Running Wild

brush your teeth before going to bed

Lauren feels like she's falling.

She feels her body hit something warm and soft, something moving underneath her, but she's too exhausted to even lift her eyes open.

She falls back asleep.

//

Normani couldn't believe what she's seeing.

When Lauren asked to meet up for another Sunday brunch earlier in the week when Lauren called her to catch up:

("It's fucking labor day after day, Mani, I'm tired."

"Okay, Lo, because writing for an newspaper article is so tiresome."

"Bitch. You don't know how my boss works. And you do remember that I also write for the online blog, right?"

"Okay, Ms. Political Rants, 10AM this Sunday, then?")

The older woman didn't expect her best friend to ditch her and not pick up her multiple missed calls when Lauren was late to picking her up.

She also didn't expect to find her best friend still asleep, dead to the world, at 1PM on a Sunday when Normani let herself in with the spare key Lauren keeps taped on top of the door jamb.

So that's how Normani saw her best friend, sleeping on the floor, and on top of a dark brown werewolf who's staring at Normani dead on with a clear look that says help me.

"Oh my god," Normani huffs, dropping her bag by Lauren's bedroom door, rolling up her sleeves and chucking her heels to the side. She comes near, sees the drool dripping off of her best friend and matting the wolf's fur. Normani visibly cringes. This is so not one of Lauren's finest moments. "Let's get you out of under there, yeah buddy?"

Camila blows out a breath. She's been wanting to use the bathroom for two hours now.

But she also could've easily thrown the human to the ground if she rolled over.

And maybe she doesn't want to give up Lauren's weight and heat pressed up against her, snuggling closer at every shift Camila does when she tried to get away. But that was like three hours ago, so.

"Come on, Lo," Normani groans, hooking both arms under her best friend's armpits, hauling her up. She feels Lauren stir slightly, the wolf under her pushing upwards to help Normani. "Sweetheart, you gotta wake up sometime this century, come on."

She props Lauren up against the side of the bed, watching the dark wolf slink from under Lauren and stretch its body near the door before it disappeared to somewhere inside of the apartment.

She hears a door close, and then the unmistakable sound of a toilet flushing. Smart, Normani thought.

"Mani?" Lauren croaked out, her limbs feeling heavy and body feeling warm from her sleep. "What're you doing here?"

Normani rolls her eyes but she reaches for the glass of water Lauren keeps on her bedside table and handing it over to her best friend, leaning back against the side of the bed as she sits next to Lauren. "Brunch, remember?"

Lauren's eyes widens. "Oh shit, Mani, I'm so sorry," Lauren quickly stands up, rushing over to her closet. "I can get ready in like ten minutes, then we can go."

"Laur, it's fine," Normani laughs, watching her best friend run back and fro from her closet, murmuring different pieces of clothing under her breath.

"No, I swear, we'll have like a late lunch, just wait for me."

Lauren exits her bedroom, sees Camila sitting at the end of the hallway, tail thumping at odd intervals by the apartment floor. The wolf turns its head to the side, a light going off on Lauren's head.