Just A Job (Lauren/You)

Chapter 19

"No, okay? And that's final," I said, pointing a finger towards Lauren.

She slapped my finger away from her face and glared at me. "Don't point your finger at me! And no, we are not done. We are talking about this, Y/N!"

Lauren and I were eating at the café beside the Books and Books. She's spent the past few days with her family and now she was spending time with me before we went back to LA. She told me that since I sang that night at their house, her family's been nothing but supportive of our relationship. And that's great, it really is. But now she wants to meet my family.

And that is not a good idea at all.

"What does it matter if you meet them or not?"

"Of course I want to meet my boyfriend's family. I want them to like me."

I winced at her words. "They won't," I said in a whisper. But Lauren must've heard it because pure shock crossed her face. "No! No, that's not what I meant. Look, my mom will like you but my dad—he's a lost cause," I said as I lift the coffee cup to my lips.

Lauren leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. "Why?"

"He hates me."

"Why?"

I sighed and put the cup back on the table. "It's a long story, Lauren."

"Good thing we have a lot of time then, huh?" she said as she leaned back on her chair with an amused smile on her face.

Was I really ready to tell Lauren about my past? I know honesty is important in a relationship but I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of that I really didn't want to tell her. I'm afraid that it might scare her away. Maybe I could just be careful with the things I say?

"When I was still in high school, I met a girl. She was from out of town and she went to Miami on vacation. I fell in love with her but my father told me that I couldn't date her."

"Why would he do that?" asked Lauren.

"He kept telling me I would just get my heart broken. That she doesn't love me as much as I loved her," I told her. And I still remember that day clearly. I still had a good relationship with my father then and I told him about her. His face fell and a seriousness I've never seen before appeared on his face.

"Then what happened?"

"I dated her despite of my father's protests. And then, well, she broke my heart. My father was right all along. When I came home empty and depressed, I turned to him for support. But he just turned a cold shoulder and walked away."

"No one—was there for you?" I saw the sadness in Lauren's eyes.

"Well, my mom was there but I guess my father's rejection hurt more because I looked up to him, you know? So I became a delinquent, a bad boy—a rebel—just to piss him off," I say.

Lauren's eyes widened. "Did you sell drugs?" she asked in a whisper.

"No!" I exclaimed. The things this girl assumed. "Just small things. Petty crimes." And maybe a few not so petty crimes but she didn't need to know that.

"But why wouldn't your father like me? I don't understand."

"Because the main reason my father didn't like my ex was because she was a celebrity."

"Who?" asked Lauren.

I bit my lip and look away from her without saying anything. She might've felt my apprehension because she took my hand on the table and intertwined it with hers. I looked at her and she smiled at me.