Hey guys, thank you for all of the reviews. :) I'm glad you are liking the story, even though it's all over the place. At least, that's what it seems like to me. Haha. Not much happens in this chapter, buuut, it has Kames and Cargan bromance, so if you like that, then you'll probably like this chapter. Enjoy. :)

"You know, sometimes he'd lock me in the closet, w-when mom wasn't home," Kendall said in a voice so quiet that James barely heard him. "H-He wouldn't care if I screamed or cried – if anything, it only made him angrier. He'd leave me without food or water, he'd beat me senseless. H-He..." Kendall closed his eyes, tears streaking his cheeks quite rapidly. He was shaking in James' hold, unable to hold back the sobs that caused his body to tremble uncontrollably. "He broke me..."

"Kendall, that's not tr—"

"It is." Slowly, Kendall untangled himself from James' hold and curled up beside him, his knees pulled up close to his chest, while his head rested against James' shoulder. "I can't even look at my own father in the eye, I can't hear his voice, I can't do it without being sent into a panic attack. I'm so scared of him, James. He left me physically and emotionally scarred, and I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive him for what he did."

"You don't have to forgive him, Ken," James said as he placed a hand on the dirty blond's shoulder. "You don't have to forgive anyone if you're not ready to do so, and honestly, he doesn't deserve to be forgiven for what he did to you. Your dad hurt you so much, he put you through something no father should ever put a child through. I'm so sorry he did that to you, because you didn't deserve it, not at all."

"But... But what if... what if I did?" Kendall asked timidly.

"No, Kendy, no." James' heart broke as he placed his hand under Kendall's chin and lifted his head up. The look in Kendall's green eyes reflected pain, guilt and fear, and James wished more than anything that he could take it away. "I already told you, you have done nothing to deserve this, you never did. Your dad's an awful person, who doesn't care about who he hurts, and that isn't your fault. You can't blame yourself for what he did to you. That's most likely what he wants – for you to think that he did what he did to you, because you deserved it. But Kendall, you were just a kid. Heck, you're still just a kid. You didn't know any better back then, and he knew that. He knew that he could threaten you, and that you'd listen to him."

"I just don't know what to believe anymore, James. I feel so lost right now, and I'm so tired. I never thought he'd come back."

Frowning, James wrapped his arm around Kendall's waist, pulling him closer to his side. To his surprise, Kendall leaned against his touch and buried his face against James' chest, his tears dampening the fabric of the brunet's shirt. "I feel so pathetic, I'm so sorry."

"You're not," James said gently, rubbing a hand up and down Kendall's arm in an attempt to comfort him. "You're not pathetic for crying or for letting your emotions show. You're not pathetic for needing reassurance or for needing us. And believe me when I say that you're not bothering me, or Carlos and Logan. You never have, and you never will, because that's what friends are for. We love you so much, and all we want is to keep you safe, and we will. We'll figure this out, okay?"

"I hope so."

"I promise we will. But for now, you need to get some sleep."

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep," the blond said quietly.

James frowned at the boy's words. "At least try, okay?" he said, gently pushing Kendall away so that he could grab the blanket that was on the other side of him. "Please?" he asked, smiling a little when Kendall laid down on the couch and allowed James to drape the blanket over him.

"Just... please don't leave."

"I won't," James promised as he laid down behind Kendall and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, pulling him close.

Kendall turned around in the older boy's hold and buried his face against James' chest, wrapping his own arms around the brunet's waist. "I don't want to be alone right now," he whispered so quietly that James could barely make out what he had said.

"You're not alone. We're here for you, always, never forget that," James whispered softly, pressing his lips to the top of Kendall's head briefly, and then letting his head rest on top of the blond's. "I love you."

Kendall felt tears begin to gather in his eyes, but he forced them back. He was tired of crying and feeling so vulnerable and afraid. The past two days had been a roller coaster of emotions, and they had left him completely drained of energy. He just wanted things to go back to normal.

"I love you too," he said softly, allowing his eyes to drift shut, but sleep did not come easily.

"Logan, wake up."

"Five more minutes, mommy," Logan mumbled as he rolled over onto his other side, shielding his face with his blanket, and paying no mind to the boy standing right by his side. Carlos frowned, taking ahold of the blanket that the brunet was currently under, and tugging at it. Apparently Logan was tangled up in the blanket though, since when he tugged at it, the younger boy went rolling off the other side of the bed and falling to the floor.

"Ouch! Carlos!"

"Sorry," the shorter boy apologized. He watched as Logan stood up from the floor and crawled back on the bed, reaching towards his nightstand to turn on the lamp sitting there.

"What are you doing up? It's not even five in the morning yet. It's way too early, and I'm tired." His eyes shifted to Kendall's bed then, noticing that it was empty. "Where's Kendall?"

"He's with James. I actually... I need to talk to you about something."

"Something like what?" the brunet asked suspiciously, knowing that whatever Carlos had to say was probably not something good. The smaller boy was fidgeting where he stood, and his gaze was locked on the bedsheets, refusing to meet Logan in the eye. "Carlos, what happened?"

"Promise you won't hate me?"

Logan gave Carlos a small smile and took ahold of his arm, pulling him to sit on the bed. "No, of course I won't hate you. What's going on?"

"I might have... I might have done something I wasn't supposed to."

"Okay... What exactly did you do?"

"Please don't be mad." Carlos' eyes welled up with tears, his bottom lip trembling as he refused to let them fall. "I don't want you to be mad. And please don't freak out."

Logan fought back the urge to roll his eyes and tell Carlos that he was already starting to freak out, since he didn't want to startle him. The poor kid looked sick with fear. "I won't."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

"I-I-I... I c-called my dad."

"You what?!"

"You said you wouldn't freak out!" Carlos half-whispered, half-yelled, not wanting to wake up James and Kendall, who were asleep in the living room. "I promise nothing bad will happen. I told my dad about Kendall's dad threatening James, so he's aware of that. H-He said he'd take the next flight here. He'll figure out what to do. He can help."

Logan sighed, pulling at his hair with frustration. "Carlos... James is going to freak out when he finds out. I know you're just trying to help, and I know you just want Kendall to be safe – we all do – but it's just... too risky right now."

"I know." Carlos pouted, a tear rolling down his cheek. "But if we don't do something about it now, then who knows what will happen. Something needs to be done, now. You saw what he did to James. What it he hurts him again, or goes after one of us next? What if he hurts Kendall? He obviously came back for a reason, and I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna stand around and wait to find out what that reason is."

"How are we gonna tell James?" Logan asked, knowing that Carlos was right. They couldn't just stand around and wait for something worse to happen.

"I don't think we should tell him yet. He'll find out when my dad gets here – I think it'll be better that way. I don't want to worry him ahead of time."

"I don't like keeping it from him, though, or Kendall."

"I don't either," Carlos said sadly, "but you know James will worry, even more than he already does, and Kendall... I don't even know how he'd handle it. But hopefully my dad will be here soon. You know he would never let anything happen to Kendall or to any of us. You guys are like family."

"I hope you're right, because if something happens to Kendall... I don't know what I'll do. I don't know what any of us would do."

Someone will be arriving next chapter, though you all probably already know who. :P I hope you liked the chapter! Thank you for reading. :)

~ BigTimeRush-BTR :)