Author's Note: Sorry to leave you hanging for a week! I thought I had clearer thoughts on how to end this story, but ended up having to fight through several rabbit trails to find an ending. No idea why...

Anyway, we start out going back to the events of the last chapter for a brief catch-up with James. Then we move to current time.

Thanks for reading!

A sudden slap woke James up painfully. Someone had a grip on his shirt and was holding him up...against a wall? James tried to stand up straighter, his head pounding. He couldn't see; something covered his eyes, a piece of cloth or something and he was too tired to lift his arms. A fuzzy memory of being shot with a drug-laced dart surfaced. Grace?

"Grace?" he tried to mumble her name, but his mouth was too dry.

"Let's go," someone said gruffly, and he was jerked forward. There was still duct-tape on his hands but his legs had been cut free. Someone wanted him to walk. Of course, he stumbled and fell. It was hard to do anything with zero sight, especially with all the pounding in his head and a mouth dry as dust. That was maybe the worst part.

"Water," he slurred as he was pulled up to his feet again and passed from one set of hands to another.

"It'll just make you throw up again," a man muttered. James moaned; he was pretty sure it wasn't his fault that he felt so sick. Everything...absolutely everything hurt right now.

"Just... please..." James jerked away until he was free and leaning against a convenient wall. "Water..."

Voices were arguing far away and then one said, 'Hold him still for me."

Someone grabbed him and James couldn't fight anymore. There was a sharp prick in his sore arm and he whined in response. Someone was crying again. Grace? As he went limp, he wished one more time that he could help her... but the darkness took him quick.

It took all three boys working together to pull the trunk out of the closet and turn it on its side. Carefully, they eased James out and unfolded his limp, lanky form. Kendall was furious but it was Logan who ripped the blindfold off, reveling a bleeding cut over James' right eye. Carlos was whispering prayers; Logan mumbled his worries about possible injuries and Kendall...he wanted to find the assholes who did this and pound them into incoherency - right now.

"Look," Logan held up a small dart, which answered a lot of questions. "They drugged him." He tossed it away in disgust. No one replied because no one knew what to say as Logan began to check James over for injuries.

"Why'd they take off his shoes?" asked Carlos quietly.

"Because they wouldn't fit in the damn trunk," Logan spat. Kendall put a calming hand on his shoulder, but still couldn't find words.

All Kendall could really focus on was the fact that his best friend had been hurt, drugged, blindfolded, duct-taped and stuffed in an effing trunk! Hot flashes of rage swept through him followed immediately by cold chills as he imagined what James had been through.

"Kendall. Put your hand on his chest and make sure he keeps breathing," Logan said, pausing as he ran his hands down James' arms and legs to check for damage.

"Is he going to stop breathing?" Carlos asked in terrified voice.

"I don't think so. But after being sedated and constricted so tightly, I'm surprised he is breathing, to be honest."

"Don't stop, buddy," Carlos whispered to James, smoothing out his hair.

Logan cursed vehemently, which shocked Carlos into silence and shook Kendall's last ounce of calm to the surface. "Carlos, go get a wet paper towel," Kendall said, "we need to clean the blood off his face."

Carlos jumped up and ran.

"What...is James okay?" Kendall asked nervously.

Logan sat back and shook his head. "I think his shoulder may be dislocated, maybe an ankle, too. They'll have to do an MRI or an ultrasound...and if he's not breathing right I'd better check his abdomen." They exchanged a tense look before Logan pulled up James' shirt and they both cringed at the bruising up his side and in long line across his ribcage. "Okay," Logan said tersely, "so that...that is not good. But the paramedics are on the way."

"They are?"

"Yes. Your mom was going to get the police and an ambulance here."

Carlos ran in and knelt by James, carefully wiping blood from James' forehead. But the cut was still oozing and his hand started shaking. "I'm sorry," he said, folding up to bury his face in his knees.

It was all like a nightmare, one that afterword Kendall could only remember in moments like snapshots in his brain: Carlos in tears, clutching a bloody paper towel in his hand; Logan cursing as he felt James' right ankle; James folded up in a trunk, blindfolded and drugged so that he couldn't freaking fight back...

At some point later, Kendall heard his name and looked up just as Katie flung herself at him and crawled up in his lap like she was five again. Kendall roused himself and hugged her tight. "He's going to be fine," he said automatically.

"I know," she whispered, taking a few moments to look James over and then turning to bury her head in Kendall's neck. "But he's so pale..."

Kendall nodded. "They drugged him," he choked out, not even sure why he said the words. She tightened her arms around his back.

His mother was there as well, hugging Carlos and Logan while she talked to them quietly. Both boys were wiping their eyes. "Kendall?" He looked up and she said, "the paramedics are on their way up."

"Good," he said quietly, pulling Katie in closer. As they sat there, waiting, he remembered the day that James had needed a hug. Why did it seem like so long ago now? Kendall had missed all the earlier signs. It wasn't until after seeing James' bruised arm that he finally realized what was going on: James was scared. Kendall sighed. Truly, if he'd known what his bestie was heading into, he would have hugged him longer.

James was in the hospital for a week and it was three days time before he was lucid again. The drugs used on him were potent and they'd nearly overdosed him. So everyone sat around waiting, reassuring each other as the tests came back with mostly good news. James had a torn ligament in his ankle and a strain in his dislocated shoulder. The bruises on his chest were deep but not from broken bones. Which meant that James had a really strong ribcage since they now knew how that bruise had gotten there: a huge man kneeling on his chest to shut him up.

All the details had been supplied by Grace once she'd been found, held captive on a boat ready to sail. Her two captors were arrested. It was simpler than you would think, because L.A. had so many traffic cams in the area around the Palm Woods and on the streets down by the docks. She was put under police protection and was given a female chaperone to make her more comfortable. Her testimony gave them the information they were missing and they knew now that James had been incredibly brave and in return, had been horribly mistreated. He had tried to save her so many times. Her one request was that she be allowed to see James before returning back home, to say thank you.

Now they were all just waiting to hug James, or maybe yell at him a little for scaring them and to see how he was feeling after all of this. As it happened, Kendall was there, dozing in James' room when the patient finally awoke. A sixth sense woke him, possibly his Jaydar, and he opened his eyes to see his friend was awake.

James was half-smiling, like he'd been dreaming of something pleasant. Kendall found himself smiling with tears in his eyes at the sight.

"Hey buddy," Kendall said, taking hold of James' hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good, man," he said dreamily. "A little sleepy. Where are we? Wait, am I on drugs?"

'Yep. You're in the hospital."

"Oh," he sighed. "I hate the hospital."

"Yeah, I know."

"Then why am I here?"

"Because you needed to get taken care of. You had...injuries, remember?"

"No..." he said, finally focusing on Kendall, brow furrowed. "Why do you look so awful? Go take a shower, dude."

"It's been a rough few days. But if you're okay, I'm okay." Kendall said with a smile, so glad James was happy instead of in pain or fear.

"Am I...okay?" James asked tentatively, looking as if he half-remembered something unpleasant.

"You are now. Most of your injuries were minor. You had to have a walking cast put on one ankle."

"But I don't remember...wait, which ankle?" James looked at Kendall for the answer, obviously still addled by the drugs in his system.

"The one with the purple walking cast on it?"

It took James about ten seconds to find his ankle and focus on it, and Kendall could see the exact moment it registered. He shrieked so loud that everyone waiting outside came running.

"It's okay, James, it's only like that for a little while, okay?"

But Logan and Carlos came running, of course, and then Kendall's Mom and finally, to top it off, James' Mom. It was complete bedlam, with James hyperventilating and everyone talking at once. Carlos pushed the button for the nurse and when she arrived, she had a doctor in tow.

By then, James had calmed down, partly because the pain was registering and partly because with everyone around him, he felt better. The worst pain seemed to be in his shoulder that had been dislocated but put back in place. It was in a brace, but he'd aggravated it in his panic. Logan put some more liniment on it while the doctor explained everything to James and it helped.

"So how long am I stuck here?" James said plaintively, and five different hands patted him to give him strength. The answer, of course, was longer then he'd like.

But that evening, Grace came to visit. All the boys were there as she entered the room, lovely in a yellow gown, looking every inch like royalty. James was grinning at her, his eyes shining. And for maybe the first time ever, the girl he was in love with was smiling back at him with the same intensity.

Wow. Kendall gestured to Carlos, who was gaping at the girl, and to Logan, who was studying James and Grace giddily, trying to get them to leave the couple alone for a few minutes.

Grace stopped Kendall as he tried to follow. "I wanted to meet you, Kendall. James speaks of you so highly."

Kendall flushed a little and wrinkled his nose at James. "Uh...thanks. It's nice to meet you, Your Highness?"

She laughed a tinkly laugh that seemed like a blessing. "Call me Grace. We have already met, remember?"

"Oh, right, yeah, when you shot me down beside the pool?"

She put a hand on his arm and smiled at him gently. "Please don't think of it like that. I was only trying to keep all of you out of harm's way." Her smile quickly faded. "I guess I didn't quite succeed." They both looked over at James, who had started plucking at the sheets nervously.

Kendall shrugged. "He's a stubborn ass and wouldn't leave you alone. Not your fault."

"Hey!" James protested, but Kendall's smile softened the dig at his friend.

"James is...one of a kind," Grace responded simply.

When their eyes locked, Kendall felt their connection almost literally push him out of the room. "Wow," he said again as he pushed through the door. Maybe James was going to end up a prince after all.

Grace walked over to James and sat in a chair beside the bed before standing and settling on the bed much closer. James spared a moment to be thankful he'd made it to the shower this morning and even brushed his teeth when he'd heard that Grace was coming. Then he reached out and took her hand, studying the shadow in her eyes. "What is it?" he asked.

But she didn't answer him right away. "How are you feeling?"

"Good. I really am fine," he reassured her, his hazel eyes radiating kindness. "How are you? Did they...did they hurt you?"

She shook her head. "They didn't. They have too much respect for royalty."

"No, not too much or they wouldn't have done what they did at all. But...I...I remember you crying, several times," he said hesitantly.

"I was crying for you," she admitted as tears flooded her eyes. "And here I go again. I am...so sorry that -"

"Please don't...don't apologize."

"But they were so brutal and -"

"And I'm fine. See?" She met his eyes and studied them.

"You are resilient, obviously."

James tucked that word away to ask Logan about later. "I guess. Are you...staying for a while?"

"No. I wish I could, but my flight leaves at noon. My parents are...anxious to see me again."

James felt his heart lurch but simply nodded. "Of course."

"Actually, my parents wish me to fly you out to Indostani, when things are stable and when you feel up to it. They wish to thank you in person." Her blue eyes were sparkling with joy at the thought, and honestly, James would have said yes to anything she said in that moment.

"I would love to see your country and meet your parents. And to spend more time with you?"

Grace flung her arms around him as much as she could and whispered in his ear, "Thank you, James. I can't repay you for what you did for me."

He wanted to protest but couldn't really focus past the fact that she was in his arms and smelled better than any girl he'd ever been close to. Before he knew it, he was leaning down to kiss her. Then the touch of her lips made his thoughts disappear completely.

He was blissed out for the rest of her visit though neither of them said very much. They exchanged numbers and he held her one more time. Then her guard and chaperone came in to escort her out. Grace gave him a sweet smile and a wave as she walked out.

A few moments later, the boys entered the room, smiling widely. They teased him, of course, but James really didn't care. He was far too happy.