Chapter 22

Shane Anderson was an interesting guy. He was born September 3rd, 1993 (9/3/93) in the small Utah town of Maple Grove, zip code 84101. His mom was named Cynthia, and was currently 29 years old when she gave birth to her first child, Shane. Shane was larger than 93% of the average boy baby when he was born, weighing 10 pounds and measuring 19 inches. His parents raised him well, and made him a successful and polite young child.

When Shane was 6 years old, his baby brother was born. Luke Anderson. He was a small baby, and grew up to be shorter than the average boy his age. Shane loved his little brother, and never once hurt him. Well, maybe some small slap fights, but never anything real or serious. Luke loved his big brother, too, and looked up to him and admired him

When Shane was 14, his dad had been diagnosed with cancer. It was a hard time for all of them, especially for Shane. He and his dad had the closest relationship a father and son could. They went fishing every Saturday in Salt Lake City, rode a motorcycle around town every Wednesday night, watched the Monday night baseball game, the Tuesday night football game, rode their bikes for hours on end on Friday, went out to eat every Thursday night, and just had a great time together. Shane loved his dad, and his dad loved him back.

But when Shane's father, Daniel Anderson, was diagnosed, he changed. They no longer had the fun nights together, or the fishing trips, or anything. Daniel was too sick to do anything, and sometimes would snap at them. Daniel was under so much pressure and so much stress, he never really had a nice conversation with them anymore. He either yelled at them or ignored them completely. Finally, it all got too much for Daniel.

He went out one night to buy some cigarettes and some wine. He drank all the wine in minutes, and smoked all the cigarettes afterwards. On the car ride home, he was a drunk man. He decided that maybe crashing into a tree or another car would be fun, because it'd end all his troubles and stress.

But before he could crash into a tree, he crashed into a car. The person in that car died in an instant, and Shane's dad died, too. But the thing was, the guy in the car was the most popular kid in Shane's high school. Everyone blamed him for the death of one of their most beloved man. Kids pushed him around, and called him horrible names. Shane wasn't that popular, but he had a considerable amount of friends.

But right after the accident, all his friends turned on him and never talked to him again. Shane didn't know what to do, but was relieved when his mother had finally gotten a job in L.A. He tried out for a boy band, and made it in.

From then on, Shane knew that he hated what caused his father to die. He hated things and people who caused others to suffer and be in pain. He was bullied, and he never wanted to have those experiences again. So when he met Carlos, and knew he was the cause of Logan's pain, everything inside of him just broke. He hated Carlos, not for who he was, but for what he did. He hated Carlos because what he had done was horrible, and there was no turning back.

Shane had his life to prove it.

Line line line

For the next few days, Logan and Carlos were the best of friends again. They texted each other, talked to each other in person, and became closer. Carlos visited Logan every single day in the hospital, and usually stayed for 4 hours minimum. It became a habit. Right after rehearsal every day, Carlos drove to the hospital and hung out with Logan and talked about Shane and other stupid things like that.

Finally, Logan was let out of the hospital. The doctors said he had to take it easy for a few weeks before he could do anything. And the worst part was that it could come back. Logan could have rabies again, and the cycle would start all over again.

Carlos didn't think about that. He just saw the happiness in the fact that Logan was coming back home. Finally.

And now, Logan could help Carlos get rid of /Shane. Needless to say, Carlos was a happy boy at this moment.

James and Kendall were excited that Logan were coming home. Carlos couldn't help thinking that maybe they weren't that excited. After all, Shane had to leave the band now, right? And they weren't the ones who visited Logan in the hospital when he got better.

James and Kendall didn't know Logan. They didn't know the Logan now, only the horrible one from before.

"Logan. You're back." James stated flatly, as if he didn't even care. "It's different without you here." But was it a good different, or a bad different?

"Yeah, man, we're really happy." Kendall grinned, but anyone could see that he was planning to go somewhere else.

Logan felt hurt. His best friends since kindergarten didn't even seem to care about him right now. He'd just gotten out of the hospital, and they weren't even hugging him or crying or anything. Maybe they were done with him. Maybe they would never forgive him. He felt tears fill his eyes. Was he worth nothing now to these two guys?

Carlos saw this and glared at Kendall. "You guys don't really seem to care that Logie's back." Carlos stated bluntly.

James widened his eyes. Carlos never spoke to them like that before. He sounded mean and angry, and that was really rare of him. James and Kendall had to admit that they weren't the happiest of souls right now. Shane was leaving now that Logan was back. They didn't think they wanted that to happen.

"Shane has to leave now, right? So you'll have to spend more time with Logan now." Carlos pointed out happily. But he wasn't expecting what Kendall said next.

"No, Carlos. We're keeping Shane. But Logan's out of the band." He said. It felt like someone had dropped a bomb on Logan. Was he really that bad? He was so useless that Kendall and James didn't even want him anymore.

"What? But…. Logan's our friend." Carlos begged desperately. "We have to let him stay in the band." Kendall shook his head slightly. Shane needed this job. He had to support his brother and his mom. They couldn't just kick him out. He was helping someone in need. Shane needed them, and Kendall wasn't about to let him down. Shane was so nice, such a great guy. Kendall couldn't bear to break his heart.

James shook his head, too. "Carlos, remember what Logan did to you? To us? Shane would never do that to us, buddy. But Logan may do it again. You never know. We just can't trust him right now, Carlos." He couldn't get over the fact that Logan had called him ugly. It wasn't the fact that he cared if he was pretty or not, it was the fact that Logan said it to him. Logan was always nice, always patient. Was being the key word. But James couldn't forgive Logan. The scars Logan had given him were still healing.

Carlos shook his head. "No, no, no." He cried, tears filling his eyes. He couldn't live with Shane anymore, and he needed Logan back. "If he's out, then I am too!" He added. He wasn't really aware of what he'd said until it had come out of his mouth. But even then, he was sure of it. If Logan wasn't in the band, he wasn't, either.

Kendall sighed. "Carlos, why don't you understand? We can't have Logan back. He's gonna hurt us again!"

"No he's not! He's all better now! You guys never even took the time to visit him. He's back to normal, guys, and you don't even care! Shane's stupid, and he's just putting on an act for you two! And you're falling for it!" Carlos cried, his voice getting higher and louder.

James rolled his eyes. "Alright, if you're so sure of yourself, then go. Get out. We don't need you orLogan anyways. No one needs you, Carlos. And no one needs Logan, either."

Carlos stared in shock at James and Kendall. The two who he'd thought would stick with him forever. Hurt filled him, and he didn't know what to do anymore. His best friends were betraying Logan and him, and they were giving up on them. They were kicking bothof them out.

Surprisingly, Logan suddenly stood up. "Fine. If you're gonna be stupid, we're both fine with that. Ask him. Ask Shane if he's hurting Carlos or not. Because I'm sure he is. We'll just be leaving now, jerks." He grabbed Carlos's hand, and the two walked out of the parked car and into Apartment 2J.

"Logan, why are Kendall and James so d-different?" Carlos sobbed into Logan shoulders. Logan patted his back.

"I don't know, buddy. I don't know." When Carlos lifted his head up, fresh tears still in his eyes, he found that he didn't know, either. But he knew that as long as Logan was there, he'd be okay. He still had someone.

Logan found his face wet in a minute, too. What they said had hurt him. All he had looked forward to in his tedious time at the hospital was Kendall and James's visits. But they never came. And then, when Logan was going home, they didn't even care. They didn't even say "Welcome back" or anything. No party, no nothing. Not even any love.

"Logie, don't cry." Carlos tried to comfort Logan, but it was no use. Logan sobbed and sobbed into Carlos's shirt, the couch, in his shirt, everywhere. Two of his best friends hated him, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"They're g-gonna g-get better." Logan sobbed through his tears. "They have to get better!" He cried loudly. Carlos looked taken aback at Logan's loudness and his tears. Logan wasn't really one to cry over things like this. Well, maybe he was. But Carlos had never seen Logan cry this hard over anything.

"We'll get them to know that Shane's a stupid jerk, Logie. I promise. We can work together, right?" Logan smiled slightly at the innocent tone in Carlos's voice. It gave him hope. Everything could work out again.

"You know what, buddy? You're right. We can do this it we stick together." Logan put his hand out, and Carlos quickly added his hand to the meager pile.

"So now what?" Logan asked after he'd finally calmed down. He wiped his eyes with his fingers, and sniffled twice.

Carlos shrugged. "I don't know." He admitted softly.

Logan grinned. "None of us know yet, Carlos. But I'm sure we'll think of something. But right now, you wanna go out to eat?"

Carlos smiled. "As a celebration for you?" Logan nodded hesitantly. Honestly, he wanted someoneto be happy about his return.

"Yeah, it can be for the both of us." Logan said.

"I'd like that idea." Carlos answered.

Then, the two walked out of the building, into the empty car, and started driving toward somewhere same. Somewhere where they could finally forget about their troubles.

A/N- Wow… almost 2,000 words! That's a record for me… but probably not a lot for some of you out there… ;)

And I hope this chapter wasn't too crappy, cuz I'm not sure if it was that good… but can you believe James and Kendall right now? Kicking poor Logan and Carlos out of the band? I'm a jerk, yes. But you all know you love the angst, right? ;) I love it too, so I guess we're on the same book here! ;)

Peace, Love, and Giraffes,

Anonymous Skrtle