OMWGNOTE: I'M BACK! Thanks again to Laura for updating this for me while I was gone, and thank all of you for the reviews you left me. It was very fun reading them when I actually had internet on the ship.

All in all, I didn't really like my trip but I think I was just bitter the whole time. Plus, I'm kind of used to the time zone on the other side of the world currently, which is probably why I'm having trouble sleeping recently lol.

Oh yeah. And this is my first C25 for anything ever so that's always fun. And hopefully now updates will come quicker because it's SUMMER and I want this story done by August damnit.

"This is the part where you find out who you are. These are your friends, those that have been here from the start." –Whoever She Is, The Maine

James didn't think his mood that night could get any worse than it already was, but on his way home from the hospital, he knew that he was terribly wrong.

The entire way out of the Palm Woods and the car ride there was completely silent. James had been in the front seat beside Mrs. Knight and he kept stealing glances over at his maybe ex-friend's mother. The look on her face was stern and she did not once spare a glance in his direction, her icy glare always remaining on the road. She looked angry, and James couldn't help but think that he was the reason behind that anger. It seemed fitting because everyone else seemed to be angry with him lately, too.

Even when they arrived in the emergency room and had to wait for a little while, she still didn't speak to him. So instead, James sat silently clutching his broken wrist in his other hand and trying to keep the tears at bay. He felt like Logan and Camille were the only ones on his side now, and even despite Logan's constant reassurance that he would be there for James until the very end, James still felt iffy about it.

Logan had been nothing but kind when James showed him his burns, but when Mrs. Knight saw them, her gaze hardened and she had adopted the angry set in her face that she'd had all night long. James was most definitely under the impression that she, like Kendall and Carlos, was now angry with him as well. It seemed as though he couldn't do anything right.

Finally, James' name had been called and a nurse wheeled him into a small room. Mrs. Knight informed her of James' broken wrist and also the burns, causing James to blush. There was something very embarrassing about letting everyone know that he had hurt himself, especially when none of them seemed to understand the reason behind it.

His doctor had declared he had a "nasty break" in his wrist before he even got an x-ray. The doctor turned out to be right, anyway; after he did get an x-ray, there did reveal to be a pretty bad break in his wrist. While a nurse went to go get him a cast (purple, because he only had the choice between that and pink), his doctor treated his burns with some cream. Since they were only first degree, there wasn't a lot to be done with them. Then his doctor left him alone and took Mrs. Knight into a separate room to have a little chat about him, James assumed.

While they were gone, the nurse returned with James' cast. She seemed to take extra time to encase his wrist in it, but maybe it just seemed longer because the last place James wanted to be was that office.

Mrs. Knight and his doctor returned just as the nurse was finishing up. Mrs. Knight still looked angry, but she now looked sad at the same time. Once James was done getting his cast on, they were free to go.

James was helped into the front seat and then he and Mrs. Knight began their way back to the Palm Woods. The tension was thick and it made James very uncomfortable in the completely silent car. He kept risking glances at Mrs. Knight, only to see that she had on the same expression she had been wearing all night. Suddenly there was a lump in his throat and tears burned at the back of his eyes. He wouldn't be able to take it if yet another person was angry with him.

Finally, as they stopped at an intersection, James couldn't take the silence anymore. He spoke up in a tentative and scared voice and cursed himself for sounding so pathetic.

"Are you mad at me?"

Mrs. Knight nearly jumped at the break in silence and then turned to look at James. A single tear was steadily making its way down his cheek and he looked afraid to hear her answer.

"Oh, honey," She said, sighing. "Of course not. I'm just a little upset that all of this has happened to you. You've been through so much."

She was right, and the thought brought more tears. "Kendall and Carlos are mad at me, though," He said sadly.

The light turned green and Mrs. Knight accelerated, though at the same time her expression stiffened. "I know," She said quietly. "They shouldn't be. I had no idea they were being so cruel to you, James, and for that, I'm sorry. But if they think for one minute that they can get by with their behavior over the past few days without punishment, then they're wrong."

James didn't want Carlos and Kendall to be punished for everything they said to him. He deserved it, and it would only make them angrier with him, anyway. But he decided not to voice this to Mrs. Knight. Instead, he asked, "Did the doctor say I had to go to therapy?"

Mrs. Knight glanced at James briefly before turning her attention back to the road, frowning at the rain drops that began to splatter the window. She turned on her windshield wipers before responding. "He recommended it," She said finally after a few moments of silence. "I called your father and talked to him about it, and he and I both agree that it would probably be best."

"Oh," James said. Did that mean Mrs. Knight and his father thought he was crazy? "Um. Did my dad say anything else?"

"Yes," She said, and James hoped that it wasn't what he thought it would be, but seeing as things were going, it wasn't going to be his lucky day. "He said that he's flying in tomorrow morning and that when he gets here, he and you are going to look into options for physical therapy."

That was everything he didn't want. "Okay." He tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice but he failed miserably.

"James, you know it's okay to get a little help sometimes," Mrs. Knight reminded him as they pulled into the Palm Woods. "It doesn't mean that anything is wrong with you. It just means that you need a little more help than most people."

James wanted to believe her. He really, truly did. But that didn't change the fact that he was not at all excited about the prospect of therapy.

Mrs. Knight pushed James through the door of 2J to find Carlos and Logan lounging on the couch and watching television. James' doctor had given him orders to give his wrist a break and try to avoid wheeling himself around too much, so James had allowed Mrs. Knight to push him through the lobby. Carlos and Logan looked up when they arrived, completely ignoring the program that was playing in front of them. They didn't seem too absorbed in it in the first place.

"Where are Kendall and Katie?" Mrs. Knight asked as she hung up her coat. James busied himself with poking at his new cast, afraid to meet Carlos' eyes.

Logan pushed himself up off the couch with a little difficulty because of his new brace. "Katie is downstairs, maybe in the lobby or at the pool. She didn't really specify," He explained. "And um, Kendall kind of wandered off on his own. Jo came by like twenty minutes ago because I guess they were supposed to do something tonight. I told her I didn't know where he was, but she thinks she has a pretty good idea and went off to look for him."

"Alright," Mrs. Knight said. "Thank you, Logan. I think I'll go back downstairs to get Katie, and then maybe we'll drop by Jo's apartment to see if Kendall's with her. I'll be back in a bit." Then she left again, leaving the three boys alone.

James was still sitting in his wheelchair, awkwardly picking at his cast and trying to avoid contact with Carlos. Carlos seemed to be doing the same thing, and Logan was just standing there awkwardly in the middle. He knew that both of his friends wanted to mend their relationship with one another, and seeing as neither of them were going to take the initiative, it seemed as though he would have to.

Logan limped over to where Carlos was sitting and pulled him into a standing position by the upper arm, ignoring Carlos' startled expression. He proceeded to drag Carlos along until they were both standing in front of James, and then Logan took a step back and waited for his friends to interact.

James finally looked up from his lap to look at Carlos. Carlos noted, with a sudden pang of guilt in his chest, that James looked afraid to talk to him. He realized if he wanted to fix their problem, which he desperately did, then he would have to make the first move.

He opened his mouth to speak and immediately noticed that James flinched the second his lips parted and he drew in a breath. James was afraid that he was going to start spitting out more insults at him. Carlos felt even guiltier as he realized the effects his cruelty had on his best friend.

"Hi, James," He finally said in a quiet voice. James relaxed his tense posture a bit when he heard Carlos' gentle tone.

James gave Carlos a small smile. "Hi," He responded, his voice just as quiet as Carlos'.

Carlos bent down and enveloped James in a huge bear hug, startling the younger boy completely. But once James realized what was happening, he wrapped his arms around Carlos as well.

"I'm so sorry," Carlos whispered into James' shoulder, his tears staining his friend's sweater. "If I could take back everything I said, I would James, I swear. I was just really angry and—"

"Carlos, it's okay," James interrupted, though he sound like he was still unsure on whether this was a dream or reality. "Everything's fine. I'm not mad."

Carlos pulled away from their hug and dropped so that he was kneeling in front of James. "But you hurt yourself because of me," He said tearfully. "That's not okay."

"It is okay, though," James said. "As long as you'll be my friend again."

"You never weren't my friend, James."

James had returned to his room after making up with Carlos, claiming that he was tired. It wasn't exactly a lie, though; he was tired. It was nearing nine at night but that wasn't the reason. His day had been emotionally exhausting and he could use some rest. However, he didn't go to sleep. Instead, he wheeled himself to his desk and began messing around with random objects just to pass the time until Kendall would get back. He wasn't sure if his other best friend was ready to mend things between them, but a part of him really hoped so, seeing as he and Carlos made up,

A soft knock on the door caused James to look up from where his head was buried in his arms. He mumbled something that he hoped sounded like approval and then the door opened, revealing Logan standing there with a concerned look on his face. He limped over to the desk where James was sitting at and pulled up the chair he had used just earlier that night. He had to repress a shudder at the thought of the burns covering James' skin and was quite glad that the cast adorning James' arm was now covering most of them.

Logan leaned forward and followed James' demonstration by leaning on the unoccupied space of the desk, leaving his chin resting on his arms. "How're you holding up?" He asked softly.

Instead of looking at his friend, James looked straight ahead. "I'm okay," He replied quietly.

"How was the doctor's?" Logan pressed. He could tell that James was more distressed than he was when he left.

James gave a small shrug. "Fine," He mumbled.

Logan sighed. "Can I get more than one syllable?" James still didn't say anything. "James, what happened?"

Finally, James looked towards Logan. "The doctor recommended therapy," He said, barely audible. Logan could see the fear plainly in his friend's eyes. "Plus Mrs. Knight called my dad, who now knows how much of a screw-up I am, and the minute he walks through the door he's going to send me to physical therapy, because that's the deal we made. So now I have to go to regular therapy and physical therapy, not to mention the fact that Kendall still hates me."

"Kendall doesn't hate you," Logan reassured him quickly. "You're not a screw-up, and James, it's okay that you have to go to therapy. It doesn't mean that anything's wrong with you. It just means that you need a little help. There's nothing wrong with that."

"There's everything wrong with that," James protested. "Logan, look at me. I can't do anything write. I was horrible to you and made you upset. I can't even take a few comments from Carlos and Kendall without crying, which is irritating my eyes and making me wear my stupid glasses. And now I have to go to therapy and I'm terrified."

Logan reached out his arm and put a hand on James' shoulder. "James, it's okay," He stressed. "We all make mistakes. No one is perfect. What you said to me hurt, but I'm over it. I know you didn't mean it. As far as Kendall and Carlos go, they were horrible to you, James. A lot of people, including myself, would probably have cried over what they said to you. And Jay, I already promised that I would go to every single therapy session with you, and Carlos might come, too. What's there to be scared of?"

"I don't know. I just," He paused, giving a defeated sigh. "I want to know when I started getting so stupid."

"Around the same time as me, I bet," Logan replied, giving a tight smile.

James shook his head. "You're not stupid," He told him. "It's not like you were depressed for weeks and hid it from all your friends and then resorted to self-harm when things got bad."

"Well, no, I didn't do that," He agreed, "But I was the one who refused medication after a very painful knee surgery because I thought I deserved the pain."

Immediately, James sat straight up from his hunched position and gave Logan an incredulous look. "What?"

Logan shrugged. "It's not a big deal," He said nonchalantly, as if he were talking about the weather instead of inducing himself pain. "I was just upset over what you said the night before, so when the doctor asked if I wanted pain meds, I lied and told him I was fine." James was still staring at him as if he had two heads, though, and now tears were forming in his eyes, obviously blaming himself yet again. "James, it's okay. I'm fine now. And I'll have you know that I have an entire prescription bottle of pain medication and that I'm taking the doses I'm supposed to."

James turned his chair towards Logan, like maybe it would help him get a better look at his friend. "L-Logan," He stuttered, "Why would you even think about doing that?"

"Because I thought I deserved it," Logan replied, his voice even.

But Logan's calm tone about this only made James angrier. "Logan, that's completely ridiculous—"

"It is, isn't it?" Logan interrupted. He reached out and gently took James' hand in his, carefully pulling back his friend's sleeve to reveal his whole arm. The purple cast that was now protecting James' broken wrist was now covering several of the burns, but half of them could still be seen on the parts of James' skin that weren't covered. The burns looked better than they had earlier, seeing as they were now treated and healing, but Logan's heart still twisted at the sight. In a steady voice, he said, "That's why I don't understand this."

James cheeks flushed, adding to the color that they already were. "But, Logan—"

"No buts," Logan said, interrupting again. "I'm going to bring out Rafiki method and remind you that you can run from the past or you can learn from it."

"Well obviously I can't run…" James mumbled sadly under his breath.

"That's not the point," Logan said quickly. "The point is, I know you think that you deserved the pain. I thought I deserved the pain, too. But everything is getting better, James, even if it doesn't seem like it right now. You're not going to be like this forever, buddy. I promise."

James didn't know what Logan was referring to: his paralysis or his depression. But either way, he believed in Logan. He had hope for the first time in a long time. And maybe, it would be enough to hold him over.

OMWGNOTE: Set the sails for Kendallangst, mateys. That was kind of really flamboyant of me to say huh.

Anyway, it would be really cool if you guys pulled together and reviewed because we're almost at 300! I saw Harry Potter last night and my heart is in angsty shambles so maybe that will help with writing this and finally getting up the next chapter of Inhuman and the first chapter of Safe Haven.