Chapter 31

Kendall was getting better.

James was sure of it.

Today, when they went swimming at the famous Palm Woods Pool (without Carlos), Kendall remembered how to swim. He was pretty good at it, too.

He didn't cry as much or throw tantrums when he didn't get what he wanted. He still did occasionally, but… not as much.

He started remembering their names more and more, and fragments of his move to L.A. had started to appear in his mind.

For instance, a few days back, before the big fight, James had been yelling about his hair, and Kendall had come up and said, "You're just like Gustavo. You both always yell." He giggled at that.

So, yeah, he remembered Gustavo and maybe Kelly, too. Maybe even Freight Train.

And at the pool today, Kendall had gone up to Jo and said dreamily, "You're pretty." So he still had the same crush from before.

Jo had been taking it kind of hard. Whenever she saw Kendall, she couldn't help but still love him, even though he was different now. Whenever Kendall did something childish, she'd have tears in her eyes.

But today, after Kendall's comment about her appearance, she forced out a smile and walked away quickly. Camille chased after her, telling her it would be okay.

"What's wrong with her?" Kendall had asked innocently. Then he shrugged and went back to cannonballing into the pool happily.

Maybe he didn't know how to love anymore.

After all, he had the brain of a, like, 5 year old.

But there was still one thing

Almost every other night, Kendall would wake up, screaming. He'd always say the same thing over and over again, tears streaming down his face and his body quivering.

He'd always scream "I know! I know! I know!" Over and over again.

No one knew what it meant, and Kendall would scream nothing more. Just those two words. Over and over and over again…

I know! I know! I know…

line line line

James watched Kendall eat his spaghetti carefully, trying to take his mind off the completely awkward dinner.

Mrs. Knight and Katie had gone out for the night, just like the three boys had when they went to Fun Burgers. The girls needed some time alone. To comfort one another and ensure each other that everything was going to be okay.

Even when they knew the truth.

Hopefully, they didn't get into a fight after, too.

James tried to smile. "Kendall, buddy, is it good?" Kendall looked up, and James had to laugh at the tomato sauce mustache on the blonde boy's face.

Kendall grinned. "I wuv it!" He smiled giddily. "Thanks for making it, James!"

James grinned back. For real this time. "No problem, buddy. I'm glad you like it."

Kendall bounced in his seat like a little kid. And maybe, after all, he was.

Though Kendall was older than both Logan and Carlos, he was now technically the baby of the group. For obvious reasons.

"J-James?" James was shook out of his thoughts. He looked up, his eyes falling on the speaker. Carlos.

He immediately changed his curious glance to a glare, and Carlos looked down. "Can… can you pass the salt?" He asked timidly. It would have been a little comical if James and Carlos weren't enemies now.

James reluctantly slid the salt towards Carlos clumsily. Carlos, being the klutz he sometimes was, dropped the salt. It shattered on the floor, making Kendall flinch.

Then, without a warning, he started crying. The glass breaking must have startled him, and Logan quickly ran to help his disabled friend. "It's okay, Kendall. Don't cry. It's alright. Something just broke."
But Kendall didn't stop crying. Logan sighed, giving Carlos a small glare as he led Kendall away into his room. James stood up angrily, going into the kitchen island to get the sweeper.

There was an awkward silence between James and Carlos, with Kendall's sobs breaking in between, until Carlos cleared his throat nervously. "I-I'm sorry about that." He whispered.

James threw down his broom. "Do you really think we don't have enough on our hands? You just had to be a stupid klutz and drop the stupid salt? Really?" Carlos shrunk back a little, fear in his eyes, but James didn't care.

"You've already betrayed us, traitor, and now you have to make Kendall cry? And to think that I was your best friend!" James shouted, towering over Carlos threateningly.

Carlos back away into the wall. "I didn't betray any of you! And anyways, this was your fault anyways! If you hadn't 'passed' the salt like that, nothing would have happened!" Carlos retorted.

James slammed Carlos's smaller figure into the wall so hard that Carlos's breath was knocked out of him for a few seconds at least. "Don't blame this on me! You're just doing this one purpose, aren't you? First you hurt Logan and make him cry, and now Kendall?"

Carlos breathed heavily. "I-I wouldn't do any of this on purpose! I love Kendall, he's my brother!" He cried, defending himself the best he could.

"Yeah, but what about Logan?" James challenged.

Carlos widened his eyes. "I love Logan just as much as Kendall!" He said confidently.

James wasn't convinced. He slammed Carlos into the wall again, making the smaller boy whimper a little. "I can't believe I was ever your friend. You're such a wimp… you can't even fight back." He hissed.

Carlos froze, anger and a little hurt in his brown eyes. "Well, news flash for you! I don't know how I ever became friends with someone so pathetic either. You're half a foot taller than me; do you really think I can fight back and actually win?" He cried.

James laughed. "You know you could never hit me, even if you were bigger than me. You're too much of a goodie-two shoe pushover to do anything mean to me." James smirked at the smaller boy.

Carlos balled up his fists, but then took a deep breath and unclenched them. "If-if you're gonna be like this, then I'm leaving." He announced shakily.

James laughed again. He pulled Carlos towards the door and shoved him out. "Fine! Leave! See if I care!"

He slammed the door in Carlos's face, but the younger boy stopped it with his hand. "You at least have to let me get my stuff!" He shouted angrily.

James huffed and let Carlos in. When the smaller boy came out with a suitcase of his stuff, Kendall was still crying.

"James?" James looked over at Carlos, and suddenly, he felt a spark of pity and guilt light up inside of him.

He had slammed his little brother into the wall two times, called him names, and kicked him out of 2J, the apartment that all of them were supposed to share together.

Carlos was his best friend, his little brother, his best friend. They did practically everything together.

He couldn't do this. Not to Carlos.

But then the spark vanished. "I hope you have a good rest of your life." Carlos said, before angrily stomping out the door. He didn't look back.

"Yeah, you too!" James shouted back, all his guilt forgotten.

Carlos was different now, and nothing would ever change that.

"James? What's going on out there?" James turned around and saw Logan's tired face. Kendall had stopped crying.

"N… nothing. Is Kendall okay?" James asked, changing the subject.

Logan wasn't fooled. "He's fine now. Where's Carlos?"

James looked away. Logan's heart fell. He had heard shouting outside. He hadn't known it would get this far. "You… you kicked him out?" Logan cried loudly.

James nodded. "Yeah, this is all his fault anyway!"

Logan grabbed James's shoulder and punched it a little. "Dude! You can't kick him out! He's not even 18 yet, he would never fare on his own out there! And you know L.A.'s crime rate is high, especially at night."

"Yeah, but, but… Logan, he's hurting us. He's hurting Kendall… he's hurting you. Maybe it's time he left. He doesn't like us anymore anyways." Suddenly, James felt that pang of sadness in his heart.

He'd been trying to push it back, but it just kept on coming back.

He felt tears in his eyes. "Logan… I just don't want to lose him! But-but I have no choice, cuz he hates us now, Logan… he hates m-me." James whispered, tears streaming down his face.

Logan sighed sadly, coming over and wrapping his arms around James. "Aw, James, don't cry. You don't know he hates you. Maybe he… maybe he's just confused, James. You know how Carlos is. He's innocent, and he'd never hate someone. Never. Just give him another chance, please?"

James looked Logan in the eye. "Yeah. O-okay."

Logan smiled. "Alright, we'll go look for him right after Mrs. Knight comes back with Katie."

James sighed. "What if… what if he doesn't want to be our friend anymore? After all, he still didn't apologize for what he said the other night."

Logan looked away at the memory. Then, suddenly, he remembered something.

A few weeks before, he'd overheard Carlos talking to Mrs. Knight.

I-I'm just afraid they'll blame me for Kendall's accident. It's my fault, I know, but-but I'm just afraid they'll hate me for it.

That's what Carlos had said.

And then, Logan remembered what he had said to Carlos. Something along the lines of, "This is all your fault anyways!"

Logan froze. "Shoot. Darn it." He whispered to himself loudly.

James was confused. "Uh, what?"

"He didn't say those mean words until I started blaming him for Kendall's accident. He was just feeling guilty, James… and I made it worse."

There was silence for a while. Logan looked so guilty himself; James patted his back a little. "Hey. This isn't your fault."

"Yeah it is! If Carlos doesn't come back, it's all my fault! Oh my gosh, I can't believe I didn't notice earlier! I'm… I'm such a horrible friend." He sobbed, burying his face into James's shirt.

James found the roles switched around again. "Hey, Logan, don't cry. We'll find Carlos, I promise. He couldn't have gone far, right? And you're just as guilty as he is. After all, you both blamed each other. It's not your fault, Logan."

Logan looked up and tried to smile. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks, man. Hey, I think Mrs. Knight's coming back."

James listened and heard it too, the sound of keys turning. Logan had always been able to hear small details. "Yeah, let's go look for Carlos."

"Hello, boys. Where's Carlos?" Mrs. Knight asked curiously. Katie immediately ran away to her room. Or maybe to visit Kendall.

James and Logan looked at each other. "We're going to find him." They replied simultaneously. Mrs. Knight looked at them, deciding that she would trust them for now. They were 18, for heaven's sake… and they had taken care of Kendall all this time, hadn't they?

They were responsible; they were no longer the small boys she had taken care of back in Minnesota.

"Alright, I trust you two… be careful, okay? I love you." She told them, kissing them both on the cheek gently.

James and Logan grinned at each other. "We love you too."

They were going to find Carlos. And make sure they apologized.

Their friendship's broken bond was going to be mended.

A/N- Hello, friends, with another update! I love all your reviews guys (and girls), so keep it up! Thanks for being so supportive of this story! And aren't you glad the guys made up (almost)?

And wow… that was some intense fight between James and Carlos, huh? Haha. Wait, that's not funny…

Well, tell me about your thoughts, guys, and that's all for now. Wow, short AN.

Peace, Love, and Giraffes,

Anonymous Skrtle