Kendall got out of the bathroom one Monday morning to find Carlos on the bedroom floor, holding his temples, sobbing his eyes out. It was a surprise, considering he had just woken up smiling and happy in Kendall's arms.

"Los?" Kendall asked skeptically, clad in just gym shorts and a t-shirt.

"CALL AN AMBULANCE!" Carlos cried, squeezing Kendall's heart with fiery panic. Carlos never joked about things like this. Never. He dropped to his knees, gently rolling Carlos to his back.

"What's going on?" he demanded, Carlos curled up on his back, whimpering and sobbing.

"My head! Oh GOD, Kenny! PLEASE CALL AN AMBULANCE!"

"Are you sure you don't need an ibuprofen?"

"KENDALL!"

Kendall sprang up, scared by the pain and panic in Carlos' face, and retrieved his phone. As he called, he hurried over to retrieve Logan. Logan always knew what to do.

"Something's wrong with my Los and I need help and hurry," Kendall pleaded to James, who answered the door in his PJ's. The operator of 911 answered the phone and Kendall turned back to his own apartment to speak.

"LOGAN!" James called.

Carlos' sobs and tenseness had slowly subsided into leftover sniffles and his body limp on the ground, head in Kendall's lap, by the time his neighbors got there.

"How do you feel?" Logan asked, kneeling beside his friend.

"Good now. But- it felt like someone had jack-hammered my head in, there for about two minutes straight," Carlos said groggily.

Logan turned on the flashlight on his phone and shone it in Carlos' eyes, watching them contract like normal, and Carlos could follow his finger through the air with his eyes easily.

James brought the paramedics in and they checked Carlos out basically the same way Logan had.

"I think I'm okay now, feelahs," Carlos said, trying to sit up.

"No, no, no, no, sir," the man said, holding him down. "A headache that brings a grown man to the ground in tears? That's not normal. We're taking you in."

The two other men entering the room with a stretcher made Carlos look up at Kendall for help. He didn't want to be taken away by that thing- he could walk. He didn't even think he needed to go to the hospital- he wanted Kendall to save him.

"It's okay," Kendall whispered supportively. "Don't be scared."

Carlos opened his mouth to say "I'm NOT scared", but he realized that he truly was. He had never been hospitalized before, and doctor's checkups were enough for him.

"Well, we can't find anything wrong," the woman doctor said, sitting on the edge of Carlos' bed.

"Told you," Carlos grumbled.

"But the pain you were describing isn't something to be taken lightly. If it made you cry-"

"I cry about everything! I cry during ASPCA commercials. I cry when I stub my toe. I cry when Kendall yells at me," Carlos said quickly. Logan was leaning against the opposite wall, looking wise as hell, while James was in the wheelchair Carlos was brought in and Kendall was in the chair beside the bed.

"No, honey, the look on your face-" Kendall said, pained.

"We need to get you to an MRI," the doctor said. "I doubt we'll find anything, but it's just a precaution."

"Look, doc! I'm fine! I'm okay!" Carlos pleaded.

"It won't take long."

Carlos gave up, bringing his knees to his chest in defeat.

"How does Wednesday work for you?" the doctor asked. Wednesday- the day after the next day.

"Okay I guess," Carlos said quietly.

"Great. If this happens again, call an ambulance. We may have to do the MRI early. But for now, you're free to leave. This paper tells you everything you need to know."

The doctor gave Carlos a paper and left.

"Don't be afraid," James said cheerfully, getting up from the wheelchair as Carlos easily got up. "I got an MRI once when I was a kid cause I had a horrible ear infection. It's not bad."

"And that was close to seventy-five years ago. I am positive it is more comfortable and enjoyable nowadays," Logan said as they started walking out of the room.

"I'm not SCARED," Carlos huffed.

"You're afraid that they'll find something and you'll have to get crazy head surgery," Kendall snorted. Carlos had never even considered that, and stared, horrified, at the blonde as he stopped walking.

"It won't happen," Kendall assured, going back and taking Carlos' hand. "You're too young to have something wrong with you."

"What if I have, like, brain cancer and they have to crack my head open to fix me? What if when they do that I get brain damage and come out retarded? What if-," Carlos was getting close to hysteria.

"But the chances of something being wrong in your head are very slim," Logan said matter-of-factly.

"There's already something up with his head," James smirked.

Carlos felt his muscles tighten and cramp as his name was called to leave the waiting room. James smiled supportively as he stood, pulling Carlos up and holding his hand as they followed the nurse down the hall. Kendall would be there, but Katie had gotten sick and he had to take care of her while his mother was working. Logan had decided not to come- he didn't want to crowd Carlos and make him more uneasy.

Carlos was fine with just James being there. James wasn't afraid to hold his hand, like he was now, and make him laugh and knew how to cheer Carlos up. He made Carlos feel somehow safe.

Another crazy headache had happened just that morning after Kendall left, but Carlos told nobody about it. It had brought him to the floor again, writhing in invisible pain and sending burning tears down his cheeks. It was over in another few minutes and he didn't breathe another word about it.

They were lead into a huge room with a huge spaceship looking machine in it and a lot of computers. Carlos squeezed James' hand unknowingly, wanting to turn back and leave. James moved his hand from Carlos' to his shoulder, making sure Carlos didn't try to run.

A doctor in a white lab coat met them and shook their hands.

"He's nervous," James explained, the doctor noticing Carlos looking wildly around the room.

"No need. You won't feel a thing and it will be over in half an hour," the doctor said cheerfully. "Now, I'm gonna have to ask you," she pointed to James, "To sit in that room there," she pointed to a chair in the corner of the room, "And we'll get him ready."

Ten minutes later Carlos was laying on basically a tray in a hospital gown. The nurse lady asked if he was comfortable and although Carlos really wasn't, he nodded.

The machine roared to life, making Carlos jump. The nurse laughed and told him he would be entering the machine now. The tray slowly slid into the machine, Carlos' eyes squeezing shut. He didn't like this!

James watched from the window, knowing Carlos was about to piss his pants. He felt bad for him. The nurse slipped into the room and she and a few doctors watched multiple screens in the room. James was fascinated by the images appearing- was the Carlos' BRAIN? Cooool.

Carlos was relieved when he was fully clothed again and lead into an office, James sitting in a chair waiting for him. James smiled and stood, hugging Carlos happily.

"That was so rad, bud," James beamed. "I saw your brain!"

"Did you hear them say anything?" Carlos asked worriedly as they sat in chairs before the empty desk.

"Nah- they were whispering and talking in doc talk," James shrugged. "Was it as bad as you imagined?"

"It was boring," Carlos admitted. "I dunno what I expected, but not sitting in a tube for half an hour, bored outta my mind."

They waited for what seemed like forever. Carlos texted Kendall about his experience and James sat slumped in his chair, staring at the ceiling and humming. Finally the door opened and the doctor entered with a file.

Suddenly Carlos wished vigorously for Kendall. James seemed to sense that and he reached over to hold his best friend's hand, Carlos giving a thankful smile.

Neither of them expected the next words.

"There's good news and bad news. I'll give the bad first, cause the good wouldn't make sense if you didn't know the bad," the doctor said, pulling up a picture on her computer and turning the monitor to them.

"This is your brain, Carlos," she said, pointing with the eraser of a pencil to two pictures- a top and a side view of a black-and-white brain.

"Okay…" Carlos was too worried to enjoy the image the way James had.

"This little white spot-" she pointed to a small white mass, about the size of a penny, "is a tumor."

Both men's hearts seemed to stop and all blood rushed from their faces. James sneaked a glance at his friend, whose head had bowed. Carlos took his hand from James, bundling both of his own in his lap. Carlos felt like he needed to vomit, pass out, or burst into tears. He was glad Kendall hadn't come- Kendall would have done something drustic.

"There is good news, though," she assured. "It is easily removable."

"What if I don't want it removed?"

"It could be malignant and cancerous. We don't know yet. If it isn't removed, it will only keep causing those severe headaches, and I know you don't want that," she said sternly. "It could also grow or spread."

"I don't want surgery," he said. Just the thought of a bone saw cutting through his skull and doctors picking around in his brain made him want to cry and shiver.

"Sir-"

"I don't."

"Carlos," James said quietly. "I think you need to talk to Kendall about this."

"Why? So he can make me do something I don't want? No! It's my choice," Carlos snapped. James didn't take it personally, he just pursed his lips and looked back at the computer.

Carlos sat absently on his couch. James sat beside him, an arm around his shoulders.

"Kendall said he'd be home in a few," James said. "Do you want to tell him alone?"

"Yeah…"

Logan sat on his knees before Carlos, looking up at his face, a ghost of such a happy spirit. He reached up to put his hands on his friend's knees, and Carlos' black eyes dropped to his.

"It will be okay, Carlos," Logan said softly.

"I'm afraid."

Logan nodded in acceptance, his thumbs rubbing Carlos' knees soothingly. He gave James a sad little smile, who returned it with his head on Carlos'.

"Just remember that you are surrounded by vampires," Logan said to Carlos. "If something goes wrong, it is not the end. We will not let you die."

"Kendall wouldn't allow that," Carlos said. "He doesn't want me to be a vampire."

"But when it comes down to the love of his life dying, do you think he will change his mind?"

Carlos shrugged sadly and dropped his eyes. The door opened and the smell of Chinese food wafted into the apartment.

"I'm home!" Kendall called. "I brought you dinner!"

He stopped when he came upon the scene on the couch.

"Um… Yeah… This one's MINE. Find your own adorable human to cuddle," he smirked. Logan stood and patted Kendall's shoulder on his way to the door, James giving a slight squeeze to Carlos' shoulders before leaving.

Carlos looked up and smiled at Kendall, trying to act as normal as possible. He was so glad to see Kendall.

"I got you orange chicken, honey," Kendall said cheerfully, pulling Carlos to his feet. "Come tell me about the doctor."

"Good- I'm starved," Carlos smiled half-heartedly.

He took a few steps to the table, where he was being pulled, but stuudenly stopped. Kendall gave him a confused look, but Carlos returned it with a look tha was a cross between "I'm gonna hurl" and "There's something wrong". Kendall approached slowly, and Carlos smiled a little and hugged him tight around the torso. Gosh, he needed Kendall's strength right now. Because as soon as Kendall found out… He would be a mess and somehow Carlos would be the strong one.

Panic and dread tore through Kendall's whole body at the urgent way his boyfriend held him.

"What happened?" he whispered.

Dun-dun-duuuuh!

Please no mean comments? I feel bad for Carlos, but this is all gonna wrap into a nice ending and you'll be happy! I DO want you to comment, cause I love hearing what you guys think!