Hello again everyone! I'm back with new chapter! Before we get started, I'd like to thank winterschild11, TheeeAhni, ms simmons, and annabellex2 for reviewing last chapter!

I'm glad that you all are enjoying the story so far and are excited to see what the rest of the story holds! :) I can tell you that there are alot of sweet Kames moments over the course of the next few chapters as well as the rest of the story!

I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Twenty

"Why are you wanting to eat so late?"

"Because today is the first day that Jo went back to work. I just wanted to have something to distract her when she gets home in case it didn't go so well." I tell Kendall as he walks through the apartment.

Jo has been at work all evening, and I have a feeling that what she was hoping for by getting out and going back to work is not what happened. I know she expects everything to go back to the way it was by going back to her normal routines. I tried talking to her about it last night, but she completely shut me out.

"When is she supposed to be getting off?" Kendall asks, coming into the kitchen and leaning against the counter as I finish chopping the tomatoes.

"She usually doesn't get off until around eleven, but she's supposed to get off a little after nine tonight. Which means she'll probably be here in a few minutes." I say after glancing at the clock, watching as he nods his head.

"Can I help?" He asks, looking around the kitchen.

Looking at him, I smile and say, "Yeah, could you turn the heat down on the sauce and stir it please?"

I watch as he walks over to the stove and fiddles with the knob. I chuckle a little because I can see that he isn't comfortable in the kitchen.

"Hey, can you go turn up the music please?" I ask as I add olive oil to the tomatoes and onions.

"Yeah, sure." He says, going to turn up the music before coming back to the stove to stir the sauce again. I can tell from the look on his face that he doesn't know what the hell he's doing, but I find it sweet that he's trying to be helpful. I walk up behind him and start nipping along his neck. When he turns in my arms, he looks over my shoulder, his eyes widening a little.

"Hey." He says causing me to turn around to see Jo standing in the middle of the living room.

"Hey." I say as Kendall and I walk over to her. "How was work?"

"Weird at first, but it wound up being a busy night, which was good." She says as she walks into the kitchen and picks out a bottle of wine.

I finish up dinner as Kendall and Jo sit and talk. It's great that they've become friends. It makes me feel more content, knowing that she has him to lean on as well as me.

"Hey, didn't your band have a show last night?" Jo asks Kendall.

"Yeah, we played at Blur. It was a great gig, the place was packed."

"I've never been there before."

"You haven't been anywhere." I tease. She scrunches her face at me in response, causing me to laugh a little. "You should really hear them play sometime. You'd like their sound."

I started to continue when a sudden knock at the door stopped me. I watched Kendall hop off the barstool to go answer, with me instinctively moving a little closer to Jo when I see Lucy walk in.

Crap.

Jo and I have been avoiding her calls and texts all week, and she looks pissed.

"What the hell is going on?!" She yells. Fuck, she's mad. "You two have been avoiding me all week, and I have no clue what I did to piss you guys off!"

"We're not pissed at you." I say softly, and judging by the look on her face, I can tell that she doesn't believe me. I try to cover for Jo because I can tell she's freaking out by the shock on her face. "Jo just wanted a little away, that's all."

"From me? I'm supposed to be your best friend!" She says, hurt and anger evident in her voice as she stares at Jo. "Why won't you talk to me?"

"I'm sorry." Jo whispers, with Kendall slipping into the kitchen. She looks scared as shit and I would say just about anything to get Lucy to ease off of her a bit. But when Jo moves to sit on the couch, she starts talking. "Jack and I got into an argument at the party. I was upset, he was drunk, so I called James to come and pick me up."

"I suggested she stay here in case he showed up at your house. That's all." I added.

"So why couldn't you just call and tell me?"

"I didn't want you getting involved. You can sometimes overreact, and I just wanted everything to die down without any drama. It's no big deal. Besides, I haven't heard from him. It's over, so can we drop it?" Jo asks, and when I look down at her hands, I see that she's shaking.

"Bullshit!" Lucy snaps and starts walking out.

"Lucy, wait! Please don't be mad at me. I'm coming back home this week. It's not a big deal, please don't make it into one."

Lucy stops before turning back around, hurt and anger still clear in her eyes.

"You're the one that made it into a big deal when you decided to avoid me all week. We've always been honest with each other, so if you really want me to believe your story, then fine. I believe you." She mutters before turning around and leaving, slamming the door in the process.

"I don't know what to do." Jo says softly before looking up at me. "What do I do?"

Sitting down next to her, she falls into my arms, silent tears falling from her eyes. Kendall walks over and sits on the other side of her, gently rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her down.

"She's so mad at me… she's never been mad at me."

"Just give her some time." I tell her. "She's hurt and upset. And we can't really blame her since we've been avoiding her."

"It's all my fault."

"It's not your fault Jo." Kendall assures her, and I listen as he continues. "It's just the shitty situation you were put in, but's it's not your fault."

Jo pulls back away from me and turns to face Kendall.

"What do I do?" She asks him.

"You do whatever you need to do to get through the day. You do what you need to do to protect yourself. That's all you can do." He says softly, using his thumbs to wipe away her tears.

"Even if it hurts her?" She asks timidly, to which he nods.

"Yes. I honestly don't think you can do anything else when you're trying so hard just to hang on."

Hearing them talk, hearing his words to her… it's near perfect.

I'm supposed to take her back home tomorrow morning before her classes, but I really don't want to leave her with Lucy so mad.

"I think you should probably stay." I say hesitantly.

"I can't stay." She responds, leaning back on the couch with Kendall and I on either side of her.

"You can. Just give Lucy a couple days to calm down." I say.

"But I feel like I'm interfering with you guys."

"You're not. I already told you this the other day." I say, letting out a sigh in the process.

She turns to look at Kendall and eyes him for his input.

"He's right. You should give her a little time to cool off."

XxX

You home?

Yeah. I swear, school is going to be the death of my laptop.

I've been trying to get some work done on my project while Jo is in class. It's her first day back and I've been a little worried about her. My phone chimes again with another text from Kendall.

Mind if I stop by?

Of course not. You're always welcome here.

Kendall and I haven't really spent a lot of time together, just the two of us, so I shut down my laptop and pour a cup of coffee. I don't have to wait very long before he gets here.

"Hey, what have you been up to?" He asks as he walks up to me and gives me a hug. I pull him in for a quick kiss before responding.

"Just trying to get some work done, but my laptop is running slow as shit today."

He seems a bit distracted as he nods and takes a seat on the couch. I walk over and sit next to him before he responds.

"Can we talk for a second?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Have you heard from Jo today?" He asks after shifting to face me.

"No. I'm pretty sure she's been busy since she missed a few days. She should be back soon though."

"You worried?"

"Always." I say as I kick my feet up on the coffee table and lean back into the couch. I watch Kendall, and I can tell that he wants to say something, and now I'm not worrying about Jo so much. "What's up with you?" I ask him, and when he looks at me, I can definitely tell he's nervous.

"Look, I know you love Jo, and I need you to know that I do too. She's amazing, and she's become like a sister to me. But I think her staying here is hurting her more than it's helping."

I let out a deep breath and look forward as he continues.

"I think her going back home will help her. She's so dependent on you right now, and I worry that she's going to fall into a rut."

"She has really bad nights." I say after turning back to him.

"I know this isn't easy on you. I get it. And I know that you want her here, but I think her standing on her own will maybe force her to deal with this more."

I can't deny that what he's saying makes sense. Of course I want her here. All I want to do is protect her. Looking down at my cup of coffee, I nod my head, and Kendall gently takes the cup away from me and sets it on the table.

"You two are so close, and I understand why, but I think her going back home might be the best thing you can do for her." He takes my hand in his before continuing. "You can't keep her here forever, you know?"

Kendall and I both turn around when the door opens and we see Jo walking in. She quickly glances our way while walking straight to the bathroom. I look at Kendall and sigh when I hear her turn on the shower.

"You know her better than I do. I just wanted to be honest with you and tell you my thoughts." He says before looking down, shaking his head before looking back up. "I'm sorry if I-"

Cutting him off, I tell him, "Don't be sorry. It's fine. And maybe you're right. I just feel helpless, and I don't know what to do."

He lies back next to me and we just sit there. He's right, I can't hide her away forever. She has to be able to deal with this on her own, but I hate the thought of not being there for her because I know that right now, she's crying in the shower. I could see it all over her face when she walked in the door. Guilt is a bitch, and it's consuming me as I sit here with Kendall.

I look over at him with defeat written all over my face. He reaches out and runs his hand down my neck before I just can't take it anymore. I hop off the couch and walk into the bathroom.

Sure enough, she's sitting in the middle of the bathroom with her head in her hands.

"What's wrong?" I ask as I walk over to her, but she just shakes her head. "Talk to me." I say gently.

She stands there for a few seconds before nodding.

"Let me take a quick shower and I'll be out." She says quietly.

"Okay."

When I return to Kendall, He stands up and places his hands on the sides of my face.

"She'll be okay." He tries to assure me, and all I can do is nod.

When she comes out into the living room she scrunches in between the two of us.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Nothing happened. I just… I didn't think I'd be so scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Of him." She says to me with tears rimming her eyes. When I shake my head, she continues.

"What if I see him? I've been so paranoid all day. I kept thinking I would turn a corner and he would be there. It was awful."

"Have you ever seen him on campus before?" Kendall questions, and she shakes her head. "Do you want me to try and meet you when your classes get out so you don't have to walk across campus alone?"

I snap my head towards Kendall when he says this. I can't believe how genuine and amazing her is. Even though I don't want Jo to leave, I know that Kendall's heart is in the right place with what he said to me. He's probably seeing things way more clearly than I am anyway. But before I can even mention anything, Jo cuts in.

"I'll be fine. I just need to keep going about my days like I used to." Looking up at me, she asks, "Can you come home with me on Wednesday. I don't want to go alone in case Lucy is there. At least with you, maybe you can smooth things over."

"What?"

"I need to go back home. I just want you to come with me to help get my stuff moved back in."

I'm caught off guard when she says this, and when I look across at Kendall, he gives me an encouraging nod.

"Yeah, of course. But-"

"James, I'll be fine." She cuts in.

I don't believe her lie for one second, but I don't say anything because I know she doesn't want me to. Nothing about this feels good to me.

Done! So... a bit of drama this chapter. I'd really love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. Especially the Lucy confrontation and the Kames talk! :)

Next chapter has a couple special moments for Kames. Well, actually the next two or three chapters have special Kames moments. I'm really excited about them! And remember that I had a little something planned for Shane? Well, that may or may not be coming up very soon. ;)

I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but I'm hoping to have it up by next weekend at the latest since I want to try and update my other stories this week. So...

Until next time!

-Epically Obsessed