After school, Cole and James texted me that they wouldn't be able to come to my brothers' home. I was slightly annoyed that they'd ditched me, but I understood that they had urgent gang business to attend to.

I walked to the mansion, using the address Mia texted me- even though I didn't need it.

Gathering up my resolve, I walked up to the oak door and rapped sharply on it, digging my fingernails into my palms and reviewing my back story. The door opened and I was greeted by my oldest brother- Elijah.

"Hi you must be Caroline," he smiled, though he looked quite haggard, "I'm Elijah."

"Hi," I whispered.

"Come in," Elijah held the door open, "the others are in the living room. First door on your right."

I entered and waved. My friends were sitting on the floor, talking while some movie played in the background.

"Hi Caroline!" Jay smiled.

"Call me Carrie," I shrugged, "or whatever nickname you want to come up with."

"Okay," Jay responded. Nervously, I sat next to the group on the floor, smiling faintly as a wave of nostalgia washed over me. We talked and laughed until we heard the front door slam.

"Hey who's this?" My eyes widened and I felt like crying.

"Hi I'm Caroline," I turned and faced Alex.

"I'm Alex," he smiled and looked at the others, "come on, Lisa and David are calling us for dinner."

"I have to go," I said suddenly. I was totally unprepared to see my entire family.

"Stay for dinner at least," Jax said.

"I-" I started to say and sighed, knowing I wasn't getting out of this one, "okay."

X

It's been ten minutes and everything seems to be going smoothly. I was surprisingly calm seeing Mom and Dad again. Maybe I am a calm person or I'm panicking so much my brain's shut down. I think it's the latter.

"So, Caroline," Lisa looked at me, "where are you from?"

"Well, my parents were travellers," I explained, taking a bite of my pasta, "so I travelled around a bit. I was born here and was living in Paris with friends until about a week ago."

"Wow that's pretty cool," Will said.

I shrugged, "it's okay I guess... I mean, I miss my family a lot." Snickers I've said too much.

"Oh?" Daimen raised an eyebrow, "do you have any siblings?"

I gripped my fork tighter, "yeah I have older brothers. I haven't seen my family in a while now."

"Why?" Dad asked bluntly.

I rested my fork on my plate and studied the cup in front of me intently, "our Mom made some questionable choices which resulted in me and my brothers being separated," I fidgeted uncomfortably and held back the tears threatening to fall.

"This food is delicious, Mom!" God bless Oscar's soul. Everyone continued this line of conversation, leaving the conversation of my past alone.

When I deemed it safe, I looked up and was surprised to find Alex looking at me. I smiled, slightly confused, and his frown deepened.

Someone knocked on the front door and Mom went to get it.

"Harry?" I heard her ask and I froze.

"Mrs. West-Brown," Harry's voice sounded surprisingly urgent, "I need to tell you and the others something. May I come in?"

"Of course," I heard footsteps coming closer and I started panicking.

"Hey Harry," Daimen cocked his head to the side, "what's wrong?"

"It's Iris. I think she's alive."

He was met with dead silence.

"What?" Alex asked hoarsely.

"Harry, if you're joking I will not hesitate to shoot you," Mom said, gripping her cutlery tightly.

Harry shook his head vehemently, "I'm sure it was her! In Paris, there was a girl called Rose- Iris' code name- and she called me 'Styles'... no one apart from you guys and people in my gang know that!"

"Are you sure?" Jay asked, "I mean, it could be an imposter? Or a random person who's a fan of one direction?"

Throughout the entire exchange, I was watching Caroline closely. She seemed nervous- although she tried hard to hide it- and kept playing with her fingers and absentmindedly tucking a lock of her hair behind her ears- like Iris used to do.

Don't get your hopes up, I chastised.

"Wait," I looked up at Harry, "did you say you saw Iris in Paris? Where and when?"

"At a party last week," came the reply.

My eyes widened a fraction. Didn't Caroline say she was living Paris until last week? No... it could be a coincidence. But what if it's not?

"Um I can see I'm interrupting something that I'm not supposed to be privy to," Caroline said hesitantly, "so I'm gonna go."

"Wait, one of us will drop you off-" Jay started.

"No!" Caroline exclaimed too quickly, "I mean, I'll be fine. See you guys later." She was gone quicker than we could blink. Before she left, we heard her call, "thank you for having me!"

"That was weird," Elizabeth frowned.

"Yeah, did you notice how nervous she seemed throughout the dinner?" Jax asked.

"Almost like she was afraid of something..." Aiden trailed off uncertainly.

"Well, we're all entitled to our own secrets," Mia said, "it's none of our business."

I badly wanted to tell them of my suspicions, but I was afraid of raising their hopes if I'm wrong.

We cleared out plates away and- while everyone was distracted- quickly dragged Jax out of the room.

"Ow! What're you doing?" He hissed.

"I think Caroline is Iris," I saw no point in beating about the bush.

Jax froze, "what?"

"I said-"

"I heard what you said. Are you sure?" He asked.

"Pretty sure... but we can't tell the others yet in case my hunch is wrong," I replied.

Jax breathed deeply and leaned against the wall, "holy snickers... if it is her, I have a lot of questions."

"So do I," I answered dryly, "keep an eye out on her at school, would you?"

Jax nodded and we slipped inside the room, neither of us breathing a word about our revelations.