Lost Inside

Cookie

Ally felt someone shake her. She groaned, opening her eyes. She sat up, and looked around. She smiled, seeing her fiancée standing in front of her. She smiled.

"Hi," Ally whispered.

Normani leaned in and kissed her gently against her lips. She sat down on the chair next to the shorter girl's.

"Where is Dinah? And Camila?"

"They went to get some lunch. Mila was hungry, you know her," Normani said, reaching over and grabbing Ally's hand. "So want to tell me what is going on?"

Ally sighed. "Mila and I were shopping, when she saw her. Mani, the girl was so, she was living off wet bread. And she was sick. We had to bring her. She's not, I don't think she's like us," Ally said, feeling all the emotions she was feeling earlier.

"Who is she?"

"All I know is that her name is Lauren Jauregui," Ally whispered, rubbing her face. She leaned over and curled up in Normani's side.

The taller girl wrapped her arm around the girl and held her close.

-

Demi started at the group. The four hadn't left since arriving. They were all huddled up. Demi sighed and walked up to them. The two that bought Lauren in, stood up. They gave her a smile.

"Hello," Demi said, extending her hand.

The shorter of the two shook her hand. "Hi. I'm Ally, these are Camila, Normani and Dinah."

"I'm Demi."

The five women stood there, in an awkward silence. No one knew where to start.

Ally took a deep breath. "Y-you said you were Lauren's neighbor. She wouldn't tell us anything. She wasn't able to pronounce things."

Demi nodded her head. "Yeah. I wasn't her neighbor for long. It was when I was younger. But I can't forget her. I don't know much about anything else."

"But you said she was your neighbor, and her parents said she ran away."

"I was in a hurry, I said what I thought. But I see do Lauren's mother every once in a while. She comes here for her check ups and I always ask about Lauren. She told me Lauren ran away and that they were trying to get her back."

"How old is she?" Camila asked, frowning.

"Sixteen," Demi said, nodding her head. "You said Lauren couldn't pronounce things, what do you mean by that?"

"She was talking like a baby."

Demi frowned. She tried to remember if Lauren had some sort of speech problem. Whenever she saw Lauren, the young girl didn't really talk. She'd just point. Demi really thought about it, and realized that there was something wrong with the girl.

"She never really talked when I knew her. But there was something weird about her." Demi's pager went off again. She looked down, seeing that a patient needed her. "I have to go. I'll visit again."

The girls nodded. Demi left to deal with her patient.

-

Dinah knew little to nothing about this Lauren. All she knew was that Camila and Ally were attached. And once those two were attached, it was over.

A doctor started to walk towards them. Ally and Camila stood up once again. Dinah and Normani stood behind them.

The doctor told them how Lauren was on the verge of pneumonia. He told them how Lauren was malnourished. He told them Lauren was going to be okay and that she was sleeping at the moment. He told them that he wanted to have a psychiatrist talk to Lauren when she woke up.

He told them how they had called child services, because Lauren was underage. He said there were signs of child abuse and that Lauren's parents were going to be checked out.

"C-can we talk to the social worker?" Ally asked, frowning.

Dinah looked over, wondering what was running through her head. She looked over at the doctor.

"I'm sure you are going to be able to do that. If you want, you can go to her room."

Dinah nodded and followed the other girls into the room.

She entered the hospital room and looked at the girl in the bed. "This is Lauren?"

Ally and Camila nodded. The two sat on either side of the girl. Normani sat next to her fiancée, and Dinah went to move next to Camila. She leaned over and kissed the girl's cheek.

Camila smiled and connected their lips together.

There was a small whine. Dinah moved away to look at the small body in the bed. She watched as Lauren opened her eyes.

Dinah knew then and there. She knew what made Ally and Camila so attached. Seeing those innocence filled green eyes, she herself was attached. She looked up at Normani to see a smile on her face, she was hooked too.

She turned to Lauren, who seemed to be more lucid. She looked around and smiled.

"'wwy, 'amiwa," she said, reaching over. Her arms were bare, and were painted with bruises.

"Hey sweetie," Ally whispered, reaching over and grabbed one arm, while Camila grabbed the other.

"'eel, 'edder," Lauren said, nodding slightly. "'ookie?"

Dinah watched as Camila reached into her bag and grabbed a packet of Chips Ahoy. She opened it and handed one to Lauren, who used both hands to eat.

Dinah felt the urge to aww, but didn't want to embarrass the girl.

"Lauren," Camila said softly, waiting for the girl to look at her. She looked over, her eyebrows arched. "Meet our friends, Normani and Dinah."

Dinah gave a small wave. "Hey Lauren."

"'nah? 'amani?" Lauren said, a question in her voice.

Dinah laughed and nodded.

Lauren stared at Dinah for a second. She then looked down at the half eaten cookie. She shoved the whole thing into her mouth. She turned to Camila. "Pee?"

Camila smiled and gave her another cookie.

Dinah could already see her future with the girl.

-

The psychiatrist closed the door and turned to the girls. "Well, I wasn't able to get much out of her. Usually, in cases like these, people have two version of themselves, a young and older one. But it seems like Lauren just has a young version of herself. We can't know everything without her parents," she said.

Normani watched everyone nod. Normani knew about Age Play. It was a guilty pleasure. She liked reading fanfiction, and some even had that. And she now knew that there was no Big Lauren, just Little Lauren. She hoped she could put her knowledge to the test.

The girls walked back into the room and looked at the sleeping girl. Her thumb was in her mouth.

The girls sat there, talking. None of them wanted to leave. It wasn't long until another woman knocked on the door. They all stood up and turned to her.

She introduced herself as the social worker and that she was in charge of Lauren's case. She told them that her parents were being investigated at the moment.

"What's going to happen to Lauren while that is happening?" Dinah asked, frowning.

The social worker sighed. "She'll have to go to a group home. She is underage."

"B-but she can't," Camila exclaimed.

"It's the way it has to be."

Normani looked at the devastated looks on the other girl's faces. She turned to the social worker. "We want to talk to you about taking Lauren home with us," she said, giving a firm nod.