the replacement project :: c.h.

twenty five » the truth and nobody else

a/n - im getting emotional rest in peace.

part of me doesnt wanna put this out bc i dont want this to end im not gonna lie.

this is the last chapter and im so upset but theres still going to be an epilogue please dont leave yET.

on another note i've tried pretty hard to be make this the best for all of you so i hope you all enjoy it :-)

i love you guys with every bit of me i promise (this isnt even a fraction of the finals author's note im gonna post im laugfhing)

stay happy,

x bri.

-

[ cara ]

I breathed out and leant my head back against the car's head-rest, relievedly, allowing my eyes to fall shut for a moment.

His car was still there.

Calum's car was still there.

He was still here, he had to be.

Not taking any time that I had on my hands for granted, I pulled harshly on the door handle, swinging the door open and throwing my legs over the cushion of the car seat. The heat that the August sun against the pavement of the driveway burned and stung the bottoms of my bare feet and I winced slightly, but proceeded to step out of the car and run up towards the front steps.

I hadn't even knocked once yet when I realized that even though it was barely the door was left open by just a crack, and I couldn't tell whether it was because the other three had maybe hoped that I would rush here after they told me about Calum's plan and try to convince him to stay, or they were genuinely just imbeciles.

Either way, I took it upon myself to pull the door open wider and enter the house.

"Cal?" I took quick and large steps all across the unusually timid house, from the living room, to the kitchen, to each of the bedrooms and bathrooms on the second floor. I'd lingered in each room for a few more seconds than necessary to completely assure myself that Calum wasn't there. And he wasn't.

I could feel my breath picking up and the panic beginning to overwhelm me - what if I actually was too late? What if there really was no point in even coming here? Mali or Jack or one of Calum's hundreds amongst hundreds of friends could have easily picked him up and dropped him at the airport, where he'd simply sit his ass on a plane and fly away from here and find another really, really, pretty girl who wouldn't lie to him to the extent that I had. What if I was just making myself look stupid for holding my hopes up?

I was standing frozen in the middle of the corridor on the second floor, not really knowing what more to do at that point. What was I supposed to do now? Leave? Was I just supposed to accept the fact that Calum wouldn't be coming back for another four months and that he'd move on, and so it would be better off if I forced myself to do the same?

Then there was a sudden, loud, buzzing sound that'd pulled me out of my own panic and I found myself slowly rotating in a full circle, trying to decipher where the sound was coming from. What the hell was that?

Cautiously, I made my way back down the steps and back to the first floor. The sound started to grow louder, and it hit me only then that the sound was actually coming from down here. As quickly as the sound had started to grow older, it stopped. I melded both of my eyebrows together, confusedly. It took a few seconds before I finally realized where the sound was coming from, and exactly what it was.