Broken, Honest, Beautiful

Moving on

"Lauren wake up." Ally shook her

"What do you want?" Lauren groaned turning over burying her face in her pillow making Ally give a small laugh

"We gotta head over to rehearsals, we have a show tonight." Ally told her

"Gimme 5 minutes." Lauren mumbled as she raised her head

"See you up there." Ally waved before leaving the bus

"Geez, is anyone here but me?" Lauren half said to herself, half called out

"I'm here!" Normani called putting her shoes on

"You look tired." Normani noticed as Lauren came into her view

"Mm, I didn't get much sleep..I dreamt of Taylor.." Lauren explained

"Oh, I'm sorry Lo." Normani gave her a sad smile and brought her into a quick hug of reassurance she was going to be there for Lauren

"It's okay, really. I just need to accept that she's not around anymore. Nothing's gonna bring her back, is it." Lauren shrugged easily talking about her feelings for once

"Yeah, anyway, get dressed, I'll hang around for you and we'll go together." She smiled, Normani realised in that moment just how proud she was of her best friend

"Thanks Mani." Lauren smiled back and began to get ready

"So, forward, turn, back and- ah girls you've finally decided to join us!" The girls choreographer made a point to announce Lauren and Normani's arrival earning a blush from both

"Sorry." Normani apologised setting her bag down along with Lauren's

"Never mind, just get in your positions, again from the top!" He called restarting the music

When the girls had finished rehearsing the first 4 songs everyone decided that it was time for a well earned break

Lauren sat down on the bench practically drowning herself in water from exhaustion, she was looking up so she was surprised when Camila sat in her lap without any warning

"Shit!" Lauren coughed when she felt the weight of her body unexpectedly

"Sorry." Camila giggled making herself comfortable as Lauren set the bottle down on the floor and wrapped her arms around Camila's waist giving her a peck on the lips

"Warning people isn't your thing is it?" Lauren laughed

"Nu uh!" Camila shook her head resting it against Lauren's chest

"How did you find rehearsals?" Lauren made light conversation, focusing more on savouring the moment with the girl she loved in her arms

"They're so tiring! God how do we do this stuff without dying on stage?"

"Practise makes perfect right?" Dinah answered swiftly

"Right." Lauren agreed with her

"Laureeennn!" Ally called for her

"Ugh. Wait here." Lauren said motioning for Camila to get up

Camika took the hint and went over and sat on Dinah's lap instead who sighed but you could she didn't mind

Saying that it still didn't stop her sassing Camila, but that was just their typical way of friendship.

"Do I look like a chair to you?" Dinah raised an eyebrow at Camila

"No but you're comfortable." Camila shrugged taking a swig of her water

"What's up?" Lauren tore her eyes away walking towards Ally

"Mani's missing." Ally informed her

"She is? But she was here a second ago." Lauren frowned

"Well she's not here now. Her bag is gone too." Ally fretted

"Chill out, she's probably fine. She's Mani, just think, where could she have gone?" Lauren wondered

"I don't know. Go look for her, I'll tell them you needed some air. They'll understand." Ally suggested

"Okay, I'll try and find her as soon as I can." Lauren nodded before going outside to begin searching

"Mani?!" Lauren called out

"Normani??" She tried again

"Looking for me?" Normani tapped her shoulder making Lauren jump

"JESUS! Where have you been?" Lauren said as she clocked her appearance

"I went to Starbucks!" Normani laughed at her reaction

"You fucking- wait Starbucks? Did you get me anything?" Lauren lost her train of thought, looking at Normani interestedly in hope she had.

It was unlikely though. Normani was never one to buy anyone else's Starbucks. She was a caffeine addict.

"Yeah, here." Normani smiled handing her a frappe

"Wow, you're a god send," Lauren said taking a sip "and you're forgiven."

"Great, now shall we head back in?" Normani said heading for the door

"We could..or we could drink these first and talk, it's not like we haven't done the routine a million times." Lauren suggested

"Yeah, sounds good to me." Normani agreed putting her bag down while they sat on a bench outside

"Did you get anyone else anything?" Lauren asked taking another sip

"Nah, you just earned yours." Normani nudged her playfully

"What did I do to deserve you paying for my Starbucks, you never pay for anyones." Lauren laughed

"Cause, you're a great best friend, and I don't think I tell you that enough." She said honestly looking into Lauren's eyes meaningfully

"Aw, Mani.." Lauren grinned cuddling up to her best friend

Normani smiled wrapping one arm around Lauren laying her head on hers

"They're gonna get so mad at us." Normani chuckled to herself

"Eh, what's life if you don't break the rules a few times." Lauren smiled up at her widely

"You're really happy today." Normani noticed looking down at Lauren

"Yeah I am, it's down to your Starbucks." She teased before carrying on her answer

"No really, it's just. I don't know, I don't want to live like I am anymore, it's better to just move on and get back to how I used to be. I managed it before and I know I can do it again." Lauren said confidently looking at her

"I'm so proud of you Laur, you're such a strong girl and I love you for that."

"I love you too Mani." Lauren kissed her cheek nestling herself into her side