Luke sat in his hotel room in LA wondering what the hëll he was doing with his life.

He hadn't returned to Detroit, the place he had resided after the accident, because he knew the longer he stayed in the cold, the longer his heart would stay the same way. Los Angeles held plenty of memories - though it was the location of his deepest grief, it was also the home of his fondest recollections. Luke deliberated that the best way to move on was to soak himself in new experiences that could take the place of old ones.

The only complication being that he had no idea how to start.

His phone flopped around in his hands, and he debated whether or not he should call Calum again. He hadn't left LA either, but unlike Luke, his reason was still unknown. Perhaps Luke just needed some more time for himself - when he'd gotten the call from Mr. Hanson, he knew it would be tough to pick himself up after everything that transpired, but it was for the best. The faster they dealt with the legal issues, the faster they could untie themselves from the accident that acted as an anchor dragging them to the pits of despair.

Sighing, he let the annoying thoughts in his mind dissolve, and he dialed Calum's number.

He folded his lips in, the coldness of his lip ring sending a shock through his skin. His foot tapped anxiously as he waited for his friend to pick up, and his eyes darted around, silently pleading to hear his low voice through he receiver.

"Hello? Luke?"

He breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that he had actually picked up. "Yeah, it's me."

Silence engulfed the line for a few moments before Calum cleared his throat. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go explore downtown together, you know, like we used to." He bit his lip, realizing how nervous he got talking to his friend now, compared to before.

Calum replied with silence, which only made Luke more uneasy.

"I mean you don't have t - "

"No, I'll go." Calum interrupted. "I'll meet you at your hotel room."

He hung up swiftly, leaving Luke to sit there and wonder why it was so difficult to talk to him like before.

☮ ☮ ☮

Isla stared at her reflection and fought the urge to scream.

Her once dirt-colored hair was now replaced with a more bronze/golden look, the tips dyed with a bit of blonde and had a nice beach wave. She looked up to her eyebrows, which had been plucked to perfection, and then back down to her hair, which she realized was also much, much longer. It used to stop right below her shoulders, but now it reached just above her bellybutton.

Her eyes looked different too; the plain brown eyes she used to have were somehow brought to a more hazel shade. She figured it must be the eyeshadow and the eyeliner that made her look as she did.

"I- I thought you just brought me here to get a haircut! Not a full-on makeover." Isla stammered, still stunned by the person in the mirror who stared right back.

"Well," Kylie began, "I think you should thank us because dämn, you look good."

"Plus, you didn't say anything when the stylist told you to close your eyes to do your makeup." Zack piped in.

Isla rolled her eyes at her friends. She supposed she did look better, but what was the point? She was still the same old boring person inside - nothing would be able to change that.

They all sat out on a bench outside the salon, where Kylie had forced Isla not to look at her reflection until now. She found it odd at the time, but she didn't do much about it, taking in the fact that Kylie wouldn't give her a choice. When she had informed her in the car that she would be undergoing some sort of change, she brushed it off as a joke. Especially after they had wasted the whole day away until now, when it was nearing eight pm, she had never expected her friends to put something like this together.

"I would totally bang you." Zack spoke up, causing Isla's eyes to go wide and her jaw to drop.

"Shut up." She gasped and shoved him. He was a classic flirt, but never had he shown any interest in Isla's appearance - until now.

"Zack's right, I would totally bang you, too." Kylie smirked, then laughed at her own joke.

"You guys," Isla whined. "Why did you even do this to me?" Secretly, she was ecstatic at the fact that she actually looked decent for once, but also she was a bit taken back at the fact that her friends thought she didn't normally look good.

"Obviously so we can go party!" Kylie squealed, and turned to Zack and gave him a high five.

Isla's eyes went wide, she had spent her whole life trying to avoid the classic house parties that her friends adored. After all, she would much rather sit at home and read or watch Netflix. Then her eyes drooped slightly, a sad smile taking over. "But everyone hates me."

"And that's why we brought you here for a makeover, duh. My sister has these cool colored contacts that you can borrow to complete the look. No one will know it's you!" Kylie said excitedly, Zack just shaking his head in amusement.

Isla narrowed her eyes, when had she planned all of this out? "I don't know, Ky. What if people still recognize me?"

Zack answered before Kylie could, "Just tell the suspicious people to fück off, simple." He shrugged his shoulders as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "No one's gonna want to mess with someone 100 times hotter than they are." He wiggled his eyebrows furiously, causing Isla's weary look to tug upwards in a smile.

"What he said." Kylie agreed, nodding her head. When Isla didn't respond, she clapped her hands together and smiled gleefully. "Let's do this!"

✧ ✧ ✧

Calum leaned up against the wall of the store, crossing his arms, an unamused expression cast upon his features. He averted his gaze from his lanky friend, embarrassed that he was even here.

Luke completely unacknowledged Calum's obvious distaste as he marveled at the stuffed animals in the store. His steps went by quickly, as he was searching for something. A black and white object from the opposite side of the shop caught his attention and he immediately made a beeline towards it.

His eyes grew wide with adoration as he snatched the stuffed penguin from its place on the shelf and brought it I'm front of him, taking its wings (?) in his hands, waving them as if the inanimate object was alive. "Hi, Calum!" he squeaked, speaking for the penguin.

Calum immediately looked away from his friend who was acting ridiculous. Blood rushed to his cheeks as he hesitantly turned back around, making eye contact with the Luke, who now stood just a few feet away.

"C'mon, say hi back." Luke urged, still masterfully puppeteering.

"What the heck are you doing?" Calum groaned, placing his head in his hands. He honestly feared for his friends mental health at times.

"I lost my stuffed penguin a while back, and this one looks exactly like it!" Luke said excitedly, burying his hands into the soft material of the penguin.

"Dude, are you serious?" Calum raised his eyebrows, his eyes darting back and forth to make sure no one he knew would see them in six-and-up store.

"Can I buy it, please?" Luke dragged out, his lips turned downwards in a pout.

Calm shrugged, "Whatever you want, mate. Just don't lug it around so the whole world can see."

"Yes!" Luke pumped his fist discreetly then sauntered off to the checkout counter.

Calum sighed and rolled his eyes, accidentally making eye contact with a mom and her toddler from across the room. She just raised her eyebrow with an amused expression; he fought the urge to flip her off.

Luke came back with a huge plastic bag swinging in his hands a few minutes later, a full on smile taking over his features. "Where do you wanna go next?"

Calum licked his lips before turning his annoyed expression into a smirk. "I think after all of this," he gestured to the childish store, "you owe me a party."

♧ ♧ ♧

Isla cautiously walked in, not fully knowing exactly what she was doing. Kylie and Zack walked ahead of her, elation evident in both of their stances. They looked as if they belonged in this club, and Isla looked like she would rather be anywhere else.

She blinked her eyes furiously, trying to get used to both the dim lighting and her new contacts, which made her eyes a stunning green instead of her original brown. It was easily discernible - the way she looked now was completely different than what she normally saw in the mirror.

An array of lights flashed around, darting back and forth and only momentarily resting on the crowd of people dancing below. It was too dark for her to easily distinguish one person from another, so she quickly followed behind her friends, not wanting to get separated.

Kylie turned around, her gorgeous blonde curls bounced perfectly against her collarbone. She could still make out her best friends dazzling blue eyes, and she was once again overwhelmed with a feeling of insecurity. "Is, let's go get something to drink so you can loosen up a bit." She shimmied a little, then let out a small giggle.

"Okay," she spoke up louder, not wanting to get buried in the midst of everyone else. "Where's Zack?" She asked, not being able to spot his figure.

Kylie shrugged it off like it was no big deal - which it probably wasn't, Isla was just being paranoid. "He's probably off to hit on some poor girl."

Isla didn't respond; she knew that her friends liked to party, but never had she actually experienced it with them. They seemed like entirely different people. It felt as if the dark atmosphere and blaring music sent a thrill through her friends veins, replacing their normal tranquility into a wild party scene.

Kylie grabbed Isla's wrist, pulling her to the bar, one of the only places where there was a substantial amount of light. She could feel her skin-tight black dress rub uncomfortably against her body, making her want to just strip it off right there and then. She fought off the urge.

Kylie ordered something unfamiliar but relatively tropical sounding, flashing her fake ID at the bartender. "How is it so far?" Kylie asked, her bright smile making Isla feel bad that she wasn't exactly having the fun Kylie wanted her to.

"It's great!" She lied, "I think this will be good for me." Isla sent off her best fake smile, which fooled Kylie as it did usually.

"I knew it would." She grabbed the drinks that the bartender had slid over and handed a cup of the pink liquid to Isla.

She had tried beer before, but thought it was disgusting. This drink looked slightly more pleasant, but when she lifted the cup to her mouth, the stench of alcohol caused her to wince. However, not wanting her friend to worry about her, she downed it in one gulp, the alcohol burning down her throat and all the way to her stomach.

"Whoa, take it easy, girl." Kylie chuckled, but leaned over to order another one. "Don't want you forgetting this monumental period of your life." She winked, and took a tiny sip of her own.

"Ky, there's a guy behind you who keeps staring at your butt." Isla giggled, already feeling the affects of the alcohol in her system.

Kylie turned around slowly, not wanting to make it too obvious. She turned back, and her eyes went wide with glee. "Oh my God, Isla, he's hot." She squealed then immediately calmed herself, already knowing what was confirm next.

"Hey," the guy said from behind her. "Wanna go dance?" He smirked, holding his hand out as an invitation.

Kylie put on her master flirtatious smile and gracefully placed her slender hand into his. "Why not?" Without looking back at Isla, she strutted off, the attractive stranger leading her into the jumble of people.

Isla sighed and leaned against the wall, her second drink in her hand. She needed to loosen up. Sulking in her own misery would only get so far, and her friends cared enough about her to try and that was enough for Isla to take one last gulp of her drink, building up the courage liquor gave her.

The thought of how lucky she was to even have friends caused her to move her legs to the beat, and join the cluster of people dancing. She spotted a fairly attractive guy off to the side standing alone, and decided to go talk to him.

She sucked in a deep breath and pulled up her best sexy smirk, slowly approaching the stranger. He made eye contact with her from a few feet away and smiled politely back.

"Did your friends drag you here or something?" That was the first thing she asked, taking in the strangers dark brown hair and beautiful blue eyes.

He chucked softly, "Actually, yes. I would much rather be at home watching Netflix, honestly."

"That's actually what I was thinking when my friends dragged me here." She replied, already taking a liking to this guy.

"Great minds think alike." He smirked, "What's your name, beautiful?"

And there came the flirting that Isla was so hopelessly horrible at. She felt her heart flutter at his kind words, but realized he probably didn't mean it. "Isla. And you?"

"Jake." He replied, the smirk still glued to his face. "Wanna go dance?"

She suppressed her automatic response to gasp and run away, and grinned instead. "Of course."

He stuck out his hand like a true gentleman, and she took it as they walked back into the crowd.

It was then that she could feel herself get dizzy and a bit lightheaded, and became aware that the alcohol was finally kicking in. She had a low tolerance for that stuff. Trying to shake off the feeling, she felt her body to start moving by itself, her rational mind getting buried underneath her wild one.

In a moment of bravery, she pressed herself up against him, batting her eyelashes at him, causing his face to flush. But he immediately grabbed her waist and brought it closer to him, grinding up against her.

If her mind was clear, she would've immediately run in disgust.

Instead, she tiptoed so that her lips could reach the side of his face and onto his jaw. She peppered small kisses up and down, causing Jake to moan out softly. Her mind was completely disconnected from her actions at this point.

Slowly making her way to his lips, she was stopped abruptly by a loud crash. Isla hastily pulled away from a flustered Jake and turned her head towards the perpetrator of the sound.

"Everybody get out!" Someone screamed. "The cops are here!"

Soon the place was overwhelmed with a few high pitched screams and a stampede of wasted young adults fled towards the exit. From behind her, she could feel Jake run in the opposite direction.

She stood stark still, wondering how the hëll she had even got here in the first place. Her dazed mind not being able to comprehend what was taking place right in front of her. The entrance where she had come in from was soon burst open, middle-aged men in blue uniforms running through.

Then, Isla felt a strong grip on her arm pulling her away from the scene. She gasped at the rough contact but didn't complain. Struggling to not stumble over her own feet, her high heels clacked on the ground as she cursed softly underneath her breath. Her eyes darted forward to the dark figure who was pulling her away.

"Come on." He said urgently, to which Isla obeyed, not thinking much of it.

He weaved his way around the still half-full club, and grabbed the knob of a closed door on the side. It opened, to his luck, and he pulled both of them in. He shut the door immediately after Isla tripped inside.

It was dark, cramped, and quiet - the only sound being the heavy breaths of the two.

Isla came to the conclusion that she had indeed just been a part of a club that was about to be shut down by the police, and some male stranger had pulled her into a supply closet to hide. "Thank you," she breathed, her voice slightly elevated due to the stress she had just been exposed to. "for helping me. I didn't expect the cops to be here at all."

The stranger let go of her arm, "Some idiots decided it would be smart to bring in a shït ton of pot." he scoffed, "and I couldn't exactly leave you there, you were standing there like some statue."

Isla opened her mouth to reply, but realization dawned upon her. The arrogant and annoyed voice was too familiar for her to forget.

It belonged to Calum Hood.

❃ ❃ ❃

ok before yall say, "omgz y doesn't calum recognize Isla's voice tho ???1?!?" lemme tell u something

Isla has rarely said a word in front of he boys, let alone just Calum, so he's not exactly familiar with it. also she looks completely different and so even if was a bit suspicious her appearance would just throw him off. also she's kind of drunk so her voice is a bit higher.

also I imagine the new & improved Isla as long haired Natalie bacon

so yeah peace out