Lauren Jauregui Imagines and Oneshots

I Need You Idiot

(converted)

Lauren's POV

I held the two small strips of photos before me, snapping a picture of them both on my phone as a tear threatened to spill from my eyelid. We'd taken them earlier that day in the photo booth at the mall, but we were so much happier then. We had more time. That's why. We had more time before Y/n would have to leave. Now we had an hour or so, and it felt so much more real.

"They're cute." She murmured, loosely hanging her arms around my neck as she leaned against my back.

I sniffed, wiped my eyes, and felt a small smile tug on my lips.

"Sorry." I muttered, wiping those reluctant tears again, "Which do you want?"

"I'll come back. You know that, don't you?" She said, craning her neck a little so she could look at me and I at her.

"I know. It's just... you're going to a freaking war zone and we're still so young. It's not right."

"It's my job." I stayed quiet. I knew it was her job, and I respected that. I had the utmost respect for her, especially because she had decided to sacrifice her own life to protect others.

Well, she might have been sacrificing her life to protect others. I thought that was what was so hard about this whole thing; that's there'd always be a maybe. Maybe she wouldn't come back. Maybe I wouldn't hear from her again. Maybe this was the last time. Every single time.

"I know." I finally breathed out. She kissed me gently on the cheek and smiled softly, sadly. I knew she was scared too. She was just too strong for her own good. She'd wanted to join the army since she was in elementary school when a boy had told her girls couldn't be soldiers after she'd wanted to join in with their game. Now look at where she was. I bet he hadn't even gotten a job yet. I bet he was still living off of his parents.

"Which do you want?" She changed the subject again, and I was grateful.

"Um..."

"I look cuter in that one." She pointed to the one on the left.

"Do you want that one then?"

"And leave you with me looking gross? Uh-uh, I don't think so, buddy." She raised a brow, her sass only in humor as she took the one on the right, examining each frame before slipping it into her pocket. I laughed.

"I love you." She told me with a reassuring tone.

"I love you too." Ah, there were those tears that refused to go away.

"Why are you crying?" She asked, resting a gentle hand on my cheek.

"Because."

"Because... what?"

"Because I need you, idiot." I playfully pushed her by the shoulders, and she laughed a little and so did I. The tears didn't stop.

"I'll FaceTime every chance that I get." She offered, and I nodded, "So you had better pick up!"

"I will." I nodded with a chuckle. "I love you so much."

Now I was almost sobbing; But who could blame me? The love of my life was leaving to go to war as a soldier in the army and we were barely old enough to drink and I'd never know when the last time I'd talk to her would be. In response, she placed a soft, lingering kiss on my lips and then smiled against them.

"I love you." I wasn't quite sure who had said it. Maybe it was both of us. Still, the alarm on her watch went off signalling that she really had to go or else she'd miss her ride to the airport and then her flight.

"I'll talk to you very soon." She assured me, already on her way out of the door, "And I'll be back in a few months!"

Hardly, she'd be back in nine at a minimum.

"I love you!" She called as the door was about to close, looking over her shoulder and making eye contact with me. And then the first sob came and I rushed upstairs to put my photos of her on the notice board where I had all the others.

She was right though. We FaceTimed at least twice a week, which didn't take long to get used to. She was getting more and more tired each time, I could tell, but sometimes she'd have incredible stories about when she had gone off base and she'd be so excited that she wouldn't care if she was staying up late to tell me. She called me during poker night sometimes and introduced me to her friends, a new one or two each week (people always came and went) and they were all nice people. The guys told me they were looking after Y/n for me. The girls rolled their eyes and promised me they were. We became friends too, all of us. We'd joke and laugh and Y/n would sometimes take her earphones so I could help her win, though the others said that was cheating. The months went by so slowly, and yet so fast. She came back early but not quite whole. She'd lost her right leg from the knee down. It took a while for her to be able to walk again, but soon she was running and working out and even dancing around the house like she always used to. She still had her bad days, don't get me wrong. She still had times that she'd get frustrated because she wasn't quite as agile as before, or because the strap wasn't tying around her leg properly, or because she'd wake up and forget and try to get out of bed only to then fall down. Of course, she still had her bad days; but she was strong and she got through them and she focused on other things instead. She joked that if she saw that boy who told her she couldn't be a soldier, she'd kick him in the balls with her metal foot; We laughed.

All I could think about since the moment she went away was how proud I was of her. How proud I still am to be able to call her mine.

Plus we get discounts on almost everything now, so that's always a positive.