(A/N): Whoa. This is a long one. With a LOT of changes! This is a big chapter as it sets up for a lot of plot twists! Anyways, thank you to Dreamer1992 (Katrina won't go to the media. She hates the media. As for Katie though… You'll see.), Milkamoo97 (Hope this was soon enough for you!), Cryss'BTRusher (Katrina can be funny at times. She's just stubborn. Like a cat. Gustavo's not far off from calling her a cat.) and oOo KitKat oOo (Hope you had an amazing birthday!) for your reviews! I don't own Big Time Rush nor do I own the song Pull Myself Together by The Rocket Summer. And now, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 48: The Lies Are Spreading

Later that week, Carlos, James, Kendall and Logan were hanging out by the pool. They were relaxing, not really worrying about anything when Katrina came up to them. They looked over at her through their sunglasses.

After she glared at James for a second, Katrina looked to the rest of them, "Hey, I'm heading out. I promised Brandon I'd go to his graduation ceremony." That's when the guys realized that she was dressed up. She had on white sandals with wood wedged heels. Her dress was the blue that matched her cast. It was strapless and had a couple purple flowers on it along with some scattered leaves. It almost reached her knees. "We're going out to eat afterwards with his parents and Tim. Don't wait up." She smiled at Kendall, Carlos and Logan, glared at James and then left.

"Katrina's gone for the day," Kendall noted as soon as Katrina was out of sight. "And she won't be back until much later. You guys know what that means?" The guys shared knowing smiles.

While Carlos and James were working on the puzzle box with magnetic pieces, Logan and Kendall were trying to decipher what the songs actually meant.

"You know what's bugging me?" Logan mentioned, causing the others to look to him, "Brandon told us that almost all of these songs had a meaning to them, but this one." Logan was pointing at the paper with the song, Pull Myself Together by The Rocket Summer.

"Maybe there's a hint in the song," Kendall guessed. "Should we play it and find out?" Logan nodded. He pulled out the laptop and set it on the dining table that the group was working on. He fiddled with the internet until he got the song to play. The boys sat and listened to it.

Pretty mess with a pretty voice
Humming in my ear, drowning out the world's noise
Such a pretty one
Such a mixed up one
I once was lost, then I was found
I wanna make things better the second time around
What a precious sound
Hearing the words a second time around
And how will you understand?
As if I would back then
How will they understand that's who I was not who I am?
And I'm not a perfect soul
And I'll fall again I know, but oh oh
I must pull myself together
This is a brand new day
Pull myself away from my mistakes
Pull myself together
It's time to let the waves
Just take me, pull me away
And I know for you this must be hard
Giving me a second start
And I know I'm a little bit late
But please don't hate, hate me
Don't hate, hate me
Chain of lies, chain of events
The keys are in your reach, but not in your hands
You don't have to be
A quote good unquote person to be let free
And how will you understand?
As if I would back then
How will they understand that's who I was not who I am?
And I'm not a perfect soul
And I'll fall again I know, but oh oh
I must pull myself together
This is a brand new day
Pull myself away from my mistakes
Pull myself together
It's time to let the waves
Just take me, pull me away
And I know for you this must be hard
Giving me a second start
And I know I'm a little bit late
But please don't hate, hate me
Don't hate, hate me
So pull myself together
This is a brand new day
Pull myself away from my mistakes
Pull myself together
It's time to let the waves
Just take me, pull me away
And I know for you this must be hard
Giving me a second start
And I know I'm a little bit late
But please don't hate, hate me
Don't hate, hate me
The grace you know you're yearning for
Is right here where you're at

"I think I hear the reason why Evan put this song in there," Kendall commented. His friends looked at him. "It's a message to Katrina. He's saying that he'll come back once he's finished with what he's doing, but he'll be a different person and he's hoping that Katrina will give him a second chance to be her brother even though he left her to fend for herself." The boys looked up to the ceiling as they considered this.

Suddenly, James spoke up, "I got it." Logan and Kendall looked at him in surprise while Carlos seemed excited.

"You know where Evan is?" Carlos asked.

"No," James answered, pulling the puzzle box towards him, "I've figured out the puzzle." He moved around the pieces on the top of the box while the others watched curiously. "See, two of the songs have to do with stars and I thought, 'Well, that's weird', but I didn't think of any of it until now. All of these pieces are triangles and if you arrange it like this, it forms a star!" As he placed the last piece, the box let off a click as a drawer popped out of the box. James smirked in triumph. He put his finger in the drawer and pulled out a key.

"Not another mystery!" the four guys groaned.

Logan sighed as he picked up the paper that was the last clue they had, "'Keep the artists in mind'. What could that mean?"

"Isn't artist another name for singer?" Kendall remembered.

"Yeah," Logan nodded. Suddenly, his face lit up as if he realized something, "'Keep the artists in mind'! He's meaning that we shouldn't look at the song! We need to look at the artist that SINGS the song!"

"And?" Carlos still looked confused.

"If we take the first letter of the names, replacing the artist that sings Broken, Seether, with Amy Lee's band Evanescence because that's who sang it with them as a duet, we'd get," Logan wrote something on the clue paper, smiling to himself. "The Superstar Lounge."

"I know where that is!" Carlos told them. "It's right across the street from Katrina's old apartment in that bad neighborhood."

"Wait a second," James mentioned, "Does that mean that Evan was right next to Katrina this entire time?"

"We're gonna find out," Kendall replied.

Katrina walked into her school from before the tragedy. She looked around the place, reminiscing about the good times she had at the place. People stopped and stared at her as she made her way towards the cafeteria where she was supposed to meet up with Brandon, his family and Tim.

Suddenly, someone called out to her, "Katrina!" She turned around to find Cody Caulkins, one of Katrina's old crushes and the quarterback of the football team, running towards her. Before she could escape into the cafeteria, he blocked her way. He was decked out in his graduating robe since he was a part of Brandon's graduating class. "I didn't know you were going to be here! How have you been? Your brother isn't here, is he?" He looked around nervously as though expecting Evan to show up out of nowhere.

"Evan's not here," Katrina told him, "I'm here for Brandon."

Cody seemed to relax at this, "You look amazing, even with that cast."

"Thanks. How's Tamera?" Katrina mentioned her old friend who had started dating Cody when they were in school together. Cody's face fell.

"We broke up," Cody replied. "We just didn't have anything in common. As in, she's moving across the country to go to college in Maryland and I'm staying here." He waved his hand as though it was old news. "Are you doing anything after this?"

"I'm going out to eat with Brandon and his parents."

"What about tomorrow?" Cody smirked.

"Uh," Katrina searched her mind for any excuse not to hang out with him, "I… I have a boyfriend. He's… taking me out on a date."

Cody frowned, "Really?"

"Yeeeaahh," Katrina stretched out the word. "Don't you hear the celebrity news? I'm dating that member from Big Time Rush. They're a band."

"I thought that was just rumors. Who is this exactly?"

Katrina hesitated for a second before saying, "James Diamond."

Cody had picked up the hesitation and smirked, "Well, maybe I should stop by the Palm Woods and visit you and your boyfriend some time." He noted that Katrina's eyes went wide. "In fact, I think I will. I'll see you around." He gave her a prizewinning smile before he headed into the cafeteria, leaving Katrina stunned frozen.

That's where Brandon found her. He ran his hand in front of Katrina's face to see if she would snap out of it, "Rina? Are you okay?" She didn't move. Brandon snapped his fingers and she shook her head as she finally realized that Brandon was standing beside her. "What's wrong?"

"I've got a problem," Katrina told him. "And his name is Cody." Brandon's eyebrows went up in shock as Katrina started the explanation.

Logan, Kendall, James and Carlos walked into the Superstar Lounge. They looked around the rundown club. It was as dirty as the apartment Katrina had lived at before. There were a couple drunk guys at the bar. A bartender was trying to clean the glasses with a dirty rag. The guys made their way up to him.

The bartender looked the band up and down before he snidely remarked, "I think you're lost, kiddies. This isn't Hollywood." He smirked at his words.

Kendall ignored the comment, "We're looking for Evan Wolff."

The bartender's smirk disappeared, "He didn't say anything about four guys. He mentioned one black guy and one teenage girl." The guys looked at each other. "You're probably looking for some 'help' then." They looked back to the bartender, curiously. "And if so, I advise you to just turn around, leave and never come back. This is the big boys you're dealing with. Just get a loan from the bank or something. You'll be less likely to end up dead that way."

"What did Evan get himself into?" James mentioned.

"We're not here for money," Logan told the man. "We just need to talk to him."

"About what?" the bartender looked confused.

"His sister," Carlos replied.

The bartender raised his eyebrows, "You're out of luck then. The boss ain't here."

"Boss?" The guys exclaimed.

"Yeah," the bartender nodded his head. "He only comes around during big trouble."

"Do you know where he goes when he's not here?" Logan asked. The bartender shook his head. The guys sighed.

"Did Evan leave anything for those two people you mentioned before?" Kendall asked, trying to find some answers. "Some way of contacting him."

The bartender scoffed, "All the boss leaves here is a locked box." He reached down behind the bar and pulled out a small box and placed it on the counter top. It was a simple wooden box with a key hole in it. "You're welcome to try and find the key. The boss won't give it to me."

Carlos looked to James, "You still got that key?"

James fished out the key from his pocket. He held it up, "Yep." He pulled the box towards him. He put the key in the hole. "It fits." His friends and the bartender leaned in to watch as James turned the key and then opened the lid. James reached in and pulled out yet another piece of paper.

"Not another puzzle!" Logan, Carlos and Kendall groaned. The bartender raised his eyebrows.

"Actually," James started, "This one just has an address." Kendall snatched the paper from him. "Hey!"

Kendall ignored him. He looked to Logan, "Do you know where this is?"

"Nope," Logan replied as he was getting out his phone, "But I'm gonna find out." He entered the address on an internet map service to find out where it was. After a couple seconds of waiting, Logan had the answer, "It's by the ocean. Looks like it's some type of dock." He showed the others.

Kendall's face fell, "We'll need a car to get there."

"I'm guessing that Brandon won't drive us there," Carlos mentioned.

"Probably not," James agreed.

"Can we discuss this back at the apartment?" Logan asked. The boys looked around and realized that the club wasn't the best place to talk about their next move.

"Right," Kendall agreed, "Let's go."

Katrina, Brandon, his parents and Tim were eating at a semi-fancy restaurant. They were talking about Brandon's dad's latest movie, Star-Crossed American Lovers.

"It's kind of like Romeo and Juliet," Mr. Hawk told the group. "But with a modern streets twist. The only problem right now is our leading actress. She's the most spoiled brat that I've ever had to work with. I would replace her, but I need to have approval from the director AND a replacement who's even better than our current one."

"There are plenty of unknown actresses at the Palm Woods," Katrina mentioned, "Maybe you can audition some of them."

Mr. Hawk seemed to like this idea while Mrs. Hawk spoke up, "Speaking of the Palm Woods, how do you like it there?"

"It's a nice place," Katrina noted, "Our apartment is huge! There's plenty of room, even for the seven of us."

"You seem to be a lot better than you were the last time we saw you," Mrs. Hawk noticed. "I mean, psychologically. You were so distant from everyone after the accident. You're almost completely back to normal."

Katrina gave a small smile, "Yeah, I guess I am. It's cause of those guys. They just would never leave me alone."

"I'll have to thank them for that," Brandon commented.

"Me too," Tim added. "If they didn't, I wouldn't have a job." He seemed to be nervously looking back and forth from Brandon's parents to Katrina as if looking for approval.

"That reminds me," Brandon turned to Katrina, "Who'd you get to watch the business?"

"Jo and Camille," Katrina answered. "They weren't going anywhere anyways. They have some auditions tomorrow to prepare for." She noticed Brandon's parents looking confused. "They're my friends that are living at the Palm Woods too." They smiled, noting that they understood.

"So, Katrina," Mr. Hawk started, "How would you-"

"Garrett!" someone called out Brandon's dad's first name.

Mr. Hawk's face fell, "I know that voice." He turned in his chair to watch his brother heading towards him.

"Uh oh," Katrina, Brandon and Mrs. Hawk suddenly looked scared. Tim furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"George," Brandon's dad got out of his seat to confront his brother. "What are you doing here?"

"To celebrate my nephew's graduation," George Hawk replied. He scanned over the group quickly with his hungry eyes before focusing on his brother.

Garrett Hawk sighed, "I thought we talked about this. You made it perfectly clear that you don't accept the lifestyle that Brandon has chosen and I'm not going to forgive you for what you called him. We have accepted that it's who he is, but you haven't. You're against it. I won't have you around to make him think he's wrong for the way he is."

"It's just not natural!" George Hawk exclaimed. "Just give me the chance to train him! I'll get him to like girls." He looked over at the group. They all looked insulted by his words. George finally noticed Katrina. "Aren't you one of Gustavo's projects?"

Katrina crinkled her nose at the thought of Gustavo, "Yeah."

George noticed this and smirked, "Fine. I'll leave. Enjoy your celebration." He took one last look at Katrina before he turned around and left.

Garrett sighed in relief as he sat back down, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Brandon mentioned, "But it does give me the perfect time to make an announcement." Tim looked at him nervously. Katrina noticed this and smiled as she already knew what Brandon was going to say. "Tim and I are dating."

"Well," Brandon's dad grabbed his wine glass, "Then we have even more to celebrate. To Brandon and Tim." He raised his glass in a toast.

Katrina and Mrs. Hawk imitated it, "To Brandon and Tim." The group drank to the new couple as Brandon and Tim smiled at each other. Tim seemed to relax a bit after this as the group continued their small talk for the rest of their meal.

Walking into the apartment, Katrina noticed something odd. Kendall, Logan, Carlos and James were sitting on the couch. That wasn't the odd part. Kendall and Logan had the laptop between them while James and Carlos were searching through the classifieds in the newspaper.

Katrina's face fell, "Oh no."

The boys looked up and saw her, "Hey Katrina." They went back to their search.

"Please tell me that Gustavo isn't making you get jobs again," Katrina automatically assumed. "What did you break this time?"

"No," Carlos told her, "We're looking for a car."

Katrina's eyebrows went up, "Why?"

"Cause we want to drive places," James explained as if it was obvious.

"But none of you can drive," Katrina pointed out.

"Correction," Kendall spoke up, "Logan has his permit."

"You do?" Katrina asked Logan. He nodded. Katrina looked impressed. "Wouldn't you need an adult in the car too?" The boys gave her a look that made her stop asking questions. "Okay, nevermind. James, can I talk to you? Alone." James seemed confused while his friends looked at Katrina in shock.

James quickly recovered as he gave Katrina his winning smile, "Sure." He got up off the couch and followed Katrina out into the hallway outside the apartment while Logan, Carlos and Kendall shared looks of confusion. As soon as the door shut, they raced over to the door and pressed their ears against it, trying to hear what was going on.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" James asked Katrina.

Katrina gave him the sweetest smile he had ever seen, "Well," She began twisting her hair with her finger, "See, I've thought about it and I realized that I should give you another chance. You're just too hot to let go and I've completely fallen head over heels for you."

James seemed excited, but wanted to be sure, "What about Logan?"

"Camille can have him," Katrina waved it off. "I want you."

"Okay then," James leaned in to kiss her, but then stopped suddenly and pulled back, "Wait. Something seems off."

"Whatever do you mean?" Katrina asked innocently.

"Why are you really doing this?" James got to the point.

Katrina sighed in frustration at getting caught in her lie, "At Brandon's graduation, I ran into an old crush."

The two suddenly heard a crash coming from the apartment. They looked over at the door to see it open up and Kendall and Logan come storming out. Carlos followed carefully behind, not really wanting to get in the middle of things.

"An old crush?" Kendall spoke first.

"Is he stronger than me?" Logan asked.

"He didn't hit on you, did he?" Kendall mentioned.

"What about his looks?" Logan added, "Does he look better than me?"

"Just give me this guy's name and address and I'll pay him a little visit."

"I'm smarter, right? Please tell me I'm smarter."

"He's going to regret EVER going after my cousin once I get my hands around his-"

"WHOA!" Katrina stopped their babbling. "Quiet down! Geez. All I said was he was an old crush! I don't even like him that way anymore!"

"Oh," Kendall and Logan backed down.

"I tried to stop them," Carlos admitted. "Even I thought they were being too protective."

"Anyways," Katrina turned back to James, "Before I was RUDELY INTERRUPTED," Katrina looked back to the guilty Logan and Kendall before focusing back on James, "This guy started dating one of my friends when I was at school with them. Now, they've broken up and he's trying to date me."

"I knew it!" Kendall insisted. Katrina glared at him. "Sorry. Go on."

"So, I did the first thing that came to mind," Katrina revealed. "I told him I had a boyfriend."

"WHAT?" the four boys exclaimed.

"Yeah," Katrina went on, "And because of that whole thing with Gustavo telling the media that James and I are dating, I used that."

"So, you're using me?" James commented. Katrina nodded. "Why am I not surprised?"

Katrina stared him straight in the eyes as she threatened, "And it better be convincing." She looked to the others. "If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with my lawyer about suing Griffin. See ya." That said, she stormed down the hallway.

After she turned the corner, the boys looked at James. He was frozen.

"Good luck, James," Logan noted as he went into the apartment.

"I don't want to be you right now," Carlos added, following Logan inside.

"You better scare off that guy," Kendall continued, "Or he'll have to deal with a very long interrogation. At least with you, I know how you'll treat her. And I can keep my eyes on you." Kendall patted James's back before he joined Carlos and Logan in the apartment.

James stayed still for a second before he smirked, "Time to bring my A-game." He strode confidently into the apartment.

"What do you mean I have no legal grounds for suing?" Katrina asked her family lawyer, Ms. Alagona. Katrina was standing in Ms. Alagona's office, right in front of her desk.

"You signed a binding contract," Ms. Alagona informed her. "I can't help you here."

"But the contract is ridiculous!" Katrina insisted. "It's pushing me to become a singer under Gustavo's ruling AND a device to get his band into the charts! I'm not a singer! And I'm not a celebrity maker! I'm a model! That's all I've ever wanted to be!"

"Katrina," Ms. Alagona began, "I can't help you get out of your contract. Besides, you can't afford a lawyer anyways." Katrina scowled at this. "But, since I worked for your parents for so long, there is one way I can help." Katrina looked at her curiously. "I CAN give parts of your contract to the media. It'll produce such a storm with the press that Griffin will have to do something."

Katrina groaned, "Ugh. Media. No, I'll fight this silently. Can I see the contract?" Ms. Alagona shrugged before she pulled out a folder and handed it to Katrina. "Thanks for getting it." As Katrina walked out of the office, she opened the folder to scan her contract, hoping to find something that she could use for her.

The next week, the boys and Katie were sitting in the waiting room in the hospital. For once, it wasn't cause Katrina was hurt. She was getting her cast off. Mrs. Knight was in the room with her. Katrina and Mrs. Knight walked into the waiting room, a huge smile plastered on Katrina's face.

"It's gone!" Katrina sighed, relieved. Her arm was skinnier than it had been before she had broken it, but it could be fixed by some working out. "I am so excited to have two arms again!"

"You do realize that the paparazzi is right outside," Carlos mentioned.

"Perfect," Katrina noted. She pulled a pair of sunglasses out of nowhere and put them over her eyes.

"I thought you hated the paparazzi," Katie spoke up.

"I do," Katrina replied, "But I need as much public pictures of me and James so Cody can get the hint."

James smirked, "Then let's go out there." Suddenly, he pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them over his eyes. He put his arm around Katrina's waist and led her towards the door. The others looked at each other before they followed them outside. They watched as James and Katrina made their way through the crowd of paparazzi, seeming like the perfect couple. The reporters kept trying to get a statement, but both teens kept quiet, though they did smile at the cameras and each other.

"She must really hate this guy," Kendall noted. The others nodded their head as the group followed James and Katrina towards the van to go back to the Palm Woods.

James and Katrina were sitting on the couch in the apartment while Carlos, Logan and Kendall were at the dining table, still looking for a cheap car.

The fake couple on the couch stopped talking right when Carlos called out, "FOUND ONE!" James quickly got up to join Kendall and Logan looking at what Carlos had found. Katrina watched in disbelief.

"This car looks like it's going to fall apart!" Logan commented.

"But it runs!" Carlos mentioned.

"'Great for a restoration project,'" Kendall read the ad. "That means it probably doesn't run."

Carlos took another look, "Oh."

"Why do you suddenly need a car anyways?" Katrina asked as she got up and joined the group. The boys looked at each other, frantically looking for a response. Katrina noticed. "I knew it! You're hiding something from me! What do you know that I don't?"

"We can't tell you," Kendall insisted.

Katrina glared at her cousin for a second before her face lit up, coming up with an idea. She turned to Carlos, giving him a very friendly smile, "Hey Carlos. Don't you wanna tell me exactly what's going on?" The boys went wide eyed at Katrina's actions. They knew that Carlos was the weakest at keeping secrets.

"Uh," Carlos looked shocked.

"It'll make me really happy," Katrina continued. Carlos gulped.

"We're planning you a surprise party!" Kendall made-up on the spot so Carlos wouldn't reveal that they're still looking for Katrina's brother.

Katrina looked back at Kendall. She furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "But my birthday's not until February."

"We wanted a head start," James explained.

"But now you've ruined it!" Carlos exclaimed, picking up on the lie.

"So, we're just gonna take our car ads and go," Logan began picking up the newspaper classifieds that contained the car ads. Kendall, James and Carlos followed suit. The boys with the newspapers in their arms glared at Katrina for a second before they left for their room.

Katrina stared at the door the boys had disappeared behind for a second before she growled, "Liars."

Suddenly, the door to the apartment opened and Katrina looked over to see Katie walk in.

"Katie!" Katrina called out to her younger cousin. Katie watched as Katrina made her way over. "I need that mischievous mind of yours."

"You want to find out what the guys are hiding from you?" Katie assumed.

"No," Katrina replied. "Although I would like to know what they're up to, I have other things that are more important right now. Like this." Katrina pulled her contract out of nowhere and showed it to Katie. "Can you help me make Griffin regret making me sign this?"

Katie looked at the contract, a smirk on her face, "I'll help you." Katrina tried to hand Katie the contract, but Katie refused. "I've already read it." Katrina raised her eyebrows. "I read everyone's contract. Now, come on. I've got a plan." Katie grabbed her cousin's arm and pulled her out of the apartment.

(A/N): Okay, a lot of information here. What has Evan got himself into? Has he really been watching Katrina this entire time? Are the boys going to find Evan? What is George Hawk up to? Brandon and Tim are together! Are they going to last or will working together cause stress on their relationship? We've now seen a little bit more about Katrina's past, one of her old crushes, Cody. What's going to happen when he comes by for his visit? Will James be able to keep him away from Katrina? Or will it be Kendall who steps in as the protective cousin? Or will Carlos somehow save her? Or will Logan, who's showing off some jealousy, realize that he cares more for Katrina than Camille and do something about it? Or will Cody prevail? Katrina's got her cast off! Will she stay accident-free or is something huge waiting for her around the corner? And what does Katie have in mind for fighting the contract and how will Katrina feel about it? You'll just have to wait to find out! Until next time, review and happy reading!