.:Chapter Three:.

There was a long lull of stunned silence as Kendall and Katie waited for their friends' reactions to what they had just told them. Katie pressed her lips together, running her hands over each other in her lap, shooting looks at her brother as he sat across the restaurant table. It had been an impromptu outing; Kendall had suggested that they get all of their friends together and tell them what was going on all at once, rather than try to keep it a secret or cause confusion when only a few people were told at a time.

"Your Dad wants to get back together with Mama Knight?" Sydney's right eyebrow lowered in confusion. "That's kinda…aggro."

"Weird is the understatement of the century, bro," Patrick remarked. "It sounds like there's something else going on there, mate." He drummed his fingertips on the table top. "Especially considering she and Ronan just so happened to break-up around the same time this is going on."

"Exactly." Kendall nodded, leaning back in his seat.

His eyes moved across the pavilion of The Grove as he and his friends sat at the outdoor restaurant. Fans waved, shrieked, and screamed as they walked by, not sure if they wanted to get too close to ask for an autograph. Either that or they were too scared and nervous, seeing Big Time Rush and the DarkElements in the flesh. He wished they would just come over and say 'hi' or ask to take some pictures or something. It would take a bit of the pressure and his edge off.

"That's why he thinks it's some sort of a conspiracy and that Mom may have said something to Dad about it and that's why he's trying to get back together with her," Katie added. She reached out and slapped her hand on top of Patrick's, dragging her boyfriend's hand back down to his side, shooting him a look of annoyance. He flashed her a warm smile, wrapping his hand around hers.

"Wait!" Stephanie King, who was sitting at the head of her table, held out her hands. "Why is it bad that he wants to at least try and talk to her again?" She brushed her long hair behind her shoulders. "I mean, how do you know that this isn't a good thing for you guys?"

An uncomfortable hush fell over the table.

Kendall leaned forward and ran his hands over his face. Of course they didn't know the real reason why he didn't want them to get back together. That was something he hoped he would never have to explain…if not wait a while until he had to. As it was, the only people that knew were Kevin, his mother, Katie, James, Carlos, Logan, and probably Jo Taylor. He remembered telling her but the two of them had never brought it up again. Even now he wasn't sure if she remembered it, and as his eyes moved across the table to look at her, she turned away. Not being able to tell his other best friends was hard, it was starting to take its toll on him, especially considering he wasn't sure how they'd react.

Jo reacted exactly how he had thought she would, with compassion and understanding. Camille would probably fly off the handle, like she had done when she found out about Lucy's boyfriend Beau, Stephanie would probably be concerned for him, but the Jacksons...as far as he was concerned, they'd probably stop behind his friend because he kept it a secret.

Kendal continued to look at Jo, trying to catch her eye, but she continued to look away from him.

Maybe to keep the attention off her, he thought.

He could only be so lucky.

"What?" Camille Roberts let out a nervous laugh, noticing the silence around the table. "Did she say something wrong?"

"No," Logan said as calmly as he could. He took his girlfriend's hand, gently rubbing his thumb over the back of it. "It's just that it's been a while since Kevin has been back at all, and even through this last year, Kendall and Katie haven't really spent a lot of time with him." He licked his lips. "Now, all of a sudden, he wants to have the four of them be a big, happy, family again?"

"What's so bad about that?" Camille asked.

"Sounds like a load of crap if you ask me," Rhuben commented.

"Not necessarily," Riley said, holding up a finger. She used that finger to brush her red strand of hair from her blue eyes. "I mean, think of it this way, the guy hasn't seen his family in years and he's trying his hardest to make things back to the way they were. Seems to me he's just lonely."

Kendall's eyes shifted to her, narrowing. Katie rested her forehead against her fingertips, letting out a shallow breath. On her other side, Noah reached out and gently rubbed her back. She could tell a fight was only moments away from breaking out. And that was the last thing any of them wanted.

"Please don't tell me that you're taking his side on this," Kendall said to Riley.

Riley looked offended. "No, I'm not fucking taking his side, Kendall!" Her eyes narrowed as well. "I'm just saying that there are always two sides to every story and you should take it into consideration, yeah?" Her face then softened. "You're forgetting this is affecting Ronan, too."

James, who had been strangely quiet ever since they had gotten to the restaurant and placed their orders, cleared his throat, sitting up straight. He laced his fingers together, resting his elbows on the table as he did so. "So what are we going to do?" He asked. "There has to be something that we can do to make sure this…doesn't happen."

"Is it really our business though?" Jo asked. She twisted the end of her long ponytail around her finger. This time she looked at Kendall and he looked back at her with an expression of betrayal, causing her to sigh loudly. That was exactly what she had wanted to avoid, giving her opinion when she really knew what happened.

She understood Kendall's dilemma completely. How could someone that have abused his son so badly, even if only for a short period of time, want to get back together with the woman and children he had left? How were Kendall and Katie supposed to welcome him back with open arms?

Even in the past year when Kendall started to talk to his father more, he was still very hesitant about what he shared and the things they did together. So far they only played a couple of games of hockey went to lunch or dinner, and he had spent a weekend at his father's apartment a few times, otherwise they weren't anywhere near being best friends like Carlos and his father were.

"I'm just saying that this is really Mrs. Knight's, Mr. Knight's, and Ronan's business," Jo continued. "They're the ones that have to get through this; it's their feelings that are on the line." She shrugged again. "Your mother is a smart woman; I think she can take care of herself."

"We're going through this too," Katie protested. "We're the ones that are going to be directly affected by her decision," she said. Her voice lowered. "Just like when he left the first time."

"I have a plan," Kendall continued.

"Of course you do, mate," Sydney piped up.

Kendall slowly started to smile, the mischievous light that was always present whenever he had a plan, coming to his eyes. "We're going to get Mom and Ronan back together. By any means necessary."

Noah's nose wrinkled. "Do you actually mean 'get them back together'? Or do you mean 'force them back together?"

"Why? Are you not going to help?" Carlos asked.

"Of course we're going to help." Noah snorted.

"It's just that he said get them back together not force," Riley explained. "There's a difference."

"Just know that we won't hesitate to throw him under the bus when we get caught," Rhuben added.

"Notice that she said when and not if," Patrick concluded.

The laughter that erupted around the table broke the tension and the subject was changed to a lighter topic of conversation. Even Kendall and Katie loosened up, laughing and joking along with the others throughout their lunch. Even when their food arrived and they had stayed for a couple hours longer, the conversation never went back to Kevin and what they were going to do about it.

It seemed that as long as Kendall and Katie weren't reminded of their father, everything was going to be OK. But that didn't mean he was going to stay away forever, as much as they wanted him to.

"James? Are you OK?" James looked away from a store window and turned to face Carlos, as he stood at his side. Looking over his shoulder, James saw that Jo and Stephanie were still busy at the makeup counter, testing out mascara wands and different shades of lipstick. "You've been really quiet since we left the restaurant."

James turned from the window and ran his hands over his hair, letting out a slow breath. He should have known Carlos was going to be the one to notice he wasn't being himself. As much as he tried to keep from letting his mood put a downer on everything, he still couldn't help what he was feeling.

"Look, James…" Carlos placed his hand on his best friend's shoulder. "We're all worried about Mama Knight and Kendall and Katie. We're not going to let anything happen to them."

"I know," James agreed. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if we did nothing and Kevin ended up hurt her…or doing something worse." He swallowed thickly. "Do you know if your Dad could do anything? Maybe set up a sting or something."

Carlos shook his head, giving a half smile. "Papi can only deal with things back in Minnesota," she said kindly. "Though I'm sure he's found some way to keep an eye on me while we've been out here." He raised a hand into the air before slapping it down on his side. "I mean, how do you think he 'just so happened' to get back here when my helmet went missing?"

"Your Dad was always kind of scary like that," James murmured. He licked his lips, crossing his arms over his chest. Even though he hard Carlos's words before, it just didn't settle with him. He wasn't going to sit back and have something happen when he could have prevented it somehow. "Are you sure there's nothing your Dad can do?"

Carlos blinked at him for a moment. "No, James." He shook his head. "This sucks for all of us. Having Kevin back…it was weird for me too, not just because he was someone I never really got to know…but because of how badly he had hurt Kendall before. How do we know he's not going to do it again?"

James's hands clenched into fists.

"The least we can do is hope that Mama Knight is smart enough to see through him—"

"—She was in love with him before, how do we know that she still doesn't love him and was just waiting for him to come back?" James interrupted.

"How do we know she's not?" Carlos countered.

James pushed himself away from the store and started to aimlessly wander away, Carlos followed after him "You don't get it, Carlos," James said. He stopped and placed his hand son his hips, looking away for a moment. "I mean, I know that all four of us, Mama Knight treats us like we're her own children, but in a way I feel like I am her own son."

Carlos tilted his head to the side, confusion evident on his face.

James sighed, licking his lips. "My parents got divorced a few years before Kendall's Dad left them. And in that time, Mama Knight helped me out a lot. She let me sleep over as much as I want. She let me stay for whatever meal I wanted. She gave me advice and treated me like her own son, giving me the attention and love that my Mom couldn't because she put herself deep into her work after the divorce."

He painfully looked away. He knew his mother loved him dearly and she had been as hurt by the divorce as he had been. Instead of talking to James about it and trying to help the two move on, she had turned her attention to her cosmetics company, doing her best to turn it into the multi-million company she had dreamed it would be. She had also turned her attention to grooming him into taking over the company from her when she decided to step down.

James tried his hardest to talk to her about how he was feeling of his own father leaving but she hadn't listened. He wasn't sure how he would feel if his own father tried to get back with his mother—which was an absurd thought in itself.

James rubbed the back of his neck. "So, I don't know," he continued. "I guess I feel like I need to protect her, and Kendall and Katie. I have no idea if Kevin really wants to get back together with Mrs. Knight for the reasons he says, all I know is that I don't want anything to happen to any of them."

"I understand," Carlos said gently. He looked over his shoulder as the girls walked back over to them. "And if you ever need anyone to talk to…I might not understand, but I'll do my best to listen."

"Thanks, Carlos." James smiled.

But Carlos was right, he wouldn't understand. He had a mother and father that loved him dearly and would do anything for him. In a way, he felt left out in that aspect; Kendall's parents' were separated, James's were divorced, and Logan's father was in jail. He was the only one that had a completely happy home life and he had moments where he wasn't sure if the other boys resented him for it. Instead of dwelling, however, he did his best to make sure that his home was open to all of the boys and that his parents cared about them as much as they cared about him.

"You're welcome." Carlos beamed back glad he had been able to help in some way. Stephanie moved up to his side and put his arm around her shorter boyfriend's shoulders. "Did you find anything you liked?" He asked.

"A couple of things," she replied. "I'm going to have to wait for the money from my net film project before I get anything, though."

"With how much you girls spend on makeup, you should be glad you haven't been paid yet," James joked, doing his best to keep up appearances. Jo rolled her eyes and punched him on the arm. "Ow! I'm just telling the truth."

"What?" Jo teased. "That I have more makeup than you do?"

"It's not makeup!" James protested. He stuck his nose in the air. "It's the Barracuda Man Sculpting line." Turning, he pointed his finger in her face, poking the tip of her nose. "Get it right. I don't want them to know their biggest fan's girlfriend makes fun of it. I might lose my endorsement."

"You don't have an endorsement with Cuda," Carlos protested.

"Don't crush my dreams, 'Los!" James snapped. "I didn't crush yours when Sparky ran away!"

Carlos's eyes widened. "He ran away?" His lower jaw started to tremble, a slight whimper coming out of his mouth. "Mami and Papi told me that he was sent to a farm to socialize with other dogs."

James laughed as Stephanie gave her boyfriend a gently kiss on the cheek and Jo elbowed the tall brunette in the side. He put his arm around Jo's shoulders and pulled her into his side as the group started walking again. Jo slid her arms around his waist, leaning into him. They went along in comfortable silence for a few moments before Jo spoke up, "you're really worried about him, aren't you?"

"Yeah," James admitted. He looked at Jo out of the corner of his eye. "You know what happened between them right?"

Jo nodded. "Yeah, Kendall told me when we were still going out." She tightened her grip on James's waist. "I haven't told anyone else." She rested her chin on James's stomach and tilted her head back to look up at him. "I know you're trying to help him…please keep an eye on him. You know how he can get…his tunnel vision is terrible when he's angry at someone."

"Yeah," James agreed. He chuckled. "I think I got it from him."

"You really look up to him don't you?"

"He's like my brother," James replied. "Well, not like, he is my brother and I'm going to stand by him whenever I can."

"Fine." Jo sighed again. She knew what happened when the Big Time Rush boys got an idea in their heads. It was next to impossible to get them to change their minds. "Just stay out of trouble, alright." She stood on her tip-toes and James leaned down, giving her a long kiss.

"I don't think I can promise that," he said truthfully when he pulled back. There was a mischievous smile on his face as he rested his forehead against hers.

"I know," Jo agreed. She smiled, turning her head and resting her cheek on him. "I said it for my own peace of mind."

James laughed.

A/N: Even more BTR characters (Gustavo, Kelly, Dak, and WayneWayne (as well as Dak's sister Lizzie)) appear in the next chapter. I didn't want to introduce them all in once chapter or else that would be a looooot of people to deal with in one chapter. Especially considering I need to balance it all with Mrs. Knight, Kevin, and Ronan because they're the three main-main characters of the story.

For those wondering (and may have always wondered) why I like to put James and Jo together in my stories and it's because we never would have known what they would have been like together if he had gotten a chance to talk to her in BTLoveSong. At some point she may have found him charming or cute and fallen for him instead of Kendall, who knows.

Chapters will get longer; as the story goes on I plan on rotating between Kevin, Katie, Mrs. Knight, Kendall, and Ronan's POVs but we'll see how that works out.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll update again soon.

Cheers,

-Riles