AN: Hi, peeps! Hope you guys had a good week :D Thanks for all of the reviews/favorites/alerts! Special thanks to Emmyloser and CandySmile for their many, kind reviews! I'm glad that ya'll like the story so far!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything
"DANCE HARD LAUGH HARD
TURN THE MUSIC UP NOW"
Camille startled awake at the sound of her ring tone and flung the blankets off of herself. Stumbling blindly in the dark, Camille dug in her purse for her Iphone. Finally, she picked up the blaring phone, the bright screen and wallpaper of Kendall nearly blinding her. "Hello?" she answered. "Camille? I'm sorry I woke you up, but we need your help." came Logan's voice. Camille's heart jumped into her throat, "What's wrong? Is everyone okay?" she exclaimed. "Yeah. Sort of. James is having…some issues and we could use your help." Logan answered. "Okay. I'll be there in a few." she said, hanging up the phone. Hurriedly, Camille pulled on a pair of yoga pants, a tee shirt, and her tennis shoes. Popping a piece of winter mint gum in her mouth and running her hand through her knotted curls, Camille quickly explained things to her dad. As soon as the extremely short story was explained to her father, Camille bolted out the door and down the stairs. In this situation, her legs could take her to 2J faster than any elevator could. Now out of breath, she knocked rapidly on the door. Logan opened the door, looking frighteningly tired, and ushered her in. "I'm so sorry for calling you, it's just…we don't know what to do." he said apologetically. Camille just waved it off, "It's okay, Logan. I understand." she said. Kendall came walking carefully out of the kitchen, dressed in black sweat pants and a grey v neck tee shirt. He looked absolutely terrible, to say the least. His hair was askew, he looked extremely exhausted and pale, and he looked like he was using every last ounce of strength in his body to keep himself upright. Camille's eyebrows furrowed and she frowned, "Kendall, baby, what are you doing up?" she asked. Camille went over and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him gently. "I've been up trying to help James. He just won't talk to me. He completely ignores everybody when we go in there." he said, sounding completely distressed about the whole situation. Camille gently rubbed his back, "Okay. It's okay, I'll go talk to him. How long have you guys been up?" she asked. Kendall let go of her and leaned up against the counter. "We all went to bed around eleven, I woke up to James having a nightmare at two, and we've been up trying to help him since." he said, massaging his temples. Camille glanced over and grimaced as she finally realized that it was actually 4:32am. "You should have called me sooner." she said, feeling guilty that Kendall had been up for two and a half hours, and she had been completely unconscious during the whole ordeal. "I didn't want to wake you, I know you need your sleep. As it is, I'm so sorry for calling you now." he apologized. Camille leaned up against the counter next to him and rubbed his arm, "You need your sleep, too, Kendall. More than me, actually. Don't ever regret calling me, you are all family to me." she said and Kendall nodded. Camille kissed the side of his face and headed towards James' bedroom. This could be interesting…
On her way to James bedroom, Camille passed a very tired and worried looking Mrs. Knight and Kate. If Camille would be asked to describe the people in this house at this very moment, one word would come to mind: zombies. The bedroom door was open, so Camille didn't even bother knocking before she entered. A small lamp perched on the bedside table was the only thing illuminating the bedroom. James was sitting in the middle of the bed, his legs drawn up to his chest and his chin resting on his knees. Considering their height and the length of their legs and waists, Camille had no idea how Kendall and James could sit like that so often. When James looked up, he looked genuinely surprised to see her standing there. "What are you doing here?" he whispered, not rudely, per say, but more curious as to why his best friend's girlfriend was in his room at this hour. "Logan called me. Everybody's worried about you, James, and they are upset that you aren't letting them help you." she replied. James rested his head on his knees again sadly. "There's nothing to talk about." he whispered. Camille walked over and sat next to him on the bed. "Well, that's obviously not true." she said. Now that she was closer to him, she could see just how tired and distressed he looked. "Come on, tell me what's wrong, James." she said. James just shook his head, biting down hard on his lower lip until Camille thought he'd draw blood. Tears started to run down James' face and Camille felt her heart throb painfully in her chest. Camille could tell that he was just plain tired of trying to deal with what was upsetting him. She brushed his bangs out of his eyes and to the side, "Oh, James. Just tell me what's bothering you." she said softly. "I just… I just keep remembering what happened out there - in the woods. No matter what I do, it continues to play in my head like a movie, and I-I just want it to stop." he sobbed. Camille wrapped both arms around him and he turned to bury himself against her shirt. "It's okay, James. It's okay." she whispered. "Distancing yourself from everyone isn't going to help. We have to help each other or we are never going to get over this." she said. James pulled away from her, wiping furiously at the tears streaming down his cheeks, "I was so scared, Camille. I didn't know if Kendall was going to make it." he whispered. "Yeah, I know, I was scared, too." she said. "I'd never seen Kendall like that. He was so…he was so sick." he said, a fresh set of tears rolling down his face as memories came flooding back to him. Camille swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and put her arms around his shoulders. "I know. What we went through was terrifying. I don't even know what to say." she replied. "The last time I was that scared was when I heard my mom and dad arguing. I knew, I just knew, when I heard them that something bad was going to happen. Then my dad left that night." he said and Camille just nodded. "Kendall is perfectly fine now, James. Everything's all right. Kendall's okay, I'm okay, you're okay." she whispered. "You just have to remember that. No one is leaving, okay?" she said. James nodded, his long eyelashes damp enough that every time he blinked, salty tears were transferred onto his naturally pink cheeks. He continued to stare at her for several seconds, his pretty hazel eyes looking extremely tired. Camille figured he was thinking about their situation, thinking about how Kendall was okay and standing just outside in the kitchen. "Okay" he whispered, the meaning of her words finally sinking in. Camille nodded, happy that he was realizing that everyone and everything was fine, and soothingly brushed his dark bangs off of his face. "Let's get some sleep, huh?" she whispered. James looked so fragile, that Camille felt like if she didn't speak quietly or softly enough, he'd start sobbing again. James nodded and laid back down next to Camille who put her arm around him.
Only a few minutes later, Camille felt James relax against her and his breathing slowed down to a normal rate. Suddenly, Kendall came walking into the bedroom and over to her. "Hey. Is he okay?" he whispered. "Yeah. I think he'll be fine." Camille whispered back. She looked at him for a minute as he stared absent-mindedly at the floor. "What are you still doing up?" she asked quietly. Kendall looked up, "I wanted to make sure everything was okay." he replied. Camille looked over at the clock that read 5:05am and then back at Kendall. Camille patted the empty side of the bed next to her and Kendall gladly accepted the offer. Once Kendall had climbed in and gotten situated lying against her, Camille grabbed the soft blue blanket that was at the end of the bed and draped it over the three of them. Kendall reached over and flipped off the light. Now that James and Kendall were curled up on either side of her, finally asleep, Camille could actually have a peaceful night.
PLEASE REVIEW! If you guys review, I'll post another chapter this weekend! If ya'll don't review…I'm not posting another chapter until NEXT weekend! ;)