Just A Dream (completed)

Chapter 23: The Night James Got His Feelings Hurt

"That's great." Carlos says, faking a smile. Yeah, James really loves Jenna. Carlos doesn't have anyone to love. He can understand Kendall and Logan having serious relationships because they've never been the type to play with girls hearts, but James has always been the one that never stayed in a relationship for more than a few weeks. Now that he's finally settled down with one girl and Carlos has no one, Carlos is starting to feel sort of jealous. Seeing James kissing Jenna, giving her hugs, hearing him talk about her all the time...Is it wrong for Carlos to feel bothered by this?

James must notice a change in Carlos's demeanor because he gives his friend a confused look. Ugh, Carlos hopes that he won't say anything. The shorter boy is in no mood to discuss his personal issues. He rarely has any issues. In fact, he's a very positive and upbeat person, but even he can have bad days. Today is one of them. It didn't really help that Jo came over and begged Kendall to watch some romantic comedy film with her. Somehow, Carlos ended up joining them and as the film continued, he started thinking about Stephanie.

"Um, you okay?" James asks him.

"Yeah." Carlos lies as they leave the elevator.

"No, you're not." James laughs humorlessly. "You sound like you're mad about something."

Okay, James is definitely onto him. Well, he might as well admit his concerns, even if James does end up getting angry with him. Should he be scared? If they mention his dad, he ends up freaking out on them. Carlos doesn't know if he should mention his jealous over James's first serious relationship. Jenna is special to James and he loves her, so Carlos isn't being a very good friend by being jealous, but since James is asking, he might as well tell the truth.

"Fine." He sighs. "I think it's great that you have a girlfriend, but I don't understand how I ended up being the only single member of the band. You've always been the player of the group. I guess I just feel left out because you're finally deciding to settle down with one girl. You and I use to have something in common because, while Kendall and Logan were with Jo and Camille, you and I would hang out because we didn't have girls tying us down."

"So you're jealous because I've finally found someone that makes me happy?" James says quietly, hurt filling his eyes.

"No, I didn't mean it like that!" Carlos says desperately.

"You're making it sound like I should have to be alone for the rest of my life!" James says angrily. "Well, it's time for a reality check! Maybe I don't want to date every single hot girl I see! Maybe I like having just one girl in my life! I know that you miss Stephanie, but that doesn't mean that I should have to give up my happiness! As my friend, you should want me to be happy. I love Jenna and she makes me very happy, so I would appreciate if you would just deal with it. Whether you like it or not, Jenna is a part of my life. And that's how it's always gonna be."

Suddenly, Carlos feels pretty angry himself. James is totally twisting his words around! He doesn't expect James to be alone for the rest of his life. He just wishes that James would wait a few years, so they could be single together. They could keep being the Hollywood Super Party Kings Of Hollywood that don't need girlfriends to have fun.

"You are getting way too defensive about this!" He retorts.

"No, Carlos, I know what you're saying! You don't care about my happiness! You just expect me to stay the same for the rest of my life!" James says, practically yelling now.

"Well, I'm sorry if I expected you to turn out just like your dad!" Carlos says, using the same tone. "Like father, like son, right?"

A moment of silence follows as Carlos realizes what he just said. No...No, he did not just go there. He just hit forbidden territory with those words. No one has ever had the heart to say something so horrible to James, yet Carlos finally did. His heart breaks as he stares at James's face. It's ashen, broken, his hurt on full display. How could Carlos be so horrible?