nicks pov.
we all arrive at the mall, we stopped by amelie's house to pick her up, i am not feeling like third wheeling today. as there was so many of us we all got to choose one store each, we started at hollister and then h&m, that was mainly to buy amber some new clothes though.
"i'm so bored" anthony whined as avani didn't hesitate to drag him around to see every piece of clothing.
"awh, what a shame" avani teased him back, clearly loving this.
"food court?" dixie offered.
i watch as anthony's eyes practically light up, he must've been waiting for this all day.
"yes yes yes" he exclaims in respond.
avani and amelie both share a sigh before we all leave the store, heading in the direction of the food court. when we arrive there though i notice chase's whole demeanour change, he quickly gets charli walking in front of him as he takes her hand. i notice he keeps turning around constantly like he's paranoid. i follow his gaze and instantly understand his panic, i don't hesitate before rapidly tapping avani on the shoulder.
"fucking hell nick, what is it" she snaps at me, yet her face softens when she see's my worried expression.
i point over to josh and a mumbled "shit" is all she says in reply.
when she see's that charli is safe with chase, she makes her way over to nessa before whispering in her ear and taking her hand. now realising it's us josh slowly makes his way over and before i can ever warn them he's grabbing nessa's shoulder. she jumps, avani now wrapping her arms around nessa's shoulders.
"fuck off josh" the brunette spits at him, cradling her friend.
"chill avani, was just coming to talk to chase. you can quit protecting your little girlfriend" he lets out a chuckle at his own words and makes his way over to chase. charli is now placed behind him instead.
"so huddy, you decided yet" josh carries on, now looking at chase for an answer.
"i don't know who the fuck you think you are but you need to take a step back and stop acting like an entitled dick before you get yourself in bother" avani adds on, josh's small threats not changing her attitude once.
"nick i don't like this" amelie whispers to me, her arms gripping my waist tighter as the worry she holds for her best friend is so obviously displayed.
"you're okay baby" i place i kiss on the top of her head once i'm finished speaking.
"maybe it's time you find out some of the things your boyfriend over there has done, i would like to see who the dick is after that" josh chuckles to himself, his words instantly throw me back into the reality of this situation.
"what the fuck is that supposed to mean" avani snaps, letting nessa go to take a step back and look at anthony. here anger seems to turn to sadness as the guilt on anthony's face gives it all away.
"anthony, you want to take it" the smirk never leaves josh's face, almost as though ruining their relationship brings him joy.
"ava, i promise it's not as bad as you think" he pleaded to his girlfriend, after fighting to keep everything he'd done a secret.
josh soon cuts him off though, "kayla" is the only word that leaves his mouth however, that's all it takes for avani to connect the dots.
"you went the hampton's trip with her, she didn't come home. you were her roommate. you told everyone it was an accident" avani spoke her thoughts out loud as she slowly backed away.
"i didn't mean for anything to happen to her" he stuttered, unsure how to explain everything.
"i don't want to hear it, GET OFF ME" she screams, breaking down into sobs as anthony attempts to take her hands.
amelie pulls away from me, running straight to avani in order catch her before she hits the ground, amelie cradles her and slowly strokes her hair in hopes to soothe her cries.
i can barely blink before anthony is on the ground whilst chase punches him, blood is already coming from the brunettes mouth so me and griffin run over instantly trying to pull him off, by the time we successfully do anthony is already covered in bruises. onces he's got himself up he just leaves, knowing it would be hard to fix this now.
we make our way over to the brunette girl and she doesn't miss a beat as she jumps into chases arms, her cries still so heart wrenching that everyone around watches us. it's not long before she is passed to dixie as we realise josh has vanished.
"for fuck sake!" chase yells, points to the spots where the two girls have vanished from, charli and nessa are gone.
"HE FUCKING TOOK BOTH OF THEM" chase shouts, now pulling on his hair as he paces the cafeteria.
we're all a mess, everyone in a panic as we all attempt to calm each other, i grip chases shoulders and give him slight shake, just enough to snap him out of it.
"chase look at me" i speak, finally earning eye contact from him. "we've been through shit like this before and we're all here, all okay, as long as we keep this offline we'll get them back, i give it two days max" i speak in the softest tone i can find as i send a reassuring smile his way, showing him none of us will give up on them.
he takes a deep breath before replying, "you're right and me panicking isn't going to help, we need to go home and think of what we're actually going to do" he then pulls me into a hug, his way of showing gratitude instead of a 'thank you'.
when he pulls back we both immediately notice the hollywoodfix guy appearing.
"well isn't this just fucking amazing" chase huffs as we both make our way over to them, hoping to hide what is going on with our friends.
"hey man" i say to the guy i've come to know as fletcher.
"nick are you and amelie dating" he goes right into it, not even bothering to say hello before quizzing me on my personal life.
"no" i reply automatically, this isn't something amelie and i have discussed yet so i'm sure as hell not talking to this guy about it.
he then moves the camera over to chase as he reads the paper filled with questions.
"what's going on between you and charli damelio" chase visibly winces at the question, her being gone still a fresh wound however, he still continues to reply.
"we're just friends at the moment" he offers the guy a small smile, seemingly just happy he's not asking about our current situation.
"one more question" the man speaks causing us both to let out a sigh of relief.
"what is going on behind you" he continues, zooming in to where avani clings onto amelie as her cries still echo, mads also joining her.
"sorry dude but this is private" i say before the both of us turn around, trying to end the conversation.
"come on, the fans wanna know" he eggs us on, bringing the camera back in our faces.
i can tell by the look on his face that chase has had enough of this guys bullshit. without warning i see chase grab the camera before he throws it to the ground.
"you know what else the fans wanna know huh, why a fucking MIDDLE AGED MAN is so interested in MINORS lives" chase shouts at him before making his way back over to the others.
i follow behind him, mouthing the man a 'sorry' about his now broken camera. chase sits on the bench as his head falls to his hand, we all join him, taking up all the free seats. its complete silence apart from avani's small cries and the sniff's of the others. everyone understands why she continues to cry, she just lost all of the most important people to her at once, that's going to hurt like hell.
"av" chase breaks the silence, looking at the brunette on his right.
"please tell me you've got a plan, you're the smartest here" he continues, this brings out a laugh from everyone as they all know its true. "when you do, i'll help you with him" chase add's on, they all know it's about anthony, no one dares to say his name though, unsure how she would react.
"i'll see what i can pull together" she smiles as him before pulling chase into a hug.
"fuck" griffin then mutters as he reads the tweet from his old roommate.
(all tweets are fake and made by me)
"what a fucking dick" amelie grunts as she looks as her best friend, full of sympathy.
it's not long before every one else joins in, each taking their phones out to reply to anthony.
"anthony's location is on and it shows that he's at josh's house" chase speaks up, twitter outing his location.
"i know he's a dick but i don't think he's an idiot, so obviously charli and nessa aren't at the house, but then where the hell are they" he continues his trail of thought, everyone seemingly now understanding his point.
"why would he go to josh's after what he just did" dixie adds on, everything not quite adding up.
"exactly!" chase agrees, making dixies face even more confused.
"tell us what you're thinking hudson" avani nags him, has he is taking too long to say his thoughts.
"anthony didn't seem quite as heartbroken as he should've been when josh started spilling stuff, and with everything going on that's how josh managed to take them without us noticing. is it possible they're working together" chase links all his statements together, his eyes land instantly on avani, nothing but pitty showing.
"but that would mean he never loved ava" amber spoke up, her eyebrows furrowed as her small brain struggled to process everything.
"no no no. it was real, you can't tell me it wasn't, it all felt so real' avani argues, her eyes glossing over once again.
"i'm sorry av, i think he's right" i agree, placing my hand on the girls shoulder. i feel so bad for her but this is the only conclusion that could be true.
"can we please just go home" avani speaks, standing up and pulling dixie behind her. he tucks her hair behind her ears and starts walking off before we can even reply.
"of course" chase agrees, knowing that all she wants right now is to rest, he could use some too.
when we all make our way into the mini van like car that brought us here, dixie hesitates before turning on some music. we all sit in silence just staring out the windows, no words could describe today. i let out a content sigh when amelie cuddles into me, i instantly wrap my arms around her as i take a glance at the others. amber is curled into chase and avani's head lays mads. griffin an dixie hold hands whilst he drives, everyone seems to need a little comfort right now.
to think that only three hours ago in this exact car we all screamed lyrics together, with out three missing people. in that moment i felt free, nothing mattered yet now everything matters. every move i make could change someones future and that's not something i enjoy. now i feel empty.
when we arrive back at avani's appartment we walk up the many flights of stairs to her front door. no one says anything, bags and shoes are dropped at the front door. once avani is in she instantly goes to her room, appearing back only seconds later in an oversized hoodie and sweatpants, everyone recognises it as anthony's but nothing is said.
"just make yourselves at home" she smiles, using the makeup wipe to take off her tear stained foundation.
everyone parts their ways, amelie and i in the guest room, dixie and griffin take charli's room, chase takes the couch and mad's bunks in with avani. avani however follows amber into her room in order to get the young girl ready for bed.
amelie takes out some clothes she left here and soon enough were both finally laying in bed. amelie plays with the ring i wear as the room is filled with darkness.
"do you think we'll find them" she asks me, looking up into my eyes.
"of course we will baby" i reply, pulling her in closer.
"what about anthony" she continues, i watch as she chews on her lip, her anxiety eating away at her.
"him and avani will work things out in their own time, it's so clear they're meant to be together" i calm all her worries as i now slowly stroke her back.
she replies with a content hum as her eyes now begin to shut.
"goodnight nick" she whispers.
"goodnight. i love you" i surprise myself by saying it but she doesn't seem to mind. a small smile spreads across her lips.
"i love you too" she giggles before falling asleep.
i soon shut off my phone and follow behind her.
four am.
both amelie and i are awoken from a scream, it takes me a second to register what is happening however, amelie is straight out of bed running to the room where her best friend sleeps.
"avani!" she yells, pushing the others out of the way as we meet them in the hall.
amelie bursts through the door and we all instantly notice the problem, anthony stands there, his hands raised to show he doesn't mean harm.
"what the fuck are you doing here" chase scoffs at him, also entering the room.
amelie makes her way across the mattress and pulls avani into her chest, there's no tears yet she's shaking and so obviously scared.
"i just want to talk to ava" when anthony speaks his voice cracks, having her scared of him is ruining him.
"did your buddy josh send you here" dixie snaps back at him.
anthony scoffs, nothing but confusion written all over his face.
"i haven't even spoken to josh after what he did" he replies, his arms dropping to his side in defeat.
"why the hell were you at his house then" chase argues back, none of this making sense anymore.
"i was just grabbing stuff i left there, i did used to live there" anthony defends himself before continuing, "please can i just talk to her" he pleads.
"do you really expect us to trust you" amelie scoffs at him, avani still clings to her, clearly still in shock.
"we'll make you a deal" chase blurts out of nowhere, he is instantly met with a death stare from amelie.
"anything" anthony nods.
"tell us where charli and nessa are and you can talk to her. one of us stay in the room though" he offers, needing his girl back.
"i don't know where they are but i can help you find them, i know josh better than anyone" anthony sighs, his eyes glossy when he looks at chase.
"av what do you think" chase passes to avani because if she isn't comfortable then he isn't putting her in danger.
now that she's much calmer she nods her head in agreement.
"who's staying here?" griffin asks.
" either chase or amelie, i'll end up telling them everything anyways" avani says bluntly, she still holds an attitude against him.
"chase can stay, i couldn't fight if my life depended on it" amelie spoke, only thinking of the worst scenarios before making her way back over to me after helping avani off of the bed.
we all agree, happy with the decision before leaving, only avani, anthony and chase remain inside.