It's a nice day and James thinks it would be perfect if only Carlos would stop complaining. It's warm in L.A., but not humid. There's a light breeze which makes it perfect for spending the day outdoors. Big Time Rush had a rare day off, which meant one glorious day away from Gustavo and being stuck inside Rocque Records. It meant a day of fun and James had big plans in mind for the day.

If Carlos would just shut up for five seconds.

They're out hiking for the day and James has been here many, many times. He's picked out the perfect spot to surprise Carlos with a romantic picnic lunch but Carlos is kind of ruining it. The first five or ten minutes were fun as they started out on the trail but it wasn't long after that Carlos decided that hiking was NOT on his top ten list of favorite activities. James has tried to be patient, slowing down when needed because after all, he's got long legs and Carlos just can't go that fast. James hitches his backpack up on his shoulders a bit and stops, turning and waiting for the whining Latino to catch up.

"This is so far, James. You said it wasn't going to be far. My legs aren't as long as yours. They don't like all this walking." He frowns, black helmet perched on his head as he trips over a practically nonexistent branch in the grass.

"We're almost there, I promise." James says patiently, looking out into the near distance where he can see the spot he's trying to get Carlos to. It's quiet and serene, with a little pond where sometimes a family of ducks likes to hang out. He just knows Carlos is going to love it.

"That's what you said like ten minutes ago," Carlos grumbles, finally catching up to James. Carlos is not usually much of a complainer but he's hungry and he's tired and his legs are starting to get sore. Hiking is SO not his kind of thing. He catches James laughing a little and he doesn't like that, James shouldn't be making fun of him. "Your bandana looks stupid," he spits out, trying to insult him the best way he knows how right now. James loves his bandanas and thinks they look good, but they don't.

Sure enough James frowns and lifts a hand to touch the purple bandana he has tied around his head. "It does not," he huffs, shaking his head at Carlos.

"Does too," the smaller man insists.

"Well, so does your helmet. Who wears a helmet to go hiking?" James scoffs.

"Me!" Carlos exclaims. "This is dangerous." As if to illustrate his point he trips over a fairly large boulder, landing on his hands and knees. "This stopped being fun about 20 minutes ago," he whines, brushing dirt off a scraped knee.

James has had it. He throws his backpack down into the dirt and throws his hands up in frustration. "That's it, Carlos. I was trying to do something special for you. I was going to take us on a picnic but I'm done. I'm sick of hearing you complain about everything!"

Carlos sits in the dirt, frowning up at James. "But I –"

"No, Carlos." James cuts him off. "I've been telling you all morning that I had a surprise for you, but you have complained about everything from the sun being too bright to being hungry even though you ate a HUGE breakfast, to blisters that you don't even HAVE, which I know because you made me check." James' usually rosy cheeks are flushed a dark red now with anger. "I just wanted today to be perfect."

"And now it's not 'cause I ruined it." Carlos rises to his feet, righting the helmet that was in danger of falling off his head. He looks at James and James thinks he's going to apologize. He starts to soften, but then Carlos opens his mouth again. "Well…you're mean. And STUPID." He shoots back at him, looking quite angry now himself.

James sighs and looks away briefly, trying to calm himself down. "Carlos," he starts finally, looking back to his boyfriend. But Carlos has started walking in the opposite direction. "Hey, Carlos, come on. Come back!" he calls out, hurrying after the smaller boy.

When Carlos is mad it's next to impossible to reason with him though, and at the moment he's definitely mad. Carlos ignores him, if anything beginning to speed up instead of slowing down. It's clear he wants to get far away from James. James knows that on the rare occasion Carlos gets mad you just have to let him be. He sinks down onto a tree stump. Okay, so maybe he was a little short-tempered with Carlos. Yeah, he'd been complaining all day but hiking really wasn't his kind of thing and James should have realized he'd get cranky. He should have planned a picnic in the park or something Carlos would enjoy much more than this. He's beginning to feel guilty now and stands to go after Carlos, to apologize and find a way to make it up to him when he hears a panicked cry in the distance. "JAMES!"