Hello readers! Hope you are all happy and healthy! I'm still working on You're Not Alone, I promise, but I thought I would post this as well. It's totally different from what I usually write. This is just simple Kendall and Katie sibling fluff, with a dash of angst thrown in there. This will have a second part, which will be uploaded in the future (hopefully not distant future like most of my updates. All I'm gonna say is grad school sucks.)

Enjoy! Also, if the formatting is weird, I'm sorry. You would think I would have this figured out by now.

"Mom, I'm home!" Katie called out as she quietly shut the front door. She quickly wiped away the stray tears on her cheeks when she heard her mother's footsteps. She managed to smile at her mother when she appeared around the corner into the front hallway.

"Hi, sweetie. How was school?" Mrs. Knight asked as she went up and hugged her daughter.

"It was okay," Katie answered while she avoided her mother's gaze. Katie almost thought that there was a lie-detector machine in her mother's brain, that she could tell if you were lying by just looking into your eyes. Katie did not want her mother looking into her eyes since she was sure they were still red.

"Just okay? It's always fantastic, now it's just okay?"

Katie just shrugged, still looking down.

"Katie, look at me. What happened today?"

Curse that stupid "motherly instinct." Katie slowly brought her head up to look at her mother. Mrs. Knight gasped softly.

"Katie, have you been crying?"

"No," Katie responded a little too quickly. She rubbed her eyes and looked at her mother. "It's just allergies."

"Are you being honest with me, Katie Knight?" Mrs. Knight inquired.

"Yes, mom. I'm not lying. Honest." Mrs. Night just stared at Katie for a few seconds, then sighed.

"If you say so. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, sweetheart."

"Mom, is that Katie?" Katie heard a voice say. It was her big brother.

"Yeah, she just got home." Mrs. Knight smiled at Katie before she walked toward the kitchen right as Kendall appeared around the corner.

"Hey, baby sister. How was school?" Kendall asked with a smile as he bent down to hug Katie. When she didn't answer, he let go and looked at her. "Katie?" He put his hand on her chin and lifted her head up. "Are you okay?" He said softly when he saw that her eyes were red. He was slightly surprised when Katie slapped his hand away.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just wish that you all would stop asking me that!" She said while her voice gradually increased in volume.

"Katie, you're obviously not fine," Kendall reasoned. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Katie said softly. "Everything's fine." Her voice started to crack, indicating that more tears were on their way. Katie ran up the stairs, leaving her brother at the bottom of the stairs in slight shock. She raced straight to her room, slamming and locking the door behind her. She then jumped onto her bed and started crying once again, her pillows muffling her sobs.

"Katie," Kendall said as he went up after her. He reached her bedroom door and softly knocked. "Katie, can we just talk?" He listened intently, and he swore that he heard a choked sob coming from the other side of the door. Kendall tried to turn the doorknob, and he was surprised to find it locked. "Katie, please let me in."

"Just go away!" He heard her yell, which caused him to step back. Katie never, ever yelled at people, not even when she was angry. He was just about to plead with Katie again when he heard his mother calling for him.

"Kendall! Can you come and set the table please?!"

"Sure, mom." Kendall called back. He sighed and reluctantly walked away from his sister's door.

BTRBTRBTR

"This is really good, mom," Kendall said while he put another bit of his mom's tortellini into his mouth.

"Thanks. It's a new recipe that Mrs. Mitchell gave me. She said that Logan loves it."

"I can see why," Kendall said. Mrs. Knight peered back at the stairs, a puzzled look on her face. Seeing this, Kendall asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah," his mother responded. "It's just, I've called Katie three times now, and she still hasn't come down."

"Do you want me to go get her?" Kendall asked, slight urgency in his voice as he remembered how upset Katie was earlier. Honestly, he was a little worried for her.

"Sure," Mrs. Knight said. Kendall set his fork on his half-empty plate and got up. He went up the stairs and quickly approached Katie's door. He tapped on the door.

"Katie, dinner's ready." No answer. "Katie, you in there?" He said a little louder. "Katie, please answer me." Once again, there was no sound.

Kendall ran to his mother's room and got the key to Katie's room from one of her nightstand drawers. He then ran back to Katie's door. "Katie, I'm coming in," Kendall said while he turned the key into the lock. A small click indicated that the door was now unlocked. Kendall grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned it. He hadn't even opened the door two inches before a rough force slammed it shut again.

"Go away, Kendall!" He heard Katie yell.

"Katie, please. I just want to talk. Please just let me in."

"No!" Katie yelled, her voice cracking. "I'm fine. Just go away!"

"Katie, it's obvious you're not fine. What happened?"

"Nothing," Katie responded, her voice cracking still.

"Katie, we both know you're lying to me." Katie didn't answer. Kendall then heard the squeak of bedsprings followed by a few muffled sobs. Kendall slowly pushed the door open and saw Katie lying on her bed, face in her pillow. Her small frame was trembling with sobs.

"Katie, what happened?" Kendall said softly as he slowly closed the door behind him.

"Nothing happened, Kendall," Katie said as she sat up in bed and faced Kendall.

"Katie, something obviously happened. You wouldn't cry for no reason." Almost on cue, Katie wiped the tears from her eyes, but more tears quickly took their place.

"You don't deserve to be upset like this, Katie. You're a good girl, you deserve to be happy."

"I'm not upset. It was just a rough day."

"I don't believe you," Kendall responded. "Tell me the truth."

Katie sighed. "Somebody just said some stuff about me today, that's all."

"Who?" Kendall asked.

It's not a big deal, Kendall."

"It is if it's making you this upset. Katie, whatever they said about you, it's not true."

"No, Kendall," Katie said with her head down. "They're right. No one likes me, Kendall. No one cares. I have no friends."

"What about Kristen and Jamie? They're your friends," Kendall said.

"No, they're not. They made it clear that they'd much rather hang out with someone who's not a loser."

"Katie, that is not true."

"Oh, really?" Katie interrupted. "No, I am a loser. No one likes me. Even the teachers hate me. And you're just saying all this cause you're my brother."

Kendall sighed. "Yeah, I am saying all this because I am your brother. Your brother who would never lie to you, ever. Your brother who knows just how amazing and special you really are. Your brother who can't beat his 9-year-old sister at anything, who always falls for his sister's cons. But most importantly, your brother who cares about you and loves you more than you know."

Katie looked up at Kendall with her large, watery eyes. "If I'm so amazing and special, then why does everyone hate me so much?"

"No one hates you. And if they do, they probably just don't understand how special you are."

After a moment of silence, Katie wrapped her skinny arms around her big brother. "Hey, Kendall?"

"Yes, Katie?"

"Would you lay here with me for a minute?"

"Of course." Kendall pulled the covers over Katie and him as they both laid down on her bed. Kendall put his arm under Katie and pulled her closer to him. She nuzzled her head into his chest.

"I love you, Kendall," Katie said softly. Kendall hugged her tighter.

"I love you, too," Kendall whispered into her ear before he kissed her forehead and closed his eyes.

BTRBTRBTR

After a couple minutes of calling for her kids to come down, Mrs. Knight climbed the stairs and went to Katie's room. "Kendall? Katie? I've been calling you guys," She said as she opened the door to Katie's room. The first thing she noticed was that Katie was sleeping. But she wasn't alone, and Mrs. Knight walked to the bed with a smile on her face as she observed the heartwarming sight in front of her. Kendall was lying with Katie with an arm around her. There were dried tear tracks on Katie's cheek, and she was huddled into Kendall's protective embrace. Mrs. Knight pulled the soft covers further up over them. Kendall was disturbed by the slight motion, and he opened his eyes.

"Mom?" He whispered, his voice still laced with sleep.

"Shh. Go back to sleep," Mrs. Knight whispered, trying not to wake up Katie. Kendall gave a small nod and closed his eyes. As he did, he pulled Katie a little closer to him, and she nuzzled a little more into his warmth, eyes still closed. Mrs. Knight didn't know exactly what had happened with Katie, and she decided she wouldn't ask. Whatever it was, Katie trusted Kendall, and Kendall would comfort her. It was a brother-sister bond that would never be broken.

BTRBTRBTR

The next day

"Kendall, tell me that you won't do something like this again!" Katie heard her mom yell as she walked into the house, just getting back from school. "Go upstairs and think about what pulling stupid stunts like this is going to get you!" Katie heard footsteps before Kendall appeared around the corner, heading toward the stairs.

"Oh, hey Katie! How was school today?" Kendall asked while he gave her his daily hug.

"It was fine, but something weird happened today."

"Oh, really?" He said as they both let go of each other. "What happened?"

"One of the guys that was mean to me yesterday came up to me and apologized. Looked scared out of his mind." She paused. "Why was mom yelling at you?"

"I, uh, kinda skipped school today."

"You what? Why would you…" She stopped. Even though she was only nine, it didn't take long for her to connect the dots. "Kendall, tell me you didn't…"

Kendall let out a loud sigh before he kneeled down in front of his sister. "No one can call my sister things like that and just get away with it."

"So, you read my phone?" She asked softly.

"Yeah, I woke up early and saw the new messages on your phone. Katie, if anyone treats you like that ever again, just let me know." Katie nodded.

"Kendall, will you make me a promise?"

"Of course, what is it?" He asked.

"Promise that we'll be there for each other, no matter what's going on."

"I promise, but will you promise to let me help you?" Kendall said firmly.

"Yes."

Kendall hugged his sister tight. "I love you, baby sis."

"I love you too, big brother," Katie said back. Kendall let go and turned to go up the stairs.

"Wait."

Kendall turned around. "Yeah?"

"Promise me that you'll let me help you too." She said.

Kendall paused, but after a moment, he nodded.

"I promise."