Chapter 21

Rehearsal was so exhausting the next day that the boys crashed right when they got home, on the kitchen floor of Apartment 2J. They slept there on the floor for who knows how long, until one by one, they finally started to wake up.

"Ugh… I feel so refreshed." James groaned as he sat up groggily. Kendall and Carlos soon sat up, too. It was a good thing Shane was in his own apartment next door, probably sleeping as well, because if he were there with them, he'd somehow make Carlos seem stupid. And Shane had been telling him that he was, and he didn't like hearing that word anymore.

"I can't believe we just crashed on your kitchen floor." James stated bluntly. Kendall rolled his eyes.

"My kitchen floor? More like our floor." He retorted.

James was about to say something back, but then he seemed to remember something. "Carlos, did you really fall?" He asked, looking skeptical.

Carlos nodded. "Yeah."

Kendall smirked. "Then how did you fall?"

"Uh.. I was, um, walking, and then I tripped and fell and his my face?" It came out more as a question, and Kendall and James were becoming even more doubtful.

"What did you hit it on?" Kendall continued.

"A… a chair." Carlos replied, thinking as quickly as his brain could.

"Dude. Not possible. There are no chairs in the room you were in, smart one." James pointed out, a satisfied grin on his face.

Carlos sighed. His jig was up. "Okay, you can't tell anyone I told you this, okay?"

Kendall and James nodded, curiosity lighting up their eyes.

"These bruises on my face were from Shane." He said. Carlos looked up and tried to see what was in his friends' expressions. He saw shock, anger, and doubt.

"Carlos. What really happened?" Kendall asked, doubt written all over on his face. "Stop joking around and just tell us the truth."

Carlos felt dread fill him. How did they not believe him? "I'm telling the truth! I swear! Shane did all this to me!" He cried desperately.

James rolled his eyes. "Sure, Carlos. Shane wouldn't do something stupid like that. He's a nice guy. He even got Gustavo to stop yelling his guts out at us."

"No, I swear! I'm not kidding!"

"Dude, stop lying to us."

"I'm not!"

James sighed. "Tell me one reason Shane would ever do something like that."

Carlos couldn't believe it. Kendall and James didn't believe him. They loved Shane too much. They loved everything he did. They loved how nice he was to them, how funny and determined he was. Shane was like the leader Kendall never had. James loved how Shane was his Mr. Beauty partner. Why would they believe Carlos, who was just a goofball and an idiot?

"I can't believe you guy! He has plenty of reasons! He hates me because he thinks I caused Logan to… end up in the hospital! He hates me because to him, I'm just a burden! Why can't you understand that?" Carlos shouted, his voice getting higher and higher. He felt like he was going to start crying, and he didn't want his friends to see him cry.

Kendall glanced at James. "Sorry, buddy, but everything you said just doesn't make any sense. We're sorry you don't like Shane as much as we do, but you gotta learn to love everyone, alright?" Kendall told him gently.

Carlos stared back at them, his mouth agape. "He's a bully, Kendall! Why can't you get it?"

"The only thing I get is that you're using your pain against him! Carlos, we all know you're clumsy, so don't try to blame Shane because of the things you get yourself into!" James retorted. He and Kendall turned their backs, and walked into their separate rooms.

"They don't believe me." Carlos whispered to himself, tears spilling from his brown eyes.

There was no one left to get help from. He'd thought Kendall and James were his protectors, but now he didn't think so. He'd trusted them with all that, and what did they do? They tossed it all away in the trash, like his troubles didn't matter. And maybe, to them, his troubles didn't matter at all to them. There was only one person left. Carlos had doubts about him, but he could be wrong. After all, Kendall and James were wrong about Shane, too, weren't they? Carlos knew from his recent experience that he shouldn't doubt anything until he knew for sure.

He had to go visit Logan.

Line line line

Carlos did exactly what he'd thought of doing. He'd taken a taxi to the hospital, and asked the nice lady for Logan's room number.

Carlos took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Carlos almost jumped when he heard Logan's voice. It sounded normal, like how Logan sounded before. Carlos took comfort in that soothing voice, and he walked in.

Logan sat up in bed, just like he did the other times Carlos came in. But Carlos didn't know what Logan would do. Last time, Logan called him names and kicked him out. But Carlos knew that this time, things could be different.

"Hey, Logan." Logan looked up.

"Hey." He said quietly. Carlos nervously shuffled forward a little.

"H-how are you?" He asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Carlos. I'm sorry." Carlos blinked in surprise at Logan's unexpected and sudden words. He was sorry. Maybe Logan didn't mean what he'd said before. Maybe he was just angry at something else. Maybe Logan wasn't mad at him or Kendall or James at all.

"I forgive you" Carlos replied immediately, grinning.

"What? You're just forgiving me like that? How?" Logan asked disbelievingly.

"I mean, you didn't mean it. We all say things that we don't want to. Sometimes I tell people things that you tell me not to tell. And you always forgive me at the end, too." Logan grinned, thinking of memories long ago. Well, maybe only a few months ago, before all of this had happened. Before Logan had changed.

"So are you back to the old Logan?" Carlos asked, the innocence and worry dripping from his voice.

Logan smiled. "Sure am, buddy."

Carlos shifted his legs and quickly sat down in a chair. "I need your help, Logie." He stated. Logan felt warmth radiating from Carlos into him when he heard his long ago nickname. Maybe Carlos cared, maybe they all still cared. Maybe he could change for good, and everything could be fine again as long as he recovered.

"Okay… so there's this new guy named-"

"I know. Shane. He came to visit me in the hospital when I was still… crazy." Logan finished, causing Carlos to giggle. Logan missed that sound. He hadn't heard Carlos giggle or laugh in such a long time. All he'd done was cry when he was in Logan's room. And Logan knew he was to blame for that.

"Okay, so Shane… he's nice to everyone. He kind of leads us and encourages us when we're all sad. He even stopped Gustavo from yelling at us, like, ten times. He always competes with James to see who's prettier. So Kendall and James love him."

Logan didn't see where this was going. "So?"

Carlos bit his lip hard. "Well, after you were crazy and told Shane that this was all… my fault," he started, his voice cracking, "he hated me. He pushed me around and punched me and threw my breakfast away in the trash. He even punched me yesterday, and it still hurt to blink my eyes." Carlos explained. Logan looked at Carlos's face and was surprised that he hadn't noticed the swollen black and purple bruise on Carlos's eye.

"Ouch." Logan winced, his eye starting to feel weird just from looking at Carlos's. This Shane guy was horrible! So why weren't Kendall and James helping Carlos? Logan was confused. He'd always been smart, but this was one thing he couldn't solve until he knew all the details.

"So today, about 30 minutes ago, I told Kendall and James. But Logan, they… they didn't believe me. They thought I just wanted Shane out of Big Time Rush, and I was just making up the story about Shane. They said I was blaming Shane for my clumsiness." Carlos sniffled, and wiped a tear away from his eye.

Logan frowned. Kendall and James didn't believe Carlos? What had they turned into? Where else would that fist-sized bruise have come from? Logan suddenly felt anger boiling up inside him. But this time, it was for a good reason.

"I'm sorry, Carlos… This is my fault. I shouldn't have told Shane that this was your fault. It isn't, and don't you ever forget that." He said firmly, pulling Carlos into a halfway hug.

"No… even if you d-didn't tell Sh-shane, he would've still done this. There's always someone in the world who hates someone else for no apparent reason. I'm s-s-sure he's nicer to everyone else, Logan." Logan's heart almost broke when he heard Carlos say that.

"Carlos, no one would hate you. Shane's just… stupid. He's a stupid idiot who doesn't know what he's saying. And I promise that I'll get Kendall and James to get their mind out of the gutter and to open their stinking eyes!" Carlos grinned at that, his tears ceasing.

"I'm glad I came here today, Logan." He said smiling. Logan found himself smiling back. He felt so good. He didn't feel depressed or hurt or worried anymore. As long as there was still one person left in the world he liked his presence, he'd stay alive for that one person.

And Logan knew that he needed Carlos as much as Carlos needed him. And that made him smile. Logan smiled back and reached out to ruffle Carlos's black hair.

"I am too, buddy. I'm glad you came, too."

A/N- Fast update, huh? ;) And this chapter was… expectedly unexpected… if you know what I mean… which I'm assuming you don't.

So what now? Is Logan gonna help Carlos, or is he gonna collapse and die all of a sudden? What do you guys think?

And by the way, I got the name Shane from some guy that I… huh, let's just say we had some "creative differences," shall we? ;)

Well, please review! I love all of ya!

Peace, Love, and Giraffes,

Anonymous Skrtle