*****Normani's POV*****
I walked to the bathroom to go check on Lauren, but that was a mistake. I ran into something I wasn't prepared to hear. "I guess.... I might like Normani" I heard Lauren say, and I gasped. I didn't know what to do. When she turned and saw it was me, I got scared....so I just ran.And I had no intention of turning back.I ran back to Ally and Camila, grabbing my jacket and scrambling to put my shoes back on. "What's wrong manibear?" I heard Ally say. "I'm going back to the house, I don't feel good" I lied. I hated lying to my girls, but I had to get out of here. "Do you want one of us to-" I cut Camila off. "I'm fine, bye". And just like that, I was gone. I had to get home before Lauren. That was my main priority right now.
I had a lisense, so I took the car back, the one that me and Lauren rode in, back to the hotel. I jumped out the car the minute I got there, and I ran up to my room at the speed of light. I locked the door and then sat with my back against it, head in my hands. "no No NO! This can't be happening. This is all just a bad dream. This can't happen to me" I rambled on, trying to sort out my thoughts. This wasn't supposed to happen to me. I was gonna meet a nice guy and get married and have kids and make my parents proud. I couldn't now. Not after what Lauren just said.
It's not that I'm not okay with homosexuals, I'm fine with them. I absolutely love Mila and Dinah. I was fine with the fact millions of our female fans had crushes on us. That was all okay. The fact that Lauren had a crush on me was so much different than the rest of those. Laurmani was the least popular ship, and I thought ships were just there to make the fans happy. I just couldn't deal with the fact that she liked me. It was just too much for me to handle.
My phone rang and I picked up when I saw that it was Ally, "H-hello?" "What happened Normani? Why is Lauren here crying?" she asked me, and I felt my heart break. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. She didn't deserve to be hurt. She deserved someone who could give her the world, and I knew that couldn't be me. As much as we both wanted it to be. Wait.....what?
"Normani!" Ally yelled, pulling me back out of my trance. "Y-yeah?" I stuttered through my newly falling tears. "What happened between you guys?" "I can't do this ally. I got to go. Tell Lauren....." I stopped when I said her name. "Tell her what sweetheart?" ally said calmy. "Don't tell her anything. I don't even know what to say. I'm a bundle of messed up emotions right now, and I just can't do it". "We're coming home Mani" Ally said. "Okay, but let Lauren know that I just can't see her right now". "Okay, we'll be home in a mintue" she said, and then hung up. And the minute she did, I could no longer hold back the stream of tears.
*****Lauren's POV*****
I was in the backseat of the car with Camila holding me while I cried like a baby. "I-i nev-ver wanted th-this to happen Camz. She wa-wasn't supp-p-posed to know" I stuttered, and Camila just shushed me. "Shh Lolo, I know sweetheart. I know it hurts Lauren" she said, running her fingers through my hair. I don't know why I was more upset: Because she knew? Because I couldn't use Tony to get over my feelings? Or because she ran away? Whatever it was, but it sucked either way.
I knew I had a small little crush on Mani for a while, but the crush got bigger. I tried to distract myself, so that's why I started showing interest in Tony. I thought he could keep me from falling for Mani, but it didn't work. I fell for her more and more everyday. I knew it wasn't going to be like Mila and Dinah. They were lucky, but I didn't get that luck. Mani just didn't feel the same, and she never would.
I clinging onto Camila and I had my head burried into her shoulder, crying hard. I was crying so hard I was losing my breath and coughing. "Awww, my little Lolo" Camila said, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "I know sweetheart, it hurts right now. But I promise you it will get better. It just takes time" she said. "I don't want time, I want manibear" I whined like a little kid" I said, breaking down again when I was done talking. And then we pulled up to the apartment. "C'mon Lolo, we gotta get packing" Camila said, grabbing my hand and leading me out of the car.
When we get inside, I saw Mani nowhere. "Normani?" I yelled as I started to look around for her a little bit. I was about to go knock on her door, but I felt someone grab my hand and stop me. "She doesn't want to see you Lo" said Ally, who I'm assuming grabbed my hand. "Let's go pack and give her some space" .
I felt tears start to well up in my eyes, and I just collasped in front on the door. I sat on knees in front of the door, my forehead pressed to it. "Mani" I said, and I heard something shift against the door. "I'm so sorry you had to find out like this. I never really even wanted you to know. I knew something like this was going to happen, and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin our friendship. I know this a lot for you to take in, especially right before we're about to go on a tour. I know you probably don't even want to look at me, or be listening to my voice, but I just have to tell you".
I took a deep breath and decided it was time to formally confess my feelings. "What you heard in the bathroom was true Mani, I do like you. I have for a little while, and that was me admitting it to myself in the bathroom. Please don't feel pressured to pretend you like me or give in to my feelings to make me happy. You don't have to like me back. I'll understand. No matter what happens, can we still be friends?" I was hopeful she would still want to be friends, but I didn't get the reply I wanted.
"I just can't Lauren" she stated plainly. "You can't what Mani?" "I can't give you an answer to any of that right now. We'll have to talk in a little while" she said. "How long is a while?" "We can talk about this after the tour".
