A/N: Sorry about the long wait, guys, I got caught up in my new Blue Water High story :) oopsie! Anyways, here's the update, and hopefully I'll get the next chapter up a lot quicker :)

Chapter 10: Help From A Friend

Carlos sat by the Christmas tree on the floor, his knee jumping up and down, but otherwise totally quiet. It had been this way since Kendall had been dragged back into the apartment what seemed like hours ago. The whole apartment was silent; no one had spoken since Mr Taylor had asked for a private word with Kendall; they had all been listening intently. No one spoke after Kendall, Mrs Knight and Jo had re-entered the apartment, the tense silence was thick and painful on the air as Carlos looked around at the others; the girls were looking through the presents silently, James and Logan were quietly reading their respective Pop Tiger and medical magazines, Mrs Knight and Katie were cleaning up the breakfast dishes, Jo was sitting on the chair at the desk, Lacey sleeping in her arms, gazing at her feet – Carlos could have sworn he saw tears in her eyes—and Kendall was sitting on the couch, jaw set, and his fists balled up in anger.

Carlos couldn't help but let his bottom lip wobble; it was Christmas morning, no one was talking to each other, and Kendall had driven away Jo's father! Carlos didn't blame him, of course, from what he and the others had heard through the door, her was pretty mad, but Carlos didn't understand why everyone was so quiet now.

"Does this mean Christmas is over?" he asked hesitantly, and he heard a sigh.

"No, buddy," Kendall said, smiling "we can still have Christmas," he stood up, looking around at his family and friends, "I'm so sorry, guys, but can we please just get started on lunch? Mom, do you need help with the cooking?" Mrs Knight looked up from her position at the sink, where she had been staring absentmindedly at the dirty dishes.

"Uh, yeah, sure, honey," she said, and Kendall cringed at the forced way she spoke. "could you take the potatoes out of the oven?"

"Yeah, Kendall sighed, "sure. Uh, mom?" he lowered his voice, bending down to take out the tray and placing it on the stove top. Mrs Knight turned to face her son,

"What is it, honey?" she asked, the edge gone for her voice. Kendall hesitated,

"Does—" he took a breath "does everyone hate me" he paused "for what I did?"

"Oh, honey," Mrs Knight said gently, putting the dishcloth back in the sink. "they don't hate you,"

"I would," Kendall muttered.

"Kendall," Mrs Knight sighed "they have no reason to hate you, you did the right thing,"

"But I ruined Christmas," he persisted "my daughter's first Christmas, and I wrecked it! If I had just let it slide, then everything would've been fine, she would've met her grandfather, her only grandfather!" Kendall slammed the oven door shut, heaving a sigh and storming out of the kitchen, out of the apartment, out of the elevator, out of the Palm Woods, and into the park, where he stood, shivering. He really should've grabbed a jacket; it was late December, so, although it wasn't really snowing this morning, it was still freezing. Kendall looked over at the sun that was settling in the sky, the way it sat like a light bulb against a pale roof when you've just woken up and you're eyes are adjusting to the light, and everything's blurry. Kendall sighed, turning away and walking, head bent against the wind, down the street to the hockey rink. He hadn't brought any of his gear with him, but he didn't care; there was no way he was going back to the judgemental silence to get it when he could just borrow some from the rink. He took in a deep breath as he knocked on the locked door of the rink; it was closed, but he knew the owner's son, Mark, would be there early, as he always was. Sure enough, Mark appeared at the door, opening it and letting Kendall in.

"Kendall Knight," he said, smiling and shaking Kendall's hand "what brings you heat this early in the morning?"

"Ah, it's not that early, man," Kendall replied, feeling better already; Mark had been friends with him and the guys since they were in middle school, he was the one that got them into hockey in the first place, and had helped them all get into their school hockey team, but he'd moved interstate with his dad after his parents had divorced, and the guys hadn't heard from him until they moved to L.A and found out that his dad had bought the rink.

"Not when you got a screamin' one year old to get you outta bed," Mark's eyes widened, and Kendall chuckled. "Come on, man," Kendall playfully punched his arm "don't you read Pop Tiger?"

"Nah, man, that stuff's for chicks!" Mark scoffed "And since when would I follow top ten boy bands anyway?" he joked. "Whose kid is it?" he asked.

"Mine," Kendall replied "and Jo Taylor's." he watched Mark carefully as the other boy narrowed his eyes, and then laughed.

"Dude, that can't be true! You? Nice, hopeless romantic Kendall knocked up a chick?" he laughed "Who's Jo Taylor anyway?"

"She's an actress," Kendall explained "and my girlfriend,"

"Right, man, well how come you're here?" Mark asked, awkwardly changing the subject.

"I just thought I'd clear my head a bit, is that cool?"

"Yeah, man," Mark smiled "how about a little one-on-one with your old buddy?" he asked, grabbing a hockey stick from the rack.

"Yeah, cool," Kendall replied "anything to get my mind off this morning." he muttered "Mind if I borrow some gear?"

"Sure, bro," Mark said, grabbing a pair of skates and handing them to Kendall.

"You still know my skate size?" Kendall asked, pulling on his skates and lacing them up.

"Yeah," Mark replied, tying his own laces. "Just because you got famous and forgot about me, doesn't mean I forgot about you," he winked.

"So you do read about us!" Kendall said, slapping Mike's chest and laughing "I haven't forgotten about you, man," Kendall said as the two made their way to the rink.

Before long, Kendall and Mark were skating around on the ice like old times, talking and joking like they did in middle school.

"So you really have a baby?" Mark asked, passing Kendall the puck and skating alongside him.

"Yeah," Kendall couldn't help the proud smile that crept across his face. "a little girl, her name's Lacey,"

"Sweet, but I really wouldn't have picked you to have a kid at 19,"

"Well, she's almost a year old, now, we had her last year," he smiled.

"You're so proud, aren't you?" Kendall nodded "So, how come you need to get your mind off it?" Mike asked.

"Ah, cause I screwed up this morning," Kendall replied "Big time,"

"How so, man?" Mark asked, skidding to a stop.

"Ah, well I sorta stuffed things up with Jo's dad," Kendall began, and before he knew it he was spilling everything to Mark, who stood silently, listening. "—and I basically ruined Christmas, so, what should I do?" he asked, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, I don't think you ruined Christmas, man, but I think you should go back and talk to them." Mike smiled.

"Since when did you become Doctor Phil?" Kendall chuckled "Nah, man, thanks a heap, I guess I'll see you around, huh?"

"Yeah," Mike patted Kendall's shoulder "you, too, bro, tell the guys I said hi," he called as Kendall made his way out of the ice rink and began to walk home.

The apartment was a bit livelier when Kendall returned, but Jo was the only one that looked up when he opened the door.

"Where have you been?" she asked, holding a sleeping Lacey over her shoulder and getting up to greet him.

"I went down to the rink," he replied gently, standing at Jo's shoulder and stroking Lacey's hair "to clear my head,"

"Oh, good," Jo smiled "Listen, Camille and the girls are on their way over, so could you grab their presents out of our room while I wake up Lace?" Kendall's heart rose.

"Sure," Kendall chuckled, caressing Lacey's head and pecking Jo's cheek. He couldn't help but smile as he made his way into his bedroom; sure, there was a lot of explaining to do, but it could wait, it was Christmas morning, his girlfriend was talking to him, and everything was going to run normally, it was all over now.

A/N: There we go, guys, sorry, I feel like I'm making Christmas morning drag on forever, but the next chapter will be the last one during Christmas, I promise :)