Is It Worth It? (Sequel to 12th Avenue)

25

LAUREN

It's been around two weeks since I stopped messing with Natalie, my nerves have been on a thousand trying to make sure Normani doesn't find out until I tell her. This back and forth is mad tiring, I might as well just tell her now. The longer I take the worse it's gonna be.

I walk into the living room and sit next to her on the couch.

She briefly glances at me with her brow raised, "Why you look like that?"

I stare at her and tap my fingers against my knee, this is about to go completely left.

I take a deep breath and rub my forehead, "I have to talk to you about something important Mani."

She looks up at me and frowns, "What's wrong?"

I hold her hands firmly in front of me and look her in her eyes, "I want you to know I'm really sorry for what I'm bout to tell you and I need you to listen to me before you try to leave."

She gives me a tight smile and bounces our hands, "You slept with her, didn't you?"

I don't say anything but I know she knows the answer. She starts laughing and snatches her hands from mine, standing up.

"You did it, you actually did it!"

I look down and twiddle with my fingers, she laughing and shit, she ready to fuck me up.

She grabs my jaw and tilts my head back up, still laughing and smiling. "Don't punk out now baby! Tell me how many times and how long."

"A f-f-few t-times," I pause and gulp on air before clearing my throat. "Th-three months."

She backs up and nods her head, leaning on the wall.

"Congratulations Lauren, you finally broke me," She says as tears start falling from her eyes.

"Normani, I'm sorry. I mean it babe, I'm so sorry," I stand up and walk over to her, pulling her into me. "I'm sorry."

She shoves me away from her, "Don't fucking touch me."

I try to say something and she immediately cuts me off, "You played all these games with me, just for you to be actually fucking her!"

I nod my head, "I know."

I move closer to her and she nudges my head back with her finger, "Fuck you."

I grab her hand and pull it away from my head.

"Now you feel a ounce of pain? You ain't shit bitch!"

She starts pacing the floor, "And all that shit you said to me, about how oh so sorry you are?"

I rub the back of my neck, "I meant that, I haven't done anything with her since."

She wipes tears from her eyes and cheek just for more to produce, "You got me looking stupid yo. For real."

I choose to stay quiet and let her say all she has to say.

"Everything I did for you just for you to turn around and disrespect me, lie to me, and to top it all, you've been cheating on me. I was the one who held you when you was dying on the ground, I shot somebody for you! That's how much I fucking loved you, just for you to cheat on me?!"

"And you just gonna stand there like the goofy motherfucker you are and not say anything?!" She yells.

"I don't know what to say!" I yell.

She points her finger at me and wags it while glaring at me.

"See, I think you fucking with me!" She yells aggressively.

"I've barely been able to eat and sleep for the last four months from all the stress you keep causing me!"

"I'm two months pregnant Lauren, but you'd know that if you wasn't too busy throwing your dick in another bitch and actually bothered to focus on anything other than this shit you're in!" She adds.

"You're pregnant?" I ask.

I furrow my brows and run my fingers through my hair, I'm honestly speechless. She's pregnant and I've been treating her like crap? Not that it was okay to begin with but damn, that's low. This makes me feel even more terrible.

"I didn't stutter nigga," She says crossing her arms.

Even though she tried to fight me off again, I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight to me. She eventually stops trying to push me away and rests her head on my shoulder, continuing to cry.

A few tears brim my eyes and I lean my head on top of hers, "I'm sorry Mani, please don't go."

She pulls back and looks at me in a daze, within a millisecond her eyes roll back and she goes limp in my arms.