.:Chapter Nine:.

Okay, he was going to do it.

Today was the day.

He'd ask Lucy out and things would go perfectly…things would go great…there was a big chance things would go catastrophically wrong. How many times had he tried already? Four or five and each time had been ruined by his so-called-best-friends who did nothing more than taunt and tease him each chance he got? It wasn't like he was innocent, really. Kendall had done the same thin, many times in fact, just to piss off James a little.

Then again, James was the one who could get girls as soon as he locked eyes with them. Was it such a big deal when he'd ruin one or two? Maybe. At the time James would declare he'd never speak to Kendall again and each time Kendall would wait with a smirk and a pair of folded arms, mentally ticking the clock away before James would come around. He usually only lasted a few minutes at most.

That was before LA. That was before the pressures of being everything they never thought they'd be. Kendall loved the band, but there was something about Minnesota he missed, how he could be himself without having to worry if it was for his 'image'. Lucy made him feel that he was moving closer to the person he used to be. The only thing he hadn't anticipated was how off-kilter she'd make him.

All his previous attempts to ask her out; with flowers in the Palm Woods Park—he ended up getting nailed in the head with a football that Carlos had thrown towards James, who Kendall didn't know was running towards him. While in the lobby of the Palm Woods—where Logan and Carlos had ruined it when they practically tackled him to the ground because of something that Logan did to Carlos. Kendall still wasn't sure and his ears still rang from their loud yelling and screeching. His third attempt had been while they were hanging out at the Palm Woods pool.

It was the perfect recipe for romance, if he were being honest. The sun was shining brightly, casting a golden glow over the entire pool deck. Bright enough that he wore sunglasses to add an air of mystery to their conversation, while simultaneously keeping her form seeing how he nervously shifted his eyes aside. Warm enough that they were able to wear shorts and brighter colors but not so much that it'd bring attention to the beads of sweat on his forehead. Kendall ran his hands along the legs of his swim trunks, a perfect excuse to get away—wanting to take a dip in the pool—if she were to say 'no' or do anything adverse to his question, and licked his lips, steadying himself.

"So," he started. "I was wondering…"

Lucy turned to him and lifted her eyebrows, an expectant expression on her face. He saw that look, that small smile every time he was seconds away from finally pulling the proverbial trigger. She would say 'yes' he knew she would. She'd been giving him that soft, excited smile whenever she saw him, ever since their double date with her parents when she held his hand. Since then they'd held hands a few times, always of her initiation. If he tried to hold hers, she'd pull her hand away as if nothing was happening then flash him a wink or a knowing smile that'd make his worries ease and a smile come back to his face.

She made him nervous, worried, confused, and excited all in one. Much different form Minnesota-Kendall. But this was LA-Kendall and things were different. He had his own confidence in a new way; confident in knowing he was in a band that performed for someone nearly every night, confident that she liked him, too, confident that they would make a good match.

If only he could just get the fucking words out.

"If you're not doing anything," Kendall continued as Lucy continued to wait expectantly. "There's this party that—"

An arm slammed down around his neck and Kendall flinched in surprise and irritation when the rest of James's body landed on the pool chair beside him with Carlos flopping on his other side and Logan landing on the end of the pool chair Lucy was stretched out on. Lucy's eyes widened in surprise, she and Kendall exchanged a look before turning back to James, Logan, and Carlos.

"Hey, what's going on?" James asked with a grin so large Kendall knew it was a plan of revenge for the times he'd messed up things for him.

"Are you aaasking Lucy ooout?" Carlos teased, stretching out the words as embarrassingly as possible.

Lucy's lips pulled back into a smile and she looked at Kendall again, who seemed stuck in stunned silence. His jaw hung open, no matter how loudly he screamed at himself to 'close your mouth, stupid!'. Then Logan drove the final nail in the coffin when he said in a falsetto, complete with throwing a hand over his chest, "Oh Kendall, I'd love to!" which prompted James, Logan, and Carlos all to start making kiss sounds.

Kendall could only mutter an 'I'm sorry', to Lucy before cringing so hard he wished he'd black out. How he managed to get out of that situation, he wasn't quite sure. But the next thing he knew, his feet had taken him back to the Palm Woods where he focused his attention on the guitar. He'd managed to write some semblance of a song out of it, before casting his guitar aside.

But he wasn't sulking anymore. No, he was going to do it. So, as he walked out of his bedroom, dressed in a nice shirt and jacket, Kendall tried to ignore his friends as they…what were they doing? Kendall turned on his heel and looked at his three best friends as they rapidly spun around the floor with their heads pressed to the ends of baseball bats.

"What…?" He started to ask, then watched as they collapsed to the ground.

"Oh, hey Kendall!" Carlos cried as he sat on the ground, legs splayed in front of him with a dizzy smile on his face. "Where are you three going?" His eyes rolled in his head. "Aren't you going to practice with us?"

Right. Practice for the Rocque Records annual picnic. He'd completely forgotten about that. Honestly, he hadn't even known it was a thing until Gustavo screamed at them that they needed to make an appearance. As far as Kelly knew, it was an 'annual tradition' that had ended after a 'unfortunate croquet incident' between Gutsavo and Griffin that had landed them in the hospital.

"Maybe later, I have stuff to do," Kendall said.

"Wait!" James held up his hand, recovering from his dizziness faster than the others. Kendall cringed, knowing he wouldn't be able to keep himself hidden from James for too long. The boy had a nose like a bloodhound when it came to looking good. No one could look better than him. With a bit of effort, James got to his feet and went to Kendall's side.

Kendall folded his arms, watching James as he walked around him in a circle, obviously looking him up and down. "Yes, James?"

"Hmm." James rubbed his chin. "Your jeans are clean, you're wearing nice shoes, you're wearing your favorite shirt—"

"—This isn't my favorite shirt," Kendall denied. He grabbed at the fabric to prove it, then looked at it closer. A simple white t-shirt with blue stripes all along the front. Oh yeah. It was one he wore a lot. If he remembered correctly, Riley had given it to him on his last birthd—Okay, don't think about that, Kendall reminded himself, a surge of confusion and…he wasn't' quite sure what else, longing wasn't the word, ran through him.

Since that dinner thing had gone back to normal between the two of them. Or what a semblance of normal was. It had stuck with him, that she knew he was lying about what he was going to tell her and ultimately didn't. Not so surprising as she knew him well enough—and had been around him enough—to know (and proven to know) the subtle differences in his expressions and the way he carried himself indicating if something was wrong or if he was excited.

"It's not my favorite shirt," he repeated with almost a defensive edge to his voice.

James gave him a look that clearly read, yeah, right and Logan and Carlos, who got up from the floor to join James's side, exchanged looked as well. Kendall pressed his lips together and stayed silent as he waited for James's final assessment. "You're wearing that jacket that you only wear when you're trying to look nicer. And you're wearing cologne." He stopped and pointed Kendall in the face. "You're getting ready to go on a date."

"I don't have a date," Kendall said with an air of smugness to his voice. He was technically telling the truth, he didn't have a date. Yet. He just needed Lucy to say 'yes', first.

"But you're going to have one."

Kendall started to protest, but Logan cut him off. "So, you're finally going to ask Lucy out. What made you decide to do it?"

"I don't know, Logan, I was thinking this time I wouldn't have so many complications." Now his words dripped with pointed sarcasm that made James, Carlos, and Logan all wince.

"Okay, so we know we ruined everything for you with Lucy last time," Carlos said, clasping his hands together. "But we'll do better this time. We'll make sure that you get that date with her. Right?" He looked to James and Logan, the latter nodding. James, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes towards his best friend.

Kendall noticed and rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you still have a thing for her," he said. "You can't call 'dibs' on someone, James."

"I know that," James said seriously. Probably the most serious Kendall had ever heard him. "Just…I hope you know what you're doing."

At that, Kendall's eyebrows came together. What was that supposed to mean? He knew exactly what he was doing. He was going to ask a girl out and spend as much time with her as possible in their new…arrangement. He wasn't sure if Lucy even 'did relationships' now that he thought about it. It wasn't something they talked about since their double date with her parents. And they'd talked a lot since then. About his music, her music, guitars, rock gods and goddesses…everything pertaining to music and their lives in LA. She refused to talk much about her time back home and gently mocked him when he talked about his. Still, there was something special about her and when they were together, Kendall couldn't focus on much else.

Almost like when he was chasing after Jo; the biggest difference being his and Jo's interests seemed to be few and far between. Who didn't like hockey anyway? Jo never did and while she did watch him practice once or twice, she never had fun joining in, muttering under her breath how much she hated it.

You did sit through a lot of ballet and classical piano recitals, Kendall reminded himself, having optioned to compromise on the things Jo disliked. His own barely concealed contempt at the activities was enough to make Jo happy as it was for her to deal with his own interests.

"I know what I'm doing," Kendall insisted. Then his eyes widened in surprise when James' demeanor almost instantly changed and he slapped Kendall hard on the shoulder—was that to punish him for something?—and pushed him towards the door, nearly knocking him over. "Whoa!"

"Then let's get you that date! We'll make sure nothing gets in the way of it this time!"

With that, James grabbed onto Kendall's shoulders and steered him out the door and down to the Palm Woods lobby. Kendall's feet barely kept up with him as he was manhandled to the elevator, complete with Carlos grabbing flowers from a nearby decorated vase to plop into his hands, and Logan shoving people out of their way as they went. Nevertheless, Kendall couldn't help but smile.

His best friends were for him as they always were and would be. That's why they worked so well as friends and as a band. They could do a lot to each other but do as much for each other when the time came to it. It filled him with more confidence than he'd felt in the last couple of days and with a deep breath, Kendall steadied himself, clutching the stems of the roses tighter in hand. They rode the elevator down to the lobby, stepping out as soon as the doors open.

Kendall's gaze swept around the lobby before landing on Lucy. He expected her to be there or at the pool, it was the first place he went to look for her as the days went on, plucking away at the strings of her guitar as she worked hard to come up with a new song. Not this time.

His feet came to a grinding halt seconds before his brain could register what was happening.

He was looking at Lucy. But she wasn't alone. Instead, she was standing in front of a teenage boy—a good looking teenage boy—who had his hands on her shoulders and was smiling down at her with the carefree confidence that James wished he had. Kendall tilted his head in confusion as the watched the two, trying to figure out what their relationship was.

"Maybe he's her brother," Logan suggested, voice trembling with nerves. "Julius acts the same way with the Jacksons." Kendall felt himself cringe. That wasn't the example he'd have preferred Logan use, remembering how much the boys had embarrassed themselves, thinking Riley and Rhuben were going out with the same touchy-feely guy who turned out to be their eldest brother visiting them. "Maybe it's the same thing."

"Do you act like that with your sister?" James asked him.

"I don't have a sister."

"Don't let Katie hear you say that," Kendall murmured, still eyeing the two.

Carlos licked his lips as he folded his arms. "Okay, well, maybe it's her cousin. Kissing cousins are a thing, right?"

That time, James and Logan cringed along with Kendall. Sometimes, Kendall didn't know how Carlos managed to go through life being so naïve all the time. Logan was the one to break it gently to him that they weren't speaking of the same things with a simple, "No, Carlos. No."

Taking in a deep breath to steady himself, Kendall said, "Everybody calm down. We'll just introduce ourselves and get an idea of who this guy is and…how Lucy knows him."

"And if she's dating him," James added.

Kendall nodded and the four went over to the group, Kendall clearing his throat when they came close enough to break Lucy and the guy out of their own world.

"Oh! guys," Lucy said in surprise. She blinked rapidly, looking back and forth from the boy to Kendall before stepping away from the other boy, making his hands drop to his side. "Th-this is Beau. He, uh, he's from Georgia. Like I am." She took a step away from Beau, twisting her fingers together. It was the first time Kendall had seen her so insecure, so vulnerable, so…guilty. "He came to see me. He's uh, my, uh, he's my…ex-boyfriend."

"Oh." Kendall said. He didn't remember her ever mentioning Beau before. Nothing other than having a boyfriend she broke up with before moving to LA. A relationship that had lasted for….oh. This was that Beau.

"Yeah, we dated for three years," Beau said conversationally. His green eyes shifted over the Big Time Rush boys with slight interest before he smiled at Lucy once more. Almost as if he didn't notice the tension around them. Or, if he did, was playing it off nicely.

"Weren't you the one that broke her heart?' Carlos blurted. He flinched as James, Logan, Lucy, and Kendall all turned to glare at him. "Uh, I mean…"

"Yeah, well, I made some mistakes before," Beau said with a small shrug. "And…I was hoping that I could talk to Lucy about them."

"Right." Kendall looked to Lucy whose gaze lowered, noticing the flowers still clutched in his hand. "Oh, yeah, these are…not for you." He quickly threw them over his shoulder, not noticing when it festooned like confetti all over Mr. Bitters, who stood at his desk glaring at them. "They were for my mom but…I forgot…she was allergic."

Lucy's eyebrows came together in confusion before she shook her head. "Beau, can you give me a second?" She asked. Beau nodded casually, and Lucy grabbed Kendall's hand, dragging him to the furthest corner of the lobby that would give them privacy. Once they arrived, Lucy sighed heavily. "Look, Beau caught me totally by surprise, but, we have a long history together. You know?"

"I get it," Kendall said. If his ex-girlfriend from Minnesota came to visit him, he'd struggle with it a bit, too. Especially considering he didn't know if she was still mad at him for not breaking up before he left. And if it were Jo…Kendall shook the thought from his head. "But…you said he cheated on you."

"Yeah, and he just spend the last hour telling me it was the biggest mistake of his life," Lucy said. She lowered her gaze and Kendall could see how completely torn she was over the situation she was suddenly thrust in. Gone was the 'rock goddess' who shredded on the guitar as easily as she talked Carlos and James to help her move into her apartment and in its place, was a real, confused girl.

"Are you…going to get back together?" The words left Kendall's lips before he realized he'd said them. But now that they were out in the open…he waited patiently for Lucy's response.

"Oh, no!" She said quickly. Then her eyebrows scrunched even more, and she said softly, "I don't know. It's complicated…especially with you here…and…" her eyes shifted behind him and Kendall followed her gaze to look at Beau who talked with his friends. Kendall couldn't help but smile a little when he saw them all glaring suspiciously at him. "Beau being here and…I don't know."

Kendall looked down at their intertwined hands, noticing she hadn't let him go since she pulled him over, and lifted his gaze to smile at her. It took a few seconds for her to smile back at him, brown eyes sparkling. "Take the time you need," he said. "To figure things out. Just…come find me when you do, okay? Either way…I'll still be here for you."

"Thanks, Kendall." She squeezed his hand and the two walked back to Beau. She started to open her mouth to say something, but Beau cut her off, holding a hand up in front of her. Lucy waited patiently as he fished through his pockets to produce a velvety box the color of a robin's egg and opened it for her to see a dazzling necklace sitting inside.

Everyone's wyes widened at the ostentatious piece of jewelry.

"This is to show you how much I want my Lucy back," Beau said. He took the necklace out of the box and started to wrap it around Lucy's neck, ignoring her quiet, "I don't know what to say." He brushed her hair from her face and said, "Say it worked."

"I, uh," Lucy stammered. She took a deep breath and stepped away from the group, holding up her hands. "I need some time to think. I'm sorry, I just… I need to go." She turned on her heel and left the lobby.

Beau watched her for a moment before turning to Kendall, looking him up and down. "Well, I guess you're not my competition any longer."

Kendall looked him in the eye and forced a smile as he said, "I guess not." Beau blinked in surprised, looking Kendall up and down as if he couldn't believe the words that came from Kendall's mouth. "Hey, I hope you have a good time out here in LA."

"Uh…" Beau's eyes shifted back and forth. "Thanks." He turned on his heel and left the lobby, casting Kendall a look over his shoulder as he went.

The moment Beau was out of sight, Kendall's smile faded. He looked pensively in the direction that Beau and Lucy had gone. Okay, he told himself. Now you have to live with your decision. You did the right thing, letting them figure things out on their own.

James, clearly didn't feel the same as he grabbed Kendall's arm and pulled him around to glare at him in stunned surprise. "What did you do that for?" He demanded.

"You're not going to fight for her?" Logan asked.

"It's like one of those stupid moments from the romance movies you pretend not to like," Carlos added. "You have to fight for her, for her love." He dramatically grabbed onto Kendall's arm and fell to his knees, starting to fake-sob while Kendall, James, and Logan ignored him.

"Guys, all I'm doing is putting myself in her shoes," Kendall said calmly, despite his knees starting to shake and his insides twisting up. "Her ex-boyfriend came back; don't you think you'd be worried if your exes came back?"

"They don't have any," James pointed out before Carlos and Logan could respond. He pressed his hand to his chest and said, "But if it were me…I could understand. All of my exes—"

"—Ran away screaming?" Carlos cracked, making Logan laugh.

Kendall smiled as he folded his arms. "Look, all I'm saying is if Jo came back…I'd be confused, too. And besides, Lucy's not my girlfriend." He gritted his teeth through the admission. "If she's going to give Beau another shot, then we should, too." He looked at his friends, silently telling them that there were no 'ifs and or buts' about it. As much as he hated to feel like he told them what to do, they looked up to him as their leader and took his lead. After a few seconds, they started to begrudgingly murmur their agreement.

"Guys!" The four boys turned at Camille's cry. She hurried around the corner from the hallway that led to the stairwell and elevators, pigtails flowing behind her as she went. She hurried over to them, coming to a stop as she grabbed Logan's arm to steady herself. "Finally, I found you."

"Hey Camille," Kendall greeted her. He took a look at her outfit, a red and white plaid shirt tied above her navel and a pair of jean shorts with black boots and raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying out to be a part of Old Macdonald's farm?"

Camille lifted her head and stuck out her lower lip in a pout. "No! This was an audition for The Walking Dead!"

"As a ghost farmer?" Carlos asked excitedly.

Camille rolled her eyes before she turned serious once more. "Have you met Lucy's boyfriend, Beau?" She asked, chewing her lower lip, nervously wringing her hands as she waited for their response. She squirmed in her boots, almost as if she had to pee.

Kendall felt himself grit his teeth once more. Didn't everyone at the Palm Woods have something better to talk about? "Yes," Kendall growled. "We met her boyfriend, Beau!"

"He's her ex, actually," James reminded them, holding up his finger as if the point needed to be made. "And I'm so much better looking than him, by the way."

Logan looked at his girlfriend curiously then frowned when he noticed she didn't appear as bubbly and eccentric as usual. "Wait, Camille." He grabbed her arm and looked at her seriously, eyes searching hers for an answer. "What's wrong? Why do you look so upset?"

"Because," Camille started. She trailed off, turning her gaze to the ceiling as if unable to utter the words. Then she took a deep breath and admitted, "Beau hit on me," to the boys' surprise and Carlos's loud gasp. "And he tried to kiss me." At that, Logan and Carlos both gasped, moving their hands to cover their mouths. "I think he's cheating on Lucy."

"Okay," Kendall said after a second of silence. In the split second of hearing Camille's news, he'd made up his mind. "Let's get rid of him."

"What's your plan?" Camille asked.

"You don't need a plan," Logan reminded them. "All you have to do is tell Lucy that Beau hit on you and is cheating on her." He put his arm protectively around Camille's shoulders as he faked a laugh before abruptly cutting it off and saying, "Then I'll kill him."

"You can't tell her," Kendall said. "It's crush her. He cheated on her before and just came to make up with her…knowing he's cheating against…it's break her heart."

"So, what do you expect us to do when she finds out?" Carlos asked quietly.

"Because she's going to find out," James added. "and then she'll be mad at us and won't want to date me even though I 'dibsed' her first."

"You 'dibsed' her?" Camille asked, eyes growing wide with disgust. "Do you even know what 'dibs' means?"

"It comes from the system that farmers used in the identification of their cows for trade," Logan recited. Kendall glared. "Not that that helps at all."

"Anyway, as for a plan, we just need to catch Beau cheating on Lucy," Kendall said as if it were simple.

James gave him a 'duh' look, "How many hot girls do you know at the Palm Woods that would go along with this stupid plan?" He asked.

Kendall thought for a moment, the answer coming to him in less than a second. He'd always known. "Just one," he said, slowly starting to smile.

Riley reached above Sydney's head to push on the door that led the way from the office to the street. Sydney gave her a funny look as he walked in front of her. "You know I can get it myself, yeah?" He asked, dimples carving into his cheeks as he smiled at her.

"Sorry, Little Man, I keep forgetting you don't need so much help anymore," Riley apologized. She turned to him, her gaze slightly flickering above his head as she took him in. "Especially considering you're getting so much taller."

Sydney folded his arms. "You're just mad, because you and Rhu-Rhu are going to be the shortest ones in the family, soon."

"What gave it away?" Riley grinned at him, making his smile widen. She folded her arms, regarding her baby brother curiously. "How was your session? It lasted a little longer than usual."

"That's because Dr. Angelo has absolutely no idea what he's doing when he's playing chess," Sydney said so matter-of-fact it made Riley burst out laughing. "We kept getting into a lot of stalemates even though I'd tell him the best moves to make to win. Or the moves that would make me win quicker."

"Has anyone ever told you 'winning isn't everything'?"

"He said the same thing. I know the lesson in that, but he apparently has never met people as competitive as us before. I told him about the Candy Land incident and he said he didn't believe it."

"I reckon he hasn't seen Noah's scar."

"Or the slight twitch in Patrick's eye." Sydney's gaze shifted and his eyes lit up as he lifted his chin in a greeting nod. "Hey, Kendall. How ya going?" Riley turned, her eyebrows lifting when she saw Kendall walking their way. She didn't remember making any plans to hang out with him that day.

Not that they wouldn't have been bloody cancelled anyway, Riley thought bitterly. There were only so many times she'd allow herself to be taken advantage of until enough was enough. Still, she regarded Kendall with a head tilt as she asked, "How'd you know we were here?"

"It's Thursday," Kendall said as if it were obvious. "You come to therapy sessions every Thursday." He then started to ramble. "I knew you weren't at Rocque Records because Gustavo would've demanded we go in to get some work done and he was emphatic about keeping us away from there."

"Griffin visiting?" Riley guessed.

"Yep."

"Gotcha."

"And I knew you weren't at the beach because there was nothing in the surf report for around here. I called Pat and he said there was no surf anywhere along the coast, so you wouldn't have chased it. And I knew you weren't working at the restaurant because you and Rhu are both scheduled off today." Kendall shrugged. "And, like I said, it's Thursday."

Riley made a face and leaned over to Sydney to pretend whisper, "You know how I've always said that Dak was a stalker?" Sydney laughed at her joke. "Speak of the devil," she added, seeing an extravagant car pull up to the curb. The horn honked loudly before Lizzie Zevon leaned out, waving her hand wildly with Katie in the passenger seat and Patrick and Noah sitting in the back, all looking partially embarrassed and scared. "Yoo-hoo! Over here!"

"I have to go or I'll be late for practice," Sydney said. He gave a quick wave to Kendall as he trotted towards the curb. "Bye Kendall, see you later, Ri-Ri."

Riley waved back and made a hand motion to tell Lizzie 'thanks' which she returned with an enthusiastic blast of the car horn before peeling back out into traffic. "You know, when Lizzie started driving I was always afraid she or Katie would end up hurt," Kendall mused. "But lately, I've been afraid Katie would come back to the Palm Woods with a new car I could only dream to have."

"Like the Big Time Rush mobile?" Riley teased.

"That was a gift," Kendall said quickly. "And it's a cool car."

"Now if only you had another one, Hockey-Head."

"Well, they always say 'two is better than one'."

"Huh, that's funny. Rhu and I hear that all the time. Usually, I feel it's a complement, but after hearing that, now I'm not too sure." She ran a hand through her hair. "Thanks for that, boofhead." Kendall smiled a little. "Actually, I'm glad you're here. There's something I wanted to talk to you about." She took a breath, steadying herself for her forthcoming confession.

She'd wanted to say it since the night at Chez Fancee. Wanted to stop him before he logged off and have the conversation then. They were best friends for fucks sake, even if things didn't turn out the way she hoped, they'd still be friends. She knew it deep in her heart. It was important. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. She saw the way he was looking at Lucy while they sang to each other. He was happy with her.

And if he was happy…

Riley looked at Kendall closely, noticing his shoulders rounded forward, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "What is it?" He looked at her curiously. "What's wrong? Something's bothering you." She started to walk down the street with Kendall falling in step with her.

"It has to do with Lucy," Kendall started.

Riley felt the sudden urge to turn around without another word and walk away. To get on the bus that was coming in exactly five minutes and take her to the parking lot where her car was. To stop talking to him and faze him out, like she told herself she would, being as professional as possible of course. An irritated scowl came to her face, of which Kendall didn't notice as he continued to explain everything that had gone on at the Palm Woods before going to see her.

A moment of silence hung between them—where Riley was mentally going through her grocery list—that she realized Kendall had stopped talking and was waiting for her response. Lifting her chin, Riley kept her gaze straight ahead as she recapped, "Okay, so Beau is Lucy's ex-boyfriend and he drove all the way here from Georgia to LA to get back together with her. But he isn't getting back together with her because she's together with you?"

"We're not together," Kendall said quickly.

Riley quirked an eyebrow upwards, focusing on the crowd in front of her. "Really?"

"Well, I mean, uh," Kendall stumbled over his words, trying to explain himself. "Not really, I guess, I don't…I mean, because we,"—that made Riley look at him, surprised to find him looking earnestly back at her—"I mean, because, you and I…" He licked his lips and turned away.

Riley took another breath and started to say, "Look, Kendall, I really need to talk to you about something—"

"—And I know it's not really any of my business, but I just want to be sure she's okay," Kendall continued.

Riley stopped walking, staring straight ahead.

"I just want to be sure you're okay."

"I wanted to make you feel better."

Kendall came to a stop a few steps later and turned back to her.

"Riles?" He walked back to her side and waved a hand in front of her face as she looked to be in a trance. "Riles? Hey, are you okay?"

"What?" Riley blinked and looked away from the crowd gathered on the corner in front of her. She sucked in a sharp breath, hunching up her shoulders before plastering a easygoing smile to her face. "Yeah. I'm fine. Uh, about this Beau guy."

"Yeah," Kendall said. "What do you think?"

Riley lifted an eyebrow. "I reckon he's a boofhead to drive across the bloody country instead of flying. The bloke would've been out a couple of hundred bucks but at least he wouldn't have to drive back, yeah?"

Kendall made a face. "You're not helping."

"Does 'I hope he bites it' help?"

"You're not funny."

Riley merely smiled back at him before frowning, bringing up her hand to scratch at her forehead, hiding the exasperation coming to her face. She really wanted to go home. "Yeah, I reckon that was a little aggro. But what do you want me to do about it, Hockey-Head?"

"Well, I don't know if I should tell her," Kendall said slowly. "About Beau's hitting on Camille. About his cheating on her. He's done it before so it's not so hard to think he'd do it again. How do you tell someone their boyfriend is cheating on them?"

"Easy. 'Your boyfriend is fucking cheating on you'," Riley said flatly, voice void of any warmth or humor. "Put 'fuck' wherever you want in that sentence and it'll still get the point across. Are we done? I have a lot of work I need to do." She glanced at Kendall's face and sighed knowing it was far from done. "What do you want me to do?" she asked with resignation.

He looked surprised. "You're going to help Lucy?"

"What do you think?"

"That you didn't like her?"

"Who said I didn't like her?'

"You did."

"I said I don't know her, boofhead?" Riley quickly corrected him. "There's a bloody difference. I don't hate people I don't know." She paused. "Other than Mel Gibson. And Justin Bieber. And the Kardashians. And a lot of other people in the entertainment industry." She waved a hand. "But let's not commit to that subject right now, yeah?"

"Thanks," Kendall said with a grin. It was the first time she saw him really smile since he first arrived. Riley hated that she noticed that. "Well, this is what I was thinking…"

A bus ride, a drive down the busy parkway, and forty minutes later, Riley was walking down the hallway from 2J, looking to see if she'd run into Beau. Cursing to herself the entire way. I should've listened to them, Riley thought, thinking of the phone call she'd had with her siblings, explaining what was going on. They all said she was crazy to wanting to help but also had to admit they could understand why she wanted to help him.

Riley had made up her mind to leave the Palm Woods and just go back home when she heard footsteps coming her way. She knew it was Beau without him even having to say his name. He looked like a Beau and walked like a Beau. With a confident swagger of someone who hadn't heard the word 'no' very often. She'd dated someone like that before and certainly didn't have the patience for it now.

How the fuck did he talk me into this? Riley thought as Beau approached her with a charming smile.

"There you are, Lucy, I've been looing for you," he said. Then his gaze shifted to her neck and his smile faltered a little. "Where's the necklace I gave you?"

"Oh, I put it away," Riley said, effortlessly switching to her American accent. It always made people react with stunned surprise when she and her siblings were prompted, in interviews and passing conversations, to say words with an American accent, how easy it was, and how real it sounded. It came in handy with acting ventures and was a good way to be marketable in America, Robert made sure of that. "I didn't want to damage it or make it dirty or anything."

"Well, that's fine," Beau said. "But the only thing I need to know is whether or not you want to come back to Georgia with me." Abruptly, brought up his hand to rest on her cheek and Riley flinched away. "And away from all of the losers here."

"My friends aren't losers," Riley said sharply.

"Really?" Beau snorted. "That James guy needs to look at a book instead of in the mirror. Carlos is just…Carlos." Riley would've said the same when describing her friend, but with more affection in her words. "Logan's a know-nothing know-it all and…well, Camille's hot. But that's really all there is to her."

Riley's eyes narrowed.

"And everyone else is forgettable." Beau rolled his eyes. "And, of course, that Kendall guy. I don't know what's so great about him, honestly. He just keeps getting in the way. But let's stop talking about that." The moment his voice dropped at the end, Riley knew he was going to try to kiss her.

Just as she thought, Beau lowered his head and moved his face closer to hers, bringing his hand up to cup her chin. The moment Beau's hand landed on Riley's chin she pushed it away, brought her fist back and punched him in the stomach. Beau doubled over, in desperation to catch his breath and Riley clasped her hands to both sides of his head, forcing him to look at her.

"Touch me again, and die," She growled before dropping him. Riley folded her arms and lifted her gaze towards Kendall, eyes stormy. "Is that all you needed?"

"That's perfect, Riles, thanks," Kendall said with a grateful smile of which he didn't notice she didn't return.

Beau chuckled to himself, rubbing his hand over his stomach as Kendall approached from down the hallway. "So, what's all this?" He asked. "Do you really think she's going to believe the words you say? To get her to break up with me? To get her to tell me to leave?"

"No, I think she'd be really hurt if I told her," Kendall said honestly. "And maybe even think I was jealous." He pointed over his shoulder where James, Carlos, Logan, Camille, and Stephanie came out of their hiding places. "But I think she'd believe all of us when we I say we have witnesses. I'm just trying to protect her and it's hard not to believe video evidence."

Stephanie grinned as she stepped forward, video camera in hand. "Say 'hi' to the camera," she teased, wiggling it back and forth. Beau scowled and stepped towards her, ready to knock the camera to the ground, but Carlos moved in front of his girlfriend and glared back at Beau, who stepped back.

"She's not going to believe you," Beau said with a haughty smile.

"Actually, I do," Lucy announced her presence, coming around the corner of the hallway. Her arms were folded tightly over her chest, eyes narrowed into a glare at Beau. "Because I heard everything. I was going to say you should stay in LA for a while, but how about you go away instead?"

"Oh, come on, they set me up." Beau gestured towards Riley. "This girl looks exactly like you." He tried to plead to Lucy, whose eyebrows rose in offense. Riley couldn't help but smirk, glad to see she was as annoyed of the comparison as she was. Sensing his mistake, Beau lowered his hand and pleaded to Lucy, "I…I drove out here to be with you. I don't even have any money to get home."

"Then use this." Lucy grabbed he necklace from around her neck and threw it back to Beau. Beau scowled at the group, knowing he'd lost. "Whatever," he said. "You guys are all crazy anyway." He turned on his heel and stormed away from the group.

"Well, he's right about one thing," Lucy said with a low chuckle. "You guys are nuts. And…" She looked towards Kendall with a smile. "amazing," she added quietly. Kendall smiled back. "So, uh…" She took a few steps back towards he elevator. "Are you guys up for…something?"

"Yeah," Kendall said quickly. "Something, anything, uh, yeah. That sounds cool." He turned back to his friends, who suddenly appeared uncomfortable. "Do any of you guys want to come?" Silence was the only response he got. "Okay, then we'll see you later." He stepped into the elevator with Lucy, the two sneaking glances and smiles at each other as the elevator doors closed.

Riley took a deep breath through her nose once the doors closed, bringing all eyes her way. "Don't look at me like that," she said without looking at her friends. "I have to go." She started to walk away.

"Hey." Riley turned back to find James looking at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

Riley smiled a small smile. "So'm I, Handsome." Riley stuck her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, leaning her weight onto one leg, jutting out her hip. "Hey, I've got a lot of stuff to do so I need to get back. But let me know if there's anything you need."

"Same here," James said. He reached out and gave her a hug, which she gratefully took and hugged him back. "I mean it."

"I know. I see you later, yeah?" Riley disengaged from the hug.

"Why'd you do it?" James asked.

Riley was silent for a moment then looked him in the eye, "Because he asked," she said simply and went to the stairwell, taking the steps down two at a time to the ground floor. The second she pushed open the door, she let out a curse and pulled it back, nearly smacking the blonde teen that had suddenly appeared in the face. "Oh! Bollocks, I'm sorry!"

"Riles!" Jo Taylor grinned at her friend, dark brown eyes lighting up.

"Jo!" Riley replied, surprised to find her voice holding as much enthusiasm to see her friend. At the same time the two threw their arms around each other, rocking back and forth in excitement. "Wow, I can't believe…what are you doing here?"

"I'm back for good," Jo replied. She hooked her purse up her shoulder and smiled at her friend. "I tried calling…didn't you get any of my messages?" Riley grimaced, thinking of all the calls from her she'd been ignoring the past few weeks. "I guess international calling is a little more difficult than I thought," she added kindly.

"I guess so," Riley agreed. She ran a hand through her hair and briefly closed her eyes before saying, "You're back for good?"

Jo rolled her eyes. "It's a long story," she said. "A lot having to do with budget, test audiences, and a protest. It…it all got to be really messy." She took in a deep breath and looked around the Palm Woods. "But it's so good to be back. I didn't think I'd miss things around here so much."

"Absence makes the heart grown fonder," Riley replied with a knowing smile. "Why do you think we're always so excited to go back home when we get the chance? I don't know if you've noticed, but LA beaches are nothing compared to Sydney beaches, yeah?"

"I didn't get up to 'the main land' a lot," Jo said, making Riley laugh at the colloquialism Jo had picked up from her time abroad. "I was working on all of the movies. But I do get it. Some places LA movies and shows can never replace, just as some places can never replace LA." She smiled warmly. "Or the people."

Riley smiled back, her eyes flashing. "You've got that right. Honestly, I don't know if you can handle how crazy things have been while you were gone."

"Then I'll have a good time catching up. Us girls should get together once I get settled in again."

"Wouldn't your dad mind the sound?"

"My dad didn't come with me," Jo said to Riley's surprise. Her CIA father seemed to be wherever Jo was. Last she remembered, he was strict enough to forbid Jo from going to the prom for missing a curfew. Would the same man really give her so much leeway to moving back to the Palm Woods? "Now that I'm 18 he says I'm mature enough to live on my own."

"Meaning you have to call in every few days, right?"

"Right."

"The bloke's going to go crazy without you, Jo. My advice? Let him sometimes, it'll make him feel better."

"And about you guys with Ronan?'

"He's crazy with us around. I think the final nail in the coffin would be the silence." Jo laughed along with Riley at her joke. The dinging of the elevator—muffled enough to indicate it stopping one floor above them—caught Riley's attention and her stomach clenched. "Hey, I've got to go. But we'll catch up later, okay?"

"Okay."

"Does anyone else know you're here?"

"No, it's a surprise. I was hoping to get back here without anyone seeing me and surprising you all later."

And what a surprise it is, Riley thought. "Well, I'm sorry to have ruined it for you." She tried to make her voice sound lighthearted and joking but couldn't muster it so far. If Jo noticed, she didn't say anything. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Riley in a departing hug, which Riley quickly returned.

The elevator dinged.

The sounds of the door opening grabbed both of their attention.

Riley stared at Kendall and Lucy.

Kissing.

Riley moved her hand to her stomach, feeling as if she'd suddenly gotten punched. She looked around to make sure no one was beating feet away from her having succeeded in sucker punching her. No. She hadn't been hurt at all. That was a lie.

She was hurting.

Riley looked at Jo, who gaped at Kendall and Lucy for a second. Then she blinked rapidly and, finding her voice, managed to squeak out, "Kendall?"

The second his name was called, Kendall's head whipped towards Jo's. His eyes landed on her, the expression on his face traveling from content to confusion to embarrassment to horror all within a few seconds. His jaw dropped as he stared at his ex-girlfriend, who gaped back at him with an identical expression.

"Jo?" Silence stretched between them, all the while Kendall and Jo stared at each other. Then Jo's gaze slid to Lucy and Kendall's did the same. "Uh?"

And suddenly, Riley realized that no one was looking at her. It was as if she wasn't even there. Just the way she'd felt for a long while before her life got better. A feeling she hadn't felt since meeting Kendall and the others. A feeling she'd never hoped to feel again.

But there it was, staring her in the face. She was invisible, and no one noticed her. The realization struck her hard enough that she didn't notice the tear dripping down her cheek until it reached her chin, tickling her as it grew bulbous before dropping to the carpet.

Once more, Riley looked from Jo, to the stunned faces of Kendall and Lucy, then dropped he gaze to the floor. Where she belonged. Robert was right.

Riley took a step back, turned on her heel and ran.

A/N: As you can see, some of the things the show had for these episodes are teh same, but written in a more realistic sense rather than the children's show lens that we had before. I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Cheers,

-Riles