James was bouncing up and down on his feet, his excitement growing with every plane that few overhead.

"Stop James your making me dizzy!" Carlos exclaimed from his seat by the window, binoculars in hand to watch the comings and goings of L.A.X Airport.

James walked over to his Latino friend, grabbing the binoculars and switching them around so they were facing the correct way. He bit back a sigh at how ridiculously adorable Carlos could be.

"Hey..." Carlos started after James took the binoculars, then after looking through him properly, he smiled brightly. "I knew something was wrong!" James smirked, but then frowned as he leaned a bit closer, drawing in a breath.

"What...what are you doing?" Carlos asked questioningly, regarding his friend whose face was nearly touching his neck with a confused look.

"Is that...paint thinner?" James inquired, looking up into his friends chocolate eyes which were now blown wide with surprise. James couldn't help but indulge in being so close to his friend, a rare moment he treasured.

"I...I...uh...I had an accident-hey Logan!" Carlos nervously jumped up and hurried over to his two friends who were walking towards them.

James stared after Carlos, confused at his rush to get away.

"I just checked the flight. It says they landed...so they should all be here soon." Logan began, twisting his hands nervously as Kendall pulled him in for a hug to calm him, which Logan happily fell into.

Kendall had barely stopped touching his boyfriend since he heard Logan's parents were coming. Logan had explicitly told him that he wanted to tell his parents about them alone, when the time was right. Kendall wasn't happy with the plan, but agreed, and also resigned to refrain from jumping him whenever he felt like it.

"I can't believe all our parents are going to be here!" Carlos exclaimed, placing his helmet on his head in a flourish. He was extremely close with his parents, and couldn't wait to see them.

James nodded in agreement, silently congratulating himself on the brilliance of his plan. That night, talking with Logan, James realized that his smart friend would need all the help he could gather. And, like the time his own mother needed support from the rest of the family to help James, this time it was Logan's parents who would be up against the rest of the Big Time Parents.

Logan hadn't been to keen on the idea, but that didn't surprise James at all.

"You would have said no to the alpaca idea, even if I agreed with you," James had argued with his friend as he led him back to his bedroom. To Kendall.

"But.." Logan started, grabbing onto his door handle and looking at James with uncertainty.

"Look. None of our parents, besides Mamma Knight, have seen us perform live yet. It will be the perfect excuse to get them all here together. If your parents give you a hard time, then they not only have to deal with Big Time Rush, Mamma Knight and Katie, they will have to deal with the Garcia's and Diamonds. And I think you know how they can be."

Logan, bit his lip in uncertainty, yet couldn't help but agree, however reluctantly. And James went to bed formulating the plan precisely, falling asleep to the gentle sound of Carlos's soft breathing the distant smell of paint in the air.

Carlos had been besides himself in excitement when he first heard the plan. An excitement which now shone brightly as he finally saw his parents exit the terminal.

"Papi! Mom!" Carols exclaimed, jumping off the seat, tripping over himself, then lunging at his father, knocking the officer to the ground.

"Officer down!" Mr. Garcia joked as he wrapped his arms around his son, hugging him from the floor as his wife looked down, laughing.

"Honestly you two. Can't you go five minutes without breaking anything?" Came a voice laced with humor from behind Sylvia, and then emerged Brooke Diamond.

She looked barely any different than that night, years ago, when she first pulled out her paperback novel from the public library and began their journey down the pages of romance. The only difference, really, besides her short hair and even larger Burberry travel bag, was the glint of happiness in her eyes that had been nowhere to be found on that cold November night. Today, however, in the terminal of L.A.X, her eyes shone like the diamond of her name as she came upon her only son.

"Mom..." James breathed, and lunged forward, hugging her so tight she let out a gasp.

"Jamie! You've gotten so strong!" She pulled back and looked over James, a smile branding her face wide.

"They look great don't they?" Sylvia commented, coming up beside Brooke with her arm around Carlos.

"They sure do. Jennifer, you did an amazing job." Brooke turned to Kendall's mother, who was blushing and waving away the compliment with a smile.

Kendall beamed at hearing his friends mothers kind words about his own mother, but the smile soon fell as he saw Logan walking nervously towards his parents, the last ones to exit the gate.

"Mom. Dad." Logan greeted, giving them awkward hugs and offering to carry one of their bags.

"It's great to see you Logan. We're so glad to be here." Joanna said, kissing her son on his cheek before her husband handed Logan a large suitcase as his hello.

"Thanks mom." Logan mumbled, blushing at his mothers affection and shifting the large bag as they headed back towards the group.

"Well! Now that we are all here, what should we do first?" Brooke asked turning back to the boys.

All the boys began talking at once in a flourish of various ideas, their voices overlapping until Mama. Knight jumped in."How about we let your parents get settled in their hotel first? Then we can give everyone the grand tour and have dinner later?"

Everyone agreed to the plan, boys and parents separating after cars were rented and packed, agreeing to meet in two hours at the Palm Woods.

"Well, that wasn't so bad." James commented later as he climbed into Mama Knights car to sit next to Logan, only to be pulled back out of the car so Kendall could slide in next to his boyfriend.

Logan rolled his eyes at Kendall's behavior, which he knew only resulted in their awkward situation, but didn't pull away when Kendall grabbed his hand and asked, "You doing all right?"

Logan let out a breath and nodded. "Lets just get through the next few days, then ask me again."

James was in the middle of his mid-morning moisturizer routine in front of the bathroom mirror, when he was surprised to find Kendall walking in and shutting the door behind him.

"Um. Dude, just because you're all comfortable being around Logan naked, doesn't mean I'm comfortable watching you pee!"

Kendall rolled his eyes at James and glanced at his watch. "Shut up. Look, I hate having to do this, but I know that if I don't I'll regret it."

James narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Dude...?"

"Logan...look he trusts you all right? I know that he...talks to you about stuff that he doesn't always come to me with first." James was getting even more confused.

"Kendall, what are you talking about?"

Kendall glanced at his watch again, then continued. "Logan's parents being here isn't easy for him. I know that he's worried about their reaction to him being...different in their eyes. I just...look if anything happens and for some reason I'm not there, I want you to tell me."

"What do you mean something happening?" James was seriously lost.

"Just, if something bad happens, with Logan and his parents. I know that Logan...hides things." James looked away, not wanting to agree, but knew it was true, "And if he comes to you first with it, I want you to tell me."

James shook his head. "Dude, if Logan asks me to keep my mouth shut about something, I will. I can't do that to him."

Kendall, clearly frustrated at not getting his point across, rubbed the back of his head. "I know! I just...don't want anything bad happening to him and I just wanted you to know that if something does happen and he doesn't want to tell me...I want you to be able to tell him that he can tell me. If...he wants to."

James, who was beginning to understand the conversation a bit more, sighed and took a seat on the closed toilet next to the sink. "I don't know why you're coming to me with this. You should talk to Logan."

Kendall leaned against the door, eyes raised to the ceiling. "I have. I've tried to tell him. But he just...pushes me away and I don't know what else to do."

James stood and walked to his friend, placing a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Just...trust Logan. He's smarter than we all think." Kendall snorted a laugh, glancing at his watch again. "I know. He won't let us forget it." James opened the door to usher his friend out. He knew Kendall was keeping track of the time until the parents showed up, and he needed to finish his moisturizer routine. He had only three products left.

"And Kendall," James started as Kendall turned back to him. "You know he loves you...right?" Kendall smiled the goofiest, love struck smile James had ever seen on a person. "Yeah I know. He won't let me forget that either."

The boys took their parents on a tour of their new lives in L.A. Since their mothers previous visit was so last minute, there hadn't been enough time to do a grand tour of everyone and everything. Even though James was caught up in showing his mother the sights, he couldn't help noticing his friends either.

Carlos shared in Jame's enthusiasm, switching between Spanish and English as he explained the Jennifer's, Bitters, and his favorite corn dog stands. His father also took time to say hello to the people he met last time, like Bob and Taylor. As Carlos grandly showed them the Palm Woods pool, and their favorite spots for hiding with a tree hat, James noticed a couple of colorful drops of splatter at the edges of Carlo's white shirt. He made a mental note to confront the Latin boy later about it.

Logan tried to join his friends in showing his parents all the amazing parts of his new life, but his mother and father seemed more interested in throwing questions about Logan's school work and grades than showing any interest in their surroundings. Logan was clearly used to this, often brushing off their comments about 'goofing off' and 'not focusing on your studies.' But James never missed the look of disappointment in his eyes whenever the rest of the parents showed enthusiasm for something, and Logan's continued to seem rather unimpressed.

Kendall had his eyes glued to his boyfriend, witnessing the same expressions James had been focusing on. Whenever both of Logan's parents were distracted and focusing on anything other than their son's apparent failures, Kendall would grab Logan's hand or rub his back soothingly. Logan would always jump at the unexpected touch, but melt and smile appreciatively at his boyfriend.

They finally came to Rocque Records expecting the building to be mostly empty, considering it was a Sunday and Kelly had told them Gustavo would be gone for the long weekend to deal with some details for their upcoming concert. But, when they saw a stool being thrown against a wall through the hallway and came upon their producers office with the insides destroyed, they knew Gustavo was there, and not happy.

"YEAGAH!" Gustavo yelled as he threw a large lamp from his office door, stomping out with steam fuming from his ears. "KELLY! Get that no-good, useless, sorry excuse for a wardrobe manager on the phone! Its bad enough they got the wrong colored lights and the show is going to look like a ridiculous rave, the boys shouldn't have to look any worse than they already do!"

"Ahem." Kendall coughed and Gustavo turned to look at his boy band, who were currently standing in a row in front of their parents, arms wide to protect them from their managers onslaught of unbridled fury. A commonality they were completely used to by now.

"Gustavo..." Kendall began, walking tentatively over to the large man and placing an arm around his shoulders to draw him closer to their group, and away from the destruction of his once office.

"You know Brooke, of course." Kendall motioned to Mrs. Diamond, and then pointed to the rest of the parents. "And these are Logan's and Carlo's parents."

Gustavo's demeanor completely changed, as he grew a smile, however creepy, and exclaimed, "Yes! Of course! The parents! How wonderful," Gustavo growled turning a glare at Kendall, "of you all to be here! I hope you are enjoying your stay. Kelly, my assistant, and I are just going over some last minute details for the concert." He paused, then began to grow confused, "That is why you are here right? For the concert? Your not trying to take them away again? Cause I've got a contract and if you think you can just barge in here-!" As Gustavo's voice began to rise all four boys jumped in, waving their hands to calm him down, voices of reassurance overlapping as they explained that wasn't going to happen.

Kelly walked towards the group, phone in one hand and datebook ever present in the other.

"So the wardrobe manager is at a 'rejuvenating mind and body health spa' for the next six months," pausing to give everyone a look which mean 'rehab', "and won't be able to do the boys concert. He did give a list of replacements." Kelly continued, holding out a print out list which Gustavo quickly grabbed, scanned, then ripped up.

"Unacceptable! All those people have been working with everyone from Selena Gomez to Justin Timberlake. I need someone new! Something different! Someone who can groom these mangy mutts into respectable show dogs." Gustavo exclaimed, again fuming as he stomped back into his office.

"You might want to tone down the dog references while our parents are here." Logan loudly whispered to his producer.

"Are what they wear even that big of a deal?" Officer Garcia asked, surveying the destruction with surprise. For a cop on the force as many years as he had been, seeing anything to surprise him took effort. "I could take them out. Get them a few new shirts and jeans. No big deal."

"Ha!" Gustavo barked, brushing ripped papers and debris off his desk. "Dressing a boy band for a concert is an act similar to a complex scientific equation. Each part of their body has to be adorned with the exact and perfect color, shape and design, or it could ruin their careers," he paused dramatically, "Forever."

The boys gasped loudly and looked at each other nervously.

"He's right you know," Kelly agreed, "What they wear says a lot about who they are. And when they are seen in real life by a large group of fans, the simplest wrong thing with an outfit could be blown way out of proportion."

Just as Kelly finished speaking the boys began to clamor between each other for ideas on what they could do. Officer Garcia began to argue with Gustavo that what they wear couldn't really be that big of a deal. Sylvia and Mama Knight went over to Kelly to try to come up with an idea.

Then a voice cut through the noise. "I'll do it."

Silence.

"I said I'll do it." Brooke Diamond repeated, glancing up from her Blackberry.

"What makes you think you could dress these boys for a mind bending musical experience of a lifetime?" Gustavo asked, rising from his seat to regard James's mother, only to have it fall apart and crash onto the floor.

"I used to be a...dedicated follower for Aerosmith, way back in the day. When their wardrobe manager was arrested for robbing a balloon store," everyone looked at her confused, "he really liked making his voice sound like a munchkin," she explained as everyone "ahd" in understanding, "I took over for the rest of their tour. I even did a few other bands shows from time to time."

Gustavo began rubbing his chin, regarding the woman in front of him. "Hmm. Beauty, class, and a sordid history involving some of the most rockinest bands in the history of rock and roll. A deadly combination of awesomeness." He stepped away from his desk until he was face to face with James's mom. "All right Mrs. Diamond. Let's see what you can do."

Brooke smirked, undeterred by the task she had just agreed to. "No problem. Oh, and its Ms. Diamond to you." She winked at the man, then turned, heading out of the office. "Come on boys! We've got work to do!"

Stunned, everyone watched as Mrs. Diamond turned on her heel and marched out to the hallway, and eventually they all turned to each other, shrugged and followed.

As everyone was leaving behind a smirking Kelly and a surprised Gustavo, James took one last look at the destroyed office. "It actually looks worse than when you destroyed his office trying to be a bad boy Kendall."

Kendall jabbed his friend in the ribs as his mom glared at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Well this is a story I will just have to hear about later son." Mamma Knight said and followed her friends down the hall.

"Sorry dude, but its true!" James laughed, rubbing his ribs.

"Yeah, and your mom was a groupie." Kendall shot back before walking away.

"What? No she wasn't! She was a dedicated follower of...Dude...DUDE SHUT UP!"

"I have one request. Please, please no spandex!" Logan's voice dripped with desperation as he watched his friends mother sort through clothing in the racks of the ultra-fashionable and expensive store they were currently at.

Brooke held up a black fitted T with some silver designed on it to Logan's chest and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry honey. Part of being a high profiled career woman is to keep up with today's fashions." She shook her head and replaced the T with baby blue tank shirt. "And also I helped build James's wardrobe, so you know I know what I'm doing."

"Mom what do you think of these boots?" James asked, walking towards his mother in black cowboy boots studded with multicolored rhinestones and fringe.

Logan cringed. He thought they were hideously ugly.

"They look great on you honey!" She exclaimed, following James back towards the end of the store to look at more shoes. She stopped after a few steps and turned back to Logan. "And don't even think about paying for anything! Consider this a birthday present for turning 17 last month!"

Logan groaned, resigning himself to the fate of a God-awful outfit, when he felt a hand on his arm pulling him into the dressing room he was standing near.

He clumsily fell into the arms of Kendall, who was pulling him in close. Kendall wrapped on arm around Logan's waist and the other cupping the back of his head. The tall boy leaned forward and buried his face in Logan's hair, breathing in deep.

"Kendall?" Logan asked, looking up into the green eyes of his boyfriend. "I thought you were with your mom? And Carlos"

"Carlos's parents took him to another store, saying this place was something Spanish ridiculous, and something Spanish them not wasting their money on this junk." He explained as he caressed a thumb across Logan's cheek.

Logan flashed a half smile, blushing at the tenderness in Kendall's voice and actions, before asking in trepidation. "A-and my parents?"

"They went with my mom to find a restaurant for dinner." He answered, before capturing his boyfriends lips in a long over due kiss.

Logan had to clench his hands shut to keep from allowing himself to admit the groan of pleasure that was working his way up from the butterflies in his stomach.

Nothing compared to the way Kendall could hold him and kiss him at the same time, electing pleasure from every movement the blond boy made.

Logan could not thank his unlucky stars enough for giving him a break once in his life and allowing Kendall Knight to fall in love with him.

He knew he could deal with whatever has happened and will happen in life as long as Kendall always looked at him the way he did before drawing him in for another kiss.

Logan was by no means a fool. He had always had a roof over his house and clothes on his back. He knew that he was one lucky person, and has never took his blessings for granted. He knew that. But he also knew what a facade the concept of a happy home could be, to shield the truer realities that lurked behind closed doors.

Shaking unwanted and unneeded memories from his mind, Logan drew back to look up at his green eyed god while clenching his fists in Kendall's shirt.

"I've missed you." Logan felt a blush forming at his cheeks.

"I've missed you more." Kendall replied, pulling his boyfriend in for a tight hug. "You doing OK so far?" Concern laced his voice.

Logan nodded, taking a deep breath as he buried his face into Kendall's chest..

Kendall was dying to know why Logan had such a hard time with his parents, but refrained himself from demanding it. He knew that would only force Logan further away from him and he was not going to let that happen.

Suddenly, the curtain to the dressing room was forcefully pulled back, surprising both boys, but scaring Logan even more. The shorter boy jumped back, hitting his body against the opposite wall and banging his head against the mirror, before tumbling to the ground.

"James!" Kendall yelled angrily at his friend as he rushed to his fallen boyfriend. Logan groaned loudly and rubbed the back of his head as Kendall helped him stand.

"I'm sorry! I just didn't know where Logan went!" James answered defensively back.

"So instead of asking if Logan was in here you just barged right in?" Kendall snarled at his tall friend, helping Logan sit on the chair placed in the small dressing room, before standing straight up and getting into James's face. "What if he was changing? What? Were you hoping to get a peek or something?"

James rolled his eyes. "Get over it Kendall. It's not like I haven't seen him naked before. Hockey, locker room and we live together!"

Kendall opened his mouth to shoot back a comment when his phone beeped. He let the words die into a growl as he whipped out his phone, checking the text message.

"My mom wants me to run back to the Palm woods to get Katie." He turned back to Logan and crouched down so he was face to face with his wincing boyfriend. "Want to come? Or will you be all right?" He reached out to gently rub a hand along the now forming bump, a frown glossing his features.

He hated to see his love hurt.

Logan shook his head. "No. I'll be all right. I still need to get something to wear before tomorrow. I will see you soon." Kendall nodded before leaning forward and kissing Logan good bye.

Kendall stood, giving James one more glare. "We're not done with this." Kendall threatened before leaving.

"Oh I say were done! Cause...I said it! So there!" James shot back.

"James...that made no sense." Logan groaned, leaning against the wall and silently wishing this day would be over.

"Where did out moms go?" Carlos asked, shoving a fork full of empanadas into his mouth.

James, currently trying to keep his burrito from falling apart, couldn't help but notice Carlos's hands had some dark smudges along the fingers. He had to shake away the image of licking Carlos's fingers clean out of his head when he saw them.

"I think she took them to the bar. Something about Margaritas."

An eruption of laughter echoed through the Hispanic restaurant, confirming James statement as Mama Knight and Carlo's mother came stumbling back to the table with large, brightly colored margaritas in hand.

Mama Knight had taken them all to "Los Labos", a restaurant she had always heard of but never tried. It took some cajoling for the Mitchell's to agree, but finally they resisted once they saw how excited the boys were when the restaurant was mentioned.

The food had long since come and been consumed, with only Katie, James and Carlos lingering since they were such slow eaters. The parents were enjoying drinks and catching up, while the boys talked eagerly about their concert tomorrow.

"Sweet! Can I try it?" Katie asked, eying the pink, juicy drink with salt surrounding the rim. She had barely finished her sentence before receiving an angry "NO" from both mother and brother. She rolled her eyes and went back to her burrito.

"Where's mom?" Logan asked, looking back towards the bar. "Keeping Brooke company while she waits for her drink. She'll be back soon." Mama Knight answered, running a hand along Logan's head. She had been worried when she heard that his parents were coming, but she knew that Logan needed to talk to them about his relationship with Kendall. She just hopped the boy who she almost considered a son, except for the whole dating her real son part, would get through this tough time without any problems.

Logan nodded, casting his father a glance. He was currently debating health care issues with officer Garcia.

He nearly jumped a mile when he felt a hand on his leg. He turned to Kendall, who had insisted on siting next to him, and gave him a weak smile.

Logan couldn't help but feel guilty for not telling his parents about Kendall. He was such a great guy, and he never wanted Kendall to feel like he was embarrassed to have him as a boyfriend. It was just...Kendall was so positive. He knew there was bad in the world...he just couldn't see it. Kendall always believed there was an answer or solution for everything.

Logan, on the other hand, was all to familiar with badness in people, which was why he wanted to wait to tell his parents for as long as he could.

"Hey mom!" James exclaimed, seeing the two women make their way back from the bar. "What kind did you get?" He asked as she came to his chair and placed a big kiss on his cheek.

"The Ole reliable. Can't go wrong with a classic." She said taking a sip of her green margarita before sitting in the chair next to her son.

Logan turned to his mother to ask the same thing, but closed his mouth when he saw her look at him. She held a glass of white wine, which figured, instead of a margarita. But her eyes bore into him, disappointment etched in every feature. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and when she turned away from him, he had never felt so dismissed in his life.

Logan felt his stomach clench, panic rising into his throat.

She knows.

"So Joanna, Kathryn and I were just talking about the housing market, when I remembered that you've been working it for a while. When did you decide to get back into real estate?" Brooke asked, turning to her long time friend.

Mrs. Mitchell took a deep breath, and plastered on a smile only Logan knew was fake. "It was probably about the time Logan," she paused there, taking another breath, "when he turned 10. I think. I had been wanting to get back into work for some time and an old college room mate of mine randomly called me one day, saying she was starting a business nearby and asked if I wanted to join. She remembered that I had gotten my license to sell, and thought we would work well together. "

James turned to Logan to ask him something, but his words died when he saw his friends face. He had gone pale, and was looking straight ahead, but his eyes were moving.

He's counting again.

James had know that counting objects and people were Logan's way of calming his anxiety for a long, long time.

When they were 10 and Logan had come to his house for a sleep over one night, he accidentally broke one of his mothers picture frames when they decided to practice their slap shots in the house. The photo had been of Brooke and her grandmother before she passed away. The cut glass tore into the picture, ruining it.

Logan had immediately began to hyperventilate and James set him on the couch to freak out while he dealt with the problem. By the time James had successfully hidden the broken picture under his race car bed, Logan knew how many tiles were on the floor, pictures on the wall, and was just finishing counting the silverware when James caught him.

Whenever Logan needed to focus on something else beside what was going horribly wrong around him, he would start counting.

"10? Wait, didn't John, start working as head surgeon at St. Mary's around the same time?" Mama Knight inquired, sipping her drink and staring at Mr Mitchell curiously.

"Yes about six months or so later. The man they had originally had in mind for the job suddenly...resigned. I'm not sure why, but when the position opened I jumped at the chance. I had been hoping for an opportunity like that for some time."

Mr. Mitchell turned to his wife, frowning a bit at her suddenly stiff demeanor and placed a hand on the back of her chair.

James glanced at Logan. He his hands were practically white he was gripping his napkin so hard. He saw Logan glancing at the objects at the table. He' was counting them all. James didn't understand, what happened?

Suddenly Mrs Mitchell stood up, surprising everyone at her sudden movement. "I'm sorry. I'm just really tired...I think I'm just spent from the trip. I think we should start getting back to the room. John? Logan?"

The smart boy's head shot up, staring at his mother, fear etched into his eyes. But he said nothing as he stood to join his parents.

Unexpectedly Kendall stood to. "Wait. Well...the concerts tomorrow. Maybe he should stay at the Palm Woods tonight, just in case?"

The glare that Joanna sent towards Kendall made him gulp nervously. He was even more reluctant to let Logan go with them than before.

Before Joanna could retort, Mamma Knight stood up next to her son, placing her hands gently on his shoulders. "I'm sure that Logan wants to spend some time with his family Kendall. It will be nice for him to catch up...and talk." She enunciated, hoping that her son would get the idea that Logan needed to confront his parents about his relationship with Kendall.

Kendall could only watch helplessly as his boyfriend exited the restaurant after Kendall's mom gave Joanna the details for tomorrows concert.

Logan just turned back to his friends to give a little wave as he left, eyes lingering on Kendall for a moment, silently saying his good byes.

Kendall could only helplessly watch his love leave, fear seeping into his heart.

"Anyone up for another margarita?" Sylvia inquired. All the parents agreed and ambled over to the bar.

Kendall sat down with a thud, letting out a breath before rubbing his hands over his head.

"I'm sure Logan will be fine." Carlos soothed as he reached onto Kendall's plate and stole a taco. His shirt rode up his arm a bit, revealing some more colorful smudges.

James glanced from his Latin friend to his depressed one, and said nothing. He hoped Carlos was right. He really, really hoped so.

Say bye to Logan for now! I've got plans for the rest of the boys. Wish them luck. They'll need it!

xoxo BA