God, you guys are just AWESOME! Thank you sososososo much for your reviews :) I always try to update soon, but the next chapter might take a little longer to write, so... sorry if you have to wait a little. I hope you enjoy this chapter, too. The end was kind of frustrating to write, because I just couldn't get the right atmosphere I wanted. I still don't really feel it, but I tried, so please don't kill me if it's horrible. I might rewrite it later, but the plot will stay the same. And now after all is said on with the story!

When Worlds Crumble

Ch. 4 – Would you forgive them?

Logan sat alone on one of the benches at the airport and waited for his flight, thinking through everything that had happened in the last two hours. This morning he woke up like it was any other day and now his whole world lay in pieces. His life wasn't any more complicated that it had been before, but everything had another angle. Everything was different. But all in all the development of his future was a huge relief, like a weight lifted off his chest. It made him sad to leave Katie, Mrs Knight and his... friends behind, but most of all he was just grateful that he had finally found the courage to take this step.

He looked down on his clasped hands, which held his one-way ticket to Minnesota. Home. It would be great to see his mother and old friends again, the last time he visited them was on Christmas Eve and that was over three months ago. Maybe he should call them so they knew he was heading home. He pulled out his phone and a pop up greeted him.

You received 4 new messages.

Logan was surprised. Who would write me at this time of day? He opened them one by one curiously. The first three were from Katie.

From: Katie To: Logan
Logie? Where are you now? We need to talk about all of this. We're gonna find a way! Please!

From: Katie To: Logan
Why don't you answer me? Come on, it doesn't have to end this way.

From: Katie To: Logan
LOGAN MITCHELL! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE! NOW!

The last one almost made him want to laugh. It was such a Katie thing to say. But as sad as it was, he couldn't respond her. She would just turn his mind again and he didn't want to be convinced to stay. He quickly opened the last one.

From: Mrs Knight To: Logan
I know that you're at the airport. We need to talk.

Logan's heart sank. How this woman always read him like a book would be an everlasting riddle to him. Unbelievable. He was tempted to run away to a hotel over night and avoid any contact with her, but his flight would go in less than half an hour and he wouldn't turn back now that he was so close.

It was really too bad that he couldn't let her persuade him this time like she did in countless situations before. She always knew what to say, no matter what you did or felt, and that was what made it so much harder for him to listen to her. She made everything sound so easy. Logan just hoped that he would never have to see her again. Not because he didn't want to but because he didn't know if he could handle seeing the woman he called his mother so desperate to keep him home in his emotional state. And a breakdown at an airport wasn't something he called an attainable experience in his life.

Logan rested his back against the bench, closing his eyes in an attempt to shut out the bright light. His lack of sleep caught up with him again. He kind of hoped that now that his problem was solved (well, sort of) he could get a bit of sleep again. Logan looked down at his phone once more, but it stared back at him blankly. He didn't want to admit it, but he was kind of disappointed that his friends hadn't texted him. Logan shook his head. Stupid thought. Maybe they were even happy that they didn't have to bother with him anymore. If, and only if, they even noticed he was gone by now. Somehow he couldn't quite believe it.

He sent a quick text to his mother saying that he'd be home this evening. Not bothering to wait for a reply he turned his phone off (it wasn't allowed to be on in the plane anyway) and stuffed it into his duffel bag. He never heard it going off six times before his flight was called.

As he waited in line for the boarding his thoughts travelled to his future. Where would he go from here? What did he want? Becoming a doctor of course now that he had the chance to fulfil his dream. Or he could go and take a break from all of this first. Clear his head in the ever charming Minnesota air. He chuckled quietly to himself. Whatever he would do, it would definitely be the start of a new life.

~BTR~BTR~BTR~BTR~BTR~

Kendall, James and Carlos ran like they had never run before in their whole lives. Logan couldn't have come too far by now, so there was a good chance that they would catch him before he got on a plane. When Momma Knight told them where she assumed that Logan was they immediately agreed. It seemed like a Logan thing to seek comfort at home in the state he was in.

They skidded around a corner to the gate where a plane to Minnesota took off right now and... there he stood. It looked like Logan was about to check in. The boys ran impossibly faster and began shouting their friend's name.

"Wait! Logan! LOGAN!"

Just as said boy was about to show his ticket to the stewardess he heard movement and familiar voices behind him. Logan turned around and saw Kendall, Carlos and James trashing through the crowd towards him like mad men.

Oh no, no no NO! For the love of God, what are they doing here? He nearly cried in his head. I was so close to doing it.

Logan all but shoved his ticket into the stewardess' hand and tried to escape through the gate, but Carlos was too fast. He grabbed his friend's arm just in time and pulled him back.

"Logie, I..." The second he got a good look at his friend's face, he let go of him like he was burned and gasped loudly. Kendall sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth while James covered his mouth to stop himself from crying out.

Their friend looked kind of... dead. His eyes didn't glint and it seemed like he hadn't smiled in ages. He was a lot paler than usual and had deep purple rings under his eyes. A nasty gash that looked like it had been bleeding pretty bad grazed his cheek and his eyes were red and puffy like he'd been crying a hell of a lot. If you had listened close enough you could've heard three hearts breaking at this sight.

No words were spoken, but the tension between the four friends was palpable. Kendall, Carlos and James were shocked beyond belief. The same thought ran through all of their minds at the same time.

This... cannot be real.

Cries from Katie and Mrs Knight pulled them all from their respective train of thoughts.

"Logan? Where are y-... Logan!"

Logan was stunned. He hadn't thought that anybody would bother actually following him this fast. Well, now that he thought about it he should have known it. Momma K never liked to put things off for too long. But what he didn't understand was the appearance of Kendall, Carlos and James. Why were they here? Surprisingly it didn't matter to him right now. All he could think about was the way they looked at him. Logan finally had their full attention that he had craved for the past few months and he was only seconds away from weeping just thinking about it. He closed his eyes and savoured the moment that his friends finally noticed him again. Now, when it was all too late. Because there was no way in hell that he'd go back to what he had. Another treatment like this would surely break him completely. He had to leave. Now.

Katie and Mrs Knight finally reached them, too.

"Honey, you don't need to do this!" Mrs Knight sounded so calm and wise that he almost believed her. Almost.

"Yes, I do." He opened his eyes, but looked only at Katie and his as-good-as adoptive mum. He'd surely just crawl back begging for forgiveness when he glanced into his friends' eyes. He was weak like that. "This whole thing isn't about you and I don't want you to hurt, but... this is something I have to do." He sounded so calm that he almost fooled himself too, but on the inside he wanted to scream.

"Sir?", the stewardess interrupted quietly. "You have to get on board now if you want to catch your flight."

Logan nodded at her and turned his back on his friends with a resolute gesture.

"I'm sorry", he whispered just loud enough so they would hear him. With one last deep breath he took the three steps separating him from the gate and passed.

Logan didn't stop or even slow down when he heard his friends calling out for him. The only thing showing the pain he was feeling at that moment was his right fist that clenched his duffel bag so tightly he would surely have bruised palms later.

~BTR~BTR~BTR~BTR~BTR~

Kendall Knight was clearly going berserk. Even Carlos could tell that what his friend was doing right now couldn't be healthy. Not that he minded though, he was acting just the same after all. And who could blame him after today's events, really?

Seeing Logan disappear around the corner of the gate did it for him. Kendall completely snapped. He lunged forward at the stewardess, trying to make a run for his friend while screaming his name so loudly that it was a wonder his lungs didn't give out.

The others watched the scene silently for a few moments, unsure of what to do. Carlos was the first to move and help his friend. He joined in on Kendall's yelling and tried desperately to sneak behind the stewardess who called for security and held the trashing Kendall on arm's length away from her (which was pretty impressive for her height and build). James jumped the first security guard that made his way over to them from behind to keep him away from Kendall who looked absolutely ready to kill somebody right now to get faster to Logan. Katie had started shouting too, but Mrs Knight had a firm grip on her to stop her from joining in on the brawl while she, herself, yelled for the boys to cut it out. They didn't hear her over all the chaos they were inciting, but even if they did they would've chosen to just ignore it.

Even though all of them were determined not to leave until they were a foursome again the whole trying to get Logan thing was to no avail. It didn't take longer that 20 seconds until Carlos felt muscular arms grabbing him from behind.

"Stop it, kid," a deep voice said right next to his ear. "I don't want to hurt you. But I will if you don't do as I say."

Carlos may not be that bright, but he was clever enough to know when he didn't stand a chance. So he went limp in the man's arms immediately.

"Good boy", the security guard said unaffectedly before dragging him off to his office along with James and Kendall who was still screaming and trashing around in the arms of another guard. Katie and Mrs Knight followed them on their heel.

"No!", he heard Kendall shout so loudly that Carlos couldn't help but flinch while the guard kept his poker-face without even blinking. "You don't get it! We NEED to go in there! It's our friend, he-"

"Save it", his guard rudely interrupted.

"I WILL NOT SAVE IT!" Kendall screamed at the top of his lungs, drawing even more attention to them that they already had. Some bystanders pointed their fingers at them and whispered to one another. Those were probably the ones that recognized them as the boys from Big Time Rush.

"Kendall Donald Knight!" Now it was Momma Knight who spoke up. "Quiet! Now!"

This silenced her son immediately.

James hung his shoulders in a defeated manner while he walked next to his security guard without putting up a fight. He was more than devastated. Not only had they failed as Logan's friends, but at an attempt to make it up to him, too. Giving up seemed the only reasonable option right now.

He looked up and his eyes fell on Kendall who had picked up his lashing about again, this time without the yelling as to not upset his mother any further. Seeing his friend putting so much effort in breaking free made James' spirits come to live again. Who was he to just give up like that? It wasn't too late yet! It couldn't be! All they needed right now was a plan.

When he tried to get the others' attention he soon noticed that Kendall was too occupied with struggling to sense his attempt to make eye contact and Carlos seemed to be in a trance. So he had to figure this one out on his own. Let's see... James was the fastest of the group besides Logan. Maybe if he could kick the security guard where it hurt and run before the others noticed that-

His thoughts were cut off abruptly when the sound of a starting engine rang through the airport. He turned around in horror to see the plane with the imprint 'Minnesota airlines' roll onto the runway.

"NO!" Kendall's pain-filled voice cut through the whole hall, predominating even the noise of the plane and everybody couldn't help but feel their hearts twang at its tone. He sounded worse than a wounded animal and the desperate look in his eyes only emphasized this impression. It was so quiet in the room that you could've heard a needle drop on the floor as everybody seemed to be watching the three boys in the security guards' arms, who didn't even notice the people around them anymore, slowly fall apart right in front of their eyes. Time seemed to slow down when the plane picked up speed and finally flew out of their sight. Gone.

James felt like a metal fist wrapped itself around his chest and squeezed so tightly that he couldn't breathe. All the voices trying to get his attention and telling him everything's gonna be alright in the real world were drowned out in the darkness that consumed his whole being and left him alone with nothing.

This can't be it, he thought. I'm dreaming. This is not real.

From the corner of his eye he saw Kendall turning lifeless in an instant. The leader would surely have fallen to his knees if it weren't for the security guard holding him up on his feet. Carlos cried like a battered puppy while Katie hid her face in her mother's chest.

Seeing his friends so weak made James snap out of his trance. For one moment there was silence inside his heart, the small amount of calmness everyone gets before the storm comes and crashes down your whole world. Too bad that moments never last long. Only seconds later reality hit James so hard that his legs threatened to give out as excruciating pain filled his chest and he had to fight the urge to crouch under its pressure.

Logan was gone. All his life he had sworn to protect his little brother and now he, he of all people, had made him leave probably forever. The moment when this horrible thought hit him with full force was the moment that James Diamond lost every ounce of self-control he had and his tears started to flow.

He didn't care that his hair looked like a mess or that people who recognized them started to take photos. He couldn't care less that he sobbed helplessly in the open and absolutely everyone could see him doing that right now. All he could think of was that they might never see Logan, who was more like family to him than his actual relatives, ever again.

He might never get the chance to tell him how sorry he was.

To Be Continued...