From Outer Space

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

''Laur, you okay?'' Normani asks her friend, giving her a quick side glance before looking back at the road again.

Lauren gulps as she looks up from her phone to her friend, but looking back at her phone again quickly. She clears her throat nervously, while she tries her best to stay as calm as she can.

''Yeah. Fine. Just a text from Camz.'' She answers, the lie rolling off her lips before she even realizes what she's saying. Normani just hums, probably not that curious to the texts her friends share with each other.

Lauren tries to keep her chest from heaving too quickly, trying to swallow away the lump in her throat, trying to wipe her sweaty hands on her jeans. Her thoughts are spinning out of control and there are emotions coursing through her that she can't even name.

She turns her head to the window and closes her eyes, hoping that Normani won't notice her rising panic attack. A shaky breath leaves her lips when she tries to organize her thoughts.

Brody has texted her.

Kyano is unharmed. For now, that is.

Brody is asking her to meet him at their special place. She has to come alone.

Lauren gulps again while her mind starts spinning. 'Their special place'. She shakes her head, what the hell is he talking about? They don't have a special place, at least not somewhere that has a significant meaning to her. She went to some cabins near a lake with him so many years ago. All she remembers is the cabin was from an uncle of his, but she can't remember for the life of her where that was.

She takes a few deep breaths to try and steady her heartbeat. Aside from the fear she feels from receiving that text from her former best friend and the father of her child, she feels so much worry. If she doesn't listen to him now, he might hurt her little boy. And that's when her mother instincts kick in. No matter what happens, she will not let Kyano get hurt. There's just no way she would ever let that happen.

But then her heart breaks. Choosing to meet Brody to try to get her son back means leaving Camila behind. If she chooses to get their son, she leaves her girlfriend with no clue of where she went. Whether she's alright or what even happened. Losing Lauren and losing Kyano would shatter Camila into so many pieces that Lauren is not sure if she could ever repair herself again.

Even if Lauren would be able to come back to Camila with Kyano by her side, there would be a major hole punched in Camila's trust and faith in Lauren and in their relationship. Leaving Camila out of this decision and keeping het in the dark could possibly ruin them.

She feels her heart break at the thought of losing Camila. After everything that happened, they finally managed to be together again, trust each other again, and with one choice that could all be ruined in just a second.

Tears are threatening to fall while her hands start to shake. She takes a deep breath in and reaches her hand out weakly to turn the volume of the music up. A relieved breath leaves her lips when she hears Normani singing along to the song, her full attention on the road in front of her.

With her best friend distracted, Lauren has the chance to focus on keeping herself from falling apart completely. This text message has been the only sign they've been given these last few days and Lauren just has to hold on to this tiny straw of hope and never let go. They haven't been this close to get to Kyano before. She's so close...

But is it wise to keep this to herself? Would it really be that smart of a decision to keep this from everybody that's trying to help them? If nobody knows about this, there's nobody that could possibly come help her and Kyano once she's with Brody. But if she does share this with Camila or her friends, or even the police and Brody has even the slightest feeling of being lied to by Lauren, chances are that Kyano is going to get hurt.