The car ride to the Garcia's begins bathed in silence. Carlos and Logan don't know the meaning of personal space as they cuddle in the back seat. Up front, James is trying his best to focus on driving, but is wishing he could be cuddling with Kendall instead. Every glance in the rearview mirror makes him want to break the speed limit. Kendall senses James' antsy-ness. The blond reaches over and reassuringly squeezes the brunette's shoulder as if saying in due time.
Kendall shifts in his seat to face Logan and Carlos and it takes everything he has to restrain himself from fake puking at the sickeningly adorable sight of them in each other's arms. He clears his throat to gain their attention. Logan and Carlos' eyes open and focus on Kendall.
"So… uhh…" Kendall begins hoping this conversation will alleviate the yearning both he and James have to be in each other's arms as well. "Logan, you want to explain that?" Kendall asks pointing to the ring on Carlos' finger.
Carlos releases Logan and they both sit up in their respective seats. Carlos shifts to focus his full attention on his fiancé while Logan cowers away from the attention. He hates having the spotlight on him, and while James can't look at him directly, he knows James is glancing in the mirror awaiting a response.
"Uhhh… I… umm…" Logan stutters.
Carlos grasps Logan's hand, pulls it to his lips, and gives it a gentle kiss. Logan smiles and takes a deep breath.
"It's all James' fault," he calmly explains.
"HEY! I NEVER TOLD YOU ANYTHING!" James defends while glaring at Logan through the reflection of the mirror.
Unfortunately, that split second of unfocused attention on the road caused the car to drift out of the lane and onto the shoulder. James sees it and quickly overcorrects, causing the car to jerk violently.
"JAMES! ROAD!" the three scold in unison.
James returns his attention to the road, mumbling unintelligibly under his breath. Focus returns to Logan as Carlos and Kendall will him to explain. Unfortunately for them Logan just sits there with a cheesy grin on his face. Carlos and Kendall are about to explode when James makes an observation.
"Hey, Carlos! I don't remember it taking this long to get to your house from the theatre."
Logan lets out a relieved sigh, thankful for the distraction, while Kendall and Carlos look at their surroundings. It takes a moment, but Kendall knows exactly where they're headed.
"That's cuz you're taking us to my place."
James tilts his head in confusion, "Don't you live next door?"
"Yeah…" Kendall responds, rolling his eyes, "… back when I was living with my mom. You're taking us to MY place."
The light bulb clicks on for James, "Ohhhhh…"
Carlos and Logan exchange a glance and in unison go, "Awwwww…"
"Less than a week back…" Carlos starts.
"… and James has already subconsciously made Kendall's place the reference point to everything," Logan finishes before he and Carlos bust out into laughter.
James' cheeks flush a bright red while Kendall turns around and gives the two an evil glare. James takes a deep breath, gains his composure, and pulls into the left lane waiting for his chance to make a U-turn.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What are you doing?" Carlos asks coming down from his laughter high.
"Turning back around and heading toward your place." James explains.
"Huh… You know what? We're so close to Kendall's already, let's go there?"
Kendall and Logan glare at him in confusion.
"Bu… but what about the party?" Kendall asks.
"We'll go later, but first… we need to get Logan to talk." Carlos looks over at the brunette and stares daggers into him.
"Oh, right!"
"Uhh… ummm… th- that can wait… uhh… right, James?" Logan stutters.
James hesitates because he knows that he's going to be implicated in this whole situation, but knows that all this needs to be cleared up before the party.
"Uhh…" James begins as he shifts back over the right lane. "… I agree with Carlos. All this needs to be cleared up."
Logan looks at James dumbfounded through the reflection in the mirror.
"Et tu, James?"
James shrugs and vows to keep his mouth shut until they get to Kendall's place or Logan talks. Logan is feeling a bit claustrophobic and resorts to cowering into the seat; so the next few blocks are traveled in silence.
"Brooke! So good to see you! How's James?" Sylvia Garcia asks as she invites Mrs. Diamond into the house.
"He's doing well. He came to surprise me for my birthday a few days ago."
Sylvia smirks, which isn't lost on Brooke.
"You knew he was coming?"
"Of course we did!" Joanna interjects, appearing around the corner, followed closely by Jennifer.
It dawns on Brooke, "Riiiggghhhttt… none of our boys would do something this major without having the others around."
"Yep!" Joanna, Jennifer, and Sylvia respond.
"Speaking of the boys…" Jennifer starts, "… where are they?"
Carlos' phone vibrates on the coffee table, but the Latino ignores it.
"Aren't you going to get that?" Logan asks.
"No." Carlos looks down to see who's calling. "It's mom… probably wondering where we are."
"Best not to keep her in suspense then."
"You should take your own advice," Carlos smirks.
Kendall is watching this back and forth wishing he had a bowl of popcorn; that is until his jumps out of his seat. Carlos, James, and Logan give him the oddest look. The blond pulls his vibrating phone from his pocket and holds it up.
"Sorry, it surprised me." He looks at the caller. "It's mom."
"Don't answer it," Carlos says returning his attention to Logan.
"Bu… bu… but…" Kendall starts to argue, but Carlos just shakes his head.
"When Kendall doesn't answer, you're gonna be next, James. Don't answer it. We'll be there sooner or later. Hopefully sooner, right Logan?"
"Uhhh… um… I… uh… well… um…" Logan stutters. "Aren't they going to be worried?" he asks trying to postpone explanation.
"Nah! I gave her a block of time of when we'd be there. We're at the early end of the spectrum. Have two hours before they really start worrying."
"Alright, enough already! I want pie! Logan, just tell them!" James exclaims as his phone finishes vibrating.
"Wait! Pie?" Kendall shifts his gaze to the tall brunette. "Aren't you on this strict diet or whatever?"
"I'm on vacation," James explains.
Carlos rolls his eyes, but decides to hold his tongue and addresses Logan.
"Logan, it's not that I'm not happy or anything like that. I'm extremely happy and blessed that you feel the same way… I'm just a little confused."
"About what?"
"Why are you blaming James for why you had this?" Carlos asks holding up his left ring finger.
"Oh, yeah… well… um…" Logan looks to James who hangs is head, but solemnly nods, which Logan takes as permission to continue. "James kinda… um… let slip your plans."
"WHAT?" Kendall and Carlos are out of their seats in a flash.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! It's not what you think!" Logan immediately defends.
Kendall and Carlos soften and slowly sit back down.
Logan takes a deep breath. "Okay, so it's not entirely James' fault, it was his subconscious."
He pauses, stands and begins to pace. Two sets of eyes follow him from one end of the room to the other and back again while the other set of eyes are focused firmly on a knot in the wood flooring.
"It was the night we… okay, I… was packing."
"Two days before the trip." Carlos leans over to give Kendall that little tidbit.
Logan ignores the statement and continues. "We were out in the living room talking and such, when James dozed off. I was finishing up about an hour later when he started mumbling. At first I couldn't understand anything but then I caught a few words. Words like Carlos... Logan… ring… surprise"
Carlos and Kendall look over to James who looks like he's trying to start an earthquake with how fast his leg is shaking.
"So he didn't really tell me. I didn't know for sure, but I hoped."
Kendall reaches over and puts his hand on James' knee. James stops shaking and looks cautiously at the blond.
"Relax, James. We're… well, I'm not mad. I can't speak for Carlos."
"You're not?"
"How can I? It could have happened to me. You just were just at the wrong place at the wrong time."
Carlos shakes his head to clear his mind. "That's all fine and dandy, but how did you have time to get a ring?"
Logan chuckles uneasily. "Ummm… yeah… about that… I've… um… I've had the ring for two weeks."
Carlos' eyes widen in surprise and confusion.
"I was going to ask you to marry me on your birthday next month. I bought the ring while you were at the station filling out paper work for the academy. When I found out there was a chance you might be asking me this week, I brought it along." Logan explains.
"I love you, Logie!" Carlos says, happy tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
"I love you, Carlitos!" Logan responds, pulling him into an embrace.
Kendall and James look at each other. "Awwwww…" they sarcastically say.
"So can we go party now?" James asks.
Logan releases Carlos and focuses his attention on the blond and brunette. "Sure… but on one condition."
Carlos, Kendall, and James tense up; Logan's conditions typically throw a wrench in the plans.
"Relax, guys… all I'm saying is let me drive. We saw how horrible James is at driving."
Carlos smiles and squeezes Logan's shoulder, knowing exactly what is going through his head.
James opens his mouth to protest when Kendall stops him. "Sounds like a plan to me," Kendall concedes, with a twinkle in his eye.
"DONE!" Logan exclaims, grabs the keys, and leads them out the door.
A/N: So there you have it! The final chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this story. It was so much fun to write. I promise there will be another story to round out this trilogy, but as to when… I have no idea. I have a few other stories in the works, so I'd like to get those done first. Please share these two stories if you enjoyed them. Thanks for sticking with me.