Title: All That I Can Take

Summary: alternate ending to chapter twenty of 'The Night Is Young'. When James and Kendall break into the Diamond house, they never planned on getting caught. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned…

A/N: alright so I started this like a while ago, probably around the time I posted the last chapter and then I got lazy and then I got writers blocks and then I finished it :D yay! so the beginning of the chapter is the original chapter twenty but it cuts off at a certain part and then it switches to the alternate ending I thought of one day. I'm warning you now, there is rape mentioned in this so if that makes you uncomfortable either skip that part or just don't read, it wont offend me (: and that's all I have to say about this right now. Enjoy (:

They had been watching the house for the past fifteen minutes and finally the front door of the Diamond house opened. James felt his breath get caught in his throat and his bones turned to lead. Even from a distance he could tell his dad still looked the same- tall, built, and scary. The brunette boy involuntarily gripped the curtains so tightly his knuckles turned white. Vaguely, he felt Kendall rub his back between his shoulder blades. Neither boy took their eyes off of the man across the street.

Brian Diamond didn't seem to notice Kendall and James watching him so intensively. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a pack of Marlboro, putting one of the cigarettes between his lips, and then he pulled out his car keys. Kendall pressed his face closer to the window, not wanting to miss a movement. He barely blinked as he and James watched Mr. Diamond get into his car and back out of the driveway. James swallowed and moved behind the curtains, hiding himself from his dad, but Kendall stayed in his spot. The black car drove past Kendall's house and the blonde boys kept his eyes on it until it disappeared down the road.

"Let's go." Kendall breathed and took James's hand in his. The two boys stealthily bolted across the street and stood in James's yard, looking at the house before them. "How do we get in?" Kendall asked.

James licked his lips nervously. "Uh, my bedroom window probably never got fixed… we can probably climb in through there."

Kendall nodded wordlessly and ran over to the large oak tree that had been growing outside of James's bedroom since before he was born. The tree was large and tall enough to let the boys climb up it and get inside of James's old bedroom. Kendall placed his foot on a low branch and grabbed one right above his head. With a deep breath, he hoisted himself up onto the higher branch and continued upward until he was perched outside of James's bedroom window. As he was pushing it up, James started up the tree. Moments later, both boys were inside.

James's eyes darted nervously around his old room. It was still pretty much the say as he left it - unusually clean (his dad was always easier on him whenever he kept things clean). He subconsciously crossed his arms around his middle, hugging himself tightly.

This action did not go unnoticed by Kendall, who put his hands on James's shoulders. "Trust me, it's all going to be ok." he said softly. "We're gonna get the money and then we're getting out."

"Kay." James mumbled, and then took a deep breath. "Uh, let's check his room."

Kendall nodded and the two boys left James's room, and went down the hall until they were standing outside Mr. Diamond's bedroom. Kendall glanced at James, who turned unnaturally pale and started to wring his hands together. Kendall touched his back. "I can look in here by myself." he told him. "You can check downstairs. You know, save us time."

James exhaled, the color returning to his face. "Alright. Just be careful not to mess up too much stuff."

"Got it." Kendall placed a kiss on his cheek before the brunette boy disappeared downstairs. Kendall turned the gold knob and entered Mr. Diamond's room.

The room wasn't very big; just average sized. His bed was against the side wall, a bedside table on either side, and his closet was across from that. There was a window on the back wall with the blinds drawn shut and a large dresser underneath it. On the dresser there was a picture laying face down. Kendall didn't know where to start, the money could be anywhere. Finally, he decided to look under the bed, mattress, sheets, and pillows. He checked all of the drawers on each bedside table, and the dresser. He searched high and low in the closet. Nothing. Time was ticking by and Kendall was getting frustrated. He leaned against the dresser in thought, his hand resting on top of the turned down picture frame. It felt oddly thick to him…

Bingo!

"James!" Kendall pulled the back of the frame out and resting on top of whatever picture was inside was numerous five and one hundred dollar bills. "James, I found it!"

Seconds later James was running into the room. "You found my money?" he exclaimed.

"Every last penny." Kendall beamed and pulled out the money. "It was in this picture frame." James reached for the picture atop the glass and his smile wavered. It was his family… at least, what his family used to be. James had to be ten or eleven in the picture. He was sitting on a wooden stool in front of his parents who, even he had to admit, looked genuinely happy. His mother, beautiful as ever, had a hand on his shoulder, showing off her wedding ring, and his father had his arm around her waist, hugging her closely. They looked so in love, and the three of them looked so happy. What went wrong?

"James?" the brunette blinked and turned to Kendall. "You ok?"

James nodded, putting the picture back in the frame and the back of the frame back on. "Let's just go."

Kendall opened his mouth to say something but a noise cut him off.

The sound of the front door opening.

James's and Kendall's eyes widened in utter horror. Wordlessly, the two boys ran from Mr. Diamond's room, accidentally slamming the door shut in the process. Kendall swore under his breath and the two of them ducked into James's bedroom. The sound of Mr. Diamond's footsteps coming up the steps pounded in their ears.

"Closet!" Kendall hissed, grabbing James's forearm and the two of them ducked inside of James's closet, just as his dad was walking inside of his room. Kendall and James squeezed into the corner of the closet, Kendall's back pressed against the wall as far as he could and James's back was pressed against his chest. Kendall wrapped his hand around James's mouth and James's hands flew up to cover Kendall's. Through the cracks of the closet door, both boys could see James's dad walking around the room, looking around… it sent chills up their spines. As he stepped closer and closer to the closet, both boys backed up into the wall some more. Kendall could practically feel James's heart beating faster and faster, like his own heart was. Mr. Diamond was getting closer and closer. At any second, he could open the closet door and see the two of them there…

He put his hand on the door and Kendall swore his heart stop. He felt James flinch violently and Kendall jumped. The two of them collided with a rack of hangers going along the bar in the top of the closet, making what seemed like the loudest noise in the world. Kendall's eyes widened and James started to shake. It only took an instant for everything to go to pieces.

The closet door opened and the two boys stared in complete horror as Mr. Diamond's eyebrows rose in shock upon seeing them. "What the hell are you two doing here?" he asked, the alcohol and cigarette smoke on his breath penetrated the air. James's breath hitched in his throat and Kendall felt himself go brain dead. "I said, what the hell are you two doing here?" Mr. Diamond repeated and the two boys flinched. Kendall couldn't remember a time when he felt such utter fear.

"We- we're," Kendall's voice shook and he licked his lips. "W-we were just-" he was suddenly aware of the money he had been holding in his hand and subtly stuffed some of it into James's pocket. "We were just leaving." Kendall stuttered out.

Mr. Diamond's lips curled into a smile. "It doesn't look that way to me." His voice was low and generally scary sounding. James's whimper was muffled underneath Kendall's hand, but the blonde boy still heard it and tightened his grip around James. "Well, don't just stand there." Mr. Diamond reached into the closet and grasped James's hair, pulling him roughly out of Kendall's grasp.

"Don't-" Kendall started but his words went unheard as Mr. Diamond pulled James out the room, the brunette boy struggling to not trip over his own two feet. Kendall snapped himself out of his initial shock to run after them, pausing in the door way when Mr. Diamond stopped just above the staircase. Fear was etched into James's face, his eyes wide and his chest heaving with irregular breaths. Kendall wanted to say something. He wanted to tell Mr. Diamond to get his filthy, fucking hands off of his boyfriend but the words wouldn't come out. His brain wasn't cooperating and he was forced to watch the scene unfold before him.

"So tell me Jamie boy," Mr. Diamond used his free hand to stroke James's cheek, causing the boy in question to flinch violently. "What on earth made you come back home?" James's mouth went agape slightly, his lower lip and jaw trembling, but no words came out. "I asked you a question James." the fake happy façade was dropping fast and faster.

"I- I-" James stuttered, trembling. Kendall's heart ached; he was hating himself right now. He needed to save James.

Mr. Diamond's eyes traveled downward and Kendall swore he had the strongest urge to just kill the man. But he wasn't looking at what Kendall thought he was; instead, his hand traveled to James's pocket. James whimpered and tried to back away but his dad just tightened his grip on his hair, causing him to wince in pain. "Well, well, well. What do we have here." Kendall's and James's eyes widened in shock as he pulled out a wad of cash- the money they were trying to take.

"I, um." James stammered.

"Now it looks to me," Mr. Diamond cut him off. "That you are your little faggot-"

"He has a name!" James snapped, unsure of where the sudden outburst came from. This vile, monster who dared to call himself his father could say whatever he wanted about him, but it crossed the line when he said anything about Kendall. However, seeing the rage clouding over in his dad's eyes made him think twice about what he just said. "I'm sorry." James whimpered.

Mr. Diamond scoffed. "Some things just never change, do they?" he growled before forcibly throwing James down the steps.

James's body tumbled down the steps, his head banging against the bars of the banister, sending a searing pain throughout his temple. He crashed into the floor, his body aching and tears filling up his eyes as he curled into the fetal position, his hands holding his head. He couldn't feel any bleeding but it was still throbbing. Unfortunately, however, he didn't pass out from the fall.

He was vaguely aware of the footsteps thundering down the staircase and his first reaction was to get up and crawl away, but when he felt two warm hands on him, he knew it was Kendall. He allowed Kendall to pull him to his feet and wrap his arms tightly around him. James squeezed back tightly, letting his tears fall onto Kendall's shoulder. He stood there for a second, hoping that this was all a nightmare. He hoped that he had hallucinated seeing his dad in the house and he simply tripped and fell down the stairs from the shock. He soon realized that he was wrong when Mr. Diamond started walking down the steps.

"Don't hurt him!" Kendall cried, backing up quickly, James still in his arms. "Please don't hurt him. It was my idea to break in and take the money, so please, just do whatever you want with me but don't hurt James." Kendall was fully aware he was begging and how desperate his voice sounded but he didn't care. Whatever kept James safe.

"Now faggot," Mr. Diamond smirked at James. "I mean Kendall. I'd like to consider myself a very fair man, so instead, I've thought of something to punish the both of you." he took a step towards the two boys and they both jumped back. "Let go Kendall." Mr. Diamond said in a low voice, the smirk never leaving his face. Kendall tightened his grip on James, refusing to let go of him. Noticing this, Mr. Diamond walked up to them until they were both backed against the wall. He produced a pocket knife from his pocket and pressed it against Kendall's wrist. "I said, let go."

Little spurts of blood poured from where the knife was pressing into Kendall's skin and James knew that this sadistic man would cut his boyfriend's arm off. Slowly, he raised one of his arms up and tried to pry Kendal's iron like grip off of him. Mr. Diamond pressed the knife deeper against Kendall's wrist. "Any day now." he growled.

James whimpered and nudged Kendall off of him. The two boys locked eyes for a moment, James silently pleading with him to just do as his father says. Reluctantly, the blonde boy released his grip on James. "Atta boy." Mr. Diamond smiled. He took a hold of Kendall and brought him into the kitchen, placing him in a chair and then tying him to it.

"What are you doing?" James asked, timidly walking over to them.

"Just making sure we don't have any interruptions Jamie." Mr. Diamond smirked up at his son.

The look alone sent a chill up James's spine. "In-interruptions?" he squeaked. "Wh-what are you going to do?"

Mr. Diamond walked over to his son and ran a hand through his hair, causing him to flinch yet again. "I've missed you so much James." he breathed in James's ear. "You've been gone for so long. But now you're back, and I'm going to show you how much I missed you."

James's eyes widened. "No." James whispered. "No, no, no, no. Please don't-" his pleads were cut short when Mr. Diamond grabbed him and started to drag him back upstairs. "No, no, no!" James started to sob, trying to escape from Mr. Diamond's grasp. His efforts were failed.

"James!" Kendall started to thrash around in the chair he was confined to, doing whatever he could to try and get free.

Mr. Diamond ignored both of them and tossed James over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, bringing him the rest of the way to the bedroom.

. . .

When Kendall saw James and Mr. Diamond disappear upstairs, he started to freak out completely. He couldn't take it if he let James get hurt right under his nose. But he couldn't do much while he was tied to a chair… and then he had a thought. He couldn't exactly explain why, but for some reason he thought of after their first concert, when they had been kidnapped by Hawke. Just like at that moment, he had been confined to a chair and he had no clue how to get out. Carlos, however, had a different idea. He, even if it was by a total accident, managed to fall down a flight of steps, breaking the chair and freeing himself.

And that's how Kendall got the idea. He hopped up onto his feet before deliberately slamming himself down onto the ground. He landed on his shoulder, sending a stab of pain throughout the entire left side of his body, but succeeded in cracking the chair. He struggled, but staggered up onto his feet and repeated the process until the chair broke beneath him, leaving him laying on shards of broken wood for a moment, catching his breath. When he remembered James, he got to his feet and rushed upstairs, not before grabbing the house phone and dialing 9-1-1.

. . .

As soon as James was brought into the bedroom, he wanted to get out. His father placed him down onto the floor and as soon as he felt the carpet beneath his shoes, he tried to run away. But after all this time, his father was still faster then him. He latched his hands onto James's waist and a sob tore at the brunette boy's throat. "Don't." he choked out. "Please."

"Shhh." Mr. Diamond raised a finger to James's lips, and the boy let out another sob. "Just relax. You'll enjoy this Jamie." With his hands still pressed into James's hips, he pushed the boy backwards until he was laying on his bed.

James squirmed beneath his father's calloused hands, tears streaking his face. "Stop it, stop it- mmmf." Mr. Diamond clamped his hand over top of James's mouth, silencing his pleads. James squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to think about what was about to happen to him.

Mr. Diamond's hand left his mouth and traveled down his chest and stomach until it was stopped at his jeans. James moved his hands down to stop him but Mr. Diamond simply used one of his hands to grasp both of his wrists and pin them above his head. His other hand popped the button on James's jeans and tugged the zipper down.

James couldn't take this anymore. He wasn't thirteen; he wasn't going to sit by in fear and let his father hurt him. Not again. This couldn't happen to him again. James violently bucked his hips into the air and kicked his legs, doing whatever he could to get his dad off of him.

But Mr. Diamond wasn't about to be stopped. He worked quickly to pull James's pants off and toss them aside. James's movements and protests slowed down, feeling exposed before his father. He wanted to throw up when his dad started to- God he couldn't even believe this was happening to him again- dip his hand beneath the waistband of his boxers and started to stroke him, in what he only assumed his father thought was sensual.

What kind of sick pervert could derive any kind of pleasure from this?

Moments later his boxers were completely wretched from his body and James was flipped over so that he was laying on his stomach. He heard the sickening sound of his father's pants falling to the floor.

"No!" James shrieked/sobbed, struggling to get up but was just forced back down. Instead of fighting to get back up again, he simply just laid there. The more this went on, his body lost the momentum to fight back. "Daddy, please don't do this, please!" he sobbed harder and harder until he was just an incoherent mess. He was vaguely aware of the incandescent banging on the door and the fact that his father's hand had curled around the lamp on the bedside table.

The next thing he knew, there was the sound of shattering glass, an extreme ache in his head, and the world went black.

. . .

Kendall sat by James's hospital bed, watching the poor boy sleep. With every beep of the heat monitor and every rise and fall of James's chest, Kendall felt himself stay more and more sane. But still, Kendall couldn't help but to feel incredibly guilty about what had happened.

"There was a cut on the back of his head." the doctor explained to Kendall. "The police investigated proved that it was due to him being hit with a lamp. He needed about five stitches and he lost a decent amount of blood, but he should be fine."

Kendall gently touched James's head, running his fingers through his hair and then moving to the back of his head to feel where they had stitched him up. He felt tears filling up in his eyes.

"Also, after what you told us about his father, we did a rape kit on him." the doctor let out a pained sigh. "It turns out that James was sexually abused."

Kendall pulled down the thin blanket covering James's body and lifted up his hospital down, staring at the purplish bruises placed on his hips. This shouldn't have happened. He should have been there, he should have saved James.

Kendall felt like he was going to be sick. He covered James up again and ran a hand over his face. The whole afternoon was playing over and over again in his mind. Every little detail stuck out and every moment where Kendall could have jumped in and saved his boyfriend mocked him, reminding him that he failed James.

Kendall didn't know if he could take much more of this. Until James woke up he was completely alone, just sitting there with his thoughts to remind him of everything that happened. Sniffling, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. After three rings, he heard the click, signaling that he had been answered. "Mommy." Kendal croaked into the phone, tears falling down his cheeks.

. . .

When James woke up, he was confused.

The first thing he was aware of was the loud, yet constant, beeping noise filling the air. Another thing was that he saw nothing but white through his squinting eyes. Blinking several times before he was finally able to open his eyes, he recognized that he was in a hospital. And then sudden all the events of that afternoon came rushing back to mind, and James felt like he was going to be sick. But something was distracting him from the sudden nausea he felt.

He looked around the room a moment before resting his eye on Kendall, who was leaning against the side of his hospital bed, sobbing his eyes out. Mrs. Knight stood behind him, a hand rubbing his shoulders. "Mrs. Knight?" James asked, his voice sounding raw. It pained him to speak but despite the pain he kept speaking. "Is Kenny okay?"

At that moment Kendall let out another harsh sob. "I'm sorry Jamie." he gasped out.

James looked at Kendall, confused, and then back up at Mrs. Knight, his eyebrows knitting together. Mrs. Knight left Kendall's side to cross the room and walk over to the other side of James's bed. James never took his eyes off of her. "James, honey." he voice was soft and calming, but it didn't do much to relax either boy in the room. "Do you remember what happened today?"

James's mouth went dry and he licked his lips nervously. "Um," he cleared his throat. "Yeah, sort of."

"Sort of?" Mrs. Knight asked.

James bit his lip; he really didn't feel like talking about this right now. "Um, I remember everything that happened downstairs and then my dad brought me… up- upstairs and h-he started to… to…" James took a shuddering gasp and Mrs. Knight but a hand on his shoulder. "Anyway," James said, calming himself down. "Something happened to make my head hurt and then I can't remember anything after that."

Mrs. Knight sighed. "James, you've got a concussion and you needed a couple of stitches in your head." she explained. "Your dad hit you pretty hard."

Kendall let out another sob and a choked up apology.

James reached over for Kendall's hand but the blonde boy kept them folding underneath his head, so James opted for idly running his fingers through his hair. "What did he hit me with?" he asked Mrs. Knight quietly.

"A lamp." she replied bluntly, feeling it was better than just beating around the bush. "But your head's going to be just fine."

"Good." James sighed, and then paused. "D-did anything else happen to me?" he asked timidly. Mrs. Knight closed her eyes briefly and James had his answer already. "Am I ok?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly.

"You're going to be just fine, honey. I promise you." she rubbed her hand across his back.

James nodded and then turned to look at Kendall. "Is he going to be ok?" he asked.

"I think you two should talk." Mrs. Knight said after a moment of silence. "I'm going to tell the others that you're awake. We'll be back to check on you both soon."

James nodded and when she left the room, he turned all of his attention to Kendall. "I'm so, so sorry Jamie." Kendall sobbed, clutching the sheets in his hands.

"Why? You didn't do anything." James said softly.

"Exactly!" Kendall cried. "I didn't do anything; I didn't stop him from hurting you!"

James swallowed thickly. "It's not your fault Kenny." he said, placing his hand over top of Kendall's.

"I promised I wouldn't let him hurt you." Kendall blubbered. "I promised and I broke your promise. I'm so sorry."

"Kendall, stop apologizing." James said. He placed both of his hands on the sides of Kendall's tear streaked face. "Look at me." he whispered. It took a moment but Kendall rose his head to look at James. "You did everything you could." James sad in a surprisingly steady voice. "It's not your fault my dad's a sick, perverted monster, and in all honesty, he probably would have done something to you if you hadn't called for help, and I couldn't take that."

"I wish he had done something to me." Kendall muttered. "I'd rather it be me than you."

"Don't say that." James pleaded softly.

"But it's true." Kendall insisted. "I hate that he did this to you, and I hate that I couldn't do anything."

"You called the police and you got him arrested." James reasoned. "That was something." Kendall didn't respond right away and James looked him over. "What happened to your shoulder?" he asked.

Kendall gingerly touched his shoulder, which had been wrapped up. "I dislocated it." he replied softly. "I landed on it a couple of times trying to get out of the chair, and then before the police showed up, I rammed the door over and over again on it. I didn't notice how bad I messed it up."

"See? Now how can you say you didn't do anything?" James demanded. "You hurt yourself trying to get me away from my dad. You're a hero Kendall."

"I don't feel like one." the blonde boy muttered.

"Well you are one." James insisted. "No, you're better than that. You're a superhero."

Kendall rolled his eyes but smiled lightly. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"No I'm not, because it's true. You're my personal superhero. I shall call you, My Man."

Kendall chuckled and leaned over to kiss James's cheek causing the brunette boy to smile. Kendall sniffled and wiped his eyes. "And why are you so calm about all this?" he asked.

"I don't know." James replied truthfully. "I think it's because of the hospital drugs I'm on." Kendall cracked a shadow of a smile and James exhaled, smiling himself. "But when it all wears off and I do start to freak out, I know that you'll be there for me."

"Always." Kendall promised.

"I know. And I love you for that." James smiled and then rested back in the bed. When his mind drifted to what happened in the bedroom, he felt a nauseating feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wrapped his arms around his middle, hugging himself tightly.

"What's wrong?" Kendall asked worriedly.

"My tummy hurts." James mumbled. Kendall couldn't help but to find that extremely cute despite the circumstances.

"It's only because you're thinking about it." he replied and then climbed into the bed with James. He wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Don't worry." he murmured, his lips pressed against James's soft hair. "You'll be ok."

And James truly believed him because Kendall never failed to make sure he would be ok. Another reason he was James's superhero.

A/N: so then they go to trial, James wins, and Mr. Diamond is crippled in jail for being a pedophile. Yay! Was that an appropriate yay? Lol I would think so, since now he can't hurt James anymore, except in my other stories. -shot- so um, yeah. It's like 2:30 in the morning so that's why the ending is so suckish but I hoped you all liked it anyways. Thoughts? (:

PS: WORLDWIDE! enough said (: