*AN* So, I took a short break from writing this story, I've spent about a month on it before uploading all the chapters I had. I finally had an epiphany of sorts as I started brainstorming different ideas. I believe I know exactly which direction I want to go into now and it should only take 1 or 2 decent sized chapters but we'll see. I still need some time to think about the detail so this story wont be finished until probably just before or just after the new year.

Also on a side note, now that I know the story's direction I may in fact change the title to fit it. I've been having trouble coming up with titles lately so I usually just put the first thing that comes to mind since I cant start the story uploads without it. When I change the title I'll let everyone know in an AN of the next chapter but if I change the title after the story has finished then just pay attention to my profile which I have turned into a kind of blog. Right now I dont have an up-to-date blog or twitter that I am willing to link to this website. All of my updates are labeled with a date and will be deleted after a few months or by the time I update again depending on how much time has passed.

I have a few ideas for BTR related stories still brewing in my head and on a note pad however the ideas have been few and far between due to the fact that I am burned out and just a bit down in the dumps. I kind of lost the urge to write because my stories come out better than my own life and its a bit of a let down... I'll continue writing for the time being and I'm not going to flat out quit writing, I'm just going to take more breaks or write different stories such as regular fiction or a different show. After this story is completed I will be continuing with my newest yet to be named series following Kendall and my OC, Katie. I also might try my hand at writing a song fic. I'm not sure if I got the concept but I'm going to give it a go and see where it goes. This might be my last update for a week or so, in that respect I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! *

I have a lot of dialogue in this chapter so I needed different fonts. as always my OC- Katie is BOLD, Kendall is ITALICS. Carlos will be UNDERLINED during the first dialogue exchange. James will be PLAIN. James and Carlos dont have any other speaking parts for the rest of the chapter so any other UNDERLINED or PLAIN font belongs to the Announcer or other third party character respectively.

Katie was home for most of the year this time around, her newest show was slowing down in production and would most likely not be renewed for whatever reason but she was fine with it. She had finished most of her schooling thus far, becoming certified in several trades within the animal world including zoology, marine biology and training and care for all kinds of animals both domesticated and wild. The only thing she hadn't finished yet was veterinary training but with her busy schedule there was no way she could get into it. She wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to get into it; it was good money, not that she didn't have so much of it now and she liked to help animals but when would she be able to put it to practical use? She could teach veterinary courses here and then maybe expand to accommodate a small scale vet clinic but she wasn't so sure.

Katie was going to be 25 in a month; Kendall was younger than her by exactly one month but it didn't bother him at all. Katie was trying to plan out her life now that her schooling was just about done; she wanted to settle down and just return to a normal life now that she had a taste of the big time. It was fun while it lasted but after this show ended, her roles would be few and far between like many stars before her, the same ones she grew up on.

Now that their relationship was back on track and steady, Katie was at ease with her life and had no more regrets or doubts. She fell more in love with Kendall than ever before as the days went on and the two were nearly inseparable when they had their time together. The thing about their relationship together was that there was no competition, there were no doubts, and no secrets. They had been together for so long, they gained a lot of respect although several times the question would pop up: 'Are they going to get married or…?" Katie thought about that a lot. She'd love to get married but unlike most girls she had no idea what she wanted for a wedding so she often ignored the thought.

She was afraid of commitment really, after her and Kendall had a long talk and she was sure her parents liked him she wasn't afraid of the subject but it never came up. She was a bit concerned that he wasn't asking and maybe he was having second thoughts but at the same time she felt that although she kind of felt that she was ready, she probably wasn't. Her and Kendall had a lengthy discussion during his stay after she had gone backwards in their relationship.

"Do you really think that we wouldn't work things out between us?"

"I don't know. We've never had the opportunity; not that I'm wishing bad luck on us like that. I just mean what if we really arent meant for each other? We could end up being the most mismatched couple ever. I know we have a lot in common and have a lot of respect towards each other but what if its not enough?"

"What do you mean 'if'? If we are open and honest with each other, it will take us a long way. I don't understand why you have so much doubt. I mean I know you have trust issues but this is almost too much."

"See?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that! I'm not giving up on you. Listen even if for whatever reason we didn't end up together, I love you too much to just drop you and let you break like some unimportant object. You deserve to lead a happy and fulfilling life and to do that, you need to be able to open up and trust others. Use your judgment to find out who's real and who's fake; don't close everyone off just because of a few bad eggs in the bunch."

"But I-I just cant!"

"You can and I know that for a fact. You can lean on me all you need to but you will be able to stand on your own two feet with or without me by your side."

"Kendall?"

"Yeah?"

"What makes you so sure about all of this?"

"Havent you ever noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

"Every time that you fell down, I was right there to pick up the pieces and stand you up again. I was there when Walter was abusing you, I was there when you were living in the mountains, I was there when you were near death, I was there when you felt all was lost and guess what, I'm still here now with no plans to leave." he smiled. She looked to him meeting his smile and his soft green eyes. They were full of life and sympathy. He was being sincere and that's all she needed, the cage surrounding her heart finally broke away as she felt herself put all her trust into him. She believed his words once she realized that he was there for her each time she needed someone, even if she didn't think anyone noticed, Kendall did.

As the months past, she felt more at ease. The hustle and bustle of her normal life no longer took its toll; she had a positive outlook on life knowing that she had someone to lean on. Kendall wasn't the only one, Liam was always around and he still cared for her like a sister. Katie realized, just how many people she could rely on now that she wasn't so boxed into herself. She was still a bit timid on really taking the final leap and putting all of her trust into the people around her so she kept some of it reserved deep in her heart.

It took a lot of effort to try and be normal but slowly she came out of her shell and lived the life she actually dreamed of. Despite not being as active in television anymore, her and Kendall were still very close and in a committed relationship. The time apart was tough but it made their bond stronger much to everyone's surprise; the long distance never swayed them at all. After going on 5 years of being together, the questions and rumors started flowing around between friends, family and even fans, as they followed the couple's adventures in magazines, on TV or in person if they were lucky enough to be that close.
Back in LA, Kendall was taking a nap on his couch when someone rang his doorbell. He was a bit groggy but he got up to answer it to see Carlos and James standing there. He didn't have a chance to greet them before they both came inside and began talking. Kendall just shut his front door in confusion and listened in.

"Kendall, what is with you and Katie?" Carlos asked

"…What?" Kendall asked confused

"You guys have been dating for a while." Carlos began

"5 years next month." James added

"Right. So what are your plans?" Carlos said getting right to the point

"Uh…." was all Kendall could utter as the barrage of questions and accusations began

"Are you just going to keep leading her on? She doesnt deserve that!" Carlos said getting louder.

"Even I don't do that!" James said.

"Hold on guys, its not like that I swear. I love Katie, more than anything but-" Kendall started, trying to defend himself

"But what?" James cut him off, in the excitement

"Either your going to propose to her or cut her loose, you cant have it both ways." Carlos said

"Geez you sound like her father…" Kendall sighed

"She's my best friend, I'm just looking out for her. I know what she's been through, we've all witnessed it but I know what she's feeling inside and to see her come so far only to be crushed in the end…I don't want to see that." Carlos stated calmly.

"Carlos, I promise you I'm not going to hurt her." Kendall assured him

"Then why not propose to her?"

"Easier said than done."

"How so?"

"I have been trying to propose for over a year now and I just cant find a way to do it. I don't know if its just a lack of creativity or maybe I am too chicken too commit even though I really want to."

"So you don't want to marry her?"

"See that's the thing, I don't know. I mean I love her more than anything but I don't know if she wants it. I don't want to hurt her anymore by pushing her into something. I'd love to spend the rest of my life with her but I don't want her to feel obligated into marrying me."

"If she's been with you for this long, I think its safe to say that she'd want to marry you. She would have called it quits already if she didn't."

"No, I don't think so. She's not the type to hurt anyone, she's always looking out for others before herself. She wouldn't have called it off with Kendall if she felt like it wasn't working. She would have waited until he said something or called it off himself."

"So she's just going to stay in a relationship that might be making her miserable?"

"Yep. We have to find out what she feels; find out if this is going in the right direction or not."

"How are we going to find out? We cant just ask her you know, she's smarter than the rest of us, she's right up there with Logan!"

"That's true, she'll know right away that we're up to something. We have to word our questions the right way. Not only that we have to gain her trust so she'll open up."

"She trusts you, Carlos."

"Yeah but she's not going to tell him that she's sick of me." Kendall pointed out

"Right, since we're all friends with each other, she's not going to risk telling us anything about someone else and having it get back to that person." Carlos agreed

"This is more complicated than it should be…Why are women so difficult?!" James said frustrated

"They arent difficult, they're just smarter than they let on. We'll help you anyway we can, Kendall."

"Agreed."

"Thanks guys."

Katie was sitting on her couch in her room watching some TV as she relaxed from a busy day. She had a bunch of paper's to grade but instead she was heaving a bowl of Cheerios for dessert before diving into her work. She was watching an episode of Spongebob, having a grand time as she laughed hard at the childish jokes. She didn't care that she still watched it, Spongebob was still a popular show after all these years with many of her friends; they grew up with it. The show went on a commercial break and Katie finished up her bowl of cereal before getting up to bring out to the hall so she would remember to bring it down later. She was just coming out of the bathroom after rinsing the bowl when a promo for BTR Lifestyles appeared.

'October 22, BTR Lifestyles returns. Kendall, James, Carlos and Logan are as busy as ever but are their personal lives in jeopardy due to their fame?" the announcer said. ' James has a mid life crisis, Logan waits for his confirmation into med school. Will Carlos keep chasing after girls out of his league? What about Kendall?'
"Dude, you can do this and we're right behind you every step of the way." Logan assured his friend with a pat on the back.
'Tune in for the season premier of BTR lifestyles October 22 at 9pm only on Teen TV!'

Katie stared at the screen for a while trying to process the commercial she just saw. She had been in contact with all the guys quite a bit as they grew close over the years and became part of their group but none of this seemed to add up except for Logan's acceptance letter which he already received. Why was James having a mental breakdown? What decision did Kendall have to make? Katie had seen BTR Lifestyles since it premiered, she liked to see what went on when she wasn't around and such. She knew that since this was a documentary type show, there could be random events strewn in to pique the audiences' interest if things were a bit dull. It sucked that some parts were faked but it was part of the contract, as they learned from their previous experience when Griffin tried putting them in a reality show. This time however, the show played by the band's rules; no one was kicked out or replaced.

Still, she could only wonder if any of the things were faked, for the most part, most of the events on the show were real so far so naturally she was concerned that some of this stuff was real and her friends were actually facing hard times. She felt a bit hurt though that they hadn't told her or tried to ask her for help, she told them that the academy was always open to them if they need a quick get away. Despite Katie's well known fame, not very many fans knew the whereabouts of the academy or that she worked there so it was pretty safe, plus it had a high level of security. After thinking about it for a while she pushed it off to the back of her mind and went on with her evening, eventually forgetting about the whole promo.

Kendall saw the promo a few hours later and immediately called his agent to make an appointment with the documentary staff as soon as possible tomorrow morning. He was there bright and early despite his appointment being for 10am. As soon as he was allowed in he went off on a tangent.

"You cant air the new season!" he ordered

"What? Why not?!" the director replied

"You're going to ruin everything! I havent even figured out a way to propose yet and you guys already have the discussion creeping on the promo as the first episode!"

"Then you better hurry up and get thinking. The new season is airing in 3 weeks and that's final. We cant wait around for you to play around with some girl as good as those ratings might be. The viewers are sick of the long strung out relationship, put some spice into it or we'll do it for you."

"Like hell you will! You arent going to ruin this for me, I only have one shot and I'm not going to let some greedy bastards like you take it from me! My contract was designed to have us, the band in charge, you have to do as I say."

"Wrong sir, you all have to collectively decide as a group in which direction you want to go in. You cant make single decisions."

"What?!"

"You're renewed contracts were redesigned to fit us better. We needed more control in the content."

"The ratings were just fine! They were in the top 5, what more do you want?"

"To be the top of course. The higher the ratings, the more money we all make. It's a win-win really."

"No it's not you jerk!"

"You'll thank me later when you receive your first paycheck and there's a huge bonus. With the money you'll bring in, you can buy your girlfriend a huge diamond ring, you'll get laid for sure."

"Damnit! You havent heard the last from me!" Kendall said as he stormed out. He got on his cell and started calling and texting everyone for a group meeting pronto.

The group discussed the matter at hand and they all spent the afternoon trying to come up with some answers while their agents tried to work things out with the TV crew. Until things were better, they all needed to hang low for a while so the show wouldn't be able to continue and then have to post pone the season premier due to lack of footage. The guys would split up and spend a night or two at lesser known friends houses and everyone else was sworn to secrecy. Like clock work, the crew had gotten frustrated with the stars' disappearance but the deadline still stood until the stars' agents worked a deal with the network and postponed the premier until the guys were ready.