.:Chapter Three:.

"Can I go cliff diving with you guys today?" Katie asked, poking at the eggs that were on her plate.

"What happened to wanting to take over Hawaii one island at a time?" Kendall asked with a teasing smile before he lifted his orange juice to his mouth to take a large gulp. "Those were your exact words, weren't they?"

"Yeah," Katie pouted a little. "But the word island is the key word of the whole thing." She sat up straight in her chair, pushing her long hair over her shoulders. "I mean, I figure it'd be easy, but then I have to take into account the money I would have to spend to get sea planes and to take boats or ferries to the other islands."

"And that's a problem?" Logan asked. He was in the living room of their suite, opening the windows so the warm, salty breeze would waft around them.

"Yes, I need to make money, not spend a lot of it," Katie replied. "So, again, can I go cliff diving with you guys?"

"I don't know," James hesitated, crossing his arms over his chest. "I mean, it might be too dangerous for you."

"Being around four teenage boys that are so stupid is dangerous for me," Katie shot back, sticking her tongue out at James. "But come on! I've done so many other dangerous things that you guys wouldn't dream of and I'm perfectly fine."

"Oh yeah?" Kendall's eyes narrowed as he leaned across the table, staring hard at his sister. Worry and protectiveness was evident in his face, though his tone held a massive amount of suspicion. "Like what? I'm guessing that more than half of it is illegal since you're so young."

"Poor Kendall," Katie reached out and patted his hand. "Poor, sweet, naïve, Kendall." She slowly smiled. "You don't have to worry about things being illegal if you have the money for it. And I've had the money for it since I was, like, five."

"That's true," Logan snorted as he walked back over to the table and sat down in an empty chair, resting the heels of his feet on top and leaning back in his chair. "Remember that time that she tricked us out of our Christmas money because she said that she was going to invest it in a needy kid's future?"

"I was a kid, I was needy, and it was invested in my future," Katie smirked. She then clasped her hands together. "Please can I go with you? Mom and Ronan are going into town again and I'm tired of being by myself in the suite. I never get to do anything fun."

"Why not?" Kendall shrugged. "It's not like we're not going to watch her and I don't think leaving her here by herself is a good idea. She might run up the hotel bill." He thought for a moment. "You can go just as long as you don't try to swindle us out of any money, have any hair brained schemes to trick anyone else, and if you listen to what I say." He held out his hand. "Deal?"

"Yes!" Katie punched the air with her fists. "Deal!" She leaned forward and grabbed Kendall's hand. "You're the best big brother, ever!"

"Yeah, yeah, just go and get ready, we're going to meet the Jacksons soon." Kendall got up from his seat and took his dishes to the sink. He laid them down into the sink and ran the water until they were covered before turning the water off. "Someone remind me to clear these before Mom gets back."

"No problem." Logan pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through a list that he had made up. "So we're going cliff diving today and then sight-seeing tomorrow." He closed his phone and smiled. "That'll give us just enough time to get some work done on our songwriting or what we want our image to look like on our next CD."

"As much fun as that usually is," James raised his right eyebrow. "Why would I waste perfectly good vacation time on that?"

"Because Gustavo said that we had to," Logan replied. "It was one of the things that he said we had to do or else he wouldn't let us go. And I'm not going to do it all myself this time."

Kendall laughed as he watched the two of them fight with each other. He wondered if Logan really expected them to do what Gustavo told them to do. They hadn't done that since they first met him, so why start now? It was time for them to have a vacation and while they were technically working too, they really deserved this vacation. They didn't do anything special for thanksgiving, they didn't get to go home for Christmas, their birthdays weren't as big a deal as they used to be (though Kendall was sure it was because the fact that they had more money now, they could do practically whatever they wanted instead of being surprised as they used to be) and they had millions of fans all over the world that treated them like gods, while it was flattering, it was exhausting work. They deserved this.

Kendall suddenly noticed the lack of chaos around him. "Hey, where's Carlos?" He asked, scratching his bare chest that was under his open, white button down shirt.

"He wasn't in bed when we woke up," James replied with a shrug. "I thought that breakfast might have gotten him."

"You don't think Carlos went into town with Ronan and my Mom do you?" Kendall asked as he went over to the couch and picked up his shoes that were sitting on the floor in front of it. "I mean, Carlos can be into some pretty weird things, but even he thinks that just going into town can be boring sometimes."

"Maybe he snuck off to go surfing," James suggested.

"That's more like something that you would do," Logan pointed out.

"Do you have to disagree with everything I say?" James asked with an overly-exaggerated glare.

Logan smirked in reply.

"We found him," Sydney announced as he and his siblings walked into the apartment. "Apparently he was out getting coconuts all morning." He pulled his hat off of his head, swept a hand through his over-grown hair, and put it back on. "Tell them why you wanted to get some coconuts," he prompted Carlos, who was beaming, his arms filled with the fruit.

"Yeah, Carlos, what's with the coconuts?" Kendall asked. He finished tying his shoes and stood up.

"I was thinking that on some of them we could try to carve things in it," Carlos said excitedly. "You know, like our names, faces, and stuff." He then jostled his right arm, causing some to fall to the floor. "And the others, I thought that we could sell to some other tourists as drinks and stuff, to make some extra cash."

Logan made a face. "Do you want to tell him or can I?" he asked Sydney.

"Go ahead," Noah shook his head. "We tried telling him it was a bad idea, but you know Carlos, once he gets an idea, he doesn't stop."

"Carlos, you don't need to sell the coconuts because they fall off of trees everywhere," Logan said patiently. "And since you found them-"he stopped when he noticed that the smile on Carlos's face hadn't faltered. "You know what? Never mind."

"Yeah, we had that same reaction," Rhuben laughed. "Are you guys ready to go? They don't have the area open for tourists much, and since we're a special case, we don't want to leave the lifeguards waiting."

"Almost," James replied. "We're waiting for Katie before we go."

"Oh, she's coming with?" Riley's eyebrows rose.

"D'you mind?" Kendall asked. "I mean, I don't think you would, but she said that she didn't want to be stuck in the apartment all alone again."

"Pssht, the more the merrier," Patrick waved a hand. "I didn't think that she would want to get stuck with Ronan and Mama Knight looking over fancy knick-knacks to take back anyway." He shrugged. "Plus, once you get over how big the rooms are, there's not much that entertains you here other than actually being out in the surf and sand."

"I'm ready to go," Katie walked out of her room, tying her hair back in a ponytail. "I've never done this before; it's going to be so awesome! Plus," she pulled a digital camera out of her draw-string bag. "If I take pictures of you guys, I can sell them on the internet."

"Not unless we don't like the pictures," Kendall said quickly, knowing that fighting with her would be inevitable and that it wouldn't be worth it. "Those you throw out, but the ones that we say you can sell, then you can sell."

"Got it." Katie gave a thumbs up.

"Let's get the show on the road!" Patrick punched the air with his fist as he grinned. "Woohoo!"

"Wow," Rhuben breathed, tying her hair back into a ponytail before stepping up to the edge of the cliff. Her grin widened as she turned back to her friends. "This is going to be sweet!" She raised her hand and gave Carlos and James a high-five.

"I know," Kendall agreed, his green eyes flashing. "I can't wait until we can start jumping." He looked down and watched as a wave crashed against the rocks, sending foam and spray flying all over the place.

Noah wiped his sweaty palms on his shirt even though. He glanced over the edge and saw the ocean's waves crashing at the rocks, maybe 80 feet below. His knees instantly turned into jelly at the sight and his legs gave out from underneath him. He wasn't afraid of a lot of things; losing his brothers and sisters, not having someone care for him, being alone in general. But the one thing that he had never told anyone in his entire life, that wasn't a family member, was that he was afraid of heights.

Carlos, in his excitement once they had finally arrived at the jumping site, had beaten everyone to the top and was now going over safety precautions in case anyone needed saving when they hit the water. He was spitting out numerous safety procedures, but Noah was hardly listening.

"Is everybody ready?" Carlos asked eagerly, his dark eyes wild with excitement.

"I don't think I can do this," Noah said.

"Don't worry buddy," Patrick said from Noah's side. "I'll be right there next to you."

"Yeah, that's a comfort," Noah said sarcastically, taking a step back. "No." He shook his head. "You guys go on ahead of me."

"It's not that scary," Katie said as she moved to the edge of the cliff. She looked down and then took a step back. "Ok, maybe a little, but it'll only take a second. Right?" She looked at Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James, who nodded back.

"Just make sure that when you jump, if you go feet first, that you don't angle yourself in a specific position so that the water goes up your rectum and causes your intestines to explode." Sydney smiled. "Just avoid that and you'll be fine."

"Little Man," Riley waved a hand and he moved over to her. She looked down at him, suddenly noticing that he had grown so he was a few inches taller than where her shoulder was. "I don't think that was very helpful." She said in a stage-whisper.

"I was just letting him know," Sydney stage-whispered back. "It's better safe than sorry."

"Ok how about you watch me and Katie jump first, and then you can try?" Kendall suggested. He turned to Katie and held out his hand. "Just to make sure that you don't freak out on the first go." He said, noticing her pointed stare. Katie looked at her brother's hand and then down at the water one more time before taking his hand in hers. "On '3', ok?"

"Ok!" Katie tightened her grip on Kendall's hand.

"1…2…3!"

She and Kendall leaped through the air. Katie relished the feel of the wind rushing past her face. In the moments before her toes broke through the restless water, her mind goes blissfully silent. For a second, there is no sound, only sight- the shine of the sun upon the water's surface, a wayward strand of hair, a lone bird flying just over the horizon. Then she burst through the liquid barrier and the enormous splash filled her ears just before she was submerged.

"Oh my god!" Katie cried as soon as she came up for air. "That was so cool!" She splashed over to Kendall, who was treading water beside her. "We have to do that again!"

"We're going to have to climb back to the top, first." Kendall reminded her, leaning to the side and taking off in the water. Katie eagerly hurried after him.

"See?" Carlos pointed down to Kendall and Katie as they moved out of the way. "It's really fun." He turned to Noah. "C'mon Mouse, you can do it."

Noah gave a half-smile at the nickname. Usually he would be annoyed if anyone ever called him that. But the fact that he had gotten the nickname from his friends and not people that were actually trying to hurt him, he was fine.

"I'll jump with you, No," Rhuben offered. "And Riles can go with Pat and Syd in case he's scared."

"I'm not scared!" Sydney boasted.

"I don't know," Noah hesitated.

"Ok then I'll go next," Riley said. She moved over to the edge of the cliff, putting one foot against the side. She then hesitated and looked back over at Carlos. "Uh, do ya mind?" She asked with a sheepish smile. "Just in case I knock myself out or land wrong or something," she added quickly, as if trying to save face.

"No problem," Carlos grinned and moved up to her side. "Anyone else coming along?"

"Me!" Sydney scurried over to Carlos's other side, the smile on his face the biggest that Carlos had ever seen on the young boy. He turned back to the others. "You coming?" He asked.

"You can go ahead," Noah muttered.

"I'll wait too," James agreed.

Rhuben hesitated for another moment before giving Noah a hug. "I know that you can do this, bro," she said to him before moving alongside Carlos, Riley, and Sydney. The sound of waves crashing on rocks far below floated up to them, distorted by the distance and warm breeze. After a minute, they stepped forward and leapt from the edge of the cliff and suddenly they were in the water.

Opening his eyes, Carlos saw different colored fish darting around and trying to avoid him. He floated for a few moments, staring in awe at the beautiful underwater scene, and then swam upwards to the surface for air.

"Woo!" Carlos shouted, raising his hands above his head, mimicking Patrick from earlier. "God, I'm going to become addicted to this!"

"Come on," Sydney was already swimming back to the beach area that was tucked behind the cliff, to go back up again. "Let's all jump together this time."

As the four of them climbed back to the top of the cliff, Kendall and Katie had already reached their friends. Noah was still hesitant on jumping, lightly digging his toes into the soft ground.

"We're not letting you back out now," James said kindly, putting his hand on Noah's shoulder. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity." He made a face and turned to Kendall. "God, now I'm starting to sound like you."

Kendall laughed.

I'm not a quitter, Noah walked over to the edge. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and, before he could let it out, James had grabbed a hold of his hand and jumped, pulling him along with him. Patrick had noticed James's intentions and gave Noah a light shove as well before jumping after them. Noah wanted to scream, whether out of terror or excitement, he wasn't sure.

They hit the water hard seconds later.

"Woo, go Noah!"

"Nice job, dude!"

He could hear Kendall and Katie cheering from the top of the cliff as he moved his hair out of his face. Noah grinned before James moved over to him, pushing his head under water as he laughed loudly. Patrick then splashed him in the face when he came up again. As usual, he felt serene in the salty water.

"I knew you could do it," James clapped Noah on the shoulder.

"I'm proud of you, buddy." Patrick added.

"Yeah, yeah," Noah blushed a little as he treaded water. "You don't have to be so mushy about it." He started to swim away from them, wanting to jump again.

…

..

.

Kendall groaned as he took the bottle of Aloe Vera that Katie handed to him. He sucked in a sharp breath as he moved his reddened arms up to open the bottle. Beside him, James, Logan, and Carlos were lying on the floor, just as quietly.

"Maybe we should have checked to be sure that they were wearing sunscreen," Rhuben said quietly. "And that they didn't do any belly-flops."

Behind her, Riley, Patrick, Noah, Sydney, and Katie nodded.

A/N: So these chapters are done short, sort of on purpose. Because this story is mainly based on friendship and humor and that it's about the Windows Down video, there's not much that's supposed to happen. It may seem boring, but thinking about the music video with my sister's and my characters in it along with this fic makes it more enjoyable to me.

You'll see more of Ronan and Mrs. Knight starting with the next chapter to the end.

I'll update again soon.

Cheers,

-Riles