A/N: Obligatory freak out over #WooHooWhiteHouse. Seriously though, James needs to stop with the ties. Just makes me wanna be tied up with them and...well you catch my drift.

Um...okay, this is still a little slow but it's required build up, establishing characters, blahblahblah... It's all necessary boring stuff and it'll make more sense in later chapters. But the Kendall/Katie moments in this were cute in my eyes so *shrugs*

Xcel Energy Centre is property of itself (I guess, I really have no idea). Chapter title is from "Festival Song" by Good Charlotte.

Shout outs to all who've reviewed! Love each and every one of ya. Special shout out to Nath (again) for not having killed me and assuring me that she won't. Although I'm sure it's cause of the whole Masbabies thing and she wouldn't wanna be a liar, but ya know.

Kendall wasn't a doctor. That was for fucking sure. He still had to graduate high school, then go through college and med school, which wasn't fucking happening. He had no desire to be a doc. Not that he knew what he actually wanted to do for the rest of his life, but he sure as shit wasn't gonna deal with four more years of schooling for a career he had zero interest in.

Point was, he couldn't really diagnose anyone with anything. And sure, WebMD made it easy for people to figure out what was wrong with themselves, he wasn't about to put in any effort to look it up. Besides, he could use what limited knowledge he had and figure out for himself that he was freaking the fuck out.

Okay, not a professional diagnosis that any tool in a lab coat would give him, but it definitely defined what exactly the blond was going through. The only way to describe it really, other than some fangirl keysmashing thing, and he definitely wasn't a fangirl.

Maybe a fanboy, but definitely not a fangirl.

It started the night before, when he decided to sleep in a pair of boxers and that fucking shirt Carlos had given him. He told himself that he only wore it because he didn't wanna hurt his friend's feelings. After all, the guy had gone through all the trouble to have it made, it would be rude not to wear it, right? So yeah, totally not wearing it because it was a reminder that what had happened actually took place and that it wasn't a dream and that he really had been onstage with James Diamond.

Totally not that.

At all.

He barely slept, tossing and turning, anticipation and excitement coursing through his veins, causing his entire body to be restless, his mind to go through a million scenarios of what could happen the next day. By two AM, he'd had practically every possibility thought up, every potential way for things to happen, every conversation they could have. And he had his responses thought up for each one, how he'd react, what he'd say. There was nothing that could happen the next day that he hadn't already come up with a plan of action for.

And he woke up—after finally dozing off around three or so—thinking about those some scenarios, his anxiety having ratcheted up, getting the better of him. He started worrying about whether or not James would remember him, about how he'd react if the singer didn't recognize him, about what would happen if that same spark wasn't there again. He felt like a fucking drama queen, as the thought 'I'd fucking die if he didn't remember me' flashed through his head. He knew it was an impossibility. But it didn't stop the phrase from feeling somewhat true.

He showered, hoping to wash away all the negativity, trying to focus on the show itself. He was gonna be seeing one of his favorite singers in concert. He was gonna have a fun fucking time hearing those songs live, see those dance moves that drove him crazy via YouTube videos. Granted he might have to shield his sister's eyes for some of 'em. Nah, fuck that. She sees worse watching those cop shows she loved.

Kendall left the shower in a better mood, focusing on the excitement throughout breakfast, dealing with another lecture from his mom about safety, about watching over his little sister, about behaving and not doing anything stupid. He contained his eye rolling, knowing it wasn't too late for her to turn around and state he couldn't do. Not that he thought she'd punish Katie that way—Kendall still using the excuse it was for his sister's birthday the following week—but he wasn't about to take any chances.

He couldn't, however, stop his green orbs from turning to the ceiling when his mom brought up no staying after the show, no matter what.

"Why would we stay after?" Katie asked, innocence all over her face, once again actually seeming her age.

"Mom doesn't want us going to any after parties," Kendall explains, his sarcastic ways unable to be contained at that moment. "They may have clowns with helium tanks and we'll get high and kill brain cells."

"Kendall." His mom's voice was a warning and he held his hands up.

"Joking. No one huffs helium anymore." He shot up from his seat, putting his dishes in the washer, hoping to get away before his mom could get at him for his sarcasm. But no such luck.

"Oh, no. You sit right back down," she ordered, head practically rolling with attitude. "Katie, go to your room."

"But you're gonna yell at him."

"Katie!"

"Fine." The eleven year old sighed harshly, sliding off her chair and heading over to put her dishes away before doing as she was told.

The Knight mom stood there, hip cocked, arms folded over her chest. "We need to talk."

Kendall let out a sigh of his own, smearing a hand over his face before resting his forearms on top of the table.

"We gotta set some ground rules before you go anywhere with your little sister."

"Mom," he started calmly, evenly, hoping if he kept an even tone it would earn him some points and he could be dismissed sooner. "I know what to do, okay? Trust me."

"Uh huh." Her tone was as disbelieving as her facial expressions. "Right. Because over the past couple years, you've done nothing but earn that trust. What, with the sneaking out in the middle of the night, getting drunk and high, disappearing for entire weekends at a time."

Okay, she had a point, but Kendall wasn't gonna admit that. "I'm not gonna do that with Katie. I wouldn't let anything happen to my baby sister." And it was the truth. As much as he was a little shit himself, as much as he didn't give a fuck about what happened to himself, he cared about what happened to his sister. He loved her too much. That, plus his mom would legit kill him.

The Knight matriarch sighed, running a hand through her red hair. "Fine. But just know that if anything happens to her, you are beyond dead."

"I know." With that, he got up and finally put his dishes away, heading back to his room.

Carlos' first text came in about noon, stating how long until the show, all in caps, three exclamation marks. From the level of excitement in those typed up words, Kendall could've sworn the Latino was the one who was going, not himself. There was also an excited e-mail from Camille in his inbox, saying she hoped he had fun and wishing him luck in being the second guy picked to be onstage. Kendall had to bite his tongue on that one, stop himself from correcting her about being the first and only guy who'd been brought up there, typing up a different response instead.

"Thought you were busy shipping James and that Kendall dude..."

He left to do his chores, finding her reply an hour later.

"I am. But doesn't mean I can't hope you get up there and have a romantic moment of your own ;)"

If she only knew.

He simply put an 'lol thanks' as a response, shutting down his laptop for the rest of the day.

Carlos kept texting his countdown, not that Kendall needed it. He had one of his own going. But he was humoring his friend, feeling bad that he wasn't taking the Latino to the concert. After all, like Carlos had said, he was the reason Kendall and James had met, so to speak. He owed the smaller male, and the blond was planning on making it up to him. He'd start by buying him a tee.

The darker haired male replied 'make it a hoodie & ur 4given :)'

The blond told him not to push it.

That earned him a 'hehe' in response, and another unnecessary countdown update.

Kendall and Katie left around lunchtime, picking up fast food and eating it on the way, not wanting to be late for the meet and greet. Not that Kendall was paranoid about missing it or anything. Hell no. And the only reason they were listening to James Diamond on the way was because of Katie, because he knew she'd wanna listen to it.

Man, he really needed to learn how to lie to himself better because he was doing such a shit job of it.

The music faded into the background anyway, Katie on her cell—which Kendall had no fucking clue why an eleven year old even needed a fucking cell phone in the first place—chatting away with some friend—which he was honestly surprised she had. Nothing against her, just she wasn't exactly the friendliest girl out there, plus she tended to act older than her actual age, making it hard for her to relate to kids in her peer group.

Whatever. Kendall wasn't gonna think about that either. Not by choice really. No, 'cause his brain and all its rebelliousness had decided to cause him pain once again by going over all those fucking scenarios that he'd already thought up, focusing on the more negative outcomes. Pretty much SOP at that point.

He reached the highway, his driving now happening on autopilot, being able to go straight for several miles at one speed without really having to consciously think about doing anything regarding the car. Everything else seemed to just melt away from his conscious mind, Kendall not hearing Katie's blabbering, the music playing, the car's engine, or the engines of those around him. All he could think about was what was gonna happen in an hour or so, about how he was gonna see James in person once more, about how he was gonna touch him and feel him and breathe him and oh my fucking god, he had turned into a fucking pansy.

Adjusting his beanie on top of his head then smearing his hand over his face, Kendall tried to calm himself down, tried not to get his hopes up too high. Really, all he should be expecting was a good show. All this other shit, anything regarding James himself, he should anticipate nothing. There were no guarantees there about anything happening on any level. Expecting something, hoping for something, it was just setting himself up for disappointment and he didn't want his night ruined because of it. The concert might not turn out to be as special or as life-altering as the last one, but it could still be a damn good time.

Music cut into his revery, bringing him back to reality, that fucking piano track starting up. Without even thinking about it, he reached his hand over to skip the track, Katie's voice stopping him.

"Whoa! What're you doing?!"

His hand froze as he turned his head, green eyes looking at wide chocolate brown ones. "What?"

"You can't skip this song!"

He glanced at the road a couple times, one eyebrow raised in question and confusion. "Why the hell not?"

"Because I need to listen to it so I can prepare myself."

Kendall finally dropped his hand, resting his elbow on the center console of his car, head turned towards the front windshield. But he could still see his little sister out the corner of her eyes, see how she was turned towards him, face serious, arms folded over her blue flannel shirt. "For what exactly?"

"For when he brings me onstage."

Now his eyebrows completely scrunched up, confused once again. "What makes you so sure you're gonna be brought onstage?"

She rolled her eyes, her head mimicking the action before focusing back on her big brother. "We have aisle seats, near the front. Prime picking spot."

More confusion from Kendall. "How do you know we have aisle seats?"

"I memorized the layout of Xcel Energy Centre, then saw the seat numbers on the tickets."

Now his eyes were wide in panic. He'd kept the tickets in his nightstand drawer for safe keeping—ironically also the place where he kept his lube and condoms. His eleven year old sister didn't need to see those in person, especially not in her older brother's room. The lecture his mom would give him about that one...

"When'd you see the tickets?"

"Earlier today."

Relief flooded him, his shoulders slumping, a deep breath leaving him. Thank fuck for that. He was gonna live to see another day.

"What?" She let out a scoff of disbelief. "You thought I went through your stuff to look for them?" She shook her head, rolling her eyes, before pushing her loosely curled hair back from her face. "Get real, big brother. I'm sure there's some stuff in your room that I don't even wanna know about."

"And I don't want you knowing about 'em either."

"So, that's settled then."

"Yeah, sure." He wasn't entirely sure what exactly had been settled, but wasn't about to go into details. As long as she stayed out of his room and away from his shit, he was fine with whatever.

A long moment of silence settled over them. Well, as silent as things can be with music coming out every speaker of the car. Thank fuck it wasn't that song.

Then Katie spoke again.

"So, what do you do when I'm brought onstage? Just sit there and stew in your jealousy, anger festering inside of you, envy oozing out every pore?" she questioned as she leaned towards Kendall, evil look in her eyes as she wiggled her fingers maniacally.

He opened his mouth to speak, to tell her about how Carlos stayed in his seat, about how he wasn't sure if the Latino was jealous or angry or envious or any of that shit. But Kendall stopped himself before he uttered a single syllable, closing his mouth once more. Katie still had no clue her big brother had gone onstage and he wasn't about to change that fact.

Smearing his hand over his face again, elbow resting on the door, he shrugged. "I dunno 'bout all that other stuff, but yeah, I'll probably just hafta stay in my seat. If you even get picked, which I doubt."

She snorted. "Oh, I am getting picked," she stated with full conviction, slim finger pointed at her big brother. "Just you watch."

Kendall rolled his eyes as the sign for their exit showed up. "Sure, baby sister. Whatever you say." He checked in the mirrors and his blind spots, indicator on, before going into the right lane.

"Well, he's definitely not gonna pick you. You're a guy, for starters. Plus I'd kill you."

The smile on his face was a smug one. "You'd have no way to get home."

"Oh, I won't kill you right away. I have it all planned out."

Kendall eased the car onto the off-ramp, slowing down as they came to a red light, glancing at his sister a few times to see the serious look in her eyes, the evil smirk on her face, arms still folded over her chest, back against the chair in her own sense of smugness.

"You are something else, baby sister."

"And don't you forget it."

He smiled, traffic moving as the light turned green, his foot easing off the brake. "Not possible."

Conversation ceased for the rest of the ride, Kendall trying not to get lost in downtown St. Paul, Katie now chewing on a thumbnail as she stared out her window. He tried to keep his mind focused on driving and directions and signs, but his body still managed to react, that whole heart-pounding, stomach-flipping, chest-tightening, butterflies-flying thing happening inside of him. Quick glances in his rear and side view mirrors told him he wasn't showing any of that on his face, so he had that going for him.

Traffic wasn't all that bad, he easily managing to find a parking space since it was so early. Only 2:45, but there were still lines of people. He had a feeling not all of them were VIPs though.

Shutting the engine down, he double-checked he had everything in his pockets, Katie already out the car by the time he got his seat belt off. She was gonna be fucking trouble that night, he just knew it.

Taking a deep breath, puffing up his cheeks and blowing it out, he braced himself for the emotional rollercoaster he was about to endure. He wasn't a Hunger Games fan, but he sure as fuck hoped the odds were ever in his favor.