Serendipity // Camren

Chapter 34

Mike's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Camila smirked and unflinchingly met his gaze, fighting against Lauren who was trying to pull her back. It was false bravado, but she wasn't going to give Mike Jauregui the joy of seeing her scared. "Oh, I do. And, might I say, that I also find it highly amusing that you're standing in the parking lot of a strip club, where you have obviously been inside drinking like a fish, by the smell of you, preaching about morality."

"I'll show you morality," Mike growled, clenching his fists and taking a step toward the little brunette.

That step forward was the wrong move, because it was just the thing Zayn had been waiting for. He lashed out, connecting a solid jab to Mike's chin and knocking the man out cold. "Goddamn," Zayn said, smiling as he shook out his hand. "I've been wanting to do that for years."

"Shit, Z," Lauren hissed, dropping Camila's hand so she could take his hand into her own to inspect the damage. "Did you break anything?"

Zayn wiggled his fingers tentatively and hissed at the pain. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but it was totally worth it to finally get a shot in at Mike. "Don't think so," he said, as movement from the direction of the club caught his attention. "Aww, fuck. Here comes trouble."

"What's going on here?" the club's bouncer asked as he approached the group. He'd watched the altercation taking place, but had been too far away to hear what was being said. He had only reacted once the younger man dropped the older one with a single punch.

"Nothing, now," Zayn answered, taking his hand back from Lauren so he could face the bouncer. "Look, this man verbally assaulted my friends and looked like he was going to try and attack them, so I hit him. It was self-defense."

"How do you know he would actually hit them?" the bouncer asked skeptically, as he tried to figure out whether or not he needed to call the cops. Brawls in the parking lot were rare, because Felicity brought in a higher class of clientele, but he had seen enough to know that if it was straight-up assault, that he needed to call in the cops.

Lauren groaned. This was so not something she wanted to come out. But, if she was going to keep Zayn out of jail, she needed to explain. "He knew, because it wouldn't be the first time that man had hit me."

"He's her father," Camila added quietly, wrapping her arms around Lauren's waist and holding her tight.

The bouncer looked at Camila and Lauren, finally placing where they looked so familiar from, and down to Mike. He considered himself to be a good judge of people, and he knew that they weren't lying. In which case, the older man on the ground got exactly what he deserved. He nodded resolutely. "Alright. Will he press charges?"

Lauren shook her head. "No. He's not going to want any of this to come out."

Mike groaned on the blacktop.

"How you feeling, sir?" the bouncer asked Mike.

"Like shit," Mike groaned. "Is that bastard still here?"

"You bet your ass I am," Zayn answered. "You wanna go for round two?"

Mike sat up and shook his head.

"Didn't think so. You only like boxing matches where you're bigger and stronger," Zayn taunted. "Get in a cab and go home. Leave Lauren and Camila alone."

"You can't tell me what to do," Mike grumbled as he slowly got to his feet. He brushed his clothes off and finally lifted his gaze to Lauren's. "You're dead to me."

Lauren placed her hands over Camila's on her waist. "Good," she said, staring Mike in the eye to prove that she meant it.

Mike nodded and spat in her direction, before he turned and started back toward the club, muttering about getting another drink and calling a cab.