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In the kitchen the next afternoon, Camille gently tugged on the bottom of Kendall's shirt to get his attention. The lanky blond turned around and smiled at her, "What's up?" he asked. Camille nodded over at James, who was sitting curled up on a bar stool at the counter, absent-mindedly picking at his sandwich. Kendall followed her gaze and frowned at the sight of his friend. He wrapped his arms around Camille from behind, his hands gently resting palm-open on her waist. "What should we do?" he whispered in her ear, his hot breath tickling her skin. "We should…have a movie day." Camille replied, tilting her head up to look at him. Kendall nodded and kissed her. "Sounds like a plan. I'll get the nest ready." he said, smiling. Camille grinned at him as he headed into his bedroom to grab the nest-making supplies. She quickly went to work, making several extremely large bowls of popcorn. Surprisingly, James didn't even look up while she was in the kitchen preparing the food. Kendall came out of the bedroom about ten minutes later, his arms full of fluffy blankets and pillows. He was wearing an adorable grin, and Camille giggled to herself. Kendall always got so excited whenever he got to build a nest and then play in it. Camille watched him put some of the pillows and blankets on the couch and some of them on the floor. She recognized a few of the blankets from off of his own bed, and Camille rolled her eyes. Great, now she was going to be distracted by the smell of cologne, Downy fabric softener, Irish Spring soap, and Kendall's shampoo. She'd be lucky if she even noticed that a movie was playing if she was going to be lying with Kendall, and good-smelling blankets and pillows. Mrs. Knight, Carlos, Logan, and Katie had left earlier this morning to run some errands, so it was the perfect opportunity for the three of them to regroup.
After the nest was arranged, and snacks were prepared, Camille approached James. She gently tapped his shoulder, hoping not to startle him. He looked up, awkwardness evident in his eyes due to last night's events. "Kendall and I are going to have an awesome 'movie day'. Come join us!" she said cheerfully, showing him that things between her and him were still perfectly normal. James stared at her for several minutes, looking like he was deep in thought. Camille was just about to wave her hand in front of his face when he finally spoke, "Um…okay." he said softly. "Awesome!" Camille exclaimed, grinning widely. Just a few minutes later, Kendall, Camille, and James were seated on the floor, and the beginning of "The Lord of the Rings" was playing. Unfortunately, James had taken a seat quite a ways away from the Kendall and Camille, which hadn't been the plan. Kendall looked down at Camille, who was lying next to him amongst the blankets, and gave her an apologetic grimace. Well, Camille's plan to get James to sit next to them was NOT working. However, as the movie played, James began to scoot closer to his two friends. Kendall laid down in the crook of Camille's arm, the pillows still supporting his head enough so he could see the TV screen, and let out a contented sigh. Camille inhaled, trying to suppress an agonized moan as the tantalizing smell of Kendall's cologne flooded her. Meanwhile, James was now on the other side of Camille, inching closer and closer every time he thought that they didn't see him. On the contrary, Camille could see him out of the corner of her eye. It was kind of hard to miss the muscular ball with long legs and unbelievably fluffy hair. Camille was tempted to call James on it by glancing at him with one eyebrow raised, but it was amusing to watch him attempt to go unseen while he casually slid over to her, looking like he was in slow motion. It reminded Camille of a cat that was trying to look natural as it moved closer to it's seemingly "alive", fuzzy toy. The thought of James as a fuzzy kitten made Camille smile to herself. She casually moved her other arm out in a welcoming position and James silently situated himself in the crook of her arm just like Kendall was lying. Camille gently rubbed the bare skin on James' uninjured arm, sending a silent, reassuring message that let him know that she was okay with him laying like that.
Things were silent in the apartment, except for the sound of elves slaying orcs, that is, but it was actually a good kind of silence. Both Kendall and James were relaxed against her, and Camille honestly didn't even know if they were still awake. Her question was answered, however, when Kendall spoke out of the blue, "You know…I don't know why Frodo didn't just toss the ring into some large body of water and get on with his life." Camille's jaw slackened and her mouth dropped open at the oddness of Kendall's remark. James lifted his head up so he could see over Camille and looked at his best friend. "That is really random, Kendall." James said, a small smile playing on his lips. Kendall shrugged, looking extremely happy that he had gotten James to speak, "Just sayin" he replied. James just shook his head amusedly and Camille laughed at the two of them. This day was going exactly as she had wanted it to. Despite the upcoming epic battle, both Kendall and James fell asleep three-quarters of the way through the movie. Even in his sleep, James kept a tight grip on the bottom of Camille's shirt and she had a feeling that his earlier comment had not been a sign of progress.
When Kendall woke up, he felt extremely…lonely. Sitting up carefully, he glanced around the apartment. James was in the midst of a restless sleep in the nest, the rest of the family wasn't home yet, and the spot in the middle of the two boys, where Camille was supposed to be, was empty. Instantly fully awake, Kendall stood up and stepped over James. "Camille?" he called quietly. The door to the bathroom was open, and the lights were off, so she obviously wasn't in there. "Camille?" he called, again, as he opened the door to his bedroom. There she sat, in the middle of his bed, sobbing uncontrollably. "Oh, Camille" Kendall whispered, his long legs carrying him over to the bed in just a few strides. He sat down on the bed next to her and put both arms around her, pulling her close to him. "Hey, it's okay." he whispered, gently threading his fingers through Camille's hair. For some unknown reason, this only seemed to make her sob even harder. Kendall continued to hold her against him, whispering comforting words in attempt to calm her. Another good ten minutes went by before Camille's cries died down to the occasional hiccup. She pulled away Kendall a little bit, and wiped her eyes. Kendall gently cupped her chin, "Hey, Camille, it's all right." he said, his eyes conveying the message that he desperately wanted her to be okay. "I'm sorry" she whispered. Kendall frowned, "There's nothing to be sorry about Camille." he said. He kissed the side of her face and hugged her again. "I was so worried about you…and laying like that in the living room reminded me of…of when…" she said, her breath hitching in her throat. "It's okay, Camille. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere." he whispered. Camille nodded against him. It was quiet as Kendall continued to hold Camille while she let her walls break down, the stress of the past few weeks finally getting to her. However, exhaustion took over and she was soon in a deep sleep, curled up against him. Later, Kendall heard everyone else arrive home and quietly go to bed, knowing not to disturb the three teens. He hoped that his friends and family had a better day than he was having…
Kendall stayed awake, rhythmically stroking Camille's hair, until he heard the sound of whimpers coming from the main room. Carefully he slid out from underneath Camille, putting a body pillow in his place, and crept out into the main room. James was tossing violently on the floor, stuck in a nightmare, once again. Kendall knelt next to him and gently shook his terrified friend's shoulder. Thankfully, that was enough to wake James this time. The tall brunette shot up, breathing hard, and winced as the movement jarred his still-healing abdomen, . "Are you all right, James?" Kendall asked, reaching out and brushing a few strands of sweat-dampened hair out of James' eyes. James' cheeks were flushed, even more so than usual, as he realized that he had been having a nightmare… again. He nodded, his hair bouncing slightly at the movement, and he brought his knees up to his chest. Wordlessly, Kendall gave James a gentle hug, avoiding his injured arm. James' eyebrows shot up in surprise at Kendall's sweet gesture, but he returned the hug, appreciative of the much needed comfort that his friend was giving him. The lanky blonde stood up and gently patted James' shoulder, "Everything's okay. Get some sleep, buddy." he said reassuringly. James nodded and watched Kendall go back into his bedroom. Despite the calming effect of Kendall's visit , James climbed up onto the couch, turned on the light, and picked up a random book to read. It was Camille's book, "Wuthering Heights", but he didn't care. He REFUSED to go to sleep and be sucked into another hellish dream. As Kendall and Camille slept restlessly through the night, and James stayed up reading until morning, everyone realized that things were not exactly going as well as they had hoped.
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