I own nothing.
Katie screeched to a halt. No!
As she watched in abject horror, Bitters presented her mother with a perfect single red rose.
Mrs. Knight took it with a hesitant smile, probably wondering if there was a catch.
Bitters smiled at her, a real smile, as if Mrs. Knight was the most beautiful woman to walk the earth. No sarcasm and no 'catch' in sight.
She thanked Bitters then continued walking across the lounge. A few steps later, she stopped and looked back at Bitters, contemplative and curious. She gave a soft, "huh" in wonderment. Then she shrugged and left, leaving her horrified daughter who had witnessed the exchange to do the only thing she possibly could do given the situation.
Katie screamed, "Kendall!"
Uh oh oh ohhhhhhh
"You called, baby sister?" Kendall asked when she finally let go of his arm. She had found him, grabbed him, and dragged him all the way up to 2J. He didn't have any choice but to follow.
"I made a mistake, a terrible, no, a horrible mistake and I need you to fix it right now!" she begged.
"It can't be that bad," Kendall said. "What'd ya do?"
"Well," Katie turned and started pacing back and forth. "I wanted Mom to find someone, a nice guy, preferably one with lots of money"—she caught Kendall's side-eye, "okay, so he doesn't have to be rich, but just…someone to make her happy, you know?"
"It doesn't sound bad so far," he said, glad to hear she still wanted to help Mom to find someone even after the Fabio Fiasco.
Katie stopped pacing long enough to give Kendall a serious look, "It gets worse. Much worse!"
He gestured for her to continue.
"Well…I summoned Cupid," she started.
Kendall cocked his head to the side. "You did…what?"
"I summoned Cupid, okay." she deadpanned.
"How do you even know how to do that?" he asked, confused.
"The internet," she replied as if that explained everything.
"Oh…but—" he had a lot of questions.
"That's not the point," she cut him off. "The point is I just saw Bitters flirting with Mom and I need you to make it stop!"
Kendall's eyes widened. "Bitters?" He grimaced.
"Cupid really messed up," she threw her hands in the air. "Why would he shoot an arrow at both Mom and Bitters? What could possibly make Cupid think those two are a love match?"
"How should I know?" Kendall exclaimed. "I didn't even know Cupid was real until five minutes ago!"
"Now you do," she said. "And now you need to fix it! Please, big brother?"
Kendall clenched his eyes shut as his mind raced for a solution.
"Ah ha!" he opened his eyes, raising a finger in the air at his eureka moment. "I've got it!"
"Well?"
"We're just gonna have to summon Cupid again and get him to undo the spell!" His plan was perfect, and he'd even get to see how his sister had summoned the love cherub. Definitely not something one would see every day.
Katie sighed. "Okay, but be ready. He might not want to see me again. He claimed I was too bossy when he came through last time. That's probably why he shot Bitters. To get back at me."
Kendall laughed despite the situation. "So, tell me what happened the last time you summoned him."
"He showed up right there," she pointed to a spot in the middle of the room. "He shows up with his bow and arrows, and the love just beams out of him. He kinda glows. Well, he glowed. Once he realized I wanted to talk for a sec, he set his bow and arrows on a chair. That was when he stopped glowing."
"So…maybe his magic comes from his bow and arrows!" Kendall figured out. "So as soon as he comes through, I'll wrestle them away from him. He won't be able to leave, and we won't give them back until he promises to undo the love whammy on Mom!"
"Let's do this," Katie nodded.
They fist bumped.
Katie marched determinedly to a box Kendall just noticed on the counter. She reached in then pulled her hand out, fist clenched, before tossing what looked like blue shimmering sand into the air right over the spot she said Cupid would materialize. Then she grabbed the horn next to the box and blew an obnoxiously loud honk of music.
He was surprised that was all it took to summon the love god, and a little disappointed. He was hoping for chants and pulses of light, the real witchy supernatural stuff he'd seen in movies.
Ow, he winced as a bright light filled the room. Well, there's the pulse of light.
He could see a shape forming in the middle of the room. Before it could come through completely, Kendall raced over to be ready.
As soon as the larger light in the room went out leaving behind the glowing man—yes, it was a man, not a child as most cherubs should be—Kendall grabbed the arrow holder, swiftly tugging it away.
"Hark! I've heard your herald call—Hey!" Cupid went from standing proudly, preparing to introduce himself, to grasping at air as his most prized possession was take from him. "No, don't!" He couldn't do anything to stop Kendall, who raced with the arrows over to where Katie stood, then propped the case against the counter behind him.
"Why would you steal an instrument of love?" Cupid asked in a melodious voice, appealing to Kendall. "I can help you, all you need to do is ask. Who are you?" Then Cupid noticed the girl standing next to the tall blonde boy. "Oh, it's you, the bossy one." He gave her an endearingly sweet smile.
"You aren't very helpful at all," Katie grumbled.
Cupid spread his hands in front of him. "You asked me to help your mother find love, and I did."
"Not with Bitters, though," Kendall said. "Why would you shoot him as a good match for Mom? He's probably the worst match for her ever!"
"Oh, I see," Cupid smiled his beautiful smile, his smooth dark skin shining.
"What do you see?" Katie asked. "That you've made a horrible mistake and can reverse the spell immediately?!"
"I cannot reverse the spell," Cupid answered.
"But, but, but," Katie sputtered, horrified at what that meant.
"Because the spell will run out in…" Cupid looked around. "Right now, actually."
Katie and Kendall looked at each other.
"So you did reverse the spell," Kendall said.
"No," Cupid denied. "The spell simply ran its course." At the confused look on the Knight children's faces, he continued. "My spell only lasts twenty four hours."
Katie let out a sigh of relief.
"You two don't understand how the magic works, do you?" Cupid reprimanded gently.
"Nope," Kendall replied. "Why don't you explain it to us?"
"Very well," Cupid smiled, taking a moment to brush some sparkling dust from the shoulder of his tight velvet pant suit in purple with red hearts speckled throughout. "My arrows hold the magic, as you've discovered, and my arrows seek to help someone find love. I simply help their aim be true. But I only ever shoot the person seeking love, I never shoot anyone else. I can't make anyone fall in love with someone. Everyone always has a choice in their intended. That's only fair."
"So even though I went through all the trouble of finding out how to summon you for Mom, she wasn't going to find love anyway?" Katie asked, extremely dissatisfied with this turn of events.
"The arrow only starts the seed of possibility," Cupid nearly sang in his smooth voice. "It makes the love seeker, or your mother, open their eyes to new possibilities. And it gives those around her who have the capacity for love for her a glimmer of interest, to turn their eyes to her. They will make their presence known. And thus, the possibility of great love could exist. After twenty-four hours, it's up to her to seek out the one she connected the best with and peruse the relationship. If she decides she's not ready, or really not interested, so be it. Not everyone is ready for love, and not everyone finds the love of their life within twenty-four hours after being shot with a magical arrow."
"Well," Kendall cleared his throat. "In that case…I guess I should give these back to you." He reached down to grab the bag. As he bent, he wobbled inadvertently. He missed the strap and his palm slammed into one of the arrow points poking out of the top.
As a spray of sparks flew into the air, Kendall felt a sinking in his gut.
"Oh crap," he mumbled.
"The arrows must really like you," Cupid smiled. "I guess you know what this means."
Kendall gulped, "But…I'm in a band. Do you have any idea how many fans I have? They're already obsessed with me. If I pass a fan on the street today, I'll probably be attacked, or worse, kidnapped!"
Cupid had an answer for everything though.
"The arrows have a zero-violence tolerance clause. If anyone is given to violence, obsession, or possessiveness the arrow will not allow their interest to be known. That isn't love. Never fear! Just let the arrow's magic do its work."
"Right…" Kendall was not looking forward to this.
"And it'll all be over in twenty-four hours," Cupid reminded.
Kendall nodded, sighing, "Here you go." He handed the arrows back.
Cupid immediately resumed his glow. "Good luck in love, Kendall Knight."
He waved and then disappeared in a burst of light.
"Katie!" Kendall turned to glare at his sister, folding his arms, disgruntled.
Katie hesitantly laughed, "At least it's only for twenty-four hours!"
"I'm not looking for love though," Kendall exclaimed. "Jo's only been gone, like, two months. That's way too soon to move on."
"Then just ignore anyone who shows you any kind of interest?" she reasoned. "Once the spell runs out, you'll be golden."
Kendall rolled his eyes, not happy at all. He heard Cupid. He couldn't ignore it, not if he was around people. He would see everyone in a different light.
Obviously he shouldn't go anywhere, just stay in the apartment, until the spell ended.
"I'm just not going anywhere until this is over," he stated.
"Don't you have to go to the studio?" she asked.
"Hockey pucks!" he kicked the air in frustration.
Katie gave a 'what ya gonna do' look right as Logan came home.
"Hey guys," Logan said. "Kendall, the car will be here in twenty minutes, don't forget!" He hesitated for a moment when he looked in Kendall's direction, but resumed walking to his room.
"I'll be ready," Kendall grumbled, on edge at the thought of leaving 2J.
"Only…" Katie looked at her watch. "Twenty-three hours and fifty-five minutes to go!"
Kendall plopped on the couch, groaning. "That makes me feel so much better."
"Glad to help," Katie patted his head. "See you!"
"Wait—!" It was too late. Katie had already left Kendall to deal with this mess by himself.
"Hey, Kendall," Logan said from the doorway. "Wanna get smoothies after the studio?"
"Sure!" Kendall said. An ice cold smoothie would definitely help take his mind off of his current predicament.
"Sweet!" Logan grinned.
Kendall smiled back, but suddenly had a thought. Logan's smile was really big, like maybe he was too happy that Kendall agreed to smoothies. He wasn't…Logan couldn't be included in Cupid's spell, right?
But, no, Logan always asked about going for smoothies after the studio, Kendall just hadn't felt much like going since Jo left. But it'd been two months, so why not?
By the time they were done at the studio and he was sitting with Logan enjoying their smoothies, Kendall was almost positive Logan was under Cupid's spell. It was kind of crazy though, because, just like with the smoothies, Logan hadn't done anything different from what he always does.
Logan always stood with him while they were in the booth recording. He always held the door for him, to the car and the recording booth. He always joked with Kendall about the silliest things. Had he always laughed like that though? Kendall never once thought of Logan's laughter being flirtatious, but now he was hearing it differently. He had caught Logan staring at him a few times during the session, and each time Logan didn't look away. But Logan always made eye contact with him and smiled while they were singing.
Hadn't Cupid said that the spell would open his own eyes to new possibilities? Was Logan actually a possibility? Kendall had never been attracted to a guy in his life, especially not his best friend. He had never considered if Logan, or any of his male friends, were attracted to guys either. He just figured if they were, then they were, no biggie. As to this new possibility with Logan…it was kind of scary because, well, what could possibly go wrong in dating your best friend and someone you happened to live with? But Cupid said that the possibility was there…the magic wouldn't let someone be interested in him or vice versa if there wasn't a possibility it could work out, right?
The big question—was Logan interested in him in that way? And if so, does that mean Logan had actually been dropping hints for months but he'd been too stupid to notice until a love spell spelled it out for him?
The bigger question, of course—did Kendall want to explore this new possibility? He didn't know. He liked Logan a lot, and the reality is that any relationship you're in is better if that person is your best friend. Could he imagine himself dating Logan though? Complete with hand-holding, cuddles, and kisses? He wasn't sure. He wasn't completely disgusted at the thought, he just hadn't ever thought about it before.
Obviously, the first thing he needed to do was make sure he wasn't reading things completely wrong. That part was easy enough.
"Hey, Logan…" Kendall began.
"Yeah?" Logan glanced up hopefully. Kendall had gone quiet after Logan returned with the smoothies, so if the blonde's theory was correct, the older boy was probably hoping for more of a conversation than he was getting.
"I know this is gonna sound kind of crazy, but…" Kendall took a small breath. "You don't…like me, do you?"
Logan looked puzzled. "Well, yeah, I like you alright. You're my best friend."
Not as easy as he thought, Kendall griped inwardly.
"I mean more, like as more than a friend," Kendall said bluntly.
Logan blushed and looked down into his smoothie. "Depends," he mumbled.
"On what?" Kendall asked, now more sure than ever that he was right. Logan does like him! Strangely, he was kind of happy at the discovery. Huh.
"Whether you like me too," Logan finally answered, forgoing his blush and answering as bluntly as Kendall had asked him.
Kendall opened his mouth to reply. He stopped.
He was certainly open to the possibility. But did he really like Logan as more than a friend? He didn't want to lie, though he thought maybe he could.
In the end, he didn't give Logan the answer he wanted. Not because he wasn't sure about Logan, but because he wasn't sure they should continue this conversation while under a love spell. Cupid said his magic didn't force anyone to love, but as long as his magic was still influencing them, Kendall didn't want to make a decision he'd regret tomorrow.
"Ask me again tomorrow," he said instead.
Logan lowered his head, not happy with his answer, but he clearly wasn't surprised by it.
"Whatever," Logan shrugged, smiling even though his disappointment was obvious. He stood. "I forgot to do some homework for tomorrow. I'll go ahead so you can finish your smoothie."
"Wait, you should finish—" It didn't matter what Kendall said because Logan had left too quickly and wasn't going to stop. "—yours.'
Kendall's shoulders drooped and he stared down into his own smoothie.
"Hockey pucks," he grumbled.
The next day, Katie was ready to scream again for an entirely different reason.
"Is it time yet?!" Kendall exclaimed.
"As I told you five minutes ago, NO!" she grumbled. "You still have twenty more minutes until the spell runs out. What's the big deal? You said yourself it hadn't been that bad. And, hey, it worked with Mom. She has a date tonight!"
Kendall raised his eyebrows in question.
"Definitely not Bitters," she laughed with relief.
He nodded.
"I just need it to be over," he explained. "I need a clear mind, a mind that isn't influenced by magic, to make a very important decision."
"So you want the spell to be over so you can decide if you want to date someone," she said, eyeing him.
"Basically," he affirmed.
"Who?" she asked.
"Well, uh, that's the thing," he hedged before revealing all. "It's Logan."
Katie's eyes widened, her mouth dropped open.
"Don't say anything!" he pointed at her. "I'm trying to figure this out!"
Katie mimed zipping her lips closed. She looked at her watch again. "Ten more minutes."
Kendall nodded then started pacing. His mind was racing. He'd been wrestling with this decision all night. He felt that he'd gotten to the place where he was willing to give Logan a chance, but he just couldn't tell the brunet until the spell was over. He had to be absolutely sure this was what he wanted. He didn't want to hurt Logan by changing his mind. This was a very delicate situation.
He had decided it didn't seem so bad, the thought of holding hands with Logan. He still wasn't sure about other relationship stuff, like kissing. He definitely wasn't ready for that. But it was okay. He could just tell Logan how he was feeling, and maybe eventually he'd be ready for it. He knew his best friend. Logan would understand and definitely wouldn't push. He'd let Kendall go at his own pace.
"Time!" Katie called out.
"Thanks, Katie!" Kendall said as he started running to find Logan.
He didn't have to sit and think. As soon as Katie told him time had run out, he knew immediately that nothing had changed. His mind was his own and it always had been. He'd been stupid to put this off.
"Logan!" Kendall finally found him sitting outside at one of the picnic tables, books laid out in front of him.
"Hey, Kendall," Logan said, looking up with a smile.
Kendall was happy to see there didn't seem to be any hard feelings about yesterday. Logan was still his usual self, happy to see his best friend. Seeing that, he relaxed and sat across from his friend.
"It's tomorrow," Kendall said.
"What's tomorrow?" Logan asked.
"I mean, today is yesterday's tomorrow," the blonde explained.
Logan's eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah…and today is tomorrow's yesterday… Don't play this game with James or Carlos. You'll confuse them for a week."
Kendall huffed with a smile. "No, I mean, I told you yesterday to ask me something again tomorrow. And it's tomorrow."
The brunet shrugged. "Oh, don't worry about that, Kendall. I don't want to make things weird. I don't even know why you asked me anyway. You never seemed to notice before."
Kendall shook his head. "I'm sorry."
"You don't gotta be sorry," Logan smiled ruefully. "I knew it was a long shot which is why I never said anything. I'm okay with just being friends."
"But I'm not," Kendall replied.
Logan drew back sharply. "You don't want to be friends anymore?"
"No!" Kendall exclaimed. "That's not what I'm saying! Just listen, okay?"
"Okay…" Logan looked worried.
"I'm not okay with just being friends," Kendall explained. "I want to be more than friends."
"No, you don't," Logan shook his head. "Don't do that just because you think you have to. I'm a big boy, Kendall. I can take it if you just let me down gently."
"Listen!" Kendall reminded him.
Logan motioned for him to continue.
"Don't ask me for details, but basically I accidentally got shot with Cupid's arrow yesterday and it made me open my eyes to new possibilities for love. I finally saw how you've been the past few months with new eyes. I realized that not only were you interested in me, but that it was also possible that I could find love with you. I just couldn't answer you yesterday because I had to wait for the spell to be over to make sure neither of us was influenced by the magic."
"So now you're saying you love me," Logan shook his head in disbelief.
"No," Kendall said, knowing that would be too much of a stretch at this point, even for him. "I'm just saying that I could. Eventually. One day. If I just open myself up to the possibility of being with you and, well, be with you."
Logan stared at him in quiet contemplation.
"Well?" Kendall smiled brightly.
"You really want to…go out with me?" Logan asked with a trace of hope in his voice.
"Yes!" Kendall said. He reached across the table and grasped Logan's hand, threading their fingers together. This is nice. He really liked holding Logan's hand. "Yes, I'd love to!"
"Well, okay," Logan stared transfixed at their hands. "I'd like that."
They smiled at each other, neither wanting to pull away.
In the distance, far beyond Logan's shoulder, a glimmer of blue sparkles shimmered. A glowing face observed the happy couple making a brand new connection.
Cupid smiled, "My work here is done."
The End.