A/N: So, the general consensus seems to be for me to wait to upload any new stories. So, wait I shall. As far as this story is concerned, I know where I want to go with it. I have flashes of what I want to happen in the future. I just need to connect the dots now, or flashes as it were. Oh, and I'm tired of referring to Camille's dad as "Camille's father" so his last name will be Sanders since the actress who plays Camille, Erin Sanders, her last name is Sanders. I haven't decided on a first name yet though. Perhaps I never will. Hey! At least you got a last name!
Disclaimer: I own BTR…songs on my iPhone. If I was making a profit by writing this, then why on Earth would I continue to push carts?
Big Time Disaster
Arrested Development
3rd Person Omniscient POV
Logan and Carlos arrived at the front door to Camille's apartment at long last. In a bit of a role reversal, Logan was the one who looked eager while Carlos looked cautious and wary. Logan curled his hand into a fist, and knocked on the door.
Mr. Sanders, to Logan's dismay, opened the door. He looked about as pleased to see Logan as Logan was pleased to see Mr. Sanders, which was not very.
"Where's Camille? I want to talk to her," Logan stated.
"Like I care about what you want. What are you even doing here? You're in direct violation of your restraining order. Don't make me call the cops on you because trust me, I will," Mr. Sanders said.
This was exactly what Carlos had been afraid of. If Logan got arrested, it would go on his permanent record. Why didn't Logan care about that? He had no priors, but his record would no longer be squeaky clean if he doesn't heed Mr. Sanders's threats.
"Be my guest. I doubt you even will though. This is probably just an empty threat. Speaking of threat, it's quite amusing how threatened you are by me. I must say that you are the first person to ever be threatened by me," Logan remarked.
"I am not threatened by you!" Mr. Sanders retorted.
"Forcing Camille to break up with me, putting a restraining order on me, threatening to call the cops on me. Right. You're not threatened by me at all."
Carlos couldn't figure Logan out at all. This was so unlike him. It seemed like he was actually trying to push Mr. Sanders's buttons. Carlos wasn't sure what game Logan was playing, or for that matter, if he was even playing a game at all. All Carlos knew was that typically, Logan doesn't have a whole lot of self-confidence. The Logan before him now though was oozing confidence.
"You know what? Perhaps I was wrong about you. Going toe-to-toe with me is almost impressive. Almost. Now I'll ask you one more time to leave. This is the last time I'll ask," Mr. Sanders said.
"Not until I see Camille," Logan responded.
Just then, the door to Camille's bedroom opened, and she moseyed her way out to where her father, Carlos, and Logan were. Carlos, Logan, and Mr. Sanders all could tell that Camille had been crying. There were tear tracks all over her face. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her makeup was ruined, making it look like she had raccoon eyes.
"Logan, do what my father says," Camille said, in a voice Logan didn't recognize.
"W-what? W-why?" Logan stammered.
"You may want to see me, but I don't want to see you."
It was like déjà vu all over again. Logan let out a soft gasp. Carlos nervously looked back and forth from Camille to Logan, trying in vain to get a good read on either of them. Meanwhile, Mr. Sanders had a triumphant smile on his face.
"Camille, you don't mean that. You can't mean that!" Logan exclaimed.
"You don't know what I mean! The only person who knows what I mean is me! I meant every word. Just in case you didn't hear me the first time, I'll repeat myself, so read my lips; I do not want to see you, Logan," Camille said slowly enunciating each and every word of the last sentence.
Carlos was between a rock and a hard place. Camille was his friend, but then so was Logan. In fact, Logan was his best friend. It seemed no matter what he did, he would end up betraying one of them. How could he be loyal to both of them when they were fighting with each other again?
Logan turned to face Mr. Sanders. He was gripping his crutches so tightly that his knuckles were starting to turn white.
"What have you done? What did you say to her?" Logan shouted.
"Don't make me laugh, kid. I don't have to answer to you!" Mr. Sanders remarked.
Logan went to close the distance between him and Mr. Sanders, but Carlos quickly stepped in between them, holding Logan back. Carlos looked into Logan's eyes and was frightened by what he saw; Carlos saw that Logan fully intended on causing Mr. Sanders physical pain. Once again, that was very un-Logan like.
"Logan, calm down," Carlos whispered into his friend's ear.
"Please, you think you could take me? Try anything, and I'll break your other ankle," Mr. Sanders warned.
"Is that a fact?"
Carlos held back a squirming Logan. He was surprised how difficult the task ended up being. Carlos and Logan were roughly the same height. Logan was slightly taller than Carlos though. The two boys were roughly the same weight. Carlos had a slight weight advantage on Logan though.
"Logan, I'm sorry," Camille stated.
Logan couldn't help but notice that Camille didn't sound very apologetic despite the words she uttered. Her tone of voice was off. There was no emotion behind it whatsoever. It wasn't quite monotone. Logan didn't know how to describe it, but it was eerily creepy.
"I'm just not…good…for you. You deserve so much better," Camille said.
"No, that's where you're wrong. You're perfect for me. I'm the one who doesn't deserve you," Logan replied.
"We finally agree on something," Mr. Sanders commented.
Logan glared at Mr. Sanders, who responded in kind. Carlos stood there speechless. He was just trying to make sense of this all, but to no avail. He was thoroughly confused. He couldn't make heads or tails out of any of this.
"I keep hurting you Logan. Over and over again. For some strange reason, you keep coming back to me. You refuse to give up on me, on us. Why? I have no idea. If you won't put a stop to this, then you leave me no choice—I will," Camille stated.
Logan felt like Camille had stabbed him in the back, and was now twisting the knife. He was overcome by a grief that was like no other. His knees buckled, and he dropped to his knees. His eyes glistened with impending tears.
"See, I've come to the realization that though I do care for you Logan, I care about spiting my father more. Every single decision I have made recently I made to achieve the maximum level of spite. What would my father think? How would he react? My father married my mother out of spite. My father got my mom pregnant out of spite, and I was the result of that spite. I refuse to be like my father. I refuse to do that to you Logan. It's not fair to you," Camille explained.
"So that's it? You're afraid that you're going to wind up like your father? You won't Camille! I won't let you! Don't give up on us! I'll be better! I promise!" Logan exclaimed.
"That's just it, Logan. It's not possible for you to be any better. You've been perfect throughout all of this. You've exceeded any expectations. It's not you, it's me. I'm the one who needs to be better. Me pulling the plug on whatever we have between us is the first step of me being better."
Carlos walked over to Logan, and put a hand on his shoulder, letting him know that he was there for him. Carlos felt like he should do more, yet it was more than enough to Logan. Camille was his world and his world as he knew it just got yanked out from underneath him.
"He's lying," Logan said so softly, everyone else in the room wasn't sure he even said anything.
Logan bore into Mr. Sanders's eyes with his own. "He's lying," Logan repeated.
"Oh, come on! Is that the best you got, kid?" Mr. Sanders asked, clearly amused.
It was clear to Logan what was going on here. Camille's dad had been feeding her nothing but lies, and she fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Logan knew that Mr. Sanders couldn't stand him. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that he would thus make up whatever lies he could concoct just so that Camille would move on.
"Camille, call your mother. See if your father's story checks out. Please? For me? If you ever cared about me, then you'll do this," Logan pleaded.
"Oh my gosh! Will you just leave already?" Mr. Sanders commented.
"What's wrong Mr. Sanders? I'm right, aren't I? That's why you're in such a hurry for me to leave."
"No, I'm in a hurry for you to leave because the sight of you with my daughter nauseates me. I'm in a hurry for you to leave because I can't stand you. I'm in a hurry for you to leave because again, you're in direct violation of the restraining order."
Camille found it suspicious that her father was in such a rush for Logan to leave. Maybe Logan was onto something. Maybe her father had been telling her lies. The horrific story about how her parents got married. The horrendous part about why she was brought into this world. What if it all was a lie? When she first heard it, she accepted it at face value. After all, why would her father lie about something like that? That's despicable.
"That's it, I'm calling the cops," Mr. Sanders announced, pulling out his cell phone.
"No!" Carlos shouted.
"Relax Carlos. If he wants to call the police on me, let him," Logan said.
"Logan!"
"You're nothing but a bully Mr. Sanders. I've dealt with people like you practically my entire life. See, people like you think you can walk all over people like me. Well no more. I refuse to be a helpless victim any longer!"
"Logan…"
It was true. No one had it worse when it came to getting bullied than Logan. Growing up, Logan was almost always the smallest one. To bullies, that made him an easy target. Even in peewee hockey, where the guys of Big Time Rush first met, bullies would check Logan into the boards a little too roughly. They would trip him with their hockey sticks. At school, they would lock him inside his locker, or give him swirlies. They would throw him in garbage dumpsters or urinate in his shoes. Then, of course, there was always the physical abuse they inflicted on little Logan. The shoving, punching, kicking. Logan would come home from school on pretty much a regular basis with a black eye, a bloodied nose, or a cut lip. He would lie to his parents and say that he tripped and fell. He would say that he was just a klutz. The worst part was that his parents bought it. Not Kendall, James, and Carlos though. They just regretted that due to having different classes, they weren't always around to protect Logan from the bullies. That is why even to this day, they were fiercely protective of Logan.
"The cops are on their way," Mr. Sanders said.
"Come on, Logan. Let's go before the police get here," Carlos urged.
"No, I'm not going anywhere, Carlos!" Logan exclaimed.
"Logan, now is not the time to be stubborn!"
It was common knowledge to anyone who got to know Logan that he had a pristine criminal record. Yet here he was ready and willing to throw it all away, and for what? What was he trying to prove?
"If I leave, then he wins," Logan said, pointing at Mr. Sanders. "I will not let him win!"
"Since when did you care so much about winning? I thought Kendall was the ultra-competitive one?" Carlos inquired.
"When it comes to Camille, there is no other option but to win."
It wasn't long at all until the police were knocking at the door. Mr. Sanders gladly let them in. He also gladly pointed out the kid he wanted arrested. Carlos and Camille were horrified when they saw a police officer slap handcuffs on Logan.
"Logan Mitchell, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?" the police officer that didn't slap the handcuffs on Logan asked.
"Yes," Logan answered.
Carlos was surprised by how remarkably calm Logan remained throughout all of this. He half-expected Logan to be having a panic attack by now. Camille was floored that her father actually went through with it—he actually had Logan arrested. She hated her father even more now, and she didn't even think that was possible.
The two police officers ushered Logan out of the apartment, each of them grabbing a hold of one of Logan's upper arms. Carlos was right behind them. Mr. Sanders gave Logan a condescending wave as he was leaving.
"Don't worry, Logan. Everything's going to be okay. We'll have you out before you know it," Carlos said, making Logan promises he wasn't even sure he would be able to keep.
As they walked through The Palm Woods, they received myriad stares and confused looks. The last person anyone thought would be taken out of The Palm Woods in handcuffs was Logan Mitchell.
Kendall and Jo were lounging by the pool drinking smoothies and playing checkers when Jo saw a couple of police officers and a handcuffed Logan.
"No way!" Jo remarked.
"What?" Kendall asked, his back was to the lobby.
"Why are they taking Logan out of The Palm Woods in handcuffs?"
Kendall rolled his eyes at his girlfriend. If she was going to make up something, at least make it somewhat believable. When he spun around though, his jaw dropped to the ground. With a speed he didn't know he possessed, he sprung to his feet and had joined a frantic Carlos in trailing their best friend.
"This has got to be some sort of mistake!" Kendall cried out to the police officers.
"It's no mistake, Kendall," Logan replied. "Don't worry. I'm fine."
Kendall hated this. What was he supposed to do? Just sit back and watch as two police officers took Logan away in a squad car? He always imagined that if anyone were to be arrested out of the four of them, it would be Carlos, but certainly not Logan.
The police officers opened the back door of the squad car. They pushed Logan's head down so that he wouldn't hit his head upon getting into the police car. They shut the door behind him. Logan wouldn't even look at them. He just stared straight ahead. Maybe he was ashamed. Or maybe he just couldn't bring himself to look at his friends in this, his lowest moment ever.
Kendall felt Jo take his hand in hers. Stephanie was at Carlos's side, and he took her hand in his. The four of them could do nothing but stand there and watch as the police car drove away with their friend in the back seat.
To Be Continued…
A/N: Bet you didn't see that one coming, now did you? Although perhaps you did; after all, the chapter title made it kind of obvious. I noticed a drop in reviews lately. This makes me sad.
