I think y'all will like this one :P

"Boys, what happened last night?"

James, Carlos and Logan exchanged awkward glances. They were sitting at the table with bowls of cereal or slices of toast in front of them. James' breakfast included a large cup of coffee; he hadn't slept much the night before. His thoughts had been running too wild. He was frustrated that he'd erased that video instead of taking the phone and reporting what happened. But he'd been too angry to consider any other option, and he had a bad feeling that the police would've done very little. They tended to never prioritise areas like this. That morning he'd woken up from his couple of hours' sleep with a headache and bags under his eyes. He saw Logan and Carlos also looked exhausted, and wondered if the same things had been going through their minds.

Kendall hadn't come down for breakfast. Logan, at Brooke's request, had asked him twice. Then Brooke had gone up and asked him herself, perhaps assuming it was one of his bouts of anorexia kicking in. However, he'd refused her too.

When nobody answered her question and James just took a sip of his coffee while Carlos and Logan took bites of their foods to occupy their mouths elsewhere, Brooke sighed and asked again. "What happened? I know Kendall's one for sulking but this isn't sulking. You boys were there, weren't you? You went to get him. You must know."

"We don't know all the details," Carlos replied at last, taking a butter knife and cutting the crusts off his toast, dumping them on Logan's plate. He liked the crusts the best. "He had a fight with Jett, I think. You know, his boyfriend."

"Oh dear." Brooke sighed sympathetically. "Young love. It's full of grief, isn't it?"

You can say that again, James thought dismally to himself.

"Well, I told him going to that party was a bad idea," she continued. "He must be so hungover. He looked completely hammered when he came back last night."

"He was a bit sick," Logan added in a little hastily, taking one of Carlos' crusts and nibbling on the end. It jutted from his mouth looking a little like a cigarette. "He must've had tons to drink. Beer, vodka, whatever the heck there was, who knows . . ."

Carlos quickly nudged Logan with his foot to get him to stop talking. He did so immediately, eating his crusts and taking a gulp of orange juice. He licked his lips and smiled bashfully.

"Do you think I was a bit harsh on him?" Brooke asked at last. "Three weeks is a lot, and if he fought with his boyfriend maybe they want to make up, I mean—"

"Mom, no," Carlos cut in, a reassuring tone in his voice. "I'm sure he'll be alright. If Jett wants to make it up with him, surely he'll wait for him at the bus stop and they can talk on the way home, no going out necessary. It's fine."

"If you say so." Brooke stood up and took her bowl to the sink, hand rested on her slightly rounded belly for support. "Dan is picking me up today, I'm going to the doctor and then I'm just going to take him for a quick bit of lunch, to make up for him being so helpful with the furniture and everything."

"The van guy?" James said incredulously, broken out of his silence at last. "I thought we'd seen the last of him."

"James, none of that," Brooke warned, a little teasingly. "We're good friends and I just want to offer him a thank you. Plus it fits with my appointment being on the same day. You'll behave yourselves, won't you? Finish your homework and stuff?"

"We will, don't worry," Logan told her. "And we'll enforce your grounding rules too, kay?"

"Okay," Brooke chuckled, heading towards the door of the kitchen. "I'm off to take a shower and get myself ready. Thanks boys. Don't forget to clean up!" And she left the room.

The three boys tidied up their things and did the washing up as they were asked. "Do you think she likes him?" James asked as he stacked the clean plates back on the shelf while Logan put away the glasses and mugs. "You know, Dan."

Carlos shrugged, sliding the spoons and knives into the right drawer and shutting it behind him, hopping up and sitting on the counter. "Maybe. She's single, he's probably single, she doesn't have any time to find a guy to date. Why not?"

"But he probably doesn't want a baby," James said worriedly. "Or four teenage sons. Even one is a handful, who the hell would want four?"

"Uh, your mom?" Logan retorted, rolling his eyes. "Duh, idiot."

James whipped him on the back of the head with a dishcloth.

"Maybe she doesn't mind that," Carlos said reasonably. "I mean, I'm sure she knows herself that he probably isn't interested in anything long term. She's pregnant, not stupid."

"I guess so," James sighed, leaning against the counter and resting his elbow casually on Carlos' thigh. "So is this how worried parents feel when their kids start dating?"

"I guess so," Logan shrugged with a chuckle, sitting up on the counter too. "Now, what are we going to do about the princess up in the tower?" He pointed towards the ceiling.

"What can we do?" Carlos shrugged. "We can't make him come out of that slump. We can't tell him it was a mistake anyone could make. We can't tell him anything, really. It won't make it better or make it go away."

"The only thing is, at least this time he might've actually learned his lesson," Logan sighed. "I've gotta admit, I thought it'd feel better than this. This is totally shitty and not the way I wanted it at all."

"How did you want it?" James asked, looking over at him.

"I'm not sure, really. Maybe he met some boy, the boy did something douchy and showed off to his friends about it. Kendall cried a little, wrote a breakup song and got over it. And decided that he wouldn't be any boy's plaything or sex toy anymore."

"That does sound like the ideal ending," Carlos said dismally. "I kind of want that too."

They fell into a kind of grim silence. James felt his feet going slightly numb from standing for so long but he couldn't bring himself to move. Those photos from the smartphone remained glued to the insides of his eyelids. He couldn't forget the image of Kendall lying there on the bed, injured and violated and too dazed to properly notice. How had the event even come about? They must've spiked something he drank. Or maybe they told him it was something less sinister, like a bit of ecstasy, just for fun. Next thing, his head got fuzzy and his breathing got heavier and movement became a lot harder. Had he just laid there when they all got dressed and left again? How long had he even been lying there, he long had he been at that party before it happened?

So many question, and no answers. He'd only get them from one person.

Kendall still hadn't been seen when the doorbell rang. James glanced down the hallway and saw Brooke hurrying over to answer. "Dan," she greeted delightedly when she opened the door, hugging him. "It's so great to see you!"

"Nice to see you too, Brooke," Dan replied a little breathlessly, glasses slightly askew on his nose. "Um, how's the house and the boys and the baby?"

"We've got used to the house and the neighbourhood, it's very homely now. The baby is fine, and my boys are fine too. Boys!" Brooke turned around to face then. "Come say hi to Dan!"

The three boys sloped to the door, smiling in greeting. "Only three?" Dan inquired.

"Oh, Kendall's sleeping in."

Dan didn't look the least bit surprised at that. He greeted each of the boys in turn. "Nice to see you're all doing well."

"And how've you been?" Brooke asked him, giving the boys a sign that they'd been dismissed and were no longer relevant. They retreated into the living room.

"I think it's kind of sweet," Logan said at last to them, keeping his voice down so the two adults outside the room wouldn't hear. "You know, that your mom fancies someone."

"Maybe for you," James replied sullenly, slumping back. "You didn't actually come from her womb."

Logan gagged. "Unnecessary image right there, dude."

James beamed at him.

"Bye, boys!" Brooke called to them, waving. "I'll be back in a few hours!" And it they went, shutting the door behind them. James quickly went to look out the window and saw that Dan was driving a car today, rather than his moving van. He opened the passenger side door for Brooke, smiling bashfully as she grinned at him and got in. He hurried around to the driver's side and tripped over the kerb on his way. James shook his head disapprovingly. "What a twat."

Carlos and Logan, who were looking out on either side of him, both scoffed. "James, if that was you and Kendall," Carlos began, turning to him and raising his eyebrows, "You wouldn't just trip over the kerb. You'd land flat on your face with your butt in the air and break your glasses."

"Carlos, I don't wear glasses," James replied with the last little bit of dignity he could muster.

"Oh, I know. But with you, I'm sure that would happen either way."

James scowled, stepping back from the window. "Whatever. I'm gonna go check on Kendall."

"So soon?" Logan asked, frowning. "He might hurt you. He could still be a bit tense."

"You share a room with him, what was he like when you woke up?" Carlos asked.

"Nothing. He just turned his back to me and acted like he was sleeping. He could've been, I dunno. But he basically ignored me, so . . ."

"Then you've got no proof that he'd still 'tense,'" James countered. "I'll just bring him up a snack or something. No biggie."

"He didn't want breakfast."

"Something sweet, comfort food. We've still got ice cream, haven't we?"

"Yeah, strawberry," Carlos nodded. "It's in the freezer. He said he liked that one, actually. He recommended it, that's why we picked it out."

"Perfect. See you guys in a bit." In an attempt to make a witty exit, James glanced over his shoulder and said, "Don't get too steamy while I'm gone. Control your hormones, Carlos!" And off he went into the kitchen, humming cheerily. He took the pale pink tub of ice cream from the fridge and set it on the counter, the cool droplets from the cardboard surface chilling his hand. He grabbed a dishtowel and wrapped it around the tub, holding it in his hand and fishing two spoons from the top drawer. He was only human, he needed comfort food too.

He headed up the stairs and walked to Kendall and Logan's room. He thought about knocking, but figured he'd get no answer anyway. He opened the door and walked inside. "Kendall?"

Kendall was lying in bed, curled up under the covers. He sat up when James said his name, blinking at him. He have a small sigh before scooting up and sitting properly with his back against the headboard. "Hi . . ."

"Hey," James replied gently, closing the door behind him. "I brought you some ice cream."

Kendall didn't say anything. Th covers were pulled up to his chin.

"I guess, um. I can just leave it here, or I can take it back downstairs . . ."

"No, stay." Kendall crawled out from under the covers as James walked over to the bed. The blond was wearing grey shorts and a black sweater, his hair was a mess and he looked a little pale and tired. He had faint bruises on his thighs, and he held something surprising under his arm in a tender grip; a stuffed cat.

James sat on the bed beside him as Kendall sat with him, leaning back against the wall. "In all the time I've known you, I never knew you had that," James said, pointing to the plushie as he took the lid off the ice cream tub and placed it on the locker beside the bed. He handed Kendall a spoon. It's cute."

"I've had it since I was little," Kendall replied quietly, putting it down on the bed beside him and giving its fake striped fur a little stroke. "I tend to keep it in a box under my bed. I'm a bit old for stuffed animals."

"Does it have a name?"

"Ned." Kendall shrugged. "When I was a kid I liked the name Ned." He reached out and scooped up a lump of ice cream onto his spoon, stuffing it into his mouth. "Fanks," he said, speech impaired by the cold substance over his tongue and teeth.

James grinned, lifting his spoon and taking some too. "No pwoblem."

Kendall gave a little laugh and James' heart began to beat faster. They took another few spoonfuls each in silence. Finally, Kendall gave a small sigh and rested his head back against the wall, shoulder pressing harder against James'. "You know what I really hate?"

"Well, um." James could list it off. "I know that even though you choose to be blond you hate the colour yellow. And swans. You also hate broccoli, and string beans unless they're with cheese. And you hate metal music, you think it's trash—"

"I haven't told you any of that," Kendall said, frowning. "I mean, except the metal music thing . . ."

"I just noticed," James said feebly, cheeks flushing a little as he shrugged.

Kendall gave a shy smile, shutting the ice cream tub and putting it aside with their spoons. "Well, yeah. I do hate those things. But I was talking about last night."

"Oh." James cleared his throat. "Go on."

"We've had talks in school, about those date rape drugs. And one of the huge things they kept telling us was that they could wipe your memory clean." Kendall's mouth drooped. "That didn't happen to me. I remember everything. I wish it did happen, I don't want to remember."

"I wouldn't want to either." James gave him a hug. "I guess . . . I guess it's over, between you two?"

Kendall nodded quickly. "Over as it could be. No more boys."

"None at all?"

"Well . . . not like this. Not anymore. I can't take it, I . . ." Kendall sniffled, wiping at his eyes furiously. "I'm through with that. I . . . I'm not a toy."

"Exactly, you're not. You only realised it now?"

"Pretty much. It took all of them acting it out in the most extreme measures for me to see it, but that's what I've been. An object." Kendall gritted his teeth. "I am not an object."

"That's right, you're not."

"I'm a person, with thoughts and feelings."

"Exactly. You feel better now?"

"A little. I guess the sugar intake helped." Kendall grinned at him. "You're the best, Jay."

"Oh, I know." James awkwardly lifted the arm sandwiched between their bodies and mimed flipping his hair over his shoulder. Kendall laughed and James smiled, placing his hand back down. It sat dangerously close to Kendall's bare thigh, but he tried to ignore that.

"So, James?"

"Yeah?"

The brunet's eyes widened in terror when Kendall asked an unexpected question. "What other things have you noticed?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"About me. What else have you noticed?"

"Oh." James cleared his throat. "Uh . . . well, you always do your hair after you brush your teeth in the morning in case it gets wet. You always nibble the cheese off your pizza and then eat the rest, which I think is gross and pointless. You won't admit it but you love chemistry and you're great at it too, you just don't wanna look nerdy. We all say you're dramatic enough to be an actor but really you wanna work in film, don't you? Directing and screenplay and stuff. You love watching movies and looking at camera angles and the way scenes are edited. I remember once you said you don't see the appeal of Justin Bieber but I caught you staring at a poster of him in town once."

Kendall was staring at him in total awe. His lips were parted slightly and his breath smelled of strawberries. James bit his lip, gazing down at him. "And, you . . . you condemn anyone who wears lipgloss . . ." Why couldn't he stop gawking at his mouth?! Stop it James, he'll suspect something!

Of course, if James had more common sense and logic, he would know that Kendall already did. The blond grinned at him, biting his lip a little mischievously, but a bit shyly too. "Do you wanna know some things I've noticed about you?"

"I-I guess so," James replied a little nervously.

"Well." Kendall folded his hands on his lap. "You also hate broccoli. You whine when we walk too far because your shoes are getting a bit too small. Clowns freak you out. You love tacos and I know you'd eat them day and night if you could but you're afraid you'd get sick of them. At one point you've had a thing for every member of the original Glee cast, including Jane Lynch, don't even try to deny that one. You prefer DC over Marvel because you wanna be Superman but you and Carlos always have wars over it so you've kind of given up on the debate, which personally I think is a dumb move. He's easy to crack if you keep trying." Kendall smiled sweetly. "And when you get nervous, you either blush, say 'um' and 'uh' and 'well' a lot, or you stutter. You've done all three at least once since you came up here."

James had no idea how to respond to any of that. His first feeling was an overwhelming happiness, because Kendall knew all these stupid little pointless things about him, the same way he knew things about Kendall. He was also confused, because how on earth did Kendall know these? He must've been paying a lot of attention. And he was also, of course, completely terrified because Kendall had caught him out being nervous and stuttery around him. Now what was he supposed to do?! He didn't know what to say or what to do. He could laugh it off, or be rational and say something smart, or he could be even dumber.

He decided to be dumber and swooped in before he could change his mind, and kissed Kendall hard on his lips. They were soft, like he'd expected. He felt Kendall exhale through his nose and wondered if the blond was totally shell-shocked. He quickly pulled off with a faint pop, cheeks flushing dark red. "I-I . . ."

"Shh." Kendall rested his forefinger very lightly over James' mouth, grinning at him. "No need for more stuttering. Even though it's really cute." Then Kendall muffled James' squeak of shock as he leaned in and kissed him too. Their lips continued to brush together lightly, James' hands found their way to cup Kendall's cheeks. His tongue tasted of strawberries.

"There's something I wanna tell you," Kendall whispered against James' open mouth as he pulled back. "I'm a a natural blond."

James just started at him. "You are not," he said blankly. "You've got blond dye in the bathroom."

"Yeah yeah, but that just makes me blonder. My hair colour is like, straw. Really dark. But it's blond, honestly."

"You learn something new every day."

Kendall just kissed him again as a response. The eager movements sent James' head reeling as he kissed Kendall harder. He could do this all day, and it was something he had a strong feeling he couldn't get tired of. They finally pulled apart again, struck breathless by the mere presence of one another. Kendall gazed up at him with wide green eyes. James stared back, opening his mouth to say something sweet, maybe a little sensual too. "I fantasise about you wearing my clothes," he blurted out. Fuck.

"James." Kendall looked stern. "I am not an object."

"I know. Sorry."

"It's cool. Just kiss me again and we can forget you ever said that until a later stage."

And he did.

"Jamie's gonna get some," Carlos laughed, dancing and jigging a little on the couch. Logan was trying to read beside him, huffing every time that Carlos' jumping and dancing disturbed his comfortable position. In other words, every few seconds.

"Oh, shut up," James retorted, rolling his eyes. He was seated comfortably on the couch, arm slung loosely around Kendall's shoulders. The blond sat leaning against his shoulder, feet propped up on the coffee table. Even over the sound of the television they could hear Brooke coming down the stairs, chatting to Dan on her cellphone. The two really seemed to have hit it off. James, momentarily, felt a little fed up with the whole ordeal, but really he was far too content right now to let anything as fickle as his mom maybe having a boyfriend bother him. After all, he was in a relationship, why shouldn't she be? It may have been a very loose one at the moment, seeing as it really wasn't long since that party. Kendall still being grounded was evidence of that. But James had a hopeful feeling that as time passed, maybe it would progress into something more serious. He was in no hurry, unlike the other guys Kendall had dated, and he was pleased to see that Kendall didn't seem to be rushing either.

"I will never shut up," Carlos replied haughtily, smirking at them. "Never. This is just too great to shut up about."

"But it's not too great to stop dancing about," Logan muttered crossly.

Carlos jumped down and sat next to him, ruffling his hair. "Oh Logie, how moody you are."

Logan slapped his hands away and shook his head disapprovingly, but he laughed. "The three of you, you're complete idiots."

"Boys!" Brooke announced her presence, holding her phone in her hand. She was dressed in a pretty sweater and jeans, her hair styled to perfection. James was instantly suspicious. "Listen. Dan is coming over and I thought maybe if you boys wanted to go out somewhere for food I could give you some cash?"

"Why, you don't want us interrupting?" Carlos teased. James gagged.

Brooke's cheeks turned red. "Well, maybe. Do you want to go out for burgers or not?"

Instantly three of them jumped to their feet. Kendall stayed sitting. "You too, Kendall."

"I'm grounded for another week, Mom," Kendall informed her.

Brooke looked a little desperate at this point. "I'm letting you off the hook early, okay? Now go on, off you go!"

Kendall grinned, hugged and thanked her, and the four set off, jackets on. Kendall wore a blue striped hoodie that was a little too long for him. James hesitantly laced their fingers together; Kendall grinned and held his hand back loosely, playing with his fingers. Logan shook his head again, smiling at them and walking along beside Carlos. Kendall grinned at him and gave a little wink.

"Hey, Kendall!"

The boys glanced towards the source of the noise and saw Jett, to their disgust, walking over. James instantly stepped a little closer to Kendall and saw Carlos and Logan doing the same. Kendall, however, wasn't showing any emotions. "Hi."

"I've hardly seen you the past couple of weeks!" Jett said. He was grinning at him, and James wanted to hit him for it. "Where've you been?"

"Grounded," Kendall replied shortly. "After the party."

"The party. Oh, yeah." Jett smiled wider. "Boy, that was a great night."

"No, it wasn't," Carlos snapped, hand on Kendall's arm. "Creep."

"What the fuck do you have to do with anything?" Jett snapped, glaring at him. "Stay out of our business, yeah?"

"It is too our business," Logan added, bravely but with a faint tremble in his limbs. "We h-had to go and get him after you all abused him."

Abuse?" Jett glanced at Kendall, eyebrows raised. "I thought you wanted it."

"Who the hell would want that?!" James demanded, finally speaking up.

"Well, he didn't say no—"

"He was too fucking drugged up, you complete moron," Carlos snarled. "Is there anything besides sawdust between your ears?"

Ignoring Carlos' insult, Jett turned to Kendall, looking shocked. James didn't believe it for a second. "Drugged? Kendall, I didn't know. It was Tad serving stuff up, he gave you your drinks, you know that."

"I know. It wasn't your fault, just an honest mistake," Kendall replied nonchalantly, arms folded. The other three stared at him incredulously.

"So, are we okay?" Jett reached for him.

"Nope."

James, Carlos and Logan gaped at him.

"But why?" For a moment Jett looked somewhat distraught. Then he turned to the other boys and glowered at them evilly. "Because these morons tell you to? They're fucking nothing, Kendall. I thought you were different to them."

"Well, that's the thing. I'm really not. I know I act like it, but it's all shit." Kendall stepped away from him, leading the other three away. He glanced back at Jett. "I don't care what you think of them. We're Diamomds and we stick together."

James grinned, reaching a hand out and subtlety putting it around his waist. Kendall smiled shyly at him. Jett stared at him. "Now that's just fucking disgusting," he growled. "You incest freaks."

"He's not my brother, idiot," Kendall snapped. Then he glanced up at James again. "But he is my best friend."

"Awww," Carlos and Logan cooed softly in the background.

Watching Jett storm off in anger and embarrassment made James a very happy guy. He whistled a little tune as he strolled along with Kendall, Carlos and Logan beside him. "You know, I'm thinking we could go to that diner a few blocks down. They've got big burgers and their cheese fries are the greatest."

"I'm up for that," Carlos agreed. "As long as you don't eat half of mine this time."

"I did that because you drank my milkshake!"

"It was Oreo flavoured, what did you expect from me?!"

The two continued to argue as they walked down the street. Kendall and Logan just grinned at each other and listened on, not needing to say anything.