Chapter Ten

James sighed and rolled onto his back, looking up at the stars in the sky through the leaves on the tree, the moon illuminating the sky as well. Twigs stuck him in his back, but he didn't brother brushing them away, he was going to have to get used to it, no matter how much he didn't want to.

Shouldn't I tell them?

Maybe it's best if they don't know.

But they'll be awfully worried.

James let out a weary sigh. He wondered what his mom was doing. At this time, probably giving his dad his dinner and then eating in silence. He wondered if his mom even knew that James was kicked out, or if his dad had given her some other excuse as to why he was gone. He went a hockey camp? Or maybe he was going to stay a few days with his friends? Or maybe that they had gone camping? Either way, James knew that his father would be able to make sure that his mother didn't know what happened to him.

Maybe it was time to tell Carlos and the others? He knew that Mrs. Knight would help him; she took care of him and the others when they were out in LA. But then again…she already had enough trouble having to look after Kendall and Katie, especially since she didn't have a job of her own, so he wouldn't want to impose.

Should I tell them?

They'll worry, especially Logan.

They have the right know why.

"But they wouldn't understand." James whispered to himself. "Their lives are already so great as it is, I don't want to ruin it for them." He turned on his side and pulled his sweatshirt down over his arms, shivering a little bit. "I just have to keep acting like everything is fine."

But everything wasn't fine; Carlos constantly asked about the bag that James was carrying when they went to the movies and it was starting to grind on James' nerves. He wouldn't give it up, no matter how many times James said that it was nothing and that he shouldn't worry about it. Finally, James ended up saying that it was a surprise for him, Logan, and Kendall, and Carlos finally clammed up. But now he had two things to worry about, being found out that he sleeps in the park and having to figure out some sort of a surprise to give them.

"This just keeps getting worse and worse." James mumbled, pulling the hood to his sweatshirt up over his head, blocking out the chilly wind that started to blow. "I should have grabbed my blanket." He brought his legs up to his chest and pulled the bottom of his sweatshirt over them. "Tomorrow's another day, James. You can get through this."

But of course, there was a little nagging voice in the back of his mind asking the opposite.

What if he couldn't?

A/N: So I made it a angsty James chapter about his thoughts on everything, and like in Live and Let Live with Kendall's condition getting worse (and because I love writing stories like that), James is going to get worse, he's not going to get better anytime soon. I hope you guys liked this chapter.

Cheers,

-Riley