A/N: and here we have the James Angst chapter. This one takes place around the same time as Logan's did, just so you know. Hope you guys like it :D

Chapter Three: James

"Ten seconds on the clock, Diamond has the puck, he shoots…" James pulled his hockey stick back and hit the tennis ball with it, sending the ball flying into the trashcan he had been using as a goal for his one man hockey game. "He scores!" James shot his fists up in the air, cheering for his goal and wobbled on his roller skates until he fell backwards on his butt. With a sigh the eight year old boy pushed himself back to his feet and skated down his driveway and to his house. He opened the front door and stuck his head inside. "Mommy, when's daddy going to home play with me?" he asked his mother, who was sitting on their couch, a cup of tea in her hands. She must have not heard him, for she didn't say anything. She just continued to stare at the cup in her hands.

James bit his lip. For the past couple of weeks, his parents had been acting weird around him. They rarely wanted to take him out anywhere, his mom always seemed sad, and his father seemed to be doing nothing but work all the time. James didn't like when his mommy was sad. He also didn't like it when his daddy worked all the time; they never had any time to play together. With a sigh, James skated inside his house, even though it was clearly against the rules for him to skate inside, and he rolled on the wooden floor up to his mother. "Mom!"

Brooke Diamond jumped and placed a hand over her chest. "Oh James. You startled me." she turned to her son and frowned. "Why are you skating in the house? You know you're not allowed to."

"But I was talking to you and you didn't hear me." James said.

"I'm sorry honey." Brooke told her son. "What did you ask me?"

"I said," James paused to take his helmet off. "When's dad gonna come play hockey with me?"

"I'm not sure, why don't you go into his study and ask him." Brooke suggested. James smiled and turned around to skate off to his dad's study. "Hey!" Brooke called after him and James whirled around. "Skates." was all she said and James dropped to the floor, pulling his roller skates off of his feet. He then resumed his quest to his dad's study.

Making sure to knock before he pushed open the door, James walked inside to see his dad sitting at his desk, his phone to his ear. When he noticed James standing in the doorway, he quickly said goodbye to whoever he was talking to and he hung up the phone. "What's up Jay?" he said, rolling his shoulders back to relax himself.

"Can you come play hockey with me?" James asked, walking over to his dad's desk and leaning against it.

"Yeah, I was just about to head on out there." Brian Diamond said to his son.

"Yay!" James cheered, jumping up and down.

Brian smiled and ruffled his son's hair. "Jay, I have something for you." he said.

"You do?" James asked, smiling wider. He loved getting presents.

"Yes, and it's very special." Brian unclasped the necklace from around his neck and placed it in James's hand. The brunette boy's eyes widened. This necklace was his dad's favorite thing in the world. James examined it carefully. He had seen his dad wear it all the time. It was a gold chair with a charm at the end which was a triangle with an eyeball in it. It was the same symbol that was on the dollar bill. James remembered his dad describing it as the all seeing eye.

"You're giving this to me?" James asked softly.

Brian nodded. "I think you're old enough to have it now. Do you remember the story I told you about it?" James shook his head no. "Well this necklace was passed down to me from my father, who it was given to from his father. It's very old and it means a lot to our family." Brian pointed to the eye. "This is called the all seeing eye. It represents God watching over humankind, but when you wear it, it means that I'll always be watching over you."

James smiled and hugged the necklace to his chest. "I promise I'll take good care of it daddy." he swore. "I'm gonna go put it up in my room so I don't break it when we play hockey." he turned to leave but his dad grabbed his arm and pulled him into a quick hug.

"I love you Jay." he said softly.

"I love you too daddy." when his father released him, James ran out of his study and back into the living room where his mom was. "Mom, look what daddy gave me." he showed his mother the necklace.

Brooke smiled. "That's great honey." she bent down to give him a hug, similar to the one his dad had given to him only seconds ago. James was a bit confused but hugged his mother back regardless. "I love you James." Brooke said in his ear.

James pulled back and kissed his mom's cheek. "I love you too ma." he said. "I'm gonna go put daddy's necklace in my room." Brooke nodded and James's tiny form retreated up to his room. When he was out of view, Brooke covered her face with her hands and silently wept.

After James was sure his necklace was secure on his nightstand, he started back downstairs. "Dad, are you ready to play?" he called to his father as he walked downstairs.

Brian left his study and walked up to him. "Yeah bud but could you do me a favor first?" he asked.

James shrugged. "Sure, what?"

He handed James some money. "Could you run to the corner store to get some milk?" he asked.

James raised an eyebrow. "By myself?" he asked, skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"You go to that store all the time." Brian said. "You even go by yourself sometimes. It shouldn't be that big a deal."

James smiled. "Ok daddy." he pocketed the money and ran out of the house, calling goodbye over his shoulder.

Brian watched his son sadly. "Bye James," he whispered when the door shut.

Brooke walked down the steps and into the living room, carrying their suitcases. Mascara was running down her cheeks. "Is he gone?" she asked.

Brian nodded and took his suitcase from her. "Let's hurry before he gets back." he told him and the two of them walked out of their house, and out of James's life forever.

James pushed open the front door to his house and walked back inside. "Mom, dad, I'm home!" he called out. His voice echoed throughout the house and he looked around to see that his house looked surprisingly empty. "Mom? Dad?" he put down the grocery bag and walked around the downstairs of his house. His parents were no where to be seen. Re-entering the living room, he saw that his dad's car keys weren't hanging on the hook like they were when he left. Feeling confused, he ran over to the window and looked out to see that his parent's car wasn't in the driveway.

James was getting worried. Why weren't his parents here? How could they leave while he was gone? He picked up the phone to call them but both of their phones went straight to voicemail. His breath was starting to come out uneven. Where were his parents?

He dropped the phone and ran upstairs to their bedroom. His parents bed was made and the room looked eerily clean. James was confused and ran over to his mother's closet, pulling it open only to be greeted by emptiness. The same with his father's closet, and their drawers… even their suitcases were gone…

Realization hit James harder than anything ever hit him before and he honestly felt the wind being knocked out of him. "No." James whispered, shaking his head. It couldn't be true. His parents would leave him- they loved him! "No!" James ran from his parents room and back downstairs. His sneakers hitting against the wood were loud and just reminding him that he was truly alone in his house. "Mommy! Daddy!" he shouted, hoping that they would answer him. But when he got no reply, he just started feeling more and more distressed. "Mommy! Daddy!" James pushed open the front door and ran outside. "Mommy, daddy!" he screamed, running around his house. Tears started to fall down his cheeks as he continued to scream for his parents. He must have done at least ten laps around his house, to the end of his driveway, even down the street. When night finally came, sat down on his front step, exhausted and holding his head as he cried. How could his parents just leave him?

He heard footsteps and his head immediately shot up, thinking it was his parents. But it was only a man he had never seen before. The man knelt down to his level. "Are you ok, little boy?"

James sniffled. "I can't find my parents." he whimpered, new tears spilling out of his eyes. The man looked sad and he ran a tender hand through James's hair. "I- I just came home and they weren't here." James continued to explain, fighting to sound coherent through his tears. "I-I think they left me."

The man sighed. "Can I tell you something kid?" he asked. James nodded his head and wiped his eyes. "I don't think your parents are coming back." he said gently.

James' eyes widened. "Wh-why would you say that?" he demanded. "You don't know anything, my mommy and daddy love me- they wouldn't just leave me!"

"Your parents did love you, but they had to go away for a little while." the man explained calmly. "You have to believe me-"

"I don't even know you!" James insisted.

"I know but I'm a friend of your dads." the man said. James froze and looked at him curiously. "So you can trust me. Let me take you somewhere they can take care of you until your parents come back for you."

James sniffled and after a few moments of consideration, he whispered, "Ok." he let the man take his hand and walk him to his car to take him to the place he was talking about. "They didn't even say goodbye." James whispered softly to himself as they drove away.

The man brought James to a placed called St. Vincent's. Since James had lived in New York for his entire life, he recognized the place before. He remembered one of his friends told him that it was something called a group home. James didn't really know what a group home is but when he got there, he realized that a lot of kids stayed there. "Do all these kids live here?" James asked the man, who's name ended up being Mr. Griffin. He told him that, along with how he knew his father on the car ride over here. He answered any and all of James's questions except for where his parents went. All he could tell him was that he knew his parents left, but he wouldn't say where; he claimed he didn't know that. James wasn't satisfied with his answer but Mr. Griffin proved to be someone he could trust.

"Yeah, all of them don't have parents to take care of them." Mr. Griffin explained.

James frowned. "Like me." he said sadly, and his eyes started to fill up with tears.

Mr. Griffin knelt down ant his level and put two hands on his shoulders. "It's going to be ok James." he told him. "You're really going to like it here. These people are going to take real good care of you and you're going to make all kinds of friends. Then one day, when your mom and dad come back from their…vacation, they're going to take you back home."

James wiped his eyes and nodded. Before he could respond, two boys who looked about his age ran up to him. "Are you the new kid?" the Latino boy asked. James nodded slowly. "Hi!" he waved to him happily. "I'm Carlos and this is Logan. We live here too."

"You're gonna like it here." Logan smiled. "It's really cool here!"

"And the three of us are gonna be bestest friends!" Carlos added.

James gave a small smile. But even though Mr. Griffin's and Carlos' and Logan's words were reassuring, he still couldn't ignore the feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him his parents weren't going to come back.

A/N: poor James ): only one more BTR boy to go! Thanks so much for all the feedback I've been getting. I love you guys :D