Title: And So It Goes
Author: SLynn
Rating: T
Pairings: Logan/Camille and Kendall/Jo
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Does anyone actually read this? If so, these characters and settings are not mine. I'm only borrowing.
Summary: Katie has a plan, but it's Kelly that ends up needing one.
Notes: Thanks again, everyone, for the reviews! I know my summary sucks, I'm sorry. Hopefully the story makes up for that. I want to quickly thank my beta, Tripp3235 and that's it. Enjoy!
Chapter 4
Carlos was surprised to find that, as he slid into the doorway at exactly three minutes to midnight, he was the first of the guys home. He knew James was still out by the pool, he'd passed him on the way up, and it could be expected of Kendall to stay out to the very last moment, but typically Logan was home with at least fifteen minutes to spare.
'Unless he's already in bed,' Carlos thought, as he headed over to the room they all shared.
"No one's back yet."
Carlos jumped at the unexpected voice that came from across the living room.
"Katie? What are you doing?"
"Reading," she answered, holding up the book in her lap.
"I meant what are you doing still up?"
Katie shrugged in a noncommittal fashion, before turning her eyes back to her book and flipping the page.
Carlos felt he should be arguing his point, but decided to drop it. He often thought of Katie as the younger sister he'd never had, being the youngest of four himself she might even be the younger sister he'd always wanted, but didn't feel that any fraternal feelings he had towards her gave him the right to act on them. Instead he veered off towards the refrigerator and asked her if she wanted a soda.
"No thanks," she replied, sounding pleasantly pleased that she wasn't being forced out of the room.
Carlos, setting his soda on the coffee table, sat down opposite her and waited. He should probably just go to bed, it had been a long day, but taking off his helmet momentarily to run his hands through his hair, he decided not to. It felt weird to sleep when you knew that everyone else was still awake. Plus, he had a lot on his mind.
At seventeen past midnight the doorknob rattled and James and Kendall came through it together, stifling their laughter as they did, and trying hard not to make too much noise.
"You're late," Katie called over her shoulder, causing Kendall to jump. For a moment she'd sounded exactly like their mother.
James took a quick sweep of the room and then smiled.
"Not if your mom's not up," he returned.
Katie raised an eyebrow at him.
"You're not going to tell, are you?" James asked, sounding more annoyed than worried.
"Of course she's not," Kendall said quickly, as he quietly shut the door. "Katie's cool, aren't you?"
Shrugging and returning to her book, she made no further comment.
James took a seat next to Carlos, and once again looked around the room.
"What, did Logan already go to bed?" he asked, shaking his head in disbelieve. "How does he expect to do a full concert tour if he insists on going to bed at ten every night?"
"What?" Carlos said, perking up as he swung around to face James. "Logan isn't downstairs? I thought he was just hanging out still."
"No," Kendall answered, looking worried. "He's not here?"
"He's not home yet?" James asked, and of the three, he was the only one that looked amused by the thought.
"Keep it down," Kendall said, his own voice dropping to a near whisper. "If you wake my mom he'll be in trouble."
"So?" James fired back.
Kendall and Carlos both shot him looks that clearly said, 'not cool'.
"The last time I got grounded for being late he lectured me for two weeks."
"Yeah, but he didn't wake up Mrs. Knight and rat you out," Carlos argued.
"Okay," James said, leaning back and lowering his voice. "Fine. You're right. But I'm not waiting up for him."
"Me either," Carlos said, yawning as he got to his feet.
"I'm right behind you," Kendall added, watching the guys as they retreated to the bedroom. "Katie?"
"What?" she asked.
"Bedtime."
Katie stared at him for a moment and then, rolling her eyes, got to her feet and muttered, "Fine."
Kendall got up and stretched, thankful that their room wasn't next to his mom's, like Katie's was, and hopeful that Logan wouldn't be much later than he already was. He'd at least have a better chance of sneaking in unnoticed if they weren't all awake and making noise in the living room.
"Goodnight, Katie," Kendall whispered across the room.
"Goodnight, Kendall," she whispered back at him, and with a wicked smile in place, slammed her door shut with as much force as she could muster.
Kendall stared at the door, not Katie's but his mom's, for a half a minute before groaning as he saw her light flicker on. Quickly shutting his own door, he turned around to find James and Carlos staring at him like deer caught in headlights.
"Get in bed," Kendall whispered urgently. "Quick. If she comes and checks on us, maybe she won't notice he's not home yet."
Carlos flung himself up and onto the top bunk that he shared with James, who had turned three circles on the spot before diving onto his own bed. Kendall did his best to arrange the pillows on the top of the other bunk to look like someone might be there, before crawling onto the bed underneath.
"Light! Light!" Carlos said as fervently and quietly as he could, as James dashed out of bed, flipped the switch off, and hurried back under the covers.
Two seconds later the door opened and Mrs. Knight was silhouetted in the doorway. She took one look around the room and shook her head.
"Nice try, guys," she said, not bothering to lower her own voice. "Where's Logan?"
"In the bathroom," James tried, a feeble lie that ended up sounding more like a question.
"Kendall?"
"He went to a concert with Camille," Kendall sighed, sitting up and looking thoroughly depressed.
"Where?" his mother asked.
"I... I really don't know," Kendall answered truthfully.
"When was he supposed to be back?"
"Before curfew?" Carlos asked, hopefully to earn a smile and defuse some of the tension.
"Sorry, Mom," Kendall said, "but I really don't know that either. I thought he'd be back before now. Really."
"Okay," she said after a long pause. "All three of you, go to sleep. Now. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Mom," Kendall said.
"Goodnight, Mrs. Knight," James and Carlos said in unison.
"Hey, Mom," Kendall called just before she'd shut the door. "What gave us away?"
Smiling, she opened the door wider and, pointing to each in turn said, "Shoes. Helmet. Clothes. Goodnight, boys."
"Goodnight," they all said again. Kendall, still wearing his sneakers; Carlos with his hockey helmet still in place; and James, his favorite shirt, crumpled on the floor in a matter he'd never allow.
"How late do you think he'll be?" James asked, after quietly getting up and folding his shirt over the back of the nearest chair.
He didn't sound amused any longer, he sounded worried. It was already a quarter to one.
"He'll be fine," Kendall said, sounding as confident as ever, which immediately set the other two at ease.
On the inside, he was just as worried as James had sounded, but wouldn't let that show. Kendall strained to hear what was happening in the other room, certain that his mother was now pacing the floor. Likely, she had the phone in hand, trying Logan's cell and, at the very most, Camille's parents.
Kendall was thinking, as he shut his eyes, 'this is so bad', when a loud noise roused him, and looking at the clock, he was shocked to see that it read two-seventeen.
Even in the dark, Kendall could make out Carlos' head popping up from the top bunk.
"What?" he muttered, semi-coherently.
"Go back to sleep," Kendall hissed, getting up and crossing the room.
Hesitantly only for a second, Kendall pulled the door open and walked slowly into the living room.
"Mom?" he called out tentatively.
Rounding the corner, he found her in the doorway talking to Camille's father, who looked very angry.
"I don't want him near my daughter again."
"I know you're upset," Mrs. Knight was saying, in her best 'let's be reasonable' voice, "but before we jump to any conclusions about what happened..."
"What happened?" Camille's father shot back, angrier than before. "He keeps my daughter out till two in the morning, and I'm not supposed to jump to any conclusions?"
"Please," Mrs. Knight said. "We can talk in the morning."
"We don't need to talk. Just keep that boy away from my daughter. All of them," he finished, waving a hand into the apartment before turning to go.
Mrs. Knight was momentarily confused at that last bit, but found her answer after she'd shut and locked the door behind her and found Kendall staring at her.
"Mom, what..."
"Go to bed, Kendall," she said firmly.
"But... where's Logan?"
Mrs. Knight sighed, recognizing the fear in her son's voice, as she gestured at the living room.
"He's fine," she said, and it was then that Kendall realized Logan was sitting on the couch, in the dark, with his head in his hands. "He'll be fine. Just... just go to bed, okay honey?"
Kendall nodded, slowly making his way back to his room, and watching as his mom sat down next to his best friend and put an arm around his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Knight," Kendall heard Logan say softly. "I didn't mean..."
"I know," she said soothingly. "I know."
Kendall picked up his pace as it dawned on him that Logan sounded exactly like he had that time he'd accidentally broken Carlos' nose. They'd all been playing in the pee-wee league, and Logan had swung wildly, not really aware of how close Carlos had been standing. When it was all said and done, Carlos ended up bleeding on the ice, but it had been Logan who had cried. And then, Kendall and James got thrown out of the game for starting a fight with that idiot on the other team who'd laughed, not at Carlos, but at Logan.
Pushing the door open, Kendall wasn't surprised to find James and Carlos standing there looking nervous.
"What's going on?" James asked in a whisper.
"Nothing," Kendall answered, not exactly lying. "Just... I don't know."
"Is Logan okay?" Carlos asked, not bothering to keep lower his voice at all.
"Yeah," Kendall said. "Of course he is, he..."
Kendall trailed off, shaking his head. He didn't have any real answers.
James and Carlos took the hint and got back into their own beds without saying any more to Kendall, but from across the room, he could hear them whispering to one another in the near-perfect darkness.
Long after they'd fallen, Kendall remained awake, waiting for Logan to finally come to bed. It wasn't until after an entire hour had passed that he realized Logan would probably end up spending the night out on the couch, too embarrassed to face them.
That thought did not sit well with him.