Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush. I am not making a profit by writing this.

Big Time Sick

James and James alone was making a public statement in front of a couple dozen reporters. Questions were spewing, cameras were flashing, and James couldn't feel more overwhelmed.

"One at a time!" James exclaimed.

"James, is it true that you and Logan are dating?" a female reporter asked.

James swallowed a lump in his throat. The stupid reporter just had to remind him of Logan. It was only a couple of hours ago that everything had gone so horribly wrong. He and Logan had broken up again, and Logan had been kicked out of the band; something James still felt responsible for.

"No. We're both single," James answered, choosing not to answer that they were still friends because after what happened, Logan made it crystal clear that he had no desire to be friends with James.

"Then what about the photo on the cover of Pop Tiger?" a male reporter asked.

James got a glimpse of the accursed thing as it was practically shoved in his face by the over-ambitious reporter. It was just a painful reminder of a happier time.

"What about it?" James responded.

"Clearly, you and Logan are holding hands," the reporter answered.

"So what? Logan and I aren't shy about physical contact. It doesn't mean we're dating!"

"So you admit there's a you and Logan?"

"No. There's a me, and there's a Logan. There's no me and Logan."

There was quite a commotion as all order was lost. Reporters kept spouting out questions. James couldn't make sense of any of them as the reporters were all talking at the same time and trying to talk over one another. However, he heard one question over all others.

"Is it true that Logan is no longer a member of Big Time Rush?" a female reporter asked.

James' words seemed to be stuck in his throat. His eyes roamed over the sea of reporters. The multitude of camera flashes was nearly enough to blind him. James felt a tightening in his chest. Of all the questions James knew he would be asked, this is the one he hoped against hope wouldn't be asked. James knew that Logan would probably see this public statement if he wasn't watching it right now. The other reporters fell silent. Now all of them forgot about their individual questions. Instead, they wanted to know the answer to this one.

"It's true. I have no further comments," James said, shielding his face with his hands as he hurriedly walked away from the media.

XXXXX

Logan flipped off the television after having watched James' public statement. It was kind of hard not to watch it because it interrupted regular programming on all basic cable channels. Logan's hands shook as he squeezed the remote tightly in the palm of his hand.

Logan had made up his mind. He wasn't going to cry over this. He wouldn't give James the satisfaction. Logan didn't know what he was going to do now. He still had to live with James. He still had to go to school with James. He still had to see James.

Logan felt very conflicted. A part of him felt like he should have just kept his mouth shut. However, the majority of him felt kind of…liberated. He had no more ties to Gustavo, Griffin, or the record company. Logan was sure that his being fired was no huge loss to them. Gustavo, Griffin, and the record company had always viewed Logan as the weakest link anyways.

"Logie, are you…okay?" Carlos asked timidly.

Logan cringed by how frightened Carlos seemed of him. He had no reason to fear him. Logan was angry at a lot of people right now, but Carlos wasn't one of them. He sighed before spinning around on his heels to face a worried Carlos.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Logan replied, motioning with his hands to the television monitor. "James just pretended like he and I never happened. Not only that, but he did it publicly too for the whole world to see."

"Logan, I'm sorry," Kendall said.

Logan scoffed.

"No, you're not, but whatever. I'm going to bed. I don't want to be awake when James gets back," Logan stated before roughly brushing past Kendall and tossing the remote aside.

Carlos and Kendall traded extremely concerned looks with one another. In all the time they've known Logan, they have never seen him so unhinged before. Logan stopped in his tracks at the beginning of the hallway.

"Be careful, you two. Don't think for one second that James won't betray the two of you if the opportunity presents itself. I stupidly thought that once upon a time, and well, look what happened," Logan said, before continuing his trek to his bedroom.

"What do we do?" Carlos asked once Logan was out of earshot.

"I don't know, Carlos. I don't think we can fix this one this time," Kendall answered.

XXXXX

It didn't take James long to notice that he had become public enemy number one overnight at The Palm Woods. People would shoot him dirty looks or say unsavory things to him under their breath, but just loud enough for James to still hear them.

Even in class, no one wanted to sit next to James; not even any of James' friends. One thing was painfully obvious to James; he no longer had any friends. Kendall sat on one side of Logan while Carlos sat on the other side. Neither Kendall nor Carlos sat near James though.

James remembered coming home last night only to find Logan sleeping, and Kendall standing guard at the door to their bedroom. Kendall wouldn't let James in to talk to or even see Logan. He said something about James already having done enough.

James had his eye on the prize, but he started to wonder if it was worth it. Yeah, he still had a career in the music industry, but it came at the expense of his best friends. It came at the expense of Logan. A solitary tear trickled down James' cheek as he longed for things to go back to the way they were.

While James was being treated like public enemy number one, everyone seemed to cater to Logan. They would give him sympathetic looks. They would give him words of condolence. They would offer to do anything for him. It was clear whose side everyone had taken.

News of what happened had spread like wildfire. It even reached as far as Minnesota. The widely shared belief was that James got Logan kicked out of Big Time Rush. No one questioned it; they just accepted it as the truth. James had received two lengthy voicemails, one from each of his parents, where they told James how disappointed in him they were. They asked him how James could do that to Logan of all people. They told him that they were ashamed to be his parents. They told him that this wasn't how they had raised James.

It was a toss-up what hurt more: James' back or his heart. His back always had at the very least a dull pain. Sometimes, it would flare up though, bringing tears to James' eyes the pain was so excruciating. Luckily, James was usually alone or made himself alone when that happened. As for his heart, James felt like it had been ripped from his chest and trampled by rhinos over and over and over again. He was used to being popular, and now he had no one. Even Katie and Mrs. Knight couldn't stand to look at James. Mrs. Knight didn't even make James a sack lunch today.

Miss Collins entered the classroom, and the first thing she noticed was how Kendall, Carlos, and Logan weren't sitting next to James. Not that she could blame them though. Her eyes found Logan's. He had always been her favorite student. He got impeccable grades. He stayed out of trouble for the most part, unless his friends roped him into doing something detention-worthy. It was because Logan was her star pupil that this was especially difficult. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

"Logan, because you are no longer in TV, film, or music, you are no longer allowed to attend school here," Miss Collins announced.

"What?" Kendall replied incredulously.

"You can't be serious!" Carlos exclaimed.

James hung his head in shame. Add yet another thing that James had done to Logan; he got him kicked out of school. James couldn't bear to look at Logan. He was afraid of what he might see. James sunk lower in his seat.

XXXXX

Logan returned to Apartment 2J defeated. He wasn't even looking where he was going; he just stared at his feet. It was like one bad thing after another kept happening to Logan. How could this get any worse?

"Logan, Mr. Bitters is here," Mrs. Knight said, gently grabbing Logan's chin, and tilting it up so that he was looking her in the face.

Logan saw that Mr. Bitters was sitting on the orange sofa in the living room sipping tea. He immediately suspected that something was up. Mr. Bitters wasn't someone that even the nicest of tenants were buddy-buddy with, yet here he was lounging in the living room, sipping tea with Mama Knight.

"What's going on?" Logan asked, afraid to even know.

Mr. Bitters set his cup down on the coffee table. He rose to his feet, and walked over to Logan. He reached into his pant pocket, and pulled out a slip of paper. He then placed the paper against Logan's chest.

"This is an eviction notice. Seeing how Gustavo is paying for your stay here, he cut the cord…at least where you're concerned," Mr. Bitters said.

"What are you trying to say?" Logan asked, his eyes welling up with tears.

Mr. Bitters sighed. He didn't really like the hockey-heads, but out of the four of them, Logan was the one Mr. Bitters liked the most; he wasn't as much trouble as the other three. Besides, as much as he hated to admit it, the hockey-heads have done nice things for Mr. Bitters. Christmas comes to mind.

"Gustavo isn't going to pay for you to stay here anymore," Mr. Bitters answered.

"But where will I go?" Logan replied.

Mrs. Knight placed her hand on Logan's shoulder.

"I talked to your mom about this, and Joanna thinks it's best if you return home to Minnesota," Mrs. Knight stated.

"But this is my home! It has been for over a year now!" Logan exclaimed.

"Unfortunately, it isn't anymore. I really am sorry, but you have twenty-four hours to vacate the apartment," Mr. Bitters said, before ducking out of the apartment.

Logan's knees buckled. Mrs. Knight wrapped her arms around Logan's slender waist, keeping him upright.

"Here, let's have a seat on the couch," she said as she proceeded to drag Logan over to the oversized piece of furniture.

"I don't want to go back!" Logan remarked.

Mrs. Knight held Logan's face to her shoulder as he cried. He couldn't stay strong anymore. He also couldn't seem to catch a break. First he got kicked out of the band. Then he got kicked out of school. Now he was getting kicked out of the apartment. It was too much for him to take all at once.

"Shh! It's okay! Everything's going to be okay!" Mrs. Knight said as she stroked the hairs on the back of Logan's head lovingly.

XXXXX

At Rocque Records, Griffin dropped in on Gustavo. He patted him on the head condescendingly.

"I saw James' public address as I'm sure everyone has by now. All I can say is good boy, Gustavo! Good boy!" Griffin commented.

Gustavo hated how Griffin treated him. The more he thought about it, the more he realized it was similar to how he treated the 'dogs.' Now that he had some time to let it all digest, Gustavo wondered if he really did the right thing.

No doubt Big Time Rush had their loyal fans that would stand by them no matter what; no matter who gets kicked out of the band. However, Gustavo was worried that with Logan gone, they would lose a sizeable chunk of their fan base. He was concerned that their concerts might not sell out anymore. He was concerned that record sales will plummet.

All Gustavo had to do to silence those doubts was remind himself of what Logan had said to him. It was practically insubordination. Logan was way out of line, and actions have consequences. After all Gustavo had done for the dogs, including Logan, for Logan to do that was practically like Logan spitting in his face. Gustavo wasn't going to stand for that.

At the same time, Gustavo had gained a newfound respect for Logan. Apparently, Kendall wasn't the only one who had "the fire." Gustavo knew he was an intimidating guy, so he couldn't help but respect anyone who had the guts to stand up to him.

It was a shame things had to turn out this way though. Gustavo was starting to actually warm up to Logan. It showed by Logan starting to get to sing the lead more in songs. It showed by Logan getting more solos. Gustavo believed in Logan and the talent he possessed.

Gustavo mentally slapped himself. He wouldn't allow himself to feel bad about what he did to Logan. His former 'dog' had basically told him that he has no talent. That didn't fly with Gustavo. Logan left him no choice. Gustavo had to make an example out of Logan. That's why he kicked him out of the band. That's why he evicted Logan from The Palm Woods. Hopefully now the other three 'dogs' would realize that Gustavo was not someone they should cross.

"I have to ask. Now that Logan's out, do you plan on replacing him or having Big Time Rush be a three-member group?" Griffin asked.

Gustavo was kind of shocked that Griffin was letting him decide.

"We won't be replacing Logan," Gustavo answered. No one can replace Logan.

To Be Continued…