Chapter 17 Wanna play video games?
It's been about two months since everyone is back in Minnesota. Each family thought things would get easier after a while. But things couldn't have gone more wrong.
Brooke Diamond sits in the large mansion-like house and stares at her son. They are sitting at the dinner table. The table is filled with delicious food and even though her son and herself are the only ones to eat it, there is so much you'd think the family is much bigger.
But the only reason she made sure there was so much, was because she had been paying attention. She had worked long enough in the cosmetics industry to notice the signs. Maybe he thought she didn't, but she had been watching her son closely. Did he really think she wouldn't notice the bags under his sunken eyes? Or the way his clothes started to look bigger on him every single week?
And now again she watches him with concerned eyes as he sits at the stable just staring ahead. His fork is held loosely in his hands as he pushes the food around on his plate.
The scars are still very eminent on his face, but he seems to try and cover up his body more and more. No longer does he wear the tight pants and shirt. Now it's just baggy clothes, which she didn't even know he owned. His hair is shorter than normal and he doesn't care to do anything with it. She has to practically drag him into the bathroom to take a shower or he wouldn't do that either.
She thinks back of the first day they arrived here and finding him breaking down on his bathroom floor. She tried to ignore the loose hairs surrounding him on the ground and just pulled the broken boy in her arms.
She knows what people think of her. They might believe her to be some stuck-up rich snob who doesn't care about anyone but herself and her looks. But she does care about her son and it terrifies her that he is pulling away from her like this. She remembers seeing Carlos in the hospital and knows how distant he has become. So uncaring. She doesn't want James to end up like that. She can't.
"James, sweetie, why don't you take some more vegetables." She offers with a slight smile. He looks at her for a moment, before looking at his food. For a second it seems like he might faint at the sight of it. But he recovers fast and even offers her a small smile, before grabbing a piece of carrot with his fork.
"There you go. Now isn't that better?" She asks as she watches him force himself to eat. She tries to hide how much it hurts to see him do this to himself. The boy who once cared so much about his looks just wasting away.
She sighs and puts down her own fork. "James, please talk to me. We've been here for three weeks and you haven't exactly been gaining weight. In fact, I think you're losing even more. Why won't you eat? Sonia made all your favorites."
"I'm just not that hungry." He replies softly, avoiding her gaze as much as he can.
"Honey, I'm not stupid. I've worked in the cosmetics industry for years, I've been around models and I know all the methods they used to starve themselves." He looks up in slight shock at that.
"I'm not…" he starts, but his mother interrupts him.
"Look, I know you're not happy about moving back here, but starving yourself isn't going to help." She tells him and his eyes turn to slight anger.
"I'm not starving myself, mom. I-… I'm fine." He sighs with a deep sigh. "Excuse me." He says before standing up and leaving the table all together.
"James Isaac Diamond, you sit right back down this instant! You've hardly eaten anything. Now you sit down and finish that plate!" She tells him in a stern tone. Everyone around her knows not to go against Brooke Diamond. James and his friends had always been too scared to stand up to her. So she expected him to just do as she says.
She didn't expect him to smirk and then laugh, shaking his head in disbelief, before resuming his way up the stairs. She stares after him in shock, flinching when his bedroom door slams in the distance.
She stands at the table and for a moment doesn't know how to respond. But then she sits down slowly and starts to finish her own dinner. He doesn't honestly think he can keep this up?
At the Mitchell residence, things have basically gone back to normal. Which really means Steve and Joanne are trying their best to pretend everything is fine and that their children are amazing.
They still host parties at their house, inviting their friends over and pretending not to notice their shocked glances in Logan's direction. The boy still looks thin, but he has started to gain more weight and his skin is a more healthy color now. But it is still a shade of pale and the large bags under his eyes show everyone just how little sleep he's been getting.
They force him to sit by them during the dinner parties, laughing and acting like nothing ever happened. Like he never left. They have told their friends of his plans of going back to school and taking his advanced classes. He'll finally be on his way to become a doctor.
He just sits there and listens to them talk about him like his opinion never mattered in the first place. Even when anyone asks about his band, his parents dismiss it, acting like it was just a phase.
But what hurts the most is the way they start another subject every time one of the other guys is mentioned. He knows other people have noticed, it is proved when they throw him sympathetic glances now and then. Or the way they squeeze his shoulder or slightly hug him when they say goodbye.
Logan takes it all in. It's not that he wants to fight it. It's not that he doesn't want to scream and yell at them to leave him along. He wants to go out and run over to any of his friends and let them hug him and tell him everything will be okay. But they are just as broken as he is, if not even more. So he knows this option isn't there.
He doesn't know a single time he hasn't stared out of his bedroom window at night and looked at the Knight residence longingly. He wishes so much for Kendall to come out and ask him to come play hockey with him. But he's been thinking a lot these past three weeks. He didn't have a choice, since his parents haven't let him leave the house at all.
He realized how bad their protectiveness was when Alex' funeral came around and they wouldn't allow him to go. Not that he really wanted to, for his own reasons. But he wanted to go for Carlos, for the Garcia's. But when Antonio Garcia personally came to the door to ask them to come, they just turned him down completely.
He had sat on the stairs, listening to them arguing. Mr. Garcia had told them they couldn't just decide for him. He had an opinion of his own. He had even said he didn't like how they had transferred Logan to another school. Yeah, they had said before they didn't want their son to hang out with the other three anymore. But he hadn't thought they meant that.
But his parents made it quite clear they were serious. He wasn't to see 'those boys' anymore and with that, they didn't want to see the parents anymore either for that matter. Antonio Garcia had yelled at them. How could they do this to Logan? How could hey keep him locked up inside the house like that? They were his parents. Didn't they care?
He wanted to jump up and hug Mr. Garcia for standing up for him like that. But the door was quickly slammed in his face after that. Now there was definitely no chance he would ever see the Garcia's again. No more Carlos. Not that there was any Carlos left anyway.
He sighs as he once again sits in his family living room; forced to wear the clothes his mother thinks makes him look smart. Another night filled with being polite while people stare at him pitifully. Listening to his parents lay out his entire future. He takes it all in and tries to drown out everything around him.
One more week and school will start. Here come those new friends he always wished for. But the friends he really wishes for are probably not the ones he'll see anytime soon.
Over in the Knight residence, Jennifer Knight can't believe how tiring the last three weeks have been. No one has had much sleep and most of that is because of the nightmares one of them has been having.
It's also the only moment in the day when he makes the most noise. Kendall is so quiet and scared the rest of the day, it's strange to hear him screaming so much at night.
It doesn't help that her daughter is still angry most of the time. Katie is angry at a lot of things. She's angry about having to live in Minnesota again. She's angry at how scared her brother is. She's angry at everyone for keeping the boys apart. But she doesn't realize that not everyone is trying to do that.
When they went to Alex Garcia's funeral, Katie threw a fit. She screamed at everyone there how they could just sit there and let this all happen. How they could shatter the boys' friendship like that. Jennifer had to pull her daughter away to remind her this was not the time or place to discuss it.
That didn't go well, since she ran off at once. It wasn't until after the funeral that her mom found her already home again. She just sat on the doorstep, waiting for the door to open and then angrily went upstairs.
The whole fit started when she found out Logan hadn't been allowed to come to the funeral and James just didn't show. But it wasn't like that. Jennifer had seen Brooke and James. They were just very far away. She sighed when she saw that. She knew Brooke had good intentions, but hiding the boy from public like that wasn't fixing anything. Preparing to get him home-schooled definitely didn't either.
But as she sits at the dinner table with both her children, feeling absolutely exhausted, she knows she has her own things to worry about. Especially since Katie still ignores her half of the time and yells the other half. All the while Kendall seems to tremble all day long, looking ready to burst out crying if anyone just as much says one word.
All the yelling Katie does, hasn't been helping things along at all. But Jennifer has realized that it is the yelling that is making him this scared. It makes her figure out that whatever happened in that prison, this is the crucial bit of information to bring back her son.
A knock on the door makes her snap out of her thoughts momentarily as she stands up. Opening the door, she is surprised to find Sylvia Garcia on the other side. Even more surprising is her son Carlos standing by her side.
Judging from his thin form, she knows he hasn't been eating or sleeping well either. But the dark look on his face also shows her things have not improved at all these past few weeks.
"Jennifer, I am so sorry to barge over like this. I just… I'd like to talk to you and I.. Oh, you were eating? I'm sorry, I should have called. I'll come back later." She turns around again, but Jennifer quickly grabs her shoulder.
"No, Sylvia, don't be silly. It's fine. We were just about finished anyway. Come on in." She opens the door wider to let the pair in. "How are you, Carlos?" She asks, but he doesn't even so much as look at her.
"So, how have you been? It seems like forever since we last saw you." Jennifer exclaims.
"Yes, well, things haven't been easy." Sylvia says with a small smile. Jennifer smiles back and realizes the woman in front of her is just as exhausted as she is. In a moment, she pulls the woman into her arms and embraces her tightly in comfort. Sylvia takes a moment, but then hugs her back. When they let go, both women have tears in their eyes.
"Well. Uh, why don't you sit down. I'll go make some coffee." Jennifer offers as he own children stare from the dinner table. Sylvia motions for her son to follow, but he brushes her off and stays where he is. He stands in front of the door and stares at Kendall. He in turn stares at Carlos in some shock. A small smile forms on his face when he sees his friend and he nervously gets up.
"Hi." He offers in a small voice. Carlos doesn't respond, but he does keep staring. "Uh, you want to go play videogames?"
Everyone turns to Kendall in some slight shock. One, because the question seems so natural, but unnatural for Kendall to ask it seeing his frightened state all the time. And two, this is Carlos. Yes, in the past this would exactly the thing to ask him. But now, seeing how he responds to things, why would he even bother to ask?
It breaks Jennifer Knight's heart to hear her son ask that. She wants to hug him at once for being so like himself at that moment. And even though the question seems so harmless, the way he asked it in such a childlike manner… She doesn't really want to know what will happen when and if Carlos responds and turns him down. He sounded so hopeful.
"Kendall, honey? Maybe Carlos would…"
"Okay." Jennifer turns to the Latino boy in slight shock, her mouth open as she stares at him. She frowns and looks at Sylvia on the couch questioningly, but the woman looks just as confused as she is.
"Really? Come one." Kendall smiles bigger than she has seen in a while and she almost cries at the sight of it. He reminds her of when he was only four. A memory pops into her head of that time.
Kendall was four and happily screamed for her as he bounded inside the house. On his hand was a small Latino boy, cute as a button, with big brown eyes and dimples in his cheek while he smiled and giggled. A black hockey helmet bounced on his head as Kendall dragged him towards hi mother.
"Look, mom. This is Carlos. He moved in down the street. Can he stay over?" He asked her with a toothy grin and sparkling eyes.
"Well, I don't know. I don't really know him." She tells the boys and has to stifle a laugh when both boys pout as hard as they can. "Do your parents know you're here?" She asks the small boy. He nods so hard his helmet falls over his eyes. It's clearly too big for him, but seeing the numerous scrapes and bruises along his arms and legs, she knows he has a good reason for wearing it.
"So can he stay, mommy? Please?" Kendall asks again. She puts on a face like she's thinking really hard.
"I don't know…" She says with a lot of doubt in her voice. From the corner of her eyes she can see Kendall whisper something to his friend. He just nods and as she looks down she almost gasps. The small boy has put on the saddest puppy dog eyes she has ever seen. The more she stares, the more she is shocked and she wonders if his parents have seen this look.
"Okay, okay. Wow." She says to herself more than to them. Both boys cheer loudly and their large grins are back.
"Come on, Carlos, let's go play video games."
"Okay. Bye, mis.. uhm.." She watches as his face scrunches up in a frown while he thinks hard about what he wants to say.
"Mrs. Knight." She tells him and he looks up curiously, before smiling at her.
"Thanks, mama Knight." Her eyes widen a little when she hears those words come out of the little boy's mouth. She can hear Kendall dragging him off now and he waves at her. She waves back, shaking her head at their silliness.
Soon, the house is filled with giggling and laughter as her son's first real friend stays over the first time.
She didn't realize then that she would be seeing this boy a whole lot more from now on and that the phrase 'mama Knight' would be something she'd get to hear years to come. As much as she likes to think back of those times, it pains her even more to realize that that bubbly four-year-old Latino boy has seemed to disappear completely.
But she also knows, if there is anyone to bring him back, the three friends could do it. She knows the other parents might not agree with her. But she knows this; these boys need each other.
She walks back into the living room and tries to keep her emotions in check. For one moment, she recognizes her son again as he excitedly sets up the game system and hands Carlos a controller. His smile doesn't falter, even when Carlos still shows no emotion.
Kendall may still seem hesitant and scared, but right now he is just so happy to see his friend, he just wants to help him. Jennifer watches the screen as a game of Mario Kart comes into view. Carlos silently sits on the couch, controller in hand.
Kendall watches him curiously. "You have to choose a character now." He tells his friend, but when Carlos doesn't move, he hesitantly moves his hands to the controller. Carlos stiffens and keeps his eyes on the screen when Kendall's fingers brush his, but he doesn't say anything. Kendall carefully chooses a character for him and Carlos just watches him from the corner of his eye.
They start to play in silence and Sylva has gotten up in the meantime and walked towards the dinner table. Jennifer hands her a cup of coffee and together they walk into the kitchen.
"I just… I didn't even think he would do that. When Kendall asked…" Sylvia starts, eyeing the door of the kitchen.
"I know. This just proves what I was thinking already." Jennifer announces. Sylvia looks at her in confusion. "Sylvia, these boys. It's wrong for them to be apart anymore."
"Well, not that I don't agree, but they are together now." Sylvia tells her and frowns.
"No, I know. And I am so happy you came over here. I mean, just look at them out there. They're not exactly jumping up ad down with excitement, but it's a step, you know?" Sylvia nods, but she still looks confused.
"She means we should get the other boys together as well." Katie's voice suddenly joins in from the door. Her arms are crossed over her chest and she still looks angry. But Jennifer nods at her, showing that is exactly what she meant.
Sylvia sighs. "Look, I know. I've been thinking the same thing since the beginning. I thought it was horrible splitting them up in the first place. I'm sorry for staying away myself. But you know how Brooke and Joanna are. I just… Antonio tried to talk to the Mitchells about Logan. It's so awful how they're keeping him locked up in that house, making him go to that preppy school next week. It's just so… wrong." She finishes. Jennifer sighs as well.
"Which is why we need to do something." She says with some determination.
"Now we're talking." Katie sighs, a sudden devious grin appears on her face.
A/N Sorry, I'm not sure if this is very realistic now. And maybe I rushed it too. What do you think?
Thank you for all the support again. These boys are s much better together, don't you think? So now the plan starts to bring them back. Your ideas are all welcome
Since I am making less and less sense now, I am going to stop writing. I'll try again tomorrow and maybe the next chapter won't suck :P
Let me know what you think and until next time!
Love, Baxxie