Author Note: Thank you guys so much for the interest! So happy that you like it! Yay! Looks like I will be continuing it! :)

Thank you to everyone who read/review/favorited/followed! The original chapters were too short, so I've combined them. Originally there were about 9 pre-written, so now theres only about 5 pre-written, so hopefully I'll get more written by the time I reach the fifth one, but anyway... here's number two! You won't meet Carlos personally, but you close enough ;)

Chapter 2: The Call

James went white at the voice that wafted through the speaker into his ear. His knees growing weak at the sweet innocent voice he hadn't heard in almost five years. He had dreamt about this moment on many occasion, planning in his head what he would say. Now that the moment had finally arrived, fear griped him in its tight grasp leaving him speechless and filled him with visions of rejection and pain.

With one shaky hand holding his phone to his ear, he reached out blindly with his free hand, grabbing a hold of Logan to keep himself steady. Logan looked on with confusion and worry. He knew of the name that left James' lips, but had no idea of what it could mean.

James closed his eyes at the response he received, trying to read in to it as much as possible. The tone sounded happy and inviting. It appeared to be genuine, but James' fears held him back. Something felt off. Something was wrong.

"James? Are you there?" the voice chuckled through the line.

James' heart melted as the laugh rang through his ear. He had missed it as much as he missed the smile that he knew was accompanying it, but he wasn't about to let his guard down. Not yet.

"Carlos," he stated this time rather than question. The voice had been all the proof he needed, "Are you sure you have the right number?"

"Well I sure the hell can't think of any other James Diamond, now can I?" Carlos joked, his laugh making James relax a bit. "What are you up to, man? You miss me?"

James gulped, afraid to answer the question. Instead, he remained silent.

"What's with you, buddy? I haven't been gone that long," Carlos continued on without his answer.

"Are you alright, Los?" James blurted out without thinking. He still couldn't fathom why after so many years, Carlos was calling out the blue and acting as if five years hadn't happened at all.

"No need to worry, Jay." Carlos chuckled again. "The doctors say I'm going to be just fine. It wasn't as bad as they thought."

"Doctors?" James found himself shouting. "Carlos where are you? What happened?"

"Relax, Jay. I told you, I'm fine." Carlos continued to say. "Something about a bike accident. I hit my head or so they say. Other than a broken wrist and a few bumps and bruises, I'll be back to school in no time!"

James scrunched up his face as he took in all the information. Carlos had an accident on his bike. That made sense. He knew how much Carlos loved his motorcycle. He had bought it a few months before their falling out and as far as James knew, it was still the Latino's favorite mode of transportation.

The thing that stumped him was the last part. 'I'll be back in school in no time'.

Even after the fight, James had kept in touch with Carlos' family. They had grown up together and James was considered family and the Garcias were not about to let one of their sons get away that easily. Even if it was one of their adopted ones. Mrs. Garcia made sure James would call ever few weeks and check in with her and he made sure to stop by and visit on occasion when he was in the area (after calling to make sure Carlos wasn't around first) and Officer Garcia wasn't a stranger around the office. Though it wasn't in his district, the court house was in the city, so when ever the officer had to appear in court, he made sure to stop by and have lunch with the CEO before heading back to his duties in the smaller suburb.

Therefore, he knew the smaller boy had taken some time off after high school and even did some traveling. He finally went back three years ago, graduating last spring, so why would he be talking about going back to school? And the question that escaped James the most: Why was he talking to him in the first place? After all, Carlos was the one who walked away from their friendship in the first place.

"Carlos? Where exactly are you?"

"You're not going to call my Mom are you? I don't want her to worry. You know how she gets."

James nodded even though he knew the other boy wouldn't see him. That answered another question. Obviously Mrs. Garcia would at least text him if she had known Carlos had been hurt, especially if he was in the hospital.

"I promise I won't tell her," James played along.

He heard a sigh on the other end before Carlos' voice returned, "I'm at St. Mary's over on Harper. Third floor. Room 323."

James nodded, running back to his desk grabbing a sticky note as he jotted everything down, "Got it! Carlos, stay there. I'm on my way!"

"Awe, Buddy. I knew you missed me," Carlos teased with a small giggle. "Hurry up and bring me a corndog!" he added.

James smiled affectionately as he stared at the piece of paper in hand, "I'm on my way."

XxXxXx

"Really James? Are you insane? You can't go in there!" Logan began to argue as the elevator doors closed, leaving them alone for the few moments it took to travel the three floors of the hospital. "He screwed you over once and now you're going to let him do it again?"

"Logan, please!" James spoke for the first time since Logan began his crusade. "Carlos needs me!" His knuckles whitened as he griped the fast food bag tighter in his grip, trying to hide the slight tremble he had developed since leaving his office.

The elevator came to a halt, dinging as the door began to open slowly. Thinking fast, Logan hit the close button, forcing the doors to shut, leaving behind some pissed off people waiting to board. He hit a random floor and waited for the elevator to shutter as it began to move before pushing the stop button, pausing the ascend.

"James do you hear yourself?" Logan desperately tried to reason with his younger friend over the buzzing sound of the emergency stop button. "Where has he been the past five years, huh? Where was he when you became an alcoholic? Where was he all those times you landed your sorry ass in jail? Where was he when you relapse every single year around this time of the year? The same fucking time of the year that he left you and now he calls because he bumped his head, you're going to run back to him with open arms?"

James glared at his best friend trying to block out everything he had said, but he couldn't ignore the truth. The truth hurt and so did he. It was all Carlos' fault and now he was rushing back to him without a second thought. Truth is, he still loved the bastard. The same bastard who ripped out his heart and stomped all over it. The same bastard that ended their life long friendship over some stupid argument. The same bastard that no matter how hard he tried, not a day goes by that he can't stop thinking about.

Not this time!

This time it was James' turn to do the hurting. This time James was going to be the one who ended the friendship before it had a chance to rekindle. His time was overdue and he couldn't care less if he was lying in the hospital hurt and broken. For five years James had felt hurt and broken inside. It served him right after everything he had put James through the past five years while he went off to live his happy, perfect life. A happy perfect life James was ready to destroy.

"James?" Logan called out trying to catch his attention when he noticed the younger man was now off in his own little world.

James' oblivious look turned to anger, before his eyes lit up with his plan in mind. With his mind made up, James tore opened the fast food bag, pulling the corndog befor taking a huge chunk out of the greasy cuisine before throwing it back into the bag.

"Does this mean we're leaving?" Logan asked hopefully.

James shook his head, releasing the emergency button before hitting the third floor button repeatedly until the elevator began to descend.

"I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!" James growled through clenched teeth before exiting the lift before the doors were barely opened.

Logan rushed after him in confusion, pleading with him one last time until they finally reached room 323. James reached for the door handle, taking a final breath as he gathered all his thoughts in one, making sure not to leave any horrible detail out, but before he could open the door, it swung opened on his own accord, bringing him face to face with an ex-friend from the past.

Author Note: Poor James is conflicted. He'll learn more about what happened to Carlos in the next chapter and you'll get to meet Kendall then too :) Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Random thoughts? Tell me what you think! 8)