I'd like to thank, winterschild11, RavenclawWitch18, annabellex2, Charlie-Rose94, Franshes, nigelbtrlover24, and cicibunbuns for all taking the extra time to review. Virtual hugs being send out!
Chapter 32: The Truth
Kyle sighed as he walked down the hallway. He had been getting stares all day. The breakup rumors were already flying. Apparently someone at the Palm Woods had loose lips. Kyle wasn't answering any questions about him and Jared. He wasn't going to fuel the fire. He just wanted to be left alone.
Kyle stopped at his locker. He started to put some of his books away and grabbed the others he would need for later classes. He could feel people staring at him and he didn't like it. It was like everyone had nothing better to do than gossip. Kyle wished a hole would open in the floor and swallow him whole. Anything to get away from these people.
"You look miserable."
Kyle looked to his side as Lilly stood next to his locker. She ha a small smirk on her lips.
"They are like vultures circling waiting for the kill," Kyle spat.
"Come with me then," Lilly said taking off down the hallway.
Kyle quickly followed her. He followed her up to the projection room. It was the one place they could get some peace and quiet for once. Kyle didn't care if he got in trouble for skipping class, he just needed to get away from the stares.
"So what's up?" Lilly asked hopping up onto a table. Kyle leaned against the wall opposite her.
"I think we need to talk," Kyle said slowly. He was still thinking about the other night. It had been so easy to go back to her. She was comforting. He would never hurt him like Jared had.
"Ok about what?" Lilly asked.
"Us," Kyle said.
That word hung in the air. Lilly looked down at the ground. She seemed to be bracing herself for the worst. Kyle say the hurt there. He knew he had been a jerk to her. There was no way she would take him back. Kyle wouldn't blame her either.
Kyle pushed himself off the wall. He move to stand in front of her. He placed a finger on her chin and made her look up at him.
"I'm sorry Lilly. I've been an ass and I don expect you to even want to take me back. I am sorry for everything," he said.
Lilly locked eyes with him. She leaned forward. Their lips met in a slow tentative kiss. It did last long and wasn't anything special.
"What do you want Kyle? I can't keep playing games," Lilly said looking him in the eyes once more.
"I don't know," Kyle admitted.
"It's not the same," Lilly admitted. "Things are different Kyle. What happened the other night, shouldn't have happened," she said.
"I get it, I'm sorry," Kyle said hanging his head.
"I think we are better off as friends," Lilly said slowly. Kyle nodded his head.
"I'm still sorry Lilly, I should've never ran to you like that. I was upset," Kyle apologized.
"I shouldn't have let you do that," Lilly added. "We are both to blame. We can only move forward from here," she said.
"You're right, so friends?" Kyle asked.
"Friends," Lilly agreed with a smile.
-We Are-
Kendall sighed as he drummed his fingers on the table. He had taken the morning off from work. He had a lunch meeting set up. He was in a small cafe that wasn't too crowded. Everyone was minding their own business. Kendall was getting anxious. He checked his watch once more.
Kendal hadn't replied to Penelope after he had gotten her picture. He was sure she was anxious. Kendall needed to get some answers first. Was this a road he was ready to go down?
Uncertainty crossed through his mind. He could just lie to Penelope and tell her he had no idea who the woman in the picture was. Penelope was stubborn and not one to give up. She would find out the truth sooner or later. Lying wasn't a good idea. It would come back to bite him in the butt.
Kendall knew this was a bad idea. He stood up to leave. This was better left alone. He would just leave and this would be over. He would just have to tell Penelope the truth and let her do what she wanted with that. She could dig further into this if she wanted.
"Kendall."
Kendall turned as a Jo Taylor walked up to him. It had been years since he seen her, she still looked the same. Her hair was long and blonde and her eyes the same light brown he had once loved. Seeing her brought back old memories and feelings he had buried long ago. Then there were questions. He needed answers. There was no turning back now.
"Jo," Kendall said, greeting her with a kiss to the cheek. She returned the greeting and sat down with him. A waitress came and took Jo's order and left quickly.
"I'm kind of surprised you called," Jo said smiling at him.
"I know, it's been awhile, you're shooting another movie I hear," Kendall said trying to start a conversation. He was too scared to just jump into this. He still wasn't sure he even wanted to do this.
"Yeah, I work here and there," Jo said shrugging. She wasn't the mega star she had dreamed of being, but she was good. She was fairly well recognized. She had turned to action movies lately, and was becoming a slowly rising star.
"How's Marty?" Kendall asked stalling.
"Good, I guess. I hardly see him anymore. His dad has him against me and my career. After the divorce everything went south real quick," Jo sighed shaking her head.
"That's awful," Kendall said feeling bad for her. He didn't think he could go without seeing any of his kids.
"I know, I haven't talked to him much in the last few years," Jo said hanging her head for a moment. She lifted her head once more with a smile this time. "How are you though, grandpa?" she asked with a grin.
"Good," Kendall chuckled. "I've got two more grand babies on the way," he added.
"That must be nice," Jo said nodding her head. The waitress arrived with Jo's order. The two fell silent as they sipped their drinks.
Kendall sat there trying to think of a way to approach this. He wasn't sure how she would react. Jo seemed curious as to what this was about. He couldn't keep her in the dark much longer.
"So why call out of the blue?" Jo asked finally.
"I have a question to ask you," Kendall said looking anywhere but at her.
"Ask away, I'm an open book you know that," Jo replied.
"Do you have a daughter?" Kendall asked. It wasn't the smoothest way to start this conversation, but he needed to know.
"What are you talking about?" Jo asked confused.
Kendall pulled his phone out. He showed Jo the picture Penelope had sent him. Jo gasped and looked up at Kendall.
"Where did you get this?" Jo asked shocked. She looked ready to bolt. It confirmed everything Kendall wanted to know.
"Is she mine?" Kendall asked bluntly.
"We were young. I didn't want to ruin our careers," Jo said slowly as she looked at the picture. "You and the guys were making it big. I didn't want to mess it up. I had my movie and I gave her to a family that wanted her more than I did. I thought it was the right thing to do at he time."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Kendall asked.
"Would it have made a difference. I had my movie and I found out I was pregnant. I didn't have the guts to terminate and they wanted me in the movie. They tried to shoot my scenes fast and hide my stomach. I came back to the states to give birth and found a couple to adopt her," Jo said.
"She's my daughter too," Kendall said shaking his head. He couldn't believe she had kept this from him.
"How did you find this? How did she find you?" Jo asked confused. "I gave them a fake name and everything. I covered my tracks," she said.
"Not good enough," Kendall sighed, "it was a total accident that we met. She works at Rocque Records and just found out she was adopted. This is the only picture she has of you," he said.
"What's her name?" Jo asked looking up at Kendall.
"Penelope, and she looks so much like you. God how could I have not noticed sooner," Kendall said shaking his head. I was a lot to take in. The more he bought about it, the more he realized how much Penelope looked liked Jo. It was so obvious to him now.
"Does she-" Jo started.
"Want to meet you, I don't know. I'm gonna tell her what I know and give her your contact information. If she wants she can make that call," Kendall said.
"Fair enough," Jo said nodding her head.
The two parted ways after a few more questions each. As Kendall walked to his car, he didn't want to believe that had just happened. He had to talk to James. No, first thing was first, Penelope needed to know the truth.
-We Are-
Adam gave a happy sigh as he sat down at the counter. The further he got in his pregnancy the less he had to do at work. Sam and his mom; Terri, were always making him sit down to roll silverware or helping him carry things. It was nice, but they were treating him like a glass doll. He wasn't fragile.
"So, how much longer?" Sam asked walking up to the counter and leaning on it.
"April," Adam replied.
"Man, you look ready to pop now," Sam laughed.
"Gee thanks," Adam said sarcastically.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I guess we're all just eager to meet the little guy," Sam said looking over to Terri who nodded her head as well.
"I know me too, but I can wait. My daughter was born premature and that was the toughest week of my life. We were so scared we were gonna lose her," Adam said looking down at his stomach. He was patient this time, well more so than last time. He didn't want to do anything to risk hurting his son.
"So have any names picked out?" Terri asked joining the two. There were no customers at the moment so the three of them didn't have much to do.
"Yeah, Kendall James," Adam said.
"After your dads?" Terri asked.
"Yeah, it made them happy, well my dad more so than my pa," Adam chuckled.
"I'd imagine so," Terri chuckled. It was no secret that she had been a Big Time Rush fan back in the day. It was part of the reason Adam got this job.
"So how are things on your end Sam," Adam asked changing the subject.
"I'm on track to be valedictorian," Sam boasted proudly.
"Good for you, I never could keep my grades up that high. I maintained a B average. Even when I was pregnant," Adam said.
"So do you ever plan on college?" Sam asked curiously.
"I did, but I don't think college is for me. I'm a performer, I love to act and I can sing if I do say so myself," Adam said cockily.
"And modest," Sam snorted.
"I try," Adam laughed.
-We Are-
James was sitting in Logan's office with the good doctor himself. He had asked him out to lunch. Logan didn't want to leave the hospital so James came to him. He was antsy over this whole thing with Jo. He was waiting for Kendall to call and confirm things. There was no doubt that Jo was the girl in the picture. He just didn't want to believe that Kendall had another kid out there. A kid that wasn't his.
"Is everything alright James?" Logan asked.
"Yeah, no, maybe, I don't know," James sighed.
"You can tell me anything you know that right?" Logan asked.
"I know, it's just something's come up and..." James trailed off.
"Stop being a cryptic James, just tell me already," Logan said.
"How would you feel if you found out Carlos had a kid with someone else," James asked finally.
"I'd be shocked and maybe hurt depending on who it is," Logan said slowly. "Does Kendall have another kid?" He asked his jaw dropped.
"Maybe, I don't know. The only picture we saw was the mother holding her baby. The mother was clearly Jo," James said looking down at the floor.
"Whoa, and Jo never told him?" Logan asked.
"No, remember when she left?" James asked still not looking up. Logan sat back letting the news sink in. "It's Kendall's assistant Penelope. She's a great girl, she only just found out she was adopted and Kendall offered to help. I don't think she even knows Kendall might be her dad," he said.
"Whoa, talk about coincidence," Logan said impressed.
"I know, but how do we tell the kids? What about when the press gets a hold of this? What are we gonna do?" James asked panicking.
"It's like with the boys. You prepare Penelope for this and warn her of what could happen. All you can do is let her know that it gets better once people find something else to talk about," Logan said.
"That's right you went through this with the boys," James said quickly. Logan chuckled and nodded his head.
James relaxed. If Logan could go through it he could too. He would just have to be honest with the other four kids. Jenny was too young to understand any of this.
"Just relax and take it all in stride James," Logan said. "Also this won't change how Kendall feels about you. He loves you," he said.
"I know," James said smiling. Kendall had picked him over Jo, even after she had returned. He had nothing to worry about, right?
"Don't doubt yourself James, he loves you more than anything," Logan said.
"Except maybe our kids," James replied. Logan chuckled again and nodded his head.
-We Are-
Jared sighed as he watched people move about the Palm Woods in pairs. Suddenly it seemed everybody had someone. Even Kelsey the weird girl from 6F now had a boyfriend. It all reminded Jared of how suddenly single he was. Kyle hadn't called, texted, or even shown up for that matter. It didn't take a genius to figure out they were broken up.
"Oh my god could you be anymore mopey?"
Jared looked up as his friends approached him. He let his head drop back to the table he was sitting at. He had a right to be mopey. The guys all pulled up chairs. Noah and Roldy seemed to be sitting a bit further apart that usual.
"My life is over," Jared whined.
"Stop it," Roldy said shaking his head.
"No, I blew it. He's never gonna let me explain what happened. All he sees is what I did," Jared said quickly.
"Give him some time to process this. I'm sure Kendall is trying to explain it to him as well," Matt said.
"Have you met Kyle? he won't listen to anybody," Jared said lifting his head. "He's so stubborn."
"True, but you can be just as stubborn when you want to be," Noah replied thoughtfully.
"Besides Kendall doesn't even know the full story," Jared sighed.
"What is there to know, you were drunk," Matt said.
"There's more to it than that," Jared said annoyed. The guys didn't understand.
"Then enlighten us," Roldy said.
Jared sighed and looked away from his friends. "Well, my mom called me that night. She called me in tears telling me that she was leaving my dad. She caught him with the barely legal babysitter."
"Ok where is this going Munroe?" Matt asked.
"He caught her on the phone with me. They started yelling and he hit her. He hit her and I wasn't there to help her. That's why seeing them still together made me so upset. She won't leave him even though he beat her and belittles her. He is an awful man and she can't see that," Jared said looking down at his feet. He clenched his hands into fists at the thought of his father.
"Jer," Roldy said. Jared just shook his head.
Jared jumped up and quickly left the pool. This was a conversation was over. It was something he had gone over this in his head a million times. He had gone down this road countless times and it was tiring. He had tried to talk his mother into leaving his father, but she wouldn't. It was sickening. It was something he did not like thinking about.
-We Are-
Cooper sat back in his seat. He was sitting in a small cafe with Jace. They were hanging out and talking. Cooper had the day off from work and Miri was with James today.
"How are you feeling? Are you sure you should be out and about after surgery?" Cooper asked eyeing the older male warily.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Nate is a pain in the ass," Jace said waving his hand. He winced as he moved.
"Yeah, but I'm a pain in the ass that cares."
The two turned and saw Nate and Stan standing a few feet away from them. Nate did not look happy. Have gave him a charming smile.
"Watch it Munroe, that smile doesn't work on me," Nate hissed glaring at him.
"Someone's in trouble," Cooper chuckled.
"Damn right he's in trouble," Nate said annoyed. "If you're not careful you could pull your stitches and open your wound," He said.
"Relax mother, I was just sitting here talking with Cooper," Jace said standing up. "I'll be good though, I'll come quietly," he said. Nate and Jace left. Stan hung back a moment.
"So Cooper how are things?" Stan asked looking to the younger male. "Zelly wants to see her Mir-Mir again," he said.
"We will have to set up a play date soon," Cooper replied with a smile.
"Yes we will, but I better go before Nate comes back. He's become something like a dictator over Jace lately. I'm just glad we don't have classes for a couple more weeks," Stan said shaking his head.
"Yeah, I'll bet. I'll give you a call when I get my next schedule for work and maybe we can set something up," Cooper promised.
"Sounds like a plan," Stan said waving as he left.
-We Are-
Jake smiled as he watched Damien play with Miri. It was strange to think that soon enough they would have their baby to worry about. Jake wasn't sue if he was ready for this. He watched as Damien pulled a face.
"Someone needs her diaper changed," Damien announced.
Jake grabbed Miri's diaper bag and walked over to the two. Damien set about getting Miri's diaper off an cleaning up. Jake handed him a fresh diaper and he finished changing her. Miri was right back up an playing with her toys again.
"See, we got this parenting thing down," Damien said turning to Jake. "I can't wait," he added looking down at Jake's stomach.
"Really?" Jake asked slowly. He was nervous as hell. He could wait a bit.
"Yeah, I can't wait to meet our son or daughter," Damien said a big goofy smile playing across his lips. "I can't wait to buy them all the cutest outfits and toys they want. Oh and teach them how to play video games and kill zombies," he said his smile growing as he talked.
"Only you," Jake chuckled.
"Aren't you excited?" Damien asked.
"When you put it like that yes, in just a bit nervous," Jake admitted.
"Don't be, you'll be a great dad," Damien said.
"I hope so," Jake said.
"Stop it, it'll be a learning process sure, but I think we can do it," Damien said moving closer to Jake. "With you by my side I feel like I can do anything."
"You're full of it," Jake laughed. Damien smiled as captured Jake's lips in a kiss. A small crash was heard.
The pair sprang apart ad turned to see Miri had knocked some books off the coffee table. Damien walked over to her and picked her up. Jake quickly started to clean up the mess.
-We Are-
Kyle yawned as he fell onto his bed. School had been long. He wanted nothing more than to forget this day had ever happened. People were awful. All day long all he got was stares and whispers behind his back.
A knock at the door made him lift his head. He looked as James stood there. He arched a brow at him.
"Can I come in?" James asked.
"It's your house, I'm just using it until I graduate," Kyle replied.
"Knock it off," James said walking into the room. Kyle sat up and James sat down in his desk chair.
"What do you want?" Kyle asked.
"You need to talk to your father," James said.
"Why? He lied to me just like Jared did," Kyle said.
"They didn't lie, this happened before you and Jared even met. It was something they worked out and forgot all about. It wasn't important," James said.
"How long did you rehearse that one?" Kyle asked unimpressed. "Did dad tell you to say that?"
"Stop being such a brat, and so what if he did. You need to get off your high horse and admit you're wrong here. Talk to your dad, and then talk to Jared," James said standing up.
"I'm sorry, but reasons or not, he never wanted me. It was always about dad. I mean dad saw it from the beginning. I was stupid enough to fall for someone like him," Kyle said shaking his head.
"Kyle, Jared cares about you," James said quickly. "I can see it in the way he looks at you. Just give him a chance to explain everything," he said. He stood there a moment and left.
Kyle sat there alone. James' words playing over and over in his head. Should he give Jared a chance to explain? Was James right? Did Jared really care about him?
Kyle shook his head and grabbed his guitar. Music always helped him feel better. Kyle looked over to his notebook as well. He grabbed it and opened it and grabbed his pen.
-We Are-
Jared yawned as he made his way into the studio. Kendall had called him and the guys. He had something he wanted to discuss. Jared walked into the studio lobby and saw four familiar faces.
Sitting around the lobby was the four members of the British boy band Vivid Insanity. They all greeted the guys with smiles.
"Hey, I thought you guys were touring with Icsis and TBA in Europe," Jared said slowly.
"Yeah and we did our shows, now we are starting our own U.S. tour," Callum said standing up.
"Cool, so why are you guys here," Matt asked.
"Well, we have a show in LA and we would love for you guys to open for us," Gavin replied standing up as well.
"Yeah, our opening act bailed on us and we are looking for a quick replacement, for our LA show," Callum said looking over at Roldy with a smile. Noah took a step closer to Roldy.
"Really? When?" Roldy asked.
"Two weeks from tonight," Gavin said.
"Who's joining you after the LA show?" Jared asked.
"No idea, our manager is trying to get some more fill ins until we can get someone who can tour with us," Gavin said.
Kendall's office door opened and he walked out along with a tall British man. They spotted the guys of Inside Joke and smiled.
"Boys, how would you like to do a show with Vivid Insanity?" the man asked.
"This is Dan, our manager," Gavin explained quickly.
"Sure, it beats sitting around doing nothing," Noah said.
"We're not just doin nothing Noah, we are recording our second album," Jared said quickly. "That doesn't mean we can't take time off to help some friends," he added looking over at Gavin and the guys. They all smiled at him.
"Great, so it's settled then," Dan asked.
"Looks like it," Jared replied.
There you go another chapter done. Kyle and Lilly realized they are Bette off as friends. What does this mean for Jyle? Will they get back together? Or are they done for good? Penelope is Kendall's daughter. How will she take the news? What about Kendall's other kids? Will Jake and Damien be good dads? Vivid Insanity is back. Will this spell bad news for the guys? Or good news? More to come as always. I will see you all next time.
Always
OUTOFMYMIND