Chapter 3

Kendall thrashed around in bed, not able to sleep. He couldn't stop worrying about everything that had happened. Him messing up in the studio, missing the catch… the weird headaches and blurred vision.

What could be wrong with him? It could just be a cold or the flu or something… but he didn't have a fever. It could be something ordinary… but what worried Kendall was that it could be something worse. But he doubted it.

Call him paranoid, but whenever he felt something weird happening to him, he'd think it was some life threatening disease. But the next day he'd forget about it, and his body was still as healthy as ever. This was just like those times. He was fine, today was just an… off day. He'd be perfectly fine tomorrow.

Kendall fell asleep with that satisfying thought.

Line line line

When Kendall woke, he didn't know if he was surprised or not. His headache was still there, and it felt worse than yesterday. When he opened his eyes, his vision wasn't blurry. Everything was getting more and more puzzling by the second. He had symptoms and then he didn't. Maybe Logan would know what disease, if any, he had. Logan knew almost every disease there was. And this one was probably no exception. But Kendall didn't even know if he was sick or not.

The blonde boy wondered if he should tell Logan about all the weird stuff happening to him.

As quickly as the thought had occurred, it disappeared. Kendall almost slapped himself. If he told Logan, he and James and even little Carlos would baby him to death. They'd make him lay in bed all day and night, and they'd feel bad for him and feed him and treat him like a little baby. Kendall would not let that happen.

Kendall was the leader. He was the rock, the one that was always strong. If he was sick, he would never live it down again. He wouldn't be that strong leader figure that his friends looked up to. He had to take care of himself just like a leader would.

He may have been overreacting, but Kendall didn't want to risk it. It was just a headache. He'd had millions of them. He was being such a worry wart about such an useless little thing. If he'd stop worrying about it, he'd probably forget about it, the headache would disappear, and everything would be normal again.

He did not want to be taken care of. Out of all his friends, he probably hated being sick the most. It was embarrassing when his friends found out and even more embarrassing when they had to take care of him. He felt so useless, like he couldn't do anything for himself. Lying sick in bed meant you couldn't do anything, and Kendall always felt like he should be helping and protecting his friends every minute of every day.

Sure, James could be stubborn when it came to admitting he was sick. But in the end, James gave it up and just accepted the fact that he was sick, even though he wasn't really okay with it. Sometimes, Logan was stubborn and didn't want to admit that he wasn't feeling good. But he knew his limits, being a doctor-in-training, and when it got too much for him, he knew it. He'd tell his friends and they'd nurse him back to health. Carlos was the baby; he went to his friends crying when he had a stomachache. He wasn't hesitant at all when it came to telling his friends he didn't feel good.

But Kendall was a different story. The last time he'd gotten sick was when he was 12. He was so sick he could barely walk, but he hadn't told him mom about it and still agreed to go play hockey with his friends.

During the game, he had to leave three times to go throw up in the bathroom. Every time, he felt as if he couldn't take another breath, but he'd still go back in and play hockey. He skated as fast as he could, even though it made him feel so dizzy he almost fell over. He got checked a bunch of times, and every single hit increased the black spots dancing around in his eyes.

In the end, Kendall ended up fainting in the middle of the rink. The next thing he knew, he was in the hospital, and the doctor was telling him he had the stomach flu. His friends and his mom asked him why he wasn't resting at home.

"Kendall, honey, why didn't you tell us?" Mrs. Knight asked gently, sitting down next to Kendall's hospital bed.

Kendall avoided her and his friends' gazes. "I… I'm not sick."

James scoffed. "Kendall, stop pretending you're not sick. You just fainted on the ice. Don't tell us you're not sick. That's bull-" James stopped himself when Logan cast him a stern glance. The smart boy looked back at Carlos to see if the innocent boy had heard or not, but Carlos was too busy staring at Kendall.

"Kendall, we coulda helped ya." Carlos had said innocently. Kendall just sighed and shook his head.

"I don't need help. I can take care of myself perfectly fine." He replied stubbornly.

Logan placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Kendall, I know you're independent, but you have to accept the fact that sometimes, you need other people to lean on. You can't always be the protector."

Kendall shook his head again. "I just don't like other people fussing over me over something as stupid as the stomach flu. I'm fine. I don't even need to be in the hospital right now."

"But Kendall, they're making you better. Don't you wanna get better?" Carlos asked.

"I do, buddy, but I don't need their help. I'll just go home and eat some medicine. I'll be fine by tomorrow. It's just the stinkin' stomach flu. Everyone's had it before. Please, mommy?" Kendall begged his mom with pleading eyes.

His mom looked hesitant, but finally she said, "Alright, Kendall. But next time, promise to tell us if you're sick."

Kendall looked down, avoiding her question completely. He stood up, feeling a bit dizzy.. "Let's go."

Kendall had never promised his mom, because he didn't think he could keep that promise. He just hated being sick and weak and he hated other people worrying over him. He was all better in two days, and the doctors didn't even do anything to help him. See? He could take care of himself.

And this time, he could take care of himself, too. He didn't even feel half as bad as that day he was in the hospital. His headache was actually disappearing now, too, and he felt perfectly fine.

Kendall got up quickly, took a shower, and changed. It was Saturday, and usually, Saturdays were the boys' hang out day. Kendall wasn't about to ruin it.

His headache wasn't constant right now, but every few minutes or so, a blast of pain would burst in his head, and he'd have to stop walking and sit on the couch for a few seconds before the pain went away. The headaches he always had had never felt like this.

"Kendall? Are you okay?" Kendall looked up. Carlos stood in front of him, glancing down at him worriedly.

Kendall nodded. "I'm totally fine. What do you wanna do today, buddy? You can choose."

Carlos's eyes lit up. "Really? Ooh! Can we play hide and seek? Or go to the zoo? Or maybe we can go watch the Batman movie! Or-" Carlos stopped talking when he saw Kendall groaning in pain. The smaller boy sat down next to Kendall and rubbed his back.

"What's wrong, Kendall?" Kendall's stomach dropped. He couldn't let Carlos think there was something wrong with him.

"I… I just stepped on something sharp. Can you get me a band aid, buddy?" Carlos obeyed and brought Kendall what he requested. Kendall placed it on some random part of his foot, and winced, just to make it look more convincing.

Carlos looked convinced, and there wasn't any worry in his eyes anymore. Relieved that he'd convinced Carlos that nothing was wrong, Kendall smiled.

"Kendall, I know! We can play street hockey!" Carlos announced loudly after a few moments. Kendall's head pounded, but he didn't dare show it.

"That's a great idea, Carlos! Let's go." Kendall took Carlos's small wrist and dragged the younger boy out of the room. They met up with James and Logan and headed down to play their favorite sport.

Kendall didn't know what was coming.

A/N- So there's the next chapter! Thank you to all who reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story and me! Love you all!

I'll try to update soon, since my life isn't so busy these days. ;) Please review this chapter and tell me what you think! And what do you think is gonna happen while they're playing street hockey? All will be revealed soon.

Peace, Love, and Giraffes,

Anonymous Skrtle