Consequences (Book 2 In Secrets Trilogy)

Bets And News

Camila's POV

"So now that Fifth Harmony is back together, I uh, I have some huge news," I said as Austin stood on the other side of the room. I looked right at Dylan. She had a knowing look in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Lauren and laid them on Lauren's stomach.
"We have an announcement after Camz's as well," Lauren said as she turned back and smiled at Dylan.
"Alright get on with it!" Dani said with a goofy smile. She was talking in a weird Scottish accent.
"Oh be quiet Danielle!" Dylan replied. We all laughed, and Dylan and I shared a look.
"Ok, so um the news is......I'm pregnant," I said. Dinah jumped up and pumped her fists crazily in the air.
"YESS!!! YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!! NORMANI YOU OWE ME 30 BUCKS!!!!!!!" She yelled. Normani handed her the money, and I just looked at her.
"Did you really bet on that?" I asked.
"Of course they did. It's Normani and Dinah," Cher said.
"True."
"So how far along are you? Do you know the gender?" Ally asked.
"Five months, and yes I know the gender," I answered.
"Well are you gonna tell us?" Maddie asked. I laughed.
"It's a girl," I said. I saw Austin scoff and walk out. Lauren looked at me quizzically.
"Do you have a name yet?" Bea asked.
"Yes I do, but I'm not telling you. You have to wait." Bea and Dinah groaned. I laughed slightly.
"Now that they're finished with their announcement, it's our turn," Dylan said.
"I'm pregnant as well," Lauren said with a huge grin on her face. "I'm three months, and we found out last week that the baby will be a boy. We're going to name him Jace Michael. We're calling him Michael because of papa."
"Why Jace then?" Normani asked. Dani smiled, and Dylan smirked. Dani stood up and clapped a hand on twin's shoulder.
"Because of my brother, well, adoptive brother," Dani said.
"Wait you had a brother?!" Jacob exclaimed. I think all of us were shocked.
"Yeah, he died 7 years ago. That was why I was in Tennessee for so long. I was trying to help Jacob and Kendal with the expenses. They didn't have enough money for his funeral, so I helped them out."
"Ah. But why didn't we know about him?" Ally asked.
"Well him and I were extremely close as kids, but when I moved, he didn't want much to do with me. He had kids and a wife of his own, so I understood that he didn't really have time. I went and saw him from time to time before he died, and it just wasn't the same between us. I-" her phone started ringing.
"Hello? Yes this is Dani......April? Hey love!........You need to come see me love! Yeah hey A, I want you to meet some people when I see you again. Do you remember Auntie Dylan and Auntie Mads?.......Yeah well you can see them if your momma lets you come stay with me........alright can you put your mom on the phone?......Ok, bye baby." She stepped out of the room, and I looked at Dylan.
"Who's April?" I asked.
"That's Jace's little girl. She's 6. Jace's wife was pregnant with her when he died. He has a boy named Leo that's 12 now. Leo had to grow up way too fast to support his mom and sister. He was only 5 when Jace died, almost 6. The worst part is that Jace died the day before Leo's birthday," Dylan explained.
"Oh that poor boy," Normani said.
"How did Jace die?" Demi asked.
"He got in a really bad car accident down in Miami. They were there for the holidays." I gasped.
"I remember them. Elijah was playing around and he ran into a little girl named April. A boy ran up to her and helped her up and he snapped at Elijah before I showed up."
"Where was Austin?" Dinah asked as she noticed that he was gone.
"He was at a club. Getting drunk, a-and......." I trailed off. I couldn't say it with the kids in the room. Demi stood up.
"Who wants ice cream?!" She exclaimed. All the kids followed her out the door.
"He hooked up with a random girl. She's got a son. He's Austin's son," I said. I fell into the seat beside me. Ally gasped, Normani's smile disappeared, Dinah got angry, and Lauren felt her way over to me. She grabbed my hand before looking me in the eyes.
"It's gonna be ok Mila. If we have to, we'll all help you raise Elijah, and your little girl," she said.
"Thanks Lolo," I smiled.
"Welcome Camz," she said as she embraced me.
"Wait, if he's never around, then how'd you get pregnant?" Jade asked. I sucked in a sharp breath.
"A-Austin.......H-He.......he r-raped me," I stammered.
"That's it," Dinah growled as she ran out of the building. I jumped up and followed her, forgetting that I had tear tracks on my face. Fans and paparazzi were everywhere.
"Camila why are you crying?!"
"Camila are you okay?!"
"Dinah, why are you so mad?!"
"Dinah where are you going?!" The fans were shouting worriedly at us. I tripped and fell, but someone caught me before I landed and hurt myself and the baby. I looked up and saw Cher. She helped me stand up, and we both ran towards wherever Dinah and Austin were. We found Austin smoking a cigarette as he leaned against the wall. He had the cigarette in one hand and a bottle of vodka in the other. I stopped short because of what happened last time he had a bottle of vodka.
~Flashback~
"CAMILA!!! GET YOUR **S DOWN HERE!!!" Austin yelled from downstairs. I quickly ran from our room to him. He had an empty bottle of vodka in his hand, and he was really drunk.
"Y-Yes?" I asked.
"Where the f**k is my god d**n coat?!" He yelled at me.
"I-it's right here baby," I said softly as I grabbed it from the closet and brought it to him. He took it and slapped me hard. I fell on the floor, and then he kicked me. A few tears escaped my eyes and trickled down my cheeks. "P-please Austin, s-stop," I begged. He laughed as he kicked me hard in the ribs.
"B**ch," he spat. I screamed in pain. I started to get up, but he grabbed my hair and threw me into the wall. "I never should have married a fa**ot like you." Thank god Elijah was with Bea tonight. He backed up and started to walk out the door, but then he turned and threw the vodka bottle at me, narrowly missing my head as it shattered into a million pieces against the wall. "I hate you, Camila Cabello," he said as he walked out. That was the one sentence that stuck in my head for the rest of my troubled life.
~End of Flashback~
"Camila, are you alright?" Cher asked me as she saw that I'd fallen on my knees. Dinah came up and was going to hit Austin. I saw the look in his eyes, and I saw him raise that bottle before he even moved. I stood up and grabbed his arm roughly. I threw the bottle out of his hand as he dropped his cigarette and put it out.
"I'm not going to let you hurt Dinah like you hurt me," I said to him. He threw me off of him, and I fell to the ground. He kicked me in the head before Cher tackled him to the ground. My vision started going blurry as I felt Dinah pick me up.
"Stay with me Mila. God stay with me Mila," she whispered as I felt her start running with Cher beside her.
"He's never going to hurt you again Camila. We're going to make sure of that," Cher assured me as my eyes started to close. The last thing I remembered is being passed into Dani's arms before the darkness took over my mind.
~~~
Dinah's POV
"Oh my god Cher what happened?!" I exclaimed after Camila had gone unconscious.
"She had a flashback. Something triggered it, and I think it was that bottle," she replied. Oh no.
"What the h**l happened?" Lauren asked.
"I was about to fight Austin, and all of a sudden Camila came in and threw a vodka bottle out of his hand, saying "I'm not going to let you hurt Dinah like you hurt me." He threw her off of him and kicked her in the head before Cher tackled him. I picked her up and started running here. What did you do with him Cher?" I explained.
"I handcuffed him to a post. I'm going back to get him," Cher replied nonchalantly.
"I'm coming with you. I'm gonna show him that he can NEVER come near my best friend again," Lauren said as she stood up.
"Lauren no. You could get hurt. He's more powerful that we thought he was. He dealt Camila a really hard blow. I don't want you or your son to get hurt too," I told her.
"I'm not gonna get hurt, it's him that will get hurt," she growled.
"Lauren no. We don't want to get you hurt, not even a chance of it, so you're staying here. How about this, I deal him some extra blows for you," Normani said.
"I want to talk to him. I don't want to fight him." I sighed. Dylan was about to protest when I spoke.
"Let her go. We'll protect her. If he so much as lays a hand on her, you can take care of him yourself Dylan."
"But Dinah-"
"No buts about it. Lauren wants to talk to him, she can talk to him. It's her choice." I walked out of the bus with Lauren before anyone could say another word. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder to guide her. She started breathing heavy when the fans and paps surrounded us, since she couldn't see them. "Give her some room!" I shouted above the shouts of the people. They cleared a pathway for us as we headed to where Austin and Cher were. When we got there, Lauren's breathing had gone back to normal. Austin looked up at her and scowled.
"What the h**l do you want?" He spat at her. She reached down and lifted him up by his shirt. Honestly, I was a little intimidated. Cher seemed like she was too.
"Listen here dumb**s. You better never lay a hand on Camila again. EVER. You hear me?! If you do, you'll regret it. Stay away from us you **shole," Lauren snapped at him. He looked at her scared.
"I'm sorry," I heard him whisper as Lauren turned to walk back to the bus with Normani, who'd just shown up. Cher looked at him, as did I.
"How can you say that when you know you hurt her not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too?" I asked quietly. I was close to tears because this had been going on for a while, and no one ever knew.
"Dinah, I never meant to hurt her. I was scared, and I felt alone. I was depressed and didn't know what I was doing. If I could take it all back, I would. I know I can't though. I hate myself for hurting her. I never should have done it, any of it. I never should have slept with that girl, I never should have hit Camila, or raped her, or any of the stuff I did. I hate myself for everything I did to her. Especially for what I did today. I hate myself so d**n much for that. I know sorry won't ever fix it, but could you please forgive me for hurting her? Both of you?" He pleaded with us. I could tell that with every word he said, he really meant it. Cher and I shared a look.
"We forgive you Austin, but why'd you do it?" Cher said.
"I-I honestly don't know. I started abusing her after the club situation, and it got worse after that. I guess I was really scared after that girl called me and told me she was pregnant, and it was my kid. Also I think I was still scared of being a father because I still wanted to be a teenager. She called me not too long ago and said she's giving him up. I can't let her do that, but I don't think Camila would ever take that child in knowing he's mine but not hers. I don't want to hurt her like that again, but I don't want him to go into foster care."
"Austin, if Camila knew all of that, she'd surely forgive you. She might take in the boy, you never know. No matter what, we'll make sure he doesn't go into foster care," I reassured him.
"Thanks girls. I just hope the others are as forgiving as you." I helps him stand up, and Cher uncuffed him from the post. We started walking back to the building with the fans shouting all kinds of awful stuff at Austin. I stopped in the middle of the crowd, stepped up on a concrete block, and whistled to get everyone's attention.
"Everyone! Stop this nonsense! Austin is a great guy. Yes he's had issues along the way, but he's a great guy nevertheless. Don't point out his flaws, you wouldn't do that with us now would you? Treat him as you would treat us. He's human just like me and you, so don't try and tear him down like he's not," I shouted. Everyone went silent as I jumped down and headed back to Austin and Cher.
"Thank you," Austin said.
"No problem dawg." We finally got back into the building, and Camila was sitting up, awake and alert. When she caught sight of Austin, she scooted back into the wall.
"Camila-" Austin started.
"Don't even speak Austin. You don't have the right to speak to her anymore," Dallas snapped. Everyone but Camila, Cher and I agreed. Cher started to get angry.
"Now listen here people. Austin has done some bad stuff recently, but he's still a great guy. He was explaining why he did everything he did to us and started to apologize. Dinah can tell you as well, he meant every d**n word. He really did. He's sorry for what he did, he knows that it's not gonna make much of a difference, but he's really sorry," she stated. Everyone looked kind of guilty. Camila stood up, wobbled before I caught her, and then with my help walked over to Austin.
"Camila I'm-" he started before she cut him off with a kiss. When they pulled away, she looked at him.
"You don't need to apologize, I forgave you right after you did it. Yes I may never be the same for fear that you'll hurt me, but I forgive you. I still love you Austin Carter Mahone," she said.
"I love you too Karla Camila Mahone," he said with a smile. We all stepped out to give them some time alone.
~~~
Two more chapters to go! I hope y'all have liked Secrets and Consequences as far as they've gone, and I hope y'all like the next book. I haven't officially decided the name, but I'm thinking of calling it College Years. Please comment what you think of that and if you have any suggestions for the book or title. Thanks guys.
YOU'RE WORTH IT
Gracie