Pure Innocence (Lauren/You)

Chapter 12

Several minutes later, the doorbell had rung causing me to stand without a second thought. It seemed that my body was moving on its own accord; I wasn't thinking about anything that I was doing. I made sure my wallet was in my back pocket before I opened the door to a high school teenager seemingly uninterested. I grabbed the pizza out of his hands and set it on the small desk laying in the hallway to the living room. I handed him the money and as I signed the receipt, I heard his voice for the first time. "Oh, Big Mouth, I love that show." He commented as he looked in the direction of my TV. I turned around in my spot to see that was the name of the cartoon playing before I faced the teenager once more. I gave him a tight-lipped smile with a nod of my head as I handed him the receipt back, quickly closing the door after thanking him to avoid more conversation.

That was the last thing I wanted, and I wasn't going to torture myself anymore than I had o so that we could talk about some bullshit TV show that I didn't even know what was going on with. I grabbed the pizza from the desk and made my way into the kitchen so that I could get out two plates and some drinks for Lauren and I. Without thinking about the motions, I served the two of us before slowly heading upstairs to find Lauren. When I reached my room, I saw the younger girl on the bed as she colored, music softly playing off my laptop that she managed to steal when she first began staying here. Usually the sight of her raven hair and green eyes would send my heart into a frenzy, but now it only made my chest feel like it was closing in on itself from the constriction. Lauren's sadness correlated with my own, and I knew she deserved so much better than I could ever give her.

"Lauren, dinner is ready." I called out in order to stop myself from dwelling on what I wasn't able to provide for Lauren. The shorter girl didn't even flinch at my voice. Instead, she kept on coloring as if nothing else was transpiring around her. "It's pizza." I spoke as if that would really make a huge difference in getting her to eat. When she still hadn't moved, I sighed to myself. "Lauren, you have to eat." My voice came out stronger than before, indicting that I was serious. I hadn't ever rose my voice at Lauren and she seemed to take notice as she finally looked up to meet my eyes, her hand stilling on the paper she was coloring on. It seemed like this had been the first time Lauren had looked into my eyes in years, but which only had been a couple of days if that. I missed the sight of her eyes looking into my own.

"I'm coloring." Lauren stated as if it was the most simple thing in the world. After that, she had looked back down at the sheet so that she could continue coloring. My jaw clenched subconsciously when she didn't listen to me. I stepped out of the doorway and into the room so that I could make my way to the bed. Once I was close enough, I grabbed the paper from underneath Lauren, holding it up in the air when the shorter girl tried to reach for it. "Hey! Give it- Give it back!" She yelled out while trying to grab the paper from my hand. I easily kept it out of her grasp by holding it behind my back. "I'm- I'm coloring!" I shook my head in frustration as the raven haired girl continued to take her page back.

"You have to eat first." I scolded so that she would eat. Lauren didn't comment on my command, instead she continued trying to take her page. I stepped away and went to make my way downstairs, but a loud cry caught my attention. I turned back around to see that Lauren had thrown herself back on the bed, loud cries ringing throughout her small body as her back faced me. I sighed at the sight, the sound also breaking my heart. I never wanted to be the reason she cried but I had no choice. "Lauren, you can come back and color as soon as you're done eating, I promise. But you have to eat first." I tried to reason but she wasn't taking the bait. "Please!" My voice came out exasperated.

The shorter girl's cries only sounded even louder throughout the room, but now she started flailing her limbs to hit the bed in the process. I left the room, not able to hear her cries for much longer; it hurt me too much physically and emotionally to subject myself to hearing more of that. I set the piece of paper down on the coffee table before grabbing a plate and a drink for Lauren to put on counter where we would eat. After that was set up, I went back to the room where Lauren was still throwing her fit. I managed to dodge her arms and legs so that I wouldn't find myself getting hit before I wrapped my arms around her waist, lifting the shorter girl above my shoulder so that I could carry her down towards the dining room.