Title: With A Little Help
Author: SLynn
Rating: T
Pairings: Logan/Camille and Kendall/Jo
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: I don't really own these characters, I only imagine I do.

Summary: Summer begins with aweek in Vegas that doesn't turn out as planned, but they'll all have to make the best of it. Takes place two months after 'And So It Goes'.

Notes: Sorry this one is taking longer than the last to get out there, I've been extra busy at home and it's eating up all my writing time! Thanks again to Tripp3235 for reading all of this and for generally letting me drive her insane. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

When Kendall got up that afternoon he was in a much better mood. Both Logan and Kelly were at the table, each in front of a laptop, with the air of having sat motionless for hours.

"Carlos and James back yet?" Kendall asked, sitting on the couch and turning on the television.

Kelly gave him a quick double take, alerted to his presence not by his question, but by the sound of the television.

"How's your arm?" she asked instead of answering him.

"Better."

"Do you need anything for it?" she asked, her eyes back on her laptop.

"Nah," Kendall said, dismissing the idea entirely. "It'll just make me sleepy again. If it's bad tonight, I'll take something then."

Kelly nodded.

"So, Carlos and James are..." Kendall tried again, purposely dragging out his words.

"On their way back," Kelly finished, closing her laptop and turning to face him. "I thought we could all get out of here for awhile. Dinner and movie? There's a shopping center down the street."

"That sounds... "

Kelly's phone rang and she immediately popped up out of her chair after checking the number and raced out of the room.

"...great," Kendall continued, watching her go with some confusion.

"What?" Logan asked, finally looking up and realizing Kendall was in the room.

"Never mind," Kendall told him, taking Kelly's seat at the table. "How's that going?"

"Good," Logan answered with a shrug, his eyes never leaving the screen for very long.

"Well, if you can drag yourself away from that for a few hours, I think Kelly is taking us all out tonight."

"Sure," Logan sighed, shutting the laptop and leaning back as far as his chair allowed. "Why not."

"Don't get too excited," Kendall said sarcastically. He wasn't sure if he should be worried about Logan or just annoyed with him.

"Sorry about that," Kelly said, coming back into the room just in time, looking strangely subdued. "I'm still working out some... details for this week."

"Carlos's party?" Logan asked.

Before Kelly could ask how he'd known about that, Kendall said, "I told him."

"Well, that's part of it," Kelly said, rubbing her eyes. "I still have no idea what -"

Kelly stopped abruptly as the door opened, bringing Carlos and James back into the room.

"Hey, guys," she said, too quickly and too brightly. "How was your day?"

"Great," Carlos said, sitting on the couch.

"There was this..." James began to say, but was cut off by Logan's phone beeping loudly, again. "Still?"

"Sorry," Logan said sharply, getting up and leaving the room.

"We were thinking about going out to dinner and maybe to a movie," Kelly said after a long pause. "You two up to that?"

"Is Logan bringing his phone?" James asked seriously.

"Give him a break," Carlos said, slapping him on the arm before Kelly had the chance to do it herself.

"I already got the break," Kendall deadpanned.

Carlos laughed, but Kelly only managed a smile. James still looked irritable.

"He's going to be like this the whole summer," James continued on, dropping his voice to a near whisper. "You know he is. Probably worse."

"Well," Carlos said with a shrug, "he can't help it. I mean, it's Logan, right?"

"Carlos is right," Kendall said, the beginnings of guilt starting to form in his stomach. "We're not being very fair. Besides, he's not hurting anyone."

James still looked doubtful.

"And he's here because you wanted to do this," Kelly said pointedly. There was a harshness in her voice that caught them all by surprise.

"Sorry," James said softly.

Kelly put her hand up over her mouth, in a gesture Carlos recognized at once, and waved James off as if it was unimportant. She turned her back on them almost immediately and walked a few steps towards the door.

This time Kendall hit James on the arm and whispered, "I told you we need to be helping Kelly not making things worse."

"I didn't do anything," James pleaded in the same low voice Kendall had used.

"Kelly?" Carlos said tentatively, getting up and following her. He'd unfortunately seen Kelly upset enough times to know that she was right now, and he doubted if a minor argument between James and Logan was enough of a reason to cause this kind of reaction. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine," she said, taking a deep breath and turning towards him. She put her hand on his forearm and gave him a gentle squeeze. "I am. These last few days have just been really hectic and... and I think we all need to get out for awhile. Okay?"

"What's going on?" Logan asked, having come out of the bedroom.

"Come on," Kelly said with as much energy as she could manage. "Let's go."

They'd stayed out later than Kelly had planned on, but it had been worth a little less sleep to have everyone together, having fun, and not fighting for once. Dinner had been great, the movie awful, but no one had complained and by the time Kelly said goodnight outside of their door, she felt a lot better about the week to come than she had just a few hours earlier.

The next day the positive outlook continued all the way through breakfast and their first in-studio practice. While the guys practiced, Kelly made a few phone calls and sent numerous emails, but despite everything she had gotten done, the things she'd hoped to accomplish the most were just not happening. And, with that, her mood grew steadily worse.

Her planned surprise, something that was entirely her idea - blessed by Gustavo - was not working out at all like she wanted. And if not worse, at least as big of a disaster as her other surprise, Kelly still had absolutely not idea what to do for Carlos on his birthday. She could easily think of a hundred things Carlos would like to do for his birthday, but none of them seemed good enough.

And then there was the little matter of Tracey's replacement, who had arrived just after lunch, and whom Kelly already disliked. No, not disliked. Kelly hated her.

Finally done for the day, Kelly met the guys just outside the studio with the recently arrived hire.

They all took one look at her froze.

She was tall, very tall, and like Tracey, probably close to Kelly's age. She was slender and dressed like she might be on her way out for dinner, not for an office. Her hair was long and so blond it was almost yellow. Her features were all as sharp as her blue eyes, and altogether she looked more like a model than an executive assistant.

"This is Julia," Kelly said as cheerfully as she could. "She's -"

"Thank you, Kelly," Julia interrupted with a smile on her lips. "So nice to meet you, but really, I thought you'd be older. You said they were young men," she said, giving a little laugh as she turned back to Kelly, "but they are positively babies. I can't believe it."

"Yeah, I don't think so," Kendall said, already tired and irritated by the ache in his wrist and a long day of practice.

Without saying any more, he turned and left the building, choosing to wait in the car. James followed suit with Logan only a few seconds behind him. Carlos alone stayed, more for Kelly's sake than because he felt any inclination to try and get to know Julia any better.

"Nice to meet you," he said uncertainly.

"What was that about?" Julia asked Kelly in a huff, ignoring Carlos completely.

"I think that was about you not getting this job," Kelly answered, walking to the door now herself, taking Carlos with her. "Have a nice trip back to Los Angeles. The studio will reimburse you for your time."

"Sorry about that, Kelly," Kendall said once she'd gotten in the car with them, a little embarrassed by his own behavior. "I'm just..."

"Save it," Kelly said, cutting him off. "She was awful. Trust me. I had to talk to her a lot more than you did. It's no loss."

The ride back to the hotel was a long one. The studio wasn't far away, but the traffic in Vegas was nearly at a standstill. They all looked exhausted, so Kelly was surprised to hear them discussing plans for the night. She tuned them out in favor of her email, trying to get at least one more thing checked off her to do list. Kelly didn't know how they did it; all she wanted to do was go to sleep.

"Are you coming with us?" James asked, and it took a minute for Kelly to register that he was talking to her.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked.

"We're going to go check out the rollercoaster at New York, New York," James repeated.

"Because no one will ride the one at the Stratosphere," Carlos interjected.

"And then grab something to eat before calling it a night," James finished as if Carlos hadn't said anything. "Do you want to come with us?"

"No, why don't you go without me," Kelly answered, feeling they might only be inviting her to be polite. "Just, stick together and let me know when you get back. And do not be out late."

"How late is late?" Kendall asked.

"Ten o'clock," Kelly answered sternly.

They'd all agreed and Kelly watched them off with only a small amount of regret, but assumed that, by this point, they were all tired of her tagging along. It wasn't exactly true. None of them minded much having her around. She could be tough, but Kelly mostly knew when to let them run free and when to rein them in.

They had a good time checking out some of the crazier signs on the Strip, ducking in and out of the casinos when they could, and generally having fun together in a way they hadn't in a long time.

After riding the rollercoaster and getting something to eat, as they'd planned, instead of heading back up to their room for the night, they decided to swing by the pool.

"You know," Kendall said as he sat down in one of the chairs, "this really is kind of awesome."

"Yeah," Carlos agreed. "I could get used to this."

"Told you so," James said.

"It's not bad," Logan half-heartedly agreed, earning reproving looks from the others.

"What is wrong with you?" James asked.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong with me," Logan fired back at him, instantly defensive. "I just have other things..."

"We know," Kendall interrupted, but without being mean. "But, come on, Logan. Can't you just enjoy yourself for five minutes?"

"I am."

None of them argued back, but it was clear that they didn't believe him either and an uneasy silence spread out between them.

"So," Carlos began, but the sound of Kendall's name being called out from nearby stopped him and they all turned as one to see who it was.

"Jo?" Kendall asked, as if he didn't believe it, getting quickly to his feet and pulling her into a tight embrace. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm performing," she said with a huge smile, "same as you are. Kelly has been working with my manager and the event coordinator here to make it happen."

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, sounding happy for once at not being in on a secret.

"Because it was a surprise," she said, and he bent down and gave her a quick kiss. "We just got here this afternoon."

"We?" Kendall asked, looking around and half expecting everyone he knew from the Palms to pop up.

"Yeah," Jo answered, finally stepping out of his embrace and smiling at the rest of the guys who were now milling around behind Kendall. "My mom brought me and she let me bring a friend, so..."

Logan had no doubt who that friend was, and even began to look around hopefully for Camille, when Stephanie showed up instead.