There's Always Tomorrow (Prequel to BWYDT)

Chapter 3

A/N: Alrighty. Chapter 3.

Thank you all so much for reading. Enjoy!

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Adrianne, for as much as she fought it, was already in love. She couldn't help it and even tried not to be, but she was. I guess it kind of helped that her gaydar went into overdrive when Lauren was around, but the raven-haired still wasn't admitting anything and Adrianne wasn't ready to push for that just yet. She may not have been the most patient... no, scratch that. She wasn't patient at all, but that still wasn't something you pushed someone into accepting. She just hoped to be around enough that once the raven-haired did accept it, so she could be there to support her and... other things. Still, the more time she spent helping Lauren, which was as much as she possibly could, it was getting harder and harder for her to resist.

Even now, six weeks after they met, Adrianne was having to busy her eyes on the computer screen before them to keep from staring at her secret crush. Or she at least hoped it was a secret crush. Adrianne had always prided herself on choosing girlfriends based on personality, not just appearance, having been subject to 'You're pretty. Let's date. I don't care that we have nothing in common.' scenarios before. But Lauren was beautiful and she couldn't help but notice. There was an elegance to her, a grace, but somehow within all of that controlled movement, there was a peaceful, calmness to her presence. It was hypnotizing to the brunette.

However, being so wrapped in Lauren's presence gave Adrianne an even greater understanding of her. Lauren had always told her about her internal struggle between reliving what she's always known and letting herself be free to be herself, but Adrianne could even see the changes between the two now. It was in the eyes mostly. They were dead when she was restricting herself. But when she was free, they smiled at the world and made you smile with them. Seeing something as naturally beautiful as that occur and then fade away, left Adrianne just as frustrated with Lauren's indecision as Lauren was herself.

"I actually really like this one." Adrianne teased, pointing to a very unattractive face that one of the guests was making from their latest job. It had been the second wedding that they covered together.

"Well, that's why you take a lot of pictures. You're never going to capture everything you want in a single one. Each one shows something different. Whether that is an unflattering facial expression or that tiny, normally hidden expression of a truly touching emotion."

"You're deep, you know that?" Adrianne asked, turning to look at the side of her friend's face. "You should show that side of you more often."

Lauren was still lost in her survey of the photos, completely oblivious to the admiring gaze of the brunette. "Do you now? Because I think that people will just see me as a freak that they can't relate too."

"Their loss then. But a great gift for those who can. Why are you so caught up in what other people think anyway?"

The raven-haired took a deep breath and let it out slowly through her nose. "It's a habit and fear that I was raised with. You can get what you want as long as you appeal to the person that has it. But if you aren't what they want... it might as well be the end of the world."

"What about what you want?" Lauren snapped out of her daze and met Adrianne's eyes. "You say that you aren't happy, but you continue to do what doesn't make you happy, the very thing that you ran away from... why?" That was the question Lauren had been asking herself for so long but never bothered to answer. "What would make you happy? What is one thing you want that you don't think you're supposed to have?" Yeah... that's not pushing at all.

"I don't know," Lauren stated plainly, turning her attention back to the computer. She didn't even try to think about the question because she knew she would never try for whatever it was anyway.