This is another story that I think the title for it is kinda lame XD I was listening to that Foo Fighters song "Pretender," so the name stuck.

Here's a little short story that I am dedicating to TotallyLosingIt, who wanted a return of Rafael and his awesomeness. This story plot is her idea.

Hope you all enjoy. If you like it, you have her to thank :D ...But...if you hate it...then you have her to blame XD JK. Thanks Jasmine!

"Carlos!" Logan's voice yelled, waking up the Latino from his deep sleep. The boys were on a plane to Minnesota, making a trip to go see their families.

"What?" Carlos whined. "I'm tired and we haven't even landed yet. Can't I just sleep a little bit more..." Carlos trailed off as he curled up in his seat and closed his eyes.

"Oh no," Logan said, shaking Carlos to prevent him from falling back asleep. "You're not going to sleep until we land. I don't want you dreaming about Minnesota blowing up or something like that."

Carlos raised his eyebrows. "You're still mad about Europe!" Carlos stated.

Logan stayed silent, shifting his gaze away from Carlos.

"Well don't worry about it," Carlos finally said when he realized he wasn't going to get a response from Logan anytime soon. "No way the dream I had is gonna come true."

Kendall and James were sitting in the row in front of Logan and Carlos. They both turned around to face their shorter friends. "That's what we all said about your British dream!" Kendall said.

Carlos shrugged. "That was then. This is now. My dream won't come true this time." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"What was your dream, anyway? James asked.

Carlos waved it off. "Nothing. Just one of those 'worst case scenario' dreams that's all."

"Ah," Logan spoke up. "You're nervous about meeting Rafael's girlfriend."

"I didn't say that!" Carlos said defensively. He hated how Logan figured out everything.

"You didn't have to," Logan replied with a smirk.

"You didn't dream about her dying, did you?" Kendall asked, having a panicked expression etched on his face.

Carlos looked at Kendall as if he was crazy. "Don't be ridiculous, Kendall." Carlos sighed. "I'm just afraid she won't like me. She was kind of mean in my dream."

"Yeah," James said. "He's nervous."

Carlos just rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he replied. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his iPod. Once he found a song that he was completely satisfied with, he put on his headphones and relaxed to the sounds of his music.

"Oh and whatever you do," Rafael said to Danielle, his girlfriend of seven and a half months. "Don't mention how he looks younger than he is. Don't call him adorable and don't tell him that he has chubby cheeks. He hates that."

Rafael and Danielle were to pick up Carlos and his friends from the airport. Danielle offered up her father's SUV, which could seat eight people comfortably and hold all the luggage.

"Don't worry," she comforted him. "I won't do or say anything that would embarrass you or him." They walked to the arrivals gate and waited.

"Rafael!" they heard a voice from behind them yell. They both turned to see four teenage boys running toward them.

Carlos dropped his carry-on and gave his brother a bear hug. "I missed you so much!" he yelled, but his words were muffled since his face was buried into Rafael's chest.

"I missed you too, hermanito," Rafael said as he returned the hug.

They slowly parted, and Rafael greeted Carlos' three best friends.

"Carlitos," Rafael said. He gestured over to Danielle. "This is my girlfriend, Danielle."

Carlos smiled at the pretty redhead. Her hazel eyes had a friendly glow to them. "Hi Danielle. It's nice to meet you. Rafael has said so much about you."

Danielle smiled in appreciation. "Rafael talks about you all the time. I think the relationship you two share is really cute."

Carlos was hoping that his face wasn't turning red at that moment. He looked over to his friends, then back to Danielle. "Uh, these are my friends. Kendall, James, and Logan."

"Nice to meet you boys," she said with a large smile. "I bet you guys are just so eager to get home, huh?" she asked, earning a tired "yes" from each boy.

Rafael helped the boys with their bags as they all walked to Danielle's SUV.

"You up for dinner with me and Danielle?" Rafael asked Carlos as he unpacked a few things in his old bedroom.

Carlos nodded eagerly.

"Great," Rafael replied. "Be ready in an hour okay?"

"Sure thing," Carlos replied. "I know you've only been dating her for seven months...but you guys already seem serious."

Rafael nodded. "We are," he answered. "But, we promised not to rush anything. We just make each other really happy, you know? I've never felt this way about a girl before." Rafael paused. "But...you know that I would never date a girl without the approval of my brothers. Dani met Omar's approval, and you know that says a lot. Now, I wanna get yours."

Carlos smiled. "I'm sure that me and Omar will agree on something this time."

Omar was currently at work. He's kept himself clean for the past two years, which Carlos was very proud of.

Carlos and Rafael talked a little more before Carlos got himself ready for dinner. He hated the idea of being a third wheel, but he'd suck it up for Rafael. Carlos always remembered hearing the happiness in Rafael's voice anytime the two brothers would talk about Danielle over the phone.

Carlos figured that if Danielle had the power to make Rafael happy under any circumstance, then he totally approved of Rafael's relationship with her.

Rafael and Carlos picked up Danielle, then headed to a casual restaurant called Ken's Kitchen. After the waiter took their orders and menus, they continued their lively conversation.

"...And then James and I accidentally lost the cow...more than once," Carlos said, telling Rafael and Danielle the time that the Palm Woods kids had to go green, but all of James' and Carlos' efforts failed miserably. "So Kendall ended tying up his partner, Jett, the guy in that show New Town High, and stuffing him in a box. Can you believe that won the week off?"

"Uh...yeah," Rafael confessed. "A cow? Really?"

"Okay, I know in retrospect, it seems kinda dumb," Carlos defended.

"There's no retrospect about it, it was dumb the minute you did it," Rafael said in a joking manner.

Carlos rolled his eyes as Danielle giggled. "Carlos," she said as she laughed. "You're so a-" she stopped when she saw Rafael stare her down. She was about to say 'adorable'. It was quite obvious. She cleared her throat. "...so admirable," she finally said.

"Thank you," he replied with a smile. Carlos looked at Rafael. "At least someone in this table has something nice to say!"

Rafael's phone began to ring, causing him to sigh. He already knew who was calling.

"Work, again?" Danielle asked.

Rafael nodded sadly. "I have pager duty this week."

"You should answer it," she recommended.

"You sure?" Rafael asked. "I don't wanna just leave you-"

Danielle cut him off. "Don't be ridiculous. Me and Carlos will keep each other company. Just go answer the phone and see what they need and come straight back, okay?"

Rafael sighed. "Okay, fine." He leaned in to kiss her before standing up to leave. "I'll be right back," he promised.

Once Rafael was gone, Danielle looked at Carlos and smiled. "So you and Rafael are really close, huh?"
she asked.

Carlos nodded. "He's like my best friend."

"That's cute," she said, getting closer to Carlos. "I'm an only child, so I was never good at forming relationships with people, ya know?"

Carlos smiled. "Yeah. James is an only child and sometimes we have to remind him that the world doesn't revolve around him."

Danielle giggled. "So he thinks he's the front man of Big Time Rush, huh?"

Carlos shook his head truthfully. "We all agreed that Kendall should get that title. He's like our leader because he always keeps us together. Of course, with him being the leader, a lot of our fans have labeled him as their favorite."

"Well they're wrong," Danielle said. "You're my favorite."

Carlos could feel himself blushing. "You're just saying that because you're dating my brother."

Danielle shrugged. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. What can I say? I'm the fan of the underdogs."

"Well," Carlos said with a smile. "I can tell we're gonna get along just great."

"Yeah," Danielle replied. "I agree."

Okay, so there was the first chapter! I hope you liked it.

I know Omar only got a mention in this chapter, but he will appear :D

Didja like that?