A/N: IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM! Please read after you finish reading this chapter! Thank you!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 22: We'll be A Dream

James POV

These past three weeks have been the greatest weeks of my life. Ever since I confessed my feelings for Leigh, I have visited her everyday by myself. None of the others really noticed, which was fine with us.

With each passing day, I found myself falling more and more for this girl. Leigh was becoming more and more like the Leigh I went on the fake date with. I was enamored.

Today was supposed to be a great day. Leigh was supposed to be released from the hospital this morning. I was especially excited because Leigh and I decided it would be today that we told the others about "us." I've never liked keeping things from my best friends, so I was more than ready to tell them.

But unfortunately, things didn't go according to plan.

"I can't believe Li-Li's coming home today!" Carlos squealed, pieces of the pancake he was currently eating flying out of his mouth.

Kendall laughed. "Dude, chew with your mouth closed. But you know she still has a long road ahead of her, right?"

Logan nodded in agreement. "She's still recovering, and will have to go to physical therapy for a long time. And, on top of all that, the police still have to investigate the explosion. She's going to have to tell them about her involvement with the mob, and who knows what they might do?"

I froze. "You're not saying they'd like arrest her or something?"

"I don't know," Logan replied seriously, his expression troubled.

Before any of us could say anything else, the phone rang. Mama Knight, who was taking care of a sick Katie in her bedroom, emerged from the room and answered the phone.

"Knight residence."

We heard a gasp and the sound of something falling onto the kitchen tile. I was instantly reminded of another phone call we received not too long ago. I felt blood pound into my ears as a feeling of uneasiness blanketed me.

The others looked just as alarmed, as we listened to Mama Knight assure whoever was on the phone that we'd get there as soon as possible. After hanging up, she entered the room we were sitting in, her face ashen.

"That was the hospital," she began, her eyes welling up with unshed tears, "they called because…Leigh's gone missing."

Mama Knight had to stay home with Katie, so it was just the four of us standing in what used to be Leigh's hospital room, with a frantic nurse explaining what happened.

"I-I was her morning nurse, so it was my first time to check up on her. I-I came in to s-s-s-see how she was d-doing, and she was j-j-just gone."

"This is a hospital! How could she just disappear?" Logan roared. Never in my life have I seen Logan so upset. In the back of my mind, I almost felt kind of bad for the nurse he was yelling at.

Numbly, I made my way to the bed she should've been sleeping in, and sat down on it. I absentmindedly ran my hands over the sheets, hoping that this was just some awful nightmare. My right fingers curled around something. Discreetly, I brought the unknown item closer and discovered it was the necklace Eric had given her. I didn't know what to make of this, whether Leigh left it behind on purpose or not. Regardless, I pocketed the piece of jewelry, the reality of the situation hitting me like a ton of bricks.

"James?" I heard Kendall ask, as I heard footsteps approach me. It took me a minute to realize I was gasping for air.

"He's hyperventilating!" Logan exclaimed.

I heard the scuffling of footsteps before a paper bag was shoved into my face. Taking it, I shoved my face into it, and tried to regulate my breathing. After a few minutes, I was successful. Removing the paper bag from my face, I looked up into a pair of warm, brown eyes. It took me a minute to realize they belonged to a woman I had never seen before. As if reading my thoughts the woman introduced herself to us.

"I'm Kat Cortez...I run this hospital. I'm very sorry about your friend, and I promise we will get to the bottom of this."

"What are you going to do?" Carlos inquired meekly.

"We're going to review the security footage, and follow whatever leads we find," a familiar, gruff voice answered. I looked over at the doorway to discover Detective Butler standing there.

"Detective Butler," Kat greeted, "Now that you're here, we can review the tapes."

The detective nodded, and stepped aside to allow Kat to show him the way. With a determined air, the woman made her way out of the hospital room. I stood up, and my friends and I moved toward the door. Detective Butler held out his hand.

"Oh, no…you're not coming."

"What?" Logan cried, "We want to help!"

"Look, boys…obviously everything that's happened since Leigh arrived in LA is connected. That includes your kidnapping. We know next to nothing, and bringing you all into the case blindly could lead to trouble. So, if you really want to help, you will go home and wait for us to call you with our findings."

"But—" Carlos started to argue, but was cut off by Kendall.

"He's right," Kendall stated dejectedly, "There isn't much we can do."

"We will call you as soon as we find anything," Detective Bulter promised. With a curt nod in our direction, the detective left.

"We have to tell the police what we know!" Carlos demanded for the umpteenth time. "It might help them find Leigh."

"Carlos," Logan explained once again, "We're talking about the Irish mob here. This is some serious business and if we tell the wrong person, we or Leigh could wind up dead. It's much too risky."

"But it just had to be her family who took her! Remember, she said she'd have to pay a price for asking them to help her? This has to be it. Who knows what they're doing to her!"

"Don't you remember what else she said?" I interjected, "Mob families are extremely loyal to their family members. They won't hurt her."

A part of me totally agreed with Carlos, but after listening to him and Logan argue about it for the past four hours, I knew Logan's argument was the most logical.

"So we're just gonna abandon her, then?" Carlos spat, disgusted by the notion.

"The police will find a lead," Kendall responded, assuming the role of fearless leader, "The security footage had to have captured something helpful. And I agree, we can't tell anyone what we know. I know…it sucks. But Leigh risked her life to save us once. We can't be reckless."

With heavy hearts, the four of us agreed to play the waiting game. Hopefully, our patience will pay off.

RING….RING

Franticially, I answered my cell phone. "Hello?"

"Yes, Mr. Diamond? It's Detective Butler."

I remained silent, waiting for him to continue. Picking up on my cue, he resumed.

"We need you and the other boys to come back to the hospital."

"We'll be there as soon as we can," I promised before hanging up on the detective.

Logan, who was sitting next to me, jumped up from his seat and rounded the other two guys. Silently, the four of us made our way to the hospital, hoping for some good news.

"So, we've reviewed the tape," Detective Butler began, "And we might have found a few things."

The detective pressed a button on the remote he was holding, and we turned our attention to the monitor. It took me a moment to register that we were looking at one of the hallways in the hospital, most likely the hallway that Leigh's room was on. The screen remained still, save a couple of nurses who were completing their rounds. It wasn't until the clock on the bottom of the screen read midnight that something happened.

I didn't even realize it was happening until it happened. We spotted a nurse going into one of the rooms, which seemed normal enough. But then, another figure entered the room as well. At first, I didn't think much of it, I just figured something happened to the patient and the nurse needed help. Ten minutes later, the door to that room opened, revealing a sight that made me want to vomit. Three figures emerged from the room, the one in the middle feebly flailing. The two other figures moved down the corridor quickly, not even noticing that their victim was moving.

Detective Butler pressed another button, and we found ourselves looking at footage from the hospital garage. We saw the same three figures walking in the garage, but this time the middle one had stopped moving. I watched in horror as they opened the passenger side door of an unmarked jeep and placed the middle figure inside. The remaining two opened the back doors of the car and sat down. The car roared to life and quickly left the parking garage.

I looked over at my friends, noticing that they too were greatly affected by what we had just seen. I could only imagine how I must've looked…I felt like I was going to pass out after what I saw.

Detective Butler turned the monitor off and looked at us warily. "Ms. Cortez is currently looking into who was Leigh's nurse at that hour. Hopefully from there we'll find a trail. But the reason why I asked you four to come back down again is to ask you if you know something. Because if you do, I highly recommend you tell me."

The four of us turned to look at each other, not sure how best to proceed. We could potentially put Leigh in even more danger if we told the truth. If her family somehow discovered she ratted them out…well, I shudder to think what they might do to her.

"Well?" Detective Butler prompted.

I exchanged glances with Kendall. He gave me a small smile before answering the detective.

"We don't know anything." I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces in response to his lie. We knew everything. In fact, I'd go so far as to say we were the key to this case. But the risk was far too great.

Detective Butler eyed each of us expectantly, hoping it would scare us to change our story. Seeing that his tactic had failed, the detective sighed as he pulled something out of his pocket.

"My card," he explained, handing it to Kendall, "Call me if you remember something."

We all nodded, but knew we'd never call. Detective Butler dismissed us, and we silently made our way back to the Palm Woods, knowing that with each step we took, we distanced ourselves further and further away from ever seeing Leigh again.

Leigh POV

"Welcome back, baby sister," Aidan said. I could practically hear the grin that was on his face.

I ignored him as he continued to lead me down the hallway. Even though I had never been in this place before, I knew exactly where he was taking me. We eventually found ourselves standing in front of an elaborate oak door. Aidan knocked on it three times, and the door opened. Pushing me inside, I found myself looking into the green eyes I had known all my life.

"Father."

"Ma mhuirnín, you have returned at long last," he replied, enveloping me in a tight hug. After a couple of minutes, he pulled away, staring at me with adoration in his eyes.

I concealed my anger, knowing that he could flip at any given moment and punish me for disrespecting him. Instead, I remained silent, keeping my expression as stony as possible.

"It's been a long two years," he continued, "But we can all finally go home."

I felt my heart drop to my toes, knowing that this was the end. The price has been paid in full, and it was costly. My freedom, my independence…it was all gone now. And most importantly…James was gone. He and the others would be nothing more than a wonderful memory that would dim with time.

I could only hope that I, too, would become a faded memory for them.

A/N: So…do you guys want a sequel? It's completely up to you. If you do want a sequel, send me some ideas because quite frankly I have none.

I realize it's a bit choppy, but I sort of did for a reason...to reflect the chaoticness of the situation. Just so you know hahaha.

Oh, and translation time: ma mhuirnín means "my darling" or "sweetheart." At least, according to this website I found. lol

Thank you so much for reading this story! This was my first story EVER and I can't believe I actually finished it. You guys have been absolutely amazing, and all the feedback has been incredible. Love you all!