Authors Note: Hey guys! I'm really sorry for not updating sooner, but I have just had the worst week of my life. Seriously. But Friday afternoon I went out and bought some really cheap clothes that put me in a summer-y mood, so it's slowly getting better! I finally got around to writing this chapter last night, but I stopped halfway through and then wrote some more this morning and revised most of what I wrote last night. So, yeah, it's been a crazy writing day. Sorry if it's repetitive, I'll reread it later and fix it up later. Hope you like it anyway!

I might update the next chapter today, depending on how long I get to use the computer, or I might just write a little one-shot drabble later. Anyway, there will be something for you to look forward to.

Toodles!

Standing in the Dark – Chapter Three

Carlos unlocked the door to the apartment and pushed it open, not surprised when the interior was almost completely dark. The only thing that provided light for the large apartment was the faint rays of sunlight that filtered through the semi open blinds and the light from the hallway where Carlos was standing. The guys always left the lights off in the apartment during the day, half because it was hot enough in the California heat and half because they were hardly ever home during the day. Leaving the front door open so he wouldn't run into something hidden in the dark, Carlos ran his fingers along the side of the counter and stopped when they brushed against a number of light switches beside the bar. Pushing a few select buttons, Carlos watched as the perfect amount of light filled the apartment. It wasn't too dark but it wasn't too bright either - perfect. Reaching for the black strap of his camera that was slung around his collar, Carlos pulled it over his head and placed his beloved camera on the counter gently. The red light in the corner signaled that it was close to dying and Carlos made a mental note to charge his camera later that night and to save his pictures on his computer before he went to bed. He always saved his pictures to his computer, just in case something happened to his camera. Of course, he deleted quite a few but there were always a few great shots that he saved to a folder on his desktop.

Turning around so he could close the door, Carlos jumped when he saw a silhouette in the hallway. He immediately recovered from his mini-heart attack when he realized it was just Camille. Walking over to the door, Carlos raise one eyebrow when he noticed that she was beaming at him. The girl didn't bother to be invited in, she knew Carlos was about to ask her to come in anyway, and strutted into the apartment. She stopped by the couch and whipped around, hands on her hips and a huge smile laid out across her features. Carlos closed the door and faced her, looking a bit nervous in the presence of the girl. She hadn't slapped him, or anybody for that matter, all day, so he knew that it had to be coming soon.

"Uh, Cam-"

"So what did you think about Bradley? Did you like him? He's a great person, isn't he?" Camille kept the questions coming, her mouth running a mile a minute. Carlos listened to her never-ending questions as he climbed into one of the bar stools and Camille jumped into the one beside him. "What did you guys talk about? Did you meet any of his friends?"

As Camille went on and on, Carlos blocked her out and tried to answer a few of them in his mind. What did he think of Bradley? Sure, Carlos had known a lot of guys in his life, he even thought that he loved some of them, but Bradley was different from the rest. Almost everyone in Hollywood was completely obsessed with fame, fortune, publicity, and competition - things that Carlos could really care less for. He was fine where he was in Big Time Rush. He didn't need to be more famous than he already was, but it seemed like everyone else would disagree with him. Everyone at the Palm Woods were always competing with each other over the stupidest things such as who had the most expensive things or who could score the biggest role in a stupid mini-series or made for television movie. They were always trying to reach the top and when they seemed to finally reach their goal, they tried harder to be even more famous. Carlos didn't understand their craving for fame, but he didn't try to change them either. Hollywood had done that for him. Walking into the Palm Woods lobby was like walking into the Barbie Doll aisle at the store.

Hollywood had shaped everyone he knew into self-centered "stars" who only cared about their own selves and their own fame. When Carlos, Kendall, James, and Logan had first moved to California, they made a promise. They promised to never let Hollywood change them and that they would always be the four hockey players from Minnesota. At first, they had managed to stick to the promise. Kendall always gave them one of his famous inspirational speeches when it seemed they were drifting apart and loosing themselves in the pressures of Hollywood, but Carlos hadn't heard one of his best friend's speeches in over a year. It seemed that even Kendall, the strong headed and confident unofficial leader had given in to the town. Even the band's genius, Logan, had failed to keep his promise. He still had a passion for the medical field, but Carlos had seen the layer of dust that covered the raven-haired boy's textbooks in his bedroom. Even James, who had dreamed of becoming a star for as long as Carlos could remember, had failed them. Even if he had always been obsessed with his looks and fame from the beginning, James Diamond had never broken a promise to anyone.

Don't get me wrong; Carlos had done his fair share of typical Hollywood behavior. There still was the whole Debby Ryan ordeal that his friends never let him hear the end of - but he didn't want publicity. He was perfectly fine being where he was in this town. Sure, James wanted to reach the top just like everyone else, and it was no surprise to Carlos that Kendall and Logan did to.

But, that was what Carlos really liked about Bradley. He had obviously lived in Los Angeles for a long time, since he knew almost everyone and managed to drive all the way across town to the Palm Woods without getting lost a single time. Even Carlos, after living in California for three years, still got lost on his way to the Palm Woods in the big city. But Bradley hadn't let Hollywood shape him into one of the plastic people that swarmed the city's streets. In the car, Bradley had explained that, even though he had taken the job as a model, he remained working at the coffee shop so he could spend more time on the suburban side of the city. Where people weren't so wrapped up in fame that they forgot about the people around them. Just the friendly exchange that Carlos had seen between Bradley and Nate made him think about how he acted with his own friends.

He hadn't even held a conversation with one of them at all that week. At that realization, Carlos frowned and was brought back to reality as Camille punched him in the shoulder roughly. Almost toppling out of his chair, Carlos rubbed at his shoulder and glared at the curly haired girl, who looked frustrated with the boy beside her. "Carlos!" She whined-slash-yelled, "Are you even listening to me?"

"Sorry, Cami, I just have a lot on my mind." Carlos sighed, placing his elbows on the cold tile and rubbing at his temples to ease the headache that he suspected was going to arrive soon. Camille's annoyance suddenly vanished and was replaced with worry. Carlos never had a lot on his mind, and judging from the way he was acting, she didn't think it was good things either. She placed a hand on his shoulder, where a bruise was probably forming now, and rubbed circles into the bone with her thumb in a comforting manner. Not many people knew it, but when the two were alone, Camille acted like a mother towards the Latino. He had never really had a decent mother figure in his life, so she made it her mission to make up for that. She might be younger than him, but her words of wisdom always seemed to work wonders in the mind of Carlos Garcia.

"I've noticed that you and the guys haven't spent much time together." Camille whispered, feeling a bit nervous about bringing up the guys. All week they had been acting rather edgy and paranoid, as if they were hiding something. Camille didn't think the guys were the types to hide anything, but she couldn't be sure. Carlos said nothing as he continued to rub at his temples, feeling his headache begin to worsen. "Is something up?"

"I have no idea. They've been avoiding me all week and making excuses to leave every time I try to hang out with them. I haven't seen them at all today, but I'm sure they'll be home soon. They might be reckless, but the guys always come home before seven o'clock, even if they do plan on leaving again." Carlos mumbled, leaning into Camille's touch. He has glad that she was so comforting to him. It was nice to have someone you could actually talk to - without them trying to avoid you every chance they got.

"All right." Camille let her hand fall into her lap as the two sat there for a few minutes in silence. Finally, she stood up off the chair and flattened her shorts with her hands. "I'm going to head down to the lobby. Jo wants me to teach her how to be aggressive for the role she's auditioning for. Call me if you need anything." Carlos smiled and waved as the girl left the apartment, closing his eyes as the door swung closed. A wave of exhaustion came over him and he rested his head down on the counter, hoping to get some time alone in the quite apartment before his friends got home. That hope was short lived though, as the door was flung open and the loud footsteps and shouting of the guys split through the air. Carlos groaned in frustration and sat up again, glaring at the guys for disrupting him. They didn't seem to notice him though, as they were too wrapped up in their own conversation to pay attention to anything else.

"James, come on. You are being overly dramatic." Logan sounded rather annoyed as he tossed his car keys onto the counter, causing a loud cling that made Carlos cringe. He could feel his headache worsening as he resumed his position of rubbing his temples, trying his best to block out the way-too-loud noises from his friends.

"I am not being overly dramatic!" James protested, stomping past Carlos without a word of acknowledgement before sitting down on the couch. His face was twisted into a frown and he was obviously not as amused as Kendall who had followed the two into the apartment, trying his hardest not to laugh. "You always get to drive and you have had your license longer than any of us. Why can't I drive home once in a while?"

"I don't even know why we took the car, to be honest. It was only a block from the Palm Woods." Kendall added, pushing past Logan and dropping down on the couch beside James. The brunette was fuming and shoved Kendall, not hard enough to push him off the couch, but hard enough to make him rub his shoulder in pain.

"Still. I hardly ever get to drive. It's always you and Kendall who get behind the wheel." James continued, his voice high pitched with anger. Logan sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose before walking into the living room and stopping beside the bright orange couch.

"Listen, you can drive tomorrow, all right?" The genius offered, not wanting to make the argument go any farther. James flashed Logan a bright and agreeing smile as he turned to face the television and leaned back against the cushion as Kendall turned on the latest hockey game.

Carlos sighed with relief once more, happy that his friends weren't going to get into a heated argument tonight. He really wasn't in the mood. Even though he knew as well as the others that James was behind the wheel just as much as Logan, he didn't want to make the brunette mad. An angry James always resulted in a bad night for everyone – and nobody was left without at least a few bruises.

"Hey, guys." Carlos finally greeted them, turning around in his seat and facing the three men on the couch.

"Shut up, Carlos, the game is on." Kendall snapped, causing Carlos to look a bit taken back. Kendall wasn't one to snap, at least, that wasn't the way he used to be.

Crestfallen, Carlos turned back around and crossed his arms on the counter, resting his head down on the makeshift pillow until a commercial came on and Logan walked casually into the kitchen.

"Tired?" Logan asked quietly, his voice cracking slightly. Carlos failed to notice the genius' anxiety, and nodded into the crook of his elbow.

"Yeah."

The two of them fell silent as Logan washed the leftover dishes from that morning and loaded them into the dishwasher. As the raven-haired boy was lining up plates on the white rack, Carlos looked him, his eyes sparkling. He hadn't spoken to the guys all week, and he was itching to start some form of conversation with them. He figured that he could bring up Bradley as a conversation starter. The guys might want to meet him, and maybe then everyone would go back to the way they were before Hollywood shaped them into what they were today.

"So, Camille and I walked into town today-" Carlos began, but was cut off as Logan's head shot up and the plate clanged into the dishwasher. Nothing broke, but it was enough to startle all four boys.

"Why were you with Camille?" Logan asked defensively, and Carlos wondered if the raven-haired boy had forgotten that his friend was gay. Instead of bringing up that fact, knowing that it was an awkward subject with his friends, Carlos decided to explain.

"Well, I was taking pictures this morning and she-"

"Carlos, you're always taking pictures." Kendall grumbled irritably as he walked into the kitchen, taking a cup out of the cabinet and pouring himself a glass of water. Carlos narrowed his eyes at Kendall, wandering what had gotten him into such a sour mood.

"What's up with you?"

"What's up with you?"

"Kendall, what does that even mean?"

Kendall rolled his eyes and took a sip from his cup, avoiding Carlos' gaze. The blonde looked over his shoulder and exchanged a strange look with Logan. Carlos raised one eyebrow as he looked at the two of them. Kendall, Logan, and James had been acting strange all week. Avoiding him, leaving unexpectedly, coming up with excused that Carlos knew were lies but let slide instead. Logan closed the dishwasher and stood in the middle of the kitchen awkwardly, not knowing exactly what to do with himself as he waited for Kendall to say something.

"But seriously, Carlos. You spend too much time taking pictures." Kendall said harshly, acting as though taking pictures was a sin against nature and Carlos would go to hell if he did it too much.

"Is that a problem?" The Latino questioned.

"Yes." James was watching the conversation between the two boys from the couch, a nervous pit in his stomach beginning to form. Away from Carlos, he could rant all he wanted about how much he disliked the younger boy, but in his presence, Carlos was still his younger brother. He was beginning to regret the plan they had made at the café, but kept his mouth shut. It had to be done. "You should start doing things that are more productive. Get a hobby."

Carlos tightened his fist, his knuckles slowly turning white. "It is a hobby!"

Kendall mumbled something incoherent and Carlos leaned forward, his eyes narrowed as his blood began to boil in anger. "What was that? I couldn't quite make it out."

A grin passed its way across Kendall's features as he spoke louder this time; his words clear as day to all three boys. "I said; that it is a hobby for a gay person."

Carlos' brown eyes turned black as he clenched his teeth together. He never though that Kendall, of all people, would make fun of him for being gay. Leaping out of his chair and over the counter, Carlos lunged at Kendall. He blindly swung his arm and gasped in surprise as his fist collided with Kendall's chin. Fire burned in the blonde's eyes as he swung his fist in Carlos' direction, hitting the Latino square in the eye. Before they could really start fighting, Carlos felt someone grab him from behind. James' strong arms restrained him as Logan pulled Kendall's arms behind his back. The two boys glared at each other, breathing heavily as fire burned in each others eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Kendall?" Carlos yelled, feeling tears start to swell in the corners of his eyes. Everything had happened to fast, and he wasn't sure exactly what was happening. Out of the blue, Kendall had made fun of his sexuality and punched him. Sure, Carlos punched him first, but who wouldn't hit someone who made fun of you for something you couldn't control? Kendall said nothing but instead pulled away from Logan, slowly calming himself down. He remained silent as he stormed back into the living room and flopped down on the couch, pinching the bridge of his nose and ignoring the intense game that was playing on the television.

James released his younger friend and Carlos stumbled forward, a single tear streaking down his cheek. The two brunette boys exchanged a glance but made no move to comfort their youngest friend. Carlos glared at them in disbelief before pushing past James and walking down the hallway towards his bedroom. He slammed the door behind him and crawled onto his bed, burying his face into the pillow and letting the tears fall.

He had no idea why Kendall had been to randomly mean. Did he do something to piss the blonde off? Trying to remember any recent times when he messed up, Carlos' mind drew a blank and the tears just fell harder. The look in Kendall's eyes had been unmistakable. They had glistened with hatred and Carlos couldn't figure out why. Rolling over onto his beck, Carlos stared up at the ceiling with his tear stained cheeks. Taking a few deep breaths, the Latino swallowed roughly and blinked, trying to stop the tears from falling.

Authors Note: So, did you like it? It's not my best chapter, but I'm still trying to get past the beginning of this story so I can get to the good stuff. I can't wait! Can you?

So if you did like it, or hate it, whichever, leave a review! I love them all! 3