"No no no," Lauren shook her head, laughing again. "You-" she palmed her forehead, laughing harder. "I didn't kill anyone, Sade."
"Oh," sighing in relief, Sade shook her head. Lauren chuckled again at her. "Well good, because on second thought, I wasn't sure if we should burn it or make it look like someone else did it." Lauren threw her head back, cackling, and Sade giggled. "I'm serious! It'd probably depend on how bad the damage was I think-"
"You seriously thought that out in a matter of seconds?" Lauren humorously asked, and Sade shrugged.
"Well, you gotta act fast- or else, you get caught, so-" Lauren chuckled, shaking her head again. "But since you didn't, all's good....." She then paused, the humor fading as she realized it could be something really serious. "Hey whatever it is, babe, I promise it'll be fine..."
Thumbs rubbed the back of Lauren's hand, and she dropped her head, drawing a breath. Sade eyed her patiently, and subconsciously wondered what it could be that she was so afraid to speak on. The two shared everything, so it worried her that Lauren could be keeping something from her, and was scared to tell her.
"You cheating on me?" She asked, though she was hardly serious. Lauren threw her head back in laughter again,
"Hell no-"
"Got a kid I don't know about?"
"Sade-"
"You in the mafia?..."
"No," Lauren giggled.
"Oh my God, are you secretly royalty or something? I forget they still have monarchies in Europe-"
"Sade!" Lauren exclaimed a laugh, squeezing her girlfriend's hands. Eyeing her still, Sade smiled teasingly,
"Okay, well what is it?" she chuckled. "I'll keep guessing if you don't just tell me-"
"Micah was beating on me..."
Silence instantly fell throughout the room, leaving only the soft music playing on the TV.
Though she'd known, her face fell at Lauren's words. And dreading Sade's response, Lauren continued,
"H-he was nice...at first... and the next thing I knew, he'd slapped me because I asked one too many questions about his whereabouts..." Tears pooled her eyes as she thought about the series of emotions that coursed through her the very first time he'd struck her. "He apologized immediately after...saying he was just a little tense and would never do it again. Even bought me roses and took me shopping the next day. And for a while, he didn't....until one of his guy friends hit on me at a club one night, and he blamed me...said I just wanted attention and should stop being such a whore.... I called him an asshole," she laughed dryly, shaking her head. "Boy was that the wrong move..."
Sade did everything in her power to hold back the tears threatening to brim her eyes, though her heart ached at the words Lauren spoke.
"At first, I never thought I could take being punched in the face, especially not by a man, and not one of his size anyway.... But somehow, I did...." Trailing her eyes to her lap, she played with Sade's fingers, then took a breath. "He'd beat on me, throw things at me, throw me at things, talk down on me...have his way with me..." At the last part, Sade tried her hardest not to shift uncomfortably or do anything to stop Lauren from continuing, though she felt sickened. "And to top it all off, he'd gone from telling me he was sorry and wouldn't do it again, to saying that I deserved it... that I shouldn't have been so stupid, and that I was hardly worth anything anyway, so I should be glad he was putting up with me," Lauren muttered, her voice now cracking as she began to break down.
Chapter 73
Start from the beginning
