Love Me (Normani)

Chapter 10

"I'm coming with you to get your things by the way." Normani turned around when Lauren spoke, finding a hoodie to wear outside. It was 8am, and they had yet to eat. Lauren, at least. "You don't have to do that.." Normani sniffed. "Hey, what'd I say?" Lauren put a hand on her arm. "I'll always be here. If something happens to you then I'll never forgive myself." Something else you mean. Normani watched as the girl put on her hoodie and took her right hand supportively. "We'll be there and back before we know it, they won't notice I'm gone. And my Mom knows we're together. Stop worrying." Lauren said, reading the girl's mind as worry was painted on her face. "Right. Okay." Normani followed the stairs down and together they walked down the many streets to the girl's house. "Do you have your keys with you?" "Yeah." Normani mumbled, rummaging through her pocket to get them. She opened the door and almost screamed when she came face to face with her mother. "Good, you're back. Come and eat your breakfast, I put it in the oven so it wouldn't get cold. Sit down." Lauren appeared and stood in front of her friend protectively. "She's come to collect some stuff since she's staying with me for a few days, and she's not doing anything she doesn't want to." "Lauren," Andrea laughed. "She's my daughter, she needs to eat." "With all due respect Mrs Hamilton, she's my friend, and I know she needs to eat. But it's obviously not as simple as that." Normani watched admirably with tears in her eyes as Lauren stood up for her. "Go up then. I'm sick of the sight of seeing you like this." Andrea said, turning away from the two and going to the kitchen. Normani looked at her feet and sighed. Sick of the sight of me full stop, right? "C'mon, let's go grab your things." Normani nodded and went in front of Lauren, going to her room. Normani told Lauren to wait on her bed while she got her makeup bag and toothbrush. Aka her bag of purging supplies, makeup, both of her toothbrushes and gum. "Got enough there?" Lauren laughed lightly, hiding her suspicion. Normani rolled her eyes and covered it up with a comment. "Hey, this pretty face takes time." Lauren half smiled and nodded. "Guess you got me there. But you're always beautiful." Normani stood silent for a second, she didn't know what to say. So Lauren cleared her throat and looked around the room. "So we've got all that, clothes, etcetera, is there anything else you need?" Both girls heard her mother shout "Yeah! Some fucking food!" upstairs and Normani swallowed dryly. "Mani.." Lauren started but Normani cut her off dejectedly. "Let's just go." But she didn't move for a moment. As if she was lost in her head. Lauren sighed and wrapped her arms around Normani's stomach from behind, biting her lip at how much weight she'd lost. She shook the thought out of her head and rested her head on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" Normani leant her head back against Lauren's shoulder and sighed. "No, but I wanna get out of here." Lauren let go and kissed her cheek. "Come on. We'll drop your stuff back at mine and go somewhere." She said vaguely. Normani didn't need to know they'd be getting food and freak out about it prior. The moment that Normani caught sight of iHop, her breathing sped up, she was having a panic attack. Lauren was surprised at the extreme reaction and immediately comforted her. "Mans, Mani, breathe. Breathe with me, okay? Look at me." I can't breathe. I have to eat. This is a restaurant, there's food here. There's so much food here. Lauren took Normani's hands and looked straight into her eyes. "Normani I promise you don't have to eat anything if you don't want to. You can just have a bottle of water, you need to stay hydrated at least." Normani gulped and nodded, calming down slightly. "Gimme a hug, I want a hug." Lauren pouted, knowing it would cheer the girl up. Normani took a calming breath and gave Lauren a hug, making both girls smile. "Let's go in, I'm hungry." Me too. You have no idea.. Lauren noticed how Normani scanned the menu slowly, she wanted to eat. You could tell. Anyone could tell, it was obvious. But something was holding her back, herself. Lauren didn't speak, she didn't offer to get her something. It would be too much, Normani would immediately reject the idea and forget it as a whole. She had to let her decide herself. Lauren was on her phone, but she looked up when her friend spoke softly. "S-salad doesn't have much in it, right?" Lauren shook her head. "C-can I have a small salad? Is that..is that okay?" Lauren nodded gently with a small smile. "Absolutely fine." As if on cue, a peppy waitress appeared at their table. "Hi guys! What can I get you today?" Normani winced at how loud she had spoken. It felt like she had shouted her words out, she had a bad headache. Lauren told the girl their orders and smiled at Normani reassuringly, noticing how she held her head. "I have some Advil on me, do you want some?" Normani nodded, but the action made her vision double. "God, yes please Lo." Lauren delved into her hoodie pocket and popped out two pills for the girl. Their drinks then came to the table. Normani's being a glass of water with ice, Lauren with an orange juice. Lauren handed Normani the two pills and gestured to the water. "Here you go." Normani swallowed them and took a few gulps of water, smiling slightly at her friend. "Thanks." Lauren smiled back, she looked up and her smile widened, waving someone over to their table. "Heads up." Normani frowned in confusion and accidentally locked eyes with Dinah. "Shhhhit." She hissed. "Hi Lauren, hi Mani." "Dinah." Normani mumbled. "Hey, what're you doing here?" Lauren reached one arm out and hugged her briefly. "Hmm, well lets see, probably the same reason you guys are, getting breakfast." Lauren rolled her eyes. "Mani, uhm, how are you?" "What do you care?" Normani said bitterly. "What? I care." Dinah said defensively. "You stopped calling, you never texted." "I changed my number." "You didn't visit either." Dinah sighed. "Okay, I can't excuse that. I guess I just didn't know what to do." "You didn't bother to try." Normani said, choking up slightly. "I did! I called for weeks and you didn't answer! You pushed me away!" Lauren coughed awkwardly and tilted her head sharply in the opposite direction. "Better find a table Dinah, it's getting busy. Don't wanna make a scene and miss breakfast." "Whatever." Dinah said under her breath. Lauren looked over at Normani apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't know anything had happened between you two." Normani shrugged simply and looked down at her lap. Their food came, and Normani only picked at her salad. She didn't eat at all, much to Lauren's dismay. She guessed it was because she got upset from her minor argument with Dinah. Lauren paid and asked for a box for her salad, just in case she might eat it later. Normani stood behind her quietly and stared at the floor. She felt so guilty. Lauren wrapped an arm around Normani's back and pulled her into her side. "Don't worry about it Mans." She said, kissing her temple reassuringly. "I'm sorry, I wasted your money." "It's alright." Lauren smiled softly. Maybe you'll eat it later, she thought to herself.