Heeeeeeeey guys. –nervous laugh-

Standing in the Dark - Chapter Four

"Stupid Kendall. What does he know about photography?" Carlos grumbled to himself as he drummed his fingers on the soft wood of a bench in the middle of the Palm Woods Park. It wasn't just a rumor that Carlos' favorite place to hang out these days was the park – he loved nature, even when he wasn't taking pictures perched high up in one of the tall White Oak trees. His camera was hanging slack around his neck, having been neglected all day except for a moment when Carlos saw a squirrel and it's child playing a few feet away from his bench. Except for the two photos he had captures of the small family, his camera had been left untouched and had grown cold for the first time in weeks.

In truth, Kendall's comment wasn't really bothering him that much – or the scuffle they had gotten into the night before. That is what he had decided it was; a scuffle. Not a fight, not just an argument. A scuffle. He had lain in his bed for thirty minutes, sniffling and letting a few tears trickle down his cheeks but he never full out cried. He felt as though he should be furious, or offended, or something. But in truth, he wasn't thinking about Kendall at all – or about anyone at the Palm Woods for that matter.

He was thinking about the boy he met at the Bean and Gone Café downtown. The boy with dirty blonde locks that closely resembled Logan's sticky-upy hairstyle. The boy whose brown eyes and tan skin glowed in the afternoon sunlight. The boy who had been the first person to bring a smile to Carlos' face in weeks.

But no, don't get me wrong. Carlos was not in love with Bradley Owens. Carlos didn't think he would be falling in love with anyone anytime soon. He was young – this was his time to be finding his groomsmen, not the man who he would be walking down the aisle to exchange vows with. He was already sure that Kendall, James, or Logan would be standing beside him, sending him encouraging smiles as he waited for his groom. He was sure that one of them would one day be his best man. He just needed to find out who and who else would be standing behind him on the happiest day of his life.

But no, Carlos was definitely not in love with Bradley Owens. He was mesmerized by him. There was something about that man that made Carlos want to stick around. Something about the air around him and the way he made everything seem so easy. The man was obviously friends with most of the people on that part of town – probably even knew the teenagers at the photography school fairly well. He probably didn't even need the job at the coffee shop; he just kept it to spend time with his friends. On the ride to the Palm Woods, Bradley had told him a few stories about the coffee shop. The way he and his friends, who were employees as well, would make pictures out of the cream just to see the reaction of the people once their order was delivered at the selective table.

It seemed so… heartwarming. The little things Bradley and his friends did. It might seem silly to someone who wasn't constantly suffocated by the spotlight, stalked by crazy fans, or forced to keep a huge smile on their face twenty-four seven. But to Carlos, just getting a job at a simple coffee shop with his friends and being able to spend hours just living life without a care in the world sounded like a heaven Carlos never even knew existed.

But it was never that easy. No matter how happy and carefree Bradley and his friends seemed, he knew they had troubles of their own. They had troubles from the past, the present, or to come in the future. They had stern frowns hidden underneath their smiles and clenched fists behind the high-fives they gave each other. But that just made them more real. It had been a while before Carlos had met someone as real as Bradley, and even Nate, who he had barely spoken to at all.

"Carlos!

"Hey, Carlos!

"CARLOS ROBERTO GARCIA."

The Latino jumped as the sound of a girl screaming his name jolted him out of his thoughts. He had been so caught up in his own mind; he hadn't noticed Camille Roberts and Jo Taylor had claimed the seat across from him on the bench. He smiled weakly and absent-mindedly fiddled with the sides of his camera, turning it on and off twice before letting it fall back against his abdomen and resting his hands on the dark wood of the bench. "H-hey, girls."

Camille flashed him a brilliant bright smile and Jo fluttered her eyelashes. It was then that Carlos realized he had never answered Camille's question about what went on between him and Saint Bradley after she left. It wasn't a surprise that Jo knew about the events of the day before either, since he recalled Camille had left him to help her with… whatever she was doing. He had been too caught up in his thoughts to really bother remembering. But that also meant that they didn't know about his scuffle with Kendall either. He obviously hadn't taken the time to inform his own girlfriend about his troubles. Typical.

"S-o. Yesterday. Huh, huh?" Camille sent him a sideways wink and nudged him with her elbow, trying to get his answer out via humor. Carlos rolled his eyes and popped his knuckles, something that infuriated Logan more than when Carlos refused to wear shoes while driving. Don't ask.

"You don't have to tell us." Jo added quickly, glancing at Camille knowingly. Everyone knew that Camille loved to know everything about everyone and was known to perform long lasting interrogations just to know how a first kiss went. Her latest victim had been Guitar Dude, who had fled the Palm Woods after Camille resulted to threatening to smash his guitar. She had already snapped two of the strings and the second she lifted Angelica – yes, he names his guitar Angelica – into the air, he snatched it out of her hands and fled. Nobody had seen him all day, but Camille had lost interest quickly and had resulted to Carlos instead.

"Yes he does! I introduced them!" Camille protested, glancing between Jo and Carlos with wide eyes. The two of them were looking at her in amusement, smirking on the sides of their lips and exchanging glances. "Stop it guys! I really want to know! Please, Carlos? Oh please-y, please-y, please?"

"Calm down, Roberts. I'll fill you in." Carlos chuckled, smiling when he heard the sigh of relief escape her lips. Both girls, including Jo, leaned across the table as he explained every moment, every detail, and even pausing at parts that were hardly dramatic, causing both girls to lean even closer. He could tell Camille was excited by the light that twinkled in her eyes and Jo, it seemed, was just interested that Carlos had finally found someone who could quite possible become closer than a friend one day. Not that Carlos thought he would – he was just excited about the next time they would see each other again and the laughs he had missed so dearly.

"And then when he drove away into the sunset, as we waved goodbye to each other, his wind blowing his hair behind his head, I knew." Carlos dramaticized, clearly amused by the girls and their interest in his story.

"Knew what?" The girls asked in unison, leaning so far across the table, their knees were the only things still touching their seats.

"That I really want a Volvo."

"Carlos! Come on!" Camille screeched, slamming her fists down on the table as she sat back down on her seat beside Jo, who was laughing hysterically. Pouting, the brunette crossed her arms across her chest and slumped down, obviously annoyed by her two friends. Not that she was really angry – it was too nice of a day for anyone to be angry.

"Seriously, Camille. It wasn't like some fancy romance novel or a chick-flick where the star-crossed lovers drive off into the sunset, snuggled against one another. I really don't think of him as anything more than a friend, and I would like to keep it that way." Carlos spoke seriously, leaning against the table with his arms crossed on top of the soft wood. He reached up to brush a strand of his black hair off his forehead and winced when his fingers accidentally bumped against the tender flesh around his eye. Kendall had hit him hard enough the pervious night to cause a bruise, but it hadn't formed into a full on black eye yet – something Carlos was extremely grateful for.

"What was that?" Jo questioned, finally noticing the darkened flesh around Carlos' eye. She reached across the table and rested the pads of her fingers on his skin, flinching back slightly when Carlos himself flinched.

"Nothing."

"Liar." Camille called him out. You couldn't exactly lie to Camille – not even if you had more Oscars for best actor than anyone else in Hollywood.

"Okay, something happened last night but it's not that big of a deal." Carlos mumbled just loud enough for the girls to hear.

"After I left?" Camille questioned, feeling concerned but slightly guilty that she had left him alone in the apartment.

"Yeah, but seriously guys. It's not that big of a deal." Carlos insisted, shaking his head and pulling away from Jo, who had moved over to his side of the bench and was examining his bruise.

"It is a big deal, Carlos. I've been in quite a few action movies and sometimes; you actually have to punch someone on set to make it look real. I know what a punch looks like." Jo murmured, letting her hands fall into her lap as she gazed at him with sad eyes. She had a feeling that one of the guys had done this – even if she wasn't about to accept it.

Carlos sighed and ran a hand through his hair, knowing he wasn't going to be able to leave without telling these persistent girls. "Kendall and I got into a scuffle."

"A scuffle?"

"Yeah. He just made a comment that kind of ticked me off and we got into a small fight. Nothing too bad, though." He told them, looking down and fiddling with his camera again.

"Kendall hit you?" Jo asked in disbelief.

"Well… I hit him first, but only because he made fun of me for being gay."

"What?"

"Seriously, girls, it's not that big of a deal. It doesn't bother me. Kendall was probably just having a bad day and needed to yell at someone." Carlos justified his friend's actions, hoping the girls wouldn't get all fired up like he expected them too.

"Carlos! How can you act like it doesn't bother you? Kendall is one of your best friends! He can't just treat you like-"

"I get it! He's one of my best friends and he's treating my like dirt. I get it. He's just not used to not blowing off steam on Gustavo every day. We're on hiatus and he's still adjusting." Carlos snapped, feeling a twinge of guilt when the girls flinched back slightly.

"Carlos, listen to yourself. Kendall doesn't need adjusting. If he needed to blow off steam, he would just go to the gym, right? Was he yelling at James or Logan?" Jo whispered, barely audible.

Carlos stared at her a moment before responding with a whisper of his own. "No…"

"Camille and I were talking yesterday. You guys haven't been spending a lot of time together. It almost seems like you're avoiding each other." She continued.

"We're not avoiding each other!" Carlos replied, his voice changing from his usual soft tone to a high-pitched squeak, "They're avoiding me!"

Camille and Jo exchanged a worried glance and the blonde rested her hand on the distressed boy's shoulder. She blinked sympathetically before speaking, "I think you need to talk to them. Something is going on and I don't think it's going to end well."

"Yo, Logan!"

The pale, raven-haired boy looked up in confusion, eyes widening when he saw the shorter Latino running towards him. Logan was sitting in the center of the Palm Woods lobby, lounging in one of the cream-colored lounge chairs by himself. He had been reading one of his medical textbooks – specifically a chapter about popular surgical studies in Russia and parts of Eastern Europe – until Carlos had shouted his name rather obnoxiously.

Although Logan had been the least eager to join in on James' master plan of getting rid of Carlos – which still sounded awful when said that way – he still agreed with quite a few points his older friend had made. Carlos was barreling through the lobby towards him, almost knocking over a few people who were practicing lines for auditions later that evening. As much as he had gotten used to Carlos over the years, he still found him utterly obnoxious.

"Hey, Carlos." Logan whispered, hoping that Carlos would get the hint and lower his voice as well. Nobody was staring, they had gotten used to ignoring Carlos, but Logan still felt his ears grow hot with embarrassment.

"What are you doing?" Carlos asked, the volume of his voice altering the slightest bit, but still loud enough to make Logan's temples ache.

"Reading." Logan replied rather harshly, hoping Carlos would get the hint for once. Just once.

"About what?"

"Surgical studies in Russia and Eastern Europe." Logan replied. Carlos leaving him alone might be the thing he wanted most in the world at that moment, but he would never not answer someone's question. It had happened to him enough as a child, he had sworn to always try and answer everyone's questions. It was silly, he knew, but it was just something he liked to so.

"Sounds boring." Carlos yawned pointedly. Once Camille and Jo had left to get lunch, he had hung around the park for a while before deciding to go find one of his friends. He knew that the girls couldn't be right. His friends would never pointedly be avoiding him. They were just busy with their newfound freedom.

"Then, by all means, go find someone interesting." Logan snapped, his angry tone going unnoticed by his younger friend, who just tilted his head and smiled. Sometimes Logan wondered if Carlos only did this to tick him off. He wasn't wrong either. Carlos acting like a child and pissing off Logan was one of his favorite pastimes. When he wasn't taking pictures, that is.

"Come on, Logie. Let's go do something fun." Carlos whined, smiling innocently when Logan glared at him over the top of his thick textbook.

"Speaking of something, I have a thing to go to." Logan quickly stood up, dog-earing the page he was on and snapping the book shut. Tucking it under his arm, he made a quick move to leave, but was stopped when Carlos grabbed his elbow quickly.

"What thing? Maybe I can go with you!"

"No, no, Carlos. You'll think it's boring. I'm, uh, going to a math class." Logan pressed, hoping that Carlos was ignorant enough to believe his lie.

Carlos frowned slightly. He might act like he did when he was sixteen just to annoy Logan, but he had matures quite a bit over the past three years. He knew when Logan was lying. He also knew that his math classes had ended three weeks before the hiatus even began. "I thought you finished those last month."

"I-I did. I'm going to another one now. You know, to prep for college."

"Lo-gie! You're always prepping for college! Can't we do something fun!"

Logan brushed Carlos off and headed out of the lobby, out onto the sidewalk in front of the Palm Woods building. He was hoping Carlos would give up and go bother someone else, but just like all his other wishes, it was denied. He could hear the loud slap of Carlos' converse on the concrete as the Latino followed him eagerly. "Really, Carlos. I have to go and you'll hate it."

"Come on, Logan. It can't be that bad." Carlos pressed, stepping in front of Logan before the raven could move any farther down the road.

Logan brought a hand up to his nose, pinching the bridge as he sighed, trying to control the anger that was building up inside of him. He didn't want to yell at Carlos, but the anger wasn't melting away. It just kept growing stronger and stronger as his friend continued to nag, begging Logan to take him and that it would be fun or that they should ditch the class all together and do something "fun". Logan had never really yelled at his friends before, but there is always a first for everything. Letting his hand fell to his side, he clenched and unclenched his fist twice before cutting Carlos off mid-sentence.

"Carlos! Can't you see that I don't want you to go with me? You always want to tag along with whatever Me, Kendall, or James is doing! You never do something by yourself and it really gets annoying having you tail us around all over the city!" Logan shouted, ignoring the fact that Carlos had flinched back, shocked by his sudden outburst, "I'm sick and tired of always hanging out with you! You're incredibly obnoxious and annoying and never know when to shut your mouth!"

"But, Logie…" Carlos began, but was cut off as Logan continued.

"No, don't Logie, me." Logan snapped, copying Carlos' pitiful whine, "I'm going out and I do not want you following me. I'm sick of hanging out with you. I'm sick of seeing your face. I'm sick of being your friend."

With that, Logan stomped past his shock-stricken friend, hands stuffed in his pockets and book tucked tightly under his arm. Carlos stared straight ahead, not believing what Logan had just said to him. Logan had always been the best of all of them at keeping his anger controlled. He had never been one to say mean things to someone, even when they really deserved it. Carlos was so shocked; he didn't even notice the tears that were streaming down the sides of his face.

I'm really sorry for updating so late – but at least this chapter wasn't too boring. Things are starting to pick up and the chapters are hopefully going to be written a lot quicker. If not, you can blame my brother, who seems to find it impossible to function without a computer in front of him all day, every day.

Thanks for sticking around and putting up with my slow updates, it means a lot! Please leave me a review if you liked it, or thought it sucked, whichever!

Love you guys, muy, muy, muchos!

– Carnie.