Okay, guys! This is my first story from this account, so second overall. I may have forgotten my login stuff... whatever. Anyway, I'm not planning on it being TOO long, maybe around 5 chapters? I dunno exactly yet, I don't have it all written. So we'll just have to see. But, for now, enjoy the first chapter! :)

It was hot, sunny day in L.A., and James, Kendall, Carlos, and I were making our way home from the studio. (Let's just pretend they have to walk.) We all were exhausted and irritable from a hard day of working with Mr. X, especially James and Carlos.

Carlos was in the middle of going on and on about some new helmet that he saw on TV, when James shouted, "Carlos! Would you just shut up already?"

Good choice of words, James, I thought. They then proceeded to bicker relentlessly. Seriously, those two were so much like brothers, it wasn't even funny. I mean, Kendall and I rarely do that. Even when we do, we're over it in about a minute or two.

Speaking of Kendall, he was talking on the phone to Jo, and had been for the last 10 minutes or so, leaving me to myself and my thoughts. That's why I didn't hesitate to answer my own phone when it rang, not bothering to check the caller ID.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hi. Is this a… Logan Mitchell?" a man with a deep voice asked from the other end.

"Uhh… yes. How may I help you?" I said, unsure of who this man was or why he would be calling me.

The man told me, "This is Officer Smith from the East Minnesota Police Station. I called to speak with you about your mother and father. They were in a plane crash this afternoon, on their way back from New York."

My breath caught in my throat. "Are – are they… okay?" I asked the officer, not really wanting to know the answer.

"I really hate to say this, kid," Officer Smith said. "But I'm afraid not."

This can't be right. "I'm sorry?" I said.

Officer Smith sounded very sympathetic when he replied, "Logan, son, I'm very sorry. But your parents did not make it. They lost too much blood."

And that's when my world came out from underneath me. I mean, this had to be impossible! I talked to them over the phone a few days ago. They were completely fine...

After a pause, Officer Smith finished with, "I'm very sorry, son." And the line went dead.

I needed to sit down, to somehow take this all in. My mom and dad died. That meant I didn't have any family left. I could only be glad in that moment that I turned 18 a few months back, so I didn't have to go into foster care or anything like that.

There were so many other things to think about, but they could wait for later, when I was alone. I couldn't let the guys know about this. I had to be strong, be a man, as my father always told me to do. And that meant that as much as I wanted to sit there and bawl my eyes out, I was not going to.

Kendall snapped me out of my thoughts. "Hey, Logie, you okay? You were on the phone for a while. Who was it?" James and Carlos stopped fighting and were listening now, too. Great.

"It was, um… Mrs. Knight. She called me to tell me that Katie spilled water on the table in 2J, right next to my math books. I was just asking if they were okay. They are." Geez. What a terrible lie that was. Wait. Crap. Crap, crap, crap. Mrs. Knight! They probably called her, too! She was my legal guardian after all.

"Okay, Logan. I'll let this go for now. But I know you're lying to me," Kendall replied with a gentle smile, which I returned halfheartedly.

I just then noticed that we were in the elevator, almost up to 2J. Wow, I must've zoned out a lot. I guess your parents dying can do that to you. No Logan, stop, I thought to myself, as the pain shot through me. Mask the pain, you can't let them know. Be a man.

As Kendall turned the door handle to 2J, I started mildly panicking. What was Mrs. Knight gonna say? Would she make me tell the other guys? Does she even know in the first place?

My questions were answered as soon as us four guys were in the door. Mrs. Knight was standing in front of us, staring at me. Awesome.

"Hi, boys. How was your day?" she asked us, smiling.

We each spoke some sort of reply, all along the lines of yes. She was still staring at me, though. Yeah, I was most definitely getting a talk.

"Good! Logan, may I speak to you in private, please?" She asked me. I nodded, acting like I didn't know what the heck this was about, and looked to the other guys. They were making their ways to the couch to chill. Lucky them. I followed her to her bedroom, shutting the door behind me. She patted the bed next to her and I sat, turning to face her.

"You wanted to talk to me..?" I trailed off, thinking that maybe, if she thought I had no clue what happened, then this talk would be postponed.

Mrs. Knight gave me a 'don't-try-to-get-out-of-this' look while I tried not to make eye contact, knowing if I did, then I would start to cry, no doubt. "Logan, don't do this, please." She said softly. "I know this is hard, but you need to talk to me about it," she told me.

"T-talk to you about what?" I stuttered. This was not helping.

"Logan, sweetie, I know you got the call," Mrs. Knight said. "And I know you're upset about it. You can tell me."

That's when I completely broke down, collapsing into Mrs. Knight's arms. She rubbed my back, holding me tight.

"Oh, sweetie," Mrs. Knight whispered. "I'm so, so sorry. Shh, sweetie, I've got you." She told me, over and over.

"H-he called m-me, a-and said, and said i-i-it. B-But they're o-okay, b-b-be-because they ha-have to be. He's j-just kidding. I-it's a sick j-j-joke," I sobbed into her shoulder.

"Honey… I'm so sorry," It sounded like she felt terrible for this whole thing. It wasn't her fault.

"N-n-no. It's o-okay. It's not yo-your f-fault. I know-w-w it's re-real. I just don't w-w-wa-want it-t-t t-to b-b-be."

Mrs. Knight kept rubbing my back. "I know, sweetie, I know. This is hard for you, I know. But I'm here for you, the guys are here for you, all of us are."

"P-please do-don't tell the guys. I don't w-wa-want them t-to know-w-w," I said, still bawling my eyes out.

"Okay, hon," Mrs. Knight told me. "I'll let you tell them yourself. If you don't, though, they will figure it out, in time. You know that."

I just nodded at that last statement, as Mrs. Knight pulled us down into a laying position on her bed, still hugging me and whispering to me as my sobs finally subsided. I looked out the window, and thought more about this whole thing.

Yeah, still no way I'm telling the guys. They'd just baby me – no need for that, I told myself.

After lying there, thinking, for a couple more minutes, I figured I'd better get up and go out with the guys, to make it seem like everything was normal. It sure wasn't, about as far from it as you can get, but I could pretend.

"M-Mama Knight? I'm gonna go back out there now," I spoke softly.

"Okay honey. Are you sure?" she asked me.

"Yeah, I am. I'll be… fine." I responded, stretching my arms.

"Alright. I'll be out in a minute or two." Mrs. Knight told me, giving my shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Be strong. You'll make it through this."

I stood up, pain shooting through my heart once again, feeling like there was a hole stabbed in it. Tears pricked at my eyes, but I willed them back, opening the door. I came almost face-to-face with the guys.

"What took you so long?" Kendall demanded. At my startled expression, he softened his voice. "It's been like an hour, dude." Carlos and James nodded in agreement.

"Um. W-w-well, y-you see…" I began. "The… the textbooks, that Katie spilled water on! Yeah, um, we were seeing which ones could be saved, and which ones we would need to order new ones of." Successful-ish lie.

"Then why does it look like you've been crying?" James asked me.

Well, how nice. Guess I can't hide every piece of evidence. "Saying goodbye to your textbooks can be very emotional, y-you know? A very hard thing to do." I responded, causing James, Kendall, and Carlos to look at me strangely.

"Um, okay, Logan. Whatever, bro," Carlos sympathized, putting his hand on my shoulder. "So… wanna go play video games?" he asked, his eyes lighting up.

I couldn't deny that boy anything. "Sure, Carlos… I'll be right behind you."

The boys nodded, then walked to the TV, leaving me standing there in front of Mrs. Knight's door. I thought back to what I had just said. 'Saying goodbye to your textbooks can be very emotional, you know? A very hard thing to do.' Well, at least I would've gotten to say goodbye to them. I would give anything to be able to have said it to my parents.

Okay! So how did you guys like it? I really hope it's at least decent. But review, please? :)