#so whenever they skip a meal i threaten to bring out the drinking games

[wholesome-love-always]

One of these days I want to gather my friends who also have eating disorders and just play a bunch of drinking games, but instead of drinking, we have some healthy food we need to take a bite of every time we'd typically drink.

[brookylnboy]

Loss: Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Requested: Yes

Prompt: Tom Hiddleston x reader. Tom helps her after the death of her mother. 

Your world go turned upside down when you go the call that your mom passed away. You weren’t quite sure how to cope. Your older brother was getting everything prepared asking you questions here and there but overall taking over, which you were thankful for. 

You spent the first two days in bed. It was all a blur to you as you had Friends playing in the background to maybe cheer you up enough to get out of bed and eat. You did eat just not as much as you should. You also didn’t sleep enough. 

On the third day, your boyfriend returned home. Tom would have been there two days ago if he could, but since he was away filming, the flights didn’t work out and he got stuck waiting. He was worried as you ignored a few of his texts and responded at weird intervals. He needed to know that you were taking care of yourself. 

You were fast asleep on the couch when he came home. Tom scooped you up and carried you to bed. You woke up as he set you back on the bed, immediately bursting into tears as you tried to talk.

“It’s okay darling.” Tom pulled you onto his lap as he brushed a hand through your hair. The two of you stayed like that for some time. You felt better the longer you cried and with Tom there it didn’t seem as unbearable. A part of you knew that you mom would want you to be happy and take care of yourself. But the other part of you just couldn’t. 

And all of you was upset she didn’t have more time. “It’s not fair.”

“It never is.”

“She’ll never be there when I get married or meet her grandkids,” you stopped yourself there. You couldn’t dwell anymore on the nevers without breaking into tears. 

“I’m so sorry darling.” You nodded not sure what else to do. Tom just held you tight until it was creeping past dinner time. He cooked some chicken alfredo bringing you a huge plate of it. 

“Remember when I first met her,” Tom asked quietly. You nodded your head as you forced yourself to eat more since it was your first real meal in a while. “I was so nervous but as soon as we got to her house she pulled me in a big hug. I finally felt calm until she threatened to hurt me if you were ever unhappy. She might be little but she can be scary.”

You gently smiled a soft laugh coming out of your mouth unexpectedly. “She was a mama bear.” Tom offered you a smile.

“You’ll be just like her one day.”

You and Tom went to your hometown two days later for the funeral. You stood with your brother and sister to talk to everyone that showed up. Your brother’s wife, Tom, and your sister’s fiance sat in the front row talking to your aunt and uncle. 

You got to talk to your ‘aunt’ (your mom’s best friend), who managed to make everyone smile a feat accomplished by no one else. 

It was a nice ceremony something that your mom would have wanted. Nothing too melancholy. She always wanted her life to be celebrated, which should have been happy. 

Tom kept his arm around you the whole time squeezing you whenever needed and handing you a tissue whenever needed.

After the funeral, your siblings, you, and your significant others all went to your childhood home one last time together.

“I’m going to miss this place,” your sister said as you opened the door.

“I’m going to miss a lot,” you whispered as you stepped in. It’s been a little while since you were last home. 

Everyone moved around the house. You headed to the kitchen to get some food together, Tom just behind you. 

“She would have wanted us to play.” You looked to see your brother holding up Monopoly. 

Smiling softly, “she would.”

So everyone sat around the game table, snacks and drinks spread around, as you played sharing memories back and forth. 

“Remember that time we got lost,” your sister mentioned. 

“Which time,” your brother asked as he moved his piece forward. You leaned into Tom who squeezed onto the seat next to you.

“When we were on our way to the beach. She didn’t want to head towards (enter state name) so she went the wrong way on the highway.”

You chuckled a few tears springing to your eyes. “She never was good at directions.” You could feel Tom rub your arm gently. “Remember that time when she let all of us skip school to stay home and play Monopoly.”

“Yeah. We didn’t finish the night before and we begged her to let us stay home and finish it,” your brother chimed in.

“We ordered pizza and breadsticks for lunch and didn’t finish the game for another four hours. It was by far the longest game.”

“We were all so mad when we lost,” your sister added. You chuckled letting a few of the tears fall. 

“I remember the first time all of us came over for a game day,” your sister in law said. The game was quickly getting forgotten. “I knew what I was getting into but neither of you did.” She pointed at Tom and your sister’s fiance. “And Y/N got out Monopoly and I thought oh no. But the two of you fit right in yelling and arguing just like the rest of us.” 

“Is that the time we had to break out the rule book and I learned I always played wrong?” 

“I believe so,” Tom answered. 

After you finished the game, everyone slowly left giving everyone tight hugs and promised to keep in touch. “She would have loved it,” Tom commented. 

“She would have,” your sister replied. “I’m going to miss her.”

“We all are,” your sister in law, brother, and Tom said. You nodded your head. As everyone started walking out, you and your siblings stayed behind. 

“We love you mom,” all three of you said as you stared back at the house. You looked at each other before hugging and walking side by side arms wrapped around each other. You looked up to see Tom and smiled softly. 

You knew your mom was smiling down on all of you. 

[5hfanfiction]

Seasons (Camren one-shot)

trigger warning for mental and physical abuse.

the poem is not mine, i simply found it online and wrote a fic based on it.

in autumn i found a boy who asked me to cut my hair and said i love you only after sex and six shots i sipped tea and told my friends about him they said if you’re happy and knew i was not.  

(Part I: Akio)

Lauren never really liked autumn. She didn’t like the fact that summer vacation is over and she has to go back to school and deal with annoying kids, teachers and homework. She didn’t like autumn because the weather was being a little bitch and the days were getting shorter and shorter. It’s all about Halloween and pumpkins, and it was a flue season.

Lauren hated autumn. She hated it up until the first day of her junior year when Miss Peterson called her into her office and asked her to give a tour to the new boy in school, Akio.

She didn’t expect the day to go any different than all the other days she had inside of that building.

However, as soon as she stepped into the building she was called into Miss Peterson’s office, leaving her no time to greet her friends. 

“Lauren, it’s so lovely to see you.” Miss Peterson said with a tired smile on her face

“Yeah, uh, you too.” Lauren stumbled upon her words

Truth be told, she wasn’t sure why she’s even here.

“I was wondering,” Miss Peterson started “if you’d be so kind and show Akio around the school. He’s new in here, just moved from Memphis.”

Just then, the green eyed girl noticed a very attractive Asian boy sitting on the couch in the corner of the room.

“Of course Miss.” She nodded

Now, Lauren Jauregui, probably the student with the best grades in the whole school, didn’t really feel like being a tour guide to a new kid on the block. However, when the new kid looks like a freaking model, Lauren Jauregui can not say no to the offer.

As Lauren is showing him around she finds out that Akio is a senior and moved to Miami just last week. His mother had died from cancer when he was only five, leaving his father with three kids, two of them being just a year and a half old.

She doesn’t talk much, mostly explains where his classes will be and gives him tips on the teachers, who’s good and who’s bad, who you can joke around with and who doesn’t know what a joke is.

“So, that would be it. I’ve showed you the classrooms, told you about the teachers, showed you your locker. Oh, one more thing. Lunch. On Tueday we have pizza and it’s actually really good, and on Thursday rice with sea food, any other day you better bring your food. Considering you’re a senior, you’re allowed to leave the school area during lunch break, but if you don’t come back, they call your parents. 

"What about sports?” Akio questions

“For boys there’s basketball, baseball and football. However, I heard this year they will add waterpolo.”

“What about soccer?”

“Soccer?”

“You know what a soccer is, right?" 

"Of course I do.” Lauren laughs “No, we don’t have it. There’s a local soccer team around, I’m not sure where. Why don’t you put your number in my phone and I’ll text you later during the day when I find out.”

“Sounds great.” He flashes her his best smile as he takes the phone from Lauren’s hand

As the day go Lauren finds herself texting Akio a lot more for them to be just acquaintances. Most of her time she spends showing Akio around the city, showing him all the good places she’d never probably even think about going in, if it wasn’t for her. As promised, she tells him about the soccer team and comes to his try-out and then to most of his practices. 

But it’s not like the friendship is one-sided because every Monday and Wednesday she finds him on the bleachers cheering up for her during her softball practices.

Eventually, Akio becomes a bit more popular than she expected him to be and Lauren gets insecure about their friendship being over now that he’s a part of the popular crowd.

He makes sure to show her there’s no need to be insecure and still spends ever Monday evening at her place as they watch movies with her siblings and friends. Something that’s been going on since her freshman year.

Somewhere between staying up until two in the morning to text Akio and smiling at his stupid jokes, Lauren falls herself falling for him.

She’s not surprised when one Wednesday after her practice she finds him leaning on the fence, but she is surprised when she sees him holding a bouquet of flowers.

“What’s this? Going on a date?” She tries to joke

“Depends, will you join me?”

For a moment or two, Lauren’s sure she’s dreaming, she even pinches herself, causing Akio to let out a softly laugh.

“Wait, what?”

“Will you go out on a date with me? I really like you Lauren and if I’m not wrong I think you like me too.”

“You’re not wrong.” Lauren mumbles, her cheeks blushing.

“So, it’s a date?” Akio asks hopefully

“It’s a date.”

And a date it was. That weekend, he took her out to her favorite hole in the wall, paid for their meal and for all rounds of pool and air hockey they played. And by doing that, earned himself a good night kiss.

Naturally, their friendship transformed from a very good friendship to a relationship. The one that left Lauren a blushing mess whenever she spoke about it. Akio was a catch, everyone knew that.

But then Friday nights started to become parties after a game and Akio would either drink to celebrate the win or drink because they lost the game. At first Lauren didn’t mind. There’s nothing new about teenagers drinking on weekends, she even did it herself on a few occasions.

The first time she heard him saying those three words was exactly on one of those parties, right after they finished yet another round of taking Vodka shots, or perhaps it was Tequila, Lauren wasn’t sure, she didn’t try it.

Her heart skipped a beat as the words left his mouth.

She wanted to tell him she loves him too but his breath smelled like alcohol and his eyes were red.

“You’re drunk Akio.” She said

“Perhaps, but I do love you.”

The second time he said it was right after their first time together. It happened spontaneously while they were babysitting his siblings one night. The kids went to sleep and Akio and Lauren decided to watch a movie and cuddle in his room. 

Cuddling turned into kissing, kissing turned into heated make-out session which turned into sex.

He was gentle, and caring and the three words slipped his mouth as he watched Lauren going down on him.

And that’s mostly how it went, he’d never really say it when he was sober of alcohol or adrenaline.

“You’d look hot with a short hair.” He said one day as they sat on the beach

“You think so?”

He hummed in confirm and pulled out his phone. Lauren saw him liking another girl’s instagram post and told herself it’s nothing.

It wasn’t nothing though, she caught him liking more and more pictures of other girls, looking at them as they passed by, checking them out, even smiling and waving at them.

So, she cut her hair.

“Fuck, you’re so hot.” He said as she stepped into his room

He was half naked and sweaty from his work-out and when he invited Lauren to join him for a shower, she didn’t say no. Although, she just took a shower before coming to his place.

The three words echoed through his tiny bathroom as he pumped into Lauren, slowly at firs tbut then harder and faster.

Ally was the first one to notice the change in Lauren, to notice the darkness in her usually bright green eyes.

Although the two girls barely saw each other, considering Ally left for college, they still managed to stay close. Lauren told her a lot about Akio.

“As long as you’re happy.” Ally sad with a sad smile on her face one Saturday afternoon as she took a sip of her chamomile tea

Lauren added some sugar into her cup and mixed her strawberry-vanilla tea with a tea spoon before speaking.

“I am.”

And they both knew that she’s lying.

 in winter i kissed a girl who tasted like cigarettes and said  “i love you” all the time but hurt herself whenever i made mistakes  she threatened to kill herself if i ever left my friends watched my wash my hands  and did not tell me to test that  

(Part II: Naomi)

Somewhere between November and December Lauren’s relationship status changed from in a relationship to single. Not the one on her Facebook profile, that one will probably be single even when Lauren is happily married with the third kid on the way, she wasn’t even sure if she still knows the password.

Akio was a stranger to her by now, quite literally. The sweet boy she met at the first day of school year and the boy who by now ruled the high school was not the same person. Sure, he looked the same and had the same name but everything else about him was different. The way his smile never quite reached his eyes anymore, or how his sweet innocent laugh turned into the evil one, even the tone of his voice was sharper and deeper, cruel even.

At the end of December, when Akio was almost forgotten, Lauren got invited to Lucy’s New Year’s Eve party.

To be invited to Lucy Vives’ party you have to leave a an impression on her. Lauren did that in her fifth grade when she spilled her dirty water all over Lucy’s canvas and apologized so many times with so many candies that on the fifth day after it happened Lucy told her for the last time it’s not a big deal(although it kind of was) and that if she says she’s sorry one more time, they’re not friends.

So, Lauren didn’t apologize for it again, and they became friends. Best friends, Lauren would dare to say.

Now, Lauren and Alexa were standing in front of Vives household and patiently waited for someone to open the door for them.

When the door finally opened, Lauren gasped. In front of her, in a long black dress was dark skinned version of Greek goddess Aphrodite herself.

“Hello,” she flashed them a smile, her eyes lingering on Lauren a bit more “I’m Naomi.”

“Alexa, and Lauren.” Alexa introduced herself and Lauren and walked into the house

“Where’s Luce?”

“In the kitchen, preparing drinks. Some cocktails I think. How do you know her?”

“We shared an art class in fifth grade. What about you?”

Naomi lets out a chuckle. “Kinda the same. We take art classes together.”

“Oh the ones she takes every Thursday?”

“Mhm. So, do you like art?”

“I drew half the pictures that are hanging on Lucy’s walls.” Lauren shrugs

“So, you’re the famous LMJ. Perhaps you should join our art class.”

“I don’t know. I’m not that good. Like, Lucy’s work–”

“Just because Lucy’s work is good, doesn’t mean yours isn’t. What are you doing ever Thursday afternoon?”

Lauren thought for a second about her question. Ever since her break-up with Akio, Lauren spent her Thursdays doing everything and nothing, unlike when she was in a relationship and spent her Thursdays afternoons watching her now ex-boyfriend playing soccer.

“Nothing.” She replied eventually.

“Perfect, I’ll tell Lucy to pick you up before class.”

And with that, Naomi turned around and disappeared into the crowded room.

The next time Lauren caught a glimpse of her was when she was just in the middle of her rant about weed being a good thing.

“I agree.” A voice behind her said and sent shivers all over her body

“You’re a stoner.” One of the girls next to Lauren laughed

“I barely smoke weed.” Naomi defended herself “But it is healthy, if you don’t abuse the taking.”

“Thanks for backing me up.” Lauren offered a smile “I owe you one.”

“I’ll be sure to think of something I want then.” The dark skinned girl smirked

“I’ll be waiting.” Lauren winked

Lauren’s playing with fire. She knew that to Noami it could be just a game, and perhaps it should be just a game to her too. However, when midnight came and she felt Naomi’s lips on her own and Naomi’s arms wrapped around her neck, she knew that this is the game she wants to play.

Naomi tasted like cigarettes which wasn’t a surprise because the whole night she had been lighting up one after another, her pack of Camel cigarettes gone in less than three hours.

But Lauren liked the way she kissed her, and decided that tasting a bit of cigarettes is worth it if it means getting a kiss from Naomi.

Lauren becomes regular visitor in Lucy’s art class, and she finds herself making out with Naomi on more occasions. Like, whenever they had some free time.

Naomi’s an artist, Lauren knew that. What she didn’t know is that when there’s no canvas and brushes around, Naomi turns her body into canvas and the razors she keeps under her mattress into brushes. 

The first time Lauren sees it, they’re in Naomi’s room and she’s wearing only shorts and a crop top. 

She’s sitting on top of Lauren, straddling her, as her lips attack Lauren’s neck hungrily. 

Lauren’s hands are roaming all over her body and when she grabs her by her hips, Naomi lets out a whine. Lauren knows when she’s whining in pleasure and this isn’t one of those times.

“What’s wrong?" 

"Nothing.” Naomi pulls away

“Did I hurt you?”

“No–”

“Did you hurt yourself?”

And when Naomi doesn’t reply, Lauren takes it as a yes. She has read about it online, someone people do it on their wrist and some hide it all over their body.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I just wanna make out for now.”

And Lauren can’t do much but kiss her again.

They don’t talk much about it, Lauren tries to but Naomi shuts her down almost always.

Unlike Akio who would only told her he loves her after sex and six shots, Naomi makes sure to tell her almost every day. Technically, they’ve been together for almost two months and perhaps this game isn’t what Lauren though it’s gonna be.

Naomi cares, perhaps too much. She cares to the point where if Lauren does something slightly out of line, she blames herself. And when she blames herself, she decides to punish herself.

Lauren realizes it became too serious at one point and decides to talk to her about it. She’s not sure what to say, but she needs to say something.

She takes a deep breath as she walks into Naomi’s room.

It’s like Naomi knows because as soon Lauren opens her mouth and not a word comes out, Naomi is a crying mess.

She’s screaming and crying and Lauren is pretty sure that the dark skinned girl is shaking.

“You can’t leave me!”

“I’m not leaving you, I just–”

“If you leave me, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. If I don’t have you, my life isn’t worth living. I’m gonna kill myself if I lose you Lauren.”

“You won’t.” Is the only thing Lauren can say before hugging her tightly

It takes minutes until Noami somewhat calms down and Lauren offers to go to the kitchen and get her some water.

When she comes back, there’s a blood stained towel on the floor next to Noami’s bed and the black skinned girl is already asleep.

Lauren’s not sure what to do, so she texts Lucy to come over.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t test it.” Lucy says as she watched Lauren washing off the now dried blood from her hands

“You’re right.”

“But also, find a way to make it less toxic.”

in spring i spent some time with a boy who told me it was his way or no way and when i challenged that, he told me “i love you and that’s why i’m doing this” my friends saw my bruises and gripped my wrists while i said“i deserve him’" 

(Part III: Rick)

The last time Lauren heard from Naomi was when the girl called her after two weeks of no-one knowing anything about her. Her parents moved to Orlando and she moved to a mental hospital. 

A part of Lauren couldn’t help but blame herself, although she knew that’s not true.It wasn’t her fault.

"You need to loosen up a bit, Lo.” Normani told her as the two of them sat in Normani’s room, doing homework

“I’m fine Mani.”

“No, you’re not. We’re going out tonight. I’m texting the girls.”

“I don’t want to.” Lauren whined

“Well, fucking deal it it. It’s April already and I’m not gonna sit here and watch you blaming yourself for someone else’s breakdown." 

Lauren only nodded, perhaps Normani was right.

Three hours later Lauren is gripping Normani’s hand as they walked into Diamonds. 

"Will you relax before you break my hand?”

“We’re underage Mani.”

“Are you really telling me you don’t have fake I.D.?”

“I bought it so I can vote.”

“And I bought mine so I can buy alcohol, and you’ll do the same with yours sister.”

“Mani.” Lauren whines

“I’ll buy you a first drink and then it’s all on you.”

“If you don’t mind,” a deep voice from behind them says “I’d like to be the one who buys her a first drink tonight.”

Lauren and Normani turn around to see a tall red-haired boy smiling at them.

“And who are you?” Normani questioned

“Rick, nice to meet you ladies.”

“I’m Normani, and the girl you’re buying a drink is Lauren.”

“Pretty name for a pretty girl.”

“If you’re gonna be that lame–”

“It was a joke.” Rick interrupts Normani’s rant and looks at Lauren “Not all of it. You really are beautiful.”

Throughout the whole night Rick stays around with Lauren and her friends and whenever he’s not looking, Normani and Dinah are smirking at them.

As the night is coming to an end, his hand find its place on Lauren’s bare legs and she feels her skin getting on fire.

Now, she’s not a one-night girl, usually. However, something about Rick makes her think unholy thoughts.

She drags him to do the dancing floor and starts sexually dancing for him, making sure he gets as turned on as she is, which is a lot by now.

And he does, his hands are gripping Lauren’s hips and pulling her closer and the smirk on his face doesn’t move away until Lauren’s lips replace it instead. 

Lauren finds herself intoxicated as she kisses him. They both taste like Whiskey-Cola, Lauren’s drink of the night.

“It’s hot in here.” Lauren whispers into his ear

“It is.” He nods but pulls Lauren closer anyway

“Perhaps we should go somewhere else.” Lauren suggests

That’s all he need to hear before dragging her back to their table so they can grab their stuff.

“Be careful, I’ll see you tomorrow, text me.” Normani mumbles into Lauren’s neck as she hugs her goodbye

“See you mama.” Lauren replies before walking away

One night stand, that’s what Lauren told herself as she watched Rick driving to his place. Nothing more.

But fuck, how can it be nothing more when Lauren is letting out screams and moans of pleasure as he flicks his tongue through her wet folds, when he thrusts into Lauren so hard, when he fucks her so good that it only leaves her wanting more?

One night stand turns into countless fucking sessions, and Rick turns from a stranger to a fuck buddy, for the lack of words.

There’s nothing else going on, there’s no feelings and Lauren’s not even sure if they’d be friends if it wasn’t for the fact that he knows how to please her.

They probably wouldn’t.

She’s not quite sure why she gets so distressed when she walks into his apartment one evening and finds him fucking a blonde girl on the table, the same table she was bent across just two days ago.

She just stands there as she watches the blonde reaching her climax. Not quite sure what to say or do.

It kind of bothers her, the fact that he said she’s not allowed to be with anyone else(not that she wanted to, anyway) but here he is, fucking another girl.

And then he sees her and flashes her a smile. He fucking smiles at her and she kind of feels sick.

He tells her to go to his room and for some reason, she does as told. She waits for a few minutes and tries to listen to his conversation with Barbie. She hears the door closing and his footsteps coming closer.

There’s still a smile on his face as he opens the bedroom door and it makes Lauren snap.

She snaps at him, starts yelling at him, screaming, punching him.

He only grabs her wrists tightly, to the point when she finally lets go, there’s blue prints as a reminder.

“What’s gotten into you?" 

"You are fucking around!”

“I can fuck who I want to Lauren!”

“Then do as you wish." 

She makes her way towards the door but he once again grabs her wrist and pulls her back. A moment later he’s angrily kissing her and she moans into the kiss.

He pins her against the wall and as he rip her clothes off and his mouth leave open mouth kisses all over her body, she forgets about him fucking that Barbie.

It continues like that, him fucking around and Lauren not being able to do anything, because they aren’t actually together.

He tells her he’ll pick her up on Friday after school and Lauren takes the opportunity to make him as jealous as she is sometimes.

She’d never admit it to anyone, but she’s sure that somewhere between multiple orgasms she had, she started to feel something for him.

She can see his car pulling up as she shamelessly flirts with a boy from her Spanish class. 

She can feel his eyes glued to her back but she doesn’t dare to turn around, she doesn’t want to turn around. Not yet.

Her phone buzzed and she pulls it out of her back pocket.

get in the car. now!!

She lets out a chuckle and says goodbye to Dante, making sure that Rick hears about Dante being at her place tomorrow. Of course, it’s nothing else but a school project, but Rick doesn’t have to know that.

Rick doesn’t say a word as he grips the steering wheel tightly. But as soon as they take a step into his apartment, Lauren’s being pushed against the door and his hand is in her hair, yanking it harshly.

He mumbles something about Lauren being only his to touch and how that little repulsive, repellent, obnoxious, nasty little scumbag is forbidden to ever even think of touching his Lauren.

And Lauren forgets about the pain he’s causing her because he just told her he belongs to him, and in a twisted way, her heart feels happy to heart that.

The next day Rick walks into her house just in time to see Dante leaning over the table and reaching for Lauren’s hand.

"Perhaps you should leave.” His announces himself

“Who the fuck are you?”

Rick raises his eyebrows and looks at Lauren.

“It’s okay Dante, you should leave, I’ll finish this and e-mail you your part.”

Dante huffs loudly but doesn’t say a word to Rick as he pack his stuff and walks over to the door.

“Be sure to e-mail it to me before five, so I can study.”

And before Lauren could reply, Rick slams the door.

“That was so fucking rude!” Lauren yells at him

“He was touching you Lauren.” Rick growls 

“He was not touching me!”

Rick’s eyes widen at Lauren’s outburst. Did she really raise her voice at him?

And then his palm collided with Lauren’s cheek and a tear strolled down her face.

She stood there in shock.

“I’m trying to protect you because I love you. I’m doing this because I love you.”

Those three words again. Three words that left Lauren speechless.

After realizing he won’t get an answer, he grabbed her bridal style and took her to her room.

Lauren felt as if she’s a prisoner in this whole thing they had going on. What even they had going on? She wasn’t sure. It wasn’t a relationship, but it wasn’t just fuck buddies either, not anymore.

Rick was nice for most of the time, except when Lauren would fuck up and deserved to be punished.

“What’s that?” Normani asked as she looked at Lauren’s wrist

Lauren’s eyes widened and she rolled down the sleeves of her plaid button-up shirt.

“Nothing.”

“Lauren–”

“I deserved it Mani, let it go.” Lauren cut her off before she could say a thing

in summer i wanted no one at all and when she walked into my life i didn’t expect to fall but she kisses like the devil while keeping all my demons away my friends held my gaze and told me  keep her. stay.

(Part IV: Camila)

Normani didn’t let it go. Of course she didn’t fucking let it go. She waited for another week and a half-maybe two to see what’s really going on.

And then she realized that Lauren’s too deep into this to swim out by herself and she, as her best friend, had to do something about it. 

“Hey, where’s lil Lo? Haven’t seen her around since I came few days ago.”

“Yeah,” Normani turned around to face her adopted older brother “neither have I.”

“Are you two fighting?”

“No, she has– there’s this guy we met–”

“Oh, boy drama.” Roshon smirked

“No, it’s– I think Lauren’s in an abusive relationship.”

“She’s what?” Roshon raised his voice

“Rosh.”

“No, Normani. Are you sure?”

“She didn’t tell me but there’s bruises all over her body and I know she’s into wild sex but this is different.”

Normani watched as her brother gripped the chair tightly and how his light brown eyes turned into a much darker shade.

“Do you know where he lives?”

“No.”

“I only know his name and how he looks.”

“Find him on Facebook.”

Normani nodded without hesitation.

“What are you gonna do?”

“Nicely ask him to back off.” Roshon shrugged

“By nicely–”

“Politely, classy. Words only.”

Normani nodded. But truth be told, Roshon didn’t need to use anything else but his words when it came to scaring people. He was a tall guy, full of muscles, and as if that wasn’t enough, of fucking course he knew how to win a match. After all, he did grew up on the street until he turned sixteen, and sometimes, that’s more than enough.

To anyone else, he was intimidating, but to Normani, he was a giant teddy bear. He was the one she’d cuddle up to when there was a storm outside, the one who would take her to the park, the one who played along as she threw tea parties for her toys, the one who wore a pink tutu because Normani looked at him with puppy eyes.

He was very thankful Normani’s parents found him on time and since the day his eyes met Normani’s, he promised to herself and to her that he will always protect her, even if it meant risking his own life.

A few phone calls and half an hour later, Roshon found himself in front of the fairly new building and rang the first bell he saw.

“Postman.” He said

He rolled his eyes as the woman let him in. He counted the numbers of apartments until he reached the third apartment on the left side of the fourth floor.

He knocked the door and waited for it to open.

Roshon lets out a scoff as he sees the boy in front of him.

“And you are?”  Rick asked, arrogance evident in his voice

“Prince charming. Where’s Lauren?” Roshon asked as he walked past Rick, into the apartment “Nice play.”

“The fuck you want?”

“Where’s Lauren?” Roshon repeated his question

For a split second Rick’s eyes were focused on one of the doors and Roshon took that as a sign before going there himself.

He almost let out a gasp as he saw Lauren, half-naked sitting on the bathroom floor with a bruised lip.

Lauren was surprised to see him, of course she was, but most of all, she was ashamed.

“Take your stuff and meet me in the car.” He said calmly to the green eyed girl

“She’s not going anywhere!” Rick yelled

“Excuse me?”

“She’s staying here with me.”

Roshon didn’t pay much attention to Rick’s words, he was focused on making sure Lauren’s okay to stand on her own feet by herself and when he made sure she was, he turned around to face the red haired boy.

“Zack, is it?”

“Rick.”

“Right, same shit anyway. Listen here buddy. Lauren here is a very important person in my life. Very important. I promised my sister I’d protect her from everything and along the way, I promised myself that lil Lo will always have an older brother if she needs one. She looks like she needs one–”

“You don’t know shit!” Rick spat into his face

“Listen white boy, I’m not gonna fight you, I don’t fight weaker than me. However, if I ever see you anywhere near Lauren, if I even hear that you asked about her or tried to get in a contact with her, you’ll regret ever being alive. Is that clear?”

When Rick didn’t say anything, Roshon repeated his question.

“Is. That. Clear?!”

“Fuck you! And fuck her! Get out of my place!”

Roshon raised his eyebrow and pushed him to the floor, gently but strong enough that he actually falls.

“Mark my words white boy.” He said before walking out of the apartment

Lauren was thankful for a lot of things, but that night, as she cuddled herself closer to Normani’s warm body, she was thankful for her best friend.

It took her nearly three weeks until she could finally fall asleep without waking up in tears because she saw Rick in her dreams.

It was no secret he left a number on her. She became numb.

“Here mija, take this across the street to the new family and invite them over for the dinner.”

“What new family?” Lauren questioned as she looked at the basked her mother had prepared

“The one that just moved in. Honey, we’ve been talking about this for a few days now, where’s your mind been?”

Now that she thinks about it, she does remember something about it. Not all of it thought.

“All over the place.” Lauren mumbles dryly

“Get your shit together love. Can you take this over or should I ask Chris?”

“I’ll do it.” Lauren nods and gets up

She looks herself in the mirror to make sure she looks somewhat decent.

She scoffs as she thinks how just less than a year ago she looked so different than she does now.

Her long hair was now much shorter, there wasn’t even a tiny bit of it that was brown, now it was all black. She lost some weight and she kind of blames it on sleepless night she spent crying and all the days she spent not eating because just the thought of food made her sick to her stomach. Her pale skin was slowly but surely going back to being bronze, thanks to the fact she’s spending more time out on the sun with her friends than being someone’s punching bag in a dark room. 

Everything about her was different.

“You still look like a piece of crap.”

She flipped her brother off before grabbing the welcome to the neighborhood basket and walking out of the house.

She watched as the family of four carried their stuff inside the house and cleared her throat when she came near enough.

“Hello, um, I’m Lauren, Jauregui. Just across the street,” she pointed to her house “my mom sent me to give you this and wanted to know if you’d like to join us for dinner.”

“Oh honey, we don’t want to intrude.” The woman replied

“No, I insist.” Lauren smiled weakly 

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Tell your mother we’ll be there then. It was nice meeting you Lauren, I’m Sinu by the way.”

Lauren nodded. “I’ll leave you to uhm unpack. See you tonight Mrs Sinu.”

Just as fast as she walked over to their house, she walked back to her house, if not even faster.

She ignored her brother’s question about the new girl.

“Is she hot? She looks so fucking hot from here.”

It kind of made her feel sick and she decided that she will take a short nap before they come.

Her sister was the one to wake her up. Asking if she can help her with choosing what dress to wear.

Instead of yelling at her sister, like she would in the past, she actually thanked her for waking her up, considering she herself had to get ready too.

Half an hour. That’s how long it took her to take a shower and get dressed into her favorite dress. She even made an effort to brush her hair. 

Dress to impress.

Chris was kind of right, they did have a hot daughter. Kind of. At first Lauren though she’s hot but as the night went on, she realized the younger Latina was such a dork and a nerd. SHe found it endearing.

“Say Camila, would you rather have a private movie theater in your house or your very own library?” Lauren questioned the younger girl once they were alone in her room

“Library.” Camila replied without a hesitation “I’m a book worm.”

“So am I.” Lauren smiled fondly

For the firs time in weeks, she actually smiled. Real smile, not the fake one everyone else would get.

They talked and talked and talked until it was Camila’s time to go home.

The younger girl stood up as she heard her father calling her from the downstairs.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Camila asked hopefully

“For sure.” Lauren nodded

And then, Camila pulled her into a hug. Lauren flinched.

“Not a hugger?” Camila instantly pulled away “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s okay.” Lauren shrugged it off

Camila nodded once. “Good night Lauren.”

“Good night Camila.”

As the days of summer came and passed, Lauren felt herself being more and more drawn to the certain brunette. However, she knew better than to jump into this. For all she knew, Camila could turn out to be worse than anyone else she had dated in the past.

But she wasn’t. She made sure Lauren knows she’s loved and that someone cares about her. 

It was during one stormy night that Lauren decided to open up to Camila.

They were pretty close by then, there was this special bond between them, and everyone could see it.

It was the night Lauren ended up using Camila as her shoulder to cry on. She cried over Akio and how he was the first one make her question her worthy; she cried over Naomi and how she still blames herself for Naomi’s break-down; she cried over Rick and how she can’t look herself in the mirror without imagining the bruises where they once were.

All the time, Camila held her tightly, gently played with her hair and softly rubbed calming circles on Lauren’s back.

“You like her.” Dinah commented one day as their group of friends all left to joke around in the water

“What?” Lauren looked away from Camila, her eyes now focusing on Dinah

“Camila. You like her.”

“I don’t." 

"You do. It’s okay. I like her, for you. She’s good for you. She makes you happy.”

“I don’t like her.” Lauren repeated

“Whatever floats your boat chica. But in case you were wondering, I think she likes you too.”

However, that night when Lauren was left all alone with her thoughts, for the first time she admitted to herself that Dinah is right. Not that she’d ever admit it to the taller her. There was no need to boost her ego, it was big enough as it is.

She looks across the street and sees that Camila’s light is still on, although it’s already two in the morning.

She sends her a quick text saying she herself cannot sleep and that she’s coming over if Camila’s okay with it.

As soon as she gets a positive answer from Camila, she slips into her shoes and grabs her keys before walking out of the house.

“Hey,” Camila is already standing at the door, waiting for her “you okay?”

“I am now.”

And the smile on Camila’s face becomes bigger.

She leads Lauren upstairs to her room.

“Sorry about the mess, I was writing.” Camila makes a show of gesturing to the guitar on the floor and a notebook with a pen attached to it

“About?”

“Feelings.” Camila mumbles

“Oh, wanna talk about feelings?”

“Not really, no. Why? Do you?”

“Maybe.” Lauren shrugs and takes a seat on Camila’s bed

“If you do, I’m a great listener.”

“I know, it’s one of the things I like about you.”

The room is so quiet and the only thing that can be hear is the rapid beating of their hearts.

“Camz?”

Camila lifts her head up to look at Lauren. She almost lets out a gasp as she sees Lauren’s bright green eyes staring into her chocolate brown ones, they flicker to her lips for a second before focusing back at her eyes.

“I’m not crazy, am I?” Lauren questions

She decides to leave out the part where she says that she spent the ast three hours thinking about Camila and over-analyzing Camila’s actions towards her.

“About?” Camila whispers

“Us.”

Us. 

The younger Latina smiles at the word.

“No, you’re not.”

“So, you– I’m not seeing things that aren’t real–”

“My feelings are very real Lauren.” Camila’s voice is so quiet that Lauren almost doesn’t hear it

“Okay, good. I mean– that’s nice. Because, I– uh–”

And then Camila’s soft lips are on her own and for the first time in her life, it feels right.

“Thank you for shutting me up.” Lauren says once Camila finally pulls away

Camila rolls her eyes and lets out a chuckle.

“Any time.”

“What about now?" 

Another chuckle leaves Camila’s mouth but she nods her head before leaning over and kissing Lauren’s lips once again.

When Camila pulls away again, they don’t say a word. They stare at the stars on Camila’s ceiling as they hold each other’s hands.

"I don’t wanna rush into this.”  Lauren says after what feels like forever

“Then we won’t. I’ve got the time, I’ll wait.”

Indeed, Camila gives Lauren all the time she needs. She’s there for her when she needs her and gives her space when she knows Lauren is suffocating. She understands.

And when Lauren finally gets her shit together, she asks her on a date. It turns into the second one, the third one, fourth one, and on the fifth, she asks her to be her girlfriend. 

“Like, officially?”

“Like, officially.” Lauren laughs at the younger girl

They take it as slow as Lauren needs but even Lauren knows that sometimes she has to speed up things, even if that’s not what she wants. She’s scared of unknown, but it’s Camila. And Camila keeps her demons away. That’s all that matters.

She finds herself having a heavy make-out sessions with her girlfriend on more than one occasion. And she can’t stop herself from doing so, because Camila looks like an angel but kisses like the devil. And she’s in love with it.

“I told you.” Dinah smirks as she walks over to Lauren and Camila 

“Told her what?” Normani questions

“She knows.”

“I know.” Lauren nods

“What did you tell her?” Normani asks Dinah

“What did she tell you?” Camila questions Lauren

Lauren shakes her head and smiles at Dinah.

Both Camila and Normani decide to drop the subject, realizing there’s no point in trying to get the answers from them.

The bell rings and Normani and Camila walked over to the direction of their lockers, meanwhile Dinah follows Lauren over to hers.

“Keep her Lo. Stay.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Lauren smiles at her friend

-

check me out on wattpad if you please https://www.wattpad.com/user/FakingCamren