The Replacements (YouTube FanFic)

[Chapter 9] Far From Fine

-Lisa's POV-

I tried calling Shane's phone for ten minutes, each time it went to voicemail. I was almost in tears - why wasn't he picking up his phone? What if something bad happened to him?

I rushed down the stairs to find Joey in my living room.

"Joey? What are you doing here?" I asked, approaching him after picking up the keys off of the counter.

"Oh, I was looking for Shane. I wanted to talk to him about a collaboration video idea." He told me. "Do you know where he is?"

"He's supposed to be at Natalie and Rachael's apartment, but he's not answering his phone. I'm going to go see how things are going. Do you want to come along?" I offered.

He shook his head and jumped over the couch, "Nah. But I'm going to stay here, I'm going to Meghan's house to pick her up for lunch. I don't want to go all the way home when I'm already halfway there."

I sighed, zipping up my jacket. "There's stuff in the fridge if you'd like anything." And with that, I walked out of the house and was on my way to see Shane.

*****

I walked through the empty hallway, it looked completely fine. All of the doors were shut except one. I walked up to it and looked inside. This looked just like the place in Natalie and Rachael's videos, so I assumed it was their apartment.

"Shane?" I called, walking into the apartment. I took my jacket off and hung it on the back of one of the bar stools. "Shane, it's Lisa! Where are you?"

Instead of seeing Shane, I see this girl walking out of the hallway. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was hyperventilating.

"Who are you?" I inquired as politely as I could.

She wiped the running mascara from under her eyes and sniffled. "I'm...I'm Abby. Rachael and Natalie's friend. Who are you?"

"I'm Lisa." I stuck my hand out as a friendly gesture, which she kindly returned. "Why were you crying earlier?"

She started to tear up again. "Well, I came to make a surprise visit to them, but only to find their apartment wide open! And then there was some dude's backpack in the office that I didn't know and...hey, aren't you Shane Dawson's girlfriend?" Her mood dramatically changed from sad to normal.

I nodded my head, "Yes. The one and only!"

"Oh my god, it's so nice to meet you!" She changed the subject.

"Hey, you found a guy's backpack in the office, correct?" I mentioned, getting back to the conversation, "Did it say anyone's name or something?"

She shook her head, "I don't know, I didn't look."

I pushed her gently aside and walked through their hallway and into the office. I picked up the backpack and pulled out Shane's phone. I knew because of his lock-screen, which was of him and Corny. I smiled, and then the smile dissolved into a frown. Realizing that something happened to Shane. Something bad. Something really bad.

I threw the backpack down and rushed into the main room, where Abby was pacing back and forth.

"Do you know where Natalie and Rachael are?" She asked me.

I bit my lip. I didn't know if I should tell her that they went missing. She looked familiar, like I'd seen her before. I didn't know her all that well either. "No." I replied calmly.

She whimpered, "Well, if you see them, tell them I'm going to be staying for a week here. And then I've got to go back to the U.K."

I snapped my finger. "Hey, aren't you Niall's new girlfriend?"

She smiled, "Yeah. I can't believe my dream actually came true. Now only if Natalie's and Rachael's dream came true too..."

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

She looked at me baffled. "What do you mean?" She threw back.

I crossed my arms. "I thought their dream was to become YouTubers like Smosh."

"Yes. But that's only part of the dream!"

It was my turn to be puzzled. "What's the other part?" I dared to ask.

She sighed, "Even though they don't really show it, they're really lonely. And all they want is for Smosh to be with them...like romantically." I dropped my jaw in shock. "But don't tell them I told you that, or they might kill me. And don't tell anyone I said that either."

"But, they've made it clear that they're fine the way they are."

Abby laughed, "You're funny, Lisa. Rachael's far from fine. She's not very self-confident in the first place, and she think she's forever alone, which I hope and know isn't true. And then Natalie, she's..." She crossed her arms behind her back and began swaying back and forth, "I don't know. But she's really always liked Ian. And I think they would make a totes cute couple. So, though they seem fine, they're really not."

I stared at the floor in front of me, absorbing all of the things Abby told me. How Nachael wasn't at all what they seemed. And if what Abby told me is true, Nachael for sure wouldn't be the kidnappers, because if they liked Smosh that much, they wouldn't kidnap them...they'd do what they've been doing this whole time, making themselves a minuscule part of Anthony and Ian's lives. Despite how big of a part they are to them.

"Hey, I'd love to stay and chat, but I really want to talk to Rachael and Natalie. I'm going to go see where they are. I'll hopefully see you later, Lisa!" Abby said, waving goodbye to me as she walked out of the apartment.

I had a whole new light on the situation now. Thanks to someone I barely knew.

I remembered I was going to look for Shane, so I snapped out of the daze I was in and bolted out of the apartment and down the stairs.

Author's Note: Hello! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I have a few things to tell you: 1) This chapter...I don't know how I feel about it. I hope you like it. Please give me feedback on if this should be changed in any way to make it better 2) This chapter is dedicated to @lovehoran4life because she's Abby, she's my best friend, and she's hopefully going to be a huge part of me and Nat's lives in the future and 3) I want to thank you all so much for the reads, votes, and follows. It means so much to me to know people enjoy my work. I've blossomed so much from the writer I used to be, and it's all thanks to you guys. Well, once again, I hope you liked this chapter and hope you're having a spectacular summer! -rac06h10ael