A/N: Wow, it's been a whole year since I updated. I...have no words. A lot has changed but I have always come back to these stories. Honestly, if you are reading this right now, thank you for even continuing to read the work of my non-consistent self. Don't feel bad if you have to read the last chapter to re-jog your memory of what's going on in the story because I honestly had to reread the entire thing to remember the plot that I had for this story. Luckily, this didn't take as long as the other stories. Enjoy! :D
As Kendall heard the last bell of the school year, he jumped out of his seat and basically ran for the door. It was only a few hours since school had started but for him, it felt like an eternity. He wanted to skip school but before he could even suggest it, his mother gave him a look. Kendall knew she wasn't going to let him slide because now she wants him to set a good example for Carlos. Kendall couldn't be mad that his mother was concerned for Carlos' well-being but he knew she was taking it slightly too far.
As he emptied out his locker, he made sure to throw away any type of reminder from Jett. He grabbed one of the last pictures of him and Jett that was in his locker and tore it up before throwing the pieces in the trash can that was left in the hallway by the janitors for students emptying out their lockers. When he closed his locker, Jett was standing on the other side.
"That was one of the first pictures we took." He said, frowning. Kendall shrugged his shoulders and grabbed his bag off of the ground before walking around his ex. "Kendall, how many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Jett asked and Kendall let out a small chuckle as he stopped before turning to Jett.
"Honestly, I don't care but I'll humor you for a moment. Let's say, I do forgive you, right? Then, we start out as just being friends again and eventually we're back to where we were. You do realize that in the back of my mind, I will never be confident that you're going to be faithful. I will never be able to think of you without thinking about who you've cheated on me with. I will never forget how you acted when I finally learned the truth. No matter how much of this hurt puppy act you put on. An act that honestly, you don't have the right to play. I should be the one pulling this act but I'm just done with you. So, have a nice summer." Kendall said before he adjusted his book bag on his shoulder and walked away from the boy he once loved.
"That was heavy duty." James said when Kendall rounded the corner, effectively scaring the blonde.
"You we're supposed to act like you weren't listening." Logan said after he rolled his eyes at his boyfriend.
"Yeah, well, it's how I feel. Can we just get this summer started and leave all of this here?" Kendall asked the two of his friends.
"Say no more. Let the summer begin!" James declared as he pushed open the front door of the school.
As they walked away from the school, Kendall tried not to think about how this school year had to be the most dramatic thing he's ever been a part of. From being the single one of the group to being the cliché dynamic couple of the school to once again being single but with a new friend. Kendall smiled when he thought about how much he's gotten to know Carlos. He hadn't told the boy about him having a half of day, so, he could only imagine his surprise when he steps into the house early. Kendall also started thinking about the many things that they could do during the summer. From just hanging out in the backyard to maybe going to an amusement park.
"Hey, Kendall, how has the whole Carlos liking you thing been going?" James asked as they got into the car.
"I feel like he's going to pass out sometimes when he blushes. Other than that, it's been pretty much the same."
"Oh okay." James said as he realized Logan's constant stare. Luckily, Kendall wasn't paying it much attention. He was more focused on how happy Carlos would probably be when he surprised him in just a few minutes. When they pulled up to his house, Kendall was confused when James didn't park.
"You guys aren't coming in?"
"No, we want to enjoy the rest of the day before my mother gets home."
"Ew, okay." Kendall said, getting out of the car.
"Not like that." Logan commented.
"No, no, most definitely like that." James added with a smile. Kendall shook his head and waved to the two of them before he took his key out to open the door. Stepping into the house, Kendall thought he would hear some signs of life but everything was quiet. When he got to his room, his bedroom door was closed. As he reached for the doorknob he heard a weird sound.
"Kendall." He heard Carlos say and he opened the door. The second he did, it seemed as if time moved in slow motion as he watched Carlos. The boy had just finished masturbating as soon as the door was opened and Kendall stood there frozen in shock. Reality finally set in for Kendall and he immediately closed the door. He didn't know if Carlos saw him or was aware of his presence but he prayed he didn't. Kendall had his back to the door when he heard Carlos move. His feet started moving before he knew where he was going and he found himself opening the back door. He reached into his pocket and dialed as he closed the door behind him.
"Hello?"
"James, oh my god." Kendall said in a harsh whisper.
"What's wrong?" James said after there was movement of silence on the phone.
"Carlos…he was-"
"Did something happen?"
"N-No, I mean, Yes but like…it's not a big deal. I-I mean-"
"Kendall, you're freaking me out."
"I think Carlos was masturbating to the thought of me." Kendall rushed out of his mouth before being met with silence. He moved the phone away from his ear when James burst into laughter. "James, this isn't funny."
"Oh but it is!" James said in between his laughter. Kendall could feel that his face was a deep shade of red and he had no idea what to do.
"James, stop laughing. Stop laughing right now." Kendall gritted into the phone. He could hear his best friend attempt to stifle his laughter before he spoke again on the phone.
"So, you heard him masturbating. How do you know it was to you?" Kendall rolled his eyes so hard at the question that it almost hurt.
"He…"
"He what?" James asked, not hearing what the blonde said in response.
"He moaned my name. Oh god, James. What am I going to do?"
"I mean, you're the one who gave him so much material being shirtless and all."
"I didn't think he would masturbate to the thought of me. I mean, how long has he been doing this? When did he learn about masturbating?" Kendall asked more so to himself but James stayed silent at the question.
"He's never even talked to me about that kind of stuff. Dr. Wainwright or Kelly didn't even mention sex to him, so, how could he have…" That's when everything seemed to click for Kendall and he all but gasped into his phone. "James-"
"I didn't do anything."
"You're a fucking liar."
"Kendall, I…Logan told him most of what he knows."
"What?!" Logan could be heard screaming in the background. Kendall let out a long and most definitely exaggerated sigh as he laid out on the back porch. He couldn't believe that his best friend taught Carlos how to masturbate. He can't even begin to wonder how it even came about, let alone, how the conversation continued and somehow transformed into him being the subject.
"Wait, does Carlos know you saw him?" James asked, bringing Kendall back to the reality of the situation.
"I-I don't know."
"Well, I think you should go see and maybe talk about it since you've been avoiding it."
"Avoiding what?"
"You know that he likes you. Stop leading him on."
"Alright James, calm down a bit. I'm not leading him on. He doesn't even know that I know that he likes me unless you feel more inclined to explain to me how much of a conversation you and/or Logan had with him about all of this." Kendall said and James grew silent over the phone which made Kendall think more and more about the situation. What was he going to do? Does he tell Carlos that masturbating is wrong? He couldn't possibly do that because it is absolutely not a bad thing. It's actually a really good thing but that's beside the point.
"So, what are you going to do?" James asked.
"I-I don't know. Do I act like I didn't see anything?"
"Uh, yeah and don't act weird around him."
"And for god sakes don't embarrass him." Logan could be heard saying in the background.
"Okay."
"Tell me how it goes. Sorry again." James said before he hung up. Kendall stared at his phone in shock as his best friend hung up on him. He took a deep breath before he stood up and walked back into the house. He was about to call out Carlos' name but he heard the shower running. As soon as he stepped into the room, Kendall felt like he was intruding somehow into his own room. Carlos was just in that bed, masturbating. He shook his head and tried to gain his composure.
"Plenty of people masturbate. It's perfectly normal." Kendall told himself as he thought about himself doing that very same thing in bed. His mind betrayed him with images of him masturbating changed to him masturbating with Carlos. He closed his eyes and tried to will those thoughts away as he sat down on the bed. The bed squeaking underneath the pressure brought the sound of Carlos moaning back into Kendall's head and his eyes widened. He got up off of the bed and he turned to see a wet spot on the sheets. He quickly pulled the sheets off of the bed and went to his closet to get clean sheets.
When he heard Carlos drop something in the shower, his first instinct was to ask Carlos if he was okay but he realized that he needed to change the sheets in order to avoid the conversation or embarrassing Carlos.
As soon as he finished pulling the sheets onto the last corner, the shower stopped. Kendall threw the comforter back on the bed and sat down, trying to look semi-casual. The door to the bathroom opened and Kendall turned to see Carlos with a towel wrapped around his waist. Kendall was about to speak but he was cut off by Carlos' scream. The scream did two things for Kendall; it showed him that Carlos had no idea that he was home and it scared the crap out of him. Carlos held a hand over his heart as he tried to regulate his breathing.
"I am so sorry. I should've told you we had a half a day at school."
"A-A what?" Carlos asked, looking at the blonde in confusion.
"We got let out of school early because it was the last day."
"Oh." Carlos said, readjusting his towel around his waist.
"So you got in the shower by yourself with the door closed?" Kendall asked and Carlos blushed slightly as he nodded.
Kendall remembered that he had dropped his things in the hallway and decided now would be a good time to go get it. Carlos watched as the blonde left and let out a sigh he didn't know he was holding in before he stepped over to the dresser. When Kendall came back, he walked in as Carlos was pulling his underwear up. Kendall caught a glimpse of Carlos' butt and tried not to combine that with the image of Carlos masturbating but he could tell that it was too late and his mind had, once again, betrayed him.
When Carlos turned around, Kendall's face was so red that he was about to worry but the blonde simply walked out of the room again. Carlos wanted to ask Kendall where he was going but he was sure the blonde would return soon enough. Carlos climbed in the bed and noticed that the sheets were a different color. He pulled the blanket back and felt them as Kendall walked back in with a cup of water, tossing his book bag in the closet.
"You changed the sheets?" Carlos asked and Kendall sputtered on his water before coughing. Carlos went to get up to help him but Kendall held out a hand.
"I'm alright. Yes, I changed the sheets. It was around the time to change them." Kendall said as he sat the water on the end table. He grabbed the controller that was there and pressed the power button before handing it to Carlos.
"Thank you. Do you want to play?" Carlos asked and Kendall shook his head. It was then that Carlos could tell that something was off. He looked at Kendall for a moment longer before he turned his attention to the Tv. He told himself that if something were wrong, Kendall would tell him or at least he hoped he would.
"So, how are things?" James asked, sounding too amused at the moment and Kendall wanted to curse but there was a chance that Carlos could hear him.
"You and Logan are going to pay for this."
"Pay for what?"
"You know what." Kendall said in a harsh whisper.
"Wait, where are you right now?"
"The laundry room."
"Where is Carlos?"
"He's watching Once Upon A Time."
"You're making things weird." Logan said from a distance away.
"I am not."
"Since when do you make phone calls in the laundry room?" Logan responded and Kendall sighed, knowing Logan was right.
"I tried not making it weird but my mind just keeps thinking about it and picturing it." Kendall confessed. It had been about three hours since he saw everything and he's been picturing it ever since. He made an excuse of getting the laundry in order to make the phone call and if that wasn't making things weird then he didn't know what else would.
"Kendall, Carlos is smarter than you think. He's going to catch on that something is wrong and you don't want him to start thinking of reasons on his own because that could turn into a really bad spiral. You need to talk about it with him."
"Logan, I honestly can't. Not right now at least."
"Well, then you need to think of something that would explain why you're acting weird."
"I can't lie to him."
"Kendall, make up your mind. You don't want to lie to him but you don't want to talk about the truth."
"I-"
"Hey, did you tell him about what happened with the pool?" James asked, cutting Kendall off.
"No."
"Maybe you should tell him that first before you confess your love for him."
"I'm not in-"
"Yeah sure, keep telling yourself that Kendall. You don't keep picturing someone's naughty bits if you don't like them." Kendall sighed at James words because he knew how his best friend got when jumping to conclusions. There was no convincing him otherwise.
"Seriously though Kendall. You need to talk to him. There's obvious tension between the two of you going by what you're telling me."
"God, Logan. I hate you so much. Why do you have to be such a dad about it all?"
"You should've seen how adult he looked and sounded when he was talking about masturbation." James yelled, now in the background.
"Only because I care and you suck at explaining things properly." Logan yelled back at him.
"So, my options are, talk to him about him masturbating about me or tell him that he can grow gills."
"I'm just saying talk to him about something before he starts to make up reasons why you're acting weird around him." Kendall knew that Logan was right.
"Fine, I'll talk to him."
"Don't be weird."
"That's easier said than done, my friend."
"Text me or James and tell us how it goes." Logan said and Kendall agreed before they both hung up. Kendall grabbed an empty basket and took it upstairs to his room to make the whole laundry thing believable. When he walked into his room, he did a little slower than normal as he tried to think of which conversation he should have. He sat the basket down and when he looked up at Carlos, he saw the boy had a nervous look on his face.
"Kendall, if something was wrong, you would tell me right?" Carlos asked and Kendall was a little caught off guard by the question. His silence was probably the worst response and he decided to not talk about masturbating. Instead, Carlos needed to know more about himself instead of his…infatuation with him. Carlos looked from Kendall to the Tv before turning his attention back to his hands.
"Of course." Kendall said before he realized that he was lying. "Well, the problem is, I don't know how to tell you."
Carlos look changed from nervousness to confusion as he looked at the blonde again. Kendall sighed and grabbed his laptop along with the USB from the facility before he sat on the bed next to Carlos. Kendall opened the laptop and plugged in the USB before he turned to Carlos. The boy was staring at Kendall after he paused the Tv show, looking almost as nervous as he had when the whole Jett thing happened. Kendall reached out and grabbed Carlos' hand before he spoke. "Carlos, what I'm about to show you is something that I found while looking through the things Kelly gave me from the facility. This might be hard for you to watch because it was hard for me but I want to show you something that happened. It has something to do with what happened when you got pushed into the pool. Haven't you been worrying about that since it happened?"
"I had never been in a pool before. I just thought that's what happens." Carlos said with a shrug.
"Oh. Well, no, that's not what happens when you get in a pool."
"But it happened to me."
"Right, but this video will explain why that happened." Kendall said before he re-found the video. Carlos breath hitched when he saw himself on screen back at the facility and Kendall held tight onto Carlos' hand, giving him reassuring squeezes as the video went on.
"Um, do we have to watch this whole thing?" Carlos asked and Kendall sighed, knowing he was foolish to think Carlos would want to relive every moment of that night.
"Um, no. I just want to show you one part." Kendall said before he fast forwarded the clip.
When he stopped fast forwarding, they watched as the water finally filled up the room, leaving Carlos to sink to the bottom. Carlos' grip increased on Kendall's hand out of pure instinct and Kendall squeezed right back to show Carlos that he was there for him. Kendall waited a little after Carlos first grew the gills before he paused the video. When he turned to look at Carlos, he was squinting at the screen. Kendall slid the laptop closer to Carlos and the boy's eyes widened. He placed both hands on his neck and turned to look at Kendall.
"I-Is that…" Carlos asked and Kendall nodded.
"This is what I saw when I pulled you out of the pool too. It's the reason why you reacted the way you did." Carlos looked at the frozen image of him on the screen with gills on his neck and he couldn't believe it. He shook his head and Kendall looked confused at that.
"I-I look like…like a…" Carlos mumbled before he started tearing up. Kendall looked even more confused at the boy's reaction and it just made Carlos start to cry.
"Carlos, what's wrong?" Kendall asked him and he mumbled something while he covered his face.
"I'm a monster." Kendall heard the boy say when he leaned in closer and he immediately shook his head at that.
"No, you're not." Kendall told him and Carlos just cried more before he got up and ran into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Kendall sat there and looked at Carlos on the screen before looking up at the Tv that was paused on an episode of Once Upon A Time. He had heard someone talking about how they're a monster now and then he made the connection between the two. Kendall moved the laptop off of the bed and knocked on the door of his bathroom. He leaned his ear to the door and waited for a response but all he could hear was Carlos crying.
"Carlos, you are not a monster." Kendall told him and when Carlos didn't respond, the blonde knocked on the door. "Carlos, just let me in and I can explain."
When there was no sign of movement, Kendall reached for the doorknob only to find that it was locked. He then thought to himself just when did Carlos learned to lock doors but realized that it wasn't important at the moment. "Carlos, you are not a monster, what would make you think that?"
There was a long moment between the two and Kendall just leaned his head against the door and waited for a response. He had thought about how Carlos would react to finding out something about himself that he necessarily didn't know but this reaction was the furthest from his mind. He thought that Carlos would see this as something cool or amazing that he would like to learn more about or explore more about, not this. Kendall let out a sight and slid to the floor with his back resting on the door when Carlos didn't show any sign of responding or letting him in at any point in time.
Carlos, on the other hand, was trying to come to terms with everything he had just watched, or rather, relived. He had no idea that's why he didn't get hurt when the water filled up in his room. He just thought that he could hold his breath in the water for a long period of time, which is still something out of the ordinary. He was mostly panicked at the time and wondering what was going to happen to him. He was also trying to figure out why General Griffin was doing that to him. That's when he remembered something.
"Be-Because General Griffin said that. H-He called me a-"
"What he called you isn't true." Kendall said, interrupting him. Kendall was starting to get a little angry when he started to think about that man and how he's the reason why Carlos was put in danger in the first place. He was the reason why Carlos feels like he's a monster. There was another silence between them and Kendall sighed again because he felt he should've said something different but he let his emotions get to him. But he didn't know how Carlos was receiving everything and the silence in between them was not helping him at all.
"Then what am I?" Carlos whispered so low that Kendall almost missed it.
"Carlos, you're someone special and I mean that in the best way." Kendall said as he looked up at his ceiling. "You're the nicest person I've ever met. You're genuine and honest and you never want to cause anyone harm, even when they treat you like crap. You always try and see the best in people that are the absolute worst and you're just so hopeful that it's almost ridiculous. You are one-thousand percent not a monster in any way, shape, or form." There was another silence between them after Kendall had finished and Carlos couldn't stop himself from smiling at Kendall's words as he wiped his tears. Kendall thought about what he had just said and that's when something occurred to him. With a smile on his face, he spoke words that a few weeks ago, he would've punched someone in the face if they described Carlos in this way.
"Carlos, you're different." Carlos looked at the door in confusion at those words because Dr. Wainwright had always told him that he was just like everyone else and that he was normal. Now, Kendall is saying that he's different and it may be because Kendall sees him as a monster too. He started to frown at that but then, Kendall spoke again. "You're different and you know who else is different?"
"Who?" Carlos asked and Kendall smiled.
"Me. I'm different. I'm different from Logan, from James, from Kelly, and even my own family. Being different isn't a bad thing. It's awesome to be different and just because you're different doesn't mean that you don't fit in. Being abnormal is normal, if that makes sense. No one is normal and no one is the same, not even twins. If someone tells you that they're normal, then they are lying to you."
"But even abnormal people don't do…whatever I did." Carlos said and Kendall could tell that the boy had got on the floor on the other side of the door.
"Well, no one is from another planet." Kendall told him truthfully and Carlos looked down at his hands and paid attention to the lines on them. "The thing is, Carlos, you're from another planet. I know Dr. Wainwright said that you're normal but I don't think so. I know I've said it but…what I mean is, if you're normal, then, you're boring and I for one, don't think you're boring. When I said that you're normal and what I think Dr. Wainwright meant is that you shouldn't be treated any different than anyone else."
"But I am different." Carlos said and Kendall nodded.
"Right, but, you should still be treated with respect is what I meant. You should be treated with respect and not like how General Griffin was treating you or how Jett was treating you." Carlos smiled again at that and he agreed with what Kendall was saying since he had explained it a bit more.
"Carlos, you know what I just thought about?" Kendall asked, fighting off the smile that threatened to appear on his face for making a connection that Carlos would surely cheer up about.
"What?" Carlos asked after a beat of silence.
"You're from another planet, right?"
"…Yeah."
"You came here when you were a baby, right?"
"Mhmm."
"Well, Logan also thinks that you may or may not be affected by the sun." Kendall said, remembering their conversation.
"Kendall, I don't get-"
"Who do we know that is also like that?" Kendall asked and there was a silence between them before Kendall heard something fall over. He stood open and turned to the door, reaching for the doorknob. Before he could grab it, the door came flying open.
"Are you saying I'm Superman?" Carlos asked in shock which made Kendall laugh.
"You're just like him minus the saving the world thing and all that." Kendall said and he could see a sparkle in Carlos' eyes that he hadn't seen since the first time he was outside. Carlos smiled so bright he could feel his cheeks start to hurt before he tackled Kendall into a hug. Luckily, Kendall was prepared enough to keep the two of them stable. Carlos held tight onto Kendall and the blonde returned the affection before Carlos gasped and let go of Kendall.
"I hope I didn't squeeze too hard." He said, looking down at his hands.
"I don't believe you have that superpower." Kendall said, smiling at how adorable Carlos was being.
"Oh." Carlos said, still looking at his hands. Kendall grabbed them to get the boy's attention and he looked up with a smile.
"We don't have to talk about it right now. We can just chill and play the game together or something."
"You'll play with me?" Carlos asked and gained another adorable point. Kendall nodded and grabbed a controller. Carlos chose the game that they were going to play and Kendall should've known that Carlos would want to play Injustice.
As the game loaded, Kendall made sure that he put the USB back where it was and returned the book bag to the back of his closet. He was happy that he made the right decision in which conversation to have with Carlos, especially when hearing the sound of Carlos picking Superman. The other conversation option was something that he was going to address some other time.
A/N: I took way too long to update and I'm sorry to everyone who's still continuing to read this. I cannot thank you enough if you are. I always plan on doing more updates but life just gets in the way. I will try my hardest to make sure I update more since this is part of my new years resolution. Thank you so much for reading and let me know what you think about this chapter. I'd love to hear a review.