Lol, enjoy the chapter.
Kendall was totally frozen as Matt's lips attacked his. He could barely breathe. His eyes drifted shut as he let Matt kiss him. The way Mat was holding him by his shoulders almost made him feel safe. He hadn't felt that in a while.
Then, suddenly, he realised what he was doing and pulled back, eyes wide as saucers. "Matt, what the . . .?"
"I . . ." Matt's eyes were wide too, but there was a determined glint in them. "I just . . . I guess I've wanted to do that for a while."
"What?" Kendall felt like collapsing. Seriously. This was possibly one of the most shocking things he'd ever heard.
"I liked you, for a while. Since you showed up here two years ago. I mean, I dunno what it was. You looked alone, like you needed someone to look out for you. I wanted to be that someone. I just . . . I've always felt this way, Kendall." He looked anxious. "Tell me you feel the same."
"M-Matt . . . ok, I'm really confused right now. I just . . . I need to think about it."
"Ok." Matt looked distraught, and Kendall felt responsible. "That's fine."
Kendall sat there for another second, then got up and went into his room, sitting on his bed in a daze. Matt, his best friend, his brother, had just confessed he had feelings for him. How could this happen? Did he really have all the bad luck in the world? It was like some shadow had been attached to him when he was little and just followed him around causing trouble. What was he supposed to do?
Kendall's head snapped up when the door opened. He saw Matt. "Hi," he said ever so quietly.
"Hi. Um, Sean's sending a couple of us out to work," Matt said.
Kendall didn't answer.
"I'm going. I wanna give you space to, y'know, think. I guess I understand how confused you feel."
"Thanks, Matt."
"No problem. So, I guess I'll see you later."
Again, Kendall didn't answer as Matt left the room. His thoughts were so jumbled up. He was genuinely confused. He felt lost, and alone. His mood only worsened when he remembered how whenever he felt this way as a kid, his dad had been there. Or Katie, or even his mom. There was a gap in his heart where they'd been. He wondered if he'd ever be brave enough to let them back in.
Probably not.
Once Kendall heard the front door shut, he got up from his place on the bed. Then he heard the door open and shut again, and hurried into the kitchen. Logan was sitting at the table, reading some book on medicine. "Logan, do you have a minute?"
"Yeah, sure. Why?" Logan bent the page over and shut the book, looking up at Kendall.
Kendall sat down. "I need some advice."
"On . . .?"
Kendall bit his lip. "I have three different guys who like me," he said, giggling weakly. "One is my pimp, one is the guy I'm seeing behind his back and the third is one of my best friends. Who knew, right?" Then suddenly, he burst into tears. He felt ashamed and pathetic, but he couldn't help the tears flowing down his cheeks. He felt Logan hugging him, and he clung onto him desperately, shaking from the force of his sobs.
After a few moments, he started to calm down and quickly pulled away from Logan, suddenly embarrassed. "Shit, I'm sorry," he murmured, drying his eyes with the hem of his t-shirt.
"No biggie." Logan frowned at him as he sat back down in his chair. "So, what were you saying about three guys liking you?"
Kendall was suddenly reluctant to talk. Logan often had a mouth the size of a black hole; he just said things without thinking. Then again, he knew more about Kendall than anyone else in the house. Or even in the state. What was one more little secret? "Matt kissed me," Kendall said slowly. "He told me he's liked me since I came here, and I told him I needed to think, so he went working to give me space. And I don't know what to do anymore." Kendall sniffled again, but refused to allow any more tears fall.
"Kendall, why do you do this to yourself?" Logan asked.
"What do you mean?" Kendall replied, startled.
"Look at you. You're young; it hasn't been that long since you were just a kid. And you're here. Living in a house you don't wanna live in, doing a job you don't wanna do, sleeping with a guy you can't stand . . . why don't you just get out of here, while you can?"
Kendall sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I can't leave yet, Logan. You know I can't."
"I know, I know." Logan rolled his eyes in exasperation. "You owe him. Whatever. But, seriously, if he likes you so much, he should let you leave."
"I've only four months left. Then I can go." Kendall paused, feeling his mood sink a little further. "But, I don't know where to go. It's not like I have anywhere else to live. I can't go back to Nevada, not now. If ever."
"I think you should go back to school. Maybe you can still make something of yourself."
Kendall shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. I guess I could try. You can, like, do an exam or something online, right?"
"Yeah, or you can book a day. You should go for it; you could do classes in the morning or afternoon, and then work at night. Sean wouldn't have to know at all."
"Well, I'll think about it." Kendall paused. "So, what should I do about the Matt-James-Sean thing?"
"Tell Matt the truth, but nicely. Keep seeing James; he's a great guy and you probably won't get another chance like him for a while. Sean . . . well, keep sleeping with him; play along until you can leave. It might hurt him, but tit for tat, right?"
"I guess so," Kendall sighed, smiling weakly. "Thanks so much, Logan."
"No problem, babe."
"Hey! I thought you were done calling me that!"
"Did I say that?"
"No . . ."
"Well then!" Logan smiled cheerfully and got to his feet. "I'm gonna watch TV. Later, babe."
James had barely been in the office for ten minutes when he wandered past the reception and had heard, "James, hold on!"
James turned to Mandy, the receptionist. "What's up?"
"We've got a new case for you and Summer," Mandy said from her place on the phone. "They say it's a . . . " she listened for another moment, "a male hooker, stabbed, at the Crystal Hotel. He's not dead, the emergency services took him to St John's, but they think he's in bad condition. It happened last night, but the night shift was all full so they had to wait till now to call for an investigation."
James's jaw had dropped open. Hooker . . . male . . . Crystal . . . stabbed . . .
It couldn't be him. It just couldn't be. But James nodded and said, "I'll go get Summer and we'll head over."
All the way to the hotel, James bobbed his knee up and down and twiddled his thumbs. He almost always did this to distract himself when he was nervous. As they pulled up outside the hotel, James practically leaped out of the car and headed straight over to the two police officers standing outside the doors, where they were keeping people from entering the hotel. "Hey," one of them greeted. "The scene's upstairs, room 312."
"Do you have an ID of the victim?" James asked the cop immediately.
"No. Any identification was probably in his pockets, he had a bag but there was no wallet in it."
"Could've been stolen."
"Maybe. Either way, we don't know who he is. But when the hospital allows visitors you can go talk to him."
"If he lives," James murmured, before directing his attention to Summer. "Ok, can you go and ask the front desk what kind of surveillance they have around here? I'm gonna document the scene real quick."
James took the camera out of his case and walked upstairs, down the hallway and into the hotel room, which had been sealed off with crime scene tape. He could instantly see where the hopefully-not-him hooker had been stabbed. There was a pool of blood in the centre of the bed sheets, a few stray drops on the carpet. There was a lamp on the floor next to the bedside locker. James took photos of everything from every angle, and then took more equipment out of his case. He pulled fingerprints off the door handle and the headboard of the bed, then took a swab of blood and packed everything away. He walked out into the hallway and straight up to the manager, who was standing nearby. "Hey. If you don't mind, you're gonna have to leave this room alone for a little while in case we need to come back and re-examine it."
"Ok. Uh, listen." The manager looked uncomfortable. "How much damage do you think this'd do to my hotel business?"
"This is LA, sir. I don't think you need to worry much. So, who was working at the front desk tonight, or in the hallways?"
"Janie Smith was at the front desk, and a couple of cleaners in the hallways. We don't have many working at night."
"Ok. Thanks."
As James arrived in the lobby where a crowd had now gathered, Summer hurried up to him and said, "They've got cameras on every floor. I just got a copy of the last few hours. The girl there said she didn't see anything suspicious, and that a tall guy with dreadlocks bought the room. He paid in cash, so she doesn't have a name. She says she didn't see him go upstairs, but she could've missed something."
"Great. We should probably go back to the office, get this stuff processed. We can get any contact info from the manager if we need it."
As they were leaving the hotel and climbing back into Summer's car, James noticed her smiling. "What's up with you?" he asked.
"I dunno. You're just so much younger than me, and so cool and calm about these things."
"Hey, inside I'm screaming," James replied, but he was smiling too. The drive back was kind of quiet, and when they got back to the office, James went straight to the DNA lab and handed in what he'd collected. He stood there, waiting, as Rachael took them and got them ready for processing.
"I can't work well with you over my shoulder, you know," she teased, smirking at James.
"Sorry," James said, composing himself. "I'm just . . ."
"Impatient?"
"Yeah."
"I've got an ID on the vic," Summer said, coming into the lab. "He's twenty-five, his name's Matthew Anderson."
James managed not to collapse with relief. Although the name sounded slightly familiar . . . "Do we have an address?"
"Yeah, here." Summer handed the sheet of paper. James read the address printed there. And re-read it. And then re-read it again. This was Kendall's address. Matthew lived with Kendall and Logan? Suddenly he remembered the guy who'd been with Kendall at the bar (had that really been a whole month ago?). His name was Matt. Was this him? There was only one way to find out.
"Let's go to the hospital. We need to talk to him."
Kendall pulled into the hospital parking lot, heart pounding. He hated hospitals. He always had. The last time he'd been it one was when he was twelve, and that memory wasn't pleasant. But he had to see Matt. He had to make sure he was alright. He had to. He took a deep breath before getting out of the car.
Once inside, he went up to the receptionist and said, "Hi, I'm here to see Matthew Anderson."
He smiled to himself at Matt's resentment for his full name as the receptionist typed in the name on her computer. "Ok. He's in room 17, down the hall and on you left."
"Thank you." Kendall rushed down the hallway and threw open the door of the ward. Matt was sitting up in bed, flicking through a magazine. He looked up and grinned. "Kendall!"
"Matt, hi!" Kendall greeted, hurrying over and sitting down. "How are you feeling? No, stupid question . . ."
"Actually, I feel ok," Matt said, smiling. "The doctor said I have to stay for at least a week, though, because I've lost so much blood and they're not sure if I'll get an infection."
"Oh, Matt, I'm sorry. You went to work to let me think, it's all my fault . . ."
"Hey, don't be dumb. You didn't stab me, did you?"
There was a silence for a few moments. "So, did you have time to think?" Matt asked finally.
"Uh, yeah." Kendall bit his lip, took a deep breath. "Matt, I'm sorry. I love you, but like a brother."
Matt gave a small smile. "I guess I expected as much."
"Are you mad?"
"No. So, we still friends?"
"Of course," Kendall replied. "So . . . can you remember what happened?"
There was a few moments' pause. Then, "No."
"Oh."
More silence.
"I'm quitting prostitution."
"What?" Kendall's eyes widened. "Why?"
"I'm just—not into it anymore. I'm gonna take out my savings and buy an apartment, find a job somewhere."
"Oh. Well, good luck, then."
Matt couldn't help chuckling. "Thanks." He paused. "Y'know, me and Logan were talking before, when he was in here. About you and Sean."
"And?" Kendall folded his arms.
"You should go for it. What Logan said, I mean. Take an exam, try to get into college. It's not too late, and you've got the brains for it."
"I dunno . . ."
"Go on, Kendall. You can get a job with children, like you want. You can stop selling yourself to a bunch of creeps, you can get away from Sean. It's what you want, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is."
"Then what's stopping you?"
Kendall sighed. "Honestly, a couple of things. Firstly, there's Sean. While half the time when he's near me I want to run for my life, I can't help remembering what he was like at first. Second, what if I don't get in? Then what else can I do?"
"Kendall, you'll get in. I know you will. You've just to try." Matt smiled. "You don't wait for your dreams to happen. You make them happen."
"Hey, don't quote me!" Kendall said, feigning devastation.
"Well, if you said it, live it!"
Kendall laughed. "You know what, Matt? Someday you're gonna find someone new, and they're gonna be so lucky to have you."
"Aw, that's so sweet, I'm tearing up."
"Asshole."
"I like your asshole."
"Matt, there may be children around!"
"Let them listen in, they're all dirty minded anyway."
"Bad Mattie. If I ever get the job I want I'm gonna keep my kids away from you and your inappropriate jokes."
"Prude."
"Dickhead."
"Blonde bimbo."
"What happened to me being smart?"
"Oh, right. I forgot."
A doctor came into the room. "You should leave now. Matthew needs to rest."
Kendall managed to hold in his laughter at Matt's expression and nodded. "Ok." He stood up. "I'll come back. And when you find that new place, text me the address."
"Will do, blondie."
Kendall left the ward and went back towards the waiting room, eyes on the floor. He was afraid of what he would see in any rooms he passed. He really, really hated hospitals. He caught a glimpse of worn black sneakers as another guy passed him, then he heard, "Kendall?"
Kendall's eyes strayed up. "James?" It was James, there with some weird kit in his hand, dressed in dark jeans, a t-shirt and jacket.
"Hi. Were you here to see Matt?"
"Yeah, but how . . .?"
"I'm on his case," James replied. "So, how is he?"
"He's ok, but the doctor told me he needs to rest. You could still try, though. See you soon."
Then Kendall hurried out the front door, not wanting to spend another second in there. It brought back way too many bad memories.
James's visit to Matt wasn't very successful. It was all of five minutes; that was all the doctor would allow. Matt claimed he'd met up there with a customer, but that was all he could remember. James had to accept it for now, and try to find more physical evidence. So he'd checked Matt out briefly. No defensive wounds on his arms, nothing to trace under his nails, no nothing. It was very frustrating, and when he arrived back at the lab, he couldn't help feeling ticked off when Summer had a lot more to offer than he did.
"I've called in some guys who live with Matthew," Summer said, pointing at the two sitting on chairs in the hallway. Two blonde guys, one tall with tanned skin, the other pale and willow-slim. Kendall and another unimportant friend.
"They're Kendall Knight and Eric Butler. Which one do you want first?"
"I dunno. Kendall, I guess," James replied, trying to sound like it didn't matter. He went inside one of the Interrogation rooms, sitting down in a chair on one side of the table. After a few seconds, Kendall walked in and sat down opposite him.
His eyes remained glued to the floor the whole time, and James wasn't sure if he'd realised who was interrogating him. "Hey, Kenny," he said, smiling. "When you said 'see you soon', I didn't expect this."
Kendall looked up, but his uncomfortable expression didn't change. "Hey."
"How are you?" James asked, concerned about how Kendall's face suddenly looked a shade or two paler than usual.
"Ok, I guess. Worried."
"About Matt?"
"Uh huh." Kendall looked away again. "I just . . . it's so sudden. One second we're all sitting at home, no worries, next thing I get a phone call about my best friend being stabbed . . ." Suddenly Kendall broke into tears, hand clapped to his mouth to muffle his sobs.
James frantically pulled a packet of tissues out of his pocket and handed one to Kendall, who gave a grateful smile.
"Thanks," Kendall sniffled, drying his eyes. "God, I feel so useless, just crying over everything lately."
"Hey, don't worry about it." James would've given Kendall a comforting hug, but anybody could've been watching, and it wasn't professional. "So, where were you last night?"
"At home."
"Can somebody confirm that?"
When Kendall raised his eyebrows at James's solemn expression and serious questions, the brunette couldn't help smirking. "Just a precaution, babe."
"I was with Logan. So, yeah, he can confirm it."
"Ok. Um, do you know where the other guys were last night?"
"Eric and Adam were out, Derek was home too. Uh . . . well, you know where Matt was." Kendal blinked back more tears.
"What about Sean?"
There was a split second silence before Kendall answered. "He was home too, with me and Logan."
. . . . .
"So, who is Sean to you?" James asked Eric, folding his arms. "I mean, you're prostitutes, all of you."
"Nice attitude, copper," Eric murmured, folding his arms too.
"Sean isn't, and he lives with you. It's his house. Why is that?"
"He's a friend of ours," Eric replied breezily. "First there was me and Matt, and he offered us a place to stay. We were gonna get evicted. Then he let Derek and Adam move in, same with Logan and Kendall. He's just charitable like that. We're all friends now."
"Hmm." James wasn't convinced, but he had no reason to keep asking about it. "So, when's the last time you saw Matt?"
"We drove to The Crystal together. He went inside, I stayed outside. That was it."
"What time was that?"
"I dunno. Maybe ten? Around that."
"Ok. Thanks. You can go."
Eric tried not to leave the Interrogation room too quickly. He walked straight over to where Kendall was sitting. "He asked me about Sean," he said in a low voice.
Kendall got to his feet. "What did you say?"
"That he was a charitable friend," Eric said with a shrug.
Kendall bit his lip. "I feel bad about lying to him . . ."
"Well, you can't tell him the truth. That Sean's your pimp-boyfriend-thing and James is a side piece. That's not a good way to go."
"He's not a side piece."
"Well, what is he?"
Kendall gave an exhausted sigh. "I don't know."
They walked down the hallway together, Kendall still feeling the guilt eating away at his insides.
"I still don't think you should pay every time we go out," Logan argued playfully as he and Carlos left the restaurant. It had been a week since Matt's stabbing incident, and this was the first time he'd gone out for fun.
Things had been a bit tense at home. Especially the fourth day; Kendall had come home from another visit to the hospital, Sean had demanded to know why he was spending so much time over there, Kendall had replied that Matt was his friend and he worried about him. Logan had watched from the living room door as they started screaming and yelling at each other. It had ended with Sean's fist swinging and Kendall landing on the floor, hand covering the spot on his cheek where a bruise would soon appear. Then Sean had kicked him in the stomach, and Kendall had just stayed curled up on the floor, shaking, as Sean had started cursing and ranting about how Kendall couldn't work for a few more days and it was "the stupid whore's" fault. Kendall hadn't argued against the insults, he'd even apopligised for doing absolutely nothing. Then Sean had kissed him and hugged him, basically brainwashing Kendall into clinging onto him like he was some sort of gallant saviour.
Sometimes Logan wondered if he hated Sean more than Kendall did.
"I'm the one taking you out," Carlos teased back as they walked down the street to Carlos's car. "It practically goes without saying that I should buy you dinner."
They both got into the car, Carlos reaching to the backseats and getting a backpack from the floor. "What's in there?" Logan asked, head cocked in curiousity.
"Oh. It's . . . er . . ." Carlos started stuttering. Then he took a deep breath. "I have something for you," he said, reaching into the bag and pulling out a sheaf of papers and handing it to Logan.
"What is it?" Logan asked, confused as his eyes scanned over the text printed on the top page.
"I was thinking about what you said, about wanting to be a doctor but not being able to afford going to med school? So I had a free half-hour yesterday at work, and I did a little research. I went and got your school records, and I called a friend of mine who lectures at David Geffen. I told him what you told me, gave him your file, and stuff." Carlos started blushing. "I dunno, I just thought . . . you could apply? You're smart enough, and he said they'd be glad to have you and you seemed well capable . . . oh, never mind, it was a stupid idea . . ."
"No," Logan cut in, staring at the papers in wonder. "It's wonderful." He smiled at Carlos. "You did this, for me?"
"Well, yeah. I guess I know how much you want it. So, I thought, y'know, maybe I could help you out." He grinned when Logan grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him, long and hard. Carlos kissed back, tongue tangling with Logan's as they tried to press closer together. Logan moaned into the kiss, and suddenly Carlos flet himself hardening, feeling lust and desire start to cloud his brain. Logan seeemd to notice, pulling back and smirking at him. "We should take this somewhere else," he said, Carlos noticing he was just as hard as he was.
Carlos fumbled for his keys and started the engine. "My place," he said, pulling out of the parking lot.
"Don't you have flatmates?"
"Yeah, James, Faye and Summer. They're all out. We'll be fine."
Logan started laughing. "Good to know."
It seemed like an age had passed before they were in the elevator of Carlos's building, Logan pinned up against the wall as Carlos started kissing him again. When the elevator opened again Carlos almsot staggered down the hallway, dragging Logan along behind him. He managed to get the front door open before they both hurried in, Carlos leading Logan into his room while Logan started hastily unbuttoning his shirt. Carlos did the same with Logan's pushing it off his shoulders and letting his own slide onto the floor as he shut the door of his room.
Carlos pushed Logan onto the bed, straddling his hips and grazing his lips over Logan's jaw. He left little kisses on Logan's chin and neck, before choosing a spot on his collarbone and sucking on it. Logan groaned, fumbling with Carlos's jeans and taking them off before moving to his own. Carlos moaned when his erection rubbed against Logan's. The whole thing was too much for him; Logan lying underneath him, now stoking his member painfully slow, the urge to fuck Logan so hard the whole city would here it.
He shoved Logan's legs apart and pushed a finger straight in. Logan squealed, but not in pain like Carlos had thought. "Carlos, more."
Carlos slipped another two fingers in, stretching Logan slowly, thrusting his fringers in and out as Logan panted and grunted. "Carlos, dammit, I'm stretched. Just fuck me."
"Wait," Carlos said suddenly. "I don't have any—"
"I don't care," Logan cut in. "Screw it."
"Are you sure? I mean, I don't have anything, but . . ."
"Carlos, please just fuck me already. I want you in me, now."
Carlos couldn't help chuckling. "Ok."
Carlos lined himself up and shoved his length straight into Logan's ass, groaning at the heat around him as he sank in. He stopped once he was all the way in, but Logan was pushing down on his dick, whining.
Carlos started rocking their hips together, slowly at first, then picking up the pace as his confidence grew Then he barely poked Logan's prostate and he let out a cry. "Carlos, nngh, there!"
Carlos thrust back into Logan with more force, striking Logan's prostate dead on and then angling his hips to hit it continuously. He grunted as he gripped Logan's hips tighter, Logan clutching his biceps tightly.
Carlos rammed his hips forward and back again and again, hitting Logan's sweet spot repeatedly. Logan was bucking his hips forward, groaning and screaming as he got closer to the edge. Carlos was getting close too, so he reached between their sweaty bodies and gripped Logan's member, pumping him in time with his now slightly uneven thrusts.
Carlos saw stars as he reached his climax, coming deep into Logan before collapsing on top of him. Did sex really drain everyone like this or was it just him?
Logan was breathing deeply and slowly beneath him, hair clinging to his forehead. He smiled at Carlos when their eyes met. "You're so awesome." He started to giggle as Carlos pulled out of him and lay down. "Not only did you do this amazing thing for me, you're also great in bed."
"Well, I don't like to brag, but . . . yeah, I'm great."
Logan laughed again. "Wish we could stay here all night."
"Well, why don't you stay?"
Logan smiled sweetly at him. "Ok. I will."
Cargan smex, lol. First time ever writing it! Please review!
