.:Chapter Eight:.


Kendall let out a frustrated grunt as he folded his arms, watching as Logan and Camille rapidly speak to each other, throwing their arms and over-gesticulate as they argued. Again. When was the last time they hadn't argued? And when was the last time their arguments were brought to the studio?

Not that he minded, really. Watching Gustavo get frustrated over their work was funny to him on a good day. Seeing how far he could push Gustavo's buttons was a past time. But he also liked to work on the music their band created. Watching Logan's and Camille's drama unfold once more was not the kind of fun he had in mind. Especially when Gustavo was continuing to deepen the glare towards him as the day went on.

He was stressed and Gustavo and stress did not mix. So much so that he had kicked the boys out of the studio that day after Logan had come back into the recording booth with a brooding glare on his face, ending his call from Gustavo.

"Dogs!" Gustavo barked, making the boys jump. It was a louder yell than usual. "Clearly, we're not going to get any work done today. It's making me stressed, and I'm not supposed to be stressed!"

Kelly then stepped forward to explain further. "He had his blood work done and his doctor said his blood pressure is a bit too high and he needs to be calm. So—"

"So, I need to stay away from you dogs for twenty-four hours!" He clapped his hands for emphasis on the last three words. "So… stay away from me." He turned his fingers into a 'V' and pointed them at his eyes before waving them over the boys, who looked at each other in surprise.

A free day off?

They needed to make Gustavo ticked more often. Not that they didn't enjoy working on their music, it was the best career they could've ever fallen into—but days upon days filled with hours of work became difficult at the best of times and breaks were always welcome.

Now Kendall stood in the Palm Woods lobby, watching Logan and Camille fight. He and Logan were supposed to be doing their homework together—his grades had been slipping a bit lately—and Camille had stopped them to ask where they were going on their date that night. Logan made a offhand comment about how going on a date every night wasn't statistically—or financially—feasible, which Kendall knew was the worst way to let her down—and they'd started off again.

Honestly, he wondered how they always managed to fight so viciously and get back together with as much passion. Passion in a relationship was always great and even romantic, but how many times could someone fight? Enough to break them up, Kendall thought. Though he wasn't just thinking of his own parents but James's too.

Noticing movement out of the corner of his eye, Kendall shifted his gaze and watched as Lucy stalked into the Palm Woods, guitar case in hand. She must've been at an audition for a record company, he realized. She'd been having some good success so far, getting callbacks to nearly everyone. The top contenders were Colossal Records and Hawke Records. He knew she was going to get one soon.

When she got close enough, Kendall greeted her cheerfully, "Hey."

Lucy's eyes swept over him dismissively before she muttered a low, 'hey' in response. Kendall's eyebrows came together. Okay, that was weird. She was never really happy to see him and his friends, but that was just plain rude. She stepped into the elevator, allowing the doors to close on her scowl. Kendall hesitated for a moment before following after her, opting to take the stairs. It'd take too long to wait for another elevator and even then, he could feel Bitters' suspicious gaze on his back.

He reached Lucy's apartment and knocked on the door. It swung open a second later, as if expecting someone to arrive and Kendall glanced at the bespectacled brunette that stood before him. "Oh, uh, sorry," he said quickly. "I was just looking for Lucy, she's not here is she?" Then he got a good look at the glare the brunette was sending his way and his eyes widened. Before he could stop himself he yelped, "Oh my God!" before bursting into hysterical laughter.

Lucy's scowl deepened, almost as if his mere presence was annoying to her. "Get out of here," She hissed, glancing over her shoulder.

"No way," Kendall managed to say once he regained his composure.

Lucy gritted her teeth. "If you don't get out of here, I will rip your—"

"Lucille, who's at the door?" A tinkling voice called behind her, making Lucy's eyes squeeze shut.

Now Kendall grinned. Oh, this was so good. "Lucille?" He repeated.

Lucy's glare deepened as she stepped back, allowing who Kendall quickly realized to be her mother and father to squeeze into the doorway behind her. "Mom, dad, this is my friend Kendall. A friend from the conservatory. He studies classical music. Like me." The last few words were directed towards Kendall, a meaningful look on her face.

Kendall smiled, immediately understanding. He kept the smile on his face as he looked up to Mr. and Mrs. Stone, who smiled at him expectantly. "Yep!" He confirmed. "I play classical guitar."

Lucy nodded subtly then glanced up at her parents. "And he has to study for a test tomorrow and—"

"-would love to come in and chat more with you," Kendall interrupted, taking a step forward. "About Lucille and the rest of our friends at the conservatory." He smirked as Lucy waved her hands behind her parents' back, trying to get him to stop before changing tactics and pulling her hand across her throat.

She was probably going to kill him, but that was worth it.

"Well, that'd be great," Mr. Stone started to say.

"But we've got to get to class," Lucy interrupted. She stepped out of the apartment and turned back to her parents. Reaching up, she grabbed Kendall's arm and painfully squeezed it. "I'll see you when I get back."

"We'll have tp meet up for dinner," Mrs. Stone said cheerfully, not noticing the angry waves radiating from her daughter. "Kendall, would you like to join us?"

"I—"

"—have to go? You're right, we'll be late. I'll see you later, mom and dad." With that, Lucy dragged Kendall down to the pool and forced him into a private cabana with him laughing the whole way. "What do you think you're doing?" She demanded.

"I'm learning more about you," Kendall explained. He stretched out, crossing his legs at the ankle and rested his laced hands on his stomach. "Like…" he pretended to think. "You play a violin and you own a wig and you lie to your parents."

Lucy rolled her eyes. She reached up and pulled off her wig and the glasses she'd put on as well, placing them on the table beside her. She sighed before saying, "Look, my parents are classical musicians." Kendall nodded, urging her to continue. "They think I'm in LA on a violin scholarship and they'll be very disappoint and angry if they found out I dyed my hair black and red and am trying to be a rock guitar goddess."

Kendall shook his HEAD. "But you've been doing great out here," he reminded her. "You're an amazing guitarist and some of the biggest record companies want to work with you." Lucy gave a small smile. "So I don't know why you have to pretend."

"You haven't met my parents," Lucy said with a chuckle. "My brother joined a band as a drummer. They were so disappointed they sent him off to military school."

"Just for joining a band?"

"Well, he'd been getting in some trouble, too. But that was the final straw. They don't really like how rebellious and…awesome rock music can be."

Kendall started to smile. He felt the same way about the genre. "So, what can I do to help?"

Lucy's smile immediately faded. "You can help by staying away from my parents. They're going to invite you to dinner with us, but you shouldn't come. Make any excuse you can. She'll try her hardest to drag you in. No one can beat my mom's midwestern charm."

"Relax." Kendall held up his hand. "No one can beat my LA cool."

Lucy gave him a confused look. "Aren't you from the Midwest?"

"Yeah, that, too."

With a smile, Lucy pulled a hand through her hair and leaned back in her seat. "Not that it matters much, they're probably already planning our wedding. Like they do with all of the…" she trailed off. "Like she does with all of them," she finally said. "Always trying to find a way to control my life, to make me into the perfect everything. They want me to keep up that image. Perfect. The perfect daughter, perfect musician, perfect girlfriend."

"There's no such thing as the perfect girlfriend," Kendall pointed out. "You have to take the good with the bad and work through it. Because no one is perfect, they can just be perfect for each other." Kendall paused, suddenly frowning.

"Wow." Lucy blinked in surprise, impressed. "I knew you were a hopeless romantic, but I didn't think it went that far. You sounded like you really believe that."

"I do." Then something struck him, and he looked at Lucy curiously. "How'd you know I was a hopeless romantic?"

"I read it in some interview." Lucy waved the thought away.

"So…you were reading about me?"

"If you're going to be my date with my parents, and trust me, they're going to talk you into it, then I need to know more about you, Kendall," Lucy said. "And besides, we're friends, right?"

"Right."

Lucy was right, they were friends. So, he was going to help her continue to fool her parents. He just needed to keep her story straight. That'd be easy. But there was something else Lucy was right about. Her mother's Midwestern charm was unable to be beat and the next thing he knew, he was in a blazer and a nice shirt, walking along with Lucy and her parents towards the front of Chez Fancee, with Lucy glaring at him the entire way.


"Did I have to wear a tie?" Sydney demanded, tugging at the black silk tied around his neck. When it didn't move, he turned to his siblings with a pout. "I don't like ties."

"Join the club, Little Man," Patrick agreed, pushing back the bottom of his jacket to slide his hands into the pockets of his slacks. "At least your toes aren't squished." For emphasis, he wiggled his toes within the black leather dress shoes he was wearing as well.

Noah flicked his head, a habit he'd formed from his long hair hanging in his face. However, it had been gelled back so the movement made it look like he had a tic. "I told you those were my shoes," he said in his quiet voice.

"I was in a rush," Patrick replied. He pressed the tip of one shoe to the heel of the other, sliding his feet out so that he stood in his socks. "Here, switch with me."

"We're in the middle of a fancy restaurant," Rhuben said with a curl of her upper lip, watching her twin brothers exchange shoes. "And you're switching your bloody shoes?"

"No one's paying attention to us anyway," Patrick said, pointing with his chin towards the host and the waiters and waitresses that walked around. "They're walking around with their noses so high in the air I'm surprised they haven't bloody taken off."

"Any bogeys in the cave?" Riley joked, watching as another waiter walked by, barely casting them a glance. She leaned over, feigning trying to see then stood up straight, laughing along with her siblings. "I couldn't tell. It was too dark."

Sydney glanced over to the entrance of the restaurant and watched as Ronan cheerfully shook hands with three men dressed in suits. "Since when do we come to restaurants to schmooze these blokes? Couldn't they have just come to one of our concerts."

"Well, after the last guy didn't listen to us when we said it'd be a good idea to wear earplugs, I can understand why," Riley said. She stood up straight, resting her weight on her right leg to give her left a break from the high-heels she was wearing, she added. "We'll just have to make the best of it, yeah? It can't actually kill us." Though she wasn't quite sure that was true.

"Ronan did say we could order whatever we wanted," Rhuben added.

"Uh-oh." Noah smirked. "He never should've said that."

"I want lobster!" Patrick and Sydney declared in unison then high-fived.

"Ace," Riley said. She lifted a hand and started to tap at her lips. "I think I might go with a prime rib steak."

"Hey, our table is ready," Ronan said as he walked up to his adopted kids and clients. Then he motioned to the men behind him. "These are the A&R guys from the company. They're very excited to be here today."

"What happened to Matt?" Rhuben asked with a light tilt of her head.

Ronan smiled a little. An infamous story of how they had been recognized in the US and brought to Ronan's attention. Matt—or as the Jacksons all called him affectionately, 'Matt the recruiter'—was the one who had been at the mall the first time he'd heard them sing and immediately called Ronan and told him about them. Ronan then had gone to see for himself and nearly signed them on the spot, only becoming more excited when he'd heard they played their own instruments.

"He's down in San Diego doing some work," he explained. "But he says he's sorry he couldn't make it." Ronan gestured towards Riley and Rhuben and said to the three suited men, "He was excited to speak to you about the different opportunities we have for expansion with their mix-gendered audience but I'm sure that can be left for another time. Let's go eat."

He held out his arm and waited for the others to pass by him before falling in last in line. He tugged at the tie around his neck and murmured to Sydney, "How do people stand these things being so tight?" making his youngest son laugh.

Riley hugged her purse to her side as she followed her brothers and sister to their table, only stopping when she heard her name called.

"Riles!"

Riley turned around and saw Kendall standing behind her and grinned. "Hey Hockey-Head," she greeted him, surprised at just how glad she was to see him. "What are you doing here?" She gestured towards his suit. "I know you clean up, nice, I style you guys all the time. But you really did good job on your own. Bonzer, even."

"Thanks." Kendall pulled back the bottom of his coat, as if suddenly nervous. Then he lifted his gaze. "And you look—" he paused, suddenly looking at her closely. He appeared stunned as he said, "Wow. Riles, you look, amazing."

"Thanks." Riley felt herself flush and gestured around the room. "The people we're meeting insisted on coming to this restaurant. Thankfully that means we can order anything we want off the menu without Ronan complaining and I'm pretty sure Pat and Syd both want the lobster." She tilted her head to the side, noticing he was still staring at her. "Uh, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Kendall blinked.

"You're looking pretty aggro, mate. Is everything okay?"

Kendall snapped up and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Kendall." Riley's gaze slid to the side. Her breath caught in her throat and a wave of irritation washed over her when she saw Lucy coming their way, dressed in a floral print dress, a white jacket, a string of pearls around her neck, and a brunette wig. Looking very different than her normal attire of…well…what Riley usually wore. "Come on, my parents are awaiting," She said once she reached Kendall's side. "Let's get this date over with."

Riley winced, hearing the word 'date' but quickly covered it up with an innocent expression when Kendall suddenly came back to life. "Right, uh, yeah," he stammered. "It's, uh, not a date really," he explained to Riley. "Just helping Lucy out with her parents. Who are in town. Eating dinner. With us. You know, kind of like a man to man spread."

"Sounds more like a zone defense," Riley said before her eyes widened with horror. "Oh God, I've been spending too much time with you, Hockey-Head," she teased lightly. Then she nodded towards Lucy. "Well, that explains you being here," She said mildly, clutching her purse in front of her. "Gustavo would never take you guys here without having some sort of a death wish against you lot." Kendall smiled. "And you don't like the snootiness of fancy restaurants, not understanding why you 'have to fit into a certain look to eat'." She used air quotes around the words.

"Right, like you just don't really feel like being very fancy sometimes. Not unless you have to."

"You remembered."

"Yeah." He looked confused. "So…why are you here?"

Riley gave him a 'duh' look. "I told you, boofhead. We're meeting A&R people to talk about our image going forward after our break." Kendall continued to look confused. "I told you last week."

"Wow," Lucy broke in, giving Riley a smile with an impressed nod. "You look hot."

"Cheers," Riley agreed, a little less enthusiasm in her voice. She gestured towards her. "I'll let you get back to your dinner."

"Yeah, you too," Kendall said. "Have fun." He gave her a look, one she recognized to know he was commiserating in her misery and she rolled her eyes in response, making him laugh.

Then she joined her siblings at their table and laughed when she saw Patrick and Noah with their chin in hand, barely listening to what Ronan was saying, leaning towards each other. She caught the glimpse of a white wire running through their hands and whispered, "Who's winning?"

"Giants are up," Patrick whispered back. "Second quarter."

"Cheers, you're a legend."

"You're going to get in trouble," Rhuben sing-songed from across Riley.

Sydney, who sat dutifully next to her, tapping his spoon against the table, said without looking up, "You're the one who's listening to music at the table."

Rhuben grinned, not denying it. "Yeah, but I can use that as an excuse. You can't excuse the sound of a screaming announcer."

For most of dinner, the Jacksons were in professional mode, answering questions that were asked of them and joining conversation of the way they saw their band going once they started working on new music again. Through every course of food, they spoke of their music and what they'd do moving forward, especially in terms of being there to help Big Time Rush. Riley actually didn't pay much mind to Lucy and Kendall being at the restaurant as well—or Logan and Camille who had shown up, obviously having gotten back together from how often they ignored their food to makeout—until the sound of a microphone feedback caught her attention.

The Jacksons, Ronan, and the record company execs looked over to see Kendall and Lucy standing on stage, both holding onto guitars with Mr. and Mrs. Stone standing nearby nodding encouragingly. "Well," Kendall coughed into his microphone, looking uneasy. "I know these aren't violins, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it anyway."

He and Lucy settled back onto their stools and Kendall plucked a few notes on his guitar to determine if it was in the correct pitch. Then he started to play a familiar tune and began to sing, "I don't know why you always get so insecure. I wish you could see what I see when you're looking in the mirror…"

Riley rapidly tapped the back of her fork against the table top as she listened to the Big Time Rush song. And watched Kendall and Lucy continue to smile at each other as they performed. She recognized the look.

It was ridiculous, she told herself, to be getting so worked up over it. It was a song. Anyone could play any song they wanted to, when they wanted to. But she felt as if all eyes were on her, wondering how she was reacting to what was unfolding in front of her. As it was, she could see her siblings and Ronan exchange glances with each other while the record company executives were none the wiser of the storm brewing inside her.

She kept her face blank, a skill she learned years ago. If she was able to keep a secret of how much pain she was enduring from Robert, then she could keep anything else a secret. But the storm continued to brew, growing stronger until it was a full-force hurricane and she was a tiny speck stuck in its path.

Finally, Riley pushed back her seat and got to her feet, mumbling out an apology to the record company executives and turned to Ronan. "I'm not feeling to well, I think I'm just going to go home." She knew by looking at him that he knew she was lying. Instead of calling her out on it, as he normally would do, he gave her a sympathetic smile and said, "I hope you feel better."

Patrick started to get up as well. "Ri—"

"—I got it," Rhuben interrupted, placing her hand on Patrick's shoulder to push him back down. "You guys stay here. This is a sister thing." She grabbed her purse and followed Riley out of the dining area, catching up to her in the lobby as she searched her purse for her keys.

"I don't want to talk about it," Riley said as soon as her sister appeared at her side.

"I didn't think you did," Rhuben agreed. "I was going to say that Dak and WayneWayne are going to the Grove and there's a huge party going on." She folded her arms then tilted her head back towards the dining room where the notes of the guitars continued to waft out. "And, it's a party I seriously doubt the boys can talk themselves into, no matter how hard they try."

"And how hard Gustavo tries to keep them from going," Riley added. Then she started to smile. "You had me at party."

Rhuben held out her arm and Riley looped hers through it before the two left the restaurant.


Kendall ran a hand over his face, trying to tune out the sounds of the bomb explosions and gunfire from one side of the living room and the blender running at a high speed on the other. Since arriving back from the restaurant, Logan, Carlos, James, and Katie immediately went to play the newest version of their favorite video game while his mother had arrived back from the gym and got to work making some sort of a smoothie.

It was a nasty green-brown color and with everything she continued to throw into it, a nauseating smell permeated from the unsealed lid. "What is that thing, anyway?" Kendall asked.

Mrs. Knight smiled as she looked over the recipe. "It's a Strawberry Kale Banana Tofu smoothie," she explained. "Supposed to be filled with vitamins and minerals and I'd add an electrolyte supplement to make sure I replenish those I've lost in sweat." She nodded over to the couch. "Logan told me about it."

Kendall stared at her, aghast. "Do you have a death wish?"

"Honey, tofu is good for you—"

"No, do you have a death wish against us? That stuff reeks!"

Mrs. Knight lifted an eyebrow, bringing the glass up in a toasting position. "Honey, until you do your own laundry and smell the stink that comes from yours and the boys' hockey clothes, you know nothing about stink." She smiled at her own joke and walked over to the table to sit next to her son. "What are you doing over here? Why aren't you playing the game with your friends?"

"I'm not really in the mood," Kendall replied. He nodded towards his computer, noticing Jo's name on screen and quickly looked away. The humor in his situation was starting to lessen as the seconds passed. Mrs. Knight noticed the aversion of his gaze and let out a quiet sigh, placing her hand on Kendall's.

"I know things are hard between you and Jo right now," she said gently. "But you have to believe you two can go back to being friends. You really care about each other and that's not going to change. It may take a little time. All the best things do."

Kendall managed a small smile. His mother was the best person to go to for advice. And it always helped, even if the people in the scenario weren't exactly the same. "It's not Jo," he said. "We still haven't really talked but she's been busy with her movie." He ran a hand through his hair. "It's about Riley." Mrs. Knight nodded as if she expected it. "And Lucy."

Mrs. Knight stopped nodding.

"I might've done something really stupid," he murmured. Then waited. Silence. He looked up and found his mother looking at him expectantly. "Uh, you're supposed to jump in here!" He prompted, waving his hand to prompt her. "To say 'it's not stupid, it's just a misunderstanding' or 'I'm sure everything will be okay'."

He glared over his shoulder when Katie laughed so loud and hard that tears started to come to her eyes. Then Kendall looked back at his mother and saw her trying to hide her smile, making him glare at her as well.

She corrected herself, clearing her throat, then said, "I'm sorry, sweetie, but even you should know by now that you boys have the tendency to make things worse before they get better. Even if you have the right intentions going into it."

He felt his stomach squeeze painfully hearing her words. You tend to make things worse before they get better. He'd said that to Riley multiple times when she and her siblings tried to help him, Logan, Carlos, and James with whatever scheme they cooked up.

"That's because it's more fun," she'd always respond though he'd notice the flicker of unease in her eyes with how things turned out.

But this wasn't something he was sure could really be fixed. Kendall had looked up during the performance and saw her and Rhuben leaving the restaurant and asked Ronan and her brothers about it. They'd all said she was sick, but he didn't believe it. He'd seen her sick once and knew she cried when she was sick and only when she was sick, because she felt so horrible.

She wasn't sick. She was hurt.

Something upset her, and he had a feeling he knew what it was. Deciding to play Cover Girl…he was of two minds about it. It was a mistake to play it, knowing that he'd had written it for Riley but at the same time, it wasn't so bad because…he'd felt something when he sang the words to Lucy.

"What happened?" Mrs. Knight asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"I'm not sure," Kendall said slowly, lowering his voice to a mumble so the sounds of the video game obscured his admission. "And I don't know what to do."

It wasn't that he didn't want his friends to hear, but knew they would tease him about it. Just as they'd teased him about Jo and how they teased Logan and Camille-when they weren't constantly breaking up and getting back together. Thank God they're back together now, Kendall thought of how they'd reunited their romance at dinner that night. Though he knew it was only a matter of time until some other fight broke them up again. It just seemed to be how their relationship worked and as long as they were happy…

"Because?" Mrs. Knight prompted.

"Because I think I like them and I think they like me…well, I know Lucy does." That night was a good indication of it. "I don't know if Riley feels the same way. I tried to tell her before we left and when we got back but…things didn't work out. And I tried to tell her when we were at the beach. I tried to hold her hand." He shook his head, waving away the depressed feeling that settled in his stomach. "I guess it's just wishful thinking she feels the same way. But now Lucy seems to like me and—"

"—And you don't want to miss out on something that could be good with either of them," Mrs. Knight said with a slow nod of realization. "On one hand, you haven't known Lucy long and she's new and exciting, and a new friend. She may be someone you could be happy getting to know. On the other hand, you and Riley have been through a lot together and are great friends. If you move forward with your feelings and things don't work out, you may lose a great friendship."

"Exactly," Kendall agreed. "So…what do you think I should do?"

"You should talk to them; openly and honestly."

"But what if I have to make a choice?"

Mrs. Knight tightened her grasp on her son's hand. "Only you know the answer to that. You have to listen to your heart and it'll lead you to where you need to go."

"Is that what happened with you and dad?"

The question slipped out before Kendall could stop it. He hadn't meant it to sound as cynical as it did, but he was honestly curious. Kendall saw pain flash through his mother's eyes as it always did when his dad was brought up. It'd been over ten years and the way he treated her still hurt and it hurt Kendall as much to know there was nothing he could do about it. Now that his father was back in his life, he had to interact with him every now and then, especially since he and his mother were trying to figure out their separation. Despite finding a new and happy relationship in Ronan, it was still hard for her.

"Your father and I are complicated," Mrs. Knight finally replied. She nervously brushed her red fringe from her forehead. "And we probably always will be. But we're working things out, because that's what my heart wants. To work things out."

"Do you think you'll ever be friends again?" Kendall asked. He'd heard many stories of how his parents had met and how their friendship—and his hockey's team constant stops at her diner—evolved into them falling in love.

For a long moment, Mrs. Knight was silent. "I don't know," she admitted. "But I'm not opposed to trying. And you shouldn't be either." She then picked up the smoothie she made and took a sip. Kendall watched her with amusement as she made a face, tried to hide it, and swallowed thickly.

"So, how is it?" He asked, now trying to hide his own laughter.

Mrs. Knight set the glass aside. "The most important thing is that I wasn't opposed to trying it."

Kendall laughed and turned his attention back to his computer, accepting the kiss his mother pressed against his head before going to take a shower.

"C'mon," Kendall murmured, resting his chin in his hand. He continued to watch the computer screen, refusing to take his eyes away from the chat log that told him how many people were online. He glanced at Jo's name, seeing she was still online and started to move his mouse to click it.

There he paused. What would that conversation be like? Talking to his ex-girlfriend about two other girls he was interested in. Yeah, Kendall, that'd go over well, he thought with a roll of his eyes. Just like saying I'd be working with Jordan Sparks would be great. Jo had grown to understand he and Jordan were only co-workers on that one song, but he understood Jo's worries. They had been stuck in multiple compromising positions…but all the same Jo had reacted quickly before letting him explain what was going on.

They'd argued about a lot. That she was too jealous and didn't trust him. Then the tables were turned on him when Jett came into the picture. It was hard. How was anyone supposed to be okay with their girlfriend kissing someone else? Even if it was for a TV show. It was hard to separate her from her character at the beginning and knowing their agents wanted her and Jett to pretend to be together off-screen made it harder. They fought about that, too.

And Jo's anger—as well as Riley's shorthanded statement that he was an idiot for not trusting her—helped him realize how he was wrong. Just as Jo had realized she was wrong with things with Jordan. Who was wrong in this case? And was there anything that could make things go back to normal?

"Are you sure you don't want to play with us?" Carlos called across the living room from the explosions coming from the TV. He laughed loudly in James's face when his character on screen blew up into a thousand bloody chunks that rained down across the screen and high-fived Katie, who laughed as well.

James howled in dismay before glaring at Carlos with dangerously narrowed eyes. "I know where you sleep," he growled.

"Well, he's the only one who can stand your mess so…" Logan agreed with a bob of his head. "Hey Carlos, here's another mess." He pressed his thumb into a button on the controller and blew him up, this time laughing directly in Carlos's face along with James as Carlos stared at the TV screen, frozen in shock.

Finally, something on screen changed and Kendall saw Riley's name pop up. He took a deep breath and hovered over her name. Then he glanced at his friends and picked up his computer, moving it to his room for some privacy. He closed the door behind him and flopped onto his bed, stuffing his earbuds into his ears. Then he took a deep breath to steady himself as he clicked on Riley's name and started up a video chat. Normally they text-chatted, nearly every night, but every now and then it was good to see each other's face when they talked.

He just hoped she'd answer.

Kendall continued to watch the screen as the loading dots continued to illuminate and fade in succession. Again. And again. And again. And again. Just as he was about to end the call, it was finally picked up and a black box appeared on screen. It took a second for the camera to focus before an image of an empty chair sitting in front of a wall filled with photographs appeared. He saw pictures of the beach and of her family and friends, recognizing a few of them as scenes from tours they'd been on together and random candid shots she took with the girls.

Finally, Riley appeared on screen, practically throwing herself into the chair, holding onto a towel. "Hey," She said breathlessly.

Kendall looked at her for a second before bursting out into laughter. He had noticed the sparkling on her cheeks first, before his eyes roved and noticed it was in her hair and on her collarbones as well. "What happened? You look like a glitter bomb exploded on you."

"I reckon you're not far off, mate," Riley said with a low laugh. She rubbed the towel across her cheek, hoping to remove any of the offending substance. "You would've thought it was bloody New Year's. And this was just the glitter, you missed the confetti."

"Sounds like a good time," Kendall said kindly.

"It was bonzer! A right blowout." She gave up trying to rub off the glitter and rested the towel around her shoulders, finally looking him in the eye. "I have to hand it to Dak, the bloke knows a good party when he sees one."

So that's what happened. "Oh," he said. "You went to a party?"

She hesitated. "Yeah, I went with Rhu, Dak, and WayneWayne."

"Ronan said you were feeling sick." He didn't say it accusingly. But was confused. The feeling was really starting to bug him. He was the confident one, the one who could lead his friends into and through tough situations. He always had an answer for everything. Always had a plan. And now he was stumped. It wasn't a fun feeling.

"I was," she said shortly and didn't explain any further.

Honestly, he hadn't expected her to. Kendall shifted his gaze and opened another window to pull up Scuttlebutter. It didn't take long to find picture of the night she'd spent with her sister and friends. Numerous candid shots of the four of them squeezed together for a picture, some with their tongues sticking out, others with bright smiles, and videos of the four shouting along to whatever music that was being played—it was so loud Kendall couldn't tell what it was—while dancing madly.

He smiled a little, before feeling a pang of envy and jealousy simultaneously. Quickly, he changed the subject. "How are things going with Dak and Rhu, anyway?" It hadn't truly surprised him when Rhuben finally agreed to go out with Dak, it was obvious Dak liked her. And, if he were being honest, it was obvious to him she liked him, too. He'd talked to Rhuben about it before, giving his two-cents in saying it was worse to not experience things due to uncertainty.

The irony wasn't lost on him.

"Pretty good from what I can tell," Riley said after a second of thinking about it.

"You don't think he's around too much?" He teased.

"It's not any different than before and you have no place to talk, mate. I'm sure the others say the same about you. I know it for a fact."

"Yeah, but I'm not dating you."

Riley didn't respond, almost as if she was unsure of what to say. It was the first time he'd seen her speechless in a calm manner, other than being speechless by anger. The words had just slipped out. He didn't know what he meant by it and didn't even know how to keep the conversation going. That was even more foreign. They always had something to talk about. Even if it were nothing.

"So, how was the rest of your night?" She asked instead.

Kendall paused. "It was fine," he said. "Pretty good actually. Lucy's parents still don't know about her trying to be a rock star so that's a win in my book."

"Finally, one of your fucking plans went right, Hockey-Head."

"It's bound to happen." Feeling a dull pain in his lower back, Kendall sat up and shuffled back against his mountain of pillows, stretching his legs in front of him and placed his laptop on his lap. "I'm waiting for something to go wrong. I don't know what it is, but I keep having the feeling I'm forgetting something."

"No matter what manages to go right, something's always going to go wrong, yeah?" Riley said. She lifted a hand to run it through her hair, a smirk pulling at her lips. "You hope your plans go perfectly and there's always something a little off. You can't chase perfection, because you'll never reach it, you'll just keep running."

Kendall laughed, running his hands over his face. "Okay. I know you're smart, Riles, but you really need to lay off the whole sounding like a fortune cookie thing."

She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "If anything, I sound more like Mr. Feeny."

"Sure, if you want to be old and gray."

"If you've been around my brothers long enough, you'll start to spout some gray hair, too."

"Try being around Katie." He pretended to have suddenly noticed something. "Is that why you dye your hair so much?"

She feigned a gasp of shocked surprise, bringing up a hand to cover her mouth. "How'd you know?" The two laughed then Riley said, "I'm glad you had a good night. Looked like Lucy really needed some help."

"Yeah. It was cool to help her out, I got to know her a little bit more." He watched as Riley nodded and shifted her gaze just to the size, as if she had noticed something or someone had come into the room. But she didn't lift her eyebrows or lift her head to acknowledge another person. Just stayed silent. A thought suddenly struck him. "You don't like her."

"I never said that," She quickly defended herself.

"But you don't."

"I don't even know her. You can't dislike someone you don't know. I know my reputation and my image doesn't help much, but I don't hate people for no reason, yeah?"

But Kendall wasn't about to let the conversation end. He needed to know. "Why don't you like her? She's a fan of yours and you guys. And really looks up to your music for inspiration. And she's really good at the guitar and writing songs. You have a lot in common."

"Coming from the guy who mistook her for me?"

Oh yeah. That. He cringed at the thought. Honestly, it was silly now that he had managed to mistake them. But he hadn't known many people with a similar hair style and clothing style in a short amount of time. Riley and Rhuben did have similar looks—being twins aside—but their own personalities made their personal styles differ. And, he wasn't the only one who had confused the two, he'd heard it around the Palm Woods. And the look on Riley's face when they met meant she'd seen it as well.

Then there was the fact that James was after her, too— No, Kendall reprimanded himself. Don't think about that. "That was a…well, we had plans that day, so I was thinking you got out early and…" Riley continued to look at him with raised eyebrows and a tilted head, waiting for him to dig himself out of the hole he made. "I was just—"

"—thinking about me?" She teased.

"Yes!" Kendall blurted. He pointed at her. "That." He suddenly realized she looked startled, and mentally went back in his head, wondering what he'd said. He quickly fell into it and cringed. I was thinking about you. He may as well said he was in love with her, hat would've been less of a blow.

"I don't blame you, I'm hard to forget."

"You're right."

The two shared a warm smile. Then Riley looked away again, this time picking up her phone as it started to buzz. He wondered who it was that had texted her. "Hey, I've got to go, Hockey-Head. I'll talk to you later."

"Wait!" Kendall cried, desperately. She couldn't go yet, not when things weren't right between them. Weren't back to normal. He could feel it. Riley paused and looked at him. "You only just got on."

"I've got some things to do that I've been putting off. I mean," Riley added, looking at him seriously. "Unless you have something to tell me."

Kendall held his breath.

It was the best time to say it, to say everything he was feeling. How confused he was. Confused for his feelings for her and what was going on with Lucy. Riley was great, and was his best friend, and someone he loved to spend time with. She was there for his successes and failures and encouraged him every step of the way. But…it didn't seem to be happening. And Lucy was cool, new, and seemed to be enjoying his company as much as hers, now that she'd gotten over all the weird things that happened around him and his friends. Ad, if he wasn't going crazy, they seemed to have had a moment that night at dinner.

She'd held his hand and hadn't pulled his hand away in disgust. And it was nice. Better than nice. He felt sparks and his heart race in the way that made him excited for what could possibly happen between them. And the way she looked at him while they were performing with grateful smiles and her parent's blessing and…

Fuck, he was confused.

And nothing was better for confusion than talking it out with someone you trusted.

But what happened if you couldn't say it because you may ruin what you had with the person you trusted? Her friendship was important to him and he wanted to keep it more than anything. That day at the beach, when they'd returned from their tour, he tried to hold her hand. Wanted to see if there was anything that'd changed between them while they were gone, wanted to get everything out in the open. But she'd only did their handshake. He pushed away the disappointment he felt and tried to make peace with it.

They were friends, best friends, and they always would be. They promised.

So, with a heavy heart, Kendall took a deep breath and looked Riley in the eye—computer eye—and said, "No, I don't have anything to tell you."

Riley's eyebrows rose and while she didn't say anything, she gave him a look that said, "You're lying," and he gave her one that said, "I know," in response. Riley flashed him the peace sign—he returned the gesture before turning off the computer.

He'd made up his mind.


A/N: Sorry it took so long to get back to this update. But we're nearing the end. Just a note that for future chapters and things that go on with Dak, we created the personality and his interactions with Rhuben (and by some extension, her family) before what's current in our social climate. So what you'll see of him here is before the changes we have and are currently making to him and I hope no one's offended. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Cheers,

Riley