You Belong To Me (Kaylor)

52.

Lily, Behati and Cara had arrived in Europe, as expected, on that dreadful Sunday. They couldn't believe Karlie didn't show. There was a small part of them that thought maybe, just maybe, she was going to take her own flight, to have peace and quiet and not be bothered by the three of them, but they were wrong.

Nothing about this shoot felt right. It wasn't the same. There seemed to be an emptiness everywhere they went. The hair/makeup trailers for instance... Cara recalled countless times where Karlie would sit there and be all lovey dovey face timing Taylor. Cara would sit there making gagging sounds, to try and distract the green eyed beauty but it never seemed to work. Karlie would just swing one of her insanely long arms around and swat Cara and then go back to the conversation, like nothing happened. Karlie was captivated by Taylor, she looked at her as if she was the only person in the world who mattered.

Cara remembered when she was with Michelle and how she had always tried so hard, to give her whatever she wanted, even if it meant her losing herself in the process. Michelle would constantly threaten to leave if she didn't get what she wanted and somehow Cara thought this was love. She thought this was how people really acted when they were in a relationship. She thought you're supposed to conform yourself to what your partner wants, in order to make it work. But she was wrong, so wrong, and she didn't realize that until she saw Karlie and Taylor interact with one another. Their relationship made her realize that she was more than just a piece of ass for some girl who really didn't love her. Their relationship taught her about being supportive of each other and being each other's best friend first, before anything else. Their relationship meant everything to the two girls. There was such an unconditional love between the two and anyone who met them could see it.

Lily thought back to the dinners they would all share and how Karlie would just light up when Taylor walked into the room, even if she was just returning from the ladies room. It didn't matter. Karlie hated to be away from her. The models all picked on her so much, but she didn't care. That was the love of her life and she was proud to show her singer off and let the whole world know how much she loved her. There was no shame or embarrassment.

Behati reminisced about how she was going to miss her goofy laugh the most especially when something was really funny to her. She'd sit there in the middle of a shoot and make a funny face as the photographer was readjusting his lens. It would cause all of the girls to break concentration and just start cracking up. The photographer would yell at Karlie but in the end, he too would just join in and they'd all just laugh. She didn't do it to ruin the shoot or piss anyone off. She did it on those late night shoots were you're so tired that you become borderline delusional. It was just a funny way to waken the tired models long enough to finish. That's who Karlie was, just always trying to put a smile on everyone's face.

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Back in the states, panic overcame Taylor. She had had to make a phone call that she dreaded more than anything. She had to call Karlie's mom and tell her what happened. It was the hardest conversation she ever had. Tracy lost it. She yelled at the singer, telling her that she promised to take care of her daughter and now she's missing and no one knows where she is or what state of mind she was in. Tracy screamed WHY over and over again, through tears but there was no answer that Taylor could give that would ease her mind. The singer just repeated 'I'm sorry' over and over again. She made another promise to Tracy, silently, it was to find her daughter.

Because a full 24 hours hadn't passed yet, the police would not list Karlie as a missing person.

Andrea and Scott were on their way to NY, as was Taylor. She had cancelled the studio time with her band, which they completely understood. They even offered to help do whatever they could to find Karlie.
The flight back to NY was a long one. Taylor played the last six months in her head over and over. She had no idea where Karlie would have gone. Time felt as if it stood still. This was overwhelming and just didn't feel real. Would Karlie hurt herself? Taylor didn't think so, but now she wasn't so sure.