Chapter 15 Hard conversations…

As the parents walk down the corridor, they all cling to one and other. They know their boys might never be the same again from now on. They stop in front of the door. Number 2J, how ironic.

Everyone takes a deep breath before they open the door and step inside.

"Mom!" Kendall yells out from his bed on the left end of the room. He closes his mouth just as fast with a gasp as he turns frightened eyes towards the other guys. Tears stream down his face quickly as Jennifer Knight walks towards him. She doesn't even have time to sit down next to him, as he clings to her arm once more and buries his face into her shirt. Mrs. Knight exchanges a look with the other parents as she sits down and softly pats her son's back soothingly.

Like the doctor's mentioned, all four boys are hooked up to IV's, making sure they get rehydrated and receive vitamins.

James is covered in bandages as he solemnly looks at his sheets. When he looks up, his features turn to shock, as he takes in his mother and father side by side. But the thing that shocks him the most are the tears running down his mother's face. He doesn't have time to recover, because his mother practically throws herself at him and cries in his arms. He looks at his father with questioning eyes, but he just smiles at his son.

Logan still wears a breathing mask and his eyes are huge as he still recovers from shock. His mother takes a seat beside his bed and takes his hand. He nearly jumps out of his skin, but when he sees her, he immediately starts to cry again. His mother tries to soothe him as his body wracks with sobs.

Carlos is sitting up in his bed, staring at the white walls in the middle of the room. While Kendall's bed occupies the left far end of the room, Carlos is lying in between James and Logan. Logan is on the far right side of the room and James is next to Kendall.

There is not even a hint of a smile on Carlos' face. The dark look occupying his features is a scary sight for everyone in the room. Sylvia Garcia cautiously approaches her son and sits by his side.

"Carlos, mijo…" She whispers and it requires everything she has not to break down crying again. She takes his hand in hers, but inhales sharply when he pulls it away.

"Please don't touch me." Is the only thing his cold voice tells her, but he doesn't take his eyes off the wall.

"Mijo, we heard what happened. I am so sorry…" She stops midsentence when he actually rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can we go home?" He asks, still not looking at his mother. Sylvia suddenly notices the room has gone quiet. The other parents and even the guys stare at them.

"No, you can't go home. You're hurt, the doctors are helping you get better." He snorts and there is no mistaking the hurt in his mother's eyes. "Please mijo, don't act like this. You're safe now, we got you…" The smirk is removed from his face as he finally turns towards her. She is taken aback by the darkness in his eyes.

"How is Alex doing? Is he safe, too?" Her eyes widen when she hears his question. She can feel the tears building up.

"I… I can't do this…" She whispers as she gets up from the chair.

"Sylvia…" Jennifer Knight starts, but Sylvia just shakes her head and practically runs out of the room. Carlos just goes back to staring at the wall.

On her way out, Sylvia passes by her husband, who is just on his way to the rom himself, having called their daughter.

"Sylvia, what's.." She just cries and shakes her head.

"Carlos.. I can't.. I just can't…" She rambles as she pushes past him. Antonio frowns as he steps into the hospital room. Everyone gives him a look of sympathy, before turning their attention to their own children.

Antonio slowly makes his way to his son and sits down.

"Carlos, I'm glad you're doing better, son. What happened to your mother?" He asks him and frowns when his son doesn't even seem to acknowledge him. "Carlos, did you hear me?"

"Yeah. I heard you. I guess mom just couldn't handle the truth." His dark voice explains. Antonio just stares at him.

"What does that mean? What happened?"

"Why didn't you just leave me behind?" Antonio looks at his son with disbelief. Carlos slowly turns his head towards him and watches him with hollow eyes.

"Carlos, you're my son. Why would I ever leave you behind in such a god-awful place?"

"Did you find Alex?" The question leaves the officer speechless for a moment. He swallows heavily before answering.

"Yes, we did." He answers in a much quieter tone. Carlos faces the wall again when Antonio looks down. "What happened?" he nearly whispers and suddenly the room is filled with silence. Everyone seems to be waiting to hear the answer to that single question. But everyone has a different meaning behind the question.

"Ask Logan. He was there." Is Carlos' only explanation. Antonio Garcia sends a frown towards the other raven-haired boy at the other end of the room. Logan's eyes widen when he meets Mr. Garcia's confused glance and promptly starts to panic again.

Antonio looks at Carlos again and sighs.

"Son, I am so sorry for what you went through. I'm sorry it took me a year to find you all." Antonio tells him, hanging his head down low.

"Yeah, me too." Carlos' bitter voice replies.

"I uh… I'm going to go see how your mom's doing. I'll be right back." Antonio whispers and everyone knows he has a second reason for stepping out. He doesn't want his son to see him cry…

After sitting with their sons for another hour, a nurse steps in to inform them visiting hours are over. Only Antonio Garcia had stepped back in in the meantime. But he had just by his son's bed in silence. No one had missed how red and puffy his eyes were when he walked back in. But no one said a word about it.

As the grown-ups step out, silence overtakes them. Steve Mitchell is the first one to break it.

"We just wanted to let you know, we're uh… We've decided to take Logan to Minnesota with us." The others look up in shock.

"You've already decided that? They were found today." Jennifer Knight exclaims.

"Yes and we know the boys will have a long road ahead of them. We know he's going to need us." Joanna agrees.

"So, you're taking him away from here? You're taking away his dream?"

"It was never his dream to become a pop star, Jennifer. It was his dream to become a doctor. And if we hadn't agreed with this idiotic plan of yours to let him move to LA to become famous, than none of this would have happened!" Joanna yells now, obviously upset. Steve rubs her back gently in comfort.

"Are you saying this is my fault now? How dare you say such a thing!" Jennifer shouts back. "We all agreed to this. In case you're forgetting, Joanna, my son is in there too!"

"I know that and I also know we signed an agreement to have you look after our sons while they were in LA. You promised to keep them safe, Jen!" Joanna shouts. Jennifer Knight falls silent after that.

"How dare you accuse my mom of doing this? You're right, you signed that agreement, you all did. That means you're all to blame!" Katie yells now, tears streaming down her face as everything starts to get to her.

"You can't talk to me like that. See, this is what I'm talking about. If you had given your kids more rules, maybe they would be normal right now!" Joanna shouts.

"Joanna, that is enough!" Sylvia Garcia suddenly shouts from behind them. The woman looks broken, having lost one son and semi-lost another. "Now we are all upset here. All our sons have been through so much. They were gone for a year, a whole year! You cannot blame Jennifer for what happened to them. I know you just want to blame someone, I'm sure we all do. But until they catch the guys that did this, we need to stay strong. For them, for our boys. It's not going to do them any good if we end up fighting." They look away with guilty looks. "I also don't think it'll do them any good if we pull them out of their comfort zones right now and away from each other." She says this with a penetrating look towards Joanna and Steve.

"We just want to do what's best for Logan.." Steve starts.

"And you think bringing him back to Minnesota without his friends is what's best?" Jennifer asks them.

"Do you really think keeping them in LA, where they were taken, is what's best for them? Just letting them go back to the Palm Woods, to being Big Time Rush again like nothing happened?" Brooke Diamond suddenly adds.

"Brooke, you agree with this?" Jennifer asks her.

"Look, I agree I don't think James will be happy with it. But this is not going to be easy. With what happened to him, he can't just go back to being famous. Things aren't the same. It's been a year and when people see them, they won't look at them the same way. I know how this world works." She explains.

"Brooke, you can't do that to James. You'll break his heart…" Sylvia tells her.

"I know that, but letting him go back out there, knowing what people will do… I know how cruel they can be. I just can't put him through that." She softly explains.

"Don't you think he deserves to make that choice on his own? He's not dead, you know!" Katie exclaims, stepping onto a chair to stand up to all the grown-ups. "You can't do this. You can't take Logan and James back to Minnesota. They belong here, they're Big Time Rush now."

"Katie…" Jennifer starts, but Katie pushes her away.

"No! It's not fair… After everything they went through, you can't take this away from them! You just can't! I won't let you!" She yells, before jumping off the chair and running off.

"Katie…" Her mother replies, but the warm hand of Travis Diamond on her shoulder makes her look up. "I'll go." He softly tells her before walking off into Katie's direction.

"Look, it's not like this is an easy decision to make. But I just want what's best for my son." Brooke explains once again.

"No, it's not an easy decision. Meaning, you can't just decide right now. Katie is right, they were found today. At least think about it some more before deciding." Sylvia Garcia tells them.

"Actually, I think it is a good decision." Antonio Garcia suddenly mentions. Sylvia looks at her husband in shock.

"You can't mean that." She asks him in disbelief.

"You saw him in there. Carlos is not the same person he was a year ago. He can't just go back to the way things were. He wouldn't survive." He tells her softly, before sending a hard look down to the floor.

"Antonio, he is not the same person, because those people, they broke him. They broke our baby and they killed Alex." Her voice breaks as she starts to cry again. "If we take him away from here, he will hate us forever."

"How would you be able to tell the difference?" He harshly asks her and she gasps. "We need to face the facts that Carlos might never be the same again. Do you really think it's fair to let him go back out there in public and have people treat him differently? Honestly, I don't think he will hate us, he won't even care." He argues as he stands up.

"How can you say that? Of course he cares. He's just scared and confused right now." Antonio shakes his head.

"Open your eyes, Sylvia! Our son is under suicide watch right now. You couldn't stay in there for five minutes because of the way he was acting. I am not letting him go back out there. He is coming home with us, where we can watch him and help him."

"But his friends…"

"His friends are just as broken as he is. Honestly, they've always been a bad influence on each other. Maybe taking a break from them is just what he needs." With that he starts to walk down the hallway, leaving his wife to sob in the corridor. Jennifer takes her into her arms.

"We are, we're going to our hotel for a little while. We'll be back tomorrow to see Logan." The Mitchells announce, but the two women refuse to look at them.

"Look, I'm sorry. I just care about him so much, I want him to be safe and okay…" Brooke Diamond softly tells them. But her voice sounds so soft, it's clear she hardly believes it herself. "I'll see you tomorrow…" She nods and heads down the hallway as well.

Pretty soon the hallway is filled with only the quiet sobs of Mrs. Garcia as she aches for her family.

After a few days, the parents are relieved to find out their sons can leave the hospital. Only James will need extra care. But Brooke Diamond already made sure he will get the best treatment back in Minnesota.

No one could be happier. The only thing is; the parents haven't informed the boys that they won't be staying at the Palm Woods anymore. The truth is, they have fought about it again and again, but the Mitchells, Brooke Diamond and Antonio Garcia have stuck by their ideas. Right now, all their stuff is already packed up and ready to go.

As they walk into the hospital room once more, they put on happy smiles anyway.

Jennifer Knight heads right for her son, who has never been clingier. He immediately grabs hold of her hand tightly and refuses to let go. He doesn't talk much and when he does, everyone has to strain their ears to hear him.

"Hi, sweetie. Are you ready to go home?" She smiles as she looks at him. She tries to ignore the other parents walking in, as today they will have to tell all four boys the new plan.

Brooke Diamond heads for her own son, who is sitting in his bed, already dressed and ready to go home. He looks small and insecure as he absentmindedly traces a scar on his face.

"James, great news! I have found the best doctor in Minnesota to take care of your wounds. He said that with some new treatment, you will look as god as new in no time." She tells her son with a smile. He frowns at her and pushes her hand away as she attempts to brush through his short hair.

"Why would I need a doctor in Minnesota? There are doctors in LA, too." He tells her. She sighs, but keeps up her smile.

"Yes, but you're not staying in LA. You're coming home to live with me, in Minnesota. Isn't that great!" She tells him. He looks at her in full disbelief.

"But I don't want to move back to Minnesota. I like it here in LA. I mean, we have to go back to the studio, to record a new album. Gustavo must be waiting for us. I…"

"James." Brooke states as James looks at her. "Gustavo has put Big Time Rush on hold for now. I'm sure maybe in the future you could go back and be in the band, but right now, that just isn't an option." She tells him.

"What do you mean it isn't an option?" He asks her, his voice getting louder.

"Honey, keep your voice down." She tells him as everyone has stopped to stare at them.

"No, I won't keep my voice down. Why would we not be able to continue with Big Time Rush? We were just becoming famous. We can't stop now.."

"James, you've been gone for a year. A lot has changed. Gustavo has already got a new band to manage. And sweetie, I'm sorry, but I don't think your friends are up for it right now." She softly tells her son. Tears well up in his eyes.

"No… No, Gustavo wouldn't give up on us like that. He wouldn't just take on another band. Not after everything that we've been through. We've worked so hard. Guys, say something!" He exclaims and looks around him at his friends. Logan looks just as shocked as him, while Kendall just buries his face in his mom's shirt when they look at him and Carlos doesn't even blink.

"Honey, I know this is hard to hear. But it's over. Big Time Rush can't go on without the four of you all together." Brooke tells him.

"But… we can do it.. We're all alive, we can…" He starts, but another look around the room has him realizing the reality.

Logan looks at him with fear in his eyes. Kendall refuses to look at any of them, almost flinching when they look at him and no longer talking. And Carlos… Carlos has become very dark. While he used to be the person to brighten up the room, he now seems to be the one to bring down the mood. He hasn't been seen smiling for so long.

"I… I'm sorry, sweetie…" Brooke tells her son again and pats his arm. "I've already packed all your things. If you want, we can go say goodbye at the Palm Woods. But if you don't, we can leave for the airport right away." She kisses his forehead and walks out of the room.

"Mom, dad, please tell me you're not thinking the same thing." Logan says, some anger in his voice, as he knows his parents.

Joanna sighs. "Hortense, honey, we just want what's best for you." She puts a hand on his arm, but he pushes it away.

"My name is Logan and how do you know what's best for me? Pulling me away from here and back to Minnesota is what's best according to whom?" He asks them with tears glistening in his eyes.

"Logan, I know this isn't easy…"

"You're damn straight it isn't!" The couple gasps when he curses. The guys have heard much worse, but for the strictly raised twosome, it is proof that they should have done this a long time ago.

"Logan, we are your parents. Like it or not, but you are not 18 just yet. That means you will do as we decide!" Steve Mitchell tells his son, pointing at him in anger. "And right now, we decide that you will go back to Minnesota with us and there will be some changes. One thing is, you will be going to school and you will not spend time with these three boys any longer!" Even Joanna Mitchell gasps at this.

"Steve, you can't just decide that. They are his friends." She tells her husband.

"No, they are a bad influence. Logan never used to swear or come home injured or arrested by the police before he met them." He argues.

"He was four!" She argues back.

"I have made my decision and that is final! Logan, your stuff is already in the car. So as soon as the doctor has signed your release papers, we will leave straight for the airport. I suggest you say your goodbyes now." With that the man stalks off and out of the room.

Joanna stares after her husband in some shock and looks at Logan with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, honey. I didn't know he wanted to do that." She tells him.

"Mom, you can't let him do this. You can't keep me away from the guys. I need them and they need me!" he says as tears start to fall down. "I feel at home here, mom. Please don't make me leave… I finally feel like I belong…" He whimpers and she holds him as he sobs.

"I'm sorry sweetie. But one your father makes up his mind…" She sighs. "We just want what's best for you. We love you very much." She kisses the top of his head. "I'll give you some time alone." She whispers and gets up to leave the room. She gives him one more pained look before walking out.

In the meantime, Jennifer Knight is already crying as she has watched the whole ordeal take place.

"Mom?" Kendall's small voice asks her. She looks down and sees him looking at her, also crying now. "Are you making me go back to Minnesota, too?"

"Oh, honey…" She cries and pulls him closer. "I don't want to… But we can't stay in that apartment by ourselves. We can't afford to and with the band not being complete. I guess we have no choice…" Katie also holds her brother and her mom, but she doesn't cry.

Jennifer looks up for a moment and wipes her eyes as she sniffles. "Come on, Katie. Let's give them a moment." She whispers and Katie reluctantly lets her mom pull her out the door. Not a second later she runs back in and hugs James, who cries and hugs her back.

She then moves on to Logan, who also hugs her back. She hesitantly walks over to Carlos.

"Carlos?" He doesn't look at her. She makes a decision and moves up carefully to hug him. He flinches, but doesn't move to push her away. Not that he hugs her back either.

Katie lets go, now with tears streaming down as she looks at Carlos like he's a total stranger. She backs up.

"I'll miss you guys…" She tells them. "I am not going to let them pull you apart. I won't. I'll find a way to bring you all back. All of you." She whispers the last part in Carlos' direction, before running out the door sobbing.

"Carlos, mijo…" Sylvia Garcia says as she and her husband are the last parents left in the room. He doesn't respond to her and just stares at the wall, again. "Your father believes it is best for you to also come back to Minnesota with us. But you may have already guessed that." She smiles a little, but looks very unsure when he again ignores her.

"Your mother and I just feel that you might recover better surrounded by your loved ones."

"We love him too…" James suddenly adds from across the room. But one glare from Antonio has him looking away.

"Like I said, we feel that you might feel more comfortable recovering with us, your family. One of my colleagues has already found an excellent counselor to help you. She is an expert in these sort of… cases and she has a lot of experience with… well… you know. People like you." He stumbles. "So, uh, we'll be leaving straight to the hospital as well. All your stuff is already packed up, so there is no need to go back to the Palm Woods. Now, we'll give you some time to say goodbye. We'll be waiting just down the hall." He pats his son on the shoulder again, grimacing when he flinches once again, before stalking out of the room, angry with the entire situation.

"It's going to be okay, Carlos." She moves to touch him, but he moves away at once. She lets out a heavy sigh, before leaving after her husband.

And so the boys are alone in the room once more. They've been there a few days, but haven't talked much. But they didn't expect not to see each other again.

"I can't believe they're doing this. They never even asked us how we felt about it." James states as he watches the door in disbelief.

"I can't believe my dad doesn't want me to see you guys again. You're my family. We've been through so much together, he can't just pull us apart…" Logan adds quietly.

"I know… This doesn't feel right…" James says as he shakes his head. "Gustavo and Kelly haven't even come to see us."

"They probably don't know what to say…" Logan replies.

"They could have at least tried! But now we find out that Gustavo has just moved on?"

"Hey, the guy needs to earn money somehow, right?" Carlos suddenly adds in a bitter tone and snorts.

"So you think it's okay for him to just push us aside?" James exclaims.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that.." Logan starts.

"It's not like he ever cared about us anyway. And it's been a whole year. He needs the money. And so does Griffin." Carlos casually tells them.

"Gustavo wouldn't do that. He has had the chance to choose another band, multiple times. But he always came through for us, he fought for us. And now he pushes us away? I don't buy it."

"Maybe he didn't have a choice?" Kendall's small voice suddenly adds. But the moment the other guys look at him, he flinches and averts his eyes to look at his feet.

"Whatever. I am not going to let this happen. I say we fight for it." James exclaims. "Whose with me?" He looks around.

"I don't agree with it either, but I don't think I can change my parents' minds now." Logan tells him, looking apologetic.

"Oh come on, Logan. Just stand up to them. I know you can do it." James tells him with an encouraging smile.

"James, it's not that I don't want to. It's just… Look at us. Even if we could convince Gustavo to take us back; what kind of a band would we be?" He says, pointing around at their other two friends.

"Look, I never said it would be easy. But we can't just give up like this. We worked so hard.."

"James, things are different now. Did you forget what we went through?"

"Of course I didn't forget, Logan. Look at me, I have enough scars to never let me forget!" James shouts, pointing at his face. Logan winces.

"Well, we all have scars. And you might be acting all tough right now, but honestly, I know this isn't how you really feel. You're a lot more hurt than you're letting on." He sighs when James looks away. "Look, maybe taking a break is what we all need right now. You know, just to get back on our feet again." He adds softly.

James nods. "You know what, you're right. We should take a break. A break from LA, a break from Big Time Rush, a break from us. Yeah, that will definitely make me feel better." James says sarcastically.

"James…" Logan starts.

"No, Logan. You're right. We do need a break. I uh… I'll see you guys in Minnesota." With that he carefully gets up and walks out the door, ignoring his own pain as he stalks out.

"James, don't just leave.. James!" Logan shouts, but James is already gone. He sighs, before looking at his other friends.

"Well, that could've gone better." He says as he gets up from his hospital bed. He puts his hands in his pockets and nervously stands in front of his friends. "I uh… I guess we might not see each other for a while. I mean, I will fight my dad on this, you know. He can't just keep me from seeing you. It's just… Right now… I… I can't do this." He says as his voice breaks and he starts to cry again. "I don't want to say goodbye to you. Guys? Please say something…. I know we've been through a lot, but I can't do this alone…" he looks at his friends, but their reactions remain the same. Carlos stares at the wall emotionless, while Kendall seems to be cowering in his bed. "Guys? I… I'm sorry… I can't do this…I'm sorry…" he whispers as he rushes out the door.

Kendall looks up from his bed, still shivering slightly. He looks at Carlos for a moment.

"Carlos? You're not going to leave, right? We can still see each other, right? Carlos?" Carlos doesn't look at him. Kendall carefully gets off the bed and walks over to Carlos cautiously.

"We're still friends, right? Or are you mad at me, too?" Carlos still doesn't respond. "Carlos?"

Suddenly, Carlos gets up from the bed and walks straight out the door, without looking back. Kendall watches him leave with pain in his eyes.

"Oh… Goodbye then…" He whispers and drags himself out the door as well. His mother stares down the hallway in shock and puts a hand in front of her mouth when she sees the dejected Kendall in the doorway.

"Mom?" his voice chokes and she catches him in a tight embrace as he sobs. Katie is also shocked at how the boys all came out one by one. James glaring, Logan crying, Carlos expressionless and Kendall breaking down.

She walks to the window and watches in silence as her other three big brothers step into their parents' cars and leave LA for good…

A/N Sorry for the delay, guys! I was a little stuck for a while. I hope you like this chapter.

I'm sorry for the parents being so mean. But I just figured they might act like this after their sons went through this. They just want to protect them.

So the next chapter will take place in Minnesota and just to let you know, I will be skipping ahead a few months or so. Hope you don't mind. But anyway, again, hope you liked this chapter.

Thank you so much for all your support! I have to say, I am really anxious to write another angsty story I have in mind. But I have promised myself o at least finish this one or Torn Apart before I do. That story's theme is a lot less dark than this one, but still, a lot of whumpage will ensue. Just couldn't keep that to myself. But expect that to come out in a while as well At least, if you want me to ;)

Anywho, I am rambling now :P Again, thank you for everything and until next time!

Love, Baxxie