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: Shorter chapter today. I'm still working on the last few chapters. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to read and review this thing! Enjoy!

Chapter 12

"I'm confused."

"There's a surprise," Kendall said with a laugh.

"Shut up," James fired off at him before turning back to Carlos. "So Camille broke up with him, not because she wanted to, but because her father made her. Then, when Logan writes her back to try and make it work, she blows him off?"

"And gets a new boyfriend a day later," Carlos finished for him without looking up from his current work. "Yeah. That's pretty much it."

"That sucks," James said, leaning back in his chair.

"When did he tell you all this?" Kendall asked, leaning in further across the table.

"When I got home," Carlos answered.

Given that Logan had been holed up in their room since they'd returned from the lobby, Carlos took it upon himself to tell the other guys as much of what had happened as he himself would want known if their situations had been reversed. Somewhere between no more than they needed to know and a bit more than they would have heard from anyone else. Carlos wasn't any hurry to relate any information about what had happened between him and Kelly, and had skipped that part entirely. He could tell James some of it later, much later, but hadn't decided if he'd tell Kendall at all. He knew he'd probably end up doing so eventually, but right now it was too embarrassing to consider.

"So you two are okay?" Kendall asked, sounding relieved.

"Yeah," Carlos said, still scribbling away.

James looked down at what he was doing and shook his head.

"Not you, too," he sighed. "What's with the notebook?"

"Oh," Carlos said, his face brightening with a smile. "I'm making a flipbook."

Carlos took the notebook and turned it over, thumbing through the images he'd drawn on the corner of each page, to give James an idea of what the finished product would be.

"Nice. Is that you?"

"Of course it is," Carlos answered.

"The shopping cart is inspired."

"It is one of my better pieces."

"Guys," Kendall said, pulling their focus back to the matter at hand. "What we do about this?"

"Leave him alone," Carlos said quickly, going back to work on his notebook. "He does not want to talk about it any more and I can't say I blame him."

"I think Carlos is right," James added.

"All right," Kendall frowned. "But, can you lay off him now, James? Please?"

"Don't make me feel worse than I already do," James returned. "I didn't know all of this was going to happen."

"As the offended party," Carlos interjected, "I declare the matter closed. Agreed?"

"Agreed," James and Kendall chorused.

"Hey boys," Mrs. Knight called out as she came through the door. "Sorry I'm so late. Did you eat?"

"Yes," they all three said in unison.

"Do your homework?"

"Yes."

"Good," she said with a smile. "Oh, Carlos honey, how are you feeling?"

"Fine," he answered, still drawing and ignoring the oddness of the question.

"Kelly left me a voice mail earlier saying you were sick. Are you sure everything is okay?"

"Oh, that," Carlos said, a pained expression crossing over his features. "Yeah, um... my stomach was... but now I'm... I'm... You know, I'm not feeling great now that you mention it. I'm just going to go lie down."

Carlos grabbed his notebook and headed for the bedroom without further explanation, leaving Mrs. Knight, and both James and Kendall, staring after him in surprise.

"Should I even ask about Logan?"

"No," Kendall said, shaking his head.

"He's going to have ulcers before he's twenty," Mrs. Knight said with a sigh, as she put away the few groceries she'd picked up on her way home. "You really need to get him out of here for a little while. Go do something. He's been inside for days."

Kendall shot James a puzzled look, before they both got up and sat at the breakfast bar, closer to Mrs. Knight.

"I'm sorry, what?" Kendall asked.

"Get him out of here," Mrs. Knight repeated, slowly, as if her son might be suffering from hearing loss.

"How can we do that?" James asked. "He's grounded."

"Grounded?"

"You grounded him," Kendall said, unconsciously speaking to his mother as she'd just spoken to him.

"I didn't ground Logan."

"But..." James started to say, but Kendall quickly took over.

"But he came home two hours after curfew, drunk."

"And," Mrs. Knight said, "it wasn't his fault."

Kendall and James sat and stared at her for a long moment.

"Your mom is awesome!"

"Don't go getting any ideas, James," Mrs. Knight said warningly as she shook her head. "You come home like that and I'll ground you until next summer."

"That's not fair," he whined.

"Maybe not," she admitted, "but it would take you that long to learn your lesson. Logan's already learned his."

"So," Kendall said, "if I came home..."

"Two weeks," she rattled off. "No video games. No phone. No hockey."

"Carlos?" James asked, curious now.

"Won't happen."

"Katie?" Kendall asked with a smile.

Mrs. Knight sighed, "Unfortunately, she'll never be caught."

"All right," James said, "if you didn't ground him, why is he hanging around here like you did?"

"Like I said," Mrs. Knight answered. "Ulcers before he's twenty."

The next day Logan had wanted to fake an illness to get out of going to class, or anywhere else for that matter, but felt he owed it to Carlos not to overplay that card, seeing as Carlos seemed to have developed the 24-hour intermittent stomach flu. Logan was the only one that knew what was really wrong with him and understood why it was so important that Carlos at least get a day's reprieve from the inevitable meeting between himself and Kelly.

Logan thought his luck might be getting better when he found out Camille's part had been extended and she was still taking her lessons on set. And, owing to Carlos, Kendall and James were acting like their old selves again around him. But even that good feeling soured when, as they were leaving for Rocque Records, Jo pulled Kendall aside and James and Logan were forced to watch them have a very obvious, but respectful, fight.

"What was that about?" James asked.

"Nothing," Kendall mumbled, but not before he shot a quick look in Logan's direction.

When they arrived Logan thought he was the only one that detected the slight hesitation in the way Kelly asked why Carlos wasn't with them, but didn't let it stop her from plowing on with her job.

"Did you go over your lyrics?" she asked, as she walked just ahead of them, towards the largest recording bay.

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to do this without Carlos?" James asked.

"We're only going to do a rough cut," Kelly answered. "Just to get the feel of it. It should be fine."

"You'd better be ready!" Gustavo hollered at them through the microphone.

Kelly gave them a tight smile as she left, joining her boss in the recording bay.

"Where's Carlos?" he asked her as the guys began warming up.

"He's sick," she answered, looking down at the sheet music with feigned enthusiasm. "Maybe James should just sing his part or Kendall... until he's back... you think?"

"Where is Carlos, really?" Gustavo asked.

"I told you..."

"Kelly," he sighed. "We've talked about this. You are a terrible liar."

"I'm not lying," Kelly said with an overdone smile. "Why would I lie about that? That's ridiculous, is what that is."

Gustavo stared at her for a moment, then wheeled around and faced the guys behind the glass.

"Where's Carlos?" he boomed into the microphone.

"He's home sick," James answered, confused as to why Kelly hadn't told Gustavo that herself.

Flipping the microphone off again, he turned round in the chair and stared up at his assistant and waited.

Kelly looked up and caught Logan staring, and as soon as their eyes met, Kelly knew that he knew.

"Oh, God," she muttered, blushing and putting her hand over her face. "Can we talk about this in your office?"

Kelly didn't wait for an answer, just headed out of the room with her head down. Gustavo was only half a minute behind her and looked concerned when he shut the door.

"What's going on here, Kelly?"

"I don't even know where to start," Kelly sighed, dropping into a chair.

"Let's just skip the beginning then," Gustavo said, sitting down in his own chair behind the desk. "How long has Carlos had a crush on you?"

"You knew?" she asked, shocked. "You knew and you didn't tell me?"

"Of course I didn't know," Gustavo said. "But it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Four boys and you're the only girl..."

"Woman."

"...they're around every day. You talk with them, joke with them, scheme with them... you're practically one of them, Kelly."

Kelly didn't know if she should find that insulting or not.

"It was going to happen sooner or later," he said in his best reassuring voice, letting her know that he didn't think she'd done anything wrong. "The question now is how are you going to handle it?"

"I don't know," she answered with a shake of her head.

"I take it he told you?"

Kelly nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"And you..."

"I think I let him down easy."

Gustavo stared at her.

"Okay," Kelly admitted. "I could have handled it better."

"And now?"

Kelly shut her eyes and let her head fall backwards.

"Kelly?"

"I'll fix it."

"Great!" Gustavo boomed, back on his feet and out of his office seconds later.

"Yeah," Kelly sighed, getting up to follow him. "Great."