A/N: Ah! I went to sleep after work but I'm still keeping my promise of posting again today. So here's the next chapter. I am so happy that the reviews I've received have been so positive. Thank you all so much for that. ENJOY! :D
Kendall grabbed a bottle of water before going to find James. When he found him, he was dancing with Logan. Kendall motioned for him to lean over to him so that he could speak to him. "Carlos isn't feeling well. Too many people. Is it okay if we leave? Or I can take him home and bring the car back when you two ready to go."
"Nah, we can leave." James said before he relayed the message to Logan before there was a commotion going on outside. Kendall moved pass a few people to see Jett standing, looking into the pool. Kendall immediately pushed pass the people in front of him and turned to see that Carlos wasn't sitting in the chair where he had left him. James and Logan ran pass him and up to Jett.
"Carlos fell. He fell in." Jett told them. Kendall dropped the water bottle and immediately dived into the water. What he saw was something that he couldn't explain. Carlos looked like he couldn't breathe and then it looked like gills grew onto Carlos' neck. When he grabbed onto Carlos' hands, the boy suddenly retracted them and placed them over his neck. Despite them being in water, Kendall heard Carlos' pained scream as he thrashed underwater. Kendall swam closer and pulled Carlos into his arms. When Carlos felt that they were out of the water, he gasped for air. Kendall swam to the edge of the pool and James and Logan helped pull Carlos out of the water. James held Carlos bridal style and Logan was trying to talk to him while Kendall got out of the pool.
Kendall took Carlos from James while the boy ran to get his car. Kendall was trying to calm Carlos down but the boy kept mumbling about something burning. Kendall maneuvered through the curious crowd of people with Logan's help. Once they reached the car, Logan opened the door and Kendall climbed in with Carlos in his arms. When Logan was about to close the door, Jett was there.
"Kendall, I don't know what happened. One moment he was next to me and then he was in the pool." Jett said and Kendall just shook his head.
"Jett just close the door, please." Kendall said to his boyfriend. Once the door was closed and Logan was in the car, they pulled off. Kendall switched his attention to Carlos, who was still holding his hands over his neck. Kendall went to move Carlos' hands but the boy shied away from him.
"Come on, Carlos. Let me have a look."
"It burns." Carlos mumbled and Kendall nodded, running his fingers through the boy's hair.
"I have to take a look at it to see what the problem is." Kendall told him and Carlos nodded. Kendall slowly removed the boy's hands from his neck and he held back his gasp at the reddened spot. He leaned forward to see that the burns were on both sides of his neck. There was a slight wheezing with his breathing and Kendall knew he had seen this reaction before. When it finally hit him, he pulled out his phone and dialed his house number.
"Hello?"
"Katie put Mom on the phone."
"I can't. She just got in the shower."
"Just do it!" Kendall yelled at her. He could hear her getting up and knocking on the bathroom door. After a short exchange between the two, Kendall could hear the water turning off.
"Hello?"
"Mom, I need you to get the first aid kit and have it ready when we get home."
"Why? What happened?"
"I-I don't really know how to explain it but Carlos has what looks like chemical burns." Kendall said and Logan turned to look at him in confusion. James did the same but looked at him in the rearview mirror.
"Okay." His mother said before he hung up the phone. Carlos moved his hands to place back on his neck but Kendall stopped him.
"Don't touch it anymore, you might put yourself in more pain." Kendall told him and he nodded slowly before closing his eyes. "No, Carlos, don't close your eyes. Look at me."
"K-Kendall, I-"
"Shh." Kendall said when the boy in his arms started crying.
"Carlos, what the hell happened?" Logan asked him, turning around in his seat.
"Logan, please. We will figure it out later." Kendall told him just before James pulled up to Kendall's house. James opened the door for him and he climbed out with Carlos in his arms. Mrs. Knight opened the door and gasped at the sight of her son carrying Carlos up to the house. She moved out the way and made room for them to come into the house. Kendall laid Carlos out on the couch while Katie moved out of the way. Mrs. Knight moved over to them with a first aid kit while Kendall grabbed a pillow to support Carlos' head. James and Logan just stood back and watched as Mrs. Knight examined Carlos.
"This is definitely chemical burns. We have to get him up and out of these clothes. Take him to the hall bathroom." Mrs. Knight told her son. Kendall stepped in and picked Carlos up off of the couch and carried him into the bathroom. He reached for Carlos' shirt and when he started to take it off, the boy hissed in pain.
"What? What happened?"
"My sides." Carlos whimpered.
"Okay, I'm sorry but I have to take your shirt off." Kendall told him and he nodded. Once the shirt was removed, Kendall saw that Carlos had similar burns on the sides of his chest. Kendall helped him remove his pants before he called for James to bring him some underwear. They replaced Carlos' underwear and Kendall let his mother step in and help Carlos.
"Um, I don't think you should leave just yet." Mrs. Knight said when her son headed to the door.
"Carlos, sweetie, we have to wash away the chlorine from you, okay." Carlos closed his eyes and nodded before Kendall moved over to the shower. Mrs. Knight instructed Kendall to help Carlos as she took the shower head off of the wall. They rinsed the affected areas for twenty minutes while James and Logan got clothes for the both of them.
When that was finished, Katie brought them towels to dry off with before Mrs. Knight instructed Carlos to sit on the toilet as she closed the seat. Kendall went in his room to change his clothes while his mother tended to Carlos. James and Logan followed and watched him as he put his pants on and shirt on. He let out a sigh and looked at the two of them. James could tell something was off with his best friend, so, he took a step forward and Kendall immediately broke down. James wrapped an arm around him and held him while he cried. Logan rubbed his back while they tried to calm him down. Mrs. Knight called out for Kendall and he stood upright and breathed deeply before he wiped his eyes.
"I'm okay. Thank you." He said, sniffing as he got himself together. When Kendall walked back into the bathroom, Carlos was bandaged up around his waist and his neck. Carlos was looking down at his feet with his hands wrapped around his midsection. Kendall came over to him and kneeled in front of him.
"Carlos…I-I'm so sorry." Kendall said, trying not to cry. He mentally cursed himself when he felt a tear slide down his cheek. He lightly hugged the boy before he stood and helped Carlos to stand with him. Kendall guided Carlos to his room and helped him into the bed. Carlos reached over on the nightstand and grabbed the white rose and held it close to his chest. Kendall felt anger begin to rise in him just when his mother called him. How could he have let this happen? He walked into the living room and everyone was sitting at the dining room table.
"Kendall, what happened?" Mrs. Knight asked and Kendall sat down at the other end of the table. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.
"I-I don't know. He was telling me about how he wanted to leave and I went to go talk to James. When I came back, he wasn't where I left him and I knew Jett was out there. I thought he would look out for him and keep him safe but he was in the pool. I jumped in after him and just-" Kendall stopped and let out a shaky breath.
"That doesn't explain how he ended up with chemical burns. You don't get them from falling into a pool." Mrs. Knight responded.
"Katie, can you go get your laptop for a second?" Kendall asked her. When she came back, she sat the laptop down in front of her brother. Kendall started typing out something and closed his eyes and sighed before turning the computer around. Everyone at the table leaned forward to read what was on the screen and one by one they just looked up at Kendall, leaning back in their seats.
"Okay, so fish get chemical poison when they are in chlorine pools." Logan said and Kendall nodded.
"What does that have to do with-"
"At the bottom of the pool Carlos had grew gills." Kendall said, interrupting Katie.
"H-He…what?"
"He grew gills but its chlorine so-"
"He got chemical poison the same way a fish would." Mrs. Knight said looking up at her son. Kendall nodded and everyone just looked at each other in confusion.
"But he didn't have any gills when we saw him." Logan pointed out and James nodded with him.
"They must've changed back once he was out of the water." Kendall said as he ran a hand down his face. He still smelled slightly of chlorine but he didn't care. Everyone seemed to be in their own heads, thinking about everything Kendall had told them. Logan was the first one to break the silence with a gasp.
"I read in his file that his blood had changed. Maybe this has something to do with it." Logan said before Mrs. Knight looked up with wide eyes.
"You said that when you took him from the facility, he was soaking wet?"
"Yeah." Kendall said before he remembered the USB. He jumped up and went to his room, opened his closet door and grabbed the book bag. He slowed to a stop on his way out the door and sat the book bag down. He went over to check on Carlos but the boy was asleep. Kendall sighed and ran his fingers through the boy's drying hair before he went back out to the living room. He sat down at the dining room table and pulled out the USB. He plugged it into the computer and saw that there was a passcode. Kendall made a guess and typed in the code for the elevator and that didn't work. Logan reached into the bag and brought out the files. He flipped through them and told Kendall a number. When it worked, everyone looked at Logan in shock.
"What? That's Carlos' subject number. I figured if it's a file on him, then, that would be the lock." Logan said before putting the files back.
"God, my boyfriend is so smart." James said, making Logan blush. Kendall saw that there was a file for each year and he went to the most recent one. He went to the last video and before he pressed play, he moved to the other side of the table and sat the computer in front of his Mom. Mrs. Knight adjusted so that everyone could move in closer to her and see the screen. Once the video began playing, they all saw Carlos laying in the bed sleep.
"The videos must restart after midnight." Logan pointed out. Kendall fast forwarded the video until a few men came into the room, dressed in all black. When Kendall saw that grey hair, he glared at the screen.
"Is that-"
"General Griffin." Kendall mumbled, answering Logan. Kendall wanted to look away but he forced himself to watch as the men pulled Carlos out of bed and pushed him into a corner. Other men came in and they began to pull everything out of Carlos' room while the boy was held at gun point. General Griffin was talking to Carlos about something but he was speaking so low that it was barely being picked up by the camera mic. Mrs. Knight held a hand over her heart when they could hear Carlos beg and plead with the man in front of him.
Once everything was taken out of the room, General Griffin walked out and closed the door behind him. He did something to the door before he walked to the next door and closing that one as well. Carlos moved to the middle of the room and wrapped his arms around himself. Everyone jumped when there was a loud bang from the video and Mrs. Knight covered her mouth as water started gushing into the room from a corner of the room. Carlos backed into the opposite corner from the water pouring into the room before the ceiling above him opened up. Water rushed out of that space and Carlos moved out of the way and ended up falling over in the rising water.
As the water rose higher and higher, Carlos began to panic. He tried to open the door to his room but it wasn't moving. He stood against the clear wall of his room as the water got just pass his chest. When Carlos began screaming out for help, Kendall had to turn away from the screen. Mrs. Knight stood up and went to comfort her son before Kendall broke down crying at the sound of Carlos calling out for him as well.
"We can turn it off if you want to sweetie." Mrs. Knight told him and Kendall shook his head before looking over at the screen. Carlos was trying to stay above the water but it eventually covered him and filled up in the room.
"Look. Look." Katie said, pointing to the screen. Carlos cheeks were puffed out from him holding his breath and when he opened his mouth, his eyes widened in shock. Gills sprouted from his neck and he was standing there, breathing, underwater. Katie paused the video before everyone turned to face Kendall.
"You were right." Katie told him. Kendall squeezed his mother in a hug and she held him.
"So what do we do?" Logan asked.
"We have to tell him. He has to know about himself, Kendall. We also need to know what happened when you left." James said and everyone seemed to agree.
"We'll have to ask Carlos in the morning. Come on, it's getting late." Mrs. Knight said as she ushered Katie out of the seat.
"Are you guys going to stay?" Kendall asked James and Logan.
"I can't. My parents said that if I went to the party, I had to be home by a certain time which I've already missed." Logan explained. They all exchanged hugs before the two boyfriends left the house with a promise of coming back in the morning.
About an hour and a half later, Mrs. Knight returned from her bedroom, freshly showered, and went into the kitchen to get some water. When she turned to the dining room table, she held a hand over her heart at the sight of her son asleep in front of the computer. She walked over to him and on the screen was a baby Carlos playing with his toys. He let out a scream from his crib as a woman headed to the door. The smile on baby Carlos' face was so sweet that Mrs. Knight could watch these videos all day. She placed a hand on Kendall's shoulder and shook him slightly to get him to wake up.
"Come on Kendall, it's time for you to get to bed." Kendall nodded as he sat up with a yawn and a stretch. He smiled at the screen before he looked up at his Mom. She leaned down and gave her son a kiss on the cheek and a warm smile. Kendall turned to the screen and just before he turned it off, he pointed to the woman in the lab coat.
"That's Dr. Wainwright." Kendall told his mother.
"Aww, they both look so happy." Mrs. Knight said and her son nodded before he got up. They both said their goodnight's to each other before parting ways and going into their respective rooms. Kendall sighed as he closed his door and climbed into bed. Carlos had loosened his grip on the flower and Kendall moved it to the nightstand so the boy wouldn't accidentally roll on it and possibly crush it. Kendall smiled at the boy as he slept before he felt his own sleep start to come over him.
When Kendall woke up, he noticed that Carlos wasn't lying next to him. He sat up and looked around the room for the boy. Slight panic set in before he heard his mother in the kitchen. When he walked out to the living room, Katie was watching something on Tv.
"Where's Carlos?" Kendall asked.
"Well, Good morning to you too." Mrs. Knight said, placing a hand on her hip.
"He's outside." Kendall went to the backdoor to see Carlos laying on his back in the grass.
"He's worried about something. I can tell." Mrs. Knight told him.
"How can you tell?"
"A mother knows, Kendall." Kendall pushed open the door and called for Carlos. The two of them met at the stairs of the porch after Kendall closed the door. The two boys sat down on the steps of the porch and Kendall could tell that Carlos was nervous about something. He thought Carlos would tell him but instead they just sat there in silence.
"Carlos, what happened last night?" Kendall did not expect Carlos to completely shut him off in the way that he did. Carlos had suddenly found the ground a lot more interesting than Kendall and only offered a shrug in response.
"Carlos, what's wrong?" Kendall said, holding onto the boy's hand. Carlos looked at him and Kendall could see his eyes were tearing up.
"K-Kendall, I-I can't tell you."
"Why not?" Kendall asked and Carlos closed his eyes which made the tears fall. Kendall reached up and wiped the boy's tears with a sigh. "Carlos, I can only protect you, if, you tell me what is going on. You have to trust me."
"I-I do trust you. It's just, I-I can't tell you. H-He said-"
"Who said?" Kendall asked, feeling anger began to rise in him. There was a knock on the glass and Kendall turned to see James and Logan were standing there. The door was opened and Carlos shook his head and stood up. He walked into the middle of the yard and tried to keep himself from crying. There was no way that he was going to be able to keep this from Kendall but Jett had told him that if he didn't then bad things would happen. When Logan stepped into his line of vision, Carlos bit his lip to hold back the sob that tried to come out.
"Carlos, what happened?" As soon as those words left Logan's mouth Carlos started crying all over again. James and Kendall looked at the two in confusion before Kendall let out a sigh again.
"Did you figure anything out?" James asked, sitting down next to the blonde.
"No, he won't tell me anything. There's another person involved I know but he won't tell me anything. It's like he's scared to tell me but I don't know why." Kendall explained, running his fingers through his hair. It was starting to look like it was about to rain and Kendall knew that they were going to have to go inside soon if it did. He hoped that he could get Carlos to confess to one of them what has gotten him so scared. When Logan felt Carlos start to break their hug, he rubbed the boy's arms to comfort him and Carlos gave him a smile that quickly faded.
"You know…you were right." Carlos mumbled and Logan almost didn't hear it.
"About what?"
"Jett." Carlos said and Logan's eyes grew the size of golf balls. When Carlos realized what he had said, his eyes did the same.
"I-I-"
"Carlos was Jett the one who pushed you in the pool?" Logan asked and Carlos shook his head too fast at that. "Carlos, come on, you can tell me."
"N-No, he told me not to. I-I can't. I-" Carlos tried to move away from him but Logan held onto his hand.
"Carlos, whatever you're trying to keep from us seems like it's hurting you the more and more you don't talk about it. Just let us know and we can help you."
"You can't." Carlos finally said, looking down at the ground.
"Why?"
"Because you guys want me to tell you what's wrong and if I do then I'm going to get hurt."
"Get hurt?" Logan asked and Carlos nodded. Logan stood there for a moment beginning to piece everything together and once he got everything, he began to glare at nothing.
"That bitch threatened you, didn't he?" Carlos bit his lip and that told Logan everything he needed to know.
"Carlos, I promise you, he won't put his hands on you. Why didn't you tell Kendall this? You know he'll protect you." Carlos was silent at that and Logan watched the boy's features, trying to figure out what he was thinking.
"There's more to it, isn't there. He pushed you into the pool but that's not why he threatened you." Carlos looked up at Logan in shock, wondering how the brunette in front of him was figuring everything out. Carlos thought about everything that Jett had told him and he realized that Jett told him not to tell Kendall. He didn't say anything about telling Logan. But then Logan would tell Kendall which is just as bad as telling Kendall himself. Carlos took a breath and Logan looked at him in anticipation.
James and Kendall could only see Logan's expressions and they couldn't hear much of the conversation from where they were. Kendall could hear Logan trying to get what was wrong out of Carlos but he didn't know whether or not he was making progress. When Kendall felt a rain drop land on his arm, he went to stand up before he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Wait." James told him. Kendall sat back down and looked at his best friend like he was crazy.
"WHAT?!" Logan screamed, his voice echoing all around them. Carlos looked like he was pleading with Logan about something but all Logan was doing was shaking his head.
"You have to tell him." Logan said just loud enough for the boys on the porch hear. Carlos said something else and Logan crossed his arms over his chest that seemed to be puffing in and out.
"I've never seen him this mad before?" James commented.
"Not even after you forgot about your anniversary." Kendall responded and James nodded.
"Nope, you have to tell him." Logan said as he stomped over to the boys on the porch. Carlos stood where he was for a moment before he turned to face them. Logan marched up to them and both boys stood up.
"Kendall, Carlos has something he wants to tell you. James, get up. We're going in the house." Logan said and both boys followed his instructions. Logan pushed his boyfriend into the house when he stopped to turn and look at Kendall and Carlos.
"Logan, what is going on?" James asked him after he stopped himself from falling over. Logan closed the door and sighed.
"I'm sorry James but I'm so pissed. I-I just I can't believe that-"
"WHAT?!" Kendall screamed and Mrs. Knight jumped from where she was in the kitchen. Katie got up off of the couch and saw that Logan looked mad, James looked confused and her mother looked scared.
"Did Carlos tell him?" Katie asked and Logan looked out the door to see Kendall running his fingers through his hair. Logan nodded at her question and Mrs. Knight got the urge to open the door to comfort her son. Carlos' heart was pounding in his chest as he watched Kendall freak out over what he had told him. Carlos had only gotten to the part where he saw Jett with the other guy. He explained to Kendall what he saw and that's when Kendall screamed.
"K-Kendall, please don't tell him. I-I-He told me not to tell you a-and that if I did he was going t-to-"
"He was going to do what?" Kendall asked, suddenly facing Carlos, who froze where he stood. He had never seen Kendall like this. "He was going to do what?" Kendall repeated.
"He said he was going to, um, beat the…poop…out of me." Carlos mumbled and Kendall shook his head before sprinting to the house. Carlos stood there and looked up at the sky when he felt a drop of water land on him. When he looked back at the house, Kendall was yanking open the door and going inside.
"Carlos, come in here, sweetie." Mrs. Knight told him. He sighed and made his way to the house. When he got there, James was just as confused as Mrs. Knight and Katie while Logan just couldn't stop shaking his head. Carlos stood there at the door after he closed it behind him and it wasn't until now that he had noticed that his hands were shaking. Mrs. Knight guided him to the table and brought him some water to calm him down. While he drank, she checked over his bandages.
"I think we can take the bandages off." Mrs. Knight told him. After the bandages were off and Mrs. Knight was throwing them in the trash, Kendall came out of his room. His face was eerily calm and he did nothing but sit in the living room on the couch and watch the door. It wasn't long before there was a knock at the door.
"Katie, get the door." Kendall told her with no emotion present in his voice. Katie opened the door and Kendall had to fight the urge to jump up and strangle the boy in front of him. James was massaging Logan's shoulders and doing whatever he could to keep his boyfriend calm. Jett greeted everyone with a smile before he realized the looks on their faces and the fact that no one had greeted him back.
"What's going on?" Jett asked him, slowly letting his bag drop to the floor.
"I don't know, Jett. Tell us why you pushed Carlos into the pool." Logan asked and Mrs. Knight gasped at that. Jett looked confused at that.
"Is that what he told you? I tried to stop Zack from pushing him but he did it anyway and then I tried to catch him." Jett explained.
"That's not true." Carlos said, barely loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Now, why would Zack push Carlos into the pool?" Kendall asked, calmly. Katie had never seen her brother look this mad in all of her years of life. It was starting to freak her out a little while she tried to grasp everything that was going down in front of her.
"I don't know. Is this an interrogation or something?" Jett asked.
"I'm just trying to figure out what happened." Kendall said, sitting back on the couch. Jett sighed and looked over at Carlos, who couldn't seem to look him in the eyes.
"I'm just telling you what I saw." Jett said with a slight chuckle.
"Yeah?" Kendall asked, looking at the boy in front of him.
"Yeah, Kendall, how can you just believe him over your own boyfriend?"
"Because Carlos would never lie to me."
"How do you know that? You barely know hi-"
"Because he doesn't have a reason to lie to me but I know a person in this room who does." Kendall said, sitting up. Realization smacked Jett in the face and he stood there for a moment staring at Kendall before he turned to Carlos. In that moment, Carlos didn't know what to do, so he did what felt was right and scooted back in his chair, getting ready to run.
"You told him, didn't you?" Jett asked Carlos.
When Carlos nodded in response to his question, Jett lunged at the boy sitting at the table. Carlos squealed and ended up holding onto Mrs. Knight's waist. Before Jett could reach him, he felt an arm around his waist and he was thrown into the wall. As soon as he hit the wall, Kendall was in front of him, pushing him harder into the wall.
"You fucking cheated on me and then you threaten Carlos for wanting to tell me the truth?" Kendall asked his so-called boyfriend. Jett mustered up most of his strength and pushed Kendall off of him and out of his face.
"Yeah, I cheated on you." Jett confessed, crossing his arms.
"I have been having sex with Zack for the past few weeks."
"Few weeks?" Kendall mumbled under his breath. He looked down at the ground as he repeated the words to himself while running a hand through his hair. He repeated the words once more before he looked back up. Kendall didn't know what came over him but he just lunged at Jett. James jumped in and pulled Kendall back. Kendall struggled with his best friend. Mrs. Knight knew that James wouldn't be able to hold Kendall back for long, so, she stepped in.
"Jett, I think it would be best if you left."
"I think so too. Well, it was nice knowing you." Jett said, picking up his bag and opening the front door.
"We're fucking over you cheating bitch!" Kendall yelled, still trying to pry James' hands from around his waist.
"That's fine with me. Zack's better than you, anyway!" Jett said and Mrs. Knight closed the door just as Kendall broke free from James' grip.
"Kendall, no! This is not how I raised you." Mrs. Knight said, placing a hand on her son's chest.
"Mom, he cheated on me." Kendall said, anger slowly transitioning into sadness the longer he looked at his mother.
"I know sweetie."
"H-He cheated on me." Kendall said before he started crying. Mrs. Knight pulled her son into a tight hug, remembering what it felt like to be cheated on.
"Shh, everything's going to be okay." Mrs. Knight said, rubbing her son's back before his friends joined in on the hug. Mrs. Knight gestured for Carlos to join in on the hug when she saw him standing there unsure of what to do.
A/N: Honestly, typing this chapter was so heart breaking. I felt for both Carlos and Kendall and I'm sure you all did too. I promise to not take another year to post another update! I love you all for reading! Reviews are much appreciated! :D