Hey guys. I'm sorry for the delay. I know when I updated the last chapter, I said this one wouldn't take as long, and it kinda did, and I'm really sorry about that. This chapter also isn't as long as the others, but I had to end where I did, because... well, you'll see. ;)

"Kendall?"

Kendall froze, suddenly feeling a hand land on his shoulder, shaking him awake. He hadn't even realized he had cried himself to sleep – hadn't even realized that someone had walked into his room until that very moment.

"Hey, you okay?"

Officer Garcia took his hand off Kendall's shoulder as Kendall shakily moved to sit up in bed. He had been having a nightmare, one of those that feels so real that even when you wake up, you have a hard time registering it. He was still shaken up by it. It was hard not to be, when what was going on in the nightmare had once been his reality.

"Y-yeah," he said shakily, pulling his knees up to his chest so that Carlos' father could take a seat on the bed.

"You sure? You're shaking," he said, his eyes full of concern. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just—" He gulped, feeling tears start to prick at the corners of his eyes. "It was just a nightmare."

"About?"

"Him..." he whispered, his eyes suddenly going from afraid to hopeful as he looked up at his godfather. "Did you... Did you arrest him?"

Officer Garcia opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. What was he supposed to say to Kendall? He knew he couldn't lie to him, but how was he supposed to tell him that his father – the man who had abused him for years – was nowhere to be found?

"Kendall, I..."

"What's wrong?"

He knew that voice; it was the kind of voice people used when they wanted to say something but were afraid of doing so. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn't right.

"Please... What aren't you telling me?"

"We... we couldn't find him."

"What?"

Officer Garcia shifted where he sat, moving so that he was now looking straight at Kendall, who looked absolutely terrified. "When we went to his apartment, he wasn't there. We're not sure where he is. We looked everywhere around here, searched every floor, the pool area, any place we thought he might've gone to, but we haven't been able to find him."

Kendall sat still for a moment, trying to understand what it was that he had just been told, but it all just wouldn't make sense in his mind.

"I... I don't understand... How could he just— How could he just disappear?! He couldn't have! He can't!" He felt like someone was choking him, because he couldn't breathe. Everything around him was crumbling to pieces. He thought things couldn't get any worse, and yet, they just had. "I can't... I can't do this!"

"Kendall, it's going to be okay—"

"No it's not! Things are never going to be okay!"

He couldn't believe this. He thought he had gotten rid of the monster from his past years ago. He thought he was gone for good, out of his life, never to be seen again. He thought he was safe; that he would never be able to hurt him again.

He thought wrong.

"Kendall, we will figure this out. We will find him. We won't let him hurt you."

Kendall shook his head vigorously, tears rolling down his cheeks and dripping down his chin and onto the fabric of his shirt. "Don't you get it?" he choked out. "He already is hurting me..."

Before Carlos' dad could say anything in response, the door opened and in came James, with Logan and Carlos following quietly behind him.

"What's going on?" James questioned, his eyes traveling to Kendall's tear-stained face. "Are you okay?"

"I told him," Officer Garcia said as he placed a hand on Kendall's shoulder, causing the blond to look in his direction. "Son, we'll find him, I promise. Even if I have to search every inch of this earth to find him, I will."

"Bitters doesn't know where he went?" Carlos asked.

His father shook his head. "No, but I have a team looking for him, so don't worry too much about it, alright?" He then turned to Kendall, giving him a small smile of reassurance. "If I find out anything, I'll call first thing."

"Okay... thank you."

"I'm just doing my job," he said as he pulled Kendall in for a hug, "keeping you safe."

"Thank you, papi." Carlos smiled gratefully at his dad, who had now pulled away from Kendall and was headed in the direction of the bedroom door. "Please do call if anything happens."

"I will," his father promised, returning the smile, before heading out the door.

"Are you alright?" Carlos asked once his dad had left. He plopped down on Kendall's bed and took his hands in his. "You can talk to us, you know."

Kendall hesitated before answering, his fingers tightening around Carlos' hands. "He just... he won't leave." He looked up at Carlos, and then at their intertwined fingers. He felt a bit better knowing people were out looking for his father, but the fear and uneasiness was still there. "No matter what I do, he always finds me... some way, somehow..."

"He'll go away, hermanito," Carlos whispered, his eyes brimming with tears as he stared at Kendall. It hurt to see him like this. It hurt to know that someone who was supposed to love him had hurt him in unimaginable ways. "Eventually, he'll go away."

"But... what if he never does? Or, what if he does and then comes back again? What then?"

"You can't think like that, Kendall." This time, it was James who had spoken as he sat down on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on Kendall's lap.

"I can't help it," Kendall murmured as he let go of Carlos' hands and wrapped his arms around himself. "After everything he did to me... everything that's happened... it's hard not to think that way. It's hard to stay optimistic about things."

That night, Kendall couldn't sleep. He spent it tossing and turning, while Logan slept soundly on the bed on the other side of the room. Carlos and James had offered to stay with them, as to make sure that Kendall would be okay, but he had refused. He didn't want his friends worrying about him 24/7.

It was practically the crack of dawn when his eyelids finally started to drop with tiredness. The minute he actually started to drift into sleep, though, was the minute he was back at his old house, with his father looming over him.

His breathing started to pick up, soft cries of help slipping past his lips involuntarily.

From the other side of the room, Logan was awoken to the sound of Kendall crying out, his legs kicking this way and that as he tried to fight off an invisible force.

"Kendall?" He got up in such a hurry that he almost tripped over his own blanket and landed face-first on the floor. He was able to catch himself on time, though, and rushed to Kendall's side, trying to decide what to do. He didn't want to scare him, but he also didn't want him to be stuck in the nightmare any longer.

"Kendall? Hey, it's Logan. Come on, buddy, I need you to wake up."

He reached for Kendall, with the intention of shaking him awake, but as soon as he tried to, Kendall cried out, causing Logan to step back.

"Please don't hurt me!"

He tried a different tactic – going to the other side of the bed and kneeling beside his best friend. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly, keeping his hands by his sides. "You're safe here. No one's going to hurt you here. You're okay."

To his surprise, whispering words of comfort did the trick, and eventually, Kendall awoke in a daze. He gasped for air as he lay frozen in bed, his eyes blown wide, unmoving.

"Hey."

He jumped, his gaze immediately turning to Logan. As soon as his eyes laid on his best friend, the tears started to gather in them.

"Logie..."

Logan moved and took a seat beside Kendall, taken by surprise as he shot up in bed and threw himself at him.

"Hey, it's okay." He wrapped his arms around the trembling teen, pulling Kendall even closer. "It's okay, Ken, you're okay."

"It-it felt so real..."

"I know, I'm so sorry."

Kendall didn't say anything after that, his body going limp in Logan's hold. He was so tired, like he had been carrying the weight of a thousand bricks for hours. He wanted to sleep, become unaware of the world for a few hours, but even sleep couldn't get him out of this nightmare.

"Is there anything I can do...?"

"Stay," Kendall mumbled, his eyes closing shut as his head rested on Logan's shoulder. "Don't leave me..."

"I'll never leave you," Logan promised, tightening his hold on Kendall. He sighed as he allowed his eyes to drift shut, wondering how long it would be until things were okay again.

It was around seven in the morning when Carlos and James tip-toed into the room. Logan, who was sitting on his bed, fiddling with his laptop, looked up at them in surprise.

"Is he asleep...?"

Logan shook his head, closed his laptop, and set it to the side. He stood and walked towards the door, but not before whispering an "I'll be right back" in Kendall's direction. He then ushered the other boys to follow him.

"He's exhausted, but he can't sleep," Logan said once the door had been shut behind them. "He keeps having nightmares, and I'm not sure what to do..."

James and Carlos exchanged a worried look. They all knew they couldn't really do anything to stop Kendall from having nightmares. It had been the same way after his father had been put behind bars. The nightmares had gotten so bad that he couldn't sleep or eat, because it had all become too much.

"Maybe... maybe he needs to see someone again," James said slowly. "It helped last time."

"I'd like him to. I'm just not sure if he'll want to," Logan mumbled. "He was so hesitant before..."

"Maybe we should wait and see what happens first," Carlos suggested. "It's only been a few days, and the nightmares have probably returned because he knows he's close by."

"Yeah, I guess." Logan frowned, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "I just hope that they find him soon, because I don't know how much more he can take."

"Not much, that's for sure," Carlos said sadly. "But I know my dad will find him. He promised."

"I hope so," Logan said, looking doubtful. "I'm gonna make breakfast. Can you guys get him up? I know he probably won't want to, but..."

"Yeah, we'll get to that. Come on," James took ahold of Carlos' shoulders and turned him in the direction of the door

Logan watched them enter the room, before turning around and walking towards the kitchen.

"Kendall?" Carlos moved slowly towards Kendall's side of the room, stopping at the foot of his bed. "Hey, Logan's making breakfast. You should come."

No response.

"We know you're awake," James said, moving to pull back the covers, but he stopped as Carlos tapped his shoulder.

"Umm, James?"

"Yeah?"

"The window's open..."

James' eyes followed Carlos' gaze, where sure enough, the curtains were moving softly with the wind.

Logan and Kendall never opened their window.

It was in one swift motion that James pulled back Kendall's covers, his heart sinking when he found nothing underneath them.

"Oh no..."

So, Kendall's gone... I've had this idea for a while now, so after this, things should get interesting... Where do you guys think he could be? I guess you'll find out soon enough. ;)

I hope you guys liked the chapter. Thank you for reading and thank you for all the lovely reviews. They really do make my day. :)

~ BigTimeRush-BTR :)