HMU

seventy nine

Camila practically jumps from the car before it's even come to a complete stop in the driveway, running ahead to the door and ringing the bell twice. The girls come up behind her not even a few seconds after she's rung the bell, the four of them waiting impatiently for the door to open.

Camila collapses into Clara's outstretched arms when the door opens, hugging the mother of the girl she loves in mutual relief before they're all lead inside, to the living room. Camila almost cried tears of joy when she saw the back of Lauren's head where she was sat on the couch, watching an old episode of American Horror Story.

Hearing their entrance, Lauren sits up and turns around. Camila lets out an audible gasp when she sees Lauren's face — she has a black eye paired with a cut on her forehead, which was hidden behind a bandaid, and Camila sees that her arm is in a cast as she comes around the couch.

"Jesus, Lo..." Camila mumbles as she sits down beside her, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend carefully and kissing her forehead softly. "How do you feel, baby?"

"Fine, I guess." Lauren shrugs, failing to mention the slight throbbing in her head.

"Rate your pain." Dinah says as the other three take seats around Lauren as well. "So I can double what she'll feel."

"You don't need to do that." Lauren shakes her head disapprovingly at Dinah. "I don't even like that this happened... Just, don't make it worse."

Dinah huffs, "Fine, but only 'cause you don't want me to."

"Did she just..." Normani motions to Lauren, indicating her injuries.

Lauren sits up straighter, a frown on her face. "Actually, I threw the first punch." Dinah lets out a 'yeah, girl' before high-fiving Lauren. "Originally I just wanted to talk.. but she just.. she makes me so fucking angry, and I couldn't- I just couldn't.." Camila grabs onto Lauren's free hand, squeezing gently.

"So... what did you have to tell us, babe?"

Lauren nods seemingly to herself before beginning. "I figured you all would wanna jump right in when you got here.. I guess we should start with what you know? Or what she told you, I guess..."

"She said that she was one of your best friends." Dinah answers, "Which I should've taken as a hint she was a lying, pure evil bitch, because obviously we're your best friends."

Lauren chuckles, looking down at her and Camila's hands in her lap. "Lucy isn't pure evil.. I don't think she ever even intends to hurt people, it's just in her nature..." Lauren pauses, "But she did lie. We weren't friends, we actually, uh.. dated for awhile. At first it was nice, ya know? She took me on dates and came over to watch movies a lot, and things were going pretty well. But then she got distant, and moody, and our entire relationship turned to shit. She hit me a few times, nothing too bad though, just like.. slaps, and stuff.." Lauren's voice got quieter as she went on, mixed with embarrassment and shame. It broke Camila's heart. "And then I found out she'd been cheating on me, and.. I dunno, at the time I was still trapped under her hold so I forgave her. But, uh, the last straw was when she tried to 'make it up to me'..." Lauren discreetly reaches up to wipe a tear away. "I got her off me before anything could happen, and I just completely had a meltdown. I think there had always been this part of me the whole time I'd been with her that knew how toxic our relationship was, but it didn't bother to say anything until it was too late..." Lauren could feel the tears building up, and she couldn't force them back anymore. Camila uses Lauren's pause to reach up and wipe away any spilled tears, Lauren offering a weak smile in response. "Anyway, it'd been quiet for awhile until she recently came to my house to try and talk to me, and I guess that was when she took my phone.. when I found out she'd been talking to Camila after I told her to stay away from you guys I totally lost my shit... I was just.. the fact that she was stringing you along, Camz, and bringing you into something I wanted to protect you from... I just couldn't sit there and let her have her way anymore. I'm done with her shit, and I'm gonna stand up to her from now on.