.:Chapter 10:.

"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair." ~Douglas Adams

"Fucking Sarah from production, I can't believe that we got stuck in this hell hole," James continued to complain the next morning.

Standing at the mirror that was resting on top of a dresser, he was cursing himself for skipping his nightly routine. Trying in vain, to pull a comb through his hair, James took in his appearance with a scowl. His hair was sticking up all over the place, due to the lack of sleep, he had bags under his eyes, and he was sure that he was partially deaf because Carlos woke up and screamed at every slight sound, sure that their room was haunted. It got so bad that James, Kendall, and Logan ended up tying him to the bed and crammed into the other one, so Logan wouldn't get hit by flailing arms and legs anymore. He had been so loud that a concierge had been called up to their room numerous times to try and get them to quiet down.

None of the boys managed to get sleep, if it wasn't one thing, it was something else and at that point, they were already at each other's throats, snapping for no reason. Logan shook his head, as he left the bathroom. He only used it to brush his teeth, the other times e needed to use the water; he went down to the lobby bathrooms. Theirs was just too disgusting. He tried sanitizing everything, but not even the wipes in his first aid kit would make him feel better about it.

"Would you please stop saying that?" Carlos was sitting cross legged on the bed, his chin in his hands, watching his three best friends. He looked a little glum, but otherwise was the only one that was upbeat about everything. It wasn't that he wasn't upset over everything that happened. Their production manager said that they would have everything set up for them and she wasn't able to get into contact with when they got stuck in the hell hole of a hotel. It was only the start of their tour though, things could get better. The only way that they could go at that point was up. "We get it. You're pissed at her for not making things easier for us."

"No, I'm pissed that we had to stay in a room with poor lighting and mirrors that suck when it comes to making sure my face is clear, free of blemishes, and that my hair is ok," James corrected him. "I'm pissed the fuck off when it comes to all of this!" He waved his hands around. "We're on our first headlining tour, our second tour in all; we should be treated with respect by now."

"Enough!" Kendall slapped his hands down onto his thighs, bringing them away from his hair. He was stuck having to use his reflection in a window to do his hair that morning, while James made sure to arrange every mirror they were given to get all angles of his head. "Listen, guys." He turned on his heel, his lips set in a determined line. "So things didn't start out well for us. So what if Sarah from production didn't help us after we got stuck in a crappy hotel? We had a great first show and we have the day off so we can see all of our fans today and go sightseeing." He raised his hands over his head. "So, do you want to do? Sit and sulk on the penalty bench? Or go out there and have a great game?"

He looked around the room expectantly, waiting for the other guys to rally up at his positive outlook and to get excited and go charging out the door to get into who knows what kind of trouble. When Big Time Rush were around, there was always some sort of trouble that was caused, even if they had the best intentions and were trying to fix something or prevent it from happening. All he got in return was blank stares and a raised eyebrow from James.

"You know, your speeches have been a little lackluster lately," James remarked.

Kendall dropped his arms, his shoulders slumped. He tried a different tactic. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he pulled up the most recent e-mail that he had gotten from Sydney. They were going to try calling each other, but Sydney had explained that it was better for them to e-mail and text as calling long-distance cost too much money where they were. If they were ever closer to Australia, then they could call all they wanted. From what Kendall could understand, Patrick had called someone long distance once and accidentally left the phone call going, causing Ronan to nearly have a heart attack when he got the bill, effectively cutting off the long distance calls. They were practically made out of money, he barely grounded them or punished them for anything knowing that his disappointment was the worst thing they could receive, but he put his foot down for phone bills.

Just makes you wonder what he would have done to them if he found out about every little thing that we've ever dragged them into. Once again, Kendall was hit with a wave of sadness, aware that they weren't on tour with their best friends at the moment. He was glad that they were getting some time off, but it wasn't the same. They weren't running back and forth to each other's hotel rooms, they weren't playing video games and screaming at each other, they weren't eating junk food and getting hyper off of sugar. They weren't running around the cities that they found themselves in, looking for ways to have fun. They weren't creating chaos and he really missed that.

"Let's do something and not just sit around here all day!" He continued.

"Well, I always did want to see Buckingham Palace," Logan said slowly. He let out a cry when Carlos rocketed into his back, gripping onto his shoulders tightly. "Carlos!"

"Yeah, I've always wanted to see how much it takes to get those guard guys to move!" Carlos's brown eyes were shining with excitement. "I have a whole list I want to try out."

James rolled his eyes, turning away from the mirrors. "Yeah, and I guess I can't have all of London go without seeing my handsome face." He grinned.

"That too," Kendall agreed, although he had a funny look on his face when he said it. He put his phone back in his pocket. "Ok, so, let's just go tell Mom that we're going out and let's go see London."

"But where are we going first?" Logan stood up with Carlos and James, getting ready to follow him out of the room.

"Who cares? We're in London and we have the whole city to ourselves," Kendall said. "Let's go see it only the way that Big Time Rush could."

"They said they were going to be on the beach, right?" Rhuben shuffled her feet. She used her hand to smooth her hair from her face, the salty sea air blew it about. "Up the beach and at a bonfire?" Riley nodded silently. Rhuben then sighed and pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time, bring it close to her face.

"You know, it's bad for your eyesight if you do that." Riley remarked, turning her head to look at her younger sister.

"I know that," Rhuben replied, putting her phone away. "But it's not like my eyesight can get any worse, I mean," she paused. "It can, but-"She smiled and she and Riley burst out into laughter as they continued to walk along the beach, their shoes sinking into the sand.

They had just left their home a few minutes ago, moving as quietly through the dark house as they could. As soon as they were sure that everyone was asleep, they made their move. Going past Jo's door was easy, she had been out like a light right after dinner, the jet lag, though it was miniscule, caught up to her. Patrick, Noah, and Sydney were probably deep asleep as well, if Patrick's snoring was any indication. Ronan was a little different, he was in the middle of being a heavy and a light sleeper, sometimes the sound of the alarm being turned off woke him up, other times it would be in the back of his head. Thankfully, this time, he had ended up working late and should have passed out quickly.

"Do you think we're doing the right thing?" Rhuben continued. "You know how easy it is to get sucked up in this stuff. It happens each time we come back here."

Riley looked surprised for a second and then relaxed. "Are you thinking about Logan?"

"Yeah," Rhuben replied, glad that in the darkness her sister couldn't see her blush. "I don't know," she shrugged. "Sort of." She shrugged. "Talking about getting back together…it just makes things like this…it makes me worried. Wondering how he would react if he ever found out before I got a chance to tell him. If we ever should tell them. If we should keep it quiet and hope the media doesn't find out. All of it."

"I getcha," Riley agreed.

And she really did. She hadn't dated any of the guys, but she ended up becoming close with each of them, more so Kendall but they were all great friends. Once she allowed herself to admit it, she found that she really enjoyed having them around and looked forward to it each and every day, being able to see them and to see what sort of things they could have managed to get themselves in to. They would have a million questions if they knew the whole story and saw what they were doing now. Wondering why they would continuously go back to something they didn't want to participate in, something that they were trying to move on from. But they didn't know the whole story, they didn't know how hard it was to get out after you got in, they didn't know that they could potentially be roped into everything each time they went back to Australia. It hadn't happened the last time they were there, on tour, and they were going to make sure it didn't happen now.

Riley sucked her lips into her mouth, looking up towards the sky. She then lowered her gaze and looked right into her twin's eyes again. "Is there any way that I could explain it and not end up looking like a jerk?"

Rhuben gave a sympathetic smile. "No worries, Riles. You won't look like a jerk to us," she put her arm around Riley's shoulder, Riley doing the same to her and the two continued walking again.

"You're my family, Rhubes; I'm not supposed to be a jerk to you."

"Well, there's that."

The girls walked past the lifeguard station before finally seeing a stream of smoke in the sky, and a bright orange glow. Rhuben couldn't help but tense when she spotted a group of teenagers sitting around the fire. You never knew what was going to happen when they were around.

"There's Austen," Riley said, nodding. She opened her stride, quickening her pace towards the group.

"I see him," Rhuben replied.

Austen must have noticed them as well, for he nodded to his companions and they all turned in the direction that they were coming from. Austen removed the cigarette that was dangling from his lips and blew out a cloud of smoke before speaking to them, his green eyes flashing in the flood lights. His dark brown hair hung over his forehead and he tilted his head back, bringing his chin up in a nod once the girls reached him.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," He commented, looking at his watch. "I sent a text twenty minutes ago."

"Sorry, I forgot my life revolved around you," Riley replied coolly.

Austen merely shrugged. "Hers did." He pointed over to Rhuben, who grimaced before her features were set in a glare.

"Seriously? You want to bring up old crap like that now?" Rhuben placed her hands on her hips. "What do we really need to talk about? I think we get the gist of it at this point."

"Really?" Braden, the blonde standing next to Austen feigned innocence. "I thought that we came out here just to catch up. My mistake." He reached out and gave Austen a low-five, the other teenagers around them chuckling. "We just need to be sure that you hold up your end of the deal."

"Did you lose that much faith in us already?" Rhuben raised an eyebrow.

"Just covering all of our bases." Braden didn't sound the least bit remorseful.

"Braden lay off my girls." Candy, the only girl in the group, sneered. "It's not our fault that you're not getting some." She pushed her lips into a sexy pout. "Not that you haven't had any offers."

"Sorry," Braden turned back to Riley. "I'm a one-woman man, I don't sleep with whores."

"All of you, shut up!" Austen commanded, flicking his cigarette into the fire. He waited until he was sure he had everyone's attention. "Don't forget what we're here for." He turned back to Riley and Rhuben. "Don't forget, you were the ones that came to us for help and we're giving it to you, and you're going to hold up your end of the deal. I don't care if you have to lock your friend, Jo, in a room to when we contact you, but you will. This won't go away quickly, so you have to deal with it the best way we can. Or have it get out."

Riley and Rhuben looked at each other, having another one of their famous 'silent conversations', where they could communicate just by changing their facial expressions. Riley finally sighed heavy and turned back to Austen. "That's not an option. They wouldn't understand."

"So what's it gonna be?"

A/N: Hope you guys like the chapter. If you have any suggestions of what I could have the guys do on tour, that'd be great. Cause other than a few things, it seems like this part of the story will focus on DE and I don't really want that. Story picks up in next chapter, though I don't care about chapter lengths anymore, this one was short because it starts a new 'arc/storyline'. Essentially the timeline can take up a lot of things that I have written in other stories and this kind of does for Darkness of My Past but not in the way you're probably thinking.

LogieLuvr914 and Soccer-Lax-God25: I originally intended for Dak, WayneWayne, and Lizzie to be there. But when Rhu and I realized that if Jo was in New Zealand and had a chance to visit them, it worked better. Plus, Dak, WayneWayne, and Lizzie don't get to Aus until it's close to DE going back to LA. D, WW, and L visit them for one to two weeks or so, then go back to LA, DE goes back to LA two weeks after that, and then shortly after that BTR get back to LA.

Constructive Criticism is welcome.

Cheers,

-Riles