The Boy Next Door - A Big Time Rush Fanfiction…

A/N - I wanted to update this much sooner then I had but I had writer's block for a while, moved and things have been hectic. But here I am, I also have a week as of tomorrow until I see BTR live for their Forever Tour I'm sooo excited yeah!

Anyway I own nothing from Big Time Rush, it all gladly belongs to the four boys now yeah!

Chapter 10
Big Time First Jobs Part 2

Their lawn mowing business had thrived within weeks. After mowing Mrs. Magicwoski's lawn for her, she spread the word of their hard work and recommended them to others. Hortense found his day busy mowing lawns and hanging out at Kendall's. The summer was coming in Duluth, Minnesota, meaning that hockey would be done for the season at school, and school would be over for a while.

It wasn't that the young genius didn't like summer; it was the fact that in the past, he had spent summers locked up in his room, working on various lego building projects and house cleaning to keep himself busy. Little interaction was meant with others, for the boy didn't have friends back then. But this time, Hortense believed this summer would be different, for he had three new friends. Kendall insisted that he, James, and Carlos came over every day after his job to hang out; he claimed it helped keep him sane. So, Hortense found himself at Kendall's house most of the summer evenings.

By the middle of summer, it was July 4th, Independence Day. Their mowing business had gotten so popular that Hortense, Carlos, James, and Kendall found themselves working the week of the holiday. During the week, James had invited Hortense, Carlos, and Kendall to his house for July 4th backyard bbq, which included swimming. James was a little better off of the four of them; with his mother owning her own cosmetics business, people considered Mrs. Dimond the "Estée Lauder of the Midwest." This leads her to be one of the richest in town.

James lived with his mother but visited his father every other weekend since their divorce last year. No one talked about knowing it was a touchy subject for James. Once at their house, everyone was having a good time. The four boys were found horsing around in the pool, and they ended up playing chicken. The moms of the boys were sitting at a table chatting while Carlo's father and surprising James's father were grilling. Hortense smiled, looking over at the table of mom's; seeing his mother have friends made him smile. It was then he was knocked off Carlos's shoulders and into the water; he came up coughing while Kendall and James cheered for winning. Soon dinner was called, and the boys got out of the pool and dried themselves off. Wrapped in towels, they sat at their table next to their mom's and ate. Seeing how close they were, Hortense strained to listen to the mom's conversation. He was interested in what his mother talked about with the others, especially when she mentioned his name.

"- All I'm saying is that it could help him, Joana." Mrs. Garcia stated as she smiled at his mother.

I don't know; the doctor thought too. I don't want him to think differently of himself. Hortense already has trouble making friends or getting around. I don't want this to mess up his confidence. Mrs. Mitchell explained as she sighed and looked down at her cup of tea.

"It won't mess with his confidence. If he gets the help, he needs now, and it'll only grow it instead." Mrs. Garcia explains as she shakes her head and sighs while eating her food.

"She's not wrong; the sooner, the better." Mrs. Diamond spoke as she elegantly cut her food before eating it.

Mrs. Knight smiles, "Whatever you decide, Joana, we are here to support you and Hortense." Mrs. Knight finished as she squeezed the women's arm in comfort.

After that, Hortense stopped listening, for Carlos distracted him by trying to talk him into having a corn dog. Sadly the 4th of July fun had ended, and the rest of the summer was flying fast. Hortense had to say that this was one of the best summers. It even got better when Carlos got a small red wagon from his grandmother. The four named it "waggony" and pulled one another around in it. They even started riding down hills at parks, spending their time there until sundown, and they had to go home.

Around the corner, the school was starting to come up again, and Hortense went shopping for supplies with his mother. It was one of the rare occasions he spent with her, so he always looked forward to it. The time was a good time for him. It was one summer day when something caught Hortense's attention. He had been home while his mother worked in her office for the day; he was cleaning the kitchen when he came across the papers. The table had been cluttered, and he went to straighten it up when the papers fell out of the pile he moved. Picking them up, he frowned as he overlooked them for a while until he started understanding what they were saying. It honestly worried him a lot. The papers had his name on them and basic health information. His doctor's place was on top and more information on the bottom. But the information that caught his attention the most made his eyes widen. It stated:

Diagnose of the patient: autism spectrum disorder.

Summary: the child has told us his actions revolved around home life; the mother has also intervened with information declaring the child cleans a lot, even when not asked to. According to the mother, the child doesn't make eye contact when first spoken to and replies in a monotone. Has struggled to make friends and prefers to be alone and work on things himself…

Other symptoms include -

But Hortense didn't get to finish reading it, for his mother came in and took the papers out of his hand. She must've realized what he was looking at. Frowning, the young boy looks up at his mother, who is eyeing him with wide eyes and a scold.

"Mom…what was that all about? On the paper…." Hortense questioned as he eyed her.

She sighs, "Nothing, don't worry about it. Why don't you go do something? See if your friends want to hang out? Mrs. Mitchell questions her son on the shoulder and gestures him out of the kitchen.

With that, Hortense is pushed out of the kitchen, and the papers were taken away before he could protest. As he climbed the stairs to his bedroom, he thought back to the 4th of July party and his mother's conversation with the other moms. Could it have been related to those papers? To his doctor visit almost a year ago? Either way, when the young genius got up to his room, his cell phone rang, pulling him from his thoughts. He looked down at it and smiled, seeing James calling him, and he answered the device he had recently with a smile.

"Hey James, what's up?" Hortense questioned as he sat at his desk for a moment.

"Kendall is going to go job hunting. Carlos and I were going to tag along since we had Nothing better to do. Do you want to come with us?" James questioned with the sound of hope in his tone.

Smiling, Hortense says as he stands up. "Yes! I mean, uh…yeah, where should I meet you?"

"Meet us outside Kendall's house, Carlos and I are heading there now."

After hanging up, Hortense went down and let his mother know he would hang out with the guys again. Of course, she happily obligated and let him go as long as he was back around sundown like normal. So with that, Hortense left his house and made it over to the Knight's (which is thankfully right next door), and he smiled seeing Kendall sitting on the step waiting for him. Not a moment later, Carlos and James were right beside them.

"I got a call from Sherwood, the grocery store I applied to last week. The manager wants to meet and said this would be for the cart boy position." Kendall explained with a wide grin.

"A cart boy? Really?" James questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Kendall sighs, "It's not my ideal job, but he's the second one to reply to me. He's also willing to hire a fourteen soon to be fifteen year old. So it's worth at least going to the interview." Kendall states as he gives James an eye roll.

"All right, let's go; you don't want to be late!" Carlos states as he puts on his hockey helmet and taps it twice before heading off in that direction.

The other three laugh to themselves with their friend and head off towards Sherwood. It was one of their town's local grocery stores. Anyone who was anyone went here for the best quality food, good service, and incredible prices! Hortense and his mother had come here a lot since moving to Minnesota. The two found it was the best one after trying out all the other stores. So when the four boys arrived at the grocery store parking lot, James, Hortense, and Carlos wished Kendall good luck on his interview, and they waited outside. The three chatted about random things and started taking turns pushing one another around in a shopping cart, making sure to avoid the cars. It was so much fun, but they only stopped, and since Carlos was the last one in the cart, he got out, and the three went over to Kendall the moment he came out of the store. Hortense, Carlos, and James could see the blonde-haired, green-eyed boy holding a red apron and a name tag. He had a big smile.

"Guess who got the job!?" Kendall called, being more excited than Hortense had ever seen him.

The three congratulated him, and all went for some ice cream that afternoon. Kendall was to start work this Monday, right after their first day of being back to school. The guys hang out and enjoy their ice cream together and the rest of their summer day. What they didn't know was that this was going to be their last year together as normal teenaged Minnesota kids before destiny called. Luckily they didn't think that at all. They had the time of their lives as they sat outside, eating ice cream and enjoying the summer...

A/N - I wasn't thrilled with the ending, but it'll do for now. What did you think? Good? Bad? Should I continue? A few more chapters, and this story will be completed :) An update will happen soon, hopefully sooner then this one, thanks for reading! :) - BTRFanatic13