Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the long update wait! My laptop got a virus and the only computer available was my grandfather's, but I didn't get the chance to be on it long enough to write. Then, a family issue came up. So, of course, I had a major setback and then had to update Dangerous To Know first! Hopefully this chapter makes up for that, though!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with BTR or the show. I only own the plot, Winter, Monroe, Ali, and any other OC's in the story.

So, here's Chapter 15! Enjoy!

Chapter 15

Kendall paced angrily back and forth in front of the bed where Winter was currently sleeping. Every so often he would stop for a few seconds to look upon Winter's sleeping firm. It was a slight relief for Kendall to finally be in the presence of Winter without her yelling or glaring at him over something he'd heard her bitch and moan about hundreds of times already.

Kendall's eyes slowly moved over Winter's figure taking every detail of her in that the moonlight allowed him to see. She was laying on her back on top of the comforter with one hand on her stomach and the other laying at her side. The hand on her stomach had caused her shirt to ride up revealing a small amount of her perfectly tanned skin of her flat stomach. Kendall watched intently as her stomach slowly moved up and down. Winter's breathing was labored at the moment and she was sleeping peacefully.

When Kendall's eyes landed on her neck his fists instinctively cleched at his sides. Winter's neck still showed signs of her having almost been strangled to death. The hand print on Winter's neck were a reminder to Kendall that the events from earlier had indeed happened. The events from earlier had his blood boiling within him. He could feel his anger rushing through him like a drug.

A quiet knock at the door stole Kendall's attention away from Winter. Glancing one last time at Winter's sleeping form Kendall turned and made his way to the door. He twisted the knob and opened the door walking out quietly and shutting it behind him.

"We went to check the alley like you said," James informed him putting his hands in his pockets.

"Was he still where I left him?" Kendall asked as he looked from James to Logan to Carlos and then back to James.

All three boys shook their heads.

"He was long gone," Logan answered keeping his eyes on the ground.

"There wasn't any sign of anyone ever being there in thr first place," Carlos told him following Logan's lead and refusing to make eye contact with Kendall.

Kendall raised an eyebrow and a scowl formed on his face. "There was no blood?" he asked with anger and disappointment in his voice.

"None at all," Carlos answered mimicking Kendall's tone of voice.

"He must've wiped it clean," Logan said still trying to figure out how he could've done it.

"Keep an eye out for him just in case he decides to come after Winter again," Kendall ordered sternly.

"Will do, boss," James, Logan, and Carlos all assured him.

Just then a scream tore it's way through the mansion. The scream had come from behind the door leading to the guest room where Winter was staying. Without thinking, Kendall instantly turned and burst through the guest bedroom door.

~BTR~

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Winter exclaimed as she ran down a deserted alley.

Something or someone was chasing her and no matter how close she got to the other end of the alley it only seemed to grow longer and longer. She could hear the sound of loud, shuffling footsteps behind her. The faster she ran the louder and closer the footsteps got to her.

Suddenly, Winter felt herself run into a hard surface. Looking up she realized that she had hit a brick wall. The brick wall had appeared out of nowhere because it wasn't there seconds before. Winter realized in terror that she had hit a dead end.

An evil laugh filled the air and Winter could feel cold wet tears begin to fall from her eyes and slide down her face. Franctically, Winter began pounding against the brick wall in hopes that maybe it'd disappear, but it didn't. Her efforts proved to not be enough.

The evil laugh grew louder and louder and before Winter could even think about doing anything she felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her mouth to scream, but another hand was instantly slapped over her mouth muffling the sound of her screams.

~BTR~

Winter suddenly woke up with a jolt screaming. Her screaming instantly stopped, though, when she felt an awful stinging sensation in her throat because of what had happened to her earlier at the hands of Drake. Tears were pouring down Winter's face uncontrollably, and she was drenched in a terribly cold sweat.

Winter sat up in the bed just as the door flew open and the lights flickered on to reveal Kendall rushing over to her. Even though Winter was crying and her eyesight was a bit blurry because of the tears, the sight of Kendall caused a small smile to sneak it's way onto her face.

"Are you okay?" Kendall asked in honest concern as he sat down on the bed next to Winter.

Winter nodded even though they both knew it was a lie. "I just had a nightmare," Winter managed to say even though her throat was very much against the action.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Kendall asked softly not wanting Winter to feel like he was pressuring her to tell him about it.

Winter shook her head no right away as her tears came to an abrupt stop. "But, I do wanna talk about..." Winter started, but paused when the pain in her throat grew.

"You wanna talk about what?" Kendall asked raising an eyebrow.

Winter put up one of her fingers up as a way to tell him to wait a second. After the pain in her throat subsided for the moment Winter finished, "...why you're acting like you are."

"What do you mean?" Kendall questioned looking at her with a curious look.

"I mean...you're acting like...you actually care," Winter said quickly finding the pain in her throat to be really annoying.

"Who says I'm acting?" Kendall proposed catching Winter off guard.

Winter looked at him wide eyed. She opened her mouth to say something in return but quickly closed it back. She didn't even know how she should respond to his somewhat of a proposal. Deciding that she'd rather not get into that until she was back to her normal self and had her throughts all together Winter instantly changed the subject.

"Could you get me a glass of water?" Winter asked instead. "And, two advil or tylenol," Winter added after a short moment of silence.

Kendall nodded. "Sure," he replied standing up and making his way to the bedroom door.

Kendall could tell by the fact that Winter quickly changed the subject that she wasn't ready to know the real truth just yet. To be honest, Kendall wasn't too sure himself whether or not he wanted to tell Winter how he really felt about her.

After all, he was a gang leader and he wasn't supposed to feel the things he was feeling. It wasn't in his nature. Plus, he was suppose to be badass and all. If he confessed his true feelings for Winter he would be jeopardizing not only his position as gang leader of the south side of town, but also Winter's safety.

The last thing he needed was for the other gangs in town, whether they be small gangs or big gangs, to know he was falling for a certain girl. He knew enough to know that if that got out, then every single one of those gangs would be gunning for Winter in order to bring Kendall and his own gang down.

"Hey, Kendall," Winter called after him in nothing above a whisper, but still loud enough to get his attention.

"Yeah?" he asked turning to face her.

"I just wanna thank you...for saving me earlier," Winter smiled briefly.

"Anytime," Kendall responded. "Speaking of which who was that guy?" Kendall asked deciding that now would be as good of a time to ask as any other would be.

"His name is Drake Daniels, or as his friends call him D2, or sometime even Double D. He used to be a friend of my brother's," Winter answered looking down at her hands. "I really don't wanna get into it about him right now," Winter said honestly.

"Fair enough. I won't force you to tell me anything you don't want to," Kendall told her before turning back around and walking out of the bedroom closing the door behind him.

Once the door was closed and she was once again alone in the room, Winter slowly and quietly got off of the bed and made her way into the bedroom's adjoining bathroom. Winter took a deep breath and flicked on the bright bathroom light, walking in, and closing the door behind her.

Closing her eyes quickly Winter used her right hand and her left hand fingers to feel around the bathroom counter and manuevered herself until she stood facing the mirror above the sink. Taking another deep breath m Winter braced herself for what she was about to see and slowly opened her eyes.

A gasp tore it's way from Winter's mouth when she finally saw the damage that Drake had left behind. Drake's hand print was as clear as day on her neck. The handprint looked just like Winter felt. Winter shook her head in disbelief turning on the sink faucet and leaning down to splace cold water on her face.

~BTR~

Kendall angrily and determinedly made his way downstairs. The sound of his footsteps on the steps alerted James, Logan, and Carlos that he was coming down and all three of them made their ways into the foyer to find out what Kendall was so angry about.

"What's going on?" James was the first to speak.

"James, Logan I want you two to come with me. Carlos, I want you to stay here and watch over Winter for me," kendall commanded ignoring James' question for the moment.

"Where are we going?" Logan dared to ask even though all three of them knew not to normally ask questions.

"We're going to go find someone," Kendall answered simply without going into detail as he looked at both Logan and James. He then turned to Carlos and said, "Get Winter a glass of water and two advil, and take it up to her."

Carlos nodded in understanding as he turned without a word and made his way to the kitchen.

"So, she told you the guy's name, then?" James asked already knowing the answer.

"We're going to end this before it can even start," Kendall answered the question in his own way. "Get your guns just in case," Kendall ordered.

~BTR~

Winter was in the middle of wiping her face dry when she heard the bedroom door open and then close again. Thinking it was probably just Kendall Winter didn't say anything and instead just continued wiping of her face and periodically looking into the mirror at herself in disgust.

"Winter!" a voice that was definitely not Kendall's called out.

Winter quickly folded the hand towel she was holding and placed it on the bathroom counter. Turning off the light, Winter put her hand on the door knob, twisted it, and then pulled it open. Silently, Winter made her way back into the bedroom and walked over to the bed sitting down on it.

"Where's Kendall?" Winter asked looking up to find Carlos standing there.

"He had some business to go take care of," Carlos answered holding out the glass of water and two advil.

Winter took the advil and put them in her mouth and then drank them down with the water. Once she was finished with the water she placed the glass onto the bedside table. Then, she turned her full attention back to Carlos.

"He went to find Drake, didn't he?" Winter asked knowing the answer before the question even left her mouth.

Carlos nodded. "He's really angry about what happened earlier," Carlos informed her.

Winter shook her head and sighed. "I figured he would be," she said quietly looking down at her hands and playing with the white gauze wrapped around her hand.

"You know Kendall really does care about you," Carlos told Winter before he could stop himself.

Winter suddenly ceased her movements with her hands and looked up at Carlos. "I'm sorry, what exactly are you saying?" Winter asked not sure if she was hearing correctly or if her ears were just playing a cruel trick on her.

"I see the way he looks at you," Carlos answered deciding that he'd already brought up the conversation, so continuing it couldn't be any worse.

"The way he looks at me?" Winter said questioningly.

Carlos nodded. "He looks at you like he's never looked at any other girl. You're different than all the others he's been with. He truly does care about you," Carlos explained not being able to stop himself now that he'd started talking.

When Winter didn't respond for some time Carlos decided that maybe he had said too much too soon. "Oh, I've said too much. I'm just going to go downstairs and leave you alone. Call me if you need anything else," Carlos said before turning and leaving the room.

Winter sat there wide eyed and speechless after Carlos left. Winter couldn't even begin to believe what she had just heard. Even more than that she couldn't believe that she had heard it all from someone other than Kendall. But, hearing it from someone other than him did make it seem like it could truly be true. So, now the question was...was it really the truth?

So, there y'all go! What do you all think?

Please review! I'm looking forward to reading what everyone thinks!

I except both ANONYMOUS and SIGNED reviews, so any and everyone feel free to review!