Author's Note: So, this chapter is Kendall centric for the most part, Logan being in the second position. Anna makes two tiny appearences, but that's about it. I want so Kendall angst rather than just Anna angst -if that makes sense.
- I hope everyone liked the small snippet from the chapter I sent as a thank you for reviewing. I got over 100 on the counter, and over 20 for just the last chapter. I am so amazed. I'm sorry if there is errors in this, as I did a speed type to keep my promise of updating again today. (And special thanks to the people who are avid reviers, as I love them.)
Count On You
Chapter 9:
Anna got up from her seat in the theater, and walked up to Camille, "Do you mind driving Karlie home for me? I need to go home and think things over." She asked, already putting her coat on.
Camille shrugged, "Sure, but you've got to help with wedding details next week."
The black haired girl raised an eyebrow, "The wedding isn't until April –it's October! Why in the world are you worrying about it now?"
"I want it to be perfect. I mean, me and Logan have dated for nearly six years, and I want our wedding to be really special."
Anna sighed, "Alright," She reluctantly agreed, "Remember that Logan wants her to have hockey lessons after the play too."
Camille was the one to raise an eyebrow, "You're letting her take classes?"
"Yeah." She scrunched her nose, "Logan's good at negotiating I guess. He said Kendall should get the chance to see his daughter, even if he doesn't know."
That made the other girl smile, "I agree, Karlie should get a chance to know him –and whenever you decide to tell him, Karlie wouldn't be meeting a stranger…" She thought, "How about we take her out to dinner after Hockey practice? She'll be hungry, and you wouldn't have to cook." Camille offered.
Anna looked at her, "I can't let you do that. Camille, you already help me enough."
Camille glanced at her while still setting up designs, "You know that Logan helps just as much as I do, if not more."
"Well," Anna started, "I still just don't like the idea of her going to hockey practice. I get Logan's point, and I respect what he thinks. I just don't want Kendall knowing before I tell him."
Camille stopped what she was doing to look at her, "Why are you so afraid of telling him anyways? I mean, he is the most family-oriented person I know. And he already loves Karlie just from teaching her hockey."
"Because, I don't want to force this on him, like I feel like I'm forcing it on you." She paused, "When the guys left, I built a wall around myself, I was guarded. I didn't let anyone in –though no one talked to me because I was a disgrace having a baby at sixteen." She thought for a moment, "Where was I at? Oh yeah, I trusted Kendall with my life, with everything. He was the one that I would lean on when I was hurt and needed comfort. When I met him when we were five, he promised to be my best friend, to be my brother. He made loads of other promises that he never kept. I guess that's why I don't want to let him in again, being afraid that he will make promises and then just break them." Anna finished quietly.
Camille let out a low whistle, "Now I understand why you wouldn't want to tell him. I mean, fear itself is something, but after knowing that he broke so many promises I wouldn't tell him either." She said, putting a comforting arm on Anna's shoulder.
Anna gave a sad smile, "Thanks for understanding Camille. I'm just gonna go home and draw. That always cleared my head and helped me make decisions." She said, giving the other girl a hug.
"Any time. Maybe I should get a job like Dr. Phil in counseling…" The brunette wondered.
"Camille, you're my best friend and you have your sensible moments, but I don't think that'd be the best carrier choice for you. Stick with the acting and theater." Anna advised with a sad chuckled, grabbing her bags.
Kendall watched as Karlie skated around the ice with much more grace then a regular five year old. He couldn't help but stop to think about Anna whenever he saw the little girl. Though they were polar opposites, he still saw the similarities in them.
He heard Logan and Camille whispering in the background, but he wasn't able to hear his conversation. Usually hockey made him calm, but today the atmosphere in the ice rink was very heavy, weighing on his shoulders like pounds on bricks.
Suddenly Logan called over to him, "Kendall, can I talk to you?"
He glanced as Karlie made a shot into the net with a hockey stick and puck he used for training the kids. Finally, he glided over to where Logan was standing at the edge of the rink, leaning over the wall.
Camille wobbled onto the ice, having not ever skated before, but made sure that Karlie was safe when Kendall was talking with Logan.
Kendall stepped out of the rink and sat on the closest bench, "What's up Logan?" He asked airily.
Logan seemed torn, and he finally said, "Are we bad people?"
The blond looked at him like he had three eyes, "What are you talking about? We haven't done anything wrong?"
"No, I don't mean we did something recently –well, I have, but that's not the point." The brunette took a long, deep breath, "I mean, we always said that we'd keep our friends first and never break a promise. But when we moved we broke a lot of those promises and didn't keep our friends first."
Kendall looked at him incredulously, "We have always put our friend's first Logan –that's the point we even went to work with Rocque Records. We did it for James, to make his dreams come true." He reminded, "And we kept all our promises –we got Jenny a singing job for a few years, we might have not mowed my neibors lawn, but we got her a limo. We pretty much kept them all."
Logan shook his head, "You don't understand what I'm saying. What I mean is we did leave our friend behind, we all broke promises to her. And we never even apologized for it. We just kept going like nothing was wrong –we weren't good friends."
The blond furrowed his eyebrows, "What are you talking about?" He asked, baffled.
Sighing, Logan explained, "Remember when we were little –six I think- we made a promise that we would always do whatever it took to stay friends. We said long live our friendship. We said that we would always keep our promises to each other." He paused, "But we didn't. She was already hurt enough from her parents dying, and then we left her. All the promises we made, we just crushed."
Finally, it sunk into Kendall; Anna. "Yeah." He mumbled.
Logan pursued his lips, "You know that she trusted you more than any of us. She could relate to you in some ways, and then was your opposite in others. Maybe that's why you guys seemed to trust each other so much." He prodded.
Kendall looked at him, "I know I broke a lot of promises to her, but it's not like I can just magically fix all of them. What's done is done, she hates me. I mean, it's not like I want to get back together, but I want to patch up what I did before."
The other boy him a look, "Why haven't you then?"
He sighed in frustration, "Because, Anna already told me that she practically hates me."
Logan shrugged, "Maybe she just said that because of what you did to her." He stated simply.
Kendall raised an eyebrow, "You think it's only my fault? That you guys don't get the blame for leaving."
He replied, "Well, Carlos and I really didn't want to leave, we went because you guys did. That doesn't mean we didn't like BTR, but that means we didn't intentionally hurt her. And James, we all knew he would leave to be famous one day. But you, she thought you'd always be here for her."
"You sound like you know her really well."
Logan smiled weakly, "Well, if she couldn't tell you something she'd tell me." He paused, "So why not fix all those broken promises? You didn't really give a good reason."
Kendall frowned at him, "I promised Anna a lot of things. And most of them I couldn't keep. I don't know why I promised them at the time, but I did. And there isn't any way I could fix them not."
"I talked to Anna recently," The blond gave him a strange look, "Since she knew you were back she's been very different. You remember when her parents died and she built a wall around herself?" He nodded, "Well that's what's she's done. We were her family after they died, and then we left. I wouldn't be surprised if that wall has been up for years."
Kendall looked at him, "Since when did you know so much about her? Anna was always very… mysterious. She kept a lot of secrets and didn't let many people in to begin with. And if what you think is right, then she wouldn't let you in at all."
Logan shrugged again, "I've got reasons that she trusts me." He replied, letting the sentence hang in the air.
"What reason?" The other boy asked, looking at him curiously.
The brunette bit his lip, "Sorry Kendall, but that's something that you and Anna need to work out. I'm just caught in the middle of all of this. She only trusts me because I know –that's my reason."
Kendall glanced back at Karlie skating around, trying to teach Camille at this point. "You aren't going to tell me are you?"
Logan smirked, "Nope, that's between you, Anna and one other person." Kendall didn't notice how his eyes flickered to Karlie as he finished his sentence.
He thought for a second, "Can you tell me the secret that she's keeping from me?"
He also didn't notice how Logan's eye's got a little wider at the statement. "Kendall, like I said, that's something Anna's got to tell you. I'm just stuck in the middle."
Kendall thought and finally determined, "So Anna trust's you because you know the secret." He stated rather than asked.
Logan smiled a bit, "You're getting closer –that's all I'm saying. Anna already is starting to not trust me; I shouldn't add another reason to that very long list." He said, getting up, "Anyways, you should talk to her and fix those secrets, it may help." He advised.
Kendall nodded, and the other boy called to Karlie and Camille, "Girls, how about we go out for dinner?–Coach Knight needs to do something." He said, giving a pointed look to Kendall.
Karlie reluctantly skated to the edge of the rink, "Five more minutes, I was beating Aunt Cami by nearly ten points!" She exclaimed.
Camille patted her shoulder, looking at Logan, "Well, it's not my fault that I didn't live in the cold my entire life! I was an actress, not a figure skater."
At the same time Karlie and Kendall said, "Hockey player!"
Smiling, Logan grabbed Camille's hand as she picked Karlie up and they headed out the door.
Kendall was left inside of the cool rink, and he mumbled, "What are Anna and Logan hiding?"
Kendall didn't know why he walked from the rink that day. He slowly found himself walking down Pine Grove, seeing Anna's parents' house at the end of the street.
He walked even slower down the few blocks, thinking of old, faded memories as he did:
"Mom says that I'm going to have a baby sister or brother soon though."
"I wish I had a sister or brother. I don't have anyone to talk to when I'm sad or someone to protect me. I have mom and dad, but I still wish I had an older sibling."
"When is your birthday?"
"December 12th, why?"
"I'll be your older brother than. You can come to me for anything."
"Really?"
"Yep, so what do you want to do Belle?"
He had promised to be a friend, a best friend, a brother. But none of them would have left without warning. A brother would have taken her with him, not leaving her alone, knowing that he was her true family, her brother in a sense.
But he did leave.
"I fell last time, I don't like falling Kendall."
"We all don't like to fall Belle. I remember back when my dad took me here for my first time on the ice. I fell down a bunch of times, and I never wanted to come back. But after a while, and with some help, I stopped falling, and now I love the ice."
"But what happens if I hurt myself falling?"
"You won't because if you even slip, I'll catch you, I promise. You won't get hurt."
Maybe he had meant that in more than one way. He had meant it in all senses of the sentence. He wouldn't let her fall, and if she did, he'd be there to catch her. But then, he left, he didn't catch her when she fell. She simply fell to the bottom of that black hole, making walls around herself.
"I love you so much, I wish you didn't have to leave."
"Me neither, but I need to help James' dream come true." He pulled away, "I'll come back here, I promise. Once our chance at fame is over, I'll move back and the first place I'll be is your door."
But he never visited her. He had moved into a new house, only seeing her when they bumped into each other at the park, coffee shop and rink. He never once went to her house. There was another broken promise.
How many promises would he break? He never thought of how much it would have hurt her, having him break these promises. He finally felt the guilt: the guilt that came with breaking a promise, the aching heart that felt empty.
He shouldn't have called her to break up, he should have visited to say it, or even not do it at all. But he didn't. Then when she tried to keep up their friendship, he stopped connecting with her. When she emailed, it went to the 'trash' pile with one click.
But then when Jo broke up with him he felt that pain. But never once before moving back did he think he had caused Anna that much pain. He hadn't thought of her since a few months after breaking up with her.
He thought of the last time he kissed her:
Slowly, their lips connecting for the last time.
"I love you Kendall, so much it hurts to let you go."
"I love you too Anna, I promise, we'll get through this."
That had been their last kiss, the last time Kendall had felt those soft lips on his. He had never thought about it. He didn't believe that he and Anna would ever be apart, that they could get through this:
"You're the only thing I have left."
"I won't be gone forever Anna. I'll come back and visit, and after a few years we'll move back and I can see your beautiful face again."
Why would he say something that he didn't mean? At the time he had meant it, he had believed that they could outstand the odds against them and live happily. But this wasn't a fairytale, Anna wasn't his princess.
He was always someone to keep a promise; he hadn't remembered breaking a promise –especially a pinky promise- before this. He was Kendall Knight. To everyone, he was perfect, great hockey player, hot, and had those cute dimples. But he was also honest, trustworthy and most of all, he was someone to rely on.
That just didn't seem to be the case anymore; he wasn't someone to rely on. He had lied, whether intentional or not, he had. He had broken Anna's heart. He hadn't realized it until today, but he was one of the reasons for her walls: he was most of the reason for her walls. He was her brother, her family, after her parents died. And he let her down.
Maybe Logan was right, he needed to see her, to make up for all the broken promises that he made years ago.
"How do you know that you'll never let me down? You could do it without thinking."
"Because, brothers and sisters don't ever let each other down -they help each other. And I want to be the one to help you out, so you won't have to be hurt, by anything."
Why couldn't he just have kept that promise? Why could they have never grown up? It would be easier to be back to when they were five, just meeting. They didn't have to worry about things, or do anything but have their friends.
He broke them all. He didn't realize it, but he had also broken himself when he broke every one of those promises. He just hadn't felt the full affect until now. And the pain from it was terrible.
Was Logan right again? Was he a terrible person?
Anna was drawing in the study her dad used to use. She finished the picture of her and Karlie, putting it in a crowded folder that contained all of her drawings.
Taking all of them out, she looked at them, smiling sadly as tears formed in her eyes. At the top of the pile there was a bunch of scribbles from when she was very young, and slowly the drawings got better and better.
She stopped at one for a moment, and looked at it. It didn't look special at all, it looked a kid drawing. It was a black and white drawing of Anna and her parents. But it brought up those memories:
"What are you coloring?"
"I'm not coloring, I'm drawing. It's a picture of mommy, daddy and me."
"That's a good drawing."
A few minutes went on, and she finally finished. Anna merely grabbed a backpack off of the ground, taking a folder out of it and putting it in there with other drawings.
"Can I look at them?"
"There something I don't like to share. My own drawings. I don't share them with anyone."
Smiling, she flipped to the next picture, and then the next. Finally, she stopped when she found one that she had drawn when she was sixteen. It was a picture of Kendall, smiling with his dimples. Anna smiled the tiniest bit, before flipping through the rest of the pictures. There was some with all the guys, but the majority of them were of Kendall.
There was a knock at the door, and Anna placed the folder of drawings back into the top drawer of the desk before heading to the door.
The doorbell rang this time, and she called, "I'm coming!" Wasn't it a bit early for Logan and Camille to have taken Karlie to practice and dinner?
Opening the front door, she was more surprised than ever, seeing those green eyes looking at her intently, "Kendall." She whispered.
He stood there awkwardly, "Er, I need to talk to you." He explained.
Karlie would probably keep Logan and Camille at dinner for a while, so Anna reluctantly opened the door farther, "Come on in." Leading him into the living room, she asked, "Why did you stop by?" Her tone casual.
Kendall gulped audibly, "I came to apologize."
Author's Note: Yeah, I had to end it there! I had it end at the end of Kendall's thoughts orriginally, but then I added the small Anna scene and the sorta cliffhanger.
I put parts and peices of flashbacks as to show Kendall's thoughts on everything now, and not from back then. Plus, to show home many promises he broke in the process.
Review, it will be the same chart as last time almost:
1-4 reviews: One week
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10-14 reviews: Three days.
15- 19 reviews: Two Days
+20 reviews: Tomorrow
I know that I said it'd update the same day if I got over 20 reviews, but I haven't even started the next chapter. But, if by chance I get it done I'll post it really late tonight, or EARLY tomorrow. Thank you again for so many reviews, and getting me over 100 on this story. You guys are truely amazing!
