.:Chapter Twenty-Five – You're Not Alone:.

Mrs. Knight hurried from her room, breezing past the boys that were sitting on the couch, as well as Katie who looked like she was getting ready to go out as the phone continued to ring. "Don't hang up, don't hang up." She said under her breath as she reached the phone.

It let out another shrill peal as she grabbed it and lifted it to her ear.

"Hello?" She shot Kendall a disapproving glance over her shoulder when she spotted him and his friends sitting on the couch, watching TV. She moved the phone to her shoulder. "Why didn't you pick up?" She asked in a loud whisper.

"Don't even bother mom," Katie stated, shaking her head as she hitched her purse up over her shoulder. "Once they're in 'the zone' you can't get them out of it."

Mrs. Knight turned her glance to her daughter. "And how come you didn't answer the phone? You heard it ringing, didn't you?"

"Sorry, mom," Katie quickly walked towards the door. "I can't hear you."

"Right," Mrs. Knight rolled her eyes as he put the phone back to her ear. "Yes, this is Kacy Knight." She placed a hand on her hip as she listened. "Oh my," she placed a hand to her chest. "What happened?" Katie paused at the door as Mrs. Knight turned and reached for a pad of paper off of the counter and started to write on it. "Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center? Got it, thanks." She hung up the phone.

"Mom, what happened?" Katie asked, walking over to her mother. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the guys getting off of the couch and walking over to them as well. "Who's at the hospital?"

"Ronan is," Mrs. Knight replied as she looked around for her purse. Kendall walked over to the coat rack that was by the door and picked it up. "Apparently he was working out at the gym with Gustavo and he hurt his knee. It looks like he needs to get some surgery done." She turned and smiled as Kendall handed her her purse. "Thanks, sweetie."

"Wait," James looked alarmed. "What about the Jacksons, are they ok?"

"I'm sure they're fine," Mrs. Knight replied distractedly, searching her purse for her keys. "Why?"

"They hate hospitals, Mama Knight," James shook his head. "They might be freaking out. Let us go with you. I want to make sure that they're ok."

"Yeah, we can't leave them there without them knowing that we're here to support them." Logan agreed. "Plus, it's been proven that people get better when they're happy. Ronan knows that the Jacksons would be worried while he's in the hospital. If we went too, maybe we can ease their anxiety and make Ronan feel better."

"Alright," Mrs. Knight replied after a second. "Let's get in the car and go."

When BTR, Mrs. Knight, and Katie got to the hospital, they quickly found Ronan's room as Gustavo was standing outside of it, talking loudly to a doctor that looked scared. Jo, Camille, Stephanie, Dak, WayneWayne, and Lizzie were waiting outside of the room as well.

They all smiled when they saw their friends approaching. "Ronan's fine," Jo announced as they got close enough. Mrs. Knight walked over to Gustavo and tried to calm him down. "Apparently he tore some cartilage, but he's fine, otherwise."

"That's good to hear." Kendall ran a hand through his hair. "Have they been here long?"

"A couple of hours or so," Camille replied. "We only got the call a half hour ago," she motioned to herself, Jo, and Camille. "But we were already out, so it didn't take long to get here. Dak and WayneWayne were already here when we got here though."

"Where have you guys been?" Carlos as Dak and WayneWayne, who were standing along with their friends. "You haven't been around lately." His eyes narrowed when he saw WayneWayne's eyes continuously darting back and forth, and wincing at every slight sound as if it was too loud for him to bear. Lizzie shook her head and looked away, looking annoyed at him.

"We've been busy," Dak replied with a shrug. "I've had a lot of rehearsals to do…things kind of got in the way." He turned his head to look at the four boys. "Kind of sucks what happened to Ronan, I mean, it seems like we can't really do anything without something big happening too." He gave a short laugh. "Bt I guess that's what happens when all of us are around, there's bound to be some drama somehow."

"What does that mean?" Stephanie asked, tilting her head to the side. "What could anyone have possibly done that could cause this karma?" She waved her hand towards Ronan's hospital room. "I mean, he was playing a game of soccer and fell over, hurting his knee, it's nothing."

"I don't know," WayneWayne's eyes shifted to the side. "I was just thinking out loud. What have you guys been up to, we haven't hung out in a while."

"We can hang out later today," Kendall offered. "After we're done at Rocque Records of course, we just finished out next song and were going to let Gustavo listen to it before we got the call that Ronan was in the hospital."

"How're the Jacksons doing?" Katie asked the question that was on everyone's minds.

They all knew that hospitals and doctors' offices made them really nervous really fast. From their lack of trust of getting better as well as constantly having to lie to those that were trying to help them when they were getting abused. It was partially traumatic any time they had to go visit one.

"Are you ok?" James watched Dak and WayneWayne for a few moments. "You look sort of….giddy."

"Maybe-"

"It's because they're high!" Lizzie snapped. Everyone turned to look at her as Dak and WayneWayne didn't seem to notice that she had even said anything. "They've been smoking marijuana recently. Apparently," she turned to Camille. "They got it from you!"

"Why would Camille have pot?" Jo laughed. "I mean, she can be a bit high strung and impulsive and over the top and-"

"I think they got the point." Stephanie interrupted. She turned to Lizzie. "But she has a point, why would Camille do pot?"

"Can Camille answer this question?" Logan spoke up. "I mean, she is standing right here. She can hear us." He turned to Camille who looked like a deer in headlights. "Did Dak and WayneWayne get the pot from you?"

"Yes." She replied after a moment.

"Told ya!" Lizzie declared.

"But I didn't use it," Camille said quietly, as all eyes had turned to her. "You know that part that I tried out for a while ago?" She widened her eyes at Logan, silently telling him not to mention that she was going to have to move. He nodded in reply. "Well, after my audition, the casting director had given it to me. I had it in my room, meaning to throw it away, but I never got around to it." She turned to Dak and her boyfriend. "I just didn't think that they would use it."

"Dude, its stress." WayneWayne shrugged. "It makes people do crazy things.

"Not enough stress in the world could make anyone do that." Katie insisted, her upper lip curling with disgust. She turned to Lizzie. "You knew about this and you didn't tell me?" She asked.

"It's my family's business, why should I have to tell you?" Lizzie replied. She bobbed her head to the side. "I didn't know what to do, so I kept it a secret." She looked around at everyone. "It's Hollywood, weird things happen."

"But we need to make a pact right now," Kendall said firmly. "Just like the one that the four of us made when we first got here. We're not going to let Hollywood change us anymore. It had before but that's because we weren't relying on all of our friends to help us get through our problems." He turned to Dak and WayneWayne. "You've gotta promise not to do this again." He added. "If you have the feeling of doing it, then let us know."

Logan shook his head. "If they only smoked it a few times, then they aren't addicted to it, they'll be fine."

"I'm tired of having to constantly go to the gym to work off of my binges too." WayneWayne added as he grimaced, rubbing his stomach.

"Next time you need to go to the gym, take me and I'll whip your ass into shape." Stephanie said and then poked James in the side. "It'll be a tag-team effort; we'll run them into the ground."

"How is that your lame speeches always seems to get everybody into a good mood?" Dak asked Kendall, shaking his head. "You should become a public speaker; you definitely have some talent there."

"Yeah, if his teeth don't get knocked out first." Katie teased.

"Why do I have the feeling that we just missed some sort of bonding moment?" Sydney asked as he walked out of Ronan's hospital room with his siblings behind him. "Ronan's going to be fine," he said with a slight frown. "He has surgery scheduled for tomorrow, since they want to watch him overnight."

"Are you guys ok?" Mrs. Knight asked.

"We're fine." Rhuben said with a shrug. "So the apartment is going to be quiet for tonight, so what?" She looked around at everyone. "But thanks for you guys coming out to support him. It means a lot."

"You're our friends," Stephanie moved over and gave her a light hug. "Why wouldn't we come out and support him?"

"Thanks." Noah said again. He turned to Gustavo. "He said that you can leave, he doesn't want you to start harassing the staff."

"These people don't have a good amount of people skills." Gustavo grunted. "But if that's what he wants, then let's get out of here." He turned around and seemed to just notice Mrs. Knight, Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James were there as well. "Dogs, you have that song for me?" He asked.

"Way to show that you care about your friend." Mrs. Knight said as she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, don't worry about your boyfriend, Kacy," Gustavo said as he slapped her on the back. "He doesn't care if people are around to wish him well. He doesn't like the attention. If you keep worrying, you're just going to stress yourself out. And there's no way to get rid of stress than listening to a new song from your son!"

"Is it just me or is he acting weirder than usual?" Riley murmured out of the side of her mouth.

"He must still be reeling from his father's death, either that or his brain finally cracked with the anticipation of the second CD." Sydney whispered back.

"Not that there's much of a difference."

"Good one."

"Well," Kendall clasped his hands together. "Before we start, I just wanted to say that I wrote this song for, you, Riles," her eyebrows rose as a weary expression slid onto her face. "Because I noticed that you've been kind of down lately and I thought that it would make you feel better. This song is called You're Not Alone." He waited as the backing track came through the speakers, adjusting his lyrics sheet on the music stand in front of him, and started singing.

"I bet you didn't notice, first time your heart was broken, he sang and then Logan came into the lyric with him. "You called me up and we talked til the morning." Logan stepped back from his microphone and Kendall started again. "And the time that you were stranded, I was there before you landed. He was a no show; I made sure you got home."

Logan started singing again, pressing his hands against his headphones so they were pushed against his ear further. "I've been right there, for every minute. This time, it's no different. Whatever happens you should know."

"That you're not alone, girl, look over your shoulder. You don't have to wonder." The four boys sang, their voices blending together easily. Kendall's held a little more power to it, making his the lead vocals on the song while the others harmonized with him. "Cause you know, you know, you know that you're not alone, girl. I'll be there to hold you, I'll stay til it's over."

"And you know, you know, you know." Carlos and Logan sang together.

"That you're not alone, that you're not alone." Kendall took a deep breath as he stared above the heads of his friends as they listened to their song. He willed himself not to look anyone in the face, knowing that it would cause him to lose his nerve and mess up. "All the days that you were stressed out, feeling like pulling your hair out. They were all missing but I was here listening. You gotta believe in me," he placed his hands on his chest, feeling his heart beating against his ribcage. "Even if you can't see me there, I'll catch you when you fall."

James stepped up his microphone, taking over the next line, and singing effortlessly. No matter what kind of a song it was, he was almost always able to blend into the tone and the mood of it with little to no problem. "Cause I'll be right there, for every minute. This time, it's no different. Whatever happens you should know."

"That you're not alone, girl, look over your shoulder. You don't have to wonder. Cause you know, you know, you know that you're not alone, girl. I'll be there to hold you. I'll stay til it's over. And you know, you know, you know. That you're not alone. That you're not alone."

"I'll be here for you no matter what comes around the corner," Carlos sang, his ever present smile on his face. He lightly swayed along with the song. "As long as I am breathing, you won't have to worry no more."

"Cause you're not alone, girl, look over your shoulder," Kendall lowered his voice to a soft tone, easily matching the tone of the song, making it sound more like a ballad than the pop-rock melody that the rest of the song held. "You don't have to wonder, cause you know, you know."

"Cause you're not alone, girl, look over your shoulder. You don't have to wonder. Cause you know, you know, you know that you're not alone, girl. I'll be there to hold you. I'll stay til it's over. And you know, you know, you know, that you're not alone. That you're not alone. That you're not alone. That you're not alone."

"I bet you didn't notice," James breath-sang, holding his hands waist high as he sang the finishing lines of the song. "First time your heart was broken." He backed up and looked over at Kendal last as he leaned towards his microphone, eyes closed.

"You called me up and we talked til the morning." Kendall finished.

"AMAZING!" Gustavo shout-sang, punching a fist into the air as Kelly cheered, jumping up and down excitedly. "I knew that I had done something right when I saw the 'fire' in you!" Kendall grinned with pride as Gustavo was never one to outright compliment any of them. He waved the boys out of the recording studio.

"Great job, guys!" Kelly all but squealed, holding onto her PalmPilot. "All of the girls that listen to this CD are going to fall in love with this song! It'll be like you're talking directly to them, bringing the band and their fans that much closer."

"Oh, well, that's the plan." Logan agreed, not able to keep the smile off of his face, although he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"That was an amazing song, Big Bro." Katie said as she wrapped her arms around Kendall's neck for a hug. Kendall wrapped his arms around her waist and stood up straight as he hugged her back. "And if she doesn't like it, then she's nuts." She whispered encouragingly into his ear.

"Thanks, Katie." Kendall replied.

"Gustavo's right," Sydney agreed as he gave James a high-five and Carlos a fist-bump. "That was one of the best songs that you guys have done in the past year." He looked at Kendall. "Has your mom heard it yet?"

"Not yet," Kendall said as he shook his head. "I was waiting for the right time to let her hear it."

"But we have to give Kendall props," Carlos said as he slung an arm around his friend's shoulders. "We used to make fun of him back home, all the time, when he told us the first time that he would write a few things down, making songs out of it. But now that he's written two of them and has helped on some others, he might be the next best songwriter in LA."

"Well, if you can focus enough to do something like that when the time comes, then I think that you'll be able to do it." Sydney agreed with a nod. "I really liked it." He reached up and gave his older friend a high-five. "When you held out the notes at the end was amazing, you'd definitely give Rhu a run for her money if you ever had a competition to see who can hold out a note longer." He was referring to Rhuben's singing talent where she was able to hold a note out longer than any of her siblings. (They've had competitions about it before and she was always able to beat them by at least thirty seconds).

"What did you guys think?" Katie asked as she turned to her boyfriend and her best friend. Patrick and Noah stayed silent for a few moments. "You haven't said anything about it yet."

"I think the song is great," Patrick replied and Noah nodded silently beside him. "I just think that you should say your goodbye's now, because he's going to die." He concluded and burst out into hysterical laughter. Noah just smiled, flipping his hair from his face.

Kendall then turned to Riley and Rhuben, noticing that the twin girls hadn't moved from their spots and hadn't said a word at all about the song. They just stayed sitting squeezed in the same chair, looking straight ahead, a look of concentration on their faces.

"So?" Kendall asked Riley with a small smile on his face. She shifted her eyes to look at him, but other than that, didn't move. "What'd you think?" Riley continued to look back at him. "I'm only asking because you know that I really value your opinion on this kind of thing, and since it's only my second attempt of writing a song, I figured that you would give me an honest response to it."

"Well," Riley slowly got to her feet. "First thing is, I was never heartbroken over James. I wouldn't be heartbroken over being rejected, even if it was by someone as good looking as he is." She leaned over and waved a hand at James. "No offense, Handsome."

"None taken," he replied with a smile and a nod.

"And the second thing?" Kendall prompted, nervously.

"Are you insane?" Riley and Rhuben snapped in unison. The only difference being that Riley was on the verge of yelling it and Rhuben was on the verge of whispering it. But the expressions of anger and annoyance on their faces were completely identical. If it wasn't for the different colored eye shadow they were wearing as well as the different colored streaks in their hair, no one would be able to tell them apart.

"Ok, that was definitely not the reaction that I was looking for." Kendall commented, wiggling a finger in his ear.

"And you thought that the horrified look that she had on her face throughout the whole song was?" Logan replied, raising his eyebrows as he turned to Kendall. Kendall slowly narrowed his eyes back at him, gritting his teeth together.

"I thought I was being nice!" He ground out.

"What you were being, was an idiot!" Rhuben shot back, her accent immediately coming to her tone.

"Ok, so we're just going to leave." Ronan stated as he got up and started to usher everyone towards the door.

"Like hell we will!" Patrick stated as he and Noah refused to move from the couch. Patrick had a large, excited smile on his face. "I was waiting for them to do something stupid like this for ages and they finally did it!"

"I hate to admit it," Noah said with a small smile of his own. "But I have to agree with Patrick on this one. It's going to be nothing short of entertaining." He turned back to his sisters, who were glaring at him, and his smile was immediately wiped from his face. He gave a nervous laugh. "But when you see one fight, you've seen them all." He tapped Patrick on the shoulder. "Didn't Katie and Lizzie ask us to go to the mall?"

"I think you're right," Patrick said as he got to his feet and started to back away from his sisters. "They did, and we'll be late if we don't leave right now." He grabbed onto Sydney, who hadn't moved. "You too, Syd."

"Aww," Sydney's shoulders slumped. "I never get to see the good stuff."

"Tell you what, next time, we'll tape it." Noah said as he picked up his baby brother and rested him on his shoulder as the others left the room.

"Logie, could you explain something to me?" Riley asked in a fake-sweet tone. She clamped her hand down onto Logan's shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain, although she didn't move her hand. "If Rhu was avoiding you after you wrote that song for her, and you thought it was a bad thing, how come you didn't stop Kendall," she used her free hand to smack Kendall on the chest as she said his name. "From doing the same thing?"

"Yeah," Kendall turned to his smart friend. "How come you didn't stop me from doing it too?"

"Frankly," Logan shrugged. "I didn't think you were that stupid."

Rhuben snorted. "Well, you obviously thought wrong."

"Ok," Kendall held his hands up so everyone would stop talking. He turned to Logan. "Thinking that you don't have to physically strap her to a chair to get her to talk to you, why don't you and Rhu talk here, and Riles and I'll go find someplace to talk as well." He turned to Riley. "If that's ok with you?"

"I'm surprised you're asking." Riley said with a vicious bite to her tone. She shrugged as she looked him right in the eye with her steely gaze. "But I guess you'll stop being a hoon eventually. Why not start now?"

"I'm not going anywhere," Rhuben shook her head firmly. "Because it's all plain and simple, we," she pointed to her sister and herself. "Hate it when people write songs about us. Unlike most girls who would probably swoon at that kind of thing, it's something that we can't stand."

"Why?" Kendall asked.

The girls stayed silent and Logan studied them for a moment. He knew that there was something that they weren't saying that was the real reason why it was bothering them. He thought back to when he wrote the song for Rhuben, she had avoided him for days, and he was glad that she was finally talking to him again, even if it meant that she was mad at him. At least she was talking.

She's right though, most girls would like something like this, but it just cause them to back away even further. Logan let out a sound as he finally realized what was so wrong about it.

"Because it would make them realize that there's someone out there that actually cares for them in the way they want, but are still too afraid to accept it." Logan said quietly. He looked over at Kendall and gave him a soft smile before turned back to the twin girls. "We're not going to make you talk if you don't want to. So when you do want to talk, you know where to find us."

Logan looked at Rhuben once more before turning on his heel and leaving the room. Kendall started after him, but stopped in the doorway, looking back at the two girls. "When are you going to realize that sometimes needing someone isn't a bad thing?" He asked before leaving the room as well.

Riley lightly licked her lips as her eyes scanned the hockey rink.

It didn't take her long to find Kendall; he was at the far end of the rink, smacking pucks into the net over and over again with more force each time. When he missed the last one, he cursed loudly, his word echoing across the arena, effectively hitting her in the face.

She took a breath before walking down the aisle towards the ice. If he had noticed her, he didn't acknowledge her. He kept his head down and continued to skate around as he gathered the hockey pucks. Riley pulled herself up onto the side of the rink, dangling her legs over the ice as she continued to watch him for a few moments.

"I thought I'd find you here," she commented, her words causing Kendall to pause for a moment.

"According to you I'm not hard to find," Kendall replied, keeping his eyes on the ice. "I'm so predictable." He shrugged. "I guess I am."

Riley shook her head, leaning back a little, bracing herself on the side of the rink, using her hands. "You take things that I say way too seriously. About 90% of the time, I mean what I say, the other 10% not really."

Kendall snorted, finally turning to look at her, his green eyes piercing her blue ones. "It's kind of hard to figure out whether or not you mean what you say, especially since you don't think before you speak."

Riley merely shrugged. "I have a habit of running on impulse than judgment." She replied.

"So I've noticed." Kendall turned and slapped a puck into the goal, setting off an alarm. He gave a short smile before moving to pick up another one.

"Listen, about what happened earlier today," Riley started, rubbing the back of her neck.

"You don't have to say anything," Kendall interrupted her, turning his skates to the side so he could stop and turned to look at her. He rested his stick on the ground and then rested his arms on the top as he shrugged. "I got your message loud and clear. You don't like the idea of people expressing their feelings for you, sorry."

"Ouch." Riley quirked an eyebrow. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you actually meant that."

"What makes you think that I didn't?" Kendall challenged.

"The fact that you're you."

"Good observation."

"Thanks."

Riley thought for a moment before jumping off the side of the rink, her feet making a light smack sound as her shoes hit the ice. She moved over to Kendall and reached her hand out, taking his hockey stick from his hand. She absentmindedly twirled them around her hands as she looked at him. "I wanted to apologize for the extreme way that I reacted to you today."

"It's alright," Kendall shrugged.

"No, it's not," Riley shook her head. "You wanted to make me feel better and I basically threw all of your hard work right back into your face." She scuffed her foot against the ice. "I wasn't really nice about it; my first reaction to discomfort is to shoot it down as quickly and as harshly as I possibly can."

"You must mean it, since you don't apologize much."

"It's a good song….lots of your fans will like it. I'm just surprised that, knowing you, you didn't do any of your earlier songs like that."

"Well…" Kendall trailed off, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh my god, you did, didn't you?" Riley shook her head. She sighed. "Which one?"

"Ones." Kendall corrected her quietly. He licked his lips. "Uh, Worldwide and…Cover Girl. Logan did Nothing Even Matters for Rhu." He noticed her confused look. "What?"

She hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "You didn't even write Worldwide or Nothing Even Matters." She pointed out.

"Good point," Kendall retracted his earlier statement. "Then when we sing it, you're our inspiration."

Riley's upper lip curled with discomfort. "I thought…I thought that you wrote Cover Girl for Katie." She said slowly and then adopted a look of snark. "I mean, Worldwide, that's something as clichéd that you would do. But Cover Girl…I wasn't so sure about that one."

"I wrote that song for you," Kendall replied, flashing a small smile. "It just helped that Katie's problems at the time was what could be used for the song too. I could easily use it as a cover, depending on your reaction to it." He then grimaced. "Just don't tell her that, she was really excited over knowing that I wrote a song for her since I haven't done it before."

"Secret's safe with me," Riley replied and then turned the hockey stick around so the curved end was pointing at Kendall. "So out of everyone," she hooked the hockey stick around his waist and pulled him towards her, causing him to smile. "How is it that I got stuck with the ever so clichéd, romanticism obsessed Hockey-Head like you?" She gave him a teasing smile.

"Just lucky, I guess." Kendall replied as he took the stick back from her.

"I guess," Riley's smirk faded and she pulled her hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry." She said after a moment. "About everything that happened."

"I'm not," Kendall said, startling her. "You wouldn't be you if you didn't react the way you did." He grabbed the hockey stick back from Riley. "Let me finish up here and then we can get something to eat." He skated backwards few paces. "If that's ok with you." He added.

"There's something I have to tell you." Riley replied, grabbing his attention. He turned his skates to the side and stopped moving backwards. "You know how I've been acting funny lately, always being short tempered and everything?" Kendall nodded. "Well, when you confronted me about it when we were working on Superstar, I didn't realize how bad it had gotten."

"How bad what had gotten?" Kendall pressed.

Riley's lower lip trembled for a moment. "I'm bipolar." She replied. "I have Bipolar Disorder," she corrected herself. "Basically…from my abuse and from my parents dying, it's a way that I show depression. My moods change pretty quickly, and I get angry really easily."

"So that's why you hate people?" Kendall nodded slowly, as if it all made sense.

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't hate people. I strongly dislike them, but I don't hate them, there's a difference."

Kendall looked away for a moment, letting it all sink in. He flipped the hockey stick over in his hands as he looked down at it. It all made sense really. He knew that from abuse you could get depression, all of the research that he had done after he found out about what was going on with them had said that you should be on the lookout for it. He knew about Bipolar disorder as well, lots of health classes taught him about it. He just never thought that he would know someone that suffered from it.

"So?" Kendall looked back at her.

"So?" She repeated. "That's not usually the kind of response I get to that sort of thing."

"Well, I'm not a normal person; I figured you'd realize that by now." Kendall said. "I'm glad that you told me, it shows that you really trust me. I'm glad that you're opening up." He placed the hockey stick on the ice and rested his arms on it. "If you ever need someone to talk to or to vent to or whatever, just like before, I'll always be there to listen and to help you out."

Riley pushed him away from her. "Don't get all mushy on me, Hockey-Head."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

A/N: This chapter didn't really turn out as well as I had hoped, but I hope you guys liked it anyway.

Cheers,

-Riles