Chapter 3 Shattered

The next morning James wakes up after finally falling asleep about two hours before. He stretches lazily and looks at his alarm clock. His eyes grow wide and he lets out a shriek. He jumps out of bed and bounces over to the other sleeping figures in the room.

"Wake up, we overslept! Wake up!" He yells, slowly waking up Logan and Kendall, who groggily look at him, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

"Whas going on?" Kendall lazily asks.

"We overslept, Kendall, that's what's happening. Now get up, we have to be at the studio in ten minutes!" James yells again, while jumping around, trying to put his pants on.

Kendall quickly rushes from his bed as well and pulls Logan's blankets off, as he still looks confused.

"Come on, Logan, get dressed."

Logan tumbles out of bed and nearly topples over as Kendall throws his pants into his face.

"Come on, Carlos, wake.. Oh. I guess one of us already woke up." Kendall says with a confused look. James looks at the empty bed and gets a frustrated, angry look on his face and heads out of the room, while still putting a shirt on.

The other guys hastily rush after him after exchanging a look of worry.

"Uh, James…" Logan calls after him.

James angrily rushes over to Carlos, who is just putting him empty plate in the sink.

"Why didn't you wake us up?" James asks with an angry tone. Carlos just looks at him and turns away. James grabs him by the shoulder and turns him around. "Hey, I asked you a question!" Carlos glares at the hand on his shoulder.

"You all looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you." He replies with some distaste.

"You knew we had to be at the studio at 8. You should have woken us up!" Carlos just shrugs out of James' grasp and heads for the door.

"We should go, we're already late." He says over his shoulder. James goes to grab him, but Kendall and Logan quickly hold him back.

"Come on, James, let's just go. You know how Gustavo gets when we're late." Logan tells him calmly.

"Yeah, and whose fault is that?" James quietly tells them, still angry.

Their car ride is silent with James still glaring at Carlos and Carlos staring out of the window, ignoring all of them. The other two just feel like they're right in the middle. It was so strange how they all seemed to get sucked into Carlos' bad moods whenever he had one. It really proved to them how he really does bring in the light in their friendship.

As soon as they arrive at the studio, Carlos rushes out of the car, nearly slamming the door in James' face. This only fuels his anger as he heads after him.

"Oh, this is going to be a fun rehearsal." Logan sarcastically shares with Kendall.

"Oh yeah…" Kendall agrees.

They both get out and head into the studio, where they can already hear Gustavo yelling.

"Oh, great, now that all the dogs have finally arrived, let me ask you a question; why are you late?" he screams at them. Logan and Kendall wince, but Carlos and James don't move a muscle. Kelly can now feel the tension and exchanges glances with Logan and Kendall. Hey just shake their heads, signaling her not to ask.

"We overslept, because a certain someone didn't wake us up in time." James hisses, glancing at Carlos at the 'certain someone' part.

"Well, maybe if you'd set your own alarm clock, you would have woken up all by yourself." Carlos shoots back.

"I didn't hear it go off! And since you were the first to wake up, you should have woken up the rest of us."

"It's not my job to wake you up, James. I'm not your dad!"

"Hey! At least I still have a…" He stops as he almost says something he might regret.

"Go on, James. Why don't you finish that sentence? You know you want to." Carlos tells him as he walks closer to him, getting in his face.

"No, I don't. I just think you could have woken us up. That's what we do, because we're friends? We've always done it when you overslept."

"Whatever, James. At least you got some sleep."

"Dogs! Heal!" Gustavo's voice suddenly booms through. "I didn't ask you to come here so you could fight. I gave you the day off yesterday because of.. what happened. Carlos, I just want to say.. sorry for.." Kelly nudges him. "Sorry about your dad." He finally sputters out. Kelly gives Carlos a sympathetic smile.

"We really are sorry. I know how close you were to him."

Carlos just nods and turns to his friends. "You told them? Is that really why we had the day off yesterday?"

"Carlos, we just thought you needed some time.. I still think you shouldn't be here right now!" Kendall tells his friend.

"I can't believe you guys lied to me." He says with a look of utter betrayal.

"Carlos, we were just looking out for you. I'm not sure why we're here right now either. I mean, you need time to deal with this." Logan tells him in a concerned voice.

"I think you shouldn't even be here in LA right now." Carlos looks confused. "You should be in Minnesota with your family." James suggests.

"I don't need time to deal with anything and I don't want to go to Minnesota! Over there, people will just be sad and cry and I just want things to stay the way they are! Now can we please start rehearsal?" He asks Gustavo, ignoring all the protests behind him.

Gustavo just looks dumbfounded. One of the dogs actually wanted to rehearse? "Uh, yeah, of course. Mr. X is here. He wants to teach you some new dance moves."

"Great, thanks Gustavo." Carlos tells him and heads towards the dance studio. The other guys stare after him.

"Okay, things can't go on like this. We need to do something." Kendall suggests.

"What do you mean? I thinks he's doing great. He actually wants to practice dancing, which is better than I can say for you dogs." Gustavo tells them, wincing when Kelly smacks his arm.

"The boys are right, this isn't healthy. He shouldn't be here right now. His dad died two days ago and he's acting like everything is fine. I think he's trying to throw himself into work so he doesn't have to think about it. We need to put a stop to it before it gets out of hand." Kelly suggests. The guys nod.

"And what are we supposed to do about it?" Gustavo asks her.

"You are going to give him time off. Meaning, you're going to send him home."

"But he actually wants to rehearse! None of them have ever wanted to rehearse. Do you know how huge this is?"

"Move it!" She yells at him, giving him the evil eye. Gustavo quickly hurries out of the room.

The guys and Kelly slowly follow and head for the dance studio. CRASH! They stop mid-step, when they hear crashing and glass shattering coming from the dance studio.

"What do you mean I have to go home?" Carlos screams. "I came here to rehearse, Gustavo. You can't make me leave, I want to dance!"

"Aah, not my awards.. don't throw those!" Gustavo's voice pleads. The others quickly rush inside and gasp.

In the studio, Carlos is throwing everything in his sights around. They quickly duck as a vase is hurled at their heads.

"Whoa.. Carlos! Carlos, stop!" Kendall yells as the three guys try to get to him without being hit in the head on the way.

"Carlos, don't throw that!" James yells, seeing him pick up a microphone stand and holding it over his head, ready to throw it.

"You did this, didn't you? You convinced them I need time off, didn't you? You're unbelievable." He says, shaking his head, but still holding the microphone stand in the air. "I thought you were my friends. I thought you were here to help me!"

"We are, Carlos. That's why we need to do this. You're not being yourself." Logan tries to convince him.

"You don't care about me… You're just trying to ruin everything for me." He says, finally lowering the microphone stand, making the guys sigh with relief.

"No, Carlos, we do care about you. You're our brother.. We just want you to be okay." Kendall tells him, slowly stepping closer. They all back up when Carlos grabs the mic stand as a bat, ready to swing it. "Carlos, what are you doing? Put it down!"

"You guys are really something, you know that?" He says with an eerie grin. "You're all lying to me and you actually think I believe you."

"What are you talking about?" James asks with confusion.

"Quit messing with my head, James. You know what I'm talking about. You say you care, when you really don't. I'll bet you even lied to me about my dad, didn't you?" He says, laughing strangely.

"Carlos, we haven't lied to you about anything.."

"You even got my mom involved, that was clever." He chuckles.

"Carlos…"

"But honestly? I didn't think it was that funny. In fact, I'm a little pissed off!" He scrams the last part as he swings the mic stand around and hits it full swing into the dance mirror, making it shatter into little pieces. The other guys put up their arms for cover as the glass hits the ground all around them.

After a short moment, they slowly drop their arms and look around with wide eyes. A large piece of the mirror is completely shattered. At the base stands Carlos, who looks at the damage while breathing heavily. He suddenly lets the mic stand fall out of his hands, making it clatter on the floor. He then turns around and rushes out the door.

James wants to go after him, but Kendall stops him.

Carlos just runs out the door, not even looking where he's going. He just keeps on running. After a while, he finally stumbles on an expected destination. He looks up at the entrance sign of the Palmwoods, before rushing through the door.

"Oh, hey, Carlos.." Camille greets him, but looks confused when he brushes past her towards the staircase. The elevator would take too long.

"To hell with them. I don't need them. Stupid liars… friends, pfft. They're not friends. They're just stupid liars!"

He angrily pushes open the door of their apartment, ignoring the concerned looks of Katie and Mrs. Knight who get up from the couch when they see him barge in. He heads straight for the bedroom, slamming the door closed behind him.

"Come on, guys, we need to hurry." James says in a worried tone as he and the other guys sit in the car, which is heading for Palmwoods. They knew exactly where he went. They always did.

"Calm down, James. He'll be fine." Kendall tries to assure him.

They figured he just needed some time. But James convinced the other two they needed to go after him. If he could do this to the dance studio, what would happen if he was by himself? Maybe he'd even hurt himself. The others quickly agreed that he was right. They needed to go after him.

The second the entrance sign of the Palmwoods came into sight, James jumped out of the car, even when it had barely stopped.

"James, wait up!" Kendall yells after his friend, who has already headed inside the lobby. Logan and Kendall hurry inside as well.

"I can't believe they would treat me like this… I know I pull pranks, but to get me back like this? It's just not right…" His dad isn't dead. He's fine. Maybe he's even in all of this. So cruel…

Carlos throws everything around in he bedroom, looking for one simple object. He opens the closet and begins to throw everything behind him. He cheers as he finally finds the object he was looking for. In his hands he holds a picture frame, inside it a picture of his dad at the beach with himself hoisted onto his shoulders, grinning like crazy. He smiles. He gets lost in the moment, until his phone starts to ring.

"Hello?"

"Carlos? Where the hell are you?" His brother's voice suddenly yells through the speaker.

"Hey Anthony! How are you?"

"How am I? How do you think I am? I'm here in Minnesota trying to comfort mom, which is what you should be doing, too. Please tell me you're on your way?"

"Why would mom need comforting?"

"uh, I don't know. Maybe because dad died two days ago?"

"Anthony, you can stop now. I know it's all a joke. I have to say, I really don't think it's funny. But I guess I deserved a big prank, huh?" he says with a chuckle.

"Are you kidding me? You think this is a prank? Carlos, dad is dead! They shot him in the heart, killing him on the spot!"

"Okay, easy, you don't need to use all gory details. I already got it, again, not funny." He hears a oud sigh on the other side of the phone.

"Just stop… stop it! This isn't a joke!" His brother yells, now sobbing loudly. "Dad died.. I saw him. They made me identify him… I never even got to say goodbye… He was just lying there on the slab.." Carlos goes to sit down as he hears the sobs.

"No, it's not true. Dad is fine. I know he is, you're all lying to me.."

"Why would we lie, Carlos? Why would anyone joke about this.. You have to come home… Mom is a wreck. She keeps asking for you.. She needs you… We all do…"

"Wow, you guys are really not letting up are you?" He says, laughing again, but his voice wavers.

"Please just come home, Carlos.. Dad would have wanted you here." His brother quietly says while still sobbing, before hanging up.

Carlos looks at his phone in silence, his breathing becoming heavier, before throwing the phone at the wall, shattering it completely. He looks at the picture he was holding, before getting ready to throw that at the wall too. But then another object catches his eye. He angrily goes to grab it.

Meanwhile downstairs at Palmwoods, the guys are running around, asking everyone if they saw Carlos. They thought about the apartment, but they remembered that Carlos doesn't usually go there when he's upset He heads for the park, or the pool or sometimes, the well.

"Oh, Camille! Have you seen Car…" Logan asks her, but his sentence is interrupted by a large shattering sound. They all look up and see the window of their apartment shattering as an object comes flying out. A guy in the pool quickly jumps out of the way as the object nearly hits him. The guys share very worried looks when they recognize the object as Carlos' helmet…

Yes, Carlos is throwing and breaking a lot of things. This story won't last very much longer as the news is hitting hard. We all know you need to hit rock bottom before getting better. He's almost there, but not quite.

I hope you like reading this story, for some reason I'm having a little bit of difficulty writing lately. I hope it's not a writer's block. I really want to start my BTR angst story soon.

Anyway, thanks for reading and hopefully more people review

Until next time!

Love, Baxxie