A/N: Hey, sorry for not updating for so long. Life is just too much and I could never catch a break long enough to update but I've still been writing. I've been meaning to update this story for a while now and I'm low-key upset that I haven't been. Enjoy! :D
"It's not what it looks like?" Jett asked. "Explain to me, what it looks like Kendall."
"Jett, this is just two friends getting dressed."
"Yeah, right." Jett said, turning and leaving the room.
"Oh come on, Jett." Kendall said, chasing after his boyfriend and grabbing his arm.
"Kendall, get off of me."
"Jett, come on, let me explain."
"Fine, explain." Jett said, removing Kendall's hold on him.
"That was Carlos, he's a good friend of mine. He came over last night and we started hanging out with James. Earlier today, he was playing football with James and he got dirty, so, James let him use his shower."
"Okay, so why were you shirtless and in there with him."
"I needed to get in the shower before you came over." Kendall said, running his hand down Jett's arm before holding his hand.
"Then why does he have on your underwear?" Jett said, pulling his hand away.
"Because apparently I leave a lot of my things over James' house and James said it would be better that Carlos wore my stuff instead of his. That way he could return it to me quicker than James." Kendall lied. He had never thought of a lie with so much conviction. Jett sighed at that and Kendall opened his arms, silently asking for a hug.
"I'm sorry." Jett said, hugging Kendall.
"I know it looked bad but trust me, it's not like that." Kendall said before kissing Jett on the cheek.
"Now go put on a shirt." Jett said, slapping Kendall on his butt. Kendall smirked before he walked back into the room.
"Everything good?"
"Yeah." Kendall said, half sighing as he grabbed his shirt. Carlos was completely dressed in Kendall's clothes and it was clear that the clothes were a little too big for him but he didn't seem to mind. James got him a belt so his pants wouldn't fall down and the shirt was a little too long.
"Come on, we need to wash your hair." Kendall said, ushering the boy into the bathroom.
"Why didn't you wash his hair in the shower?" James asked.
"Because mind your business, James." Kendall said before he reached into the shower for the shampoo. He was glad he didn't put on socks yet because the floor was still a little wet. Kendall turned to see Carlos looking at himself in the mirror and walked up behind him. When he did, a smile appeared on Carlos' face as he stared at the two of them.
"Since your hair is already wet, I can just put the shampoo in it." Kendall said and Carlos nodded before feeling the cool liquid on his scalp. As Kendall rubbed the shampoo in Carlos' head, he heard someone clear their throat. He turned to see that it was Jett standing there, watching them. Kendall turned back to looking at Carlos in the mirror as soon as he realized how Jett was going to react. He decided that he wasn't going to have Carlos be in the middle of this and wait until after he washed his hair.
"Okay, I need you to turn around and lean back."
"Huh?"
"I have to get the shampoo out. Just trust me, okay." Carlos nodded at Kendall's words before he did what he was told. Kendall turned on the water to make sure it was the right temperature before he guided Carlos' head into the sink. When his head touched the water, Carlos gasped and held onto Kendall.
"Don't worry. I got you." Kendall said as he ran his fingers through Carlos' hair, washing out the shampoo. Once all of the shampoo was out Kendall turned off the water and turned to Jett.
"Can you get a towel, please?" Jett rolled his eyes and walked back into the bedroom before he brought back Carlos' towel.
"Thank you." He said before he let Carlos stand and quickly put the towel over his head. He helped Carlos dry his hair as he guided him back into the bedroom. Once his hair was dry, Carlos took the towel off of his head and handed it to Kendall, who hung both of their towels up on James' door.
"Hello, I'm Carlos." Carlos said reaching out to shake Jett's hand once he realized he never greeted the boy.
"Jett." Jett said before he shook Carlos' hand.
"Kendall, can I go back downstairs?"
"Sure." Kendall said before Carlos was out the room and down the steps.
"Stop thinking like that."
"Like what?" Jett said, looking away from Kendall.
"Jett, come sit down." Kendall said, sitting on the bed and patting the comforter next to him. Jett went to go sit down but Kendall pulled him in his lap, kissing his neck.
"Kendall, stop."
"Why?"
"Because it doesn't feel right."
"What doesn't feel right?"
"It's just, seeing you doing that-"
"Helping him wash his hair?"
"There's a difference between helping someone wash their hair and washing their hair." Jett said, turning to face Kendall.
"Okay but I was helping him."
"Is he handicap?"
"No, he's not bu-"
"Then why does he need help with something so simple."
"Because he has a thing with water covering his face." Kendall explained and Jett just gave him an odd look.
"Hey, idiots, we got pizza down here." James yelled up the stairs.
"Oooh, pizza." Kendall said, trying to get Jett excited and happy. Jett stood up and just before they left the room, Kendall turned Jett to him.
"We're good, right?"
"Yeah, we're good." Jett said, cracking a smile at his boyfriend.
All of the boys were in James' living room, enjoying the pizza when Kendall thought of a way to get them all to bond. So far, Jett has been throwing odd looks at Carlos while he enjoyed having pizza for the second time in his life. James was on his phone while he ate his pizza and Logan was on his computer.
"Hey, James. Where's your Playstation?"
"It's upstairs."
"Can I bring it down?"
"Sure but we should probably go in the basement since it has the best T.V. and I doubt my mom is going to enjoy us sprawled all over her living room furniture."
"Alright, I'll go get it." Kendall said before he left to go get the system. He was happy when he noticed that Carlos was focused on whatever he was looking at outside. While Kendall got the gaming system and the controllers, James moved everyone into the basement where the placement of blankets sparked Jett's interest.
"Carlos." Jett said, getting the boy's attention while he sat there watching James turn on the T.V.
"Yes?"
"Where did you sleep?"
"I slept in the middle."
"Oh, okay." Jett said before turning to see James looking at him. A second later, Kendall was downstairs with the system in his hands. The way Carlos' eyes lit up made Kendall smile. He handed Carlos a controller before he began to set up the system. James looked over at Jett before he looked at Logan, who just shook his head. Once Kendall had the system set up, he sat down in between Jett and Carlos.
"What game are we playing?" Carlos asked the blonde, who just smirked. Carlos smiled so bright when he heard the intro to the game Injustice.
"Have you ever played this game?" James asked Carlos.
"Yeah." Carlos said, smiling.
As soon as it was time to select their characters, both Kendall and Carlos picked their characters in seconds before both picking the same area to fight in. As soon as the match began, the fight was going back and forth before Carlos was the one to emerge victorious.
"Damn Kendall. I've never seen you lose so hard."
"James, he barely has any health left." Kendall said before he tossed the controller to James.
"You still got crushed." James said, as they went back to the character select screen.
"He's going to pick The Flash." Kendall said to Carlos, who laughed when the announcer said the name.
"Told you."
"Time to show Kendall how it's done properly." James said as Carlos picked his character.
"Since when did you start picking Green Lantern?" Kendall asked Carlos after the character was chosen.
"I've been practicing with him a little." Carlos said as they chose the arena. Almost immediately James fell into his same old habits that he did when he picked The Flash but Carlos quickly learned how to counter those moves with the help of Kendall.
"Kendall, stop cheating!" James yelled as his first health bar emptied.
"You're the one cheating." Kendall declared before Carlos' first health bar emptied.
Carlos was trying his hardest but James' character was moving too fast, especially after he did his super move. Carlos had all of his segments of the power bar full and just before James could kill him, he activated the meter burn. Both characters said their banter back and forth while James sat there with a shocked look on his face as Carlos was victorious in the showdown, gaining his health back, before he defeated James.
"Fuck!" James yelled, throwing his head back.
"James." Kendall said before gesturing to Carlos.
"Kendall, Carlos is old enough to kno-"
"That doesn't mean he should hear it."
"It's okay. I've heard those words before. I know not to use them. Kelly told me."
"Kelly?" Jett asked and Carlos nodded.
"Isn't that the woman you hung up on me for?" Jett asked turning to Kendall.
"Uh…" There was an awkward silence besides the game music in the background as everyone looked at Kendall.
"Kendall!"
"Yes but she's nothing but a friend."
"She's almost like a sister to me but we aren't related by birth parents. She-"
"Would you be quiet?" Jett said, turning to Carlos.
"Jett, you don't need to be rude to him." Logan told him before Kendall could.
"Who is Kelly, Kendall?"
"Jett, calm down. She's my boss' daughter." Kendall whispered in Jett's ear so Carlos couldn't hear him and start asking questions. Jett sighed and sat back before Kendall took the controller from James' hands and placed it in Jett's.
"I don't want to play."
"Come on, please?"
"Carlos isn't going to do anything but beat me."
"Then I can play you, right Carlos?" Kendall asked and the boy nodded before handing the controller over. Logan rolled his eyes at that before ignoring the look he received from James. When Kendall and Jett played everyone quickly caught on to how Kendall was obviously letting Jett win. As soon as the match ended, Carlos turned to them but James just shook his head as Jett celebrated. Kendall handed the controller over to James and gave him a stern look.
"Kendall, as much fun it would be to crush your boyfriend in this game. I think it would be better that we did something different." James said and Kendall was about to interject before Jett spoke.
"He's right. I have to get going."
"Where are you going?" Kendall asked him and he smiled.
"Don't worry, me and my squad are going out for a little bonding. It was something planned a while ago. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Yeah, sure." Kendall said before Jett stood up. He leaned down and kissed Kendall on the cheek before he left.
"Bye to you too." James whispered to himself as he rolled his eyes before Kendall nudged him with his foot.
"What?"
"Why are you always so rude?"
"Kendall, honestly, you need to ask your boyfriend that but we all know you won't."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"He didn't mean that. Right James?" Logan said, sitting up and looking at his boyfriend, who just sighed.
"Kendall, I'm just saying he was really rude and just…negative."
"Well, can you blame him?"
"No, considering you didn't tell him the truth and instead thought of this elaborate lie that isn't even well put together." James told him and Kendall looked at him in shock.
"You know that this is something that's hard to grasp for people and I told you people don't need to know."
"So you want us to just keep up this lie? For how long?"
"Until…I don't know. This isn't about me and I'm just asking you to do this for Carlos' safety. Who knows how people would react and I don't want him to go back to-"
"I know. I know. I'm just…Kendall this back and forth needs to stop. How about you just tell us who Carlos is and we'll just stick to that in case anyone asks." James said, getting tired of basically having the same conversation over and over about keeping Carlos safe. "But understand that we all need to stick to this."
"Okay, Carlos is a friend of mine that I met while at work."
"But how will that explain why he's living with you?" Logan asked.
"Well, I was thinking tha-"
"No." James said, catching on to what Kendall was about to say.
"Come on James, I would have to think of something to tell my mom and everything. Why can't he stay with you?"
"I would have to do the same thing." James told him and Kendall sighed, knowing his best friend was right.
"I know it's rude to interject into other people's conversations but perhaps I could help." Carlos said, getting everyone's attention.
"I believe lying too much will complicate things. So, I think we should just tell Kendall's mother that I am a friend that is in need and you're helping me by providing me with a living space." Everyone sat there, contemplating Carlos' idea before Kendall nodded.
"That sounds good since it can work for both my mom and Jett." Kendall asked.
"Well, look at who's the evil genius."
"I'm not evil." Carlos said in slight shock.
"No, I didn't mean it like that. You're very nice." James corrected.
"Wait, you're okay with keeping you a secret?" Logan asked Carlos.
"Well, I've been listening and I know now that people knowing about where I come from isn't good for me or my safety."
"That's right." Kendall said, smiling. There was a silence between them before Carlos picked up the remote again.
"Can we play some more?" He asked Kendall.
"Sure." Kendall said, grabbing the other controller.
Several matches and a multitude of reactions due to video gaming, Kendall could feel how late it was getting. To confirm his feeling, his phone started ringing with the caller I.D. reading his house number. The phone conversation with his mother was very straight-forward and to the point that he needed to get home. While Logan went to go start up the car, James and Kendall cleaned up their mess and Carlos went to go get his clothes from upstairs. When Carlos came downstairs, a woman walked in the door.
"Oh, hello."
"Hello."
"And, who are you?"
"My name is Carlos." Carlos said with a wave.
"Nice to meet you Carlos, I'm James' Mother, you can call me Mrs. Diamond." The woman said, eyeing the boy's clothes that were obviously slightly too big for him.
"Okay."
"Where is James?"
"Mom?" James said, coming up from the basement.
"Hey Mrs. Diamond." Kendall said, waving to her.
"Oh, I see you've met Carlos."
"Who is he exactly?"
"He's a friend of Kendall's and a new friend of mine." James said, making Carlos smile.
"Oh, that's nice." She said, taking off her suit jacket.
"I'm going to take them home and I'll be back."
"I saw Logan in the car, is he-"
"No, he's not staying. His mom wanted him back home."
"Oh okay, what do you want for dinner?" She asked him while she took off her shoes.
"I was going to pick something up."
"Okay, call me wherever you stop." She said, walking upstairs.
"Okay." James said, walking to the door.
"It was nice meeting you Mrs. Diamond." Carlos said before he was ushered out the door by Kendall. "Kendall, where are we going?"
"To my house." Kendall said as he opened the door for Carlos. Carlos got in and Kendall was about to walk to the other side of the car but Carlos scooted over. James gave Kendall a look but he just shrugged it off and climbed in next to the boy. James got in the driver seat and started up the car.
"You know, this isn't at all how I imagined my day going." Logan said, attempting to make small talk.
"Mine either but when your friend calls you late at night about coming to pick him up on the side of the road, it gets pretty unpredictable."
"James, I'm right here."
"I'm just saying, we're in for a change and I'm kind of sort of ready for it."
"No, nothing's going to change. Everything's going to stay the same."
"You say that now."
"James, I promise." Kendall said, smiling when his friend looked at him in the rearview mirror.
"You know, not all change is bad." Logan commented.
"Nothing's changing. Tomorrow, you will pick me up and we will do the same thing we've been doing."
"Kendall, I-"
"Don't say it."
"I was just going to say, I think we forgot the book bag at my house." James said and Kendall sighed.
"We're almost there anyway, why don't you just put it in the car when you get in the house and I'll get it after school."
"That can work." James said before Kendall looked over at Carlos. The boy was looking at everything pass by as they drove.
"Are there always this many cars on the road?" Carlos asked, turning to Kendall.
"Uh, sometimes, it depends on the day and the time of day. For example, at around six in the morning and six at night, there's a bunch of cars on the road because everyone is either trying to get to work or go home." Carlos nodded at Kendall's words before he turned back to the window. Kendall just sat there and watched him. He could almost see Carlos' brain trying to take in so much information and visuals all at once. He kind of felt bad for him since he's spent his entire life in one space. But now that he's out, he's looked ten times happier than when Kendall showed him the Marvel movies. Carlos gasped before he turned to Kendall.
"I think I saw a baby in that car."
"Really?" Kendall said, turning to look back at the car.
"It was so small."
"Yeah babies are pretty crazy to think about. I mean, they're so small and they grow into, well, us." Kendall said before he thought back to when Katie was a baby and how much she's grown.
"Have you ever held a baby before?" Carlos asked Kendall and he nodded in response. "What does it feel like?"
"Well, it's very scary at first because you're holding this small fragile thing that looks up at you so sweetly that you're afraid you'll hurt it somehow. But after that, holding a baby is pretty fun, especially when they move and grab things."
"That sounds amazing." Carlos said, looking at Kendall as if he had solved all of the problems in the world. When they finally got to Kendall's house, both boys got out and said goodbye to James before Kendall unlocked the front door.
"Okay, so, my mom isn't here but my little sister-"
"Who are you sneaking into the house?" Katie asked, standing in the living room with her arms folded.
"I'm not sneaking and this is Carlos."
"Hello." Carlos said with a wave, causing him to drop his shirt. When he picked it up, Katie turned to Kendall and the blonde responded just by shaking his head and walking to his room. Kendall sighed as he threw himself onto the bed and the sudden silence in the room made him sit up, almost too fast.
"Carlos!" Kendall said, getting the boy's attention.
"Yes?"
"Make sure you follow me."
"Okay. I got distracted by the many pictures on the wall." Carlos said, coming into the room.
"Oh."
"Wow, is this your bedroom?"
"Yes it is." Kendall said, trying not to smile that someone admired his room. He took pride in hanging his posters a certain way and making sure everything stayed in its place. He laid back in his bed and was happy to be in his own space. Kendall peaked over to see Carlos just standing in the middle of the room, looking at everything.
"You can look around if you want."
"Can I go outside?"
"I think we should stay inside tonight, at least until you meet my mom."
"Your mother?"
"Yeah, she should be here actually." Kendall said before he got up and walked into the living room. "Katie, where's mom?"
"She went to go get dinner."
"So she wanted me home and she isn't even home?" Kendall asked, more rhetorically but Katie still responded.
"Do I look like her?"
"It was a rhetorical question."
"Well, I still answered it." Katie said before flipping through the channels, looking for something to watch. Kendall rolled his eyes at her before he turned and bumped directly into Carlos.
"Sorry. I guess I shouldn't stand directly behind you."
"It's cool, you're still learning." Kendall said, stepping around the boy and going back into his bedroom. Before Carlos could stand in the middle of his room awkwardly silent, Kendall gestured that the boy sat on the bed with him. Carlos sat down next to Kendall and took note that the blonde's bed was softer than his back at the facility.
"I have a foam mattress cover that makes it really soft." Kendall told him.
"How did you know I was thinking about that?"
"Everyone wonders the same thing when they sit on it. Not that everyone sits on my bed or anything like that." Kendall said, making sure he didn't sound like something he wasn't. Carlos nodded before Kendall stood up and grabbed a book bag from the corner of the room. The blonde grabbed his game controller off of the computer desk and handed it to Carlos before he spoke.
"This is my controller. It's a little beat up and I don't have much games but I do have Netflix."
"Netflix?" Carlos asked and Kendall smiled.
"How do I began to explain what Netflix is? Netflix is a streaming service that allows you to watch tons of movies and television shows. They have so many options." Kendall explained as he turned on his Tv. "Pressed the middle button." He instructed once the television was on.
Kendall told him the instructions on how to get to Netflix and smiled as Carlos' face lit up at the new discovery. As Carlos scrolled through the titles, Kendall took out his homework that he needed to do. As soon as he was about to start it, he heard the sound of the front door opening. He knew it was his mother and he waited a moment before he got up and walked into the living room.
"Kendall, honey, can you go get the rest of the groceries out of the car?"
"Mom, you went grocery shopping again?"
"I forgot some things. Just go get them out the car, please."
"Okay but I need to talk to you about something when I get back."
"Okay." She said before Kendall was out the door. He gathered what was left, determined to not make a second trip. As he was closing the car door, he heard his mother scream. He rushed back into the house to see his mother holding a hand over her chest while Carlos looked frightened.
"Mom, I-"
"Kendall, who is this?"
"This is my friend Carlos. He's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."
"You couldn't have told me that he was here?"
"Sorry." Kendall said, sitting the groceries down and closing the front door, locking it.
"It's nice to meet you Carlos." Mrs. Knight said, smiling as she caught her breath.
"It's nice to meet you too, Kendall's mom. I'm sorry that I scared you. I didn't mean to."
"Oh, it's fine. I just scare easily." The woman said as she put the groceries away.
"Mom?" Kendall said, sitting down at the kitchen table.
"Yeah, honey?" Mrs. Knight said, noting her son's change of tone.
"I need to ask you something. Well, it's more of me asking you something but I kind of-"
"What is it Kendall?"
"Carlos is going to be staying with us for a while. I mean, can Carlos stay with us? I know this is completely random and you don't know him like that but I just need you to say yes. Well, you kind of don't have a choice." Kendall said all as he looked down at his hands. He looked up and grimaced slightly at his mother's confused face.
"What?"
"Carlos is going to be staying here for a while." Kendall said, just sticking with what he said before he started rambling.
"Excuse me? What do you mean?"
"Well, I sort of already told him that he would be staying here and he has no other place to go."
"He has no other place to go?" Mrs. Knight asked and Kendall nodded his head. "Well, how did that happen?"
"Well, um, Carlos is a friend of mine and he really needed my help." Kendall said, looking over at Carlos as he watched the two of them converse.
"Kendall we need to talk more about this before I can jus-"
"Mom, Carlos is homeless and I promised him that I would take care of him." Kendall said, fearing that his mother was leaning towards saying 'No'.
"Oh. Well, he can stay here for the time being but you have to make sure that he feels at home. You're also going to teach him the rules of this house." Mrs. Knight said as she put the bread in the basket that sat on the counter.
"We have rules?"
"Kendall."
"Right, right. Will do." Kendall said, getting up. He gestured for Carlos to head to his room and he flopped on his bed in excitement. "I was sure she was going to tell me that you couldn't stay." Kendall said before he sat up to see the boy standing there. "What's wrong?"
"You said I was homeless."
"Well, technically, you were but now you live here." Kendall said, studying the boy's face as he spoke. "I hope I didn't hurt your feelings." Kendall added as he got up off the bed.
"No, I just hadn't thought about it all until now." Carlos said as he moved to grab the controller where he had sat down.
"How about you watch a movie while I finish up this work." Kendall suggested as he grabbed his books.
"What should I watch?"
"Hmm, let me see. Why don't you watch, Lilo and Stitch?"
"What's that?"
"It's about a little girl who becomes friends with an alien from outer space and…maybe you should just watch a Tv show instead." Kendall said as he thought about how the movie depicted aliens and how Carlos could but two and two together.
"Which one?" Carlos asked as he moved to the television shows.
"Do you like fairytales like Cinderella and Snow White?" Kendall asked and Carlos nodded before handing the controller to Kendall.
"Well, you should watch a different side of it called Once Upon a Time. It's a show that mixes them in creative ways." Kendall said before finding the show in the search bar. He handed the controller back to Carlos as the show started and sat down to finish his homework. Halfway through the show, Kendall looked up to see Carlos practically glued to the Tv.
"Hopefully, binge watching a television show will be enough to keep Carlos occupied while I go to school." Kendall thought to himself as he continued his homework.
A/N: I know this is probably an odd way of ending this chapter but I didn't know how to end it without taking like half of the next chapter. But don't worry, I will be updating really soon. Thank you for reading and review if you have the time :D