Chapter 21
A/N Thanks for the reviews everyone.
"Lucy?" Kendall asked her, still confused on where he was.
Lucy's face was covered with tears and sweat. The way she was breathing it seemed like she had been running all over the place.
"Lucy?" Kendall repeated. "Where is Jo? Where's Katie?"
"Jo should be finishing up at the set soon then she will probably be heading back to the Palm Woods. She's worried sick about you." Lucy wasn't sure she heard Kendall right. Did he just ask her where Katie was? Lucy was no afraid that Kendall was losing his grasp on reality.
"Katie- Katie's gone Kendall. Dint you remember? Are you okay?" She held his arms tightly.
Kendall's eyes started to regain some focus as he remembered where he was. He knew it was a dream but it felt so real that for a moment he thought otherwise.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Kendall maneuvered his body so that Lucy would release his arms. He didn't even look her in the eyes as he stood up.
"Kendall, wait. Where are you going?" She made a move to touch him but he flinched away from the contact.
"Nowhere. Doesn't matter." He said weakly.
"Kendall Knight you stop right there!" He stopped but he still didn't look at her.
"What's going on? Jo said that she hurt you but it was all a big misunderstanding."
"I don't want to talk about it." He said simply.
"So you are going to avoid me? Avoid Jo? What about the guys?"
Lucy was starting to get angry but what she really felt was fear, fear that Kendall was slipping away, fear that he was shutting down emotionally. She knew Kendall could not take another betrayal that's why she was so adamant in telling Jo to be careful when it came to that area in Kendall's life but then again she really couldn't blame Jo because Lucy had not yet heard the whole story. If it was true that it was just all misunderstanding then Lucy knee that she had to make sure that Kendall and Jo at least talked to try and work things out.
Kendall just shook his head slightly as if to indicate that he didn't care anymore. Lucy's fear increased, she was right he was shutting down. She had to bring him back now before he committed himself to the downward spiral that she knew all too well.
"Kendall I spoke to Jo. She loves you so much. She told me that it was all a misunderstanding." Lucy was desperate to find an emotional anchor to keep Kendall from slipping away.
"Oh she told you that did she? what else did she tell you? Did she happen to tell you that she and Jett were kissing off screen? Did she tell you that I gave her a chance to tell me about and she didn't? Did she?" Kendall snapped now. He was tired of Lucy questioning him. He just wanted to go on his way.
Lucy was confused, Jo didn't tell her any of that. How much of it could be true and how much of it is Kendall's fears coming out? What Kendall was saying didn't sound like Jo at all. "No she didn't tell me any of that but if she says it was understanding maybe you should trust her."
Trust? Kendall's anger was out in full force now. "Who are you to lecture me about trust?"
Kendall's words were meant to hurt Lucy and hurt her they did but instead of pushing her away they just increased her determination. "Yes Kendall, I know that I shouldn't even be mentioning your name and trust in the same sentence but I am anyway. I'm your friend, remember? You forgave me."
"Well maybe that was a mistake too!" Kendall was screaming now.
Lucy was crying openly now at what Kendall was saying to her. His words were tearing her heart apart but she forced herself not to break down. She had to remind herself that this wasn't really Kendall but all his fears and pain coming out to the surface. "I understand if that's how you feel but think Kendall. One of the reasons you fell in love with Jo is that she was nothing like who I used to be. She's not me, Kendall! She loves you. Please talk to her." Lucy could not believe that on top of everything else she had to yell at the guy who she loves to work out his relationship with someone else.
Kendall was furious but he was tired of arguing. "Fine! You want me to talk to her? I will! After that will you leave me alone?!"
Lucy wiped the tears from her eyes. Then pain of Kendall wanting her to leave him alone was more than she could bear so she simply nodded weakly.
"Okay. Tell Jo to meet at the Palm Woods park in an hour. I'll take a cab." Kendall didn't even look at her as he stormed off.
Lucy wanted to stay with him, to try and comfort him some more and to make sure that he really would go and talk to Jo but Kendall's words had already wounded her so deeply that she couldn't take anymore. She took a few minutes to compose herself and then dialed Jo's number.
Jo arrived at the Palm Woods as soon as she could. She went straight up to the guys' apartment and not even stopping at her own to let her dad know that she was back from the set. She was hoping against hope that the guys had found Kendall and that they were all waiting to surprise her in the apartment. That hope was dashed when she reached the apartment. The door was wide open and she saw the Logan on sofa talking loudly on the phone.
He saw her enter the room and raised a finger for her to wait a moment. She waited as patiently as she could but after waiting all day her patience was very thin. He finally got off the phone and told her what she was dreading to hear.
"Still no word. James and Carlos are looking everywhere." Logan's informed her sadly.
"What about the police?" Jo was furiously thinking of what options were left to them.
"They won't help us. Technically some one had to be gone for at least twenty four hours before that can be declared missing." Logan muttered something silently, probably about the ridiculousness of such a rule.
Jo was just to ask of they had heard from Lucy when her phone started ringing. She fumbled to grab it, she was sure it was Kendall.
"Kendall?" She spoke into the phone, not even bothering to check the caller Id.
"It's Lucy." Jo's heart fell when she didn't hear her boyfriend's voice on the other line but she felt her hopes lift a little when Lucy told her what had just happened. Jo did not miss the pain in Lucy's voice as she was relating the story. Jo could hear Lucy's voice break several times when she got to the parts where she was trying to convince Kendall to talk to Jo and when he was saying hurtful things to her.
Jo expressed her thanks to Lucy for braving Kendall's fury to convince him to come talk to her.
"Just fix this, Jo. Please." Lucy told her before ending the call.
Jo then looked at Logan who was practically bouncing up and down in excitement from what he could piece together from the conversation.
Jo told him what Lucy had just told her. She told him that he should call James and Carlos back but she wanted to be the first to speak with Kendall. This was all her fault and she was determined to be the one to fix it.
She looked at her watch to check the time and saw that it was almost the time Kendall had designated for their meeting. She prayed that he would listen to her and that she would be able to reach him past the irrationality. Jo knew that she would have a difficult time breaking through the walls that he had set up around himself but if she could calm him down enough to listen completely what she had to say Jo was confident that his feelings for her would win out.
She paced nervously around the park waiting for Kendall to arrive. It was starting to get late so there were very few people left in the usually busy park. That was just as well, she thought. It would be easier to work things out with Kendall if there weren't people around to hear them. She ran through the mental list of things she would tell Kendall, hoping it would be enough. It had to be enough. She didn't actually cheat on him but then again she wasn't really honest with him either. Jo sighed at herself. She could have avoided all of this if she had just told him the truth right away. At least Jett was long gone, she hoped that news would help Kendall as well.
She looked at her watch to check the time and saw that it was almost the time Kendall had designated for their meeting. She prayed that he would listen to her and that she would be able to reach him past the irrationality.
Jo was still thinking about all the things she could say to Kendall when she felt an arm grab her roughly from behind. She was a little concerned that Kendall would touch her so roughly but pushed the thought aside because she was elated that he had kept his promise to show up.
"Kendall I'm so happy you came." Jo turned to face him but instead of her boyfriend she found herself looking at Jett. He looked furious and drunk.
"Wrong guy." Jett said menacingly.
Jo rolled her eyes angrily. Jett was the reason for all of this. She wanted him gone before Kendall got here and got the wrong idea. "Get out of here, Jett. I don't have time to deal with you."
Jett tightened his grip on Jo's arm causing her to wince in pain. "You ruined my career you stupid bitch! I am a big Hollywood star and you got me kicked off the show!"
"You did that to yourself, you self-centered ego maniac." Jo tried to pull her arm away but he wouldn't let go.
"No you did this to me and you are going to pay for it."
Jo realized belatedly what Jett was thinking. He was drunk and he had the same insane look on his face. Jo knew she was in trouble and Jett confirmed what she feared a second later when he pushed her into the ground.
Jett reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a knife. Jo eyes went wide with fear. She looked around and there was no one around to help her. Jett smiled as he raised the knife and prepared to plunge it down.
Jo screamed louder than she had ever screamed before.
Kendall took a cab back to the Palm Woods and headed straight for the park. He was exhausted physically and emotionally and was regretting his decision to come and speak with Jo. He really didn't want to deal with another emotional confrontation. He was so tired, his eyes were swollen red from crying and the lack of sleep. It was a struggle just to keep them open. He slowly made his way through the park, purposely dragging his feet to postpone the inevitable.
He sighed wearily, at least after this he could just disappear. He wanted to shut down so badly. His thoughts turned to his nightmare while walking.
He could still see so clearly the phantoms in his nightmares. Why didn't you save her? Why didn't you save her? Yeah. Kendall thought. I'm going to save her from me.
That's when he heard the scream. Even if he could not see who had screamed, he knew right away who it was. Kendall ran instinctively ran forward forgetting everything else except for getting to where the scream originated from.
He ran harder than ever before, his exhaustion completely forgotten. He reached a clearing and saw Jo lying on the floor with a figure standing over her. The figure had his hand raised and in the hand he saw the glint of a knife.
Kendall propelled forward faster than he thought possible. He slammed into the figure with bone jarring force. They tumbled downward in a mass of limbs. One of Kendall's hands held the figure's hand tightly, desperately trying to keep him from bringing the knife to bear while his other hand was alternating between trying to punch Jo's attacker and trying to choke him.
Both of them were landing blow after blow and Kendall started getting dizzy from the punishment his already tired body was receiving. Kendall knew from years of hockey that he needed to gain some leverage if he had any hope of winning this fight. With both of his arms already occupied Kendall shifted his legs so that he was wrapped around the other person's legs. Kendall leaned back as much as he could and drove his head forward slamming his head into his opponent in a concussive head butt. Kendall was instantly dizzy from the force of the blow. He felt blood start to drop from his head making his eyes sting and obstructing his vision but the move seemed to work because his opponent staggered back in a daze. Unlike Kendall he was unprepared for such an impact and did not have the chance to brace himself. He wobbled around in a daze, his eyes were completely out of focus. It was only then that Kendall recognized who it was. Kendall stood up quickly, his anger refocusing him and moved forward to resume the fight but Jett was staring strangely at Kendall with a shocked face, he wasn't even looking at Kendall face but at his midsection.
Jett looked confused for a second and turned to run. Kendall let out a breath of relief when Jett took off. Kendall's legs seemed to buckle beneath him and before he even knew it he hit the ground. He felt strangely light headed and the blood covering his eyes made it hard to see anything clearly.
Jo was a statue the entire fight. It seemed to last for hours but probably happened in less than a minute. She saw Jett take off running and Kendall hit the ground. Jo pulled herself up and rushed over to Kendall. She lifted his head up and laid it across her lap. She tried to use her sleeve to wipe the blood away from Kendall's eyes.
She saw his eyes glaze open and close a few times. She remembered Kendall talking about concussions during the numerous times he tried to teach her about hockey and she remembered how important it was that he stay awake.
"Kendall, babe, its Jo. I'm here. Stay awake. I love you." Jo was saying anything she could think of to keep him conscious.
"It's over Kendal. He's gone. You saved me again." Jo told him, she was almost hysterical now. She looked around to see if she could find her phone to call 911.
Kendall muttered something softly, his eyes opening a little.
"What is it Kendall? What did you say?" Jo was glad he was responding somewhat.
"It looks like your dumb ass still doesn't know who to say away from." Kendall repeated the words he had said to her in what seemed like a lifetime ago.
Jo smiled and repeated her reply. "You're an asshole Kendall, but a brave asshole." Kendall reached his hand up to touch Jo's face and she noticed it was covered in more blood. She was about to tell him that she loved him when he lost consciousness again. Kendall's hand dropped from Jo's face to his midsection. Jo's gaze followed his hand down and what she saw there terrified her. The knife was buried to the hilt in Kendall's abdomen. Blood was pouring out of the wound and soaking his clothes in a deep crimson. Jo didn't know what to do. She reached over to pull the knife out but as soon as she touched it Kendall shivered in pain. Jo backed off quickly and started yelling for help.
She gently laid Kendall's head on the ground and ran to her phone to call an ambulance. She was so panicked that the operator could barely understand her. When she had finally conveyed what had happened the operator told her that police and paramedics were on the way but Jo had to stay on the line. Jo ignored her completely, dropped the phone and ran back to Kendall returning his head to its place on her lap.
"Please wake up Kendall, I need you. I love you." Jo was crying non-stop now. A few minutes later she heard some people yelling and calling out for her. She barely heard them. She was still focused on her boyfriend bleeding out in front of her.
She fought the paramedics as they tried to pull her off Kendall. She was still screaming Kendall's name as they pulled her away. She heard someone yell her name as she looked to see Camille and the rest of the guys running towards her. Jo collapsed in their arms when they reached her.
The last thing Jo remembered was Kendall letting out a scream of pain as the knife was pulled away from his abdomen. Jo fainted into the arms of her friends.
A/N Wow. I really liked this chapter what did you think? Thanks to those who have been reviewing. The reviews are awesome and make me want to write even more lol. Only 2 or 3 chapters more to go. Please keep reviewing, I really appreciate it.