*4 weeks later*
Lauren felt a sharp pain in her back as she woke up and turned to find Taylor's knee against it. Sleeping with her little sister the past couple weeks had been almost unbearable. Lauren had forgotten how much Taylor moved around at night when she slept; the worst night was in Cuba when she literally kicked Lauren off the tiny bed they shared in their families house. Taylor still somehow managed to be all over Lauren even now as they shared a queen sized bed in their hotel in Jamaica. Lauren sat up and straightened out her sisters body; on top of the fact she moved around like a mad woman, Taylor was a very deep sleeper, so she had no idea she was bugging Lauren. She hadn't even budged a muscle as Lauren moved her.
Lauren picked up the teddy bear Zayn gave her off the bed and stood up, seeing that Chris was also still sleeping. She grabbed her phone off the nightstand before making her way to the balcony of the hotel room she was sharing with her siblings. She closed the sliding glass door behind her and sat down on one of the chairs. Lauren squeezed the teddy bear and inhaled Zayn's cologne that she had doused it in before leaving. She looked at the inked Z on her right wrist and ran her finger over it. The past couple weeks had been hard after being pretty much inseparable with Zayn since they had met in December. She hadn't really been able to email him much while she was in Cuba, maybe three times total for the two weeks she was there and calls from Cuba to the United States were way too expensive so Lauren figured she'd wait till she got to Jamaica and had access to wifi at the hotel. Thankfully, she and Zayn both have iPhones and the miracle of iMessage could work off of wifi only. Still, this didn't mean much since the wifi only worked in the actual room and Lauren was only there in the morning, when she took her pill, and at night before going to sleep. They would talk for a bit at those times but sometimes Zayn was busy, whether it be that he was at work or practicing with his team, etc. The most recent busy day for him was the day he was moving into the apartment he had found with Harry down by the university. Zayn had sent Lauren some pictures and the apartment looked very nice and cozy, she couldn't wait to see it in person.
With the last couple days of her vacation approaching Lauren was yearning to hear the voice of the guy she loved after almost a month of going without it, so the night before she bought a calling card and was going to call Zayn now. Thankfully it was Sunday so Zayn probably wasn't doing much but sleeping right now.
Lauren pulled the card out from behind her phone case and dialed the access number before being prompted to enter the pin on the card. She then dialed Zayn's number and heard the phone begin to ring. As it rang, she felt butterflies fill her stomach, probably out of excitement.
"Babe?" Lauren heard Zayn's beautifully accented and sleepy voice come in through the phone.
"You don't know how good it feels to finally hear your voice," Lauren smiled.
"Am I dreaming?" Zayn questioned.
"No, it's me," Lauren laughed.
"Oh my god, it's so good to hear that laugh. How are you calling?" Zayn asked, he sounded a bit sick, like maybe he had a cold or something.
"I bought a calling card; I couldn't go another day without hearing your voice. I miss you so much Zayn, you don't even know," Lauren sighed.
"I have a feeling I do," Zayn responded before coughing.
"Are you sick?" Lauren wondered.
"Yeah, I woke up a little sick, but I'm okay. What about you, how are you, how's everyone?" Zayn replied.
"We're good, I just woke up now. Let me tell you, although Taylor is a heavy sleeper like you, it's no where near as comfy sleeping with her as it is with you. I'm surprised I'm not covered in bruises," Lauren stated making Zayn laugh, "Anyways, Chris and Taylor are still asleep, and my parents probably are too; they're in the room next to us. How's the independent living going?"
"It's going....it was kinda weird at first but I'm getting used to it. Also a little weird that I've had to hear Harry and Mila having uncomfortably loud sex for the past two nights in a row," Zayn mentioned making Lauren crack up.
"Really?" Lauren continued laughing.
"Yeah it's like they forget I'm here or honestly just don't care. And it's not even one of them that's loud, it's freaking both of them," Zayn explained.
"We're not very loud are we," Lauren wondered.
"I don't think so, but when you get back we should be to get back at them," Zayn suggested.
Lauren chuckled, "Sure, baby."
Zayn sighed, "I really miss you Laur, so much that it hurts."
"Stop that, you're gonna make me cry. I'm gonna be home in four days, we're almost there babe," Lauren reminded Zayn.
"Actually I've been meaning to talk to you about that," Zayn stated sadly and Lauren felt her heart drop, "I won't be here when you get back..I'm going to Bradford for a week to visit family."
Lauren felt a few tears forming; it felt like the cycle of them being apart was never going to end.
"Baby, are you still there?" Zayn questioned.
"Yeah I'm here," Lauren sniffled as she wiped the tears that had spilled off her face.
"Please don't cry love, this is hard already, I can't handle it if you cry," Zayn stated.
"When do you leave?" Lauren wondered as she brought her legs up to her chest, squeezing the teddy bear in between her.
"The day before you get back," Zayn answered, "and I'd be back on the 5th but I'm going to try and come back before that."
"No, don't do that. You're going to spend time with your family, don't cut that short cause of me. We've spent all these weeks apart already, one more week won't kill us, right?"
"I guess so," Zayn sighed.
There was a silence between the two for a few minutes and as Lauren was about to speak Zayn began.
"Listen there's something else I wanted to talk to you about, Laur, it's like this huge weight I have on me and we've built this relationship on honesty so I want to tell you," Zayn explained and Lauren felt her heart drop once more. She was honestly scared for him to continue. She'd been out of the country for a month almost and it wasn't that she didn't trust him, it was the rest of the world she didn't trust.
"Okay.." Lauren responded in a small voice.
"Laur, have you-oh sorry," Lauren heard Taylor come out of the room to the balcony.
"It's okay, hold on a second Zayn," Lauren said into the phone, the name tasting like acid in her mouth, she never called him by his name but she felt upset with him, what could he possibly have weighing on him. Lauren turned to Taylor, "what's up?"
"Oh you're talking to Zayn, tell him I say hi. I just wanted to see if you had eaten breakfast or if you wanted to come with me and Chris?"
"I haven't but I'm not really hungry right now," Lauren answered as she thought about the potential conversation she was about to have with Zayn. "You guys can go on without me."
Taylor nodded before heading back inside and closing the sliding door behind her.
"Okay sorry, go ahead," Lauren spoke to Zayn through the phone again.
"Alright so-" Zayn began but stopped abruptly. "What is it Harry?" Lauren heard Zayn say on the other end. She could hear Harry's voice slightly, it sounded like he was asking Zayn when he got back last night. Lauren's heart picked up a bit, where was he out so late that they didn't even know when he got home. "Right around the time you were Mila's daddy," Lauren heard Zayn say and her mouth dropped. "Ow fuck," she heard Zayn groan.
"Hey Lauren," she suddenly heard Harry speak into the phone.
"Hi Harry, everything okay over there," Lauren wondered.
"Everything's fine, your asshole boyfriend is just crying right now cause I punched him in the dick but he'll be fine. Just thought I'd say hi and hope you're having fun," Harry stated.
"Careful with the valuable cargo please," Lauren responded and Harry chuckled, "thanks though I am, see you in a couple of days."
"See ya jauregz, here's Zayn," Harry said before Lauren heard Zayn's voice again.
"Okay hey, fuck that hurt."
"You kinda deserved that one, why'd you have to call them out," Lauren chuckled a bit.
"I don't know, whatever," Zayn sighed.
"So you wanna tell me where you were out so late last night that Harry didn't know what time you got home?" Lauren asked.
"Yes..I was about to. So I was hanging out with Niall and Louis yesterday," Zayn began. 'Great, his only two friends that are single, this should be fun' Lauren thought to herself.
"We were going to go out to dinner and I wasn't really paying much attention to their plans, I was just sitting in the back seat kind of in my own world and they ended up going to Quattro Gastronomia. Turns out Leo and Perrie are working that night and they're talking with the guys and they want to hang out after their shift. I didn't really want to hang out cause Perrie would be there and..you know. But I didn't really have a choice cause we came in one car so we went to some club and Perrie kept trying to get my attention and she kept asking me about you and where you were. I ignored her for the most part but-"
"Wait, what do you mean for the most part," Lauren interrupted.
"Well I told her where you were," Zayn answered.
"Why would you tell her I'm out of the country...do you know how girls like that are?" Lauren said frustrated.
"It doesn't matter how they are, I'm not gonna do anything with her," Zayn replied.
"Just cause you won't do anything doesn't mean she won't try Zayn, besides you never know what happens, what if you're drunk or something," Lauren responded.
"Are you really implying that you think I'd ever cheat on you," Zayn stated flatly.
"No..well I don't know..not intentionally," Lauren explained.
"You've gotta be kidding me Lauren, don't you trust me?" Zayn sounded a bit angry now.
"Of course I do it's just-"
"Just what? You trust me or you don't, it's easy. I would never cheat on you, even if my life depended on it. My mind is on you no matter what. I was drunk yesterday, and still nothing happened, I thought about you even more while I was drunk. I thought about how much I missed you and couldn't wait to hold you again and how long and hard this past month has been but it was almost over. You think I was going to or would ever jeopardize what we have and what we've been through just because I'm intoxicated? I want you to trust me no matter what, not only when you think I'm able to deserve your trust. That really hurts Laur, cause I trust you with all I have," Zayn finished and Lauren felt terrible for making him feel bad. She wiped a few tears that had formed and rolled down her cheeks; this was not how she expected this call to go at all.
"I'm sorry," Lauren cried, "I don't want you to feel like I don't trust you because I do. The way my life has worked out is what puts all these ideas into my head. I don't want to hurt you Zayn, please believe me on that. I know I need to move on from my past heartaches cause you're completely different but it's hard, once someone fucks you up then that's it, trying to get passed that is hard and I've slowly been getting there but I think it's just this distance that has made me irrational. I'm sorry, I know you wouldn't cheat on me, that was stupid of me to imply. And I didn't even let you finish explaining, sorry keep going," Lauren stated as she wiped her eyes.
"I don't know if we should keep talking about this right now Laur, that wasn't even what I consider the bad part, that's not even what I really wanted to tell you about but it was the background so I started there and you're crying. Maybe we should talk about it later, how about you call me again when you're going to take your pill and I finish okay?" Zayn suggested.
"This will probably be just as bad as if you were to talk to me about it later but okay. I'm really sorry if I made you feel-"
"Lauren it's okay, I'm not upset alright? Please stop crying, I understand where you're coming from, you're letting your guard down with me and it's not something easy for you. Just know I love you okay? I'll talk to you later babe," Zayn interrupted Lauren mid-sentence.
"Okay, I love you too.." Lauren was barely able to reply before hanging up the phone. Her chest felt tight, and her stomach churned; if something relating to Perrie wasn't what he considered the bad part of what he had to tell her, then what was?
--
Lauren made her way back to her hotel room just as she had been doing every day to take her pill.
"Jauregui?" Lauren heard someone call out as she was getting in the elevator. She turned and peeped her head back out of the elevator, looking left and right for someone she might know.
"Zara?! What the hell, what are you doing here?" Lauren exclaimed when she saw her friend from her high school softball team.
"Well probably the same thing you are, vacationing," Zara chuckled as she approached Lauren and hugged her.
"I know I know but like what a coincidence. I mean what are the odds that we're both here in the same town in the same hotel in Jamaica, like sure maybe if we run into each other in Miami but in another country? Really proves that it's a small world," Lauren explained.
"Very true, are you going up?" Zara asked pointing towards the elevator. Lauren nodded and they both got in.
"So how long have you been here?" Lauren wondered as she pushed the floor number her room was on.
"Three days, how about you?" Zara answered doing the same.
"A week, I'm leaving in four days," Lauren replied noticing Zara looking her up and down as she leaned against the wall of the elevator. Lauren felt a little strange as Zara looked at her; she always knew Zara was a lesbian, I mean most of her softball team was, but she'd never actually been checked out by her, well not that she'd known about anyways.
"You still with Zayn?" Zara asked.
"Yup," Lauren popped the p at the end of the word.
Zara smiled a bit, "Have you been to any of the parties they have at night here?"
"No, not really, I went to a bonfire like when I first got here but that's about it," Lauren stated.
"There's this Bob Marley party tonight on the beach, I remember you used to play his stuff at practice all the time. We should totally go," Zara suggested.
"Uh..can I get back to you on that. It's just that I-"
"It's alright Jauregui," Zara chuckled, "if you can go, I'll see you there, if not, I won't."
The elevator door opened and it was Zara's floor, "sound like a deal?" She asked as she stepped out of the elevator.
"Deal," Lauren smiled as the doors shut and the elevator moved once again.
Once Lauren reached her floor she made her way to her room and placed the key in the door. She walked inside and went to the bathroom, looking through her toiletry bag for the small box of pills that would soon run out. She looked at the time as she popped the tiny pull into her hand from the foil packaging. It was 1:05 on the dot. She placed the pill in her mouth and grabbed the water bottle she had in the bathroom. At the same time her phone received an iMessage from Zayn.
'Baby 🙊💙: did you take your pill?'
'Lauren: yes I did, can I call you now'
'Baby🙊💙: yes love'
'Lauren: actually can we FaceTime?'
'Baby🙊💙: I don't think that's a good idea'
'Lauren: why not...'
'Baby🙊💙: cause then I'll never want to hang up'
Lauren shook her head and smiled before going through the same process she had earlier to call Zayn.
"Hey," Zayn answered after a few rings, "gimme a second, I'm paying for some pizza. Actually here's Mila she wants to talk to you."
"Hi Lo, oh my god I miss you!" Lauren heard Camila say.
"Hi monkey, I miss you too. I'm gonna be home soon though!" Lauren replied as she went out to the balcony of her hotel room and took a seat.
"Thank god, we need you real bad right now...Dinah and Nela broke up again but I think it's for good this time," Camila sighed sadly.
"What?! Why?" Lauren said surprised.
"He cheated on her.." Camila answered.
"Wow..what a dick. And he was the one constantly on top of her about other guys, poor baby. How is she?" Lauren wondered.
"I went to see her this morning but she really wouldn't talk much, I just got back from her place now. She kinda just wants to be alone. She found out he was cheating while they were in Hawaii," Camila explained.
"What shitty timing," Lauren sighed, "I'm glad she found out though, she doesn't need him."
"Yeah..well Zayn's done, so I'm gonna pass you back to him. I'll see you when I pick you guys up at the airport in a couple days, love you cookie."
"Love you too Camz," Lauren replied.
"Hey, sorry about that," Zayn stated as he chewed.
"That's alright. What type of pizza are you eating?" Lauren asked.
"Your favorite from Ricky's which is now my favorite from Ricky's," Zayn chuckled.
"Oh my god do you know how bad I'm craving that lasagna pizza now, thanks," Lauren wined.
Zayn chuckled, "What did you have for lunch?"
"Lots of spicy stuff and like three bottles of red stripe," Lauren stated patting her stomach.
"How did you get beer with your lunch?" Zayn wondered.
"The drinking age is 18 over here. Oh by the way guess who I ran into on my way up just now," Lauren mentioned.
"Uhh well you're in another country so I'm really not sure," Zayn laughed.
"I know, it was so weird but I ran into Zara, remember from my softball team?"
"Is she blonde, blue eyes, and totally has the hots for you?" Zayn asked.
"What?! She does not have the hots for me," Lauren responded but then she started to think about how Zara was looking her up and down in the elevator. "How did you even know she's a lesbian, I've never talked about that before."
"She looks at your ass the same way I do, I've seen her. She totally has a thing for you," Zayn explained.
"If you say so..well let's talk, what happened yesterday?" Lauren asked Zayn and felt her heart race as she waited for an answer. Lauren heard Zayn cough a bit as she waited for him to begin, "You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, don't worry. Okay so like I was saying earlier, I was ignoring her so she said we were being boring and left. After a while longer at the club Leo said he wanted to take us to one of his favorite places in Miami so we went along with him. Again in the car I wasn't really paying much attention to where we were going and Leo takes us to a strip club...." Zayn stated.
"A WHAT!?" Lauren said surprised.
"You know a place where-"
"Yes Zayn I know what a strip club is! Why would you go in there!?" Lauren asked unsure as to whether she should actually be mad at Zayn.
"Well I don't know..I didn't know what was I supposed to do; like just wait outside or sit in the car?" Zayn responded.
Lauren sighed, "I guess you're right but ugh..why. I wanted to be the only girl you see naked."
"Well you're the only girl I care about seeing naked so.." Zayn mentioned.
"You made me think something awful happened, this isn't that bad, I'm not really mad about it or anything but I'd prefer if you never ever went again," Lauren stated.
"Well I think the bad part is this...Leo made a girl give me a dance," Zayn hesitantly mentioned.
"What...why didn't you stop it?" Lauren said a little upset now.
"I don't know..he paid for it, I didn't want to make him lose his money," Zayn answered.
"What the hell! So what!? Why did he even pay her to do that in the first place. He freaking helped you out on our first date, he has to know we're together. This isn't something to gift to a friend who's taken, why couldn't he make the girl dance on Louis or Niall who are single. Why do I hate this guy so much right now," Lauren fumed.
"He does know we're together. I don't know what was going through his head, maybe he thought I was lonely or needed it since you were gone," Zayn suggested.
"Did you touch her?" Lauren interrogated.
"No."
"Did she touch you?"
"Not really."
"Did you get hard?"
"No, not at all."
"Good. Did you think she was hot?" Lauren continued.
"No, not my type."
"What's your type? Were there any girls your type in there?" Lauren questioned.
"You're my type and no, there were no girls like you in there." Zayn answered with ease.
"Nice try, I'm still upset that you let her do her thing," Lauren pouted and crossed her arms. "Listen, I told Taylor I'd be back by 1:20 to do some volleyball thing at the pool so I kind of need to go. We'll continue this later."
"Alright, well I hope you know I'm sorry, and I'm glad I was honest with you about it. It was bugging me," Zayn stated.
"Yeah, thanks for telling me. I'll talk to you later, bye Zayn," Lauren said hanging up before he could answer.
As she stood up from the chair outside she felt her phone vibrate.
'Baby🙊💙: you didn't even let me say bye'
'Lauren: sorryyyy'
'Baby🙊💙: I love you'
'Lauren: no I'm mad at you'
'Baby🙊💙: I love you
A lot
A lot, a lot'
'Lauren: 😒 I love you too'
Baby🙊💙: ❤️ talk to you later Skye Diamond lol 👯'
'Lauren: WAS THAT HER NAME!?
If it is, NOT FUNNY'
'Baby🙊💙: no that's your name 😂'
'Lauren: you're awful, goodbye'
'Baby🙊💙: 😂❤️'
--
Several hours later, Lauren went back up to her room while her parents and siblings still hung out by the beach, watching the sun set. Lauren was going to get ready to go to the Bob Marley party Zara had told her about earlier. As she picked her clothes out of the drawers in the room Lauren was texting Zayn.
'Lauren: you're really terrible you know that..I can't believe you wouldn't FaceTime me earlier but now you will cause you're gonna get to see me shower'
'Baby🙊💙: sue me'
'Lauren: btw, I really am sorry for earlier. I shouldn't have gotten so caught up in hearing Perrie's name and focused on what you were telling me rather than what that bitch might have planned. I do trust you, I have since that day we first met and you know that. Whenever I act that way, always remember that in a time where I was unsure about almost everything and everyone, I was able to open up to you so easily; know that, that's how much I trusted you from so early on and that's only grown from that point to now and it'll continue to grow. Sure I'll have my crazy moments like earlier but always think back to that if I'm making you feel like I don't trust you, I never want you to hurt cause of me so always think of that when I fuck up. And thank you for being so understanding always, I love you endlessly'
Lauren's placed her phone down as she entered the bathroom and turned on the shower. A few moments later her phone was ringing for a FaceTime call, 'Baby🙊💙' appeared on the screen and she picked up. The moment the connection established and she saw her boyfriend through her phone, her heart and stomach did somersaults.
"Hi gorgeous," Zayn smiled.
"This really is such a bad idea," Lauren chuckled.
"I wish you could understand how happy I am to see that smile, even through a phone," Zayn mentioned before coughing.
"Have you taken any medicine?" Lauren questioned.
"No," Zayn answered before coughing again.
"Can you please take something, you've been coughing periodically throughout the day," Lauren stated.
"All that I have is NyQuil here and it'll make me sleepy," Zayn explained.
"Well it's better than nothing, go take it," Lauren told Zayn as she took off her bathing suit cover up.
"Okay okay, by the way, thank you for that message. I love you my little booger." Zayn mentioned.
"Why are you so gross, I'm not a booger," Lauren complained.
"I said you're MY little booger, cause I'd always pick you," Zayn chuckled as he finished his sentence.
"Oh my god, someone please help this poor guy. Is that's even now the line goes? Either way, I have a severe case of second hand embarrassment for you," Lauren said as she brought her palm to her forehead.
"You're mean," Zayn stuck out his tongue at Lauren as he poured himself some medicine in the kitchen he was now in. Though Zayn had told Lauren that Harry and Camila were locked up in Harry's room, she was waiting for Zayn to get back to his room before getting naked, just in case.
Once he made his way back into his room and closed the door, Lauren propped up her phone on the counter that's as right outside the shower and started untying her bathing suit top.
"You've gotten a bit of a tan," Zayn acknowledged Lauren's tan line from her bathing suit.
"You'd think I would be beautifully sun kissed by now but it's just a little tan, I'm still really white. You should see my mom or Chris, they're the ones who get really tan," Lauren mentioned as she looked at her barely visible tan line in the mirror.
"I love that your skin is really white, I'm so used to it you'd probably look so strange if you were to get a super tan," Zayn stated as Lauren brought down her bathing suit bottom. She turned so that her butt was in the mirror to see if she had any tan lines there and she heard Zayn sigh.
"Damn man. Hey buddy, I really miss you," Lauren heard Zayn say and she laughed.
"Are you really talking to my butt," Lauren chuckled as she turned towards the shower and reached her hand in to check the water temperature.
"We had a very good relationship going on, let us reconnect," Zayn stated and Lauren laughed again.
"You're so weird, but I love you for that," Lauren continued laughing as she got in the shower behind the glass door.
Lauren let the warm water run over her head and wet her hair before she started to wash it. She hadn't heard Zayn say anything for a bit as she rinsed out the shampoo from her hair and she peeped her head out of the glass.
"Babe?" Lauren said when she saw Zayn falling asleep on the phone.
Zayn opened his eyes wide and Lauren giggled, "I'm awake, I promise."
"You can sleep love, there's no fighting that medicine. I'll text you when I leave to the party and when I get back," Lauren told Zayn whose eyes were closing again.
"This is your fault, you made me take that medicine," Zayn said sleepily with his eyes shut.
"Well I want you to get better, don't be a pain, just go to sleep," Lauren mentioned.
"I am but I want to stay on here while I fall asleep, can you sing to me or something," Zayn requested.
"Fine but only cause you're sick and you look really cute right now; what do you want to hear?" Lauren asked and she saw Zayn smirk, still with his eyes closed.
"Anything," he responded.
"Okay let me think," Lauren said leaving the glass door open and grabbing the conditioner. Lauren racked her brain for a song before she finally began to sing as she continued showering.
'When I was younger
I saw my daddy cry
And curse at the wind
He broke his own heart
And I watched
As he tried to reassemble it
And my momma swore that
She would never let herself forget
And that was the day that I promised
I'd never sing of love
If it does not exist
But darling
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
Maybe I know, somewhere
Deep in my soul
That love never lasts
And we've got to find other ways
To make it alone
But keep a straight face
And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable, distance
And up until now
I had sworn to myself that I'm content
With loneliness
Because none of it was ever worth the risk, but
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
I've got a tight grip on reality
But I can't let go of what's in front of me here
I know your leaving in the morning, when you wake up
Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream
Oh oh oh
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
You, are, the only exception
And I'm on my way to believing
Oh, and I'm on my way to believing'
Lauren finished rinsing her body and shut the water off. She looked over at her phone and saw Zayn sleeping with his mouth slightly open, making her chuckle quietly as she reached for her towel. As she dried herself up she heard Zayn breathe in deeply and move a bit. He looked so peaceful and child like as he slept; she wanted to do nothing more than reach through the screen and hold him as he slept. Zayn took in another deep breathe through his mouth and coughed a bit as he exhaled, slightly waking up.
"Laur? Zayn rasped, as he clutched his pillow with his eyes closed.
"I'm here baby," Lauren assured him.
"I love you," Zayn muttered as he breathed out and fell back into the same sleep he was just in.
"And I love you," Lauren responded though Zayn probably wouldn't hear before finishing the process of getting ready.
--
"Well, well, well, look who made it," Zara said as Lauren approached her at the beach party after she'd had dinner with her family.
"Yeah I figured why not, I only have a couple days left of vacation so," Lauren smiled.
"Well I'm glad you came," Zara smiled back, "want to get something to drink?"
"Sure," Lauren responded and the two of them made their way over to the bar.
"So are you here with your family?" Zara asked as they ordered their drinks.
"Yeah, my parents and siblings. How about you?" Lauren returned the question.
"Yeah, my parents and my sister. No Zayn? It's weird seeing you without him, you guys are like attached at the hip," Zara chuckled.
"I wish he was here, I miss him but no. We had this vacation planned out way before we started dating or before I even knew him. Maybe next year," Lauren smiled before taking a sip of the bottle of famous Jamaican beer, red stripe.
Lauren noticed Zara looking at her the way she had earlier in the day when they were in the elevator and now she felt even more uncomfortable after Zayn had pointed out that he thought Zara had a thing for Lauren.
"So...what about you? Any girlfriends?" Lauren said hoping Zayn was exaggerating and making her think more about Zara looking at her that.
"No, not really," Zara answered before looking over at the dance floor. "I really love this song, do you wanna dance?"
Lauren hesitated for a moment before realizing she was probably being paranoid about Zara for no reason, "Sure," Lauren responded and they made their way over to where the people had formed a small area on the beach to dance.
They danced gently to the rather slow rhythm of Satisfy my Soul by Bob Marley in a group of other people about their age. Lauren felt Zara's eyes on her as she moved closer towards Lauren. Lauren started to feel a bit worried as she felt Zara touch her arm and move even closer to her. Their faces were way too close for Lauren's comfort and she felt Zara start to lean in towards her. Lauren put her hand up to Zara's shoulder and pushed her back a bit.
"Zara, what are you doing?" Lauren said surprised.
"Come on Jauregui know one has to know," Zara said moving in towards Lauren again quickly.
"No, stop it, stop!" Lauren said a little loudly as she pushed Zara away again. "What the fuck Zara."
"I-I-I, I'm sorry, I don't-"
"Why would you try to do that even after I stopped you the first time," Lauren interrupted.
"I'm sorry. I've just like..always had this thing for you and I couldn't control myself, I don't know," Zara explained.
"Look I'm gonna go get some water," Lauren said pointing back at the bar and scratching the back of her head before walking back over to the bar.
'What the hell was that..well now I know she has a thing for me for sure...but she knows I'm with Zayn why would she be dumb enough to make a move.' Lauren thought to herself as she made her way to the bar. Lauren saw Chris standing by the bar; she had told him about the party and he said he might come.
"Chris I need your help," Lauren said as she approached him.
"With what?" Chris questioned.
"Zara's trying to like.. hit on me..." Lauren stated looking over her shoulder to see if Zara was coming.
"What," Chris chuckled.
"Seriously Chris, she almost kissed me just now. Look if you see her just tell her that Taylor needed me and I had to go back to the room okay?" Lauren asked.
"What's in it for me," Chris smirked.
"Why are you such an ass. I don't know, what do you want?" Lauren questioned annoyed.
"How about you restock me with some of that stuff Masi gave you that you let me try," Chris suggested.
"Really? Weed? You want me to pay you in weed?" Lauren wondered.
"Yeah, get me some of that when we get home and I'll help you out," Chris finalized.
"Fine, jerk, can't even help your own sister out one time," Lauren muttered before walking away.
"Love ya big sis!" Chris laughed as he called out after her.
"Yeah yeah yeah," Lauren rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath as she made her way back up stairs.
Once she had made it back to her room and changed into her pajamas she climbed into bed next to Taylor who was watching tv. Lauren grabbed her phone and noticed it wasn't very late, and decided to text Zayn though the medicine probably still had him out.
'Lauren: well....today has been pretty eventful; from the moment I got up, till right now that I climbed in bed. Turns out you were right, Zara does have a thing for me. Nothing happened though so don't worry. You're probably still sleeping so I just wanna say that I love you and miss you so much in hope that you'll wake up to this. Even all the way over here you're the first and last thing I think about everyday. Im currently laying down with my unfortunately hyperactive deep sleeper of a sister, preparing myself for the long night ahead of me. I also have my little buddy you gave me wrapped up in my arms, I still haven't given him a name yet, I think he should have one though so let me think...he smells like you so it's making me want to call him little Zayn or something but I feel like that's lame. I've been cuddling him for a month..maybe I'll call him Mr. Cuddles or Mr. Cuddles II cause you're my first Mr. Cuddles 😂 this all sounds lame but I'm gonna go with Mr. Cuddles II. I just talked to him and he really loves his name. Well my little angel, I'm gonna try and sleep early since Tay is still awake. Maybe I can get an hour or two in before she goes to sleep and starts kicking around. I hope you feel better soon baby, I love youuuu, sweet dreams mi amor ❤️'
--
*4 days later*
The airplane from Jamaica had touched down on the runway at Miami international airport about ten minutes ago and now the attendants had told the passengers they were able to stand up and begin exiting the plane. The moment they touched down Lauren felt herself get a little sad that her boyfriends arms would not be the ones there to greet her as she made her way out of the terminal. Instead, the Cabello family would be there and of course she loved them all to death but Lauren just really wanted to see Zayn.
'One more week' Lauren thought to herself as they made their way to the baggage claim. Lauren hadn't spoken to Zayn since right before he was about to leave yesterday and she had almost cried when he said he had to go.
Her families luggage was thankfully one of the firsts to come off the carousel and they began making their way out of the terminal. As they approached the doors Lauren saw the Cabello family standing by a large silver decoration of some sort; the youngest of them, Sofi, jumping up and down and waving at her.
"Hi munchkin," Lauren smiled as Sofi ran to her to meet them halfway. Sofi tightly squeezed Lauren around the waist and Lauren stopped moving the luggage she pulled behind her to get down to Sofi's level and hug her back tightly. "I missed you nugget," Lauren said before placing a kiss on the young girls cheek.
"I missed you too Lalo! I'm so happy you're back I have so much to show you that I painted," Sofi said excitedly.
"I can't wait to see it," Lauren grinned as she stood up to hug Camila who was now standing behind Sofi.
"Hi Camz," Lauren sad hugging her bestfriend tightly and rocking side to side a bit.
"I missed you Lo," Camila said pulling back from the hug.
"I missed you too, I missed all of you," Lauren said looking over to where her parents and Camila's were greeting each other and rambling in Spanish. Lauren grabbed the handle of her luggage and began rolling it again as the three of them made their way to where their families stood.
"Excuse me, Miss?" Lauren heard someone with a deep American accent call from behind them. Lauren turned and dropped her luggage as she saw the person that was behind them.
"Babe!?" Lauren choked up, instant tears coming to her eyes as she saw Zayn standing their with that big stupid smile on his face. Lauren ran, closing the few paces that were in between them with a couple strides before meeting Zayn's body and throwing her arms around his neck and embracing him tightly.
"Oh my god, I can't believe this," Lauren cried into Zayn's shoulder. "How are you here?"
Lauren felt Zayn squeeze her tightly for a moment before pulling back from the hug. "I stayed behind. I convinced my parents that messing up my internal clock wouldn't be a good idea with school starting soon and my crazy soccer schedule," he smiled again and wiped a couple tears off Lauren's cheeks.
"Why'd you make me think you were leaving then jerk," Lauren said hugging Zayn again, nuzzling her head head against his chest.
Zayn chuckled, "I wanted to surprise you."
Lauren pulled back from the hug and looked at Zayn in the eyes and practically almost melted. She missed that look he gave her with those warm brown eyes that could surprise you with the different variations they had at any moment. He smiled at her warmly and she felt her heart swell, she loved him so much and she was so happy to have him here.
"I can't believe you stayed here for me," Lauren said quietly as she kept her eyes on Zayn's.
"I didn't really want to go anyways," Zayn smirked and Lauren leaned in to connect their lips.
Once the two sets touched each other Lauren felt her stomach do backflips and fill with a couple dozen butterflies. The kiss was so gentle and meaningful; it illustrated how much the two had really missed each other and despite their little bickering a couple days before the same level of passion was held between the both of them. After a few moments Zayn pulled back from their kiss and placed his hand on Lauren's cheek, gently rubbing it with his thumb.
"Welcome home, baby."
--
A few hours later, after dropping off her things at home and showering and changing her clothes, Lauren was on her way to Zayn and Harry's apartment. Zayn had tagged along to Lauren's house since he'd been dropped off with Camila by Harry earlier that morning. They now sat in Lauren's car, hand in hand as Zayn drove to his place.
"Oh shit it's 1 o'clock, did you bring your pills with you?" Zayn questioned as he checked his phone at a red light.
"Yes I did, I bring them everywhere, just in case I'm not home to take them," Lauren smiled, "I just need some water."
"I'll stop at the Walgreens right over there," Zayn nodded at the corner of the street, "plus I need to buy condoms, Harry has been running me dry."
"You don't have to," Lauren mentioned, "this is my second month of the pill coming to an end so we should be good to try without condoms and if anything you know I have some, don't waste your money."
"I don't know babe, wouldn't it be better to just be extra careful," Zayn said as he pulled into a parking spot at the Walgreens and the two of them got off.
"Whatever you want, I'm trusting the pill, I've taken it every single day on time so it's at its maximum level of efficiency love. But if you wanna buy them, then buy them," Lauren responded as she grabbed a water bottle from the small fridge they had upfront holding water and sodas. She looked at the time and it changed to 1:05 as she looked at it. Lauren popped the little pill she had put in her hand while in the car into her mouth and drank from the water bottle. Zayn had disappeared from her side so Lauren figured he went to get the condoms. Lauren made her way to the aisle and saw Zayn looking at the different choices. She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, handing him the water bottle before locking her arms.
"Did you take it," Zayn questioned as he reached for a box, Lauren moving with him to not release her hold.
"Yes Dad, always on my case about it," Lauren said lifting her head off of Zayn's back and biting it.
"What's with you and Mila and this daddy business," Zayn questioned looking at another box.
"What?" Lauren laughed, "I didn't call you daddy, I just said dad cause you're acting like one."
"Well Mila then," Zayn stated.
"I don't know babe," Lauren chuckled, "it's probably a turn on for one of them or both of them. It's a power thing I guess, maybe he likes to be in control or she wants him to be, but it's also kinda just a thing nowadays, who knows. Why do you care so much, do you like it?" Lauren questioned.
"Uh-uhm I-I guess," Zayn stuttered, "do you?"
"I don't mind it, I just laugh cause I think it's weird to think about Mila and the noises she makes or things she says during sex," Lauren explained as Zayn finally selected a purple box and started moving towards the register, leaning back and wrapping one of his arms around Lauren's shoulders.
"Well I don't know, I know you like to kinda be in control so if that turns you off then don't-"
"Just cause I like to be in control sometimes doesn't mean that I wouldn't like it if the roles were reversed. I just always try to be in control cause I feel like sometimes you're hesitant cause you're worried about what's too far for me, like maybe you'll do something and it'll remind me of bad experiences with Brad, am I right?" Lauren interrupted Zayn.
Zayn nodded and Lauren smiled warmly at him. "You don't have to be worried about that stuff babe, I'm over it. You're not going to trigger me in anyway. Be asserting sometimes, it's kinda hot," Lauren smirked as they stood in line to pay.
"Why are we talking about this in the middle of a Walgreens," Zayn laughed.
"You're buying condoms, do you really think these people think we don't have sex," Lauren suggested as she looked around at the few others that were in line.
Zayn chuckled and placed a kiss on Lauren's lips.
--
"So, what do you think?" Zayn asked Lauren as the finished off the very short tour of the apartment.
"I love it, you guys did a good job decorating. It's very homey," Lauren answered as she followed Zayn back to his room.
"Do you think your parents would let you stay over here tonight?" Zayn asked as Lauren sat on his bed that was bigger than the one he had at home before.
"Yeah I think so, I'll ask them," Lauren stated as she unlocked her phone to text them. Zayn was at his dresser and was looking for something inside one of his drawers and Lauren heard him coughing a bit before sneezing.
"Are you still sick?" Lauren questioned.
"Yeah, I've been feeling fine all day though. I'm getting a bit congested now," Zayn sighed before coming and sitting next to Lauren.
"Do you want me to get you something from the medicine cabinet?" Lauren wondered.
"No, I'll be okay. There's a couple things I wanna talk to you about," Zayn mentioned and Lauren felt her face lose its color. "No, no, it's nothing bad, sorry," Zayn stated grabbing Lauren's hand.
"My god," Lauren placed her hand over her heart.
"Relax love, I'm sorry," Zayn chuckled a bit, "I just wanted to talk to you about these two new tattoos I got."
"You got more?! Why didn't you say anything," Lauren questioned as she looked on Zayn's arms but didn't notice anything new. Zayn saw Lauren's eyes searching and flipped his left hand over so that his wrist was showing. Lauren saw an L in the same style she had her Z on her right wrist, including the little heart in the letter.
"You didn't have to do this.." Lauren said as she ran her finger on the inked skin.
"I wanted to," Zayn smiled and Lauren placed a quick kiss on his lips.
"What's the other one?" Lauren wondered.
"It's also for you, though it's not as obvious as this one," Zayn mentioned as he pulled his shirt off. Lauren just now noticing that he hadn't taken it off earlier. Zayn exposed the left side of his body and there was now a line of writing in Arabic. "It says: I have passed by many eyes, but I only got lost in yours," Zayn stated and Lauren smiled as she ran her hand down Zayn's body.
"I love you," Lauren stated before connecting their lips again.
"I lo-" Zayn began as he pulled back from the kiss but was interrupted by a cough, "love you too," Zayn laughed and coughed a bit more.
"Put your shirt back on, I want you to get better not worse," Lauren mentioned and Zayn slipped his shirt back on.
"Let's sit outside on the balcony," Zayn smiled, "it's kinda cold in here."
They both stood up and made their way to the living room where the sliding glass door that went out to the balcony was. Lauren felt her phone vibrating and saw she had a text from her mom as she sat down on one of the chairs they had with a table.
'Mami 🌸: took a little convincing with your father but I got him to agree, you can stay the night over there, be safe, love you'
'Lauren: thanks for working your magic 😂
Zayn's still sick so I'll probably just be taking care of him. Love you, I'll keep you posted if we go out or anything 💗'
'Mami 🌸: okay nugget, see you tomorrow'
"My mom said I can stay," Lauren smiled looking up from her phone to see Zayn staring at her.
"What about your dad?" Zayn questioned.
"She got him to agree, don't know how but she did," Lauren chuckled.
Zayn smiled, "There's still something else I wanted to talk to you about."
"Okay, what's up," Lauren said as she stretched her legs out to Zayn's lap.
"Don't freak out on me here..just hear me out, okay?" Zayn mentioned before placing his hands on Lauren's legs.
"Okay..hurry up you're scaring me," Lauren urged.
Zayn chuckled, "I want to give you like a key to the apartment and like a little personal space in my room. I'm not asking you to move in or anything, don't feel overwhelmed by the idea. I just want you to have a key in case I'm not home or something and you're on campus and just want to chill or whatever since it's close by. And I can give you like a drawer or two so you have some stuff here in case you ever stay over, like today for example. Or if you forget something at home and you're at school, you'll have it right here. What do you think?" Zayn coughed again after explaining his idea.
"I think that sounds great," Lauren smiled, "very thoughtful of you babe."
"I have the key for you already," Zayn mentioned.
Lauren laughed, "I figured you did; did you really think I was going to deny you?"
"Not but I didn't want to make you feel like you had to accept it or anything. I didn't know if it was too soon to even offer that idea," Zayn explained.
"Nothing has ever moved at a normal pace for us Z," Lauren pointed out.
"True..I don't know, whatever, I'm glad you accepted the idea," Zayn smiled and Lauren noticed him shiver.
"Are you still cold?" Lauren questioned.
"Yeah, I don't get why though, it's super hot out here," Zayn said as Lauren pulled her legs off of him and stood up.
"Come here," Lauren placed her hand on his forehead to see if he had a fever and he did. "You're super hot, you're gonna burn up if you don't take something," Lauren grabbed Zayn's hand and led him back inside.
"Thanks, you're pretty hot too," Zayn joked and Lauren shook her head and laughed.
"You're still really sick babe, why are you pretending you're not," Lauren said as she reached the medicine cabinet inside Zayn's bathroom.
"I didn't want the day you got back to suck," Zayn stated leaning against the bathroom sink next to her.
"As long as I'm with you, the day doesn't suck. Doesn't matter what we're doing," Lauren mentioned as she looked through the medicine cabinet.
Zayn leaned over and placed a kiss on Lauren's shoulder, "I'm a very lucky guy."
Lauren looked at him and smiled warmly, it was so obvious in his face that he was still sick, how had she not noticed it before.
"All the medicine you have left will make you sleepy, so get ready," Lauren stated as she poured a liquid into a small measuring cup.
"No, I don't want to take it then," Zayn said covering his mouth as Lauren tried to give him the medicine.
"Stop acting like a little kid, I don't care if you fall asleep. I'll probably fall asleep with you, I'm tired," Lauren reassured Zayn.
Zayn shook his head, "Take it," Lauren urged him again but he kept his hands on his mouth.
"Come on babe take it, you have a fever, you can't live with a fever," Lauren stated and Zayn sighed uncovering his mouth.
"Fine," Zayn said taking the cup and drinking the medicine. Lauren heard him mumble 'annoying' under his breath as she picked up the bottle and put it back where she found it.
"You're the annoying one, go lay down and don't cover yourself up too much it'll just make the fever worse, and change into something that'll keep you cool. I'll be right there," Lauren stated and Zayn laughed before wrapping his arms around Lauren's waist and placing a kiss on her neck. Zayn left the bathroom and went to his room; Lauren grabbed a washcloth from the little basket Zayn had under his sink and wet it with cold water. She made her way over to the kitchen and opened up the fridge, she saw a couple bottles of Gatorade and grabbed one for Zayn. Lauren made her way back to Zayn's room and saw him laying down with the TV on.
"Here drink some of this, you need to stay hydrated," Lauren said opening up the bottle for Zayn. He was sweating a bit and Lauren used the cold wet towel to wipe away the sweat from his forehead as he drank.
"Thanks babe," Zayn said handing Lauren the bottle again.
She closed the cap and put it on the nightstand beside him before climbing over him and laying next to him. Lauren kept her back up against the backboard of Zayn's bed and let him wrap his arms around her waist and lay his head on her chest. Lauren ran her hand through Zayn's hair as they laid there watching tv and after a while she heard Zayn slightly snoring and knew the medicine had finally kicked in.
A/N: I kinda hate this chapter cause I feel like I could've made the drama much juicier but I've been having some writers block and just feeling kinda discouraged with my writing but I felt like updating for you guys. I still have a couple things I want to get to with Lauren and Zayn in my story but after that I don't really know how much longer this story will go on. Hopefully I can have some ideas flow to me somehow cause I feel emotionally attached to these two.
Hope you like the chapter, thanks for reading.
Might put some new pictures on Instagram.
If you want to hear Lauren sing a part of only exception here's the link ;
http://youtu.be/YbPA4Vb8CJ4