I mean…I didn't say anything!"
But it had brought them back to reality.
"I'm going to bed," Logan huffed.
"Me too," Stephanie snapped.
Carlos threw James and me a scared look before following Stephanie into their room, while Logan stomped down the hall to his and Griffin's room.
James shrugged at me before leading me down to our room and opened the door.
"After you milady," he said in a really horrible British accent, bowing me in.
"You need to work on your accents," I informed him, but stepped into the room anyway.
James closed and locked the door and surveyed the room. "Soooo…crazy day huh?"
"Yeah," I agreed, rubbing my eyes. I was completely exhausted.
"Hang on – what's that?" James pointed to the very center of the bed, where a folded piece of paper lay, held down by something wrapped in silver foil.
"I don't know – "
James crossed the room and I followed him. He scooped up the paper and the piece of foil. "It's chocolate," he said with a frown. He turned it over and found a name on the foil. "From that chocolate place in LA that you used to love so much – Matisse's, do you remember? I used to…" he broke off. He used to buy me chocolate there when we were dating. I mean, he would anyway, but he used to buy it for me in the pounds and then leave little pieces for me on my pillow.
James handed me the chocolate and instead unfolded the paper. "Ahhhh. It's a nice little note from our favorite stalker. Listen to this: James, I just thought I should remind Katie how much you two used to be in love. And what better way to get to a girl's heart than with a nice piece of chocolate? Remember Katie, James still loves you, and I know you still love him. So why don't you just let him in(side) again? –The Replacement. Unbelievable." James finished reading and threw the paper back on the bed.
I unwrapped the chocolate. "Think this is safe to eat?"
"I wouldn't risk it – he's planning on killing us all, remember?"
I quickly tossed the chocolate away. It skidded across the bathroom floor, towards the bathtub.
James balled up the note and tossed it towards the small, tin garbage can.
"This is shit," he said. "He's playing with us, he's trying to get us to have sex so he can watch and tape it. Well, IT WON'T WORK!" he shouted to the rest of the room.
He threw himself on the bed, steam practically coming out of his ears. "Of all the – that was personal! That was just between us! How dare he do something like this!"
I sat down on the opposite side of the bed, on the edge. "I don't think The Replacement really cares what's personal or just between us."
James groaned. "I don't care what it takes, we are getting off this boat alive."
I laid down on the bed next to him. "Logan knows about us."
James turned his head, still lying on the pillow. "I know. So The Replacement told him everyone's dirty little secrets. I wonder what everyone else's are."
"It's probably best if we don't find out," I said softly. "Because otherwise they'll find out about us."
"True," he agreed.
"So…ummm…" I started.
"Yeah?"
"How do you want to do this whole sleeping-in-the-same-bed thing?"
"No clothes aren't an option, right?"
"Nope."
"I stay on my side and you stay on your side?"
"That's better."
Stephanie's POV
I sat on the bed, listening to the shower run. I could smell the coconut shampoo that Carlos had always used, and I could hear him singing "Stuck": "There are so many things that I never ever get to say/Cuz I'm always getting tired of my words getting in the way/If you could read my mind/Then all your doubts would be left behind/And every little thing would be falling into place…"
He had always had such a beautiful voice, and I was so glad that he had had as much success as he had managed to. He deserved every bit of it.
I could still feel the rage seeping through my veins. I despised Logan. He had roofied me, and then…well, you get the picture. Of course, he said he hadn't roofied me, but that didn't change much. He was the one I woke up to the next morning. If he hadn't dropped the drug in my coke, then who the hell had?
Logan was supposed to be such a nice guy, but yet…Besides, it fit. He had gotten drunk and hit on me pretty heavily at the party. I remember him getting me a coke, and yeah, all right, I accepted it. Maybe that wasn't the smartest move, but drinks were going fast! What else was I supposed to do?
That's about all I can remember. The next morning I woke up in my bed, next to Logan, both of us very, very naked. He protested, yelling about something about being with Camille last night, but that was obviously crap.
I left the Palmwoods two days later and moved back to New York city.
I never cleared things up with Carlos. I didn't want anything to do with Logan, and if you got Carlos, Logan came with the package.
I never told my dad what had happened. He just thought someone had been making my life difficult, and he hadn't really wanted to move out to LA in the first place. He was more than thrilled to move back to NYC.
I heard the shower turn off, and just as my phone vibrated, Carlos stepped out of the bathroom in sweats and a tank top.
"So…ummm…" he began. "Which side of the bed did you want?"
I shrugged. "I don't care, whichever side is fine with me. I'm gonna go brush my teeth," I added. I slid off of the bed and grabbed my phone, heading into the now steamed-up bathroom.
I shut the door behind me and sank down onto the toilet, opening the new text: Hey Stephanie! Wow, that was close with Logan, wasn't it? Doesn't your blood just boil, knowing that he got around with drugging and raping you? Don't you want to do something about it? Now's your chance… -The Replacement.
I set my phone down. What did he mean by "don't you want to do something about it? Now's your chance"? That sounded like…Did he want me to out Logan, or…kill him? Do his dirty work for him?
The idea chilled me to the bone? Surely…surely that's not what he meant…But why not? Why wouldn't it be? This guy was already using us to lure each other into the trap. Who's to say he didn't mean for us to kill each other as well?
What did I do? I may hate Logan with every fiber of my being, but I didn't want him dead, and I don't think I could kill anyone anyway.
Maybe…maybe I could just let the others know. I mean, it was obviously me that The Replacement had been talking about at dinner tonight. And of all the nerve…! Logan had just sat there, looking completely innocent and confused, when he knew what he'd done! How could he? He could have come clean then, but did he? Hell no!
I set my phone aside and reached for my toothbrush, squirting some of my toothpaste on the brush, before shoving it into my mouth ferociously, like it was Logan's head.
I finished brushing my teeth, grabbed my phone, and headed out to the bedroom, where Carlos was waiting, lying on top of the covers.
"Hey," he said. "You okay? You look a little…I don't know…upset."
"No, I'm fine," I replied, sitting down on my side of the bed.
"Stephie?" he asked, calling me by the nickname that he fashioned for me back when things were simpler.
"Yeah?"
"I'm really glad that you're here," he said. "I mean, I'm not happy about this whole thing with The Replacement or that we're probably going to get killed, but…it's nice to see you again," he finished quietly.
I paused. "We have two weeks, and a whole five years to make up for. I say we start right now."
Carlos smiled. "I like that idea." He reached over to me and gently cupped one side of my face, leaning in. He pressed his lips to mine, and I responded. His lips were warm and soft, just like him.
He pulled away and rested his forehead against mine, panting slightly. "I've wanted to do that for so long."
I smiled back, shyly biting my lower lip. "I was hoping you did."
He grinned back.
This time, I kissed him, putting all my strength into it. His shirt came off soon, and before long he was ripping my own off.
"I love you," he breathed out, his lips hot against my skin.
"I love you too," I whispered back, tugging at his sweatpants.
"If we only have two weeks to live," he gasped out as he pressed me back against the pillows, "I'm going to make sure it's the best we've ever had."
James's POV
I couldn't tell you how many times I had been in this position three years ago. I stood in the shower, letting the water drip down over my body as I prepared to head into the next room, where Katie was in bed.
My heart was hammering like crazy in my chest, and I couldn't get the images from our past…encounters…out of my head. I could tell you every position, every touch, every scream, every conversation, every kiss, that we had ever had during the few months we were together. They were the best of my life…But somehow I don't think she knew that. I never told her.
I finished rinsing off and turned the shower off. I pulled the curtain back and reached for a towel, wrapping it around my waist.
I grabbed another towel and rubbed it through my hair to dry it. I stepped out of the shower, and realized that…Damn.
I tossed aside the towel I had used on my hair and headed out into the bedroom. Katie was sitting cross-legged on the bed in black and white pajama bottoms and…
"That's the t-shirt I gave you for your sixteenth birthday," I said softly.
She was in a Simple Plan concert shirt. She had gone to their concert just before her birthday, but she hadn't been able to get a t-shirt, so I had tracked them down and managed to get my hands on one.
She blushed and adjusted the shirt. "It's just…it's comfy."
I didn't say anything to that, I just rummaged around in one of my suitcases, looking for a pair of sweats to wear to bed.
"It's nice to see you still have your washboard abs," Katie said quietly. I turned to look at her.
"What?"
She blushed an even deeper red. "It's…it's nothing."
I just smiled and snatched up a pair of boxer briefs and some sweatpants, and headed back into the bathroom to change.
When I came back out, Katie was pulling back the blankets. "You're not wearing a shirt?" she commented.
I smirked. "I wasn't planning on it. Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?"
Katie crossed her arms over her chest. "Does me not wearing a bra make you uncomfortable?"
Actually yeah, it did…just not where she meant.
"N-n-no, not at all," I stuttered out.
She smirked back at me. "Good. I'm glad we're on the same page."
I scowled. "I'm going to bed."
"Works for me."
We crawled into our separate sides of the bed, and I turned the lights off.
It took me about five minutes to realize how awkward and truly uncomfortable this was going to be. The last time I had been in bed with her…well…you can imagine what we were doing. We had fallen asleep in each other's arms, murmuring to each other. The next day was the day that everything fell apart.
We just lay there, not saying anything, not touching, not…well…doing anything. I could tell by her breathing that she was still awake, but I didn't know how to break the silence.
"Katie?" I finally said.
"Yeah?"
"I'm – I'm sorry. For everything. I'm sorry that all of this is happening."
"I'm sorry too," she said softly. "I'm sorry that you're going through this when everything was going so well for you."
"Only some stuff was going good," I replied. "Other things…A lot of it was never worth it."
In the dark, I could just make out her silhouette. She rolled over to face me and propped herself up on her elbow. "What wasn't worth it? What was bad?"
"I haven't been in love with anyone since you," I said quietly, and instinctively reached up to touch her
face. "I still love you Katie."
The next thing I knew, her lips were against mine and she was on top of me, her hair swinging down to shield our faces. Just like old times.
She moaned as my hands went under her shirt, my fingers running up and down her spine. I managed to move my lips from hers so I was kissing down her neck; in the process, I flipped us over so I was on top and she was on bottom.
"Ohhhh…" she groaned. "James…"
Her fingers tangled in my hair, pulling slightly as I scraped my teeth against her collarbone and lapped my tongue over it to sooth the bite.
"Katie…" I moaned out, my voice husky.
And then she yelped in alarm. I fell back. "What's wrong?"
"I can't – we can't – The Replacement's watching!" she cried.
"Katie – " but before I could say anything, she had leapt off of the bed.
"I'm sorry James…I can't…This is too much like the last time!"
"Katie - !" but it was too late. She ran out of the room and slammed into the bathroom. Through the darkness, I could hear her sobbing quietly. I slid out of bed and pounded on the door, begging her to let me in, but she refused to answer me. I finally just went back to bed, trying not to cry myself. It was just too easy to go back to the way we were, but she was right – we couldn't. We had too much to work through, and too much to talk about. Plus, like she had mentioned, The Replacement was watching.
As if he could hear my thoughts, my phone suddenly lit up with a text. I grabbed it and opened the new one: Feeling left high and dry? Don't worry, she'll come to you before long. She'll need the comfort when she finds out just what her mother has been lying to her about for nineteen years. Until then…Do what you've always done. I'm sure there's plenty of pretty female staff who'll be more than happy to go down on you. Have fun! –The Replacement.
Once again, I am so, so sorry this took so long! Please don't hate me!
So...how was the chapter? What'd you guys think about Logan "raping" Stephanie? How about the last text from The Replacement? How about James's and Katie's kiss?
Let me know what you think, because I love hearing from you guys! Plus, you know, there's the review button. It gets really lonely, and it needs some love. If you press it, it gets a hug. :) So, ummmm...review and let me know what you think! :)
