Calamity

Chapter 23

This chapter contains a brief mention of suicide that may be triggering for some audiences. Please read with caution.

-

Ally dragged her inside their apartment, tossing her heels to the side as she ran to the bathroom to grab a towel for Lauren.

"What the hell happened?"

"I—" her voice cracked the second she opened her mouth to speak. "I don't know. W-We were having dinner one second and the next she had Caitlin's certificate in a fucking box for me."

"Laur? Is that you?" Normani poked her head into the corridor just to see her best friend soaked in rain and tears. "Oh, hell no. Dinah!" She shouted. "Get your things, we're going to have a chat with Cabello."

"No!" Lauren exclaimed. "Please, I'm okay, I promise. I was the one who started the argument. Not her."

Dinah appeared beside Normani and scowled. "So, she let you walk home in the rain just because you two fought? Who does this son of a bitch think—"

"Dinah," Lauren interrupted her. "I just need to be alone right now. I'm sorry."

"Laur..." Normani frowned and brushed some of Lauren's wet hair out of her face. "You'd tell us if she did something wrong, right?"

"I can hold my own ground, y'know?"

"You're still our Ralph. We have to protect you until the end of time." Dinah nudged her in the side lightly. "We'll back off for now, but we want a whole explanation of what happened whenever you're ready."

"Okay," Lauren's voice wavered. "I can do that,"

Normani kissed the side of Lauren's head as she gave her a quick hug. "Text me before you go to bed tonight, okay?"

"Okay," she repeatedly dumbly, watching the two of them leave out the front door.

Once Ally was positive they were out of earshot, she dragged Lauren to the couch and forced her to sit down.

"She had Caitlin's birth certificate?"

Lauren pressed two fingers to her temple. "Yes, and she wouldn't tell me how she got it in the first place. God, she said this entire love confession to me and then slapped it into my face right fucking after."

"Whoa," Ally held her hands up. "Hold on. Back up, what do you mean love confession?"

"She told me she loved me," Lauren said meekly. "And asked if I loved her back. Of course, I said yes, but then she also asked me if I'd do anything for her. I said yes to that too and she wanted me to explain who Caitlin was."

"Do you think she found out that—"

"She knows about Cowell and thinks I was using her as a scapegoat,"

"Shit," Ally muttered under her breath. "We need to call your mom,"

"Absolutely not," Lauren was quick to disagree. "She's going to burn the entire earth down until she finds Camila. And I don't want to think about what's going to happen once she does."

"Lauren, she's the only one who's going to know what the hell to do,"

"She's the one who got me into this mess in the first place,"

Ally pursed her lips. "She's your mother,"

"She's a fucking murderer,"

"Okay!" Ally hushed her with her finger. "Let's not raise our voice any higher now. Do you think she's going to go to the police?"

Lauren slumped into the couch. "I would hope not,"

"Gee, thanks. That's really assuring. I'll have to call my dad and let him know I'm going to be in prison for the rest of my life as an accessory to murder."

"The most you'll get is fifteen years,"

"I seriously don't need the lawyer talk right now, Lauren. We need to find Camila."

"Nobody's touching her," Lauren snapped. "I'll find her and talk to her myself. But no one is going near her."

"Yeah, good luck with that, Sherlock Holmes. You were better off just telling her what happened."

"Ally—"

"I know," Ally bit the inside of her cheek. "She was practically your girlfriend. She would've committed war crimes for you, Laur."

Lauren huffed and anxiously chewed on the inside of her cheek. "I didn't mean to get you involved in any of this. I just... I was going to lose my mind if I kept it to myself any longer."

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel any guilt. Because I do. But I try to remind myself that he was a poor excuse of a human being and doesn't deserve my guilt."

"She told me she was only going to scare him," she whispered. "She kept saying how he deserved worse but she'd let him live insufferable life instead of giving him the easy way out. I didn't—" Lauren choked up. "I didn't think she was going to kill him,"

"Lauren," Ally pulled the raven-haired woman into her arms. "Look at me," she cupped her face in her hands. "We're going to figure this out. All of it. Okay? And the second you do, we're going to get you Camila back."

-

She didn't want to wake up.

The raven-haired woman figured that the longer she lay in bed, the more time she had to avoid her harsh reality. But it only took Ally another hour before she woke up and came banging on Lauren's bedroom door, demanding for her to come out and eat breakfast.

The two of them ate in complete silence, none of them wanting to speak up about Lauren's mental breakdown last night after she came home from their date. She had spent most of her night tossing and turning, wondering why she thought getting Ally involved would be a good idea.

Her mother insisted on it being nothing but a secure alibi, but what her best friend said last night was the truth. She is an accessory to murder.

"Ally?" Lauren said hesitantly, looking up from her plate of eggs.

"Yeah, hun?"

"No matter what happens, I promise I won't let you get in any of it."

Ally gave her a sad smile. "I knew what I was getting into when you explained everything the first time. Remember what I said last night? He doesn't deserve my guilt. And he doesn't deserve yours either. Now, finish your food and stop sulking. You need to go to talk to Camila."

She finished her food in an awfully slow manner before dragging herself to the sink to clean up her plates. As she finished drying up the dishes, she looked at Ally one last time and sucked in a deep breath when she finally got enough courage to walk across the hall.

Lauren anxiously bit her lip as she knocked on Camila's door for the millionth time that morning. When she didn't hear any movements on the other side of the door, she lifted up the welcome mat and grabbed the spare key tucked into the fabric of the mat.

Slowly unlocking the front door, she made sure to stay alert for any sudden noises. But she was meant with white cloths draped all over the furniture and newspaper that was haphazardly thrown on the kitchen counter. Her heart raced erratically the more she took in the environment she was in.

Did Camila leave?

She sprinted into the dark-haired woman's bedroom and opened up the closest to find it completely empty. She dug through her drawers only to find the golden ring she had stolen back from the police station along with a piece of paper.

Unfolding it, she immediately felt tears well up in her eyes as she read it.

'I NEED TIME'