My Best Friend's Girl - Laurmani

5

The night came quickly and Normani was sitting on the porch waiting for Lauren to come out of her room. They were headed to one of the nearby wineries for dinner and Normani dressed smart-casual in her dark jeans and purple dress shirt. She found herself imagining what would have happened if this was a date and Normani had the chance to truly sweep Lauren off her feet. Before she got too caught up in the fantasy she quickly shook the thoughts away and told herself that she was just spending the night with a friend. This little speech worked until Lauren stepped from the house and Normani's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

She was dressed smartly in a black cocktail dress that came inches above her knees and showed off her lean legs. The dress was strapless and showed of Lauren's large breasts, black high heeled pumps completed her look. Her black hair was wavy and fell around her face, framing it beautifully, Normani had to mentally slap herself to keep from staring.

"Wow," was all Normani managed to mumble, her vocabulary suddenly lost.

"Thanks, you look good yourself," Lauren said with a blush.

"Uh... Thanks. You really look, wow, just wow," Mani said and blushed at her lack of ability to form proper words.

Lauren kissed Normani's cheek as a thank you and accepted the proffered arm. For the first time in a long time she felt wanted and cherished, like she was the most beautiful woman in the world. She slipped into the passenger seat of the Audi S4 and smiled at the chivalrous behaviour that Mani always showed.

The drive to the farm was quick and the two women chattered away, barely leaving a moment of silence between the two on the drive. They were finally comfortable in each other's company again and the night seemed promising. Once inside the venue Mani made sure to stay by Lauren's side and introduce her to everyone they came across. A young brunette approached Lauren and looked her over with a sly smile.

"So, you must be Normani's date. Let me guess, just a friend because you are probably dating Ty right? Yeah I kind of figured, Mani can't keep a girl because she is too obsessed with that farm and her own self gain," the brunette sniped.

Lauren looked at her in shock, "actually Mani and I have been dating for a month now. I have never been this happy in my life, she is such an amazing person and she knows exactly how to make me smile."
(A/N I'm sorry but I think Lauren's stare will make me hella nervous like it just feels like she can stare into my soul and know all of my secrets, I cannot handle it.)

"Wait, you are dating Normani Kordei? You must be a real idiot just wait until she starts with her little drug habit again and becomes abusive," she retorted easily and tried to get a reaction from Lauren, but the raven's face remained impassive.

"She won't ever be abusive toward me, because she knows that what we share is more important than some temporary high. I am sorry to hear that you couldn't keep someone as intelligent as her interested," Lauren smiled and walked off toward Normani, wondering what the brunette was talking about.

"What did Nicky have to say?" Mani asked when Lauren reached her.

"Apparently you have a drug habit and become abusive," Lauren responded easily and hooked her arm around Normani's waist, "oh, I told her we were dating."

Mani laughed and looked down at Lauren, her eyes betraying a deep sadness, "that probably pissed her off."

Lauren started leading them outside before she spoke, "so do you have a drug habit?"

"When I met her I did, yes. But I never abused her in any way, she was the one who introduced me to drugs and when Ty came to my rescue and sent me to rehab she started spreading those rumours to try and clear her name. I have never been able to find a girl whom she hasn't convinced about my drug habit and abusive streak, so I stopped dating entirely," Mani shrugged.

"Well, I didn't believe her for one second. You are too good for someone like her anyway," Lauren hugged Mani briefly and smiled into the brown eyes.

"Thanks, but yeah, I owe Ty my life and I would never do anything to hurt him," Mani said when the touch became too comfortable for her.

"I understand," Lauren smiled.

So it is purely out of guilt that she pushes it all away, Lauren thought and smiled at finally understanding the complex friendship between her boyfriend and Mani.

The rest of the night passed quickly, they danced and shared stories with some people from neighbouring farms. By the time the party ended Lauren was quite buzzed and feeling braver than she had all day. The drive went by in silence and when they walked into the house Mani quickly said goodnight and disappeared to her room. Lauren was too tempting and Mani was afraid that she wouldn't be able to resist the small woman.

Lauren stared after the retreating figure, wondering why she had walked away so suddenly and trying to deal with the urge that she had to kiss the tall woman again. She slowly walked into her room and a sense of dread suddenly filled her at the thought of leaving the following day.