"Lauren wake up." Dinah shook her to which the girl groaned and smacked her over the head with a pillow sleepily
"Hey!" Dinah complained, hitting Lauren back with the same pillow
"What Dinah?" Lauren groaned, her face buried in her pillow
"The school breaks up in an hour so I was thinking we could all go down to the beach together! You, me, Ally, Normani and, Camila, maybe." Dinah hesitated on the last person
Neither of the girls were very happy with her after yesterday. But since Lauren wanted to spend some time with the other girls she agreed to Dinah's idea for the day.
"Okay, I'm in." Lauren mumbled sitting up and rubbing her eyes gently, Dinah just stared at her in adoration.
She leaned forward and captured Lauren's lips in her own and Lauren reciprocated the kiss briefly before pulling away "What was that for?"
"Just for you being you." Dinah smiled simply to which Lauren gave a small laugh in response
"Anyway, while you're getting dressed I'll call the girls." Dinah said getting up and grabbing her phone
"Sure you don't wanna watch?" Lauren teased to which Dinah gave her a light shove before leaving the room
When Dinah and Lauren were both ready they met Ally and Normani out the front of Lauren's house.
"Ready for an awesome day?" Ally asked peering back at Lauren with a smile on her face
"Yeah." Lauren giggled intertwining her and with Dinah's
Ally looked over at Dinah suspiciously who raised an eyebrow for warning. Ally quickly took the hint and said nothing more.
"Is Camila coming?" Ally asked Normani "She said she was. We're on our way to pick her up now."
Lauren and Dinah shared a look of both annoyance and disappointment that the girl was in fact tagging along.
Camila came out pretty much straight after Ally had texted her that they were outside waiting.
Unfortunately Camila had no choice but to sit in the back, next to Lauren.
"Hey." Camila mumbled awkwardly to Lauren who simply turned the other cheek ignoring her completely
"Did something happen between you guys? You seem a little off." Normani noticed the tension
"I wouldn't know. I can't separate past from present, right? I'm crazy, aren't I Camila?" Lauren spat harshly
Camila winced at the tone of her voice and shot Dinah a look as if to say "why did you tell her?" But Lauren answered her silent question.
"She didn't need to tell me, I heard you shout it down the street. Thanks for that." Lauren said getting angrier by the second
"Laur calm down." Normani sighed
"You don't know the half of what went on yesterday." Lauren answered vaguely to her best friend
"Do I want to?" Normani asked worriedly
"You'll need to, but not today." Ally intervened to which Camila and Normani shot a questioning look
"Today we're going to have a nice day because it's the first day of summer, it's great weather, we're all friends going to the best beach in Miami and we're going to have fun together. Got it?" She clarified to which all the girls nodded
The rest of the journey consisted of small talk between them all, even Camila. Nothing more was said about it and all the girls seemed fairly okay with each other.
"You alright?" Dinah whispered in Lauren's ear as she lay her head on her shoulder intertwining their hands
Lauren nodded reassuringly and Dinah smiled in response, she wanted to kiss her so badly but she couldn't now.
"We're here!" Normani grinned as she parked. Everyone practically launched themselves out of the vehicle as soon as it came to a stop.
"So what do you guys wanna do?" Ally asked excitedly
"Swimming!!" Camila shouted running towards the ocean
"Wait! Be careful Mila!" Normani said running after her
"Lauren I think we should talk about yesterday." Ally said
"What's there to talk about?" Lauren asked confused, unaware Dinah told her about the crucial event since she had passed out meanwhile.
Dinah shot Ally a pleading look and she sighed "Nothing big. I just wondered why you called me and then fainted."
"I don't know, I was really tired. I don't remember a lot." Lauren lied
"Alright, but everything's good?" She checked to which Lauren nodded smiling reassuringly
"Okay then." Ally said letting it be as Dinah wished
"Mani! Camila! Don't you dare drown in that sea!" Ally shouted worriedly bounding over to the girls
"C'mon Laur, I know somewhere really nice we can go." Dinah smiled taking her hand and leading her away
"Where are we going?" Lauren asked giggling, Dinah covered her eyes so she couldn't see and was guiding the way from behind her
"I used to come here a lot. There's somewhere I'd really like to show you." Dinah smiled as they came to a stop
"Are we here?" Lauren asked cautiously, whenever Dinah stopped for a moment she'd nearly fallen over about 4 times.
"We're here." Dinah confirmed taking her hands away from Lauren's eyes
"Woah." Lauren breathed
The girls found themselves on top of a small cliff, you could see right out into the ocean and the perfect sky.
"It's beautiful." Lauren smiled in awe as she sat down
"Like you." Dinah said smoothly sitting next to her licking her dry lips
"You're very good at that." Lauren said nervously
"Good at what?" Dinah wondered
"Making me want to kiss you." Lauren said resisting temptation
"What's stopping you?" Dinah raised an eyebrow
"We're at the beach in public?" Lauren stated with a chuckle
"Nobody can see us up here Laur. It's just me and you." Dinah smiled leaning in towards Lauren
"In that case.." Lauren whispered seductively as they connected their lips
"Why haven't you been eating?" Dinah asked curiously when they pulled away from the kiss
"Random." Lauren said with a nervous laugh following
"Seriously." Dinah scolded her lightly
"We'd best find the others." Lauren ignored her getting up and Dinah got up too grabbing her hand
"Hey, don't ignore this. Why aren't you eating?" Dinah repeated
"You saw me eating last night." Lauren chewed her bottom lip nervously
"You had like half a slice of pizza Lauren. That's not what I'd call eating." Dinah frowned
"Laur, listen, this is important. You have to eat to sustain yourself." Dinah sighed as Lauren let go of her hand
Lauren shook her head as tears glistened in her eyes jumping down from the rocks and making her way back down the shore
"Lauren slow down!" Dinah called after her as she went after her
"Lauren? What's wrong?" Normani asked catching her quickly as the crying girl ran into her arms
Lauren buried her head in her best friends neck gratefully as she held her tightly in return
"What's going on?" Normani asked Dinah once she reached them both
Dinah sighed and typed a message on her phone showing it to her
She hasn't been eating and I when I confronted her about it she just started crying and ran off
Normani sighed and shook her head at Dinah resting her head on Lauren's rocking her from side to side gently
"I'll explain later." Normani mouthed to the Polynesian girl
Dinah frowned in confusion before nodding to Normani to signal she understood
"Go with the girls, I've got her." Normani reassured Dinah as she stroked Lauren's hair soothingly
"Okay.." Dinah sighed in defeat trudging towards Ally and Camila
"Dinah says you're going back to your old ways again.." Normani said carefully as she stroked the hair out of her face
"I'm just not hungry." Lauren mumbled burying her head in Normani's chest
"That's how it started before Lauren, why are you going back to this?" Normani asked obviously worrying
"I can't tell you." Lauren whimpered
"You can tell me anything, okay I'm gonna ask you a question and I want you to answer it honestly." Normani said seriously to which Lauren nodded
"When you told me your parents were dead that day, was it true? Because it would explain a hell of a lot."
Lauren gulped and nodded, she had to tell Normani the truth sometime
"Thought so." Normani sighed squeezing her in the hug
"Why didn't you just carry on rather than let me lie to you?" Lauren asked between her sobs
"Because I could tell you didn't want me to know yet. I was waiting until you were ready." Normani explained
"You really know me, more than I know myself." Lauren mumbled
"Best friends do, but you've gotta eat for me Lauren okay? I can't lose you again. Remember last time? I'm not letting it go that far again." Normani said with tears in her eyes
"It was what I wanted." Lauren whispered
"It's not what I wanted. I know that sounds selfish and maybe I am but I can't lose you Lauren. I'm not lying when I say you're the best thing that I have in my life. 6 years go I gained the best friend I'll ever have." Normani announced holding the girl at arm's length making Lauren look at her
"Don't even think about leaving me again, okay? It's not happening. Now, anything else you wanna tell me?" Normani asked, knowing there would be something else
"I tried again last night.." Lauren admitted sniffing watching Normani as tears rolled down her cheeks
"And Dinah stopped you?" Normani asked tasting the salty tears on her lips as she spoke
Lauren nodded "I'm sorry I didn't say anything. I know you would have been there Mani."
"Of course I would have! I need to thank her. God Lauren come here." Normani said bringing the girl back into her arms
"It's gonna be alright, okay? I'm here now." Normani whispered kissing the top of her head
"I've missed you so much." Lauren whispered tightening her hold on her best friend gratefully
"I've missed you too." Normani reciprocated meaning every word
"I love you." Lauren's voice was clearly hoarse from the crying
"I love you more." Normani said cradling the girl in her arms