.:Chapter Ten – All Downhill From Here:.
All warnings of the story start in this chapter.
"Classes are going great," Brittany stated with an excited smile. "I'm even taking this one class that instead of actually sitting in a class room, they let us go out into the city to get some learning experience that way."
She looked at the adults, and Logan, who were sitting at the Knight's kitchen table with her and Julius. The other kids had gone to the Knight's living room and could be heard shouting something at the TV and at each other. Logan, on the other hand, decided to stay at the table while the adults finished eating slowly (except for Gustavo who was already on his fifth plate) talking about the music industry and Julius' and Brittany's classes. He had two reasons for this: one; he wanted to know what college (or uni as Julius and Brittany called it) was like in Australia, and because he wanted to try and talk to the adults about his suspicions with the Jacksons before he talked to his friends.
If he talked to his friends first, he knew that they would just storm in and demand what was going on, backing the Jacksons into a corner, which would probably cause them to shut down even more. So he wanted to see what they had to say about it, as well as whether or not they had noticed that something was going on. That way, all of them could ask what was up before something really bad happened.
"And it's no surprise that it's the only class that she's getting an 'A' in," Julius joked with a smile. To Logan, it more resembled a smirk, which solidified the fact that he was related to Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney.
That and the fact that he looks exactly like Sydney does, except with darker blue hair dye and no dimples in his cheeks. Logan thought to himself with a fond smile. "What classes are you taking, Julius?"
"Heh heh," Julius let out a nervous laugh as he glanced over at Ronan. "You see, I don't really know." He quickly continued as Ronan shot him an odd look. "I mean, I'm so busy with football in the fall, basketball in the winter, and lacrosse in the spring, and it all blends together so much that I do my homework, whatever is assigned, and try to stay awake in my classes."
Brittany rolled her eyes, lightly hitting Julius on the arm. "And yet, he manages to get 'A's in everything without even trying."
Julius just shrugged modestly.
"But there has to be something you don't like about it," Mrs. Knight commented with a knowing smile. "I don't believe that you like everything about school. Even Kendall and Katie have something to complain about the PalmWoods School and they only go there for four hours a day."
"Well," Julius hesitated, looking towards the ceiling. But when he looked back at the adults again, he looked a little sad. "The only thing I really have to complain about is not being able to see my family." He shrugged again. "Even if they're home, I hardly have time to come visit; you know what I'm saying? And I can't help but think they're mad at me for it."
"It would make sense as to why they've been acting somewhat hostile lately," Kelly commented, grabbing Julius' and Brittany's attention. She turned to Logan, whose eyes widened. "That's what you wanted to talk about, right?" Logan nodded silently. "We noticed it too," she motioned to herself, Mrs. Knight, Gustavo, and Ronan, who nodded. "And we can't really pinpoint what's going on." She looked at Gustavo. "He might now show it, but he's worried too."
"How can I not be worried?" Gustavo actually sounded concerned. "I mean, they're directly related to BTR. If they get depressed over something, then it's not much longer until BTR are depressed, and I can't have that."
"In his own way, that means that he's worried." Ronan reassured Julius and Brittany, who raised their eyebrows.
"But it's obvious that you're the one that's most worried," Logan observed. "With Mama Knight right after that. It makes sense," he continued. "You just adopted them, and they were your really good friends before, so you're feeling alienated that they're not talking to you about what's bothering them when before they always went to you. And then with Mrs. Knight," he nodded over at her. "You've become their 'Mama Knight' too, kind of like a mother figure to them, but a friend as well."
He sat as he watched their reactions, waiting to see if they would say something. All of them looked pensive, but he wasn't stupid; he knew that they each had their own suspicions about what could possibly be going on with them. And he knew that they also had one common idea as to what it could be: Robert Jackson.
"Last I checked, Robert wasn't getting out of jail anytime soon," Kelly finally spoke up. "And he hasn't been calling any of them."
Maybe he's the one that's been texting them. Logan suddenly had the jarring thought. It would make sense as to why Riley and Rhuben are constantly on their phones and wouldn't allow anyone to know who they were actually texting. Logan kept his eyes up as he slowly moved his hand to his pocket where he had Riley's phone. He had fully intended to give it back, but now he had a strong feeling to hold onto it a bit longer and to see if he could find anything on it. His cheeks flushed as he thought about it. If she finds out, she'll probably hate you for invading her privacy…I guess I'll check with the guys to know what to do before I give it back.
"I know that," Ronan rubbed a hand around his mouth, blinking rapidly; something he always did when he was deep in thought. "I've been keeping tabs on him to make sure that that wasn't going to happen. But-"
"But the guy's fucking shifty as hell," Gustavo interrupted. "You may want to keep checking. I know him, there's got to be a way that he can get around those laws."
"We understand that you hate him, Gustavo," Mrs. Knight said soothingly, reaching out and touching his hand. "But letting your anger get the best of you isn't going to help us."
"No, it makes sense," Julius said after a moment. Logan looked over at him and was surprised to see that he looked calm, not angry like the other adults. Logan finally understood why his siblings admired him so much, because he was the calm one of the family, and the one that they seemed to turn to when they were having trouble. He had heard them on the phone with him at least once a day, so it wasn't that shocking. "It's like Gustavo said, Robert is shifty as hell, and almost everyone that ever met him was put off by how intense he was." He put an arm around Brittany's shoulders, protectively.
Logan felt jealous at that moment, the two of them could show that they were together as much as they wanted, and Logan didn't have a choice but to keep hiding that he was in a relationship with Rhuben. It was getting harder and harder to keep it from his friends, as they were starting to become really suspicious about everything he did lately. He knew that he was going to have to tell them soon.
"You may want to look up on that, Ronan," Julius added. "I'll try to get a straight answer out of them later, but I don't think that will work," he turned to Logan. "I think it would be better if you and your friends tried talking to them."
"Why us?" Logan asked. That was exactly what he wanted, but at the same time, he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle what the truth was.
"You're their best friends," Brittany replied as if it was obvious. "Anyone can see that, I knew that even before I met all of you, because they talk about you a lot. We're all concerned, but they might think we're attacking them if us adults try and talk to them. It would be better if you sat them down and clearly asked them what was going on. Plus, it would give Ronan some peace of mind."
Logan looked over at Ronan and could see how upset the older man was. Even though he was so laid back, Ronan always wore his heart on his sleeve; and right now, Logan could see that he was truly upset and confused.
"We'll do our best." Logan agreed with a nod as he stood up, pushing his chair back. He slid his hands into his pockets, his right hand instinctively wrapping around Riley's phone. "We'll try to talk to them soon." With that, he walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, smiling as he watched Kendall try to fend off Carlos and James, who were leaning over the couch, trying to grab the remote from Kendall's hands.
Kendall was yelling for them to get off of him and James and Carlos were yelling that they were guests and that they should watch whatever they wanted. Jo, Camille, Stephanie, Dak, and WayneWayne were yelling their encouragement while the Jacksons were laughing.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Logan asked as he walked into the living room, looking at all of them.
"Kendall wanted to watch the hockey game and James and Carlos wanted to watch something on MTV, so they're fighting over the remote." Katie replied with a roll of her eyes, although she was laughing along with her friends. "I don't know how much longer the fight will last, but my money is on Carlos and James to win." She then turned to Patrick and Noah. "Do you guys want to play some video games in the basement?"
"Yeah, sure," Noah smiled and nodded and the three disappeared downstairs.
"Oh," Logan shrugged, shaking his head a little bit before turning to Riley and Rhuben. "Do you guys want to watch a movie or something? Mama Knight said earlier that we could-"
"Sorry, but we can't." Riley replied slowly. "We have something that we need to do.
Logan looked at his other friends and knew that they were pretending to ignore what was going on. Kendall had managed to push Carlos off of him and changed it to MTV just to appease them. But to make it seem like they weren't listening, he had turned up the volume a little bit.
"You don't want to hang out?" Logan asked, looking concerned. "It's Friday, we always hang out together." He motioned between himself, Rhuben, and Riley. "Plus, my mom wants us all to come over for dessert."
"We know," Riley replied with a nod. "But we have something to do; and we can all go when we get back, it won't be long." She looked over at Rhuben, who was very subtly nodding towards the door to the front door, silently telling her that they needed to leave right then or something bad would happen. They moved towards the foyer, Logan following them. "Plus, I heard that it's better to digest a bit before you actually eat dessert…"
"Um," Logan stopped her with the one word. "Does this have anything to do-, I mean, I know that you and your brothers-, well I'm not sure if-"
"Whoa, wait a second," Rhuben held up her hands, turning to Logan. "What makes you think this has to do with dad?"
"You think this has to do with Dad?" Riley asked at the same time.
"This has nothing to do with dad!" "Why'd you even bring him up?"
"And this is why you don't get a set of twin girls mad at you," Logan noted to himself, suddenly realizing that he had backed himself into a corner. Geez, I knew they were perceptive, but that's just ridiculous. "Or mention their abusive fathers."
"Logie-Bear," Riley turned back around, hurt evident throughout her face. "I swear this has nothing to do with my bastard of a..." She paused. "Thing." She said finally. She then reached forward and punched Logan on the arm, causing him to wince and scowl at her. "You're dead if you ever mention him again."
"Well, you don't have to be so irrational about it, Landy," Logan replied, rubbing his arm.
"I'm not irrational," Riley was suddenly strangely calm. "When I'm irrational, I get violent." Logan's eyes widened and she let out a peal of laughter. "I'm kidding Logie." She looked serious. "Contrary to popular belief, I'm not violent in any way, I may get mad at times and I may be defensive, but I'm not violent."
"Then why can't you hang out?" Logan asked, looking back and forth between both girls. "Really, what's going on?"
"Nothing." Rhuben sounded exasperated. "Seriously, Logan, why don't you believe us when we tell you that there's nothing going on?"
"Oh, gee, I don't know," Logan suddenly looked mad as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe because we noticed that you guys are acting the exact same way that you did when you were trying to hide your abuse. Excuse me for being a bit upset and worried about my best friends," he looked at Riley and then turned to Rhuben. "And my girlfriend."
"You don't have to worry," Riley moved forward and voluntarily gave him a hug, resting her cheek on his shoulder. She shifted her head so she could look at him. "Whatever's going on, not that there is anything, it's not a big deal."
"Yeah, that was believable," Rhuben said, raising an eyebrow, she had slowly started to move away towards the door as well.
"Shut up, Rhubes," Riley replied in a sigh. "Anyway, what we're doing is a surprise." She backed away from Logan and towards the door again. "Everyone's going to love it when we can show it to you, trust me."
"Well," Logan looked like he didn't believe her. "Ok. We'll see you later."
"Later," Riley flashed a smile over her shoulder before the twin girls slipped out the front door. "Tell Ronan that we'll be back soon." She stuck her head back in the door. "Oh, and let me know if you find my phone," she scratched her neck. "I haven't seen it since sometime yesterday."
"Later." Logan gave a short wave back. He turned back to walk to the living room, but jumped when he noticed that his friends had gotten up and were standing near the entrance of the foyer, looking right at him. "Hey," he said nervously. "What are you doi-"he suddenly paled, realizing that they had heard his whole conversation. "Listen, about me dating Bella, I-"
"Yeah, we actually already knew about that," James said with a snort, trying not to smile.
Logan was completely dumbfounded. He thought that he had been very careful about hiding his relationship with Rhuben. In fact, he was sure that he was being careful about it; they didn't seem to show that they knew about it. How in the world had they known?
"How did you-"
"Well, it was hard to figure out at first," Jo remarked with a smile. It was obvious that she was glad. She was the person that liked to try and push all of them together in some combination of a relationship. She had even gotten the nickname "The Matchmaker" from the girls and Patrick and Noah because of it. "But then after a while, we realized that you were acting happier than usual."
"You were smiling a lot more than usual," Stephanie chimed in. "Even in your sleep."
"Yeah," Dak agreed, trying not to laugh as well. "It didn't help that you were acting that way right after I talked to you about asking her out. And then you seemed to find any excuse to leave the room after she did, so it wasn't hard to figure out that you were dating in secret."
"Bu-"Logan blushed, now thoroughly embarrassed. "Rhu and I were being so careful-"
"You're right," Camille broke in. "Rhuben was being careful, you wouldn't be able to tell with her because she was acting exactly the same, but you made it very obvious." She exchanged glances with Stephanie. "Especially since you were the one that can't lie in the first place and you were jumpy and got all nervous anytime the guys asked you a question."
"Oh," Logan blinked and then turned to the guys, expecting them to yell at him. "Well, I wasn't trying to keep it from you, she was the one that-"
"Don't worry about it," Kendall said, waving a hand. "I mean, sure we were pissed off at first, especially since you were neglecting the best friend code, but then after we had figured it out, we realized that it was probably that Rhuben didn't want you guys to show your relationship because of the press and because of the rule, so we decided to wait until you told us, so Gustavo wouldn't find out."
"Yeah, dude," James stood up and clasped Logan on the shoulder. "We got your back, and it was probably a good thing that you didn't say anything to Carlos, because he would have told Gustavo in a second." Logan didn't buy it completely, the way that James was holding onto his shoulder so tightly made him think that they were still really upset about his deceit, but he didn't want to talk about that now.
"Ok, well, there's something else that I need to tell you guys," Logan said, after taking a deep breath. "You know how Riley's been looking for her phone?" He nervously reached into his pocket and pulled out her iPhone with the red case.
"Dude," WayneWayne shot him a funny look. "You took her phone?"
"I didn't take it," Logan defended himself. "Just yesterday Dak showed me that she had forgotten it in our dressing room, and I was going to give it to her but-"he willed himself not to smile as he thought about him and Rhuben making out. "I got distracted."
"Yeah, getting distracted by having to save us from a stupid supply closet." Dak said, gingerly rubbing the back of his head again.
"Anyway," Logan turned to Kendall. "I was talking to your mom and Ronan and them, and they seem to think that it could be Robert that's making them all freak out and that we should try to talk to them first before they got into it, just in case they felt like the adults were accusing them of something. I was going to give her her phone back, but then when they said that…"he held the phone out to him. "Anyway, if anyone said that we should just give the phone back, I figured you should do it."
"Why me?" Kendall asked.
"Because you're her friend more than Logan is," Sydney commented, causing the others to turn to him. He missed Logan's hurt look. "At least right now you are."
Sydney blinked from where he was standing at the edge of the group, more in the living room than the rest of them. He shrugged, shoving his hands into the pocket on the front of his sweatshirt. As soon as they had gotten to St. Paul, Minnesota for the tour, Mrs. Knight had taken the Jacksons out shopping for warmer clothes, as they didn't have any brought with them. (But that didn't keep them from trying to pretend that the cold didn't bother them; they shivered pathetically for over an hour, huddled together, before Patrick screamed that he hated the cold, and she drove them to the mall).
"How long have you been standing there?" WayneWayne asked, pushing the brim of his hat up off of his forehead. He shot a nervous look over to Logan.
If he knows what we're doing with her phone, then he might try to warn her. Logan looked back at WayneWayne, but didn't say anything.
"I never left," Sydney replied calmly. "Ri-Ri and Rhu-Rhu left, Sparky and Physic went down to the basement with Katie, and I've just been sitting here." He gave a half smile. "But don't worry a lot of people forget that I'm in the room when I'm observing." He raised an eyebrow as everyone exchanged glances once more. "You can't possibly think that I'm quiet because I like to be? No," he shook his head. "I like to watch people and see how they react to things; personally, I think it makes me smarter."
"Syd, you don't need to be smarter." Camille remarked, shaking her head. "You already put us to shame."
Sydney finally smiled, allowing dimples into his cheeks. "That's the plan," he remarked, a snobby hint to his tone. "And I must say it worked too." He cleared his throat and held out his hand. "You know that Ri's going to hit the fan if she finds out that you have her phone without telling her."
"But it might help us, Syd," Carlos reasoned, frowning down at the smarter boy. "Your sisters and brothers might be in trouble or something."
Sydney snorted. "It took you this long to find out that they're in trouble?" He turned to Logan. "Wow, and I thought you were a genius."
"Wait, they actually are in trouble?" Dak seemed to be a bit slow in the conversation.
Sydney rolled his eyes. "Yes, that's what I'm saying." He held up his hand as eager eyes turned to him. "I can't tell you what it is, because I don't even know what it is. But I know my brothers and sisters like the back of my hand and I know that something's going on."
Logan frowned and looked right at Sydney, who looked back at him. It took him a bit to figure out what he was looking for; whether or not he was lying. He knew that it was hard, if not impossible for Sydney to lie, so he wasn't sure why he would be lying now. Unless he's trying to protect his brothers and sisters without trying to actually tell us what's wrong. He looked over at his friends, who were looking at him as well.
"Really, that's all I know." Sydney concluded. "And I can get you into Riley's phone if she doesn't have her PIN and Password put up." He held his hand out expectantly.
"I don't know guys," Stephanie looked concerned. "We're going into her privacy, plus what happens if we do find out what's going on? What are we going to do?"
"I say we do it," Carlos spoke up, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's the only way that we're going to be able to help our friends and get back to normal." He looked like he was really emotional about something. "Do you know how long it's been since I've hung out with Patrick and Noah like I used to? I know it's kind of weird that I'm really close to them when they're two years younger than me, but we have a lot of fun when we're hanging out."
"It's not weird," Sydney piped up. "It's actually pretty normal. I mean, I'm friends with all of your guys for different reasons and that's not weird. Plus, you're going to be helping them better than I ever could, they'd listen to you."
"You've tried to stop whatever they're doing?" Jo asked him curiously. Sydney shot him an offended look. "You know what I mean, Syd."
"Yeah, I getcha, Joey." Sydney replied quietly. "Before you make your decision, if you do find out, are you going to confront them immediately or talk to the adults first? Because you already know what the adults would do."
"What do you think?" James turned to Kendall, who looked like he hated being put on the spot right then and there. "I mean, you're the one that usually comes up with the ideas to help people, and our friends definitely need our help."
Kendall sucked in a deep breath through his nose. He was silent for a few moments, looking at the pictures on the wall around him of him, his mom, and his sister. Finally, he turned back to Logan. "Give him the phone," he instructed, tilting his head towards Sydney, who was still waiting patiently, his hand out. "If he can help, then we might as well get help."
Logan nodded and handed Sydney his sisters' phone. Sydney then inched forward, holding the phone out so everyone could watch as he pushed a button on the phone, illuminating the screen with a lock on it. He then pushed another button and 9 buttons appeared on screen. "To get through the security on Ri-Ri's phone, you push the four corner buttons," he did that and then another screen appeared. "And her password is her favorite number doubled."
"Which is?" Stephanie raised an eyebrow.
"1111," Logan replied after a second. "It's her favorite number and she's always wishing on 11:11 so…"he shrugged.
"He's right," Sydney nodded and inputted the numbers. "She's kind of superstitious like that." He put the numbers into the phone and then frowned. "And this is where I run into trouble." He sighed and held the phone out again. "Her PIN, it's another set of four numbers, I don't know what that is. We only give each other our security and passwords." He handed the phone to Kendall.
"Ok, think," WayneWayne started to crack his knuckles nervously. "What numbers could be her PIN."
"Try her birthday." James suggested and waited as Sydney punched in the numbers.
"No," Kendall shook his head. "Try another one."
"Try Patrick's birthday." James tried again. That didn't work either. Neither did Sydney's, Ronan's, or Julius'. They then tried random numbers that they could think of, that could correspond to something that Riley would want to put into her phone, but they still couldn't think of it.
Kendall quickly shoved the phone back into Logan's hand, who put it back in his pocket, when Katie, Patrick, and Noah suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs to the basement, saying that they were going to go out for a walk, so Katie could show them the outdoor hockey rink that the guys used to hang out at, as well as digesting the large dinner that Mrs. Knight had made.
"What's wrong?" Katie asked, looking at her brother. "You all look so pink and guilty."
"Nothing." Sydney replied smoothly. "I was just making fun of them about their hormones and all that," with that, he turned on his heel and went into the living room.
"Ok," Patrick replied slowly, exchanging a glance with Noah.
Logan noticed, but didn't say anything. They know that Sydney wasn't telling the truth. What's he going to do if Patrick and Noah ask him what we were really talking about? I hope that Syd knows what he's doing; it will be hard to keep so many lies straight.
"Anyway, we're going to the hockey rink." Katie stated as she reached out to grab her coat.
"I don't know, "Kendall interrupted her, big brother mode coming on full force. "Even if you're with Patrick and Noah, I don't like the idea of you guys being out there by yourselves at this time of night."
"Kendall, that's not-"
"I'll go with them," Carlos offered as he grabbed his coat off of the banister. "Besides, I need some fresh air myself." He turned to Stephanie. "Are you coming too?"
"Nah," she shook her head. "I'm just going to hang out here with everyone else."
"Cool," Carlos leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you when I get back." He turned to Patrick, Katie, and Noah. "Come on guys." He then led them out the door and it slammed shut for the second time that night.
Logan then let out a heavy sigh and walked into the living room, ready to ask Sydney a question, but stopped when he got a good look at the TV. The young boy had changed it to the news and was staring at the screen intently. That wasn't weird; he had a habit of watching the news every night with Ronan before going off to watch sports and cartoons with everyone else.
But what caught his attention was that the newscaster was talking about how a teenage couple had been attacked that night and had been sent to the hospital with heavy cuts and bruises. He relaxed a little when the newscaster said that the attack was two counties away.
That's odd, Logan thought to himself, having his second epiphany of the night. Every day since we've gone on tour, there's always been something on the news about something being attacked or murdered. That's way too much of a coincidence.
"Is something wrong, Logan?" Sydney asked, grabbing his attention.
Logan looked at him, the young boys' eyes burning into his. "Not yet," he replied after a moment.
The night air was cold and damp. As they walked along, Riley's and Rhuben's breaths were visible in front of their faces. They shivered in their sweatshirts from the cold.
"I still don't get how they're able to enjoy the fucking cold so much," Riley hissed. "It's the worst feeling in the world!" Rhuben stayed silent. She didn't speak until they reached the stop sign at the end of the street and Austen and Braden appeared moments later.
"What's wrong?" Rhuben asked, seeing the serious look in Austen's eyes almost immediately.
"We got movement from the Devil Dogs by the high school," Austen told her. "Everyone else is already on their wary over there," he reached out and grabbed Rhuben's hand, pulling it out and slapping a switchblade into her palm. "Take this; they don't have any guns on them."
"Not yet," Riley remarked as Braden handed her a switchblade as well.
"You guys go with Braden and cut them off," Austen instructed breathlessly. "Rumor has it there's another group by the ice rink, and I need to check that out."He started to run off down the street, two other figures following behind him. "Get going!" He called over his shoulder.
"Come on," Braden turned and started running down the street in the opposite direction that Austen had ran. "Candy, Axle, and Slash went with Austen, I've got you two, and Malice along with Jack, and they don't have that many people on their side."
"Are you sure?" Rhuben asked as she ran with him, taking off her sweatshirt and trying it around her waist.
"Jack's numbers don't lie," Braden snapped in reply.
"Belt up, Braden," Riley reached out and grabbed onto Bradin's arm, causing him to stop. "We're helping you, because you're helping us; don't put your head up your ass like a bastard. If you continue to act like this you're-"
"Don't fucking touch me!" Braden pushed Riley's hands off and then grabbed her wrists, holding onto them tight enough that she let out a cry of pain. "It's like you said, I'm helping you to make sure you don't get killed. So listen to what I have to say, and don't fucking give me that bullshit!" He pushed her away and started running again.
"Are you ok?" Rhuben asked Riley, who gingerly rubbed her wrists.
"I'll be fine." Riley replied with a nod and started after him, Rhuben following close behind. As they neared the high school that BTR used to go to, they could hear the sound of screams and grunts of pain; the battle of the gang war was underway.
As they raced onto the soccer field, members of both gangs were falling to the ground, screaming at each other and punching, kicking, and beating each other up.
"Fan out, and don't do anything stupid," Braden ordered before launching himself onto a nearby Devil Dog, who was only recognizable from the purple letterman's jacket he was wearing. Braden punched him across the face before kneeing him in the crotch. "Take that you fucking cocksucker!"
"Ah, we finally find those twin bitches that we were looking for."
Riley and Rhuben turned around to find Ally and Kelly, sisters and two members and some of the only girls of the Devil Dogs. Rhuben exchanged a glance with her sister, she used to wonder if they were really in the gang and believed everything the Devil Dogs were doing, but now that she saw the anger that was in those girls' eyes, and the fact that they were willing to go all the way to America to chase them around to get revenge, it answered her question.
"Shit," Riley muttered, taking a step back and falling into a fighting stance.
At that moment Ally lunged. She twisted her wrist, brandished her pocketknife and tried to stab Riley, but she backed from the knife too quickly for him to go after her again. Riley grabbed onto Ally's wrist and pulled her forward, making her bend over, off balance. Riley flipped the younger girl over her arm by pushing her arm down and back towards Ally. She landed, the air knocked out of her. Riley then grabbed onto her right foot, stretching it up to her side, and then let go, causing her leg to swing back down and hit Ally in the side. Ally cried out in pain, it mixing in with the other voices crying out in the battle. Ally then reached up and grabbed onto Riley's leg, knocking her over before rolling until she was on top of the raven-haired girl, punching her in the stomach.
Almost simultaneously as Ally had started to attack Riley, Kelly tackled Rhuben to the ground and the two started to scrap with each other. As Kelly pulled a hand back, ready to punch Rhuben in the face, Rhuben caught a glimpse of something flickering in the light, and recognized brass knuckles on Kelly's hand. She twisted her body to the side as Kelly punched down towards her face and brought her leg up, kicking Kelly in the back of the head.
"God," Kelly brought her hands up to her back of her head, and Rhuben shoved her off of her, quickly getting back to her feet. "You fucking cunt!"
Rhuben cracked her knuckles before bringing her arm back and swinging it forward, hitting Kelly right in the face, causing blood to erupt from her nose, along with a distinct cracking sound. Then the two girls were back on the ground again, throwing punch after punch.
The fight lasted for a half hour, every time someone from the Devil Dogs or Austen's gang had managed to get the upper hand, the other one managed to bring them back down again with a punch or a kick. They didn't dare stop, if they did, it would mean that they would lose the battle and the other side would have the upper hand in the war.
"Cops!" A distant voice yelled.
The teenagers leapt to their feet and scattered as fast as they could. Unfortunately some officers had spotted them and started to chase them as they ran.
"Braden!" Riley called over her shoulder. "Come on!"
"I'm good," Braden called back as he ran off in the opposite direction. "Just get back to your friends." He disappeared around the corner of the high school.
Riley and Rhuben ran as fast as they could until they reached the Knight's street. They slowed to a stop and checked each other under a street light, to make sure that their faces didn't show any signs of bruising before walking up the porch and going inside.
"Hey, we're back," Rhuben called as she walked through the foyer and into the living room. She looked around for a moment. "Where at St. Patrick, No, Kates, and CareBear?" She opened her arms and gave Sydney a hug as he raced over to the two girls. She tried not to grimace as he did so.
"They went for a walk," Kendall replied, making sure not to look at his friends as he got up from the couch. "I found your phone," he reached into his pocket and walked over to Riley, holding it out. "It got in one of our bags somehow." He added lamely.
"Thanks," Riley's eyes lit up as she grabbed it from him. "I've been looking everywhere for it!" She looked at Rhuben out of the corner of her eye, an overwhelming feeling of guilt washing over her. Geez, they really know how to make it hard to do everything you can to protect them. "Listen, I know I don't say this to you guys enough, but you're awesome you know that?" She looked up at him. "You're, like, my best friends, you know?"
"Yeah," Kendall swallowed thickly. "I know."
"So this is the hockey rink that you guys used to play on every day?" Noah asked as he walked towards the ice, reaching out a foot and gingerly stepping on it. "I can't imagine why, one crack and you're under water."
"Are you always this paranoid?" Katie asked with a giggle.
"Yeah, he's always been like that," Patrick stated as he slung his arm around her shoulders. "Trust me, you'll get used to it."
Noah smirked as he turned from the ice, facing his twin brother. "Better than jumping into everything, Mr.-I-Don't-Think-At-All."
Patrick stuck his tongue out in reply, moving his arm from around Katie's shoulders and shoving his hands into his jeans pockets, shivering as he looked around. He then turned to Carlos, who was standing by the ice, quietly. "Hey man," he walked over to Carlos and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah," Carlos replied with a sigh. "I just miss this, you know? Ever since we started Big Time Rush, we've slowly been losing our four hockey players from Minnesota vibe and it's really starting to get me down." He turned to his friends. "Especially being back here. We haven't played hockey in a really long time."
"Hey, don't worry about it," Noah reassured him. "Things will get better, you're just so busy right now, you haven't had enough down time to play hockey." He smiled. "Just wait for things to settle. Trust me; I know what I'm talking about."
"No you don't," Katie shook her head. "You don't want them to start playing hockey again, once they start, they won't stop. And then it will be hard for you guys to bring them back in line again when you're working with them after the tour is over."
Noah chuckled. "Be that as it may, I think they deserve it." He licked his chapped lips before rubbing his hands together. "Did it get colder out here?"
"You guys just aren't used to the cold." Carlos said with a laugh as the turned from the ice rink.
"No, that's not it," Patrick denied. "We hate the cold." He shivered hard and then blushed as Katie started to laugh at him. "Can we go back to the house now, please?"
"Yeah," Carlos slapped Patrick on the arm and ruffled his hair before he started to walk away from the ice rink, "Let's get going." He stopped when he spotted two teenagers dressed in purple letterman's jackets in front of him. "Hey dudes, what's up?"
"So, it's true," the tallest boy said. "The DarkElements really are here in Minnesota." His upper lip curled. "Can't say I'm happy about that."
"Hey, leave them alone," Katie frowned.
"Dude, just leave it," Patrick started to nudge Katie out of the way, moving to go around them. He stopped, though, when the teenagers started jeering again.
"So are the rumors true?" the shorter one asked. "I've always wanted to know. Did you really get hit by your old man?" He shook his head, as if showing some sympathy. "If I was your dad and you were making that crap music, I would have hit you as well."
Katie opened her mouth to say something, her eyes flashing angrily, but Noah shot her a look in reply, warning her not to say anything. "They're just haters, forget about them." He said to her.
"Do you have a problem with my friends?" Carlos demanded. "I'm not going to have you talk to them that way!"
"Carlos, leave it alone."
"It's just as well," the taller one shrugged, turning to the smaller one again. "I mean, obviously their dad didn't believe that they deserved to live either." Patrick and Noah froze at that. "They should have just gone down in flames with their parents. None of them deserve to live, not these two, not their younger brothers, and definitely not their sisters."
Noah sucked in a sharp breath and turned to Patrick, who was already looking back at him. The two seemed to have a silent conversation before they turned back to the teenage boys. Patrick let out a short chuckle before he and Noah leapt forward and jumped onto the teenage guys, punching them in the face.
"Whoa!" Carlos cried, his eyes growing wide. He moved forward and grabbed onto Patrick's arms. "Dude, stop! Stop! Stop!" He managed to wrench Patrick off of the guy before turning to Noah and grabbing onto him as well and wrenching him off the shorter teenager. "Knock it off!" Noah backed up a few steps, holding onto his eye.
"You're going to pay for that," the taller boy scowled and he and his companion ran off.
"Oh my gosh," Katie cried, finally able to move again. As soon as the fight started, she seemed to freeze in place. I've never seen them get so angry before. Not like that. It was really scary. She hesitantly took a step towards Patrick, who looked pissed off. "Are you ok?" she asked tentatively, reaching out a hand to touch his arm.
"I'm fine!" Patrick roughly pulled his arm away from her. Katie lowered her gaze to her feet.
"We should get some ice on your eye, dude," Carlos said to Noah, looking at his rapidly swelling face. He then cracked a smile. "Or some snow." He added, causing Noah to crack a smile. "Let's get you back to the house; I'm sure that Mama Knight can do something to help."
They left the ice rink and walked back to the Knight's house in complete silence. Carlos wasn't sure what to say, and Katie didn't want to say anything that would cause them to snap at her again. It made her feel like dirt, even though she knew they didn't mean it that way.
Of course, the fact that they had gotten into a fight couldn't have been hidden from their friends as soon as they had gotten back.
"What happened?" Camille gasped as she hurried over to the twin boys, noticing Patrick's red hands and Noah's black eye. "Are you ok?" She pulled the two of them into the light of the living room before tilting Noah's head back to look at the swollen skin as everyone else gatehred around. "What happened?"
"We're fine, Camille," Patrick gently pushed her away as he went to join his friends, sitting on the floor. "We just got into a fight with some haters. They were saying some things about our family that we didn't agree with."
"Mom," Kendall called as he got up from the couch. "I need the first aid kit!" He disappeared into the kitchen where the others could hear him telling his mother what had happened.
"Katie," Carlos grabbed the young girls' attention. "I think I've figured out what's going on," Carlos said to her as they put their coats up on the banister. Katie turned to look at him, her eyes wide. "I think they're drug-dealers."
"They're what?"
Carlos and Katie looked up to see that the adults had entered the living room and he hadn't heard him. Gustavo was then looking their way, an unrecognizable look on his face. He looked over at Katie, who had sucked her lips into her mouth, looking completely torn on what to say.
"Uh," Carlos stalled for time, trying to figure out what to say. I can't tell him what I think before I talk to Kendall. That would cause way too many problems and accusations. Oh, Logan and Rhuben are going to hate me for this. "I said, I think Logan and Rhuben are dating."
He winced as soon as the words came out of his mouth.
"Hey guys, I'm going to go right to sleep," Ronan said as he and the Jacksons stepped back into their hotel room after dropping Brittany off at her own hotel room. "All that food and excitement has made me tired." He turned to Rhuben, placing a comforting hand on her head. "How are you feeling, kid?"
"Like I still want to scream." She replied with a wry smile before giving him a hug. "Good night, Ronan."
"Good night guys."Julius then gave each of his siblings a hug.
"Night," Sydney replied, as cheerful as ever, as if nothing had gone on that night. He waited until they had gotten into their rooms before turning back to his older siblings. "That was the perfect chance to tell them." He said gently.
"What? That Logan and I are dating?" Rhuben asked as Noah went over to the sink to get the first-aid kit. "I think they already know, because Gustavo blew a gasket over it." She shook her head. "I knew that Logan was going to tell them eventually, but I also knew that Carlos can't keep a secret to save his life."
"That's not what I meant." Sydney couldn't help but smile.
"I know, Little Man, I was just trying to lighten the mood." Rhuben replied as Noah handed her a roll of gauze.
"Are you mad at him?" Noah asked her.
"At Carlos?" Rhuben replied and he nodded. Rhuben shook her head. "No, if anything, it caused a lot of stress to be taken off, so I'm actually glad that he said something."
"And you could take off even more stress if you told Ronan," Sydney wouldn't let up.
"Oh, so you wanted us to just go and say 'Hey Ronan, Rhuben and I used to be in a gang, but as soon as we got into our music we quit." Riley snorted. "But now there's a gangway with our gang and another one and that other gang wants us dead so badly that they're willing to kill everyone around us to make our deaths look like an accident." She paused, taking the time to collect another breath. "So when you think something is wrong, you're right. Every night for who knows how long, Rhuben and I have been talking to our gang leader, Austen, who also just so happens to be Rhuben's ex-boyfriend, to try and get them to keep our friends safe, while we go and beat the crap out of the other gang so our friends don't get hurt and we get hurt in the process."
She spoke more to herself now. "Yeah, that'll go over smoothly." Riley let out a sigh as Sydney took a roll of gauze from Noah and then walked over to Riley, wrapping it around her stomach and ribs. "Syd, you grow up too fast, you know that." She commented, loving running her fingers through his hair. "I wish you didn't have to do this."
"I don't," Sydney replied as he fastened the bandage in place. "But you're my sister and I love you, so I'm going to." He then gently wrapped his arms around her waist and tilted his head back, sticking out his lips. Riley smiled and bent down, giving him a light peck. "Besides, I know that this is going to be over soon."
"You know what Syd, I think I found one of your flaws," Noah piped up. "You're way too overconfident for my liking. It's a real pain in the ass."
"You owe me two dollars in the potty-mouth jar," Sydney reminded him.
Patrick laughed. "That's annoying too."
Riley chuckled. Patrick looked at her before walking over and giving her a hug, resting his chin on her head. "This gang business is really starting to become a pain in the ass."
Riley snorted. "You're telling me."
A/N: Alright, now you guys know what's going on and why they haven't told the boys yet. At least Sydney has given a big hint to his friends that they're in over their heads, but of course he wouldn't tell him the exact reason why. I don't think that they can fully admit it out loud, because it would just make things more real for them. And now the adults are brought into it. Next chapter will show a lot of everyone, I needed to do more of the adults here to balance more of the teens in the last chapter.
I'm sure you guys would have liked to see Mrs. Mitchell, Mrs. Diamond, and Mrs. Garcia in this story, but I refrained against it because they aren't needed. Mr. Garcia, maybe, but not the other mothers/fathers. Plus, Gustavo blowing up at Logan and Rhuben wasn't important as well as the romance isn't the main point of the story, the friendship is.
What do you think? Did you guys know what I had planned this whole time?
Only ten chapters left, and the drama is just starting.
Thanks to shotinthedark, Jenna, LogieLuvr914, MysticMelody101, youspinmelikarecord, Rage-Against-Time, Got2LiveItBigTime, KrisJo, BigTimeFan-'10, 2lazy2signin, DarkElements-Jackson-Fan, Lella-Kiley-Luvr, Rayna, BigTimeRush-DarkElements-Fan for reviewing.
Cheers,
-Riles