A/N: Okay, this was a tough chapter. Thanks for being patient with me and thank you RockChickWrites for pushing me on! Luv ya lots, my friend! ;-)
RockChickWrites: shit did just get real...REALLY real! I had to throw that necklace but in there...I'm a drama whore! Here's a tip, don't read this unless you have the time! Don't wanna make you late for anything! LOL
DeniseDEMB: Let's be honest, you wanted them to have sex while their significant others and a house full of people were downstairs! LOL wanna know what James says?! Well, read it! :-)
Enjoy!
James wasn't the only one to catch Kendall in the compromising position of pinning Francie down on his bed. Logan, Nikki, Ry, and Tiff were witnesses to the viciously damming scene, as well. Others may have been present but Kendall's focus right now was on James, his best friend and fiancé of the woman his body was pressing into his mattress, and he was enraged.
"James," Kendall breathed apologetically, almost hoping he was hallucinating and that furious, six-foot-one man wasn't actually there.
"James?!" Francie strained her neck in a vain attempt to see around Kendall, both fearful and relieved.
Stunned by the image in front of him, James had a whirlwind of emotions fighting for control inside him. Anger, rage, and jealousy, all fought for the primary focus of his attention, however, his tumultuous inner struggle didn't interfere with his reaction.
"What the fuck? Get off her!" James' long legs moved him to the stilled couple in the blink of an eye.
Concerning himself with the threat of a new attack, Kendall released Francie's wrists and twisted his torso to ward off James. With her freed hands and Kendall's shift of his weight, Francie was able to knock him off balance. He toppled off her just as James threw himself at him.
"Francie!" Nikki ran to her sister. Ry followed leaving Tiff to lean on Logan.
"James! No!" Logan let go of Tiff, not really concerned with her at this precise moment, there were bigger issues at hand.
Tiff staggered, gripping with her free hand onto the door frame. "Wha' de ffffucg!" Tiff's alcohol soaked brain finally registered what they barged in on. I knew it! I knew he still wanted Francie! That bastard! He never wanted me! Hurt morphed into anger as Tiff's fingers gripped the neck of the guitar as she watched the two men struggle amid all the shouting.
A sharp pain shot through James' hand as he hit Kendall's chiseled jaw. This may have been his second altercation of the night, but James wasn't giving in to his aches and pains. Seeing his best friend forcing himself on Francie enraged him. There are lines you just don't cross, and Kendall crossed two of them: no means no, and hands off your best friend's girl.
"You dirty bastard!"
Kendall fought off the attack as best as he could. James was bigger, stronger, angrier, and, in Kendall's mind, completely within his rights. But he doesn't even know the half of it! "James, I can explain!" Maybe that's not a great idea, if he's pissed now, just think of how he'll be when he hears I actually slept with Francie!
"Stop, James! Please, stop!" Francie cried, trying to crawl closer to the men but Nikki and Ry pulled her back in an attempt to keep her out of harm's way. All she could do was watch Logan try to pull James off Kendall.
Logan kneeled on the bed, holding James' arm. "Stop! Both of you, just stop!"
Turning his attention Logan, James was momentarily distracted and Kendall took advantage of the opportunity. Delivering a solid punch to James' ribs and taking his breath away, Kendall was able to push his friend off him and onto Logan who quickly wrapped himself around the larger male.
"God dammit!" Kendall struggled to sit up before James did. "I said I could explain! Would you listen to me?!"
"I don't want to hear a fuckin' word you have to say!" The hatred in James' eyes told Kendall all he needed to know. If James gets loose from Logan, I'm dead! Kendall pounced on James to aid Logan in restraining him and noticed the fresh, large cut and smaller nicks on James' face. For a moment he wondered what happened until he was pulled back to his own concerns.
"Let me go, Logan!" Through clenched teeth, James warned him, "I don't wanna hurt you."
Logan's lips were next to James' ear, his breath tickling as he calmly replied, "If I let you go are you gonna go after Kendall?"
Kendall's wide eyes studied Logan's face from his new position atop James. Are you fuckin' crazy?! You let him go, I'm done for!
James glared at Kendall, anger rising to an explosive level in his chest. "Fuck yeah, I am!"
"Then no, I won't let you go." Even though I probably should! Logan glared at Kendall, knowing that all of his suspicions were, in fact, true.
Closing the French doors on the cold air, Carlos shivered. "I wonder where the hell they disappeared to?"
Linda shut the door that led to the garage, "I don't know. Kendall's car is here, they didn't leave. They have to be upstairs."
"Let's go look. Maybe the others have found 'em."
They reached the bottom of the stairs when a ruckus from above resonated in their ears. Brown eyes met green ones for a fraction of a second before they dashed up the stairs.
James continuing to struggle against the smaller man. "I mean it Logan, let me go! You saw what he was doing!"
"No, James!" Logan grunted exerting all the strength he had to keep hold of his friend, "Just calm down."
Kendall thought it best to talk to James while he was still restrained. "Listen, it's not what you think, man!"
"No?!"
Kendall shook his head, "No, it's not!"
Crawling further into the room, unnoticed by the others, Tiff made her way to the crumpled shirt on the floor. The sparkle of the necklace that lay upon it acted like a beacon and drew Tiff closer.
"Then you tell me what it is," James shouted. "Because it sure as hell looked like you were holding MY fiancée down against her will on YOUR bed!"
Casting a glance toward the foot of the bed at Francie sobbing in Nikki's arms, Kendall was forced to admit to the truth in James' observation. "Well, I was, but -"
"'Ay! Wha's dis?" Tiff sat cross legged with the guitar in her lap, swaying a bit. In one hand she held Francie's broken necklace, in the other Kendall's torn shirt. "Kennall, why's yur shir al'rip?"
Francie pushed free from her sister's comforting embrace and grabbed her necklace from Tiff's hand. "Give me that!" Francie slid to the floor holding the first piece of jewelry that James had given her, the very first symbol of his undying love and unwavering devotion. The guilt, shame, and fear she felt continued to overwhelm her. Clasping the necklace between folded hands, Francie sat on the floor and continued to weep.
"Her necklace?! You fucking tore off her necklace?!" James' hazel eyes bored into Kendall.
"No," Francie hiccuped between sobs and shook her head, unable to say more.
Kendall knew he'd have to defend himself, "No, I didn't!"
Like an unattended child, Tiff searched the floor picking up another item to replace the necklace Francie took from her. She held the object up for Kendall, and everyone else, to see. "Why's dese but'ons e'erywhere?"
James looked to the small, round, plastic disc the blonde held between uncoordinated fingers. That looks like the button I found at our house, by the fireplace, where the blankets and pillows were...
"Dey bin pult from yer shri'. All a dem." Tiff raised her arms with the button and Kendall's shirt high in the air. Confused, she asked, "Wha'd hell ya do?"
All of them ripped from his shirt? At OUR house?!
Carlos and Linda hit the doorway in time to see Kendall jump off the bed and try to wrestled the shirt and button from his girlfriend's hands, his world crumbling around him.
"Let go, Tiff!" Finally winning the struggle his eyes met Linda's for a moment before turning to look at Francie, cradled, once again, in Nikki's arms. The guilt in her eyes was mirrored in his and James read the pair like a book.
In a flash, James pulled free from Logan and was on Kendall again. They fell to the ground barely missing Tiff, James getting the upper hand. He straddled Kendall and delivered another blow to the slender man's jaw. Blood fell on the carpet.
Gripping Kendall's t-shirt with his fists, James shook him, "You son of a bitch, I trusted you!"
"Bullshit!" With his single word retort, Kendall spattered blood on James' face and shirt, mixing with his own shed blood from earlier.
Carlos and Logan grabbed James and pulled him off Kendall thinking they could control the situation but hey soon found out they were wrong.
Linda helped Kendall to his feet and as his balance was found, he hit James on his already injured cheek amid shouts of protest from the others in the room.
"You never fuckin' trusted me!" Kendall screamed and drew back his arm lining up another punch.
"No! Don't Kendall!" Logan yelled.
"Stop, please!" Carlos begged.
With his legs as his only defense, James kicked Kendall's knee sending him to the floor with a groan. The sudden shift of equilibrium knocked Logan, Carlos, and James backward onto the bed.
"Please, Kendall, stop!" Linda helped him to his feet, keeping his weight off his knee.
He ignored her, somehow found his balance and began to limp toward the bed. All the suppressed anger, jealousy and betrayal he felt toward James bubbled over. He took my place with Francie! He took my family from me! He took what should have been mine! Now, he'll pay!
Seeing Kendall move aggressively toward him, James broke free again. Francie sprung to her feet and placed herself between her old love and her new love. Linda did the same and moved back-to-back with Francie, between the men.
"James, stop!" Francie begged, "Please!"
Feeling Francie's trembling hands on his cheeks, James looked down into the face of the woman he's loved for years, the woman he planned to spend the rest of his life with, the woman who - he knew - slept with his best friend.
Linda fingers clasped Kendall's upper arms and pushed slightly, "Stop it, Kendall! No more!"
Staring into Linda's eyes, Kendall felt the familiar wave of peacefulness wash over him, he always felt that tranquility when she was around. She provided him a sense of balance, a stability that Kendall needed in his life. In her soothing presence, he realized what he was doing was wrong. James never took Francie or Marley from him. Francie hasn't been his for years and Marley will always be his daughter. James has done his best not to come between father and daughter. Linda's the one I should be fighting for...my future, not my past. Besides, my future will probably contain a few less people than before, but that's on me.
The hypnotic hold the women had on James and Kendall cast an eerie calmness that settled in the room puting everyone on edge just waiting for the other shoe to drop. No one was quite sure what was going to happen next. Carlos and Logan, now on their feet, were ready for whatever came their way.
Watching her sister and Linda with concern, Nikki held her breath, not liking that the women were in the line of fire should Kendall or James start swinging again.
Ry noticed Tiff crawling to the bed. She slowly walked toward the blonde to help her to her feet. Poor thing, on top of everything else going on she has to deal with this now!
With Ry's assistance Tiff got to her feet, wobbling a little. She sat on the rumpled bed, her hand tightened around the neck of the guitar as she eyed the scene in front of her, hurt and angry.
Covering Francie's hands with his, James' eyes glistened with unshed tears. "Sweetness," his voice a breathless whisper, "tell me that you didn't do what I think you did." His voice broke, "Please, tell me you didn't sleep with him."
Carlos glanced at Logan and saw him watching the couple with a stone-faced expression, his mouth a grim, set line. This is what Logan feared all along, that Kendall and Francie reconnected. If it's true what in the hell happens now?
Blinking rapidly, more tears fell from Francie's eyes. "I'm so sorry, James. I -"
"No!" James pulled Francie's hands from his face and spun around, walking away from the group of people, and ran his long fingers through his dark hair. "No! No! No! God dammit, no!"
Logan's head dropped forward and he pinched the bridge of his nose. God, I hate being right about this! Shit!
"Fay?" Dumbfounded, Nikki stepped toward her sister, "you...you kept that from us? From me?"
"No, Nik," Francie shook her head adamantly, dropping tears onto her sweater. "I just remembered. When Kendall knocked over the nightstand and I saw his shirt...then...everything came back."
Questioning green eyes searched Kendall's face hoping for denial, but Linda didn't get that. Instead, she recognized the look of guilt she had seen on Rick's face when she found out he's been sleeping with his ex, Carla. Poor James! Kendall lied to him...and to Francie! However, being a bit more open minded than James was, at this moment, Linda knew there's two sides to every story and she wanted to hear Kendall's.
"Kendall?" She whispered, hoping to draw out his explanation, more realistically, wanting his denial.
Shamefully, he lowered his eyes, confirming - without a word - Francie's story. Linda felt sick.
"Oh God," Carlos groaned. Even with Logan's insistence that the two had done the deed, Carlos had held out hope that James wasn't betrayed by his best friend and the woman he loved.
"Wait? When did this happen?" Ry's question was on everyone's mind except Logan. He knew.
With his downcast eyes still avoiding everyone in the room, Kendall spoke, "The night of the ice storm, after Amber's phone call."
"I knew it!" With one swipe of his hand, James cleared off the top of the side table in the far corner of the room. Pencils flew, books rained down, and papers floated to the ground. "Son of a bitch, I knew it!" The side table, itself, was the next victim of James' outburst. He kicked at the legs, sending the small table flipping towards the center of the room. Flopping into the chair that the table used to stand next to, James rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his head to his hands.
Rushing to James, Francie fell to her knees before him. "Bello, I...I though..."
"You thought I was sleeping with her!"
"The recording -"
Snapping his head up to look at Francie, James screamed, "The recording wasn't real!"
"I know that, now...but I didn't then!"
The heartbroken man threw his arms in the air, "So what?! You thought I was messing around and to even the score you fucked him?!"
Kendall found the strength to look at his friend. "It wasn't like that, Jay."
Exploding out of the chair, James shot to his feet. "You shut the fuck up! I don't want to hear a word from you EVER AGAIN!"
"You can't lay the blame solely on us!" Kendall winced in pain as he made his way across the room closer to James.
"I said shut up!"
"You and your psycho ex didn't help matters any!"
Carlos grabbed Kendall's arm, stopping his advance by the foot of the bed. "Ken, don't."
Moving around Francie to get closer to Kendall, James fired back at him. "Don't you dare try to push this off on me!"
Logan stepped up to face James, blocking his way. Getting quickly on her feet, Francie gripped James' arm. "Please, James, stop!"
Stepping in front of Kendall, Linda hoped to put more distance between the feuding men. "Come and sit down on the bed. Just let it go," she whispered.
Undeterred by Carlos plea and Linda's advice, Kendall continued to lash out. "If you would have just told us the truth none of this would have -"
"No!" James cut Kendall off, thrusting an accusatory finger at him over Logan's shoulder. "If you would have been a true friend and kept your dick in your pants none of this would have happened!"
"That's enough, James!" Nikki yelled, her arm protectively around her sister.
"A true friend?! Do you really want to go there, James?!" Kendall tried to shake free from Carlos nearly succeeding, forcing Ry to leave Tiff safely seated on the bed and step to Kendall's side acting as back-up for her boyfriend and Linda. "A true friend would have left her alone when he found out how I felt about her!"
James rolled his eyes, "Oh please! Again with this?! It was over when you left her eight years ago!"
The dismissive tone in James' voice set Kendall over the edge. "I bought her a fucking ring!"
"She would never have accepted your proposal! She didn't feel the same way about you!"
James' harsh words ripped open Kendall's wounded heart and pride. "She may have if YOU hadn't been around!"
"Stop it! Quit talking about me like I'm not here!" Francie tried to intercede and put an end to all the hurtful words but the arguing continued.
"No she wouldn't have! She didn't love you anymore, Kendall! She didn't want you!"
He loved James like a brother but if James was aiming to hurt him, Kendall would strike back. "No?! Well, she wanted me that night!"
"Kendall!" Francie reprimanded him. She was shocked he would throw out a hurtful statement like that.
The shot Kendall fired was a direct hit. His words invoked an image that burned itself into James' mind. His fiancée's naked body entertwined in the throes of passion with his best friend, in front of a roaring fire...under his own roof. A visible shudder ran through his body, and James lost it.
Yanking free from his fiancée's grip, James pushed Logan aside as easily as if he were a small child and went for Kendall. Even with Linda, Carlos and Ry between the men, James was still able to clutch a fistful of Kendall's shirt.
The scrimmage came to a halt with a vengeful scream and a loud crash. The startled group turned to see splinters of Kendall's guitar raining around them and Tiff kneeling on the bed, brandishing the neck of the demolished instrument in her hands like a sword.
