Managed to write this chapter faster than I thought, so here it is. I hope you all like it. :)

After leaving Mrs. Knight and Katie's hospital room, James, Carlos and Logan headed to the cafeteria – not necessarily because they wanted to, but because Antonio told them they needed to take a break. He assured them that he'd look after Jennifer and Katie while they were gone, so the three of them begrudgingly agreed.

"We'll be back soon," Carlos promised Katie, as he stuck his head into the room for only a few seconds.

From where she sat, next to her mom's bed, Katie nodded in his direction.

"Come on, boys. They'll be okay," Kelly assured them, ushering the three of them away from the door. "Antonio's looking after them, and Freight Train should be here in a few hours, so the three of you won't have to worry so much. He'll take good care of them."

Her words seemed to do little to ease the boys' nerves, but it was enough to get them to start walking toward the cafeteria, with Gustavo leading them in that direction.

When they got to the cafeteria, they found it quite busy. Most of the tables were full, but there was one at the very back that was empty, so the boys each took a seat.

It was only a few seconds after Logan had sat down that he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Frowning, he pulled it out and stared at the screen. Rather than a familiar name or phone number being displayed on it, the screen read "Unknown Caller." He tried to calm his nerves as he excused himself from the table and walked a few feet away from it, after assuring Gustavo and Kelly that he wouldn't disappear from their sight.

Feeling unsure and a bit fearful, he pressed a hand against one ear to block out the noise surrounding him, and then pressed the phone to his other ear.

"Hello?" he asked, his voice sounding shaky, despite his attempt to not make it sound that way.

"Hey. It's… It's Kendall."

For a moment, he just stood there, frozen in place, unsure if he had heard correctly or if his mind was just playing tricks on him. "What?" He gripped the phone tighter, his mind feeling fuzzy.

"It's Kendall," the voice said again. There was no mistaking it. It was Kendall.

"Oh my God. Kendall. Are you—Is that really you?" He felt tears begin to prick at his eyes, his legs feeling shaky.

"It's really me." Kendall's voice sounded thick, as if he was holding his tears back as well. "Listen, I'm… I'm okay. I'm somewhere in Goodsprings, Nevada. It's like a three-hour drive from Los Angeles, but someone's taking me over there."

"Someone? Someone like who?"

He heard Kendall take in a ragged breath. "A woman. I just wanted to let you know. I wanted to—" Kendall faltered, and Logan felt his heart tighten. "I miss you. I miss the guys. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Logan told him gently.

Kendall sniffled on the other end. "He killed them."

"What?"

"M-My… My father. He killed my mom and Katie."

"Is that what he told you?" Logan asked, his gaze locked on James, who was staring at him from the table with a questioning look on his face. "Kendall, your mom and Katie aren't dead," Logan said in a softer tone. "They're here. They're at the hospital. They're a bit banged up, but they're gonna be okay."

"No—" Kendall choked on a sob. "He said…"

"He lied," Logan told him. "I can take my phone to them, so you can talk to them for yourself, but I promise you, they're okay."

"Oh, God." Kendall let out another sob. He sounded like he couldn't breathe properly. "Please do."

Logan nodded, then realized Kendall couldn't see him. "Let me just let everyone know, okay?"

"Okay," Kendall said, his voice barely audible. "Thank you."

Detaching the phone from his ear, Logan rubbed at his eyes, because he could hardly see through his tears, and slowly made his way back to the table, where the boys, Kelly and Gustavo were seated.

"Logan? Are you okay?" James asked. He reached up and placed a hand on Logan's shoulder. "What happened? Who were you talking to?"

Letting out a choked sob, he held the phone out to James.

Frowning, James grabbed the phone from his hand and held it to his ear. "Listen, I don't know who this is, but you better leave Logan alone, or else—"

"James."

James froze, then stared up at Logan, wide-eyed.

"What?"

"It's Kendall," Logan said and reached for the phone, putting it on speaker. He shakily sat down and placed the phone in the middle of the table. "Hey, Kendall," he said, watching as everyone's mouths hung open. "They're here. James, Carlos, Kelly and Gustavo… We're all here."

As Kendall repeated what he had told Logan to the others, Logan watched quietly. He kept trying to blink the tears away from his eyes, to calm himself down, because it felt like his heart was going to leap right out of his chest. He told himself he needed to keep himself together. That he could cry later. Once Kendall was back. Once he knew for sure that he was out of harm's way.

Next to him, James was now holding the phone again, his grip so tight, Logan was afraid he was going to break it. Carlos looked elited, but at the same time, it looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Logan couldn't blame him. He could hardly believe it himself, even though he was the first one who had heard from Kendall.

"Kendall, sweetheart, are you sure you're safe?" Kelly asked through the tears swimming in her eyes.

"We can have someone go get you. Wherever you are, we can go get you," Gustavo added.

"No, I'm safe," Kendall said. His voice sounded a bit more even now, as if he was more relaxed, not as afraid as he had been when Logan had first answered the call. "I just want to get as far away from here as possible."

"Can you tell us where it was that they held you captive?" Gustavo asked as he took the phone from James. "We have to let the authorities know."

"I'm… I'm not sure. Give me a second."

They heard Kendall talking to someone in the background – probably the woman he was with. It took him a moment to get back on the line, but when he did, he explained where he had been, telling them that the only reason he had managed to escape was because his father had knocked himself out with liquor. Or so he thought. He hadn't seen him when he'd left.

"Can I talk to my mom and Katie? Please?" Kendall asked, sounding choked up once again. "I need to know they're actually okay."

Logan looked up at Gustavo, who nodded in response.

"I'll let Antonio know."

"Okay," Logan said, as he took the phone Gustavo was handing back to him. "I'll get you to your mom and Katie in a minute," Logan told Kendall. "They'll be really happy to hear from you… We're all really happy to hear from you."

On the other end, Kendall let out something between a sob and a chuckle. "I'm really happy to hear from you guys, too. You don't even know."

As he waited for Logan to get the phone to his mom and Katie, Kendall leaned his head back against the car seat's headrest and let out a sigh. He was so tired, physically and emotionally drained. And the worst part was that even though he was no longer in his father's presence, he still felt absolutely terrified. He didn't feel quite as panicked as he had been while locked in the motel's closet or in the room in the cabin, but the anxiety was still there, bubbling on the surface. He felt suffocated by it.

"Do you want me to try untying your wrists?" Patricia asked as she placed the phone down on the car's middle compartment.

"You can try," Kendall said with a small shrug, "but I think they're pretty tight."

Nodding, Patricia swerved to the left and parked in a place where the car was well-hidden behind some trees. She looked to him for permission, and when he stretched out his arms towards her, she started trying to untie the knots. However, after a couple of minutes passed and she realized the knots weren't budging, she gave up with a sigh.

"I can stop at a store and pick up some scissors to cut them loose," she said to Kendall. "They are pretty tight. I don't think I'm going to be able to do it myself."

Kendall nodded. "That's alright, but maybe… Maybe when we're pretty far away from here? I don't want to risk getting caught."

"Of course."

"Thank you," Kendall said as he leaned his head back against the seat. There were tears building up in his eyes, making them sting.

Patricia gave him a small smile before starting up the car again and continuing to drive down the road. "No problem."

"Kendall, are you still there?"

Kendall stared down at the phone when he heard Logan's voice again. "Yeah, I'm still here."

"I'm going to pass the phone to your mom and Katie," Logan said.

Before Kendall even got a chance to respond, he heard a sob coming from the other end, followed by his mom's choked up voice.

"Kendall?" His mom's voice was shaky, as if she could barely get his name out of her mouth. "Baby, is that really you?"

"Mom." Kendall closed his eyes tightly, but the tears in them managed to escape and roll down the sides of his face. "I didn't think I'd ever hear your voice again," he said, replaying what his father had said to him back at the motel in his mind.

They will no longer be an issue.

They're gone.

They're dead.

Kendall felt like he was going to hurl. He couldn't help but feel like this was nothing but a dream. That he would soon wake up to find himself back at the cabin, with his father looming over him, ready to hurt him again and again, in whatever way he could.

"Is this real?" he asked, because he had to. Even with his mom on the line, he couldn't believe that she was actually there.

"It's real, baby," his mom said, sniffling. "I'm right here, and so is Katie."

Katie.

"Can–Can I talk to her?"

"Of course."

"Kendall?" Katie sounded scared, maybe even hesitant when she took the phone. Maybe she was having trouble making sense of all of this, too.

"Baby sister… I'm so happy to hear your voice."

"I'm so happy to hear yours."

Kendall felt a small smile tug at his lips despite the ache he felt in his chest. He had been through so much. They had been through so much. All he wanted was to have them by his side again. To be able to hug them and the boys. To know that they were safe – that they were all safe.

"I'm gonna be there soon," he said to her.

"Are you okay?" Katie asked.

"Yeah," he said, doing his best to ignore the pain coming from his rib cage. "I am."

"Are you really?"

Kendall chewed on the inside of his cheek. He didn't like lying to her. "Yeah. Are you and mom okay? Logan told me you guys were hurt… Did he hurt you?"

"I hit my head pretty hard," Katie said, as if it was no big deal. "The doctors said I have a concussion, but I should be fine. Mom got shot, and—"

"What?"

"Katie!" he heard his mom whisper-shout at Katie.

"Is mom okay?!" Kendall asked. His eyes had grown wide, and he felt cold all over.

"Honey, I'm fine," his mom said, sounding a bit distant. "It was just on the leg. The doctors took the bullet out. I'm gonna be okay."

Kendall took in a sharp breath and stared down at his hands. "He could have killed you," he said, almost in a whisper. "He could have killed both of you, and I wouldn't have been able to stop him."

"Sweetheart, we're safe. That's what matters, that we're all safe."

"Yeah," Kendall said, even though the ache in his chest had only grown more prominent. He couldn't help but blame himself, because even though he hadn't asked for any of this, he was the reason his father had gone after Katie and his mom. He was the reason they had gotten kidnapped and hurt. If it wasn't for him, none of this would have ever happened. They would have never had to suffer.

"Baby, we're all gonna be okay."

"I hope so," he said quietly. He wasn't sure if he could believe it, because at that moment, he felt the farthest thing from okay. "I love you both. I'll be there soon."

"We love you, too."

No sooner had the call ended that Kendall turned his face towards the window, sniffling as quietly as he could. The feeling of Patricia's hand landing on his shoulder startled him, causing him to jump slightly in his seat and turn to look at her.

"I know there's not a lot that I can say or do that'll make any of this better, but I do know this. None of what has happened is your fault, and whatever it is that that man did to you and to your family, he will pay for it, one way or another."

"It feels like it is my fault," Kendall said after a moment of hesitation. "He wanted me. He hurt them because of me. They didn't deserve this."

"Oh, honey." Patricia let out a small sigh as she turned to him for a second before looking back at the road in front of her. "The thing you're forgetting is, neither did you."

The remainder of the ride back to Los Angeles was a long one, with Kendall drifting in and out of sleep, lulled by the car's movements. He couldn't seem to stay asleep for long, though. He would either wake up any time they hit a bump on the road, or he would be pulled back into reality as his mind tortured him again and again with memories of what he had been through.

When Patricia gently shook him awake, the time on the dashboard read 1:46 PM. He blinked his tired eyes open and stared out the window, but the sun's rays temporarily blinded him. "Where are we?" he asked as he turned away from the window and in Patricia's direction.

"At a dollar store in Los Angeles," Patricia said as she pulled a pair of scissors out of a plastic bag and showed them to him. "Is it alright if I try cutting you loose?"

Kendall nodded and watched as she cut at the ropes in his arms. Cutting him loose wasn't an easy task, even with the scissors, but after a lot of cutting and tugging and pulling, Kendall was finally able to pull his hands out of the restraints.

"You're bleeding," Patricia noted as she turned one of his hands over. Frowning, she wriggled out of her jacket and pressed the fabric against his wrist. "I know it's not bad, but you should put pressure on it. We should be in the hospital in about ten minutes or so."

"But, your jacket—"

"I can wash my jacket," Patricia said, starting up the car.

Kendall frowned but did as she had said. "Thank you."

As Patricia had promised, they arrived at the hospital eleven minutes later.

The second they pulled into the parking lot, Kendall reached for the door's handle and pushed the door open. He whimpered as he stepped out of the vehicle, his body aching in protest. He hadn't realized how terrible he actually felt, until now. His limbs felt heavy, his right side ached, and his head was throbbing painfully. But he could worry about that later. He needed to get to his friends first – to his family.

"Thank you so much for your help," he said, turning to face Patricia, who had also stepped out of the car. "I would have never gotten here, if it wasn't for you."

Patricia gave him a small sad smile. "Let me walk you inside, at least," she said as she stepped around the vehicle to where he was standing.

"Okay," he said after a second and allowed her to grab him by the arm and guide him in the direction of the hospital entrance.

Stepping into the hospital felt surreal. He was finally around other people. He was away from his father and from Trey. He was—

"Kendall!"

He turned around to find James, Carlos and Logan rushing past the waiting room to get to where he was standing, in front of the front desk. As a sob escaped his lips, he closed the space between them. His body collided against theirs as their arms wrapped tightly around each other, keeping him in place.

He was home.

:)

So, in the next chapter you'll get to see what happened with Kendall's dad, and you'll also get to see what's going on with Kendall. I apologize if anything in this chapter (or in this story overall) doesn't sound accurate. It's the only time I've really written a story like this, so things may not be as realistic as I had hoped. But that may just be me overthinking things. I don't know, lol.

Either way, thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter. They're very much appreciated. :)

~ BigTimeRush-BTR :)