Title: With A Little Help
Author: SLynn
Rating: T
Pairings: Logan/Camille and Kendall/Jo
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: I don't really own these characters, I only imagine I do.

Summary: Summer begins with aweek in Vegas that doesn't turn out as planned, but they'll all have to make the best of it. Takes place two months after 'And So It Goes'.

Chapter 14

"I'm just going to say this and get it out of the way," Carlos said, looking around the room. "This is weird."

Kelly laughed and shook her head, not looking up from her laptop.

"No," Carlos said, still completely sincere. "I am never the first one up. How late were they out last night?"

"Dana said they got in after three," Kelly answered.

"Must have been some party.

"I'm sorry you missed it," she said, quite sincerely.

"It's all right," Carlos said in between sips of orange juice. "We had fun, right? I mean, that guy who needed the enema. He was a laugh."

"Oh, man," Kelly said, throwing back her head and laughing hard for a moment. "I almost forgot about him."

"How is that possible?"

"Let's skip enema-man," Kelly said, somewhat seriously. "How are you feeling? Good? No problems?"

"I'm fine," Carlos assured her. "Really."

"Good, because..." Kelly trailed off as her phone beeped, indicating a new text.

She stared at the display and the smile that had been on her face melted into a frown.

"What's wrong?" Carlos asked.

Kelly didn't answer, only turned back to her laptop and began typing in her browser's search engine.

"Kelly?"

"Give me a minute," she said quietly as she read the screen in front of her, the frown growing gradually into a grimace.

"Is it..."

"Wake them up," Kelly said sharply as she got to her feet and headed out the door and across the hall.

Carlos didn't think for a moment about disobeying her, he just got up and knocked loudly on Logan and Kendall's door before crossing the suite to the room he shared with James.

"Get up," he said as he opened the door, loud enough to cause James to stir.

"What's going on?" James asked, still half asleep.

"I don't know but Kelly is mad," Carlos answered. "What happened last night?"

"Why?" James asked, much too quickly in Carlos's opinion for him not to be guilty of something.

"Just, get up," Carlos answered, heading out of the room again and back over to the other one across the suite.

He opened the door this time without bothering to knock. Logan was already sitting up, evidentially looking for the noise that had woken him in the first place, but Kendall was still fast asleep.

"Kendall," Carlos said loudly. "Get up. Kelly wants to talk."

"About what?" Logan asked, rubbing his eyes and getting reluctantly to his feet.

"I don't know, " Carlos admitted. "Come on."

Kendall stretched and yawned his way to his feet, following Logan and Carlos out of the room to where James was already waiting on the couch.

Logan purposefully sat at the table, to avoid James, and Carlos noticed at once that something was definitely off between the two of them. Kendall tried to appear as if nothing was wrong, but it did little good.

"Okay," Kelly said as she reentered the room with Dana, who had obviously gotten dressed quickly, in tow. "What happened?"

"Kelly, what -"

"No," Kelly said curtly, cutting Kendall off. "No questions. I'm asking the questions right now, not you, and right now I don't want to hear anything other than the truth about last night. What happened?"

Kendall looked first to James and then to Logan, but neither of them would meet his eyes. Kelly's own eyes remained fixed on Kendall, instinctively knowing he was the closest to cracking.

Logan's phone rang but a swift look from Kelly and he didn't dare answer. Instead he declined the call and shifted uneasily in his chair.

"Well?" Kelly asked, arms folded across her chest, ever bit of her meaning business.

"I... I may have gotten into a slight disagreement with Logan," James finally admitted.

Logan pressed his lips together tightly to keep himself from responding. Slight was not how he'd have described it at all, but that didn't really matter at the moment.

"Slight?" Kelly repeated, her voice going up in volume and in pitch. "Slight? Really, because that's not how any of the three bloggers who witnessed your disagreement termed it. Would you like to hear an exert?"

"No."

"It's pretty entertaining," Kelly said. "One guy said," she continued, going back to her laptop and pulling up the link, "that, and I quote, 'they looked as if they'd have loved nothing more than to rip each other's throats out'. "

"I'm sorry, Kelly," Logan said quietly.

"Me, too," James added.

"What was this about?" she asked, shaking her head in complete disbelief. "Because I thought we'd settled our differences. I thought we'd all agreed to get along and I know I'd told you at least a dozen times to be careful what you said and did. Especially at that party. I just... how did this happen? How? Did you both go temporarily insane? Did you think no one would notice, because that's not how this business works. Everyone notices everything, all the time. All the time. Do you have any idea how bad this could be?"

"Kelly," Kendall tried again, but she wasn't having it.

"What happened?"

"Logan and I got into a fight," James answered. "It was stupid and it was entirely my fault. Kendall tried to stop it and... and Logan tried as well. I was just... It was my fault. I'm sorry. If you're going to be mad at anyone, be mad at me."

"So, it's not true?" she asked, deadly serious.

"No," James said, having a good idea what she meant by that and how much might be on the line, given his answer. "None of it... I was just being a jerk. I'm sorry."

Kendall let out a breath and looked relieved, as if it was all behind them now, but it wasn't. Logan still wouldn't even look at James and had said and done nothing that even acknowledged his existence. Logan knew that, given how easily James had forgiven him, he should accept James's apology and move on, but the offenses weren't the same and Logan would need a little more time to do it.

"What did they say?" Carlos asked, feeling completely out of the loop.

"Nothing," Kelly answered, shaking her head as if to dismiss the entire conversation. "It doesn't matter and if anyone asks, nothing happened. It was a simple argument that got blown out of proportion. Got it?"

"Yeah," James and Kendall agreed at once.

"Logan?" Kelly asked, turning to him and waiting for his answer.

"Sure," he said, with a short, crisp, bob of his head.

"Okay," Kelly said, trying to be calm and doing her best to appear as if it was past them this time, for good. "Let's get going. Guys, get dressed and we'll have lunch at the studio, okay?"

Each of them retreated back to their rooms while Kelly and Dana left for their own suite again. As soon as the door had shut on Logan and Kendall in their room, Kendall went for his own phone and began searching for the blogs in question.

"I really wish I was left-handed right now," he muttered, fumbling around with his phone, his casted hand of no help.

"Why are you even bothering?" Logan asked as he pulled out the clothes he'd planned on wearing that day. "You were there. You know what happened."

Kendall didn't answer him and Logan just shook his head and retreated into the bathroom. While he was in the shower, his phone rang an additional three times, but Kendall hardly noticed it. He was too caught up in what he'd found.

By the time Logan had finished the room was empty, but that wasn't unusual. He took his time, knowing that if Kelly was really in a rush she'd have sent someone in to hurry him along. He wanted to wait as long as possible before he had to see James again. Logan really did want to just forget what had happened last night, and let it go if he could, but he still hadn't quite worked himself into the right frame of mind to do that just yet.

Finally, he left the room, pocketing his phone as he shut the door.

"Really, I have no idea why..." Kendall was saying to Carlos, before they both turned and looked Logan's way.

"It's not true?" Carlos asked, and Logan was taken aback by how fierce his gaze was at that moment.

"What are you talking about?" Logan had to ask; now he was the one completely lost.

"The article," Carlos answered, stepping around Kendall who had hastily put himself between the two of them.

"It's wrong," Kendall said quickly. "I told you, Carlos. I was there and it's completely wrong. That's not why James and Logan were fighting. I swear it."

"What does it say?" Logan asked quickly, going to his own laptop.

Carlos handed him his own phone, saving Logan the trouble of looking it up. Logan skimmed over it, shaking his head in disbelief.

"This isn't..." he muttered. "This..."

"So what were you fighting about?"

Logan looked at Kendall, really not wanting to go over it.

"What did James tell you?" Logan asked, seeing Kendall only shrug and shake his head in response.

"He said it wasn't worth getting into because the two of you were going to have each other's backs no matter what."

"What?" Kendall said, his face flush with anger.

Logan just let out a mirthless laugh and balled his hands tightly into fists.

Carlos looked with confusion from Kendall to Logan and back again. He believed them, it was too convincing an act to be anything but true, but felt like he'd missed years instead of just hours away from them last night.

Logan was still silently shaking with repressed rage when his phone rang. Taking it out and looking at the screen he let out another bark-like laugh.

"It's Camille," he said. "It's... oh, God. I can't. I can't even talk I'm so..."

Logan pushed the phone back into his pocket after declining the call once more and began to pace silently in front of the table.

"Guys," Kelly called, knocking once on the door before opening it up. "Almost ready?"

Logan shook his head and went straight back into his room without another word, slamming the door behind him.

"What now?" Kelly asked with a heavy sigh.

Carlos threw up his hands, completely unable to answer that question in any way.

"Is it time to go?" James asked as he came out of his room.

"You," Kendall said harshly, wheeling on his suddenly and advancing.

"Kendall," Carlos said, jumping between the two of them. "Don't. Don't do this."

"What's your problem?" James snapped, having no idea what Kendall could be mad about now.

"You're my problem," Kendall yelled. "Why? Why'd you do it? Couldn't you just let it go, for once James? For once?"

"I did let it go," James fired back at him. "I even said I was sorry."

"Knock it off, right now," Kelly said, but no one was listening.

Carlos was still between the two of them, pushing them back a little harder than he'd like to, but seeing it was necessary.

"Then why'd you tell Carlos that Logan and I were lying?"

"That's not what I said," Carlos interjected.

"No," Kendall admitted, "but that's what James meant. Isn't it?"

"All I said was that the two of you had your version -"

"And what?" Kendall interrupted. "You had the truth?"

"That's not what I meant," James said, shaking his head and seeing how Kendall had gotten that impression. "It doesn't matter, does it?"

"It kind of does," Carlos answered, once again taking sides only as needed. "I mean, after reading the article..."

"I told you not to read that," Kelly said, completely frustrated at how useless she was at the moment.

"Well, I did," Carlos said. "And, after what you said, James, how was I not going to believe it?"

"It was obviously a lie," Kelly answered, but only Kendall nodded his head in agreement.

Carlos, watching James for his reaction, turned back to Kendall doubtingly.

"So Logan was hitting on Stephanie," Carlos said flatly.

"What?" James asked, his voice sharp with surprise.

"That's what it said," Carlos added. "And, it's true? It's really true?"

"No," Kendall and Kelly both said at once, despite Kelly having not even been there at the time.

"That's not what happened," James said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Did you even read the blog?" Kendall asked him.

"Of course not," he answered. "I was there, why would I read it?"

"So, it's not true," Carlos said, feeling really tired and confused by the whole thing.

"No," James answered. "It wasn't Stephanie, it was..."

"Who?" Kelly asked, as it suddenly dawned on her that there was more truth to this rumor than she'd been willing to believe. "Who was it?"

"No one," Kendall answered, but before he could elaborate his own phone began to ring. "It's Jo," he said, looking at the display with a grimace. "This is a nightmare and I have to take this call."

Kendall said hello as he stepped out into the hall for some privacy, hating that he was leaving James behind to give his version of events to Kelly without him, but unable to avoid it. He had a suspicion that Camille, unable to reach Logan, had called Jo instead and now he was going to have to clear this up.

"Who was it?" Kelly asked, pressing James for details.

"It doesn't matter."

"It does if it's who I think it was," Kelly insisted.

"It's nothing like that," James said, realizing at once that Kelly was very serious and he may have inadvertently gotten Dana in trouble. "The only one out of line last night was Logan."

Carlos couldn't help but look at Kelly, feeling a bit embarrassed about his own behavior towards her and how it was likely the cause of this minor freak out she was having. Luckily, before she caught him looking, her phone beeped.

"Oh, crap," she said, gritting her teeth. "We've got to go. We've got to be at the studio in half an hour and... James, Carlos... go downstairs and wait in the lobby. I'll bring Logan and Kendall with me."

They both nodded and left without saying another word.

"Logan," Kelly said, tapping on the bedroom door before gently pushing it open. "You okay?"

He was sitting on the very edge of his bed with his eyes shut and his fists still clenched.

"Logan?"

"I'm... I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Kelly said.

"Camille has called me six times already because of this stupid... lie. It's all a lie and it's going to ruin everything."

"She'll understand. You can explain it to her and I'm sure she'll understand what really happened."

"No she won't," Logan said, shaking his head slowly. "I can't even answer the phone. I can't even talk to her. I feel... I feel guilty. She's going to hear that in my voice and that'll be it. Over and done with just like that all because..."

"If you didn't do anything wrong, then you don't have a reason to feel guilty."

"Stupid, James. I swear... He did this on purpose. He had to have. I know I didn't do anything wrong, but I let him get to me because I always let him get to me and now... now I feel guilty."

"Logan, I'm not going to pretend to know exactly what's going on here. I don't. If you want to tell me, I'd be happy to listen, but right now is not a good time. I hate to do this to you, but we have to go. We have to be at the studio. Everyone is going to be there in about an hour and we can't keep them waiting."

"I forgot that was happening today."

"Yeah."

"Kelly," Logan said, shutting his eyes again and dropping his head to his chest. "Can I just stay here? Please? I don't think... It's not like... No one's showing up for me so I don't have to be there, right?"

"You don't have to go," Kelly said before she'd even realized what she was going to say. It was pure instinct. She couldn't make him do it, it would be almost cruel at this point.

"Thank you."

"I'm going to go get Kendall. I'll be..." she trailed off, backing out of the room and not at all surprised to find Kendall and Dana both sitting on the couch waiting for them.

"Change of plans," Kelly said, taking a deep breath and attempting to calm her nerves as she shut the door she'd just exited. "Here," she said, thrusting her portfolio towards Dana. "Take this. Take Kendall, James and Carlos to the studio and just follow the schedule. We've talked about it so, it shouldn't be a problem. But if it is, call me."

"What about Logan?" Kendall asked.

"He's staying here."

"But..."

"He's staying here because I said so," Kelly said, uncharacteristically harsh. "That's all there is to it. Just hurry or you'll be late."

"Are you sure you don't want to go?" Dana asked. "I can stay."

"I'm sure," Kelly answered, not really looking at either of them as she bobbed her head slightly up and down. "Follow the schedule and I'll see you tonight."

"Okay," Dana said softly, motioning for Kendall to follow her out the door.

Kelly waited until they'd left before slumping into the arm chair and dropping her head into her hands. She never imagined this week would go so badly. Every day it got a little worse and every day she felt more like a failure.