October, 15 2002

"Carlos do you really have to go?"James sobbed.

"We will miss you."Logan sniffled.

"Carlos you are our best friend. We don't want you to go."Kendall cried. I hated how sad they all were. We had been best friends since we were five, and through the course of our seven year friendship we had become brothers. But now I was being taken from them. My dad got an amazing job offer in London and we would have to move.

"I know. And I love you guys so much. I want to stay but Dad said this was his big break." I said my own tears coming out. I had tried my hardest to convince Dad to let us stay. I did not want to lose the guys. But he would not budge. He insisted I would make new friends. I did not want to make new friends. I love the ones I have.

"What are we going to do without you Carlos?" James sniffled.

"We have always been four. Without you we will be an incomplete set." Logan said. Logan has always been the smartest of us.

"You guys will make it you still have each other. Over time you will get used to being three."I said, trying to make my friends feel better. I worried about them. Logan was so small, and when you add that to being smart he was a prime target for bullies. James was also bullied. He was one of the sweetest kids around and all the other kids called him weak. Kendall was always afraid of change and new people so kids called him a scaredy cat. I always came to my brothers' defense because I feared what would happen without me.

"Nothing will be the same without you Carlos." Kendall choked out. I hated myself for what I was doing to them and I hated my dad for making us move. But nothing could be done since I was moving tomorrow. I had tried for a week to change my stubborn dad's mind.

"I know buddy but they say time heals everything. You guys will make it." I cried. I do not know who I was trying to convince more: them or myself.

"We want you."Logan sighed.

"I know Logie I want you guys to."I sniffled.

"This sucks." James said, his Diamond temper coming out.

"It does, I just wish I could stop it." I said looking at my three best friends.

"I am going to be lost without you. You are my courage, Carlos." Kendall said looking down at the ground. My heart was breaking even more.

"Guys listen to me." I said getting their attention.

"If ever there is a tomorrow when we're not together. There is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you." I told them, remembering what Christopher Robin had told Winnie the Pooh. That was our favorite show when we had been younger.

"T-That's from Winnie the Pooh." James said. I smiled glad my friends remembered.

"It is, but it is all true. I want you guys to remember that." I said pulling Kendall, Logan and James into a hug. I would miss these times when it was just the four of us together. I felt myself crying even more when the thought this was the last time I would possibly ever hug them again.

"I love you guys so much." I said as we pulled out of our group hug making eye contact for the last time.

"We love you to Carlitos." They all said and I smiled at the nickname they had given me. We waved goodbye and I headed home to finish packing.

~Next Day~

"Dad I have to say goodbye!" I yelled as dad forced me into our car.

"Carlos we are running late and you said bye to them yesterday." Dad said as he closed my door. As we drove away, I turned around to see my friends standing there, crying. I waved goodbye and then did my best to keep my eyes on them until we had driven out of sight.

I was going to miss them more than anything else. As I began to cry, my last thoughts before sleep overtook me were 'will I ever see them again?'

~Present day, 2007~

"Ok, Dad all my stuff is unpacked." I said coming down the stairs. It had been five years since I had last been to St. Paul, Minnesota. Dad had finally retired from his job as a CEO of Griffin Industries. Dad had decided we should come back home since we still had a lot of family here. I was surprised the town had not changed much the past five years.

But more than anything I wondered what had happened to my childhood friends. I had not seen James, Logan or Kendall since the day I had moved when we were twelve. I didn't even know if they still lived here.

"That's good Carlos. You ready for your first day of school tomorrow?" Dad asked, smiling.

"Not really." I groaned. I hated being the new kid but being the new kid during the middle of the school year sucked. Everyone already knew everyone and I would be an outsider.

"I am sure you will be fine once you make some friends." Dad chuckled.

"Yeah right." I said rolling my eyes and heading back upstairs. He had said that when he made me move to London and leave my brothers behind. He had been wrong in the five years I had been away I had not made a single friend.

I sat on my bed and opened my drawer pulling out an old picture that reminded me of the best days of my life. It was a picture of me and the guys when we had been in the fifth grade. It was at Logan's eleventh birthday party and Kendall, Logan, James and I had just got done having a massive cake war so we had cake all over us for the picture.

I smiled at the memory. That had been an amazing day. I put the picture back then headed to get a shower since tomorrow would be a long day.

I sighed as I made my way to my locker. I had just picked my schedule up from the main office. I had just put my lunch in my locker and closed it when I noticed all the other kids were up against the lockers and it was really quite.

"What is going on?" I asked the girl next to me. She had black hair with red highlights. She looked to be around 5'7 and she had brown eyes.

"You must be new."She whispered.

"I am. My name is Carlos." I said

"Lucy" The girl I now knew replied.

"The tyrants of the school will be here any minute with the rest of their following you do not want to get in their way or disrespect them."Lucy replied.

"Why?"I asked cocking my head. Everyone looked so scared.

"Because they can and will make your school life hell. They are all on the school hockey team and are the best players on the team. They are cruel, cold hearted bullies. They show no pity or remorse and they are as dumb as door nails." Lucy spat. I could tell she hated them and I didn't blame her. They sounded like huge jackasses.

Just then, the school doors open and a group of kids walked in.

"The brunette girl is Camille Roberts. She is the class president and thinks she is all that."Lucy said rolling her eyes.

"The black haired boy is Steve. He is the goalie for the team and a huge dick." Lucy said, pointing.

"Those two are Dak Zevon and Jett Stetson." Lucy said gesturing at the two guys who had just walked in.

"So are they the tyrants?" I asked her.

"No they are all just the mindless followers. The three you need to worry about are them." Lucy said, gesturing at the door as three new guys walked in.

"The blonde is Kendall Knight. The short one with the faux hawk is Logan Mitchell and the tall clueless looking one is James Diamond." Lucy said the names with disgust. Something about those names sounded familiar then it hit me. I looked at the guys closely and although they were older I knew they were my old best friends. They had all three bulked up since I had last seen them especially James. Kendall and James looked to be around the same height and Logan was still the short one. I could not believe they were the school tyrants. I was about to ask Lucy something when I heard someone speak.

"Watch where the fuck you're going!" I turned to see Kendall yelling at a freshman on the ground.

"I-I am sorry." The kid said, sounding terrified.

"You should be." James spat as the kid cowered in fear.

"Worthless piece of shit." Logan growled. I just stood there with my mouth open.

"You need to be taught a lesson." Kendall smirked.

"P-Please I did not mean to bump into you." The kid was crying now.

"Tough. You did and you need to learn." James laughed.

"Dak, Jett." Logan said snapping his fingers. I watched as Dak and Jett made their way towards the boy before they picked him up and dumped him in a trashcan.

"Poor Tyler." I heard Lucy sigh.

"Anyone else?" Kendall laughed darkly. Everyone lowered their head.

"Good." James smiled as he and the others made their way down the hall.

Once they were gone everyone went back to normal I saw a few kids helping Tyler.

"Are they always like that?" I questioned Lucy.

"Yeah but what they did to Tyler was them going easy. Sometimes they do a lot worse to people who cross them." Lucy stated.

I just stood there in shock. What had happened to the kids I had known? The sweet, kind, quiet kids I had known had been replaced with these cold, unfeeling, vicious monsters. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever guessed that they would turn into the very people they used to hate.

I had always imagined that if I ever met the guys again our reunion would be filled with happiness but now I was filled with nothing but terror. Everything had changed and not for the better.

Authors Note: I do not own Big Time Rush. This story WILL be slash. Dedicated to Break Free.