Laurex ~ A Cinderella Story

Chapter 19: My Beautiful Princess

Lauren's POV
It happened so fast. At first, I was yelling at her and then she leaves. She leaves like the fucking coward that she is. And then I'm in someone's arms. But I didn't know who's at first until I heard a husky voice whisper in my ear.

"Princess, she left. Are you ok?" he asked me. Alex then caressed my hair and I hid my face in the crook of his neck.
"Lauren," I hear Angie say. I didn't want to get out of his hold. I didn't want to cry, but I was upset.
"Laur," I heard Jackson say. I sighed and then lifted my head out of Alex's neck. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. She's just frustrated. She knows she can't hurt me here," I said. But they all looked worried because they knew what I was hinting at.
"You can't stay at your house tonight. There's no way I'm allowing that," Taylor said.
"Ok, so where do I go?" I asked them.
"You can stay at my house tonight," Angie said.
"Are you sure?" I asked her.
"It's fine. Our mom won't mind," Jackson said.
"Are you sure?" I asked again.
"Yes, Lauren. It's fine," they told me.

I want to get out of this hospital, but the only person who can sign me out is Natasha. But that bitch is not taking me home.

"We need Natasha to sign me out," I said. "And then you can take me."
"Ok, then we need her to come back," Alex said.
"I don't know if she'll come willingly," Taylor said.
"Taylor's right, if you tell her to sign me out, she's gonna want to take me home," I said.
"We're not letting her take you home," Alex said sternly.
"Ok," I said.
"How about Alex and I go get her?" Jackson suggested.
"Um, yeah you guys can. Alex, are you ok with that?" I asked.
"Yeah, anything to get you out of here," he said.
"Ok, well we'll be right back," Jackson said.

And then they walked out of the room. I hope this goes well. I have no idea what Natasha will say or do to them. But I hope it's nothing serious.

Alex's POV
I feel a little awkward. I just met Jackson, so I'm kind of curious as to why he chose me to go with him when he doesn't know me.

"So Alex," I hear Jackson say. "How long have you known Lauren?"
"I've seen her around campus throughout the years but we started talking recently about 2 weeks ago," I replied to him.
"Oh ok. So, I heard you say you skipped your basketball practice," he said and I nodded for confirmation. "Why did you skip it?"
"Because her friends said she was in the hospital and I wanted to know if she was ok," I said.
"You couldn't wait until tomorrow at school?" he asked me.
"No, I needed to know, now. I wanted to know if my princess was ok," I said.
"Princess?" he said, sounding confused.
"That's the nickname I gave her. Lauren is my princess," I told him while smiling. 
"Lauren is a very amazing girl," he said. I know. "And she's very important to me. She's like my own sister or as I play around with her, like my daughter in a way. I love and care about her very much. Please take care of her."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"She's had a hard life and she deals with a lot of bullshit that she doesn't deserve. She deserves someone who can treat her right. Someone who won't add on more bullshit to her list," he said. He's completely right. But why is he telling me this?
"How come you're telling me this?" I asked him.
"Don't you like her?" he asked me and I froze.

Well, of course, I like her. Who wouldn't? She was so smart and hilarious and caring and insanely beautiful and-

"Alex," I hear Jackson say. And then I come out of my thoughts. "Answer the question."
"Yes, I like her," I replied.
"Then you're going to treat her right, right?" he asked me. I want to, but I don't know if I can.
"I want to, but I don't think I can. You're right, she deserves someone who can treat her like an actual princess, her prince charming. But I don't think I can be her prince charming," I said.
"Why not?" Jackson snapped at me.
"Because I can be an idiot. A huge one. And I make stupid decisions. I would never want to hurt her intentionally, but I don't want to accidentally hurt her either. It just can't happen," I said. And it seemed like he understood.
"So you're going to stay just friends with her?" he asked me.
"If that what it takes to keep her in my life. So yes, I'm going to stay friends with her," I told him. And that was the last mention of Lauren until we caught up to Natasha at her car.