Paper Towns (A 5H Fanfic)

T w e n t y S i x

Day 3: The Mystery Solved

Lauren sat by herself outside the venue. Ironically, the same place she sat when she was called back to the stage to be put in Fifth Harmony.

"Lauren." a soft voice said from behind her. Lauren knew exactly who it was. "Hey, you found me. I was expecting a smile at least." Camila laughed nervously as she sat down next to the other girl.

"Why?" Lauren mumbled, refusing to make eye contact with Camila. "Why'd you leave?"

Camila hesitated before speaking, trying to find the right words to say. "I-I just needed a break." she managed. That wasn't the whole truth but it was good enough for now.

"That's bullshit Cam." Lauren shot. "Just be honest with me."

"Fine." Camila replied. It came out harsh but she didn't really care. "I've always loved the idea of running away and when all this hate pilled up on me, I took it as an opportunity to fulfill my dream of running away. You told me, how there's no point in running away and telling someone so I didn't." Camila explained. "Well not directly told anyone. I wanted you guys to know I was ok and not murdered by a guy with an ax."

"So why send us on a road trip full of ridiculous tasks to do?" Lauren asked, finally making eye contact.

Camila's eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. "You guys did all the things?" she looked like an excited five year old.

"Yes Camila. We did this all for you and now you're acting like you don't even want to go back to reality."

"Well I don't." the younger girl agreed. "But Neverland doesn't exist and reality sucks but I can't do anything about that. I could stay here, I'd probably die because it's lonely and kinda creepy at night but I'd be ok." she looked over at Lauren who looked at her with such heartbreak. "But the thing is, I'd be just ok out here by myself but I'd be super happy back in reality. My reality is shit sometimes but I live a life that's the closest thing I can get to real Neverland. Touring, performing, traveling, it's all a fairytale."

"It's real life though not a fairytale." Lauren added.

"Yeah but who says real life can't be a fairytale? My real life is for the most part. It's too good to be true."

Lauren looked up and saw the other girls walking out over to them. "So why'd you leave it then?" she asked Camila.

The three other girls walked and sat down next to the two.

"Fairytales are full of adventure and I needed one really badly. Also, I needed to get away from the real world for a bit. And you guys needed some bonding time." Camila explained.

Bonding time? Dinah's eyebrows raised. "We needed bonding time?" she questioned.

"Yeah. None of us have done anything as a group just for fun in a long time. So all those stops I made you guys take was for you to bond. Get back to the friendship that used to be full of never leaving each others sides and never wanting to." Camila shrugged. "We've all grown distant from each other. This was a way I could practically force some bonding time and at the same time get some alone time for myself."

No one replied. No one knew what to say. The plan the whole time was just to send the girls on an adventure to bond them. Sure, they did some crazy things over the corse of the past few days. They had heart to hearts while watching the sunrise, they yelled at each other, they ran into a homeless man in a rest stop, went to a baseball game, rode a rollercoaster, broke into a venue, Lauren nearly got herself killed like fifteen times in three days. They hadn't felt this close since they were fresh off X Factor.

"But you weren't part of any of the bonding experiences." Ally said.

"But I was." Camila raised her eyebrows up and down. "You guys did all these things with me in mind. You probably read your notes and thought about the last thing you said to me, the last impression you made on me, the way our friendship was at that moment. I was the reason you went on this road trip so technically I was part of the experiences." she looked at each girl who looked genuinely shocked that she thought this all so far out. "Plus, I knew Dinah and Ally would Snapchat this whole trip so I got to see it all unfold."

Lauren was quiet for a short bit trying to comprehend this whole thing. Camila thought out everything. How long had she been planning this? She was in the bunk right across from Lauren and she had no idea this whole time.

"Ok so now what? Are you going to come back with us? We have opening night of tour tomorrow." Normani asked.

Camila shrugged. "You guys came all this way for me. I didn't think you'd actually do it." the girls knew what that meant, she wasn't coming back with them.

It was like getting so close to the finish line of a marathon but suddenly not being able to complete the final stretch. Or printing a paper and right as the paper is about to be done printing, the printer jams. They had Camila with them, but she wasn't coming back with them.

"So you wasted our time basically." Lauren shot, she stood up but was stopped by Camila's hand pulling on her wrist.

"No I'm going back with you guys." her eyes locked, on Lauren who eventually looked down and met the brown eyes. "You all went out of your way for me. It would be rude if I didn't."

"In the book things turn out so different than how they're turning out for us." Normani laughed.

Camila's eyes widened at Normani. "Oh my god did you read a book?"

Normani put on a fake smile. "Ha ha, funny."

"Seriously, who is she and what did you guys do with Normani?" Camila jokingly asked the other girls. Despite being slightly mad, Lauren still laughed as she usually does and this time so did Ally. "You laughed at my joke!" Camila exclaimed, pulling Ally in for a hug.

"Oh Mila." Ally smiled. "Don't get used to it."

Camila pulled back from the hug and narrowed her eyes at the other girl. Ally pulled Camila into another hug.

"I'm kidding. I love you." Ally laughed.

The tension slowly lifted and the girls sat and talked for another half hour until they realized it was about three and they needed to hit to road to get back to New York in time. Ally drove, Dinah sat in the passenger seat, Dinah sat behind the drivers seat, Camila in the middle and Lauren behind the passenger seat.

It was reliving to get back on the road and know they weren't on the hunt for someone. They had everyone together finally.