.:CHAPTER NINE – Divide and Conquer:.

"Are we there yet?" Carlos asked, his face pressed up against the window of the taxi.

"CARLOS, FOR THE LAST TIME," Katie shouted at the top of her lungs, her tiny voice filling the car, causing the taxi driver and the boys to jump. "STOP ASKING THAT-"

"Oh, there's Gustavo and Kelly," Logan broke in, leaning over and pointing out the window. "We're here." The taxi pulled to a stop outside of the amusement park gates and the five of them got out of the taxi.

Logan looked around as the taxis holding the rest of his friends and Kacy pulled up to the amusement park. Families, teenagers, couples, and kids streamed around them through the ticket lines and into the amusement park. He could hear rollercoasters zooming by on their tracks, people screaming, and he could hear a bell going off from the arcade. It was only ten o'clock in the morning and the amusement park was already in full swing.

"Whoo!" WayneWayne cheered as he jumped out of his taxi. "This is going to be so awesome! I haven't been at an amusement part in a long time."

"I know," Carlos agreed. "I can't wait to go on all of the rides, and eat all of the food, and play all of the games, and-"

"And perform a few songs for an impromptu concert." Kelly broke in.

"What?" Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James chorused at the same time, shrieking at the top of their lungs, causing the others to wince.

"Yeah, I thought that this day was for all of them to have some time off and to relax." Kacy stated as she frowned, hiking her purse up her shoulder. "No one said anything about there being a concert." She turned her eyes towards Gustavo and held her gaze on him, her motherly instincts kicking in. "It would be nice to have had a little warning, Gustavo."

"Go mom!" Katie cheered, beside her, Lizzie giggled.

"I couldn't help it," Gustavo threw his arms in the air and then crossed them over his chest, pouting. "It was Griffin's idea, he just told me a few minutes before we left." He wiped sweat off of his forehead, and no one was sure whether the sweat was coming from the heat of the day, or his anger rising at his boss. "You know Griffin, I can't really say a word against him or I'm going to be fired."

"Would that be a bad thing?" Carlos whispered to Logan.

"Just think of it this way," Kelly gave a warm smile towards the boys, who looked less than thrilled about a concert. "It will be good publicity for you guys."

"And we'll get to know our fans, if they're not scared to come up and meet us," Kendall added, always the one to try and come up with the best of any situation.

"Yeah, you'll get used to it," Dak agreed with a warm smile. "You know when they're not chasing you down and ripping your clothes." He laughed at the horrified expressions on Big Time Rush's faces. "I'm kidding, that probably won't happen…you know, up until you get even bigger, then you have to worry."

"And you won't believe how many sets of clothes we had to buy as a backup for Dak," Lizzie added, patting her brother on the arm. "Or the therapy sessions."

"That explains why he's so cracked." WayneWayne joked, elbowing his best friend in the stomach.

"Hey!"

Everyone turned to see Ronan walking over to them, an arm over his head in a wave. He had sunglasses on his face and held an easy-going gate as he walked over to them, a large smile on his face. "Hey, how's it going?" he greeted everyone.

"Not bad," Kelly replied, reaching into her bag and pulled out a tube of sunscreen. With that, Kacy whipped a large bottle out of her bag and started to lather it on her kids and Logan, James, and Carlos, despite their protests. "We just got here." She paused and looked around. "Where's Robert and them?"

"He decided to drive them here," Ronan replied, a look of concern flashing over his face. He then looked at his watch. "They should be here soon."

"Are we there yet?" Sydney asked, kicking his feet back and forth as he stared out the window.

"Stop it, or else we're throwing you out the car." Robert spoke sternly.

Sydney waited until he was sure that his father wasn't looking at him through the rearview mirror. He stuck out his tongue, quickly sliding it back into his mouth when Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah snickered quietly. Sydney's smile widened and then he stuck his tongue out even further, flapping it up and down.

This time, Robert saw him, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. "Listen you brat!" Robert roared, speeding the car. Sydney's eyes widened and the others just sat in silence. "Stop it right now! Just stop it! I'm going to throw you out; I really am going to, if you don't STOP THIS INSTANT!"

Before Sydney could move, Robert reached over to Sydney and slapped him across the face. Sydney didn't move. He sat there as he reached up to his right cheek (which had left a bright red hand mark on it) and touched it tenderly.

He cringed.

It stung—a lot.

Sydney looked down at his shoes. Tears flowed down his cheeks.

He sniffed a little, but stayed quiet.

Patrick reached over and put an arm around his baby brother's shoulders and pulled him into his side, gently patting his back as Sydney continued to sniff, wiping his tears off of his cheek.

"Now, while we're at the amusement park, I don't want you running around, screaming like a bunch of banshees." Robert straightened himself in his seat. "And stay away from us adults as long as possible. I don't want to have to deal with your problems either." He rolled his eyes. "It's bad enough that I'm going to be stuck here all day with Gustavo Rocque, but being there with you lot will be even worse."

Rhuben raised her eyebrows, her eyes widened slightly and she lazily rolled her head across the armrest and looked over at Riley. Riley looked at her out of the corner of her eye and Rhuben raised her eyebrows even further, as if asking a question. Riley smirked and slowly nodded back. Rhuben nodded and moved back to her normal position.

In the rear-view mirror, Robert watched the two of them, his eyes narrowing, but didn't say anything. He never wanted to deal with those kids when he didn't have to, so he wasn't going to annoy himself when he had to around the all day by asking what that look meant. They were just going to give him attitude and then he would have to take the time to discipline them and he didn't want that.

Sometimes I wonder why I was stupid enough to take these kids Robert thought. But them they had to open their mouths and sing and everything was all worth it.

Robert grinned to himself.

By the time that they pulled up at the amusement park, they could tell that their friends were waiting and probably ready to leave without them. Carlos was looking at his watch and bouncing up and down on his toes, a frown on his face. If any of the Jacksons had to guess, it was probably because he was ready to go and get a lot of junk food to eat. One of the good things about being in a band was that you worked out a lot, thus making it that whatever you ate; you basically didn't gain any weight from it. But they were still advised to stay away from dairy and a lot of the really, really bad junk food.

But knowing Carlos, that wasn't going to be an option.

"There you are!" Gustavo boomed as Robert parked the mini-van in the parking lot and the Jacksons all clambered out, slamming the doors behind them.

"Did you get lost on the way here?" Ronan asked, shooting Gustavo a look and then turned back to his boss. He winced a little when Robert glared at him, as if silently telling him to mind his own business. Ronan then dropped his gaze down to Sydney, when he noticed that he had his face turned away from the others. "Syd, what's wrong with your-"

"There was a lot of traffic on the way here," Robert loudly broke in, sliding his sunglasses up his nose. "Anyway," He turned to Gustavo and when he spoke again, it sounded like he was forcing the words out of his mouth. "Did you tell your boys about the-"

"About the impromptu concert that we're giving around lunch time?" James broke in, sounding slightly sarcastic. "Yeah, he just told us. Now I have to mentally prepare myself for it as well as get my brain knocked out of my head while going on rollercoasters." He reached his hand up to his hair. "Do you know how bad your hair can get when you're on a rollercoaster, it's not easy to-"He gulped when Robert turned to him. Even with his sunglasses on, Robert was still as intimidating as ever. "Deal with."

"Don't worry about him," Patrick leaned forward, lowering his voice so only his friends could hear. "He's just in a bad mood because we ran into some traffic." Beside him, Noah quietly nodded, shifting his drawstring back on his back.

"What do you want to do first?" Kelly asked, turning to Kacy, Robert, and Gustavo. "We have all day before the concert and I'm sure that we can-"

"FOOD!" Gustavo bellowed and turned around, pointing to a stall. "I need funnel cake!" He started shoving his way through people to get through the ticket line.

"Am I the only one that's going to laugh if he gets stuck at that turn table thing?" Ronan asked with a half smile, causing Kacy and Kelly to burst out laughing as they followed after him. "We'll meet up with you guys at the stage for the concert!" Ronan called over his shoulder, waving to the kids behind him once they got into the amusement park.

Soon they were lost in the crowd.

"Um," Katie spoke up as she turned to her brother. "Is it alright if Lizzie and I hang out with Patrick, Noah, and Sydney?" She asked, speaking mostly to her brother. "You know, split the groups up into the younger and older kids?"

"Nothing against you personally," Patrick added with a grin and a shrug. "We just don't want you guys to slow us down."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's the reason why." Camille remarked and laughed as Stephanie elbowed her in the side.

"No, but she makes sense." Jo turned to speak to Kendall. Dak raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything. "She and Lizzie probably just want to hang out with their friends without having us around to bother them, so they can try to get to know each other better."

"What does that mean?" Carlos asked, scratching the back of his head.

I know what that means Sydney lightly rubbed his cheek, hoping that the redness had gone down by them. Either they want to split us up to see what's going on with the fact that we haven't hung out as much, or it's because she, being the matchmaker and all, wants to try and further everyone's relationships with each other, including her own. Sydney shook his head as he turned around, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trunks. I don't mean to think bad things about her, but either way, nothing good will come of it.

Dak exchanged a look with WayneWayne, who had a knowing expression on his face, and then he looked at Riley. But she was looking around the amusement park, as if other things were catching her eye, blissfully unaware of the fact that Jo was flirting with Kendall.

"It's fine with me," Kendall shrugged a little bit, not too worried. He turned to Dak. "What about you?"

"I'm good." Dak nodded in agreement.

Rhuben let out a sigh and turned to Patrick and Noah, pointing over to Sydney. "Make sure you keep him in your sights at all times." She instructed the twin boys.

"Don't worry," Patrick beamed and gave a thumbs up. "I'll definitely keep my eye on him." He blinked once and then his face wilted with pain and he slapped a hand up to his eye. "Ow! My contact! It hurts!"

Riley, who was standing behind Rhuben, raised her right eyebrow and then the two of them slid their gaze over to Noah. Noah smiled and gave a thumbs up in reply. "Don't do your block;" he stated calmly. "I won't let him out of my sight for a second." He vowed and then slightly leaned forward. "Especially since he's going to need help with the red mark on his face." He lowered his voice.

Rhuben nodded and gave a short wave to the three of them. "Beautie." She replied under her breath and then turned back to her friends. They stood there in silence for a few moments, obviously not sure what to say. "Geez" Rhuben leaned over slightly. "Talk about your tough crowd." She stated into her sister's ear.

"That's what I was thinking," Riley muttered back and then cleared her throat. "Look, can we please just put the stupid hang out thing behind us just for today and have some fun?" She shrugged a shoulder and then crossed her arms over her chest, jutting out her right hip. "I mean, we all deserve it after having to work so much," she pointed to Dak, her upper lip curling. "Mr. Teen Icon on whatever musical he's doing now," then she motioned to Camille and WayneWayne. "You guys with whatever acting job you got," she threw her arms into the air. "And everyone else for doing what they're doing."

"I agree," Logan jumped in quickly, turning the attention to him. "We all deserve a day to relax and have fun and we can start by going on the…" he tapped his chin and looked around. "On the…"

"BUMPER CARS!" Carlos shouted as he started to jump up and down, pointing. "Bumper cars! Let's go on the bumper cars!"

"Oooh, it would be a great angle for recording today," Stephanie grinned as she pulled her video camera out of her bag.

"How about you guys go on the bumper cars," Rhuben stated and then looked over at Riley. The two turned and grabbed onto Logan's arms. "And we just sit back and watch you guys."

"Why do I get the distinct feeling I just backed myself into a corner?" Logan asked with a nervous smile, feeling Riley's and Rhuben's eyes boring into his head. Wow, they must need to talk about something. I hope I didn't say or do anything wrong earlier.

"Because you did," Riley replied through a forced smile, digging her nails into his arm.

"Why don't you want to come on the ride with us?" James asked, flipping his hair out of his face. "Afraid that you're going to get crushed?"

Rhuben made a face as she dropped her hands from Logan's arms. "Its bumper cars," She stated, her eyes narrowing so close that her eyes were almost closed. "You're supposed to hit other people." She smirked. "It's the only reason why I like the attraction."

"To him or the bumper cars?" WayneWayne asked and then laughed, although he let out a cry of pain when Rhuben punched him on the arm.

James beamed.

"So that settles it," Camille reached out and grabbed onto Riley's and Rhuben's arms. "You're coming onto the attraction with us," she then brought the two girls into her sides in a hug. "And I'm not taking 'no' for an answer."

Kendall nearly burst out laughing at Camille's antics. It was obvious from the way that she had grabbed onto Riley and Rhuben that she was still kind of jealous of the friendship that they had with Logan, since she was still completely head over heels for him. If it wasn't for the fact that she had stopped slapping him in the face so hard and then moved onto tackling Logan to the ground every time she saw him, then he would have been slightly worried that Camille liked him.

"So bumper cars it is then," Kendall rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Let's go then."

They all turned and started walking to get in line. Kendall felt a pair of eyes on him and slowed his stride, looking down to see Riley looking up at him, her arms crossed over her chest and staring at him with a hard expression on her face.

"Is there any particular reason why you're staring at me?" Kendall asked, feeling a little unnerved. But he could feel himself blushing a little.

"What's up with the knee brace, Hockey-Head?" Riley asked, she rolled her eyes when Kendall stammered for an answer, looking down at his leg as he did so. "I can't believe that you forgot how perceptive I can be. That," she waved her arm at his leg. "And anyone can notice the fact that you're walking like a wounded donkey."

"Thanks." Kendall made a face.

"You're welcome," Riley replied, ignoring his tone. "So what happened?"

"Old injury," Kendall replied with a shrug.

"From what?"

"Hockey accident."

"Mhm."

Kendall stopped walking and looked at her. "You don't believe me, don't you?"

Riley shook her head. "Not as far as I could throw you," she shrugged. "Which isn't that far." She didn't need to add it, as it was glaringly obvious. But the way that she said it rubbed Kendall the wrong way, instantly making him annoyed.

"So what?" He returned. "I don't believe you either, not about you guys being so suddenly 'busy'." He used air-quotes. "So what are you hiding?"

Riley stayed silent for a few moments. "Touché," she replied. She turned on her heel. "Hey guys," she called, getting the others' attention. "Kendall's not going to ride this ride," she pointed to him over her shoulder as she lengthened her stride, walking away from him. "He hurt his leg and it's still really bothering him."

Kendall stopped walking and stared at her in shock as she turned and shot a 'take that' look over her shoulder.

"What was that about?" Rhuben asked as Riley caught up to her.

"I'll tell you later." Riley replied.

Jo slowed down and matched her stride with Kendall, looking a little concerned. She patted down her hair a little bit and then looked up at Kendall. "You're not going on the ride huh?" She asked.

"Guess not." Kendall replied, sounding a little mad.

"I'll sit here with you as you wait then," Jo offered. Kendall opened his mouth to protest, but she quickly continued. "I don't mind, I mean, I don't really like the bumper cars anyway, it makes me feel like your head is getting bounced around a lot." She turned and waved as her friends got in line before turning back to Kendall. "So I guess it's just you and me for a little bit." Jo smiled brightly up at Kendall.

He frowned a little, but then his frown turned into a smile as he looked back down at her. "Yeah, I guess so." He agreed and held his arm out to the side, following her as she started to walk towards a candy booth.

A/N: So as you can see, having a group of teenagers at an amusement park isn't really going to help much with their hormones flying around, the romanticism of the rides, and the tension as BTR doesn't know if the Jacksons actually wanted to be there or not. So that just makes these next few chapters DRAMA FILLED! I'm sure it's your guys' favorite kind by now. Hahaha.

I'll update again soon.

Cheers,

-Riles