A/N. I have no self-control because I'm posting 'Head On Collision' as soon as I'm done this story. Forget 'Nightmares' and 'How to Save a Life' for now. They'll come. Later. Anyway, here is the penultimate chapter of 'Innocence Lost'. I don't own anything.
The quiet apartment was exactly what everyone needed after the long exhausting morning. After Officer Hendricks led them through the swarm of reporters outside the courthouse, he saw to it that they made it back to the Palm Woods without any trouble and even stayed in Apartment 2J in case their peace was disrupted by anyone.
As soon as they got back the boys pulled out the sofa bed again and were all lying down, drifting in and out of consciousness while they listened to the conversation the adults were having in the kitchen. Carlos was the first one to give into his exhaustion and he laid curled up at the bottom half of the bed, one hand resting on top of Logan's foot as if he was trying to keep him from leaving again. His helmet was discarded on the floor below him because Carlos had all the security he needed. Logan fell asleep soon after Carlos, smashed in between James and Kendall. Any trace of the earlier inner storm within him was gone and Logan slept with a peaceful look on his face. James exchanged a sleepy grin with Kendall before he rested his head against the comfortable back of the couch, falling asleep almost instantly.
Kendall was awake for long after his friends had dozed off. Part of him wanted to join the adults in the kitchen to see what they were talking about but the one time he shifted his position to see them better, Logan flinched in his sleep and grabbed clumsily for Kendall's wrist with his hand. After that, Kendall didn't dare move an inch, not sure if he wanted to anyway.
A tiny grin crossed Kendall's tired face as he surveyed his friends. If the situation hadn't been so serious, he knew that Katie would have been taking dozens of pictures with her digital camera and threatening blackmail whenever the situation prevented itself.
"I wish."
Kendall turned to see his little sister watching them with a smirk. Not wanting to disturb Logan again, he carefully lifted his free hand to beckon her closer. Katie didn't hesitate and climbed up to the small space next to Kendall and snuggled as close as possible to her big brother as possible. "I was so scared." She admitted in a hushed whisper, her wide brown eyes watching her sleeping big brothers carefully. "I was down in the lobby and I saw it on the news. All I could think of was that everyone I loved was in the same courtroom where some guy was shooting a gun."
Kendall wrapped an arm around his "baby sister" and pulled her even closer to him. "I know. I can't imagine what was going through your mind. Even when I knew that everyone else got out I was still really freaked."
"It's like," Katie sat up slightly so she could look at Kendall. "I mean, I thought you guys would be safe there and. . . you weren't. Kelly knew what happened too but Carlos' sisters didn't so we had to stay calm for their sake. We played games to keep everyone busy but I was distracted until Mrs. Garcia called."
"Well, I know it must have been terrifying but I think you were really brave, Katie." Kendall said softly. He looked at the twelve-year-old sadly. "You've grown up a lot lately."
Katie gave him a small smile and shrugged. "That's okay. As long as I get to grow up with you guys." She looked at Kendall anxiously. "We're going to be okay, right?"
"Of course." Kendall nodded firmly. "Absolutely. We just need time, that's all."
She smiled even more at his words, reassured. "I love you, Kendall. I have the four best big brothers in the world."
"We love you too, Katie." Kendall replied sleepily. "All of us." He felt her pat him on the head and say something about getting some sleep and then she was gone to go back with Carlos' sisters. Kendall shut his eyes then and allowed the voices of the adults provide a soothing background noise as he drifted off to sleep.
He awoke suddenly when Logan jerked upwards, startling them all into full awareness and catching the attention of every adult in the kitchen. "You're okay, Logan." Kendall mumbled. He sat up and wrapped an arm around the smaller boys' shoulders, frowning when he could feel Logan shaking.
"What happened?" Carlos sat up, rubbing his head.
Logan blinked at him. "I'm sorry." He fumbled his apology when he felt every pair of eyes on him. "I think I might have kicked you by accident."
"Oh." Carlos nodded. "That's okay, Logan." He shifted a little closer to his friends. "Did you have a bad dream?" He asked, rather bluntly.
Logan couldn't help but laugh. "It was a nightmare." He admitted. "I haven't had one in a while. I mean I didn't sleep well last night but that was just because I could never fall asleep to begin with."
"Me too." James covered his mouth and tried to tone down the enormous yawn that hit him.
"I-"
"Don't apologize for waking us up, Logan." James shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He ignored the adults watching them and looked at Logan. "Are you okay?"
To their relief, Logan nodded and even managed a small smile. "Yeah. Now that I'm awake anyway." He was still embarrassed though and he couldn't bring himself to look up and see all the parents and Officer Hendricks looking at him in sympathy.
Officer Hendricks. Logan's pale cheeks flushed slightly. It was bad enough having a bad dream in front of people he had known for most of his life. But even as he stared straight ahead at the blank TV he could feel the young police officer staring at him in concern. He straightened his slumped over posture and gently shrugged Kendall's arm off of his shoulders. "Um, I'm hungry. Is there anything to eat?"
Kendall frowned as a sudden thought occurred to him. "You haven't eaten all day. Neither have you, James."
"Or you or Carlos for that matter." Logan pointed out. He suddenly felt hungry and stood up slowly, his stiff body protesting slightly.
Mrs. Knight had stood up and was bustling around the kitchen, preparing food for the boys. "Are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches okay for now? Just while you wait for something else I mean."
Logan nodded along with his friends. Any kind of food sounded perfect. He steadied James when the older boy stood up to quickly and swayed a little bit. "Lack of sleep and lack of proper nutrition is a bad combination." He scolded him.
James laughed. "Yeah? Well I follow your example, remember Dr. Mitchell? I wasn't the only one today."
Logan grinned sheepishly. "Okay, so I'm a hypocrite. Just be careful. All of you."
Carlos gave him a mock salute then skipped quickly over to the counter only to lose his balance and nearly face plant into the stool in front of him.
"See?" Logan rolled his eyes. "What time is it anyway?"
"About 5:30." Officer Hendricks looked up from his conversation with Mr. Garcia. Then two men had been distracted by Carlos' near miss and the police officer was the first to look at the clock on the wall. He raised his eyebrows and looked at the boys. "You haven't eaten all day?"
Logan shook his head and slumped over on his stool, resting his head on the cool surface of the counter. "I think we were all a little nervous." His statement seemed to remind him of something and he looked up. "So do we know what we're doing?"
Officer Hendricks exchanged glances with the parents who all nodded. He rose from his place at the table to join the boys at the counter. "There's not much that can be done since Steve Reynolds took his own life. The most you boys will have to do is give your statements at the police station. And even then I doubt there's a whole lot you can say. But there's no need for this to go to court. It's pretty obvious what happened."
"We. . . don't have to go to court?" James asked in disbelief. The news, as unbelievable as it was, had an immediate effect on him. His entire body relaxed of his tense posture and he nearly fell off of his stool. He grabbed the edge of the counter to hold himself upright. "Really? We don't have to go at all?" It was almost too good to be true.
Noah smiled at his reaction. "Yes. And the statements shouldn't be that hard. There won't be a hundred people watching you, that's for sure. I could probably even arrange for me to be the one that asks you the questions if that you make you more comfortable."
"Really?" Logan breathed. "That would be great." He smiled gratefully at Mrs. Knight as she set their sandwiches down in front of them. "Don't eat too fast." He cautioned his friends, sliding Carlos' plate away from him until he made sure they all heard him. "We haven't eaten since yesterday. Take your time."
Carlos groaned in impatience but obeyed Logan's instructions. "So when do we have to do this whole statement thing?" He asked.
Officer Hendricks shrugged. "I'm not really sure about that." He grinned when Kendall rolled his eyes. "I know. Tell me about it. Everything is kind of last minute isn't it?"
Kendall ducked James' elbow nudge and nodded, glad that the kind officer understood his frustration.
Noah continued. "I do know that it'll be sometime this week if that clears anything up. Since you were all primary witnesses to begin with, especially James and Logan, you'll probably be among the first."
"Well, I think I can handle that." James sighed and took a sip of water. "It sounds a lot easier."
"We'll make it as easy as possible for you." Noah promised as he stood up. "I should be getting back to the station now though." He tipped his cap respectfully to the women and shook hands with all of the boys. "Just relax and take it easy this week all right? Try not to think about your statements. It'll be a piece of cake compared to witnessing in court, that I can promise you."
"I'm pretty sure anything is easier than witnessing in court." Logan said wryly. "It's not something I want to do again anytime soon."
"I'm with you there, bud." James agreed. He pushed his empty plate away and shook his head when Mrs. Knight offered to make him another sandwich. "Thanks for everything, Officer Hendricks."
The officer smiled and nodded. "It was my pleasure. I'll see you boys around."
When he left the room was quiet for a while. Then Logan spoke up. "You know, this whole thing has been really hard but we met some great people, didn't we? Steve Rodgers, Officer Hendricks, Mr. Lewis. . . they're all been awesome to all of us."
"Yeah well," Kendall rested his chin in his hands. "Maybe that was us getting a sort of break. You're right, Logan. We could have gotten a lawyer who was a jerk and only cared about getting paid. But we got Ron and he probably saved James' life. And then we've had Officer Hendricks through most of this mess and he's always made us feel more relaxed than anyone else could."
"And he saved my life in the courtroom." Logan reminded him.
Kendall nodded quickly. "And the of course, there's Steve."
"Mr. Rodgers!" Carlos added cheerfully.
"He really saved my life." Logan said seriously. "More than once. I mean-" His words caught in his throat and his voice dropped to a whisper. "I can promise you that I haven't wanted to. . . kill myself since my dad left but that doesn't mean things have been easy for me to deal with. Steve helped me with a lot of that."
"They're all heroes." Carlos said firmly.
Logan nodded looking thoughtful. "I've been thinking about something. It's okay if you guys don't really agree with me but I just wanted to put the idea out."
"What is it, Logie?" Kendall asked.
"I know it didn't work out well at all the first time." Logan began slowly. "But I think we should give school another try. I mean, I like being home schooled and all that but I don't think we can ever really move on if we don't go back. A lot of the other kids are back, why can't we?" He looked up at his friends. "What do you think?"
A/N. And then there was one. I'm sorry. That was a little cliffhanger wasn't it? The second-to-last chapter, I just could not resist. Anyway, I hope you liked this. If you did, please review? Feedback is always appreciated. Oh man. One more chapter and I can post 'Head On Collision'. Yes. But seriously, review this chapter? Thanks! And Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Have a wonderful day tomorrow!
