a/n- WOOW YOUR GIRL IS TIRED, it's 1:38 in the morning and i just managed to finish this! it' been a while since i've updated but this is a pretty long update tbh, so i hope that somewhat makes up for it! this is a slight filler chapter but there are some pretty cute moments in here so im still excited :-)) the next few chapters are gonna be quite a ride, so hang in there crew.

also, **cara has never met the rest of the band!! she's only met calum, and that was when they were around thirteen. this is her first time actually meeting ash, mike (aside from when michael called her the night calum got wasted), and luke- but as elena. im praying that isn't confusing oml.

ALSO ALSO, I'VE FINALLY MADE A NEW TRAILER FOR THIS STORY GUYS! i'm really liking it to be honest! it'll be attached to chapter one. go check it out when you've finished reading this!!

ALSO ALSO ALSO, it is thanksgiving my friends! id like to let you all know that im sososo thankful for all of you taking the time to read TRP, it makes me so happy knowing people actually don't find my writing dumb and put up with my bs updating schedule and enjoy reading my stuff. if you're reading this, i love you :-)

stay happy

x bri.

-

[ cara ]

The plan was for Calum to take Emma and I to the band's house. I was supposed to be in a stress-free mood, I was supposed to go there and enjoy myself, get to know the three boys Elena has always told me were amazing. But as Calum and Emma and I made our way up the front steps leading to the door, all i felt was.. anxiety, for lack of a better word.

My mind was still playing an endless loop of what Emma and I had found out earlier. Yeah, it's pretty possible that Elena could have run away with someone, that's true. But it honestly just does't make sense- Elena had the world. I'm pretty sure she was aware that she could've had a great ass summer with all of her friends and all the events and parties she could've been invited to, you know? Plus, she had to have been aware that Calum and the rest of the band were coming home. What was the point in running away? I was entirely focused on the idea of someone abducting her. Was she being tortured right now, in this moment?

Someone's hand suddenly slipped into mine, squeezing my fingers and knocking me straight out of my own bubble of thought. "You alright? You've been quiet the entire ride here."

I smiled brightly and shook my head dismissively, surprising myself as I craned my neck up to kiss his jawline lightly. Emma whistled. "I'm fine, just hungry."

"You can ask Ash to make you a panini?"

I rose my eyebrows at him, impressed. "Really? That's a little complicated to make."

Calum shrugged, walking in front of Emma and I to the front door, pulling his keys out. "He bought a two hundred dollar panini press in Milan and hasn't tried it out yet. The guy buys anything with a price tag."

I snorted, genuinely excited to meet the boys. I stood back, to Emma's side as Calm began to fidget with the key. "Looks like you're getting better at it, huh?"

"Getting better at what?"

Emma grinned, wiggling her eyebrows at me and elbowing my left rib teasingly. "Playing Elena? Dating Calum? Kissing on the jawline, I see you, yum."

"Don't say yum!" I laughed, shoving her. Calum cursed quietly to himself in the background, muttering something along the lines of his key being a failure. I lowered my voice to a hushed whisper, "I'm just trying to make sure he's convinced I'm Elena so their relationship stays solid. I wouldn't want him to assume I'm- or Elena, I guess, is losing interest in him because of how chicken I am to be intimate with him, you know?"

She shrugged, adjusting her headband so that it tuck back her stray baby hairs that the slight breeze of the morning was causing to fly around. "All I'm saying is that you're getting better at it- you're just acting a lot more natural. But listen, Cara, I'm telling you now- he's not your boyfriend, he's El-"

"Em! I know that!" I said defensively, covering my torso with my arms, suddenly feeling exposed and conscious. "Again, I'm trying to keep their relationship solid, okay, I'm not a home wrecker-"

"No, of course not, I know you aren't," she quickly added, frowning. "I was just making sure you knew."

Finally, the door swung open, and I smiled at the familiar face. He smiled back once his eyes met mine, and then he turned to look at Calum, looking less than impressed. "You're kidding me."

"Michael," Calum sighed, rubbing his right temple. "don't start."

"The door? You cannot even open the damn door? You may as well move out, Calum, we're fine with becoming a three member ba- Emma, hey!"

"Skin me alive," Emma muttered under my breath next to me, and I narrowed my eyes at her in confusion.

"Emma, it's been six months!" Michael whined, motioning for us to come inside. I chuckled and took the hand Calum had outstretched to me, as he and Michael walked us into the foyer. "El, you told me you'd get her to forgive me!"

I rose my eyebrow, having no idea what he'd meant by that, and looked over my right shoulder at Emma urgently, needing help.

She nodded, giving me a look of reassurance that calmed me and my heart rate down in the slightest. "You nearly pushed me into the fire pit, Michael, even if the Gods themselves personally came down to tell me to forgive you, I still wouldn't forgive you."

"I hear bickering." A guy around the same height as Calum emerged from the kitchen, brown hair and hazel eyes and tight black t-shirt, so all in all- he looked like a Hollister model. Lately, everything had suddenly started moving insanely quickly, so it didn't surprise me when in the blink of an eye, he'd walked over to me and had me wrapped in a gigantic bear hug. "Hey, El."

"Watch the hands," Calum warned Ashton, walking past the two of us to take a seat on one of the black leather seats in the living room. I laughed silently to myself and wrapped my arms around the boy in return, figuring he and Elena must have been close- it was the least I could to. My only job was to keep the act up.

"Ashton," Emma whispered into my ear, raising her eyebrows encouragingly as she and Michael walked past us and followed Calum into the living room. I took a deep breath,

"Hey, Ash!" I smiled and pulled away, patting the boy on the back and walking by his side as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led us into the living room as well where I'm guessing everyone would be gathering. "Been a while, yeah?"

"Been a while indeed." He nodded and ruffled the top of my head, causing my hair to jumble up and create a mess. I groaned and ran my hand through the strands of now tangled hair to fix the mess, scowling at him only to watch him giggle. "You still look like Chewbacca though."

I gasped and let my mouth fall agape, smacking his arm in surprise. He laughed loudly, dimples and all. It was a Kim Kardashian "don't-be-fucking-rude" kind of moment, to say the least. "I can't believe Elena puts up with you calling her that!"

The teasing grin fell from Ashton's face, replaced with a rather deep frown, and I immediately realized my mistake. Shit. "What do you mean?"

I bit the inside of my bottom lip, spitting the first words that came to mind out. "Y-You don't ever like, um, refer to yourself in third person?"

Ashton narrowed his eyebrows, chuckling. He looked lowkey suspicious though, which made me feel uneasy. "No, El, nobody does."

I pursed my lips nervously, parting my lips to apologize or say something dumb or maybe even cry - the things panic does to me - until the weight of another person was thrown onto my back.

"Elena!" I let out a scream as I was shoved into Ashton's front and the two of us were sent to the floor, Ashton groaning as his head hit the wood. "Ooh, ouch."

"For fuck's sake, Luke," Ashton swore, grumbling to himself and rubbing the back of his head that'd made contact with the floor as he stood up and outstretched his hand towards me. I shyly took it and helped myself up. I turned around with my arms folded across my chest, my tongue poking into my cheek as I glared at the boy in front of me- Luke apparently.

"I was just trying to scare her," The blonde squeaked, shuffling behind the two us like a child as we all walked into the living room to join Emma, Michael and Calum. "I didn't know she'd tip over!"

"Didn't know who'd tip over?" Calum asked, looking up from his phone and grinning at me as I walked over towards him, not really knowing where to sit. Michael and Emma were seated on a couch across from us, Ashton was sitting in a modern, brown rocking chair towards the fireplace and Luke was occupying the black bean bag by the TV. Calum took hold of my hand and pulled me onto his lap, grinning smugly.

"Nobody!" Luke yelled out in panic at the same time Ashton grumbled out "Your girlfriend." Cal looked at me curiously and I rolled my eyes playfully at the blonde and shook my head dismissively. Luke exhaled in relief.

"So how're you guys?" Emma spoke up as she looked around at the entire band in the room, sparking conversation.

"Jetlagged as hell." Michael answered honestly, leaning his head back against the black couch cushion. "I feel like we've been living out of suitcases and airplanes."

"We have," Luke shrugged. "and we'll be repeating it all over again in six months so I wouldn't get too used to the homey-housey-domestic-white-picket-fence life."

"We don't have a white picket fence, Luke." Ashton stated matter-of-factly, looking at him challengingly.

Luke glowered at him. "You know what I mean, stop attacking me!"

-

I shifted in Calum's lap, trying to find a comfortable position as the rest of the boys and Emma silently stared at the TV screen. Ex Machina was playing, and it was basically a movie containing robots, a deranged scientist and a lot of swearing- so frankly, I was getting bored. And sleepy. Sci-fi to me was a joke.

It was around seven pm now, and the past couple of hours consisted of tour stories, burnt paninis, tortilla chips, loud laughing, and nudity. We hadn't really settled on one thing to do, just laying back and talking, until about thirty minutes ago when Michael had offered to play his favorite movie at the moment, which of course had to be science fiction instead of a horror movie.

"Sleepy?" Calum murmured lowly, as if he weren't trying to disturb the others who were intently deep into the movie, brushing my hair behind my ear.

I nodded and let out my third yawn in the past six minutes. I continued to shift around on his lap, struggling to find a comfortable position for m to nap in. I was so used to starfishing across my bed that this just felt purely uncomfortable.

"What the hell are you doing?" Calum laughed quietly, holding me still and moving my legs so that rather than being cooped up under me, they were spread out onto the couch, and tucked my head into his chest, wrapping his arms tighter around me. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and I whimpered to myself softly. "Better?"

I sighed and nodded again, deciding that I may as well just keep myself here and nap until the rest of the movie, which was about another hour, was over. I shut my eyes, the feeling of Calum's fingers playing with and stroking my hair sending me off into a haze. I could feel my eyes getting heavier, even though they were already closed, sleeping pulling me in faster and faster.

And then Elena's phone rang.

I jumped and sat upright, my head knocking Calum in the nose. I cursed to myself as he groaned out loud. Michael grunted and turned his head around to glare at the both of us. "Do I even have to say shut up or do you guys like, physically feel my rage right now?"

"Shut up." We both replied, Calum with his hand over his nose and me struggling to find my phone in the deep pockets of my joggers. Once my hands found it and pulled it out, I tapped Calum's nose apologetically, before getting off of his lap and walking to the far end of the hall to answer the call. I didn't want to disturb the robot-fanatics (or fanatic, it was really just Michael) any further. "Hello?"

"Cara, you need to come home."

I rose my eyebrow curiously at the aggressive tone in my Dad's voice. He sounded sharp, and cold and overall pissed off, for lack of a better word. I couldn't really think of anything I could've done to aggravate him, and it was only around 7:05. My curfew wasn't until around ten. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Just come home, Cara, I don't care where you are right now- I'm not going to repeat myself."

"I mean you just did, Dad." I chuckled humorously, leaning against the wall to my right.

He grunted, sounding fairly annoyed, on the other end and the smile was wiped off my face. Something about him seemed off. "Cara if you're not home in the next twenty minutes, I'm calling Mark, and he's going to come get you. We seriously need to talk."

My eyes widened at the mention of one of the members of my Dad's security team coming to pick me up- it didn't take me too long to figure out that something was indeed wrong. "Okay, my goodness, I'm coming, hold on."

I ended the call quickly, before stuffing my phone back into my pocket before making my way back into the living room at a pace- whatever Dad had to say to me had to be important, and it was fair to say that I was a little over-curious. There was a small part of me hoping that it may have been news about Elena. I bent over the couch and leaned in to whisper in Calum, who looked like he'd gotten pretty into the movie as well's ear. "My Dad wants me home right now, some kind of emergency."

"Oh, yeah, no problem." Calum turned around and nodded understandingly, standing up and stretching before grabbing his denim jacket that he'd thrown onto the couch and slipping it on. "I'm dropping El off, guys, her Dad wants her home."

"What!" Emma whined, looking at me pleadingly, and then at Calum, and then the movie. "But it's literally just getting good! This is the part where Ava may end up killing the scientist, okay, I have to finish it."

"So just stay until the movie's over and then Mike'll drive you home." Luke suggested, diving his hand back into the bowl of chocolate Chex Mix and tilting his head back before filling his mouth with another handful. "I mean Ash and I are going to The Nice Guy later tonight so we can't drop you off."

"Wha- no! Gross! I enjoy being STD-free, thank you." Emma spat, sounding offended.

Michael made a playful wounded sound, his hand flying to his chest and Ashton cackled. "That was disrespectful!"

Emma spun around to face the now red-headed boy, eyes narrowed and lips parted in shock. "You. Nearly. Pushed. Me. Into. A burning. Fire!"

Michael groaned, sounding exasperated. "And I said I was sorry!"

"El, please stay with me until the end!"

"I can't, Em," I shrugged, giving her an apologetic glance before following Calum towards the door. "just take the ride home with Michael and text me later?"

"Oh my Go- Elena, I swear if you don't-"

Calum's hand found mine once again and dragged me out the front door before Emma could finish her sentence, or put a knife to my throat. And I was thankful.

-

"Do you know why he wants you home so early?"

I exhaled and shook my head, fumbling with my fingers. "No clue."

We'd been parked outside of the house for about five minutes now- I was just nervous to walk inside.  had no clue as to whether what Dad was about to tell me was good or bad or maybe both- I was nervous. I'm always nervous. Especially with my parents. It's hard to feel no pressure, to feel comfortable around your Mom and Dad when all you want to do is make them happy, please them- impress them. One of the worst feelings in the world on my list of 'the worst feelings in the world' is disappointing your parents.

Calum placed his hand over my knee and rubbed the area with his thumb soothingly, as if he'd sensed my nervousness. "Do you want me to come inside with you?"

I dismissed him, "I'll be fine, Calum."

"Are you positive? If you are somehow in trouble he won't be as hard on you if I'm there-"

"Calum, seriously, don't worry about me." I chuckled, turning to face him seriously. "I'll be okay."

He exhaled deeply through his nose and bit his lip. "Worrying about you is my job, Elena."

I shut up for a moment, not exactly knowing what to say to that. The butterflies began to flutter around in the pits of my stomach, and I smiled to myself knowing that this boy was my sister's boyfriend. He treated her like she was a goddess. "No, your job is to be a pop-rockstar on vacation for six months who could really use a night to himself."

Calum shook his head, leaning over the car console to wrap his arms around me, before letting me go. I opened the passenger door and exited the car, smiling at him through the glass of the window. He smiled back, but I could genuinely still detect the slight worry in his eyes. I sighed again. "I'll be okay, Cal."

He stayed put, the car still in park as he continued to stare at me for a while. He eventually nodded and put his car back into ignition. "I guess you will be, you're a big girl now, aren't you? Not thirteen and still into the Jonas Brothers anymore?"

I laughed at the memory of Elena's Jonas Brothers phase in her pre-teen years and flipped him off- not exactly something Elena, or even I would do, but I could feel myself slowly beginning to unwind whenever I was around Calum. "You suck."

"I really do." He agreed, grinning cheekily. "Good night, El. I love you."

I smiled. "Night Cal, I'll text you!"

He chuckled and strapped himself back into his seat. "I know you will."

Then he drove off, and I wrapped my arms around my shoulders, suddenly feeling cold. I turned around and slowly made my way to the front door, feeling anxious. Before I knew it, I was face to face with the brown paint of the the two large front doors, and I sighed to myself knowing that I should probably get this all over with now. The sooner, the better. Dad was never good with dealing with his anger.

I reached into my right pocket and pulled out my house key, before pushing it into the key hole and twisting it, watching the door swing open. I swallowed at the sight of my Dad already sitting in the dining room, waiting for me, his laptop set out in front of him.

I cleared my throat and stepped inside, shutting the door and pulling my shoes off. I placed the by the door before making my way towards the dining table and taking a seat. His eyes were set on me, both eyebrows arched. "So, what's going on?"

"What do you think is going on?" He asked, folding his hands together and placing them atop of the table.

I blew a raspberry and shrugged carelessly, "I don't know? Have you found anything on Elena's case?"

Dad huffed through his nose, shaking his head at me. He looked less than impressed, which made my eyes narrow. What was his problem? "I don't know, Cara, have you?"

I cocked my head to the side. "What are you talking about?"

"What do you think I'm talking about?"

"Stop asking me what I think you're going on about, I came here confused and I still am confused, Dad, what's going on?"

He turned his laptop around to show me what was on his computer screen and my breath hitched in my throat. It was opened on the app- the IP tracker app.

I'd left the damn app open before leaving the house.

"Explain, you have five minutes before I start raising my voice." He said simply, standing up and walking around the table to hover over me.

"Dad, I was just trying-"

"To help? Cara, We've got this situation under control, and we don't need your input! We don't need you getting hurt!" His voice had already started to raise, and I tried my best not to flinch. "We're more than capable of finding Elena on our own, we don't need your help.."

I pursed my lips. "It's funny you say that, because I'm pretty sure I'm the one here completing the main part of your damn project, right? I'm the replacement?"

"Cara-"

"Dad, I'm sorry to break it to you but it's been nearly two weeks and you haven't gotten anywhere." I almost laughed, looking away. I was speaking up for myself, yet somehow, I still felt afraid. I still felt small compared to him. That wasn't right. "You have the FBI working with yo and you guys have not gotten anywhere! Do you wanna know what Emma and I found earlier today, huh? Just the two us? Elena's car. We found her car parked in the school parking lot. The school parking lot, Dad, it was that simple and the freaking FBI couldn't even find it! And it was just the two of us wandering around! That's so pathetic I-"

"Cara, now isn't the time for jokes."

I laughed in disbelief, standing up to be at eye-level with him. I couldn't believe he thought I'd joke about this. "I'm not joking, Dad! We really-"

"You know what, it's probably best you go to your room." He ran his hand over his face, turning around to pace about the dining room.

I let my jaw fall slack at such a middle school punishment. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Cara, I'm not going to tolerate you talking back. Just go to your room, and stay there for the rest of the night while I work on this. Go!" He boomed, index finger pointing towards the stairs.

I let out a short exhale of disbelief before shaking my head and running up the stairs towards my room. I swung the door open, and then slammed it shut, leaning against the back of it. Frustrated, I slid my body down the back side of the door, placing my head in my hands. You know what sucked? The fact that I was supposed to be the one helping, yet I felt like I was the one causing more destruction. Everything was always my fault, in his eyes. And it hurt one hell of a lot.

I lifted my head from my hands after realizing that I was literally just letting him win. He couldn't continue doing this to me anymore- I was eighteen. Locking me away in my room at only 7:35? On a Saturday? No.

I bit my lip before standing up and pulling the drawers of my dresser open, grabbing a pair of black leggings and a black sweatshirt to keep myself warm from the cool evening air. I slid my joggers and t-shirt off, swapping them for the black apparel and my Nikes. A sudden rush of confidence overtook me as I reached for Elena's phone, still stuck in the pocket of my grey joggers, and dialed the familiar number. The phone rang a few times, before the line was picked up.

"El?"

"Hey, Cal," I breathed out, adrenaline slowly beginning to fill my veins as I slid my window open, and propped one of my feet out. "come pick me up. I'm feeling adventurous."