Hope you guys like the chapter. :) It didn't turn out as well as I had hoped for, but hopefully the next one will be better. Hope you enjoy. :)

"Okay boys, can you tell me what is going on?" Carlos' dad asked as he shut the front door behind him. They had left Katie with Carlos' mom and had headed outside, to make sure that the little girl wouldn't hear what they had to say.

"Kendall is missing," Logan said, his eyes locked on the ground. "He was never at school, at least, not that we know of. Katie said he took her to class, and was supposed to head to school after that, but we never saw him. Carlos and I went to his house to look for him, while James went to pick up Katie, but he wasn't there."

"I tried texting him, but he never responded, which is why we all thought that going to check up on him would be a good idea," James said softly, his eyes filled with worry.

"Actually, his phone was on his bed," Logan said quietly, "and, there was... there was blood on the floor."

"Blood?" Carlos' dad asked, raising an eyebrow. "There was blood on the floor?"

Logan nodded slowly. "Carlos had left to search the rest of the house, but I decided to check his room again, just in case I had missed something that might give us a clue to where he was. That's when I noticed the blood stains on the floor."

"Were they there before?"

Logan shook his head. "I'm pretty sure we had never seen them before. They're kind of easy to spot, so no, I don't think so."

"Boys?"

James shook his head, while Carlos remained where he stood, frozen in his spot.

"Carlos, mijo, had you ever seen them?"

"No," he practically whispered. His eyes were noticeably filling with tears, and he looked like he might lose his balance at any second. "Papi, where's Kendall?" he mumbled out.

"I don't know, but we'll find him, I promise," he said reassuringly as he placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Do you boys know any other information that might help us find him?" he asked, turning his attention from one boy to the other.

"Not really," Logan said. "We don't know where he could be."

"Where are his parents?" he asked as he reached into his pocket and took out his phone.

"His mom's out of town, visiting some relatives, I think, and his dad's at work."

The older man only hummed in response, his eyes locked on the phone's screen as he searched through his contacts. "I'm calling his mom first, and then I'll try his dad."

The three boys watched as he walked away to talk on the phone, their worry only increasing with each passing minute. When he walked back, Carlos' dad had an upset look on his face.

"Mrs. Knight doesn't know where he is, and his dad didn't answer my call. We're gonna head over to Kendall's house and see if there's anything that we can find that'll lead us to where he might be. You boys might've missed something."

It was without hesitation that all three boys jumped into Officer Garcia's old truck and headed in the direction of the Knights' house. Once there, they all began searching Kendall's room, trying to spot something that might be out of place, or anything that would indicate where the younger boy was. However, Carlos' dad already had his suspicions, but he didn't want to tell the boys what he really thought, before he was sure of it himself.

"Alright, since we have no idea where he is, I think we should search around town. I'm going to call the station and ask for help. You boys can tag along with me if you'd like, but let your parents know where you are, so they won't be too worried."

That night was a blur for all of them. They searched for close to two hours and a half before they came across the blond boy, but it wasn't in the way that they had hoped for.

"Wait, stop!"

Carlos' dad was forced to hit the breaks as James' scream cut through the air. "What happened?"

"I think I saw something a few feet back," he said as he opened his door and got out. It was pretty dark outside by then, so it was hard to make anything out in the darkness, and the only light they had was the one that came from a small flashlight the brunet was carrying.

"Oh my God... Kendall!" Tears came to James' eyes as he knelt down beside a body that was lying on the dirty ground. As he shined the light on the boy's face, he realized that it was in fact his best friend that he was looking at, except he looked almost unrecognizable. Cuts and bruises littered his face – there was blood everywhere, and for a moment, James was afraid that they were too late and that he was already dead.

"D-Don't touch him," Logan stuttered out as he kneeled down beside James and inspected his younger friend, who looked lifeless. "If he's seriously hurt, you could hurt him even more."

"If?" James questioned, bitterness in his tone. "Of course he's seriously hurt! What if he's dead?! Oh God, he can't be..."

Before Officer Garcia had even reached the boys, he was already dialing an ambulance. "Logan's right, don't touch him," he said to James, who looked absolutely heartbroken. All three boys' faces were smeared with tears at the sight of their best friend.

"Is he going to d-die?" Carlos asked as he looked up at his father, unable to stop the river of tears that continued to roll down his cheeks.

"He's alive," he said as he checked Kendall's pulse. "He's not going to die. The doctors will do everything they can to make sure that he makes it out alive, I promise."

Once the ambulance had arrived, and then left and headed towards the hospital, the boys and Officer Garcia followed close behind. It took hours for them to get any news on the boy, and it took even longer for them to be able to see him, but when they did, they all walked in one by one. Mrs. Knight had returned after having been informed of Kendall's condition, so she was the first to enter, followed by James, Logan, and Carlos. Kendall's father was still missing by then, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was the one responsible for Kendall's injuries.

The police were trying to find him, to no avail, but they weren't giving up.

"Hey." Once it was Carlos' turn to see Kendall, he took a seat on the chair beside his bed and took ahold of his hand, which was cold and clammy against his own. "You really scared us... I thought we were going to lose you."

There was no response.

"The doctors say you should be fine... physically anyway. They don't know when you'll wake up, though." Tears sprung to his eyes as he said those words out loud. "I really wish you'd wake up already. I m-miss you."

He tightened his hold on the boy's hand and let out a soft sigh, doing his best to stop himself from crying. "I swear, no matter who it was who did this to you, we won't ever let them hurt you again. I promise you that."

Carlos sighed as he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his bed, and then made his way towards the bedroom door. He quietly walked out and made his way to the living room, where he was met by the sight of James and Kendall sitting on the couch. Kendall had his head resting against James' shoulder, and the brunet's arms were wrapped tightly around the blond.

Smiling at the sight, he returned back to his room and closed the door as quietly as he could, letting his back slide against it, until he was sitting on the floor.

I just hope this ends soon, he thought as he wrapped his arms around his knees and finally let the tears fall.

Let me know what you guys thought. If there's anything you'd like to see in the story, let me know, too. I could really use some ideas. :) I hope you guys liked it! Thank you for reading.

~ BigTimeRush-BTR :)