Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush. Yeah, I'm still seriously bummed about that.

btrfanfiction1516: Thank you so much! I'm so happy you enjoyed the chapter :) Haha right? Definitely not the traditional grandma. ;P Thank you for taking the time to read and review, I always appreciate it!

Thank you for reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing! I always appreciate it :)

A/N: So, I know it's been almost a month since I last updated this story and I'm so sorry for the wait! I got really busy with college, and especially this past week has been crazy. Today's the first day I've had the chance to really work on my own stories :\ But hopefully things will slow down enough for me to get more stories updated, and possibly even another story posted if you guys are interested. On that note, the next chapters for "Take the Heat" and "Anywhere But Here" are both in the works, they're just being super stubborn and don't want to be written. But they will be up soon if I have anything to say about it ;) Anyway, this is the last chapter I have written for this story, so I can't promise that the next update will come any sooner, but hey, fingers crossed, right?

Anyway, enjoy the chapter! :)

Chapter Six

Katie's POV

The drive back to my parents' place was pretty much uneventful. I didn't hit anyone trying to cross the street, no one decided to tailgate me, and no giant craters appeared in the middle of Main Street. All in all, much more peaceful than the rest of the morning had been so far.

I flipped on the left turn signal and made the turn onto my old street, cruising down the street.

Sunday mornings in my old neighborhood have always been quiet and peaceful. It's not until early afternoon when people are returning from church and lunch that the activity level peaks. But at that point in time, the street was all but left for dead, and it was with ease that I reached my parents' house and pulled into the driveway.

I parked and shut the ignition off before slipping out of the car. I headed up to the front door, noting that my mom's car was already parked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw James pull up to the curb as well, followed by Kendall's car.

Deciding against waiting for them to catch up, I pushed open the front door and stepped into the house. It was just as I remembered, paneled and floored in red oak, with rugs covering the floor, and a staircase leading up to the second story. I could see the living room just off the entrance, and the kitchen peeking out from across the hall.

We had never been particularly well off, but my parents had always worked hard to make sure that we were able to keep the house. It probably helped a lot once Kendall and I moved out. Apparently having kids can get really expensive, what with feeding and clothing them.

I could hear Mom and Grandma in the kitchen, with Grandma barking loudly at her that the recipe she was following was all wrong.

Time to go rescue Mom.

I kicked off my boots and padded down the hall into the kitchen. Mom was in the process of making Swedish pancakes, while Grandma corrected every single item on the list. I was pretty sure the only ingredient that hadn't been crossed out was flour.

I cleared my throat. "Grandma, let's go out into the living room and you can tell me all about your knitting club."

Grandma sniffed as she looked at me. "I'm perfectly happy in here, thank you very much, Katherine."

Oh well, I tried.

Just as I was turning around to make my escape, Kendall and James walked into the kitchen as well, effectively blocking my exit.

Their timing sucked rocks.

"Hey, midget," James greeted me with an affectionate pat on my head. I responded very eloquently by grabbing his earlobe and twisting it. "Owowowowooowwww!" he howled like a werewolf baying at the moon. He grabbed me around my waist, shoving me into the counter and effectively trapping my hands behind my back, much like a cop handcuffing a criminal.

"I knew that 50 Shades of Black or whatever the hell it is would completely ruin the young set," Grandma commented as she reached for the whistling kettle and poured the boiling water into a mug, over a teabag. "Everywhere I look, masochists and sadism! Grown adults acting like second graders." She sniffed again, taking a sip of her tea. "It's ghastly. Back in my day, we read classic literature such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, none of this sex-obsessed crap we have now."

James, Kendall, and I all spared her a glance, before Kendall struck up an abrupt conversation with Mom, and I wiggled in James' grasp, spinning around and bracing my hands on his chest to shove him away from me. I paused for a moment, feeling the warmth of his body creeping through the thin cotton, soft from being washed so many times, the drumming of his heart pulsing violently beneath my right hand, and for a long moment our eyes locked.

"If you two have sex here in the kitchen, I'm disowning you," Grandma informed me, sipping from her tea once more.

Her comment seemed to shock both James and me out of our stupors. I made to shove him away, but he was already whirling across the kitchen, sliding neatly by Grandma, Mom, and Kendall to get to the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of apple juice and poured himself a glass, leaning against the counter and taking a sip.

I shook my head slightly, trying to get my bearings. What the hell had just happened?!

I was aware of Kendall doing his best to sweet talk Grandma to come and sit with us in the living room, and I followed them into the next room, James close behind me. We sat down, Grandma in an armchair, with Kendall, James, and I plopping down on the couch, Kendall between James and me.

Grandma placed her tea on the coffee table in front of her before eyeing us all as if she was a cop and we were criminals who she was interrogating. I half expected to feel the white blindness of hot lights shining in my eyes.

"So," she said crisply, folding her hands in her lap and leaning back in her chair slightly.

"So…" Kendall shifted on the couch. "Want to talk about how everyone under the age of forty is corrupt and ignorant and sexually obsessed?"

Grandma narrowed her eyes at him and pointed one long, bony finger at him. "It's attitudes like that that are completely detrimental to America's youth."

"Am I really considered America's youth now that I'm twenty-four?" he asked.

James and I both slowly covered our faces as Grandma ripped into him about what a little smart aleck he was and how he just needed to be muzzled.

Kendall took it, not saying anything until she was finished. At last, she fell silent, and the entire room remained still; you could have heard a pin drop.

He finally spoke: "I guess I just take after my dad." He smiled at her sweetly, and she glowered furiously at him, just as the doorbell rang.

"That's my cue," he said cheerfully and got to his feet, heading for the door, leaving James and me alone with Grandma.

Grandma sipped her tea unconcernedly, before setting the mug back down and surveying us composedly. "So, how long have you two been going out?"

James and I both gaped at her blankly.

"We're not going out," I said after a long moment. "It's never going to happen."

James nodded stoically. "Never."

"Are you still dating that Preston Gates?" Grandma asked me.

"Nope. We broke up after I found out he had been screwing around behind my back."

"Mmm." She made a noncommittal sound, as Kendall led Camille and Steve into the living room. They sat down on the loveseat, nodding at James and me.

"The others should be here soon," Kendall commented, propping himself on the arm of the couch.

"Who's this sop?" Grandma demanded of Camille, nodding at Steve.

"This is my fiancé, Steve," Camille answered. "Steve, this is Janine, Jenn's mom."

Steve smiled at Grandma. "Nice to meet you."

"Hmmph. I don't like him. He's too put together."

The smile dropped from Steve's face, and Camille's expression fell flat, deflating like a dropped soufflé.

Grandma brought the mug back to her lips, sipping serenely.

Kendall stared at Grandma with a slightly dumbstruck look, while James and I just glanced at each other, shrugging. His lips twitched slightly in amusement, and I was trying to figure out if I should laugh or just try to smooth everything over.

The doorbell rang again, and this time I jumped to my feet, hurrying for the front door. James followed me, hot on my heels. "There's so much tension in that room I'm surprised nothing's exploded yet," he muttered to me, and I nodded in agreement, before opening the door.

Logan stood there, hands buried deep in his jeans pocket.

I smiled at him. "Hey, Logie. Long time no see."

"Hi, Katie," he greeted me, freeing his hands so that he could hug me, before fist bumping James. I stepped back to let him in, and James and I led him into the living room.

Logan froze as he crossed the threshold, and Camille's eyes widened, her posture going rigid.

I was quite sure that that was the first time Logan and Camille had seen each other in a year, since the night of the rehearsal dinner.

Steve looked back and forth between them, Kendall did his best to blend in with the wall, and Grandma looked absolutely delighted by this turn of events.

"Ah!" she cried. "It's the ex fiancé! How are you Logan, dear?"

Did I mention that Logan's the only one of us who Grandma actually likes? Well, no, she likes Carlos as well, but he's impossible not to like; he's just too friendly and bubbly. However, Logan's a completely different case. He's always been more reserved, more quiet, more conservative, but Grandma likes that. As far as she's concerned, he's the epitome of an old-fashioned gentleman. The only thing that's missing is the tie and cigarette jacket.

Logan smiled at her. "Hey, Janine. I'm hanging in there. How about you?"

"Can't complain. Come give me a kiss, dearie."

I rolled my eyes as he crossed the room and bent down, pecking her cheek, before sitting down in the other armchair. Steve's eyes narrowed as Logan and Camille glanced at each other.

James and I sat back down, staring back and forth between Logan, and Camille and Steve.

Well, this was pleasantly awkward. James and I really needed to start thinking things through, because I was about ready to pull my hair out from the tension. If the rest of our plans followed in this way, we would end up going insane.

"So, uh, how're you doing?" Camille asked Logan awkwardly.

"Okay. You?"

"Pretty good." She placed her hand in her lap, and the overhead light caught the diamond, flashing it across the room like Morse code.

Logan looked down at the ground, and James and I both pursed our lips.

"So, uh, you two getting along any better?" Steve asked us.

"She flipped me off in church," James informed him.

"Because he was being an asshole," I retorted.

"Guess not…" Steve slunk back against the loveseat slightly.

The doorbell rang twice more – the next time Jo, Stephanie, and Lucy had arrived. The second time signaled Carlos' arrival.

By this time, brunch was just about ready, and Mom asked a few of us to help her set the table in the dining room.

James, Carlos, and I got to our feet, trooping into the dining room, where Mom had set out plates, glasses, napkins, and silverware.

I grabbed the plates, James snatched up the glasses, and Carlos took the napkins and silverware.

"So, wow," he commented as we began to move around the table like we were playing musical chairs, "things are really tense with Logan and Cami and Steve."

"So tense," I agreed.

"I don't think Logan and Camille ever got over each other," James pointed out as we carefully slid around each other, trapped between the table and the china cabinet. His hip brushed against mine, before he stepped away from me. I bit my lip, my hip burning slightly from his light touch, and I flashed back to the way his heart had beat rapidly beneath my fingers. It was a reminder that there was more to him that just his annoying prick-ness – he was human. He was a person. He had thoughts and feelings. He had been bullied, he had dealt with unrequited crushes, he had fought with his parents. He had had a first kiss at some point, had lost his virginity, had a couple of ex girlfriends out there somewhere. He had best friends who he would die for, a mother who he barely talked to, a father who didn't want anything to do with him, a grandmother who loved him, an aunt and uncle who tried to help him out when they could, and a dream that he was desperately grasping onto.

In that moment, as he glanced over his shoulder, his hazel eyes questioning and burning with something I couldn't quite place, he was more human to me than he had been in the decade and a half that I had known him. And that was actually kind of sad. He could be such an obnoxious ass, but he wasn't all bad; he had proved that earlier today, when he had stood up for me at the church. He wasn't the awful person I had always made him out to be. He would probably never be my favorite person in the world, but he wasn't evil or cruel. Probably a lot of his attitude came from his parents, who had never had time for him when he was growing up. In all honesty, it might have been a miracle that he had grown up as well as he had. His only vice was sex, and I had a feeling he had more or less given that up once he decided to move back to town. And as long as he wasn't knocking a whole bunch of girls up or spreading around HIV, it wasn't really a bad vice.

I guess a part of me had always considered myself better than him, more superior, because he had slept around so much in high school and, most likely, in college. But he wasn't hurting anyone, he never had. And maybe he had started sleeping around to get past the issues he had been going through. He had become a huge man whore in his junior year, the year his dad had finally walked out of his life completely. He had probably been seeking comfort, and all I could do was call him a slut.

And wow, I was actually feeling a little bit bad about that…

I shook my head. No. None of that stuff had occurred to me back then, and it wasn't like someone had ever bothered to explain it to me. Besides, who even knew if that was why he had begun his man whore ways? For all I knew, he could have started sleeping around simply because he could, because no one would chew him out and tell him to knock it off. I had every right to feel the way I did, and I would be damned if I would let James Fucking Diamond make me feel guilty about the way I had treated him over the years. It wasn't like he had treated me any better. I mean, okay, yeah, maybe I had started a lot of the fights, but he was so obnoxious that he could provoke me just by fluttering his lashes at me.

That had actually happened once. That proves how annoying he could be in the past.

I was yanked out of my thoughts but James hollering, "Hellooo, earth to Katie!"

I blinked at him, coming back to the present. "Huh? What?"

"Where'd you go? Venus? Jupiter? Pluto? Why didn't you take me?"

"None of your business, and because I didn't want to get a headache." I set the last plate down and stood back to admire our handiwork. The table actually looked pretty good, considering James and Carlos had been involved with setting it. A gorgeous bouquet of flowers rested in a glittering vase at the center of the table, autumn centerpieces circling it. The curtains had been drawn back so the late morning light was dancing like crystals against the juice glasses, and the airy chandelier hanging from the ceiling gave the whole room a feel of grace and elegance.

"Rude," James sniffed, moving to stand beside me. "I'm beginning to think that you want nothing to do with me."

"I don't want anything to do with you!"

"See, that's just mean. And I helped you out with your dumbass ex boyfriend earlier."

Carlos blinked. "Whoa. James and Preston know each other?"

"Oh yeah, Preston showed up at church," I shrugged. "He was being an ass so James stepped in."

Carlos' eyebrows skyrocketed. "James stepped in? As in, he defended you?"

"Yeah, something in that vein."

He let out a low whistle. "That's a first."

James rolled his eyes. "Is it so hard to believe that I would stay up for Katie? Just because I don't like her doesn't mean I want something bad to happen to her. She is Kendall's sister, after all."

"True," Carlos relented. "It's just a little surprising, since you two don't get along at all."

James shrugged and hollered into the living room that the table was set, just as my mom carried food into the dining room. Everyone traipsed in and we took our seats. I ended up in-between James and my grandmother; I immediately made James switch chairs with me. I figured Grandma would love the opportunity to interrogate and insult him during a friendly brunch.

I smirked at James as he glared furiously at me. "Don't scowl, it's not polite."

"I'm going to get you back for this," he hissed at me.

I smiled chirpily.

"So, what're your plans for later today?" Mom asked the group at large.

"Well," Camille spoke up, "there's this really cool European film festival playing down at the old Paramount Theater, and I want to go to it."

Steve coughed nervously. "Yeah, I just don't see myself getting into European movies."

Camille sighed. "I told you, I don't want to go by myself."

"So ask one of your friends."

"Jo's busy with Kendall tonight, and Stephanie has a late night shoot for her new horror movie documentary."

"Well, then, who's left?"

James and I exchanged smirks, and I cleared my throat.

"You know, Camille, you could go with Logan. He loves those kinds of movies."

Camille bit her lip. "I don't know…I mean…it'd be awkward…and I don't want to leave Steve alone…"

"We could take Steve out to the movies or something," James suggested.

I nodded in agreement. "We could get to know him a little better. It'd be fun."

"It would be."

"You should let us do it."

"Please?"

"And you should take Logan with you."

"He's the man for the job."

"You won't regret it."

"Katie promises."

Camille, Steve, and Logan all gaped at us wordlessly.

At last, Camille slowly nodded. "Well…okay…Steve, you wanna hang out with them tonight?"

Steve eyed us nervously, before shrugging. "Sure, why not? What could go wrong?"

You mean besides your fiancée and her ex rekindling the old flame and having hot, steamy sex in the back of the theater? Nothing. Nothing at all.

So...James and Katie's first plan is getting put into motion. Should be interesting, huh? ;) Anyway, thank you for reading, and please review! I love hearing from you guys so much :)