Standing in the Dark - Chapter Eleven
"Carlos! Wait up!"
The short boy turned around and stuck his tongue out at his three best friends who trailed behind him, out of breath and shivering from the cold. James glared at him and Carlos rolled his eyes. He should have known that his friends would have trouble keeping up.
"Where on earth are we going anyway, 'litos?" Logan whined, trudging up the hill as his stamina slowly drained out. He had used up most of his energy in hockey practice earlier that day and he just really wanted to go home. It was too cold outside for early evening adventures. "I'm tired and cold and I just want to go home."
Carlos paused at the top of the hill and looked back at his friends who were still making their way up towards him. "I found this really cool thing yesterday after practice, on my way home, and I want to show you guys!"
Logan groaned and Kendall and James couldn't help but chuckle at how excited Carlos looked. He was smiling brightly and bouncing up and down with enthusiasm. "Carlos stop bouncing, it's exhausting and you look like a little kid."
Carlos glared at Logan, putting his hands on his hips as his friends finally caught up to him, "I am a little kid, Logie. I'm nine years old!"
"Yeah, but you're almost in the double digits and you need to start acting like a grown up." Logan argued, ignoring James as the boy cleared is throat in attempt to get the attention of the two boys.
"You just want to rub in that you guys are in the double digits and I'm not!" Carlos argued back crossly, sticking his tongue out again in Logan's direction. James' cleared his throat again but the boys ignored it.
"There you go! Acting like a child and sticking your tongue out!" Logan pointed at Carlos' pink tongue, flinching back when the Latino snapped at his finger playfully. This time, Kendall and James cleared their throats at the same time and Carlos and Logan turned around to glare at them.
"Let's just go. I want you guys to see it." Carlos turned away from Logan who still looked slightly annoyed as he ran down the other side of the hill and towards the forest of trees behind their neighborhoods.
"Carlos, wait up! We aren't supposed to go in there!" Kendall called after him as the other three boys followed in pursuit. Even though the boys were tired and cold, they were fast and caught up to Carlos quickly. They ran a few meters into the forest until Carlos stopped abruptly and the three of them almost plowed into the back of their short friend.
"Look." Carlos breathed and his three best friends followed his gaze a few more feet into the forest.
Large rocks and boulders littered the forest floor as the grass dipped down into the shallow water of a creek. Water swarmed around the boulders that were covered in moss, algae, and fallen leaves. The creek made the softest hum as it traveled past their feet and deeper into the forest. Logan jumped a little as a frog jumped out of the water and onto the largest boulder, making a loud croak as it did so. Carlos' eyes sparkled as he watched the water and turned to his three friends to smile at them, proud of what a beautiful thing he found.
"How did you find this?" James asked, looking away from the creek and at his shorter friend. The boys had been told specifically not to go into the forest and Carlos wasn't one to really break the rules. Not at age nine anyway.
"I was walking home and I saw a rabbit and I chased it into the woods. It jumped across the creek but I stopped because I thought it was pretty." Carlos explained weakly, earning an unimpressed look from Logan. He knew Carlos was only nine and not the best at wording things, but it kind of irked him when people didn't explain things to the full extent.
Kendall smirked and walked up to the nearest tree, pulling his pocketknife out of his pocket. Mr. Knight gave Kendall the pocketknife before he died and Kendall had made a promise to use it responsibly and had it on him at all times. He wouldn't say it out loud, but it comforted him. The pocketknife was important to his dad, so it felt like he always had his father with him.
Pulling out the blade, he stripped a section of bark from the side and let it fall into the grass below. He brought the tip of the knife to the exposed sapwood. The other three boys watched him curiously until he stepped back to admire the words he had carved into the tree.
"Property of the Brothers of the Ice – Kendall Knight, James Diamond, Carlos Garcia, and Logan Mitchell." James read aloud, smiling as he finished. Nodding his approval, James stepped towards the tree and put his hand on the carving. As if silently speaking to each other, which they probably were, the other three boys did the same.
"For as long as we live, we will always be best friends. Nothing will ever come between us, even when we are grown up and have families and jobs and live thousands of miles away. We'll be together forever. Promise?" Kendall said in a completely serious tone.
James, Logan, and Carlos smiled at him and nodded, speaking in unison as they replied, "We promise."
"Me too." Kendall let his hand fall from the tree as he swung his arm over Carlos and James' shoulders. "Now who wants to eat dinner at my house? My mom is making Dinosaur Chicken!"
Carlos jolted awake, ten-year-old Kendall's voice still ringing in his ears as he blinked the sleep away from his eyes. His blue blanket slipped from his shoulders as he sat up and the Latino's heart sped up as soon as he realized he wasn't in Apartment 2J or Camille's apartment either. Glancing around the strange, unfamiliar apartment with wide eyes, Carlos' head snapped in the direction of the hallway to his left as he heard footsteps coming his way.
"Hey, you're awake!" Carlos watched as a tall man with semi curly, dirty blonde hair emerged from the hallway and smiled at him. Then it clicked.
He was in Bradley's apartment. Safe and sound on the older man's couch – out of reach of his monsters. Relief washed over him and Carlos sighed, bringing a hand to his face to rub at his forehead. It wasn't like he had a headache, but the feeling of heartache and nostalgia from his dream was making him feel like he was about to throw up.
"Hey, are you okay?" Bradley's tone went from cheery to worried as soon as he saw Carlos' distressed form. He sat down beside the Latino on the couch, resting a hand on his back and rubbing circles. Carlos felt a pang of sadness when he remembered just how James used to do that when he was sad or something was bothering him.
"Yeah… just a bad dream." Carlos did his best to hide his watering eyes from Bradley's worried ones, feeling relieved when the man didn't press.
"Well, I know just the thing to cheer you up, Carlos." Bradley leapt up from the couch as he spoke, smiling down at the Latino with a bright smile. He reminded Carlos of himself – before all the bad things happened, anyway.
Pulling the rest of the blanket off his body, Carlos noticed his washed and dried clothes on the coffee table, folded nicely into a neat pile. He picked up the clothes and glanced up at Bradley with a questioning look, "What thing?"
"Just get dressed and I'll show you. I need to be at work in an hour so hurry up!" Bradley made his way back down the hallway to his bedroom, where Carlos assumed he would be changing into his work clothes.
Since there was nobody in the living room but himself, he decided to change in there. Although the clothes Nate gave him were comfortable, he felt a lot better in his own attire. Thinking back to how cheery and utterly gay Bradley sounded before he disappeared into his bedroom, Carlos chuckled. He knew Bradley was trying to cheer him up, and frankly, it was working.
As soon as Carlos was dressed, he folded up the couch and the blanket, setting the blue fabric on one of the cushions with his pillow on top of it. As soon as he was done cleaning up after himself, he heard Bradley open the door of his bedroom and head back towards him.
"Ready?" The blonde asked as he picked his car keys off of the counter and headed towards the front door.
The Latino couldn't help but notice how cute Bradley looked in his uniform. It was basically what Nate had given Carlos to wear, but Bradley looked good in it. Really good.
Carlos smiled and scurried after him, "Ready."
"The coffee shop?" Carlos asked with a confused tone as the blonde pulled up in front of the shop. He glanced over at Bradley and the older man chuckled, turning off his car and climbing out of his seat. Carlos shrugged and did the same, following his new friend as they entered the shop.
As usual, the smell of brewing coffee hit Carlos' nostrils like a brick wall, but he didn't mind. It was actually kind of comforting. Following Bradley to the counter where a familiar form was bent over, fiddling with a coffee maker. "Hey, Nate."
Nate jerked up in surprise, obviously not have noticed the arrival of the two men. He recovered quickly and glared at Bradley as the blonde laughed, going back to messing with the machine in his hands.
"I'm going to show Carlos upstairs. If you need any help, just holler."
Nate waved him away, never taking his eyes off the machine, as Bradley motioned for Carlos to follow him. Pushing through one of the doors behind Nate, Carlos followed the blonde into a dimly lit hallway. The only light was coming from the shop and the stairs up ahead. There were a few doors in the hallway that read things like storage room, laundry room, and employee bathroom, but Carlos barely paid attention to them as the two men climbed up the stairs.
Bradley waited for him at the top before pulling a key out of his pocket and shoving the rigid edge into the lock. Fiddling with the lock as though it was slightly broken, Bradley bit his lip in adorable concentration before hearing a satisfying click and pushing the door open.
Peering into the room, Carlos immediately noticed the layers of dust that covered the walls. The room was mostly empty except for a table or two and a stack of curtains that Carlos assumed used to cover the windows in the coffee shop. Pushing past the blonde, Carlos walked into the room and glanced down when he heard a creak. The floorboards looked very dust and a little old, but sturdy nonetheless.
Taking a few more steps until he was standing in the middle of the room, Carlos let his eyes scan over the interior. There was a row of windows mimicking those downstairs and it looked pretty much the same as the coffee shop, except for the fact that the shop was actually taken care of. It looked like nobody had stepped a foot in here in months or years even.
"What is this place?" Carlos asked after admiring the room, letting his gaze fall on the man who stood in the doorway, smiling at the younger boy.
"Before the owner of the coffee shop rented out the building, it was some fancy restaurant that overlooked the city, hence the windows. But the place went bankrupt and Tony started up his own coffee shop. He was originally going to make it a two story, but he never got around to it. I asked him if we were every going to use it and he said no." Bradley explained, stepping inside the dusty room and looking around just as Carlos had. "I called him last night and told him I found someone who might be interested in the space up here."
Carlos tilted his head to the side curiously until he realized that the blonde was talking about him. "What could I possibly do with an empty loft?"
Bradley chuckled and crossed his arms, leaning against the wall and ignoring the dust that stuck to his clothes. "I figured since your band is no more, you would need a job. Camille told me you loved photography almost as much as singing and dancing, maybe even more."
The Latino stared at Bradley wide-eyed. "So…?"
"You can use this place as a studio." Bradley answered Carlos' silent question, watching as the younger boy registered his words.
As soon as Carlos realized what Bradley said, his face lit up in a bright smile. He didn't know why the idea sounded so exciting but he couldn't help but bounce up and down just like he had that day when he was nine back in Minnesota, ready to show his friends what would soon be their special place.
"I can have my own studio?" Carlos breathed, heart racing with excitement.
Bradley nodded and stood up straight, stepping forward until he stood in front of Carlos with a gentle smile on his face. "I figured you would want something to get your mind off of what happened."
The blonde took a hesitant step closer to Carlos, their faces only a few inches apart. Carlos felt his cheeks grow hot as he blushed, his smile never leaving his face. The taller man blinked, brown eyes glistening as he rested his hands gently on Carlos hips, pulling him slightly closer.
The Latino felt his heart speed up once more as Bradley leaned forward, closing his eyes as the blonde did so as his lips got closer and closer.
"Ahem."
Carlos opened his eyes in time to see Bradley bite his lip and glance at him in silent apology before standing up straight and turning around to face whoever cleared their throat.
Nate was standing in the doorway, and apologetic and nervous look on his face, breathing hard as though he had ran up the stairs. The two men raised their eyebrows in suspicion as they waited for Nate to catch his breath and speak.
"'m sorry to interrupt you guys 'n you can get back to uh… whaterr' you was doing but you have to see this." Nate's voice sounded distressed and his voice cracked on the last few words. Bradley and Carlos exchanged a confused look before following Nate's retreating form down the stairs.
"I know that you are having a lot better day than you was having yesterday, but I really think you need to be seeing this, Carlos." Nate glanced over his shoulder at the Latino with a worried and sympathetic look as the trio made their way down the hallway. Carlos felt the pit in his stomach from yesterday return as he expected the worst. Maybe the guys had found him and were in the shop, waiting to take him home and hurt him again. Carlos felt his palms begin to sweat at the thought of the guys finding him and his body shook slightly. He felt Bradley rest his hand on his back comfortingly and Carlos stopped shaking, knowing that nothing bad would happen with Bradley by his side.
As the three of them followed Nate through the door that lead to the shop, Carlos was surprised but relieved to see that the guys were nowhere in sight. He cocked an eyebrow at Nate until the man turned around and leaned against the counter, pointing at the television mounted on the wall.
Bradley and Carlos stood by his side as Nate unmated the television and the instrumental of Elevate rang from the speaker on the side of the television, followed by a video of Kendall, James, and Logan sitting on the couch being interviewed by someone Carlos had never heard of before in his life.
"So, your boss, Arthur Griffin, scheduled this interview because he said you boys wanted to share some very important news." The interviewer said in a way too cheery voice and a fake smile plastered onto her Botox-injected face.
"Yes, Delores. As you can see, there are only three of us here today. That is what we want to talk about and share information about with your fans. " Kendall spoke, smiling cockily as he tilted his head to the side, trying to make himself look adorable like he always did when he was trying to make a good impression or suck up.
Carlos' face fell at Kendall's words. He knew that the happy expression and good attitude was all an act. He knew that whatever Kendall said next would be a lie.
"Our fourth member, Carlos Garcia, has decided to quit Big Time Rush. He never really fit into the band and wasn't particularly interested in singing or dancing – or good at it, really." Kendall continued, pausing to let Logan pick up where he left off.
"We were actually supposed to go on a tour this summer, but Carlos felt as though he needed to take a break. Kendall, James, and myself had no problem with going on tour but Carlos refused. We recently went on hiatus for the summer and Carlos decided he was done with this life so he left." Logan smiled sweetly, faking a sad look when he explained why Carlos had left.
James continued as if the boys had rehearsed this interviews several times before going on air, "We are very sad that he is no longer in the band, but that doesn't mean the end of Big Time Rush. A three person boy band just won't work, so we have decided to hold auditions for a replacement for Carlos."
The interviewer faked a sad look at the news, "Are you sure you want to continue your career without your best friend?"
James shrugged, "He was always a bit distant from us. His departure is a bit of an inconvenience but we want to but our career first. Although he wasn't fit for the famous life, we are still friends behind the scenes."
The interviewer nodded and turned to face the camera, eyes sparkling and glossed lips moving as she spoke, "Auditions for the replacement member for Big Time Rush will be held at Roque Records at three p.m. all next week."
The video cut to commercial and Bradley and Nate turned to look at Carlos, who was staring at the screen in shock.
He couldn't believe that the guys would downright lie about everything on live television. He had most certainly not voluntarily chosen to leave the band. He loved singing and dancing. He would have been the first to jump up at the opportunity to go on tour this summer, but it was Kendall and Logan's idea to go on hiatus.
It was obvious that the entire interview was rehearsed. James never would have used words like "distant", "departure", or "inconvenience". He probably had trouble even pronouncing most of those words.
But what really pissed off Carlos was that James said they were still friends behind the scenes. God knows what he would give to still be friends with those guys.
Carlos looked down at the ground in defeat as Bradley stepped forward and muted the television. He felt the blonde's cold finger slip under his chin and lift up his head, Carlos' eyes watering as they locked with Bradley's.
"Forget about them. Soon they'll be just a distant memory." Bradley assured him and Carlos smiled, blinking away his tears and sniffling. There was no way he was going to cry. Not over people who didn't even deserve to call themselves Carlos' ex-best friends.
"So how about we set up that studio of yours upstairs, huh?" Bradley smiled as Carlos' face lit up at the mention of his own studio. He still couldn't believe that he would soon have his own photography studio.
"How am I supposed to get equipment, though?" Carlos asked, glancing at Bradley and Nate questioningly.
"Leave that ta' me." Nate winked, pointing his thumb at his chest as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed a phone number.
"Come on, Carlos. Let's go clean up all that dust." Bradley motioned for Carlos to follow him and the two fell into step as they made their way down the hallway. Bradley slung his arm over Carlos' shoulders, reminding the Latino of that day back when he was nine-years-old and Kendall did the exact same.
Shaking his head, Carlos cleared his thoughts of Kendall. He didn't need to think about them anymore. Just like Bradley said, they would soon be just a distant memory.
I have seriously been working on this all day. I actually really, really, really like this chapter and I'm so happy to update with it! I'm sorry for not updating in such a long time, but I'm here again. I hope the amount of angst, cuteness, adorableness, and general bradlos fangirling will satisfy your hunger for updates.
I mean what.
Anyway, I hope you guys are still reading this story! I don't want you guys to think that I'm going to abandon this one like I did to all my others. I started this and I'm going to finish it. The next chapter might be a little confusing but you'll understand soon enough. ;)
- Peace out, lovelies! Carnie