Broken, Honest, Beautiful

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Normani wasn't acting like her usual bubbly self the next day, with anyone. Even Lauren was receiving the silent treatment. The dark skinned girl was reserved and quiet. Lauren looked over at her best friend multiple times, trying to gauge why she was acting this way. But she figured since it was Normani, and she knew her like the back of her hand, it was simply embarrassment. Despite the fact no one else apart from herself and Lauren knew about what had gone down on the day previous. They were all sat in the lounge area, but no one was doing anything. Dinah had her arm around Lauren's shoulder, playing with her hair with the hand dangling over it. And Camila had Normani in her lap, which that alone was strange. Her girlfriend wasn't one for being in any way submissive. She was cheery and dominant, usually, not today. For the first time in a while, the atmosphere between all of the girls was just tense. Normani being the root cause, though no one would dare speak up to address it. Except Camila it seemed. "Babe." Normani lifted her head up from her chest to look at Camila questioningly. "I want to talk to you, can we have a quick moment to ourselves please?" Normani shrugged. "Uh sure, c'mon girls. There are some pancakes in the freezer I want to try and make." Ally excused them all. Lauren met Normani's eyes for a split second, and saw a glimpse of shame in them. Dinah was the second to go, but Lauren hung back for a second. She put a hand on Normani's knee, leaning in to kiss Camila's cheek but mostly to subtly whisper, "Be careful." Camila noticed it wasn't meant to be drawn attention to, and connected their eyes, a promise she would. "We'll be out in the kitchen if you need us." Lauren said gently before disappearing and slowly shutting the door behind them to give them some privacy. "What took you so long?" Dinah asked. "What? Nothing." Dinah looked at her girlfriend suspiciously. "Alright well uhm, wanna help me cut these strawberries up?" "Sure." Lauren mumbled, grabbing a fresh strawberry and a knife, her head swimming with worry for her best friend. Camila reached up to play with Normani's hair and tried to figure out how to start off. But she only came up with a simple, "What's going on with you?" "Nothing." "Come on, we aren't stupid. We know something is up." "I don't know what you mean." Normani dismissed, getting off her lap as a sign that she was okay, even if it was a lie, because she wasn't. But it meant the submissive side was gone, in theory, giving Camila less of a reason to worry. The Cuban was a bundle of nerves already, she didn't need this on her plate too. "I'm fine Mila." "You're as bad a liar as Lauren, with us at least." Normani rolled her eyes. "I saw that. If you're not gonna tell me, at least talk to Lauren. I know it's nothing personal, I get it. Plus she seems to already know something. Did something happen between you two?" Normani swallowed thickly and licked her dry lips. "Nothing like what you're thinking." "What? No, not like that. I just mean did you talk about something yesterday cause you're both acting really strange today." Normani took a deep breath. "I uh, need my medication. Can you grab it?" "If I can grab Lauren too." Camila proposed, even though she knew she would get her medication regardless. "Alright." Normani relented. "Good, thank you." "For what?" "Making an effort." Camila kissed her temple before rising from her seat and opening the door, heading for the kitchen. "Excuse me." Dinah ducked out the way of the cupboard and watched Camila get out Normani's tablets. "How is she?" Ally asked. "Not the best, but I don't know anything. Lauren, can you come with me please?" Lauren put her chopping knife down and nodded. "Uh huh, let me just wash my hands first. I'll meet you in there." "M'kay. Ally can I have a glass of water for Mani?" "Yeah of course." Ally said and filled a glass up, handing it to her friend. Camila smiled appreciatively and thanked the petite girl before making her way back to the lounge, now questioning her decision to close the door. She would just have to wait for Lauren to be done in the bathroom. Lauren opened the door and smirked. "Need some help?" "Just open the door." Camila grumbled. Lauren chuckled and opened it. "After you m'lady." "Shut up." Camila rolled her eyes, walking in the room, Lauren following behind her. "I brought your tablets, and a wild Lauren." Lauren raised her eyebrows. "Me? Wild?" "It's an expression." Camila huffed. "Your jokes aren't funny Mila." Normani said as she took her tablets and water from her. "Alright grouchy, I'll let myself out. And please Mani, talk to her." Camila insisted before leaving the room with the tablets, leaving the half glass of water behind. Lauren watched the door shut and sat next to Normani carefully. "Come on, spill it Kordei." Normani glared at her and Lauren cleared her throat awkwardly. "Okay, sorry, not the time for humour. My bad." Normani nodded simply and looked down at her feet. "Is this about yesterday? What you told me?" Lauren asked gently. A small nod followed. "I'm sorry I didn't realise your pain, I should have." Normani shrugged. "S'alright. No one does." Lauren sighed and craned her neck down to look at her. "What did you mean? When you said no one cared at home, what did you mean by that?" Normani was about to open her mouth before Lauren held up a finger and stood up. "Hold on." She walked towards the door and three girls fell into the room having leant on the door eavesdropping. "Fuck off all of you. Get out." The three girls awkwardly left the room and Lauren shut the door again. "Idiots." "How'd you know they were there?" Normani asked with raised eyebrows. "Call it intuition, plus they're nosy." Normani tilted her head to the side in agreement. "Anyway, what was it you meant when you said that?" Normani took a shuddering breath and Lauren squeezed her knee. "Mani, this is me. You can talk to me." Normani put a hand over Lauren's and gripped it as she spoke. "Half the time I'm home, they just..don't seem to care, they don't notice I'm around, or when..when he does, something happens." "He? Who's he?" Lauren asked, rubbing her arm with her other hand. "My mom's boyfriend." "I thought-" "She split up with my dad a while ago." Normani interrupted, knowing what she was going to say. "What does he do to you?" "I don't, I don't know specifically. But like, I wake up, and it hurts." "It..hurts? What?" "I'll be sleeping for a really long time and then I'll wake up with a pain in my, you know." "Is he uhm," "I don't think so, I've never, like, got pregnant. I check, so maybe he's not, you know, using that..but then it doesn't count right?" "Mani if you don't consent, it's rape. Whatever he uses. And it sounds like he sedates you." "I can't prove anything though. Because I have no description, I have no evidence, and I have no time for a case. All I can do is just, put up with it, with him." Normani whimpered. Lauren pulled the girl into her arms and kissed her temple. "Why can't you tell your mom?" "She'd never believe me. She thinks the world of him Lauren, and she's happy." "But you're not, and doesn't she need to know the kind of guy she's dating?" "It's my word against his." Normani sniffled. "And what happens if they get married, he gets an all access pass-sorry. I just.." "It wouldn't be anything different Lo..he's moved in already." She sobbed. "I'm so sorry." Lauren whispered, pulling the girl into her lap and squeezing her best friend as she cried in her neck. "Can you move out, maybe live with Ally?" "I can't. I have nowhere to go and I can't intrude on Ally like that. She needs her space and God knows she sees enough of me." Lauren cradled the girl, trying to think of some option. "So stay with me." "No I can't." "Yes you can. You can have," Lauren gulped. It still hurt to remember her little sister was gone. "You can have Taylor's room, or even stay in mine until you can get a place for yourself." Normani shook her head. "I know Dinah wants that chance and I can't take that away from her. She's in a crowded house and she loves the bones of you, she deserves to be able to wake up with you everyday." "But you're not safe. Your safety is so important Mani. What about Camila? I'm sure she'd take you in." "Sofi, she needs all the time she could get with her little sister since she misses her so much. And plus I can't tell her, it was hard enough just telling you." Normani said between fast breaths. "Breathe with me okay? We're still on tour, we have time to think and we can figure something out I'm sure of it. Alright? What did I say yesterday? Everything will be okay." Lauren said, stroking hair out of her face. "Do you promise?" Normani asked weakly, her eyes vulnerable and empty. Lauren swallowed after a second of staring into them. "Yes." She said, well, she hoped. Normani had laid her head on Lauren's chest while she cried, concentrating on Lauren stroking her arm soothingly. "I love you Manibear, always." Normani squeezed her eyes shut at the term. "I can't lose you Lauren, you really are everything to me. I don't know what I would do without you." "You won't. You have me. You'll always have me." Lauren soothed, closing her eyes. "Do you feel better now it's out there?" "In a way, but nothing's changed. I'm still going to have to go back there." "Shh don't think about it. We'll deal with it when the time comes round, together." Normani sighed deeply and nodded. "Okay." Dinah, Ally and Camila sat in the kitchen with their pancakes, but they were all untouched. "No. This is ridiculous, I have to know what's going on." Camila stood up quickly, before Dinah reached up and grabbed her arm to stop her. "Mila no-" "Let go Dinah. She's my girlfriend, you'd do the same if it were Lauren. You damn well know you would." Ally looked and Dinah and nodded. "Let her go Dinah." "And what if Mani blows up because she intrudes on her and Lauren's conversation, or Lauren blows up about it?" Camila tugged her arm out of the Polynesian's grip. "Then I'll take it and know it was worth it if I find out the truth." Camila listened at the door, her eavesdropping round 2 starting with the beginning of Normani's explanation. Her brown eyes watered and tears fell. After a while of silence aside from Normani's cries she opened the door. Her eyes fell on the girl in Lauren's lap who looked up, it was like looking in a mirror. Their expressions the same teary eyed messes. "M-Mila." "I'm sorry, I heard everything. Please don't be mad at me, I just care about you so much babe and I-" Normani cut the Cuban off by reaching out and clinging to her tight, Camila immediately returning the hug on her knees. Lauren was just kind of stuck there since Normani was still on her lap. "I'll give you guys a moment, Mani.." Normani got off of Lauren's lap and climbed into Camila's on the floor, once again crying. "Shh, I've got you." Camila soothed shakily. "It's gonna be fine baby." Dinah saw Lauren coming towards her and Ally, holding in a sob and opened her arms for her. Lauren squeezed Dinah tight and cried into her shoulder. "It's so bad Dinah, it's really bad." Dinah sighed, bringing her hand up to hold the back of her head and exchanged a worried glance with Ally. Two girls crying into their partners shoulders, and Ally alone and bewildered. But she was the mother figure, and how could she help if she had no idea what was happening? "Oh Lord." She breathed, rubbing her temples. "What happened?" Dinah dared to ask. Lauren took a deep breath, considering her options. If they all knew, they might be able to come up with a solution. Ally might bring up the dark skinned girl moving in with her. "Her mom's boyfriend is sedating her at night and sexually abusing her while she sleeps, plus her PTSD is going through the roof." "Oh my God." Dinah gasped. "God, I've been so selfish." Lauren choked out. "No, babe don't say that." "Dinah's right, Laur. Don't blame yourself. She hid it really well, none of us would have guessed." Ally reassured her with a gentle hand on her arm. The door opened and Camila came out with a sleeping Normani in her arms. "Can someone draw back the curtain to her bunk please?" She whispered so as not to wake her girlfriend up. Ally got up and did as Camila asked, looking down at the tear tracks staining her friend's flawless face as Camila carefully placed the girl in her bunk as gentle as a prince would with his princess, or, princess with her princess in this case she imagined. "Camz?" Lauren spoke quietly, Camila looked up at Lauren at her nickname and tilted her head in question. "C-Can I have a word?" "Of course." Camila nodded her head im the direction of the back room and Lauren got up and followed. "You'll be alright, won't you?" Dinah asked the girl worriedly, grabbing her hand to hold her back for a second. "Yeah, I'll be alright." Lauren whispered. "Call us if you need anything. I'm gonna keep an eye on Mani.." Ally said, taking a seat by her bunk. Lauren squeezed her shoulder as she went to the back room where Camila was patiently waiting for her. She knew Ally was upset, hell, they were all upset. Lauren started to wonder how the hell 3 people had gotten raped in the group out of 5. And she wondered if simply being in the industry was a factor. "You wanted to talk?" Camila questioned after Lauren came out of her deep thinking phase. "Uh, yeah. Sorry." Camila patted the space next to her and Lauren sat down with a sigh. "How did we not see it? I just, don't understand." Camila bit her lip bottom lip and smoothed her tongue over them to soothe it again. "I don't know..I keep going over it in my head, looking for signs, like I did with you." Lauren scoffed. "Let's not talk about me, this is about Mani." "You're right. But, Lauren she needs to find somewhere to go, I tried to convince her but she won't move in with me. She won't accept it." Camila groaned, leaning her head on Lauren's shoulder. "I just want to make it better but I have literally no idea how to do that." Lauren wrapped an arm around the slim girl's back and nodded. "No, me neither. Dinah and Ally know, by the way." "I figured as much. Ally certainly gave it away." Camila smiled slightly. "She just cares, a lot. She cares about all of us." Lauren chuckled. "She's a really sweet girl, she loves us to pieces." Camila agreed. "What are we going to do Camila? I'm scared for her." "Me too but we'll find a way, won't we..we have to, for Normani." It was silent for a while before Camila breathed out a shuddery breath. "Lauren.." Lauren turned her head and yawned tiredly. "Yeah?" "I think I'm starting to fall in love with her." Lauren smiled and kissed her head. "I know." After a few seconds Lauren added, "Don't break her heart, or I'll break your face." "You wouldn't hurt a puppy." "No one could hurt a puppy!" Lauren exclaimed. "I'm a puppy, so therefore you can't hurt me either." "Who says?" Lauren huffed. "You did, in fact I can find an interview where you referred to me as a puppy." "Fine I get the point, now shut up, you're like a sassy little kid." "I wish we were all happy again." Camila said, deep in thought, making Lauren's heart clench tight at her words. "Me too Camzi.."