Kendall lay on his back resting his head on his backpack pulling his blanket tighter around him. He thought about his day, how they had walked for 2 miles before it was almost dark (it getting dark ridiculously early in the winter) and they had to find a spot to camp out where it was slightly more wooded. Their leader had said that they would be walking all day tomorrow and that they would stop just short or where they were going to be needed in order to be safe to sleep, they would need all the energy they could contain for when they had to go to work.

It was freezing out! Kendall looked to his right where Carlos was pressed against him with his head rolled to the side and resting on Logan's shoulder who what pressed against him, they had to stay close for body heat, though the blonde was till shivering. James was curled in a ball, wrapped tightly in his blanket, that really wasn't that warm, but it kept them dry. Kendall reached under James' blanket and found his hand, intertwining their fingers trying to warm his freezing hands while tucking his other one between himself and Carlos. James scooted closer to him and tightened his grip on his hand. Kendall closed his eyes resting his cheek against James' hair. He had no idea what time it was, though he figured it was much later that he should be up…they would probably be woken up as soon as the sun began to peak. Taking a deep breath and having some feeling coming back into his fingertips he settled into a very light sleep, glad he wasn't scheduled for watch tonight.

Kendall awoke with a start when he felt Carlos moving beside him. It was still dark when he opened his eyes though he could see the sky beginning to light. He didn't move trying to enjoy the heat from the boys on either side of him before they would all be getting up for another long day. Carlos stood and Kendall shivered, biting his lip, and groining in protest. He looked down at James, who was resting on his chest, and said, "Hey, babe, get up." He tightened his grip around the brunette's waist and shook him slightly, only getting a groan on and tight grip on his shirt in response.

"James, wake up." Kendall said louder this time and shaking him harder.

James sat up pulling his blanket tight around his shoulders with a glare aimed at the blonde, "Fine, I'm up!"

"Thank you," Kendall stood not happy about this, though he better get over it, and fast, since he was the dumb ass who signed up for all of this bullshit!

He reached down for James' hand to help him up who took it gratefully. Kendall pulled him up forcefully bringing him into a tight hug and whispered, "I love you," before kissing his cheek.

James pulled back and smiled at him, "I love you so much," and pressed his lips gently to Kendall's for a brief moment. This small kiss made Kendall want more, lots more. Sure, he always wanted more, always wanted James, but for some reason he wanted him more than ever now. Maybe because you want what you can't have, and at the moment he couldn't have him, or maybe it was the fact that he just might get killed in this hell hole of a forest, which really wasn't like a forest at all. Kendall pushed his lips to the taller males once again this time with force, holding back a moan, not wanting to draw more attention to himself at this moment. James kissed back, though Kendall could feel his smile through it before he got serious himself and added more heat to the kiss. Kendall ran his hands up the front of the brunette's body and tangled his fingers in his hair this time not being able to control the sudden moan that came to his lips. James smiled slightly again and Kendall nibbled his bottom lip getting a small moan in return.

"Ok, ok," Kendall said out of breath and taking a step back reluctantly, "not here." He let out a breathy laugh and smiled at James who was biting his bottom lip obviously not agreeing with this, though he just nodded, knowing that there was no way anything was going to go farther with the cold and other people in a barely secluded area.

"You're right," He said nodding before grabbing his blanket that had fallen on the ground and stuffed it, with more force than necessary, into his bag, Kendall doing the same.

They were ordered to make one of their MRE's (Meal-Ready-to-Eat) and be packed and ready to head out in 35 minutes. They had been taught how to use these meals and had tried a few of them. They really weren't as bad as people thought they were but still weren't 100% amazing.

Kendall rummaged through his pack and pulled out the first one he felt turning up his nose at what he found, Mexican Style Chicken Stew.

"Carlos, whatdya got?" Kendall asked showing the Latino the front of his package, "You know I don't eat Mexican."

"Yeah, I got" He paused still feeling around for one of his, pulling it out he read, "Beef Roast with Vegetables. Wanna trade?"

"Yeah, thanks buddy." He replied trading with the smaller male.

They went through about half of their meal silently. Kendall hadn't realized how hungry he was until he took his first bite.

"Do you know what pisses me off?" Carlos said loudly catching all of theirs attention.

"What?" James asked before taking another bite of his food.

"That all of our birthday's passed by, except for James cause we all weren't here yet, and we didn't do a damn thing about them, besides the usual 'happy birthday, buddy'!" He ranted using frantic hand gestures.

"Carlos, its fine, once we get outta here we will go back to America and we will all celebrate our birthdays and making it out of this place." James said smiling at the smaller male and patting him on the back. The Latino stared at him, obviously not buying what he was selling.

"Yeah, 'Los, we will make up for all missed birthday celebrations and –"Logan had started before being cut off.

"But what if we all don't make it out of here? Those will be birthday's lost and we will never be able to make up for them." He said not caring that he had just cut off his boyfriend.

Kendall's heart dropped hearing what he had been thinking for the last few months while being here. He shook his head before speaking, "Carlos, we are all gonna get outta here in one piece and we are going to go to Vegas and we are gonna go to Niagara Falls and do so many things together that it won't matter if we miss a few birthday's now. We will go on a trip for all of us." He nudged his best friend with his shoulder, who was looking down at his spoon and half eaten meal. "Whatdya say?"

"Sure, I guess you guys are right." He set his meal down and brought his knee's to his chest not so hungry any more.

"No, 'Los, you finish your food, we need to eat!" Logan said picking up the package and setting it in Carlos' hand.

James leaned over and whispered into Kendall's ear, "I guess we are all a little touché today."

Kendall laughed gently before replying, "Yeah, well, that's what happens when we sleep on the dirt while freezing our asses off." Though he wasn't showing it, he was getting very nervous thinking about their near future and what Carlos had said about them all not making it home. He wasn't only scared for himself he was scared for his best friends and his boyfriend. He smiled at each one of them thinking about what he loved most about them, Logan's laugh that was definitely dorky, Carlos' loyalty to him as a friend, and James who loved him with everything that he had and all of his compassion he put into everything and the energy he had.

20 minutes later they were lined up with guns, helmets, and packs. It was going to be another long day of walking and a whole lot of boring.