A/N: Hello again everyone! I'm back with another new chapter! I didn't get to post anything last weekend since my internet was down but I finally have the chapter ready!

As always, thank you to everyone that read and reviewed last chapter!

This chapter is a little on the short side but it's from James' POV so you get to see how he's feeling about things!

I hope you all enjoy!

James stared at the words on the screen.

I'm sorry again about what I said. I love you.

James started to type I love you too... But then he remembered what Kendall had said that morning, and a renewed surge of anger and hurt flooded through him. So he deleted the words and put his phone to sleep instead.

On the other side of the small room they were sharing, Shane was sitting up in bed talking quietly on the phone to Charlotte.

"Yes, I've left our route plan with the owners, just in case." He was saying. "We're booked in here again on Sunday night. The forecast is okay. There might be a few snow showers around but not enough to worry about."

There was a pause.

"Yes, of course. I'll text if I have a signal, but don't worry if you don't hear from me. I'll call you once we're back here." He pause again and his voice was lower when he replied. "I love you too, sweetheart. Bye."

James felt a twinge of guilt at the thought that Kendall was still waiting to hear those words back from him, but he pushed it down. Kendall could wait. A couple of days wouldn't kill him.

"Aren't you going to call Kendall?" Shane asked.

"No, my signal's not good enough." James lied.

"You can use my phone if you want?"

"No, it's okay. I texted him instead."

James hadn't told Shane about his fight with Kendall. He didn't want to talk about it. It was too painful, and he kinda felt humiliated by the whole thing. How could he tell his brother that his fiancé had only agreed to marry him out of... what? Pity? Guilt? Whatever Kendall's slightly hazy motivations were, it was fucked up, and he hadn't proposed to James for any of the right reasons. Despite all of that, James didn't doubt for a minute that Kendall loved him.

But maybe love wasn't enough.

"Are you okay?" His brother's hesitant voice snapped James out of his thoughts, and he realized he was frowning.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." James avoided Shane's gaze and shoved the phone that was still in his hand under the pillow. The alarm was set for 5:00 a.m. He settled down, pulling the covers up around his ears and turning away from Shane to face the wall.

"I'm going to try and get some sleep. We've got an early start. Goodnight." James said softly, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him.

"Night. Sleep well."

XxX

As it turned out, James slept horribly.

He laid awake till past midnight despite using every trick in the book to get himself to relax and shut off the miserable, obsessive thoughts about Kendall that were plaguing him. Then he had disturbing dreams about running, chasing after something. But when he woke, he couldn't remember what. He just knew it had been important.

When his alarm sounded, cheerful birdsong that made him want to fling his phone across the room to shut it up, he groaned as he hit the snooze button.

But Shane was already moving. He got up and stumbled across the room to hit the main light switch. Brightness cut into James' sleep-fogged brain like a blade.

"Ugh. Fuck." He muttered, covering his eyes with his hands.

"Get your ass out of bed." Shane chuckled as he threw his pillow at James. "I want to be out of here and on the road by half five. The sooner we get going, the more daylight we'll have. We don't want to be trying to find that hut in the dark."

James reluctantly crawled out of the warm cocoon of covers, shivering in the chill of the room. The heating hadn't come on yet this morning and it was cold. He pulled on his walking clothes and started packing the gear he'd need to take with him for their hike. The nonessential items he separated out into a couple of carrier bags that he'd leave in their rental car for the duration.

The had breakfast before making a few sandwiches for lunch. They'd need plenty of fuel in their bodies for the twenty-five miles of walking they had planned over the next two days.

When they were ready, they scraped ice off of the car and set off, heading towards the mountains that loomed over them, blocking out the horizon. As the sky got lighter, it remained grey, overcast but not too threatening. They left the car in a parking spot commonly used by walkers at the bottom of a path that led up a valley towards the higher ground.

As they set off up the path, birds were chirping in the trees and crisp cold air filled James' lungs. His spirits lifted slightly as he and Shane got into their stride. The steady rhythm of their feet on the path and the pump of blood in his veins from the extertion was exhilarating. It was hard to feel unhappy in such beautiful surroundings with the majesty of the Scottish mountains spread out before him, waiting for him to conquer them.

Their route was going to include six peaks of over three thousand feet. There were so many mountains in Scotland, and a common challenge for walkers was to climb them all. James had only climbed a handful of mountains with Shane. But Shane had climbed hundreds on his travels, and this one was one of the highest.

After a couple of hours of walking up the valley, they took a trail that was steeper and rockier, leading away from the gentle grassy path of the valley and diagonally up a steep slope that stretched away towards a rocky peak. They stopped after another couple of hours to eat some energy bars, before heading on.

They stopped for lunch at a point where the path levelled a little. The steepest part of the morning climb was done, with a gentler incline coming next along a ridge that led to the first peak of the day. The clouds had thickened, but the visibility was still good. They sat and leaned back against a rock, gazing out over the view as they ate. The lowering clouds might obscure that view later, so they needed to appreciate it while they could.

It was spectacular. The road they'd left this morning was a barely visible ribbon of grey weaving between the huge mountains on either side. The green slopes rose, turning into grey moss covered rocks at the peaks. A few patches of snow were visible on the highest points.

Sure enough, a little later the clouds dropped lower, icy and damp. James and Shane stopped to put on waterproofs because walking through clouds was like walking through fine mist. It could soak you to the bone surprisingly quickly. As they walked along the ridge, the rocks were slippery now and the temperature had dropped sharply. A sense of unreality crept over James as he kept his eyes fixed on what he could see of the path in front of him. He couldn't see more than a ten-foot radius ahead, and it was strange knowing he was high up on a mountain ridge when he couldn't see the ground drop away on either side.

Done! I know the end was a little sudden, but this is kind of a two-part chapter. I already have the next one almost completed so it'll be up either tomorrow or Sunday!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on James and his feelings about everything.

Next chapter will pick up right were this one left off so you'll see more of James' trip. Until then!

-Epically Obsessed