secrets ↠ demi lovato / 5h

[47]

gonna put tw for car crash footage in the trailer

I've never done anything in anyone else's POV before so this is very all very exciting jhsdgfsahgh

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late November 2014

Lauren's POV

"what the hell, guys," I said, running my hands through my hair, removing my phone from my ear as I heard the dial tone. "she was supposed to call as soon as she left. where is she?"

"Lauren," Ally said, putting her hand on my shoulder. "don't worry. maybe Demi and Naya got into a jam. you know how busy the highways can be sometimes."

"it can't be THAT busy! and they couldn't have been in a jam for that long," I said, shrugging her hand off and beginning to pace. "it's nearly been one whole hour."

I knew I was being slightly overdramatic, but Lea said that they'd be there around 11:15am, and the time had already come and gone. she wouldn't have forgotten to text me, would she? of course not. Lea never forgets things like this. what made it worse was that Camila had gone off with Brad and seemed to have forgotten that Lea was going to escape today. Camila not being here was giving me a sense of off-balance in the group, and I couldn't help but notice the one less pair of arms offering hugs and the one missing voice offering tender comforting words. part of my overreacting was the anger and frustration I had at Camila being absent at a time like this. plus, we had a show tonight, and if I couldn't straighten myself up by then, we wouldn't be performing at our best tonight. I growled at the wall I was staring at, and rolled my eyes at it before turning around to continue pacing. I could see the girls exchanging worried glances between themselves.

"c'mon, Lo," Dinah said, and I noticed her usual lack of enthusiasm. "let's go practice one more time, okay?"

with murmurs of agreement, the other girls stood up to go to a spare room to rehearse again, and Normani took my hand gently. "don't worry Lauren, maybe rehearsing will help you take your mind off this," she said softly. I managed a smile up at her and squeezed her hand.

"of course," I said as we headed after Dinah and Ally. "she'll call soon," I said, more to assure myself than anyone else.

---

I remember it so clearly. the clock on the wall struck 12:18pm, and at that very second, Skylar knocked on the door before coming in.

"girls," she said, stepping through the door and then shutting it. "I have important news for you." she hesitated for a while, then looked around, a little confused. "where's Camila?"

"with Brad," Dinah said a bit curtly. as I made eye contact with her, I realized that I wasn't the only one who was annoyed at Camila's disappearance.

"right," Skylar said. "okay. well, I thought I'd find you girls here. um, I have news," she paused again.

"what is it?" I asked, playing with my hair to try and relieve the nervousness.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Lea, Demi and Naya have been in an accident on the highway and they are now in hospital."

Ally whipped around in shock, and immediately reached out for my hand. I let my hands drop from my hair and stared at Skylar blankly.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked. my voice didn't sound like my own, and I touched my throat gingerly with my left hand.

"there were two other vehicles involved," Skylar said, sounding worried. "one of them was a black car and the driver is also in hospital. the other was a lorry, which was smashed onto Naya's car. we're not sure of the condition of that driver."

a strangled cry escaped Ally's mouth, and she clamped her hand onto her mouth. I felt myself grabbing at something for support, and Normani came to hold my hand. Skylar bit her lip before managing to attempt a reassuring smile at us, although we all knew it was forced. "when you see Camila, do me a favor and let her know about this. I'll leave you girls to rehearse now," she said quietly, and exited.

"thanks, Sky," Dinah called after her as the door clicked shut.

"I'm fine," I blurted out as soon as Ally started to pet my hair out of habit by means of comfort. "really, it's okay. they're gonna be fine. the doctors are trained and shit. it's okay." I ran my fingers through my hair again. "don't worry," I said hurriedly. "right. we don't need to worry. they'll take care of the three of them. it's all good. yeah."

the other three girls looked visibly shaken, Ally nearly on the brink of tears. after a deep breath, Normani put a smile on. "Lauren's right, girls. they're going to be okay. the doctors will know how to help, and they'll be out and about in no time."

Dinah cast her eyes downwards, and Ally sniffled, rubbing her hand over her nose.

"let's get back to practice, okay?" Normani asked.

slowly, we resumed our spots on the floor, leaving an obvious gap where Camila was supposed to be. with an exasperated and slightly shaky sigh, I began the harmony for Miss Movin' On, and the other girls joined in.

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12:33pm.

I wasn't feeling good. I had gone out of tune three times already and missed my part as well. what made it worse was that no one was filling in for Camila, so it was easier to miss out on my cues. and the last time Camila wasn't at rehearsal, it was Lea who had taken her place.

when I missed my fourth cue and the girls stopped singing, I stepped out to face them. "guys, I cannot."

they looked over, concerned.

"my voice. it's, like, shut." I swallowed back the tears that were threatening to spill over.

as the girls crowded around me, Ally and Dinah reaching out to touch me, Dinah tried to reassure me. "it's alright. you're going to do great." Normani started stroking my right shoulder, and that made me even more aware of the hands that were missing.

Camila's.

"but today's like a really bad day for me and I just-" with that, I burst into tears, my hands reaching up to shield my eyes as the tears made their way down my cheeks.

"I know, I know, I know, I know," the girls murmured as they pulled me gently into a group hug. I sobbed into Dinah's shoulder as the girls rubbed my back and cuddled into my sides. Normani put her head on my left shoulder and whispered "it's going to be okay" over and over as Ally stroked my arm.

"we're gonna get through this okay?" Ally said. "we can do it, we're going to get through this like we always do. and if you're not up for singing now, she-" she pointed a thumb at Normani. "can help you with your parts, okay?" Normani nodded and Dinah rubbed my hands as comfortingly as she could. I took a few deep, raggedy breaths and I couldn't help but drag my arm across my eyes, wiping away the tears and smudging all of my eye makeup in the process.

"and if not, we'll stop rehearsal, okay?" Dinah chimed in. I nodded tearfully.

"hold on, just give me one moment," I said, and the girls let go.

seizing the opportunity, I ducked under Dinah's arm and made a run for it, wrenching the door open and running down the hall.

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A/N:

poor Lauren odngdfhjljdk

sorry for Camila's absence in this chapter, but it will fall together soon.

I read all of your comments on the trailer, and they made me so incredibly happy. I'm glad you guys liked it, and if you'd like me to make more trailers then let me know! I enjoyed making it, so I'd definitely be making more anyway.

it's now 2:05am so I'm going to end this here, but I LOVE YOU GUYS so UNBELIEVABLY much and your support truly means the world to me.

xoxo