The Journey Continues

by anonboi64

They were out at a nightclub celebrating their youngest's big day when suddenly Kendall got a call he never would have expected to get. They didn't quite know it yet but, for better or worse, their already hectic lives were going to start spiraling even more out of control.

A lot had changed for the boys of Big Time Rush since the release and huge success of their third album. They made the collective decision to take an indefinite break from touring and releasing albums instead opting to just release the occasional single. But also in that time Carlos had started a vlogging/stunts channel on YouTube where he discovered a new passion for directing and all things videography, Kendall and Jo got engaged, James was in a serious and committed relationship with Lucy, and Logan's confidence—and hair—had grown significantly (which had made James feel a little sick at first since the brains of the group was actually cool now). It was all a lot to get used to; the boys were growing up and none of them really knew how to feel about it all just yet.

Alcohol certainly helped to ease their concerns though. They were all of legal drinking age now, with Carlos the last to join the club.

They were out at a nightclub celebrating their youngest's big day when suddenly Kendall got a call he never would have expected to get. They didn't quite know it yet but, for better or worse, their already hectic lives were going to start spiraling even more out of control.

"Why the hell is Griffin calling me?"

The three other boys of the group leaned over the table of their round booth, eyeing their fourth's phone screen suspiciously.

"Dunno, you should probably answer it," Carlos said, his speech slurred. "Must be important."

"Definitely important," Logan agreed, slipping his pink tinted oval shades back on.

James grabbed the table, he was feeling a little woozy all of a sudden but it wasn't because of the drinks he's had. So, maybe he wasn't entirely over Logan's new look yet, sue him.

Logan noticed the state James was now in right away so he grinned at him with his cheeky dimples and eyes glinting mischievously, and stole the shot he had completely ignored before knocking it back in one smooth sip.

"Oh, fuck you, Logan,"

"You wish, pretty boy."

And there was another new thing that bothered James. Logan got flirty when he was drunk. James was supposed to be the smooth one of the four, it wasn't fair. Logan used to be so nerdy and awkward, and that was post puberty, so what the hell happened to him in the past few years.

"You know what, man,"

"Oh, come on, what's your issue now?"

"My issue is you, and your,"

"Guys," Carlos said suddenly, breaking up James and Logan's stupid argument. "I think Kenny's broken or somethin'."

The two older boys directed their attention back to Kendall who they now realized had never left the table to take the call. He was just staring blankly at his phone screen long after the ringing had ceased.

James, surprisingly being the most sober of the four, rolled his eyes and gently pushed Kendall out of the booth which was enough to snap him out of his weird trance. James told him to go outside and call Griffin back so they could figure out what was going on. Kendall just nodded, obediently rushing out of the club.

James was really starting to hate how weird things got when they were all drunk together.

Carlos was a lot more subdued which was incredibly disconcerting, Logan was extra cheeky and wild, Kendall just lost all ability to function normally, and somehow James was the most responsible one. James loved a good drink, of course he did being one half of the Hollywood Super Party Kings of Hollywood—you bet your ass he said Hollywood twice—but he's starting to regret letting drinking become a new group activity. Especially now that Logan and Carlos were getting giggly and overly affectionate with each other. This sort of thing did happen pretty often so really James shouldn't mind it so much; the four of them were brothers and they never subscribed to the whole toxic masculinity bullshit, not even before they moved to progressive Los Angeles. They were all close and comfortable enough with each other to do the things most people seemed to consider inherently romantic for whatever inane reason. To them it was all just familial love. But sometimes lines got a little blurred when alcohol was involved and Logan was definitely kissing Carlos's face a little too much for anyone's liking right now. Carlos was bright red. He was also halfheartedly attempting to shove Logan away from him but James wouldn't be all that surprised if he was at least a little serious.

"Hey, Loges, why don't you and Carlos go dance while we wait for Kendall to get back?" James suggested, knowing it'd stop the uncomfortable 'flirting' thing they had going on.

"Kay," Logan mumbled, then started tugging Carlos out of the booth. "Come on, Los, maybe we can get them to play your favorite song of ours for your birthday."

"The city is ours!" Carlos sang, only slightly off key as he allowed Logan to guide him away from the table.

James chuckled as he watched them go with a fond look in his eyes. Crazy kids. He really wanted to join them, they were out to party and celebrate Carlos after all, but he was too busy worrying about Kendall being gone for so long. The drunk idiot had probably gotten lost somehow even though he only needed to go straight outside. Five more minutes and James was going to check on him.

Outside, Kendall was struggling to find Griffin's contact so he could call him back (in his drunken haze, it never once dawned on him that he could just press his recent missed call notification to call the man back). At one point he was fumbling so much that he even dropped his phone entirely, causing some random club goer to laugh at him. Kendall cursed a bit too loudly as he reached down to retrieve the stupid thing.

"Kendall Knight?"

Kendall flinched, he hadn't expected anyone to actually recognize him in the poor outdoor lighting (especially now that he was sporting the rather scruffy beard he rarely ever showed to the public). He looked over at the guy who was weirdly dressed a lot like Logan; baggy cargo pants, thin chain, more rings than probably necessary, lots of mesh that Kendall would never fully understand, even right down to the pastel high tops. He was smoking a joint. Or a rolled cigarette, Kendall couldn't really be sure. The entire place reeked of both weed and tobacco smoke. He and the guy stared at each other for what could have only been five seconds max but it felt like an eternity in Kendall's drunken state.

"Yeah?" Kendall eventually squeaked out then cleared his throat so he could speak a little more smoothly. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Are you having some trouble there, man?" The guy asked, using his joint-cigarette-whatever to point to Kendall's phone.

No, he was perfectly fine, strange dude that knew of Big Time Rush, thank you.

"I mean look, man, I get it. First couple times at a club or bar, you don't really know your limit yet so you go a little overboard."

Kendall did not go overboard this time. He had maybe six shots total so far and he really was perfectly fine. He could hold his liquor. Stubborn as ever, Kendall pressed something on his phone and held it to his ear as he gave the dude a confident smirk.

He realized a second too late that he hadn't actually looked at what contact he pressed.

"Honey? Is everything okay?"

So, maybe he had gotten a little too cocky.

How in the hell did he manage to call his mom? M and G were way too far apart in the alphabet for him to be making a silly mistake like that. Idiot.

"Uh, yeah, everything's good! Sorry, didn't mean to call you. Just gonna… hang up now."

Now the guy was smirking at Kendall as he hastily hit the end call button. Smug bastard. Who did this guy think he was?

Wait. Actually, who was this guy and why did he look so familiar?

"Wait, who the fuck are you?"

Kendall didn't actually want to ask this man that question outright, especially not so aggressively, but apparently his mouth and brain were not communicating tonight.

"Took you long enough. Thought you'd never recognize me."

"That didn't answer my question."

"Obdul."

Obdul? As in Griffin's assistant, or whatever the hell he was considered, Obdul? Well, this wasn't good. Maybe. Probably.

"Whoa, you look really different without your suit and briefcase. And the annoying old dude standing in front of you. Also still really not used to your voice. Hey, did you notice Logan started dressing cooler? You guys somehow have the same style which is kind of weird."

Seriously, could Kendall's brain please make his stupid mouth stop moving? He really needed to stop rambling.

Thankfully, Obdul just seemed amused by his drunk bullshit. He didn't give Kendall any reason to believe he was going to tell Griffin or Gustavo about how shitfaced he had gotten the night before an early music video shoot.

"Call Griffin back, Kendall. It's important."

"What the hell do you think I've been trying to do for the past like, ten minutes?"

Kendall and Obdul come to another odd standstill, the air thick with an unusual tension. They just stare at each other for another eternity before Obdul reaches for Kendall's phone, asking if he can take it with vague gestures alone. Kendall just shrugged, handing it off. Then next thing he knows his phone is being pressed into his hand as it's lifted up to his ear, the dial tone trilling quietly into it. Kendall gives Obdul what he hopes is an appreciative smile just as Griffin picks up.

"Kendall?"

"Griffin? What's going on? Why'd you call me?"

"Are you inebriated?"

"Does it matter?"

"I suppose not,"

There's a weird, longer than necessary pause that made Kendall want to shout at the man. Why couldn't he just get straight to the point?

"Are the boys with you?"

"Yes… No. Kind of? They're not far. I can get them if you need them here for this."

"No, that's alright. You can fill them in later. I just wanted to be the first one to tell you this,"

Another pause, leaving Kendall in total suspense. If it was possible, he would throttle the man through the phone. He looks to Obdul hoping he could give him some sort of hint about what the hell was going on or just something. But he just shrugged, an apologetic look on his face. Unhelpful bastards, all of them.

"Kendall, Fujisaki has decided to shut our music division down to make room for his newer passion projects and I honestly can't be bothered to fight for it. So, seeing as my second most lucrative branch will soon cease to exist, I'm stepping down as CEO of RCM CBT Globalnet Sanyoid. The entire corporation as you and I know it is coming to an end."

What the fuck.

Kendall desperately wished his mouth would form a mind of its own again. He had to say something, anything for god's sake, but no matter how much he tried nothing came out. He was utterly speechless.

"Honestly, the majority of our branches haven't really been profitable enough to stay afloat anymore. We're losing money everyday. And I like money. So, I've decided it's time to cut my losses, and get out before the whole company goes under. Sorry, but this is the end of Big Time Rush."

No, this was bullshit. Damn Griffin, damn Fujisaki. Those stupid greedy bastards didn't care about anything that truly mattered. Kendall didn't care if they had a business to think of. He had a band of brothers and an entire community of fans to think of, AKA the things that truly mattered.

"No, fuck that, Griffin. I don't accept that. Big Time Rush can't end."

"I'm afraid there's nothing you can do about it. You boys may be the faces and voices of BTR but you don't actually own the rights."

"Then we'll buy the fucking rights. Work out a deal with us. We'll do it."

Oh, so now he was just talking. But fuck it, this wasn't the alcohol in his system or his mouth ignoring his brain, he knew what he was saying this time. He meant every word. They weren't just going to give up. They were going to fight for this band, even if it killed them. Okay, so maybe that was the alcohol speaking, that was just a tad dramatic. He was still serious about the whole thing though. If Big Time Rush was a sinking ship they were going down with it like any good captains should, but then they would do everything in their power to salvage it. Even if that meant crashing onto the shore of a deserted island and surviving off of limited resources for a while. Their journey was far from over.

There's a shrill, mocking laugh on the other end of the call and Kendall had never been more tempted to throw his phone down onto the concrete and smash it to pieces. Griffin was the world's biggest douchebag.

"With what money, Kendall? You're lucky if your new singles earn you five hundred bucks in a month. Let's be honest with ourselves here. Big Time Rush was already on its way out anyway."

Kendall grits his teeth, as much as he wanted to shout out some colorful profanities and defend his band he decided that it was best to just ignore Griffin's harsh words.

"Don't underestimate us, Griffin. You know we always figure something out. We always get our way against you."

"Well, I wish you luck with this endeavor, Kendall. You will certainly need it."

Kendall hung up without another word. He was actually about to smash his phone against the sidewalk but a hand around his wrist stops him. He looks up to find Obdul giving him another one of those apologetic looks and Kendall swears he's never felt so pathetic.

"What are you guys going to do?"

"We're going back on tour. The fans will help us get out of this mess. They won't just give up on us."

There's a note of finality in Kendall's voice as they both stand there and let his words soak in so really the conversation should have just been left there, but there's something else he needs to say. There are important questions he needs to ask.

"Hey, you're probably out of a job now, right?"

Obdul raises a single brow at Kendall, pure confusion evident on his face. Kendall gives him a minute, allowing him to process the question. Another eternity passes and Kendall wants to swear off drinking forever. He should be sober for this.

"Yeah, a bunch of us got laid off."

Selfish bastards. Fujisaki totally—probably—could have just given those employees different positions in the company, right? What was letting them go even going to accomplish? Why didn't anyone at the top seem to care? People's entire livelihoods were at stake here for god's sake. Kendall himself would just have to try something, even if that meant he could only help a few of them. A few was better than none. Little victories.

"Wanna take a chance on us, and join our team?"

"Kendall, you're drunk,"

"I'm serious. Come on, Obdul, it's the only life you got?"

All of the hesitation Obdul may have been feeling vanishes suddenly and he laughs once he realizes what exactly Kendall just said.

"Gotta live it big time."

If his bandmates were with them they would definitely be cringing and making fun of Kendall for setting that up but Kendall had always been serious about that particular line. It was a little corny, sure, but it was true and it had gotten them this far. It was what started it all, in fact.

"So?"

Obdul takes a minute to think over Kendall's offer. Kendall thinks he might lose his last shred of sanity if he's ever forced into long stretches of silence again.

Finally, just as Kendall's about to freak out, "Alright, man, I'm in." Obdul accepts.

Kendall and Obdul seal the deal with a firm and friendly handshake. It felt weird. A new chapter—hell, a whole new book—of their lives was about to start, just like that. It felt like he was back in Minnesota again, making a risky deal with a grouchy producer in the parking lot of his minimum wage job to turn him and his best friends into superstars. Only this time, they would be in control. Everything they had come to know on this crazy Hollywood adventure was about to change forever.

After bidding farewell to their new team member Kendall marched right back into the club, the wall shaking music now sounding muffled to his ears. He vaguely recognized the song that was currently playing as one of their own though, and well, Kendall was going to take that as a sign that he was on the right path.

"Where are Carlos and Logan?"

Kendall didn't really mean for that to be the first thing he said to a very clearly distressed James once he reached their table again, but he couldn't very well just drop the huge news he had like it was nothing right then either. And asking if he was okay would just be pointless; he clearly wasn't but he would just lie about it and change the subject. They could talk later if James really needed to. So, Kendall was just going to keep letting his mouth do its own thing for now, whatever got him through this strange night.

James raises the hand that was holding a new drink, tequila was Kendall's guess, and points to the dance floor. Kendall looked over to find Logan continuously twirling Carlos around just at the edge of the jam-packed crowd as they both sang and made goofy faces at each other.

"Dude, he's going to make him puke, or pass out or something,"

"I don't know, man, they've been at this same shit for like fifteen minutes now. So far, so good."

"Okay, is the DJ remixing 'Time of Our Life' right now, or am I losing it?"

"Oh, yeah, Logie used his fame and pretty privilege on the DJ. They're playing our shit for the rest of the night. Yet I'm the conceited one."

"Pretty privilege?" Kendall asked, smirking at James. "Never thought I'd hear the JD Mond admit that any of us have pretty privilege."

"Fuck off, and tell me what took you so long. What did Griffin want?"

Well, that was an instant mood killer. This was not going to be an easy conversation.

"James…"

Kendall trails off, and tries to avoid James as he attempts to meet his eyes. The sudden change in Kendall's tone and demeanor seems to sober James right up. He places his drink down so he can grab Kendall's hand and then pulls him onto the spot right beside him in the booth. James doesn't let go of Kendall's hand once he's seated though and that almost makes him want to cry. Stupid James with his stupid ability to pick up on people's need for stupid comfort.

"What is it, dude? What's wrong?"

"Ugh, we can't talk about this right now. We're all drunk, and we all need to be here for it, and fuck we're supposed to be having fun right now, man. It's Carlos's twenty-first birthday for fuck's sake. Stupid Griffin just had to swoop in and ruin everything."

Suddenly, all the initial rage Kendall had felt comes rushing back, leaving him feeling a bit dizzy. Kendall clutched his head with both hands, reluctantly pulling out of James's grasp to do so in a feeble attempt to quell the dull ache growing behind his eyes.

"Ruin everything? You're not just talking about Carlos's party anymore, are you?"

"Jamie," Kendall whined, sounding oh so pathetic and Kendall hated it. He didn't want to talk about this. He didn't want it to be real. He just wanted to have fun with his best friends and let their youngest have his first real party experience with no issues and he just wanted things to be normal. "Everything's falling apart." Kendall whispers the last of his whining and he's not even really sure if James could hear him over the pulsating bass line of their own stupid song but he can't find it in himself to care.

"Alright, fuck this. I'm closing our tab. You just stay right here, buddy," James commanded softly, already sliding out of the booth. "When I come back we can go grab Carlos and Logan together and get out of here, okay?"

"Kay," Kendall replied softly, resting his head on his arms as they splayed across the table. "Gonna stay right here."

Kendall feels James run his hand through his hair once he's standing but within seconds it's gone and he knows he's alone. Alone with his stupid racing thoughts. Luckily for him and maybe unluckily for James the pretty boy left his drink at the table. Kendall lifts it with shaky hands and takes a quick swig. The drink burns more than any of the others had, it feels like swallowing bile that tried to come up, but he can't bring himself to care about that either. It's enough to quiet his mind, even for just a moment.

Yet another eternity passes, this time with Kendall's entire life flashing before his eyes like he's dying—and who knows maybe he is—but then James is back at the table and pulling Kendall up to stand next to him.

"Come on, bud. Let's go get our idiots out of here before they start fighting or do some other crazy shit that'll get us kicked out."

It was a little weird how easy it was to completely flip Kendall's mood in just a matter of seconds but if anyone could do it, it was definitely his best friends (his brothers). James was right; Carlos and Logan were definitely their idiots (even though Logan was the smartest of them), and yeah he was a little surprised those two in particular hadn't started any arguments at all tonight—they definitely pissed each other off the most (Kendall can't even count how many times they've had to separate them over the years)—and he was very surprised that none of them had done anything to get them all kicked out and banned from this club yet. They did have a rather impressive record of different places they've all been temporarily and permanently banned from, both in Minnesota and California. Kendall didn't really feel like adding another place to the list though. Yeah, they should get out while they could still choose to.

James guided Kendall over to the dance floor, a silent plan forming between the both of them. James snuck up behind Logan, wrapping his arms around his chest and holding him close. Kendall did just about the same to Carlos except he covered his eyes with his hands.

Logan instantly leaned his head back against James's chest with a dopey grin on his face while Carlos yelped in surprise and tried to pry the hands off his face. Kendall allowed him to, but he slipped his fingers between Carlos's before he could even think of letting go. He then pulled him back against his chest, putting them in almost the same position as James and Logan.

"Come on, Los, we gotta go," Kendall said into Carlos's ear so he could hear him over the music—still their music—and started tugging him backwards.

"Why?" Carlos whined loudly, turning around in Kendall's arms. He looked up at him with his signature pout and wide tear filled eyes as his hands came up to rest on the taller boy's chest. He then stretched up the slightest bit on his tippy toes so he could continue speaking into Kendall's ear, suddenly remembering it was too difficult to hear each other if they just spoke normally. "It's my birthday. I wanna hang out with my best buds all night."

"Ya know, I don't think it even is your birthday anymore," Kendall teased, pulling out his phone to show Carlos the time: 12:43am. "Yep, thought so. Come on, Litos, we can all go snuggle up in the living room, and have the rest of the cake."

"Can we play games too? Like drinking games? They seem fun."

Kendall laughed at that; a full hearty laugh for a good minute, and for a moment he forgot that he was ever mad. Their sweet little Carlitos just had that effect on people.

"Sure, for a bit," Kendall promised, but then his expression changed to something much darker which seemed to startle poor unaware Carlos. "But then once we're all sobered up we need to have a serious talk. All four of us. It can't be put off."

Poor Carlos looked terrified now, and Kendall wanted nothing more than to take that fear away. Maybe he should have rephrased his little announcement, maybe he should have made it sound a little less like he was going to be giving them some earth shattering news even though he was. Kendall just knew they would come out on the other side of this better than ever though. They could conquer anything together, and have many times before.

Kendall is quick to reassure Carlos, "Hey, it's okay, Los, it's nothing we can't handle. We're in this together, yeah?"

"Kay, if you say so," Carlos mumbled sadly and Kendall couldn't have that either.

"Big Time Rush?" Kendall asked, gently poking Carlos's sides to make him smile.

"Big Time Rush," Carlos agreed in a playfully lackluster voice, attempting to swat Kendall's hands away. "You stupid dork."

"Ah, I'm your stupid dork though."

"Our stupid dork."

"Don't ever forget it, baby!"

Kendall ceased his minor tickle attack and brought his arms around Carlos's shoulders so he could just hug him properly for a minute. He starts to rock them side to side when Carlos leans further into his touch and Kendall thinks he would give anything to be able to stay in this moment forever. Right now, with his best friends in his arms and at his side, nothing could hurt them. They—as corny as it was—were 'Untouchable'. Hell, if they stayed just like this, these geeks freaks and wannabes probably would rule the world someday. Love really is all you need.

Okay, even Kendall had a limit with using their song lyrics for serious situations. He was definitely reaching that limit now. They really needed to get out of this stuffy club so Kendall could get out of his ridiculous head.

Kendall turns slightly to see that James was also rocking himself and Logan side to side just like Kendall had been with Carlos except he was still holding him from behind. He was saying something into his ear, also just like Kendall had done moments ago. Kendall doesn't say anything, he just smiles as he watches them finish their hushed conversation then looks back down at Carlos as he starts walking him towards the exit where Freight Train was likely waiting for them all. They're only just making it off the dance floor when James and Logan fall into step beside them. Logan and Carlos immediately latch onto each other with James and Kendall still holding onto the both of them so they all end up struggling to walk without tripping each other up but it doesn't matter because they're giggling like the drunken idiots they are and for a moment everything was normal.

"Hey, I'm driving, guys. I can definitely drive right now. I'm gucci,"

"No, Logan."

Well, almost normal.

---

Surprisingly, there weren't too many paparazzi or fans waiting for them outside of the club so they got by with just Freight Train guiding them through the small crowd of people just fine. They never stopped moving but they did allow themselves to reach out and grab some fans' hands for a few seconds. They were all smiles and giggles as they made their way into the van their bodyguard had brought them in.

The ride back to The Palm Woods however was a weird contrast of silence and tension as Carlos dozed on Logan's shoulder. Everyone knew something was up but no one wanted to be the first to start the conversation.

The weirdness didn't last long though. The club thankfully wasn't too far from home so they were able to quickly escape the confines of the van before any awkwardness could fully fester between them all. Logan, however, doesn't let Carlos get very far just yet. He sits on the edge of the seat just as he's getting out after James and Kendall, and instructs him to get on his back since he was decidedly the drunkest of them all. He'd never make it up to their apartment on his own.

The boys don't bother taking the elevator, figuring it would take too long and they would probably pass out if they had to stay still for more than a minute. So, they all pile into the stairwell, and manage to make it up the two flights just fine even with Logan slightly struggling to carry Carlos's weight.

The most struggle they run into is Kendall fumbling with his key card once they finally reach the door to 2J.

"Buddy," James chided, gently taking the key from Kendall's hands. "Relax."

Kendall curses under his breath, but he lets James take over the duty of getting the door unlocked and he does so swiftly. James holds the door open, ushering the three boys in and helping them make their way towards the orange sectional before he goes back to shut and lock it. Logan unceremoniously drops Carlos down onto the couch from his back making him cross his arms across his chest and let out a petulant whine. Logan apologizes with an arm around his shoulder and a quick kiss to his forehead as he plops down next to him.

"I'm hungry," Carlos whined, just as James made his way back over to them. He gives him pleading eyes that he of course could never say no to. "Kendall said we could have more cake."

"Oh, did he now?"

James and Kendall give each other amused looks, making Carlos pout. Apparently, they were the parents of the group when they were all drunk.

"I sure fuckin' did,"

"Thank god. Cake is like all I can think about right now."

They were fun parents though.

Their small exchange puts a goofy smile right back onto Carlos's face so James quickly skips over to the fridge to pull out the chocolate cake from their pregame celebration earlier in the night. He doesn't bother getting plates, he just grabs four forks from the drawer then joins his boys on the couch and passes one to each of them.

"I love you guys so much." Carlos said just before digging into the cake and shoving a rather large chunk of it into his mouth.

The other boys laugh and go on to take considerably smaller bites as they all sit back and just take a moment to think over their long day and all of the strange emotions that went along with it.

Kendall looked over at each of his boys, wondering how in the hell he was going to break the news he had gotten from Griffin and how the discussion about the decision he had made on his own would go. Talking about such serious things with his bandmates wasn't an easy task by any means. He didn't want to hurt them or be the cause of their anger. It would tear him up inside.

Logan looked at each of them, wondering how he had gotten so damn lucky. If he had never moved to Minnesota from Texas he would probably be alone forever. He was now forever grateful for the move that had been so hard at the time because it gave him the family he never thought he'd get to have. He hoped that whatever was going on with them tonight wouldn't be enough to break them apart. They'd been through too much together already. He couldn't lose them now.

Carlos looked at each of them, wondering just how much longer this bliss would last. Everything during these past few years, despite all of the many downs they've had alongside their ups, had been so incredibly perfect. It was bound to blow up in their faces eventually, right? Normally he wouldn't be so pessimistic, but he had a sick feeling that tonight was the night where it would all go downhill.

James looked at each of them, wondering how it was possible to love people that weren't himself so damn much. Most people thought he was just vain and selfish because he was confident about his looks and his talents but he couldn't possibly be anything of the sort when he had brothers he loved so much that it physically hurt him to be away from them or to see them hurting. He just really hoped he wouldn't be feeling any of that particular pain tonight. He had a funny feeling he would be.

Then they all looked at each other after a while, and immediately burst into giggles at the ridiculously solemn looks on their faces.

Everything would be fine.

---

"Party's not over yet, boys," Logan said, passing out opened beers to each of them. He then opened his own with one of his rings and took a quick swig. "Just getting started actually."

"You're a nightmare when you're drunk." Kendall said, pressing his bottle to his forehead.

"He's a nightmare all the time now," James corrected. "I don't know what the hell happened to him, but he's like a mini me. Like, seriously, looking at him is like looking into a mirror, and I've never hated looking into a mirror until now."

Logan snorts and gives James a grin with a bit of a crazed glint in his eye. James did not like that look.

"I'll tell you what happened to me, Jamie," Logan said, his voice sounding a little crazed as well. The dude was officially going off the deep end and it was too late to save him. "Stress. Anxiety. Elevated," Logan pauses, giving each of them a warning look, but also daring them to make the song reference. "Blood pressure. Our finances. Other adult bullshit. I was sick of being the most timid and mature one of us, and it was actually starting to affect my health. I just needed a change, man."

"So, you decided to do a full one-eighty, and change your entire personality? And your style?"

"I'm still me, guys," Logan said and now there was an upsetting edge to his voice. The boys really did not like that. "I still like reading and studying, I still wanna be a doctor someday, I still like playing hockey and goofing off with you idiots, I'm still gonna try to keep you guys safe when you do your stupid stunts and drag me into your crazy schemes. I just… chilled out a bit, ya know? I feel better about myself now."

"Well, I like this new confident era, Logie," Carlos said, clinking his bottle against Logan's. "It suits you."

"Thanks, Los." Logan whispered, clinking the bottle back.

"Hey, I don't actually hate this new thing you've got going on," James said defensively. "It's just been hard to get used to, is all. I'm glad you're finally seeing just how cool you really are, man."

"Thank you, James. That means a lot, really."

"Well, since we're getting all deep all of a sudden we might as well have some fun with it," Kendall said, sitting up to better face each of the boys. "Any game ideas?"

"Well, there's the classics like 'most likely to' and 'never have I ever'? Could be fun." Logan suggested.

"Sure, but let's spice it up a bit. There's gotta be some other good games. Look some up." Kendall said, pointing to where Logan's phone was resting on his lap.

Logan did as he was told and a minute later he was smirking down at his phone screen. Kendall was now starting to regret all of the life choices that had led him to this very moment.

"Paranoia sounds interesting."

"Paranoia? Sounds terrifying," Kendall muttered, leaning over Logan's shoulder to read the game's description. "Yeah, I don't know about that one, Loges… That one could lead to a lot of arguments," Kendall really needed all of them to be on good terms for their serious discussion later. "Maybe we shouldn't spice things up. Bad idea."

"Boo, you're boring, bitch." James said, flinging a random cake crumb in Kendall's direction.

Kendall watched as it landed on his shirt and didn't bother to remove it. He just looked back up at James, giving him a blank stare.

"Carlos agrees with me. Don't you, Carlos?"

"W-What?" Carlos sputtered, looking back and forth between James and Kendall. "No fair. I don't even know what this game is."

Logan chuckled, turning his phone towards Carlos so he could read the rules. Carlos squinted his eyes in concentration, it was a bit hard to read small words on a bright screen in his slowly fading but definitely still prominent drunken haze. He had to keep scanning the words over and over again as he was really struggling to grasp the whole concept but he got the gist of it eventually. That was good enough for him. He'd catch on if they did decide to play.

James noticed his struggles though and he also wanted to know what this game was so he decided to just read the rules out loud, "Pick someone to be the starter. That person whispers a question about the group into the ear of the person on their left, for example, "Who would you never live with?". The person who was asked the question replies out loud with their answer. If the person whose name was spoken—or anyone curious—wants to know what the question was, they take a drink. The person who said the name can either choose to respond or take a drink instead."

"I dunno, seems fine to me," Carlos said, shrugging. "What's the worst that could happen? I mean, really?"

James, Kendall, and Logan all gave each other looks, knowing exactly what the worst that could happen was.

"Fine," Kendall conceded. "But we're saving it for later. Let's start nice and easy with 'most likely to' and 'never have I ever', okay?"

Shrugging, they all silently agree.

"We should get shots for the games though. Beer's not gonna cut it." Logan pointed out, already standing to grab everything they needed.

Kendall groaned, attempting to throw a pillow at the back of Logan's head but it fell short as he was barely able to hold it up at the moment. Logan laughed at him, somehow just sensing what Kendall had tried to do. He was like a scary teacher or a mom; he had eyes in the back of his head.

"Fuck off, pretty boy number two."

"While I appreciate the backhanded compliment," Logan said, returning with a whole fucking tray of shot glasses and a bottle of something that nobody cared enough about to properly check. It was liquor, that's all they needed to know. "I'm not fucking off until we're all thoroughly fucked."

Kendall's eyebrows shot up at Logan's phrasing so the pretty genius rolls his eyes and nudges his legs off the couch so he can sit in between him and Carlos.

"Fucked up, you idiot. Shitfaced, hammered, intoxicated, wasted, sloshed, plastered, I can keep going,"

"Please, god, do not," James begged, taking the bottle of whatever the fuck Logan grabbed from him so he could pour their shots. "We get it, man, you're a walking torvosaurus or whatever."

"Thesaurus," Logan corrected, giving James a 'what the fuck' look. "You idiot."

James doesn't respond, he just gives Logan an 'I don't give a fuck' look, so that was the end of that.

"Anyway," Kendall said. "Who's going first?"

"Birthday boy should go first." James replied, carefully sliding the tray of shots to the middle of the coffee table.

"That means I have to think," Carlos complained, an adorably serious look on his face. "I hate thinking."

"We know, bud," Logan joked, patting his shoulder in mock comfort. "We know."

"Go 'way," Carlos muttered, lightly shoving Logan away. "I got one. Who's most likely to get arrested?"

James and Carlos immediately point to Kendall while Kendall and Logan point to Carlos.

"Why me?" Carlos asked, dumbfounded. "Papi's a cop! He would kill me if I ever got arrested."

"No, exactly, your dad's a cop, and you're an idiot," Logan said. "He can just like sense when you're doing some reckless, probably illegal shit."

"That doesn't even make any sense,"

"Does too,"

"Does not!"

"Does,"

James smacked Logan on the back of his head, effectively ending his childish argument with Carlos, "Knock it off, you two," He scolded as he glared at the both of them. Their seemingly harmless childish arguments always led to more serious ones if they weren't stopped right away.

"He started it," Carlos grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

This time James smacked Carlos on the back of his head to shut them up.

"And now I'm ending it. Shut up before I separate you guys."

"Fine." Carlos and Logan said at the same time. James smiled approvingly at them and patted both of their heads which of course just had them attempting to swat his hand away.

"Okay, now that you idiots are done, why me?" Kendall asked, whining a bit.

"Ha, are you serious?" James replied. "You have anger issues, my guy. I'm honestly a little surprised you haven't been arrested yet."

"I don't have fucking anger issues, James. Logan's the one with anger issues here! I'm changing my answer."

"Dude."

"…Okay, so, maybe I have some anger issues,"

"Just shut up and take your shots, ya losers," James said, handing Kendall two shots while Logan handed Carlos his two which had Kendall giving James a look. "What? You don't get to actually change your answer."

"But it's fucking true!"

"Chill out, Kendall," Logan cut in as he placed a hand on Kendall's arm, a weak attempt to keep him calm. "It's like, actually not that serious."

"Whatever."

Kendall and Carlos each knock both of their shots back quickly, making mildly disgusted faces at the bitter taste.

"Good boys," Logan praised a little too seriously, immediately earning double smacks to the face with pillows. "Yeah, I deserved that."

"Anyway, let's keep going to the left," James started but was immediately cut off by Carlos mumbling their lyrics, "to the left, left, left," under his breath. James put a hand over his mouth so he couldn't continue. "Shut up, it's my turn. So, who's most likely to take a body shot off a stranger?"

Kendall points to Logan, Logan points to James, James points to himself, and Carlos doesn't point to anybody. He just looks confused.

"What's a body shot?"

Kendall tried not to laugh, he really tried, but the question was just so innocent. Carlos wasn't completely innocent nor was he stupid but sometimes he just genuinely didn't know certain things and it was a little adorable.

"What's so funny?" Carlos asked defensively, only managing to make Kendall laugh harder.

Logan turned to hit Kendall on the arm but he too was failing miserably at holding in his laughter. James rolled his eyes at the two before leaning down to whisper the answer Carlos wanted to him. Carlos's eyes seemed to widen as each word was said and that was enough to send Logan over the edge.

"Oh," Carlos said, ignoring the laughing idiots. "Then James probably."

"That's three shots for you, Jamie boy," Kendall teased through his giggles. "And one for Logiebear."

James shrugged, easily downing the three shots like they were nothing.

"Can someone just pour mine down my throat?" Logan asked, looking over at James. "I'm fuckin' beat."

"I'm not your servant," James deadpanned, but he was picking up a shot for him anyway. "Open up, sweetheart. Okay, don't laugh at that, you moron, you're gonna fucking choke."

Logan took a deep breath, trying to control his laughter. Once he was sure he would stay calm he laid his head back against the cushions and stuck his tongue out.

"You're an idiot," James chided, but he poured the shot into Logan's mouth anyway. Most of it spilled down his chin, but he kept whatever he did get in the back of his throat for a bit and gurgled it before finally swallowing it down. "Yep, never doing that again."

"You love me."

"Sometimes,"

"Shut up, dickheads," Kendall interrupted. "My turn."

Logan lazily turned his head to face Kendall so Kendall looked him dead in the eyes as he asked his question, "Who's most likely to take a body shot off a close friend?"

Logan grins cheekily at Kendall and Kendall smirks right back. If an outsider watched this interaction they would probably assume the two idiots had actually done body shots off each other at some point or even just that they wanted to but the truth was that this was just how they all messed with each other. It was hilarious, to them at least.

"I probably would," Logan confessed, his breath mingling with Kendall's with how close they were. Kendall snorted and gently pushed his face away.

"But not with you guys."

"Lame," James muttered. To Logan and Kendall he was clearly joking just as Logan had been, but poor Carlos looked alarmed. James laughed and patted Carlos's knee as he looked into his eyes to be sure he believed his next words. "I'm kidding, Los."

"I know," Carlos replied, crossing his arms yet again. "Just shut up, and figure out who's taking shots. I'm saying Kendall's most likely to."

"Huh?"

"Am I wrong?"

"No. Maybe. I don't know. Shut up."

Everyone laughs and Logan cuts in with some more cheeky bullshit, "I say we all just take a shot. This game is getting boring already."

"Fine by me," Carlos said, not waiting for anyone else to agree. He picked up another shot and downed it in two slow gulps. "Ugh, this shit is so gross."

Carlos doesn't notice but James, Logan, and Kendall all freeze in shock.

"Since when do you curse?" Kendall asked since he was the first to recover, looking over at Carlos like he just committed a heinous crime, which was a little ridiculous, but he was caught off guard, sue him.

"Have for a while," Carlos replied, shrugging. "I just only really ever do it when I'm alone. Guess it just slipped out. Oh, well."

The others are satisfied enough with that answer so they each pick up their own shots and clink their glasses together before knocking them back.

"Okay, 'never have I ever' next?" Kendall asked.

"Yeah, and then Paranoia," Logan said, smirking over at Kendall. "I can't wait."

"I hate you."

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, Carlitos, go first again."

"Kay," Carlos said, taking a second to think. "Never have I ever… Um, had a… dream about a friend."

"Like a wet dream?" James asked, snorting at Carlos's insistence to be vague.

"Yeah."

To everyone's surprise, James doesn't take a shot, but Logan does. They all turn to look at him with wide eyes, startling him a bit.

"What? Camille and I were friends before we started dating."

"That doesn't count!" Carlos shouted, just a tad too loudly. Kendall shushed him so he started to whisper. "I meant like a friend, friend. Not a friend you already had a crush on."

"Oh, then no. I haven't."

The boys let out a collective sigh of relief but unfortunately this puts that crazed glint back into Logan's eyes and another cheeky grin on his face. The stupid bastard was pretending that their relief was disappointment. Oh, brother.

"What's wrong? Were you guys hoping it was one of you?"

"No. Gross." Kendall and James reply at the same time. Carlos just looks down and shakes his head rather violently so of course Logan targets him and messes with him further.

"What's wrong, Carlitos?" Logan lilts, moving his right hand to Carlos's chin. He presses his fingers lightly into Carlos's skin just before tilting his head towards him so he would look up at him. "Was your 'never have I ever' a lie? Have you dreamt about me before? It's okay, you can tell me."

"No! Shut up, you idiot," Carlos snaps, but there's still a playful edge to his voice. "I'm gonna get my camera back out and use all of the footage in this week's vlog if you don't knock it off."

"Boys," James said, warning them to stop. They, of course, don't listen. James just sighs and sits back to enjoy the show. "Here we go,"

"Do it. You won't," Logan challenged Carlos, watching his every move as he got up. "You won't."

"I will!" Carlos whisper-shouted from across the room, rummaging through his backpack for the handheld tripod that held his vlogging camera. As soon as he had it in his grasp he flipped the screen toward himself, and started recording. And like a switch was flicked, he easily slipped into his vlogging persona. "Hey, guys, what's up, how you doing? It's past midnight here but the guys and I are still celebrating my birthday. It's been so much fun. Well, actually it was up until this point. Logan is being a freakin' idiot right now so I'm trying to chill him out by putting him on the spot."

Logan jumps up and Kendall tries to catch him before he can make his way over to Carlos but Logan is and always has been too fast for him.

"Stay away from me, Logan," Carlos warns, watching Logan on his screen as he approaches him from behind. Logan doesn't listen, of course, he just kneels on the floor beside Carlos and wraps his arms around his torso, his chin resting on his shoulder. "Logan."

"Ooh, yeah, say my name, baby,"

"You are actually so stupid. I hope you know that."

"Stupid for you," Logan says flirtily, staring at Carlos on the camera's screen. When Carlos meets his eyes in their reflection he grins and plants an obnoxiously long kiss on his cheek. Carlos smiles, he can't help it, but he shakes his head too. "You're a cutie." Logan continues, now pinching the cheek he just kissed.

"Yeah, keep talking, bud. I'm keeping all of this in."

"Even this?"

"What are you,"

"Oh, Carlitos," Logan jokingly moans right into Carlos's ear. "So good, baby."

In the background, Kendall could be heard groaning out of frustration and probably secondhand embarrassment and James could be heard laughing so hard that he might actually die. A second later, Kendall yelled out, "This is borderline incestuous," to which James clapped back with, "Oh, please. You're so much worse than he is, Knight," and that had Logan bursting into laughter as well. Carlos, meanwhile, was giving the camera a murderous glare. He was really starting to hate his so-called 'best friends'.

"I'm not editing any of this out."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm not. This is all staying in."

"No, it's not,"

"You did this to yourself, bro!"

"You know what, fine, give the Cargan shippers what they want." Logan said, winking at the camera lens.

Carlos freezes, his growing blush tints his golden cheeks with the darkest rosy hue it could but thankfully Logan doesn't seem to notice. Carlos would probably end up killing him for real if he did.

"Yeah, okay, that's enough of that. I'm just gonna go ahead and end the vlog right here. See you next week, guys."

Just as Carlos goes to end the recording, Logan blows a kiss at the lens and winks with a loud tongue click. Carlos shakes his head yet again and rolls out of Logan's grasp.

"Let's play Paranoia now," Logan said as he jumped up and started dragging Carlos back toward the couch by his arms. "Come on, Los, get up."

Carlos places his camera back into his bag then plants his feet firmly onto the floor so Logan can't pull him so easily.

"Let go of me, jerk-face."

"I'll never let go, Los,"

"Logan," Carlos groaned and looked over at Kendall and James, silently pleading for help.

"I'm gonna punch you, Loges."

"Alright, Logan, let him go before this escalates," Kendall said, jumping up to grab Logan by his arm. "We can't have you two actually pissing each other off right now."

Logan dramatically spun out of Kendall's hold, putting his hands up in surrender.

"Fine, fine,"

"Thank you."

"But I'm not holding back with this game. I'm gonna be ruthless and you all just have to deal with it."

Deciding to ignore Logan completely, Kendall offers Carlos his hand to help him off the floor. Carlos graciously accepts the assistance with a warm smile and allows Kendall to lead him back to the couch just as Logan was sitting back down.

Kendall plops down right next to Logan, still holding onto Carlos's hand. Just as Carlos is about to sit next to him Kendall tugs him down into his lap instead, making him yelp.

"Kendall!"

"Sorry, not sorry."

Carlos just huffs, accepting his fate.

"Can we just get this stupid game over with already? I'm tired,"

"This was your idea, Logan, you go first." James said, handing each of them a shot in case they needed it.

Logan grinned at Kendall since he was the person to his left he was the person he would be asking the first question to. Kendall glared back at him, trying in vain to hide his obvious concern.

Logan ignored this, and placed his hands over Carlos's ears so he couldn't hear his whisper to Kendall.

"If you could only save one of us from being killed, who would you choose?"

Fuck. Logan really wasn't holding back. That was an impossible question to answer. Kendall would sooner let himself die than let any of his brothers die.

"Seriously, Loges? You know I can't actually answer that," Kendall said, pulling Logan's hands off of Carlos. "I would pick myself before I pick any of you."

"Too bad. You gotta pick one of us."

"Ugh. Then Carlos I guess. I don't know. I don't like this stupid fucking game."

Logan grinned even wider at Kendall, probably enjoying tormenting him. To his annoyance, James and Carlos drank their shots and gave him curious looks. Kendall just rolled his eyes and took his own shot then a sip of his beer. No way in hell was he telling them what his question was. He'd rather get blackout drunk than deal with that mess.

"My turn," Kendall muttered, roughly shoving Logan away before leaning in to whisper to Carlos. "Who do you think is the best singer in the group? Can't say yourself."

Carlos audibly gulped, clearly scared to answer Kendall's question. Kendall smirked at him but his eyes conveyed a more apologetic look as he gently caressed his bicep with his thumb, hoping it was a comforting gesture.

"Um, Logan," Carlos muttered, eyes downcast.

Logan smirks at him with an inquisitive twinkle in his eye and a single raised brow but he refrains from taking his shot. Seeing this from his peripheral Carlos glances at him with a shy smile then turns to look back at Kendall, his hands rising to a defensive position to protect himself from potential attacks as he continues with, "But you and James are tied for second! Really!"

James didn't really seem all that interested in Carlos's response right up until he had said that. He quickly downed a shot, giving Carlos a hopeful look. He needed to know what he was tied with Kendall for and why Logan was apparently better than the both of them.

Carlos bit his lip, nearly hard enough to draw blood. Kendall had the urge to get him to stop but he didn't want to agitate the boy any further so he resisted. The three boys just watched as Carlos wrestled with his thoughts, probably weighing the pros and cons of revealing his question.

When a few minutes passed by with no decision made, Kendall got sick of it and just blurted his question out.

"WHAT?" James shrieked, abruptly standing up. "There's no way you really think Logan's the best singer here, Carlos! I've been singing since I was three years old! It's always been my dream!"

"Whoa, chill out, man. It's not that big of a deal,"

"Can it, Logan!"

Kendall grabbed James's arm and yanked him back down onto the couch before he could do something stupid (like tackle Carlos or Logan), "Shut the fuck up, James," He whispered harshly. "We all have different opinions about each other's singing. Ya know who I think is the best of us? You. So, quit being such a goddamn drama queen before you wake the entire building up, and get Bitters on our ass."

James huffed and scooted away from all of them so he could sulk in the corner of the couch like a child that had just been told off. Kendall watched him for a moment to make sure he wouldn't make any rash decisions then turned to look at Logan.

"No more games. This was a bad idea."

"Okay, dad." Logan said, rolling his eyes.

Kendall knew he was sort of the unofficial leader of the group, and he knew he did really enjoy telling the occasional corny dad joke, but he really hated that he had somehow become actually responsible for the three children he had for best friends. He didn't know why or when that happened considering he wasn't even the oldest but he was glad that they actually did listen to him from time to time. Now was a time he was especially grateful for.

"Okay, now I know we need to talk about something serious, but we're all too fucked up and tired right now. We should just sleep and talk in the morning. Yeah?"

"Yeah." The three boys agreed simultaneously.

Nodding back, Kendall shifted in his seat and gently nudged Carlos in the side. Carlos took the hint immediately and slid off of Kendall's lap so he could get up.

"Wait, shit," Logan shouted suddenly, checking the time on his phone. "We have to be up in like three hours. Today is gonna suck."

"Oh, right, don't worry about that actually. Something came up so Gustavo is gonna postpone the shoot. Griffin told me last night," Kendall lied a little too easily for his own liking. But he couldn't tell Logan or any of their bandmates the real reason their shoot probably wasn't going to be happening anymore. Not now. "I'll call Kelly later to confirm that it's definitely been called off though."

Logan didn't really seem like he totally believed Kendall, but thankfully he didn't call him out on it. He just accepted the lie like it was the truth and excused himself to the bathroom.

With a sigh of relief, Kendall turned to face the two boys that were still sitting on the couch and smiled once he saw that they were both fighting to stay awake. Now, Kendall would do the responsible thing, and help them actually get ready for bed, but he was too tired himself. So, instead of dragging them through that whole process Kendall carefully pushed the coffee table towards the entertainment center, tossed the various pillows and blankets from the couch onto the floor, and then gently pulled the two sleepy boys down onto the makeshift floor bed. Kendall's fond smile morphed into a dopey grin as they seemed to instinctively snuggle up to each other as they finally allowed themselves to drift off. James seemed to have gotten over Carlos's answer during their game rather quickly, much to Kendall's relief.

Logan returned from the bathroom a few minutes later—and apparently their shared bedroom as well as he was now dressed in comfier lounge clothes—but he paused at the edge of the newly cushioned floor. Sensing his hesitation, Kendall raised a brow with a silent question directed his way.

Logan met his gaze with a somewhat comforting smile on his face; it didn't quite reach his eyes but Kendall knew it was genuine.

"I love you, guys." is all Logan says before he joins the cuddle pile James and Carlos had started.

Kendall just stands there for another while longer, a bit stunned. Eventually though, his lips turn up into a smile that does reach his eyes.

"We love you too."

---

Kendall awakes a few hours later—the exact time they would have had to actually get up if their shoot was still on—to the very distinct sound of Carlos whimpering. Kendall sits up on his elbows slowly, careful not to wake his other two slumbering bandmates.

"Los? What's wrong, buddy?" Kendall whispered, blindly reaching out for the now grumbling boy. He had yet to actually open his eyes as he wasn't quite awake.

"My head is killing me, dude," Carlos whispered back. "I totally overdid it last night. I'm never drinking that much ever again."

Kendall laughed at that, he couldn't help it. Carlos would be fine, it was just a hangover. Knowing the cause of his friend's distress now, Kendall allowed himself some time to properly wake up. He stretched his entire body, sighing as his joints cracked then rubbed at his eyes until he was able to keep them open. He then rolled out of the mess of blankets he was tangled up in and made his way into the kitchen. There, he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and a bottle of ibuprofen from one of the drawers.

"Here, Los," Kendall called out from the kitchen, gently tossing the items onto the pillow Logan was laid next to. "Take two of those and try to drink that whole bottle. You'll feel better in a bit."

"Thanks, Kenny." Carlos whispered as he carefully reached over Logan to retrieve the two bottles.

Now, Kendall would have loved to rejoin the cuddle pile that was his bandmates and get a few more hours of sleep, but he unfortunately had a not so fun phone call to make.

Despite the urgency he felt Kendall stayed standing in the middle of the kitchen for a bit longer, just waiting to see if Carlos would go back to sleep. Eventually, he rolled back over to face James and the half drunk water bottle started slipping from his grasp indicating that he was drifting off again. Kendall released the breath he had been holding—for far too long, he realized—then tiptoed past the living room and slipped out of the apartment.

He made his way to the end of the hall where the elevators were and decided to ride one down to the lobby, just to be extra sure that the boys wouldn't hear him.

The lobby was eerily quiet, which was actually quite normal seeing as it was only five thirty in the morning, but it was still pretty disturbing to Kendall. The only sounds were the quiet chirping of the crickets outside and Mr. Bitters's muffled snoring through his office door. And to make matters even worse, the entire lobby was pitch black; the only light was coming from the blue glow of the vending machines' digital displays. This was the part of the horror movie where the audience yelled at the characters for being stupid.

Kendall shook his head, trying to rid himself of his increasing paranoia. Everything was fine. There wasn't a Palm Woods ghost or an ax murderer on the loose. He was just hungover and stressed and overthinking. He only needed to be down here for a few minutes to make a call. Nothing was going to happen.

But then when Kendall reached into his pocket to grab his phone he realized that he had left it back in the apartment. The imaginary audience in his head was screaming at him and throwing their popcorn directly at his face.

No, he was fine. He could just use the front desk's phone. Usually residents were only allowed to use it with explicit permission from Bitters but what Bitters didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Plus, Kendall wasn't exactly planning on staying at The Palm Woods forever nor would he even be allowed to anyway—they had already overstayed their welcome—so he could easily handle any of the temporary consequences he'd face if Bitters ever were to find out.

Once his eyes adjusted to the dark a bit Kendall stumbled his way around the lobby's furniture until he made it to the desk. He quickly snatched the phone off of the hook and punched in the number he had thankfully memorized.

Two rings later, Kelly picked up, "Kelly Wainwright, Rocque Records,"

Kendall cringed a bit, he was not at all used to the professional greeting from the assistant. It sounded so monotonous and nothing like the Kelly he knew.

"Hey, Kelly," Kendall mumbled his greeting as he leaned over to rest his entire upper body on the desk. He was a lot more tired than he first thought. "We're not shooting the music video today, are we?"

"Oh, Kendall, it's you. Why aren't you calling me from your cell?"

Kelly's voice was a bit higher than normal which told Kendall she was feeling nervous. She was dodging the question.

"Left it in the apartment," Kendall responded, not bothering to explain himself at all. "Answer my question, Kelly."

There's a weirdly long pause on the other end then a heavy sigh and some unintelligible words. Kelly sounded as exhausted as Kendall felt. He didn't blame her, he couldn't even begin to imagine the stress she must be under.

"Kelly?"

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just… Yeah, Kendall, the shoot for the new single has been canceled indefinitely."

"Sucks. The fans were really looking forward to that one."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Not your fault."

"Do the boys know?"

Somehow, Kendall just knew that Kelly wasn't talking about the music video anymore.

"I haven't gotten a chance to talk to them yet."

"Kendall, they need to know,"

"I know."

There's another prolonged silence and Kendall is reminded of his phone call with Griffin, the very thing that had gotten them into this mess in the first place. He wants to shout all of his frustrations out, or smash the phone against the desk, or something. But he would never take his anger out on Kelly, not if she didn't deserve it (which she never really did). Instead, Kendall forces himself to be patient. He distracts himself by wrapping and unwrapping the phone's coiled cord around his fingers over and over again. He gets close to cutting his circulation off at one point but he can't bring himself to care. The slight twinge of pain is surprisingly pleasant.

Then finally, before Kendall can do any real damage, Kelly breaks the silence once more, "You need to tell them as soon as they wake up. Don't put it off. Gustavo wanted me to arrange a meeting with you guys later today."

"Oh, fun. Can't wait."

"Kendall, this is serious,"

"I'm taking it seriously."

"Are you? Because to me it sounds like you've already given up."

Okay, now Kendall was getting a little frustrated with Kelly. Obdul's initial doubt in him he could understand, but Kelly really knew how much this band meant to him. She knew how stubborn he was and how much he fought for the things he cared about. He couldn't believe she had so little faith in him right now.

"Oh, ye of little faith," Kendall responded, feeling a little loopy suddenly. He really needed to go back to sleep. "Don'tchu worry, Kells, I have everything under control."

"Kendall, are you still drunk?"

"How'd you know I was drunk?"

"Yesterday was Carlos's twenty-first birthday, Kendall, I'd be shocked if you weren't drunk."

"Oh, yeah, makes sense," Kendall mumbled, now placing the phone cord over his upper lip like it was a mustache. He didn't really know what he was doing anymore but he knew it was keeping him entertained. "Well, I'm not drunk anymore. Not really. Mostly just tired. I only got like three hours of sleep."

"Go back to sleep, Kendall. We'll see you guys anytime after twelve for the meeting, alright?"

"Yeah, alright."

"Good night, Kendall. Sleep well."

It definitely wasn't night anymore, sunlight was starting to shine through the curtains, but Kendall didn't find it necessary to correct Kelly. He was planning on going back to sleep so as far as he was concerned it was still nighttime.

"Good night, Kelly."

---

The apartment was still slightly dark by the time Kendall made it back up—thanks to the fully shut blinds—so he was more than a little startled when the floor lamp suddenly flicked on and nearly blinded him with its bright orange glow.

"Christ," Kendall exclaimed, trying to blink the spots that were now dotting his vision away. Once the spots cleared and his eyes adjusted to the light, Kendall looked at the couch to find Logan glaring at him. "What the hell, Logan?"

"So, the shoot's definitely canceled?" Logan asked, his tone unreadable.

"Uh, yeah, the director canceled on us and Kelly couldn't find anyone last minute."

Kendall really did not like how easy lying had been coming to him lately. But he also didn't like how Logan could always see through his bullshit.

"Well, that's not too big of a deal. We'll find a new director eventually. Right?"

"Right," Kendall agreed, shifting uneasily. He didn't know what this little game Logan was playing with him was but he really didn't like it. "Anyway, we should probably go back to sleep for a bit. We gotta meet with Gustavo and Kelly later to discuss some things."

"About the music video?"

"Yeah."

Logan doesn't say anything else, he just stares at Kendall—practically right into his soul—and just like his tone his expression was completely unreadable.

Their weird staring contest drags on for far too long until inevitably it's broken by Kendall's phone ringing on the coffee table. They both look over at it for a brief moment, and Kendall can practically see a plan forming in Logan's head. He tries to beat him to it, but Logan's reaction time is still far faster than his is. He's picking up his phone and checking the caller I.D. before Kendall even realizes he could have easily created some sort of diversion.

"Why is Kelly calling you back? I thought you got our plans for today sorted already."

"I did, Logan," Kendall replied, starting to get a little defensive even though he really shouldn't be. "I have no idea why she's calling me back. How about you give me the phone so I can find out?"

Kendall can see Logan thinking up some stupid idea again and yet somehow he still wasn't fast enough to stop him. Logan accepted the call and pressed the phone to his ear with the most mischievous smirk Kendall had ever seen from him. Kendall might kill him.

"Hey, Kelly. Kendall's asleep. What's up?"

Yep, he was definitely going to kill him.

"Logan," Kendall mouthed angrily, throwing his hands up in disbelief. "Give me the damn phone."

"Oh, you need us to come in earlier?" Logan asked Kelly, completely ignoring the angry miming Kendall was starting to do. "Did something happen? Do we have a new date for the shoot already?"

"Oh, that's not what this meeting is about? Well, that's weird. That's not what Kendall told me."

What the hell was Kelly doing? Kendall needed to break the news to his friends in his own way. He couldn't be set up like this. He was already in deep shit by keeping it from them this long. Kelly was just digging the hole he had found himself in deeper; well, on the brightside, his grave would be nice and ready for him when he was inevitably murdered by his bandmates. Silver linings.

"Yeah, don't worry, Kelly. We're definitely going to talk. See you later."

The glare Logan was giving Kendall as he said his goodbyes and hung up the phone was genuinely terrifying. Logan did actually have some anger issues, just like Kendall did, but somehow he's still never seen his best friend this pissed before. His eyes were watery, his jaw was clenched so tight Kendall was a little worried he would break his teeth, and he honestly looked like he'd have zero regrets if he did end up actually murdering Kendall.

"Kendall," Logan started, and oh yeah, he sounded dangerous right now. Kendall was not walking away from this conversation completely unscathed. "What is going on, man? What happened with Griffin last night? Why'd we have to leave the club so early? Why do you keep putting off the talk we apparently need to have so badly?"

"We're not doing this right now, Logan."

"Why not?!"

"We need James and Carlos. We can talk when they wake up."

Kendall watches another plan slowly hatch in Logan's mind but this time he has no idea what it could be and that scares him maybe a little more than it should.

He doesn't have to wait very long to find out what the plan is though. Logan grabs the air horn that was just conveniently placed on the coffee table and immediately presses down on it. James and Carlos jump up into sitting positions with their respective shouts of "What the hell?!" and "Dude!".

Logan keeps his gaze trained on Kendall as he speaks in a cold but steady voice, "They're awake. Talk."

Sensing the serious tension, James and Carlos look back and forth between Kendall and Logan helplessly. They were not prepared for whatever was going on at all. Despite their harsh awakening they were both still hardly conscious.

"Breakfast first." Kendall said, leaving no room for arguments—though he had a feeling Logan would try to argue anyway—and turned to walk into the kitchen.

"You're just prolonging the inevitable. Get it over with, man. You're driving me nuts."

Kendall ignores Logan and opens the fridge, scanning its contents for something edible. He frowns once he realizes they didn't really have much. They desperately needed to go grocery shopping. They'd just been too busy to even remember that was something they had to do on their own now that his mom and sister had moved into their own place. Their lives were so chaotic and they were about to get even more chaotic. Kendall didn't know how he or the guys would be able to handle any of it on their own.

Kendall slams the fridge door shut which makes the other three jump as they hadn't been expecting it. Kendall can feel their concerned stares on him as he just continues to stand there with his hand closed tightly around the fridge handle but he doesn't care.

Another few seconds of tense silence passes before Kendall decides to check the cabinets for something. Luckily there's a bag of ground coffee still left on the top shelf from the last shopping trip. It wasn't food but it was the perfect cure for hangovers and little sleep. It would do for now.

As Kendall started brewing the coffee and setting out each of their favorite mugs he heard the TV switch on behind him. His bandmates were still strangely silent but at least now they were doing something instead of just standing around and making things weirder.

"Uh, guys?" James said out of nowhere, his voice trembling slightly.

Reluctantly, Kendall turned around to see what the problem was. His heart sank as soon as he realized what was playing on the TV.

It was one of the many celebrity gossip news stations and the big headline at the bottom of the screen read: BIG TIME BREAK UP?

"Turn it off, James." Kendall demanded.

Instead of listening to Kendall's command James shook his head and used the remote to turn the volume up a few notches. Kendall didn't even try to get the remote from him, he didn't have the energy for a fight. So, all four boys' eyes stayed glued to the screen as the story played out.

The reporter was talking about how the one and only Kendall Knight of Big Time Rush was overheard discussing the potential end of the band on the phone the night before. Then a slideshow of paparazzi images of the boys at the club replaced the reporter as they explained each one through a voiceover. One was of course Kendall on the phone outside of the club, looking angry and near tears. The next was James sitting alone at the booth and looking rather pitiful with his chin resting on his hand, and then the last ones—which were arguably the worst ones of all—were badly timed pictures of Logan and Carlos. The first looked pretty romantic since Logan was kissing Carlos on the cheek and Carlos was smiling with his hand placed on Logan's chest. He had probably just been trying to push him away but the still picture made it look like they were holding onto each other. The next few pictures somehow made it look like they were arguing with each other, and nearly turning the fight physical, when they very much weren't. Kendall may have been drunk last night but he always knew when real fights broke out between his best friends. The reporter then went on to say how they think the boys may be in the midst of a falling out caused by the toxic "romance" between Logan and Carlos and that this very well may be the end of the beloved boy band but then asked the viewers to let them know what they thought.

Fuck. Just fuck.

This was not how this was supposed to go. Kendall was going to tell them what happened, he really was! This wasn't fair. Stupid fucking paparazzi and gossip shows. They were all vultures who didn't care whose lives they ruined.

God, the silence that followed the 'news' report was incredibly unnerving, but Kendall just couldn't face his friends now. He couldn't speak even if he wanted to. What was he supposed to say? 'Hey, guys, sorry you had to find out like this, but yeah we're probably done with Big Time Rush!'. That would definitely go over well.

"Kendall?"

To Kendall's—and probably everyone's—horror, Carlos is the first to speak up. His voice sounded so small and so hurt, it was probably the most heartbreaking thing Kendall had ever heard.

But Kendall still can't say anything.

"Is it true?"

That was James now and god Kendall wished Logan would say something too. Anything. His silence was so damn loud.

"Guys…" Kendall eventually managed to croak out, immediately clearing his throat.

"Griffin's breaking us up?"

Finally, Kendall finds his voice, "It's mostly Fujisaki's doing but yeah… The entire company behind Rocque Records is falling apart. They're throwing us to the fucking streets. Like actual unwanted dogs."

All of the rage from the past six or so hours—and god how had their lives gone to such shit in such a short amount of time—had started building back up and Kendall needed to release it somehow. He balled his hands into fists at his sides as his breathing picked up and that finally got Logan's attention.

"Kendall,"

"Don't, Logan,"

"No, you don't. Look at me," Suddenly, Logan was stepping into Kendall's line of vision and reaching his hands out toward him. Kendall tensed, not exactly sure what to expect, but Logan just grabbed his hands and unfurled them. "Look at me."

Kendall absolutely refuses to look at Logan. He couldn't bear to see the look in his eyes; whether it was anger, disappointment, or sadness, it didn't matter. He just couldn't face it. Kendall wasn't a leader. He was a coward.

"We're trending on twitter…"

"Does that really matter right now, James?" Logan called over his shoulder, his hands still holding Kendall's in a tight grip.

"Uh, yeah, Logan, it does! You should see what people are saying about you and Carlos! It's nothing good!"

Kendall looks past Logan to see that both James and Carlos were standing in front of the kitchen bar now. James was glaring down at his phone while Carlos was holding onto his arm and pressing his face against the back of his shoulder. Kendall couldn't really tell from where he was but it seemed like Carlos was also looking at whatever James had pulled up on his phone over his shoulder. Kendall so badly wanted to snatch the phone out of James's hand. He wanted to keep all of their phones and laptops and any devices with internet access locked up. The three of them were always telling Kendall to just ignore any haters they got but here two of them were doing the exact opposite. Sure, technically these people weren't haters per se, but this still couldn't be a good use of their time. This kind of shit was very much going to affect them all negatively still.

"Kendall,"

Kendall's head snaps to the direction his name was called from on pure instinct. He's now face to face with Logan and he just wants to fucking bolt out of the apartment and never return.

"You need to take a deep breath, man."

That wasn't really what Kendall was expecting Logan to say but he was right. That 'news' report got him all worked up and he really needed to focus. Kendall takes Logan's advice and takes a slow breath in through his nose. He holds it for a few seconds then when he releases it the coffee maker goes off. Wordlessly, Kendall pulls out of Logan's grasp and turns to fix up their coffees the way they all like them.

Kendall listens as Logan slowly walks over to the bar then when he's almost certain he's no longer looking at him Kendall turns to face his bandmates. James and Carlos were now sitting beside each other and still looking at James's phone. Logan was sitting two seats away from them, leaving the stool in the middle empty for Kendall.

Kendall places each of his friend's mugs in front of them before taking a sip of his own and bringing it over to his spot amongst them.

"So," Kendall begins awkwardly, not really sure what to say.

James manages to pull his eyes away from his phone and looks past Carlos to meet Kendall's. They have a conversation through facial expressions alone but it soon becomes clear that neither boy really knows what the other was trying to say. Eventually they both break their eye contact at the same time and stare down into their mugs like they held the answers.

"We need to release some kind of statement. Clear up the rumors, and make sure everyone knows the truth."

"What is the truth, Kendall?" Logan asks in a disturbingly icy voice again.

"I already told you, Logan," Kendall replies, matching Logan's tone. "RCM CBT Globalnet Sanyoid is falling apart. And Big Time Rush can't exist without it… Not easily, at least."

"I smell plan." James and Carlos say at the same time, staring at Kendall expectantly.

But before Kendall can say anything Logan rolls his eyes and butts in, "There's no scheming our way out of this one, you idiots. We're toast."

"Don't be so negative, Logie!" Carlos said, turning in his stool to look directly at Logan. "We always figure something out. We can do anything as long as we stick together."

Logan doesn't give Carlos any sort of response because he knows if he did it wouldn't be anything nice. Instead, he directs his glare over to James's still lit phone screen and asks if he can read what he had been looking at.

"Logan," Kendall says in a warning tone. "I really don't think that's a good idea… Trust me, I'm dying to know what people are saying too, but you always tell me to ignore that type of shit. Take your own advice."

"Oh, easy for you to say right now. People's comments about you in the past haven't ever been this serious and nobody's even saying shit about you this time."

"Oh, how wrong you are, my friend," James interjects with a sardonic smile. "People are saying Kendall and I are terrible friends for keeping you in the group and letting you abuse Carlos or whatever the hell they think is happening. A lot of the rushers are trying to defend us all but I think even they're starting to believe the rumors. I mean let's be real, Kendall's phone call plus the paparazzi photos were pretty damning."

"Oh, fuck that. People are fucking ridiculous. I need to say something. Where the fuck is my phone."

Before anyone can process Logan's words he's already hopping up and tearing the living room apart in search of his cellphone.

Carlos is the only one that follows him to try to stop him.

"Logan… Come on, man. Let's just focus on the band stuff right now. We can take care of the other problems later."

"Fuck off, Carlos. I really don't need you or anyone telling me what to do right now."

James and Kendall both tense up, entirely expecting a fight to break out.

Surprisingly, the guys stayed quiet and then only receding footsteps could be heard. James and Kendall look over to find Carlos stomping towards their bedrooms and Logan just standing in the middle of the room. He looks remorseful for just a fraction of a second before he's shaking his head and continuing his search.

"Logan," Kendall tries, knowing full well he's probably going to get snapped at too, but he had to do something. Logan had somehow managed to calm him down so he just wanted to return the favor. "Come back over here, and take some deep breaths, man. You're way too angry to say anything actually helpful right now. You're gonna regret it."

"Don't care," Logan muttered, finally finding his phone stuck between the couch cushions. "Got it."

"At least let us read your tweet before you post it?"

"Ooh, was I supposed to run my tweet by you guys first?"

"Seriously, James? What the hell did you say?"

James looks away from Kendall as he slides his phone across the bar to him. Kendall snatches it up right away and clicks onto James's profile to pull up his most recent post.

RealJamesDiamond

Super cool of everyone to immediately believe made up shit from a stupid gossip show! I don't know the fate of the band rn but what I do know is that Logan and Carlos aren't dating or hurting each other in any way. We're all brothers and we love each other. Cut the bullshit.

"I guess that's not that bad… Really wish you didn't say anything about the band though."

James just shrugged, still avoiding Kendall's gaze.

"I appreciate what you said about me and Carlos," Logan cut in, having read the tweet on his own phone. "But you probably have a lot more angry people in your mentions now."

"Please, you know I'd literally kill someone for you guys, I think I can handle a few keyboard warriors."

Logan snorts at that as he joins James and Kendall back at the bar. He chugs his coffee slowly before typing out a new tweet. James switches over to Carlos's abandoned stool—speaking of the missing boy, someone should really go check on him soon—and looks over at Logan's phone to read as he typed. He backspaces quite a few times until finally he seems happy with what he's got.

"Well?" Logan asked, glancing at Kendall then over at James.

LoganMitchell

Usually I ignore rumors/gossip but this whole thing is fucking ridiculous lol Carlos & I aren't dating. We do fight sometimes but like the way brothers do. We're not abusing each other. Those pictures were badly timed. Don't believe gossip shows those assholes need better jobs.

"Seems fine to me." James said.

Kendall looked reluctant to agree but instead of saying anything he just shrugged and looked down at his mostly untouched coffee. Logan rolled his eyes at his silence and posted the tweet.

"Someone should," Kendall started, cutting himself off. "James, you should go get Carlos. I actually do have a plan to save the band so we really need to discuss it before our meeting later."

"Wait, what meeting?" James asked, pausing as he was already halfway across the room.

Kendall glanced over at him, giving him a sheepish look, "Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot to tell you. We're meeting with Gustavo and Kelly later to discuss everything that's happening."

"Oh, okay," is all James says before disappearing into the hallway to continue on his mission.

Logan then turns to Kendall with a weirdly amused look.

"Someone should get Carlos, no, I mean James should. Not Logan. Definitely not Logan," Logan says, mocking Kendall. "That asshole would just pick a fight and make everything worse, am I right."

"Oh, shut up." is all Kendall says, visibly increasing Logan's amusement.

Meanwhile, in James and Carlos's shared room, James finds Carlos sat up in his bed with his arms crossed.

"Hey, Los, you okay?"

"I'm so done with Logan's crap!" Carlos blurts out, startling James.

"Come on, Carlos, you don't mean that,"

"I do! He always gets so pissy with me, and I don't even know why!"

"Well, I mean, you do tend to push his buttons quite a bit, Los,"

"And you and Kendall don't?!"

"We do," James says, moving to sit next to Carlos. "Just not as much as you do, I guess. But, come on, you know he never means it when he snaps like that. I'm not saying it's okay, it's definitely something he needs to work on," He pauses to place his hand on Carlos's arm, urging him to look at him. "But he cares about you. He'd never do anything to like seriously hurt or upset you."

"Well, it's still annoying. He gets me all worked up, and I hate being mad at you guys."

"Come back with me and talk to him about it then. We need you back in there anyway. Kendall has a plan."

"I knew it!" Carlos shouts, perking right back up and pulling his helmet from seemingly out of nowhere to place it on his head. There's their Carlitos.

Now smiling, James hops up and offers his hand to Carlos to pull him up. They make their way back into the main room together and slowly approach the two that were still sitting at the bar.

"Yo, Los, I'm sorry," Logan said as soon as he noticed them. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. You were just trying to help."

In lieu of a response, Carlos tackles Logan into a hug and nearly knocks him off his stool.

"Ugh, fucking hell, man!" Logan shouted, sounding a bit annoyed, but he laughed and reciprocated the hug anyway.

"I'm sorry I annoy you so much, and push you to the point of snapping, and I'm sorry I get so weird about it,"

"Los,"

"You're just kinda hard to read sometimes, and I just get really emotional, and I know that makes me sound like a big baby and maybe I am, but,"

"Carlos,"

"I care about you guys a lot and I never wanna make you mad but sometimes I do, and I just,"

"CARLOS!" All three non rambling boys shout, startling Carlos out of Logan's arms and silencing his rant.

"It's cool, man," Logan says, taking Carlos's right hand into his own left hand. "We're cool. Chill out."

"Yeah, okay. Okay, I'm chill," Carlos says, giving Logan's hand a light squeeze before pulling away. "So, what's the plan?"

"The plan has been right in front of our faces this whole time," Kendall starts as he stands up. He watches as the others turn to face him and brace themselves for the oncoming speech. "BTR."

"Big Time Rush?" James asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Buy The Rights," Kendall corrected, smirking as all of them realized what he had said one by one.

"Hold on, how the hell are we,"

"We'll just go back on tour to raise the funds we'll need, Logan,"

"Okay, but going on tour is also expensive, genius. How are we gonna pull this off? We probably don't even have a team or a band anymore."

"I've already started putting a team together."

"Without us?"

"Not officially! I've only asked one person. Plus, I'm pretty sure most of the people I've thought of don't even need to be asked. They're already onboard."

"Who the hell did you ask?" James asked.

"Obdul."

"Obdul? As in,"

"Yes, that Obdul."

A somewhat awkward silence falls over the group—something that rarely ever happens with them—so Kendall uses the opportunity to start his speech.

"Come on, guys. We've never given up before. We've always fought for the things we wanted. We wouldn't be here right now having this very conversation if we didn't. What's one more battle? Yeah, it's not gonna be easy, but when the hell is anything easy? So, are we gonna do this, or are we gonna do this?"

The weird silence returns after his speech, but Logan breaks it rather quickly, "Your speeches are getting cheesier," He says dryly but there's a smile slowly forming on his face. "But yeah, why not. Let's give it a shot."

"Take a 'shot in the dark', I think you mean?" Kendall asked, grinning cheekily.

"Wow, that was bad, even for you."

Yeah, it was pretty bad, but his idea wasn't. They could do this.

"Hey, Big Time Rush?" Kendall asks, glancing at each of his bandmates hopefully.

"Big Time Rush." says James, with a smirk.

"Big Time Rush." says Carlos, with two helmet taps.

And finally, "Big Time Rush, I guess." says Logan, with a fond sigh.

---

Hours later, the boys were frantically rushing around the apartment, getting ready for the meeting they had been dreading.

"Where the hell is my lucky white V neck?!" James shouts, throwing shirts out of his dresser.

"Nobody who's cool wears V necks anymore!" Logan calls from the living room.

"Oh, what do you know!"

The only answer James receives is some muffled snickers from all of his bandmates so he ignores it and continues his search.

He finds some old V necks—and yeah he probably should get rid of them—but none of them are the V neck. He had a horrible feeling about their meeting with Gustavo and Kelly so he needed all the luck he could get. Just having his lucky comb on him like always wasn't going to cut it.

"James, we really can't keep them waiting anymore," Kendall said, suddenly appearing in the doorway. "Just put any shirt on, man. We don't need any luck. We got this."

James blatantly ignores Kendall, continuing to toss shirts behind him. Kendall steps into the room and places a hand on his shoulder but it doesn't grab his attention.

"James,"

"Fuck off, Kendall," James mumbled, purposefully throwing a shirt at Kendall's face.

Kendall just huffs, watching as the shirt falls to the floor. Fine, if James was going to act like a child, Kendall was going to treat him like a child.

"James, I'm gonna give you ten seconds to find a shirt, and put it on,"

James tensed for a moment but he still refused to quit his frantic searching.

"Ten,"

"Kendall," James groaned.

"Nine,"

"You're being ridiculous,"

"Eight,"

"Kendall!"

"Seven,"

"I'm not a child, ya know!"

"Six,"

Kendall and James can both feel Carlos and Logan sneaking up behind them but it does nothing to stop either of them from their childish antics. If anything, it just makes Kendall more eager to continue. James was always trying to embarrass him so it was about damn time Kendall served him a taste of his own medicine.

"Five,"

"I'm not scared of you, Kendall! This is so stupid!"

"Four,"

"Logan! Do something,"

Logan doesn't do anything to stop Kendall, the bastard doesn't even say anything. He just snorts and ruffles James's already unkempt hair. James shrieks as he blindly bats his hand away, absolutely refusing to look back at any of the jackasses he was now reconsidering being friends with.

"Three,"

"Okay, okay!" James exclaimed, pulling a random shirt out of the pile he had created and putting it on.

"Thank you," Kendall said with a self-satisfied smirk that James looked just about ready to smack off of his face. "Now, hurry up and go do your hair. It looks awful."

James jumped up, reaching out to grab Kendall but he was already speeding out of the room and laughing his ass off.

"I hate him," James said as he pushed past Carlos and Logan—who were also giggling like a bunch of idiots—and headed into the bathroom. "I hate him so much."

"Nah, you love him." Logan retorted, following James into the bathroom. "I, however, hate all of you. I still need to get new friends."

James reluctantly tore his gaze away from the precious mirror just to sneer at Logan and nod his head in mock agreement. Logan gave him an innocent smile in return, deciding to lean against the doorframe so he could wait for him to finish his meticulous hair care routine. Behind them, they could hear Kendall grabbing the car keys whilst yelling at Carlos to 'hurry up and get his shoes on already'. Carlos yelled back, saying he needed to find his helmet first—how he even managed to lose it that quickly Logan will never know—to which Kendall scolded him for and that just had Logan feeling a bit sad all of a sudden. Despite his many threats to get new friends he really loved the chaos these ones had brought into his life. He doesn't think he could actually live without it.

"You dorks ready yet or what?" Kendall suddenly asked from beside Logan, startling him out of his thoughts.

"You can't rush perfection, Kendork," James replied, keeping his eyes on his reflection as he combed his short fringe in place and spritzed some more Cuda hairspray into it with the other. "You really should know this by now."

"You always complain when we're late to shit, but yeah by all means, James. Take your time." Kendall scoffed, turning to look at Logan.

"Don't look at me, dude. I've been ready," Logan said, pulling on the lapels of his leather jacket. Kendall looked him up and down, giving him a nod of approval. "Is Carlos ready? That's the real question."

Kendall opens his mouth to answer but Carlos comes barrelling into the already cramped bathroom before he can, almost knocking both him and Logan into James, "I'm ready!" He shouted as he adjusted the helmet that was now askew on his head.

"Good," Logan said, putting Carlos into a headlock just because he could.

"AH! Logan!" Carlos squawked, pulling Logan down to the floor in his attempt to free himself from his hold.

Kendall watched them go down while James watched his patience wear thin. Deciding to put Kendall out of his misery, James put his hairspray away and pocketed his lucky comb before he whisked his fuming friend away from the bathroom.

Kendall just gave him an appreciative smile before he looked back at the two morons that were still scuffling on the floor of the bathroom and shouted, "Let's go, boys!"

About fifteen minutes later, the boys finally arrived at Rocque Records—which they were surprised was even still open—and made their way into Gustavo's office.

"Dogs," Gustavo greeted, somehow looking more solemn than he usually does. He exchanged a quick look with Kelly who then gave the boys a tight-lipped smile.

"Gustavo," Kendall greeted in return, as falsely chipper as ever. "It's so great to see you. Kelly, always a pleasure."

"Hi, Kendall. Hi, boys." Kelly said with a fond twinkle in her eyes, earning some genuine smiles from her favorite boys.

"Sit," Gustavo barked, nodding at the four chairs that were placed in front of his desk. He watched the boys do as they were told, nearly tripping each other up in their haste to obey the order before he continued. "So, look… I'm… I'm really sorry you boys were blindsided by Griffin's news last night. If it makes you feel any better, Kelly and I were too."

The boys sit in stunned silence for a bit—Gustavo's sincere apologies were extremely rare and therefore will forever be strange to them—before they engage in a hushed discussion.

Eventually, they reach an agreement; three out of the four nod at Kendall, allowing him to continue speaking for all of them.

"We're not letting it get us down, Gustavo," Kendall said as he stood from his chair and started pacing behind his bandmates. He paused in the middle of the room, pointing his index finger upward as he continued talking. "You know why? I'll tell you why: we," Kendall paused again, now gesturing to the three boys in front of him. "Have a foolproof plan to keep this band alive."

"Oh, I'm just dying to hear it." Gustavo deadpanned. Kelly smacked him on the arm with her clipboard before encouraging Kendall to go on with a bright smile.

"If we go back on tour we'll be able to buy the rights to the band with the money we earn! We don't need Fujisaki or Griffin, we can do this without them."

A short silence followed Kendall's announcement and then Gustavo was cackling like the absolute madman he was. Kendall's shoulders slumped at the mocking sound, feeling completely discouraged. He had been expecting this sort of reaction—Gustavo was the most predictable person on the entire planet, he'd be crazy not to—but that never made actually hearing it any easier.

Luckily, Kelly comes to their rescue, just as she always does, "That's not the worst idea," She said, smacking Gustavo's arm once again. "But, Kendall, you do realize you guys can't go on tour as Big Time Rush, if you do go through with this, right? You can't even perform any of the songs you've recorded under this label."

"Honestly, I didn't really think about that," Kendall admitted, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "But hey, that's not a big deal! We can perform under a pseudonym. And as for the songs, we'll just flesh out the unfinished songs we've written ourselves and perform those. Hell, maybe we can do some covers of other boy band songs too."

"That's a terrible idea!" Gustavo exclaimed. "You're not going to sell any tickets if you do any of the stupid shit you just said."

"Yeah huh!" Kendall retorted rather childishly but he didn't care. Gustavo was being stupid. Kendall had faith in his brothers to put on a good show in spite of their disadvantages and he had faith in their fans' unwavering support. They were doing this.

"Uh, nuh uh! You always seem to forget the fact that I was in this business before you were even a twinkle in your daddy's eye, kid. I know what does and doesn't sell tickets!"

Kendall automatically grits his teeth at the mention of his father. He could see each of his friends tensing up as well, probably anticipating some kind of outburst from him. But Gustavo didn't really know how sore of a subject Kendall's father was. He was just using an expression. There was no need to make a big deal out of something that was really nothing.

Kendall's pretty sure he hears James mutter something like, "Bet you wish I had the V neck now, huh," under his breath but he ignores him in favor of continuing the argument—that he was so totally going to win—with Gustavo.

"Gustavo," Kendall continued, moving forward and coming to a stop in front of the producer's desk. "How many times are we going to do this? We've never let you down before. We can do this."

"Well, good luck getting a whole team, stage crew, and band together on your own! Good luck convincing venues to book your little circus! There's no way, no way, this will ever take off! It's never gonna happen! Never!"

Once again, Kendall was transported back to a simpler time where a once in a lifetime deal was being made in the parking lot of a simple Minnesota supermarket.

"So, we're doing this."

"Yep!"