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"Oh man, I haven't done that in years," Maia breathed out as they entered the air conditioned home. "How far did we go?"
"Seven miles I think" Lauren came in after her, wiping her sweat off with the towel Ally threw at her. "Thanks."
"I can't believe you guys woke up early to run seven miles. You're out of your minds." Ally playfully rolled her eyes as they walked to the kitchen where Normani and Dinah was cooking.
"42:21, when you got to the driveway." Dinah held up the stop watch. "Come on Jauregui, you're losing your game."
Lauren chuckled, shaking her head. She was known for her speed and endurance for running back at the base camp, and it's what helped her constantly save lives.
"Well maybe if Maia didn't stop to stare at the ducks at the pond, we could've made it here at least five minutes earlier" The green eyed girl joked, earning a piece of corn to be thrown at her by the other brunette.
"How long until breakfast is ready?" Maia hopped off the counter, "I'm gonna shower."
"About twenty minutes, we just started." Normani answered while Dinah kissed her cheek sweetly.
"You should shower too, Sergeant." Maia smirked up at the girl, "Get all the sweat off of you."
Lauren stood back stunned, but realized that Maia was only half-kidding. Instead of asking her to join their shower time together, she meant separately in different rooms.
"Your cousin is seriously the smoothest flirt I know," Normani pointed her spatula towards the girl who left the room. "And Lauren, you're the most oblivious person I know."
"Maybe I'm not as oblivious as everyone thinks," Lauren shrugged as she lifted an eyebrow, "Maybe I'm outsmarting the game." She winked before taking a piece of toast and leaving the room to shower as well.
Ally, Normani, and Dinah all stayed quiet, trying to comprehend what the Sergeant was getting at.
"That slick son of a bitch."
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After breakfast with the entire group of young adults, everyone got ready to explore the old bayou. They've always kept the place to themselves, claiming that it shouldn't be shared with anyone else but them.
"How'd you guys even find this place?" Austin followed behind the line of friends, who were carrying canoe paddles.
"Troy and I found it when we were seven, then again back in high school. We brought everyone here and at the time, Dinah's parents owned the old sporting goods shop." Maia answered her boyfriend. "So we used to canoe here almost every Tuesday after school."
"Why Tuesday?" Lauren asked.
"It was the day of the week that we all had free." Camila spoke up next. "Ally, Mani, and Ari had cheer, Dinah and Maia had dance, Troy had lacrosse and Louis had soccer. Tuesdays were the only days we didn't have practice."
The group hiked and arrived at the end of the bayou, where a tarp covered the canoes. They unraveled it and took each one to put in the water, but only counted there to be seven.
"That means three of us have to pair up." Troy suggested, "I can take Ally in mine."
"I'll squeeze Dinah with me." Normani smiled up at her fiance, "Austin you can take Dinah's old one."
"And I can take Lauren in mine," Camila shrugged but smiled when they met eyes.
"So that settles it, everyone else gets their own." Ally clapped her hands as they all entered the canoes and started on their way down the bayou.
Everyone was spread at least ten feet apart from one another, taking in the beautiful sights of the swamp. It's been years since they've been back, because they promised that they wouldn't do their usual group things without Dinah or Maia around.
"You're quiet," Camila sat in the front of the small boat, paddling with Lauren behind.
"I've been around the world and this place.. It beats everything I've ever seen." The green eyed girl looked like a child at Disneyland for the very first time. "I'm still jealous that you guys are such a tight knit group. It's refreshing to see it."
"All thanks to you, actually." Camila said truthfully. "You brought my best friend home, and if the worst was to happen, none of us would ever be the same again."
Lauren stayed quiet but still smiled inwardly to herself.
"With Dinah and you here, and I think I can speak for everyone on this, it feels like it was meant to be. You are meant to be here with us and you're making our friendships with each other even stronger." Camila spoke up again before turning around. "But can I ask you something?"
Lauren shrugged and nodded, "I don't see why not."
"The first night you arrived here you said you didn't have a reason to come back." The shorter girl started, "What happened to your friends and family?" Lauren stayed quiet again, making Camila all flustered. "I'm so sorry, you don't have to answer that. I crossed the line and its not my busine-"
"My mom passed when I was fourteen." Lauren told her, paddling by herself as Camila watched her intently. "My dad... He went to jail and killed himself about six months in. I was sixteen when that happened and we didn't have any other family that would take my siblings and I in, so we were all separated in different foster homes. I tried finding them, but come to find out that my sister got into a car crash and didn't make it out."
"And your brother?" Camila asked cautiously.
"I don't know." Lauren shrugged, lowering her head. "I stopped looking after finding out about my little sister. I don't think that I could handle finding out if he passed too, just like the rest of my family."
"I'm so sorry," Camila put a reassuring hand on the Sergeants leg.
"It's alright, Miss Cabello." Lauren slightly smiled. "And for my 'friends', I never really had many."
Camila didn't know what else to say, "Well you have us now." She pointed to the rest of their group who were farther ahead up the stream. "You don't have to stay there for another four years, you have us to come back to." She turned around and started paddling again, leaving Lauren to be grateful for her words.
They caught back up to the rest of the group who were talking amongst one another docked in the middle of the swamp, while Austin answered another business phone call.
"I can't hear you, Brad." Austin rolled his eyes. "Hello?"
Lauren watched him, feeling something in her gut like she usually did in the middle of the war zone. A feeling like something bad was about to happen.
She looked around and saw the group of friends taking pictures together, jumping into one another's canoe and standing up for the photo op.
"God dammit," Austin put his paddle down and reached his phone high up in the air to get service. He turned in different directions, having his back to the rest of the friends. Straight ahead, stood Maia with Ally and Ariana with their backs towards Austin's incoming boat.
"Watch out!" Lauren called out right before Austin's canoe bumped into the girls, jolting Maia off and into the water. Ally and Ariana hung on and remained dry, but the brunette was covered in swamp water.
"Help me!" Maia screamed with her lips and nose barely sticking out, "My foots caught in something!"
Lauren was on high alert now, knowing that there were creatures swimming in the water. Snakes, alligators, deadly flesh eating fish and leeches weren't scared of screaming girls, it attracted them to come closer.
The green eyed girl stood up quickly, taking off her jacket and doing a perfect dive into the water. The marines trained her to be a swimmer, under any circumstance.
"Surround the boats around us, I saw alligators on our way here." Lauren demanded before going back under the dirty water, trying to unlatch Maia's leg from the large roots from surrounding trees. "It's jammed and she's bleeding pretty bad" She came out of the water, holding Maia's hands still. The shorter girl was struggling to get air since the branch held her back.
"Lauren, they're coming!" Ally yelled out.
"They smell blood," Austin stood up in a panic. "If she's bleeding then they're all coming!"
Lauren took a deep breath to go back underwater, feeling little fish and other creatures brush up against her. With all of her might, she twisted the girls foot in order for it to be let free.
Maia was now in pain, swallowing loads of contaminated water because of her panic. She eventually passed out because of it, making it harder for Lauren to get her out of there.
"Hit their nose the paddles!" Dinah yelled as the group obeyed, hitting the alligators noses when they came close.
"Troy, pull her up!" Lauren helped the girl to the closest boat, lifting the girls arms in order for the tall boy to pull her into safety. "Fuck!" The green eyed girl felt a harsh bite in her thigh.
"Hurry!"
Troy pulled the sergeant up and out of the water, seeing at least five leeches attached to her leg. Everyone hit several alligators away, and decided to go full speed to paddle back to the start of their route.
Lauren spent the time doing CPR on the passed out girl, getting her back to consciousness but throwing up the diseased water. By the time they made it back to land, the Sergeant passed out from loss of blood from the bites in her leg.
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"Go!" The man demanded the green eyed girl and her troops, all shooting at the enemies. "Grenade!"
Everyone took cover, not wanting to get hit by the blast. They all dropped and covered their heads before going back and shooting.
"I can't do this, Lauren" The young boy, who was two classes below than she was, started crying. She felt sympathy for him since he was forced and drafted into the war, but in reality, he was an innocent messenger boy back in Oklahoma.
"Wake up," She said as she tapped his cheeks harshly. "You need to fight. You are here for a reason now shoot!"
"I-I can't!" He screamed, getting shot right in the back. "Fuck!"
"God dammit," She saw the boy going down in pain. He was screaming out, with blood and spit coming from his mouth. He was crying hard, snot and tears falling from his face. "You'll be okay, you hear me?" Lauren turned him around on his stomach, seeing the bullet pierce right on his spine.
"I can't feel my legs anymore!" He screamed out loudly.
"RPG take cover!" Someone yelled as the troops ran.
Lauren didn't have the heart to leave the innocent boy there. Instead, she put her gun down and plopped her entire body over him, praying that she'll still be alive after the hit.
Within ten seconds, the blast came.
"Lauren, can you hear me?" She could barely make out the voice, over all the white noise. The green eyes roamed around and saw the innocent boy still alive on the ground, even though her arm was burning from the debris that hit hard. "She's hurt pretty bad," The voice sounded again as her chest felt heavier than before. Her breathing was now numb and her heart beat sped up. "Lauren!"
"Lauren" Camila's soft voice brought her out of her nightmare. "Hey," She cooed out, while Lauren was still taking in the fact that she wasn't where she thought she was.
"W-Where am I?" The green eyed girl asked. "Is Maia alright?"
"The hospital. She's perfectly fine thanks to you," Camila smiled as she gently brushed a hair behind Lauren's ear. "Everyone's calling you a hero. You saved her from getting eaten alive and you gave her CPR too. All the while you were getting eating by leeches and bitten by a water snake. We rushed you here and luckily they were able to get all the venom out."
Lauren took a look at her leg which was wrapped by a bandage. "Where is everyone?"
"They went to the cafeteria to grab some food. I texted saying you're awake so they should be back soon." Camila said quietly, waiting a couple seconds to speak up once again. "You're really brave, Sergeant Jauregui." The two girls softly smiled before the shorter brunette started closing in, staring at the lips in front of her.
"There she is!" Dinah's voice sounded as the group walked into the room. Maia pushed past everyone, getting to Lauren first to devour her in kisses.
"Thank you thank you thank you" Maia gratefully said, kissing Lauren's face repeatedly, Camila watched from the side of the bed, feeling little parts of her get more and more jealous with every kiss.
"Where's Austin?" Lauren asked.
"He's at home packing." Maia answered, twirling her fingers against Lauren's. "Everyone was right, he's an asshole."
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The next day, Lauren was finally released from the hospital. Maia spent all night with her, watching the small screen TV's while telling each other jokes and stories about their own lives. Lauren was able to recover quickly and was able to limp on her own without crutches.
"Hey you," Lauren approached the front door of the house, greeting Camila who angrily walked passed her with puffy eyes. She looked inside to a stunned Ally, who shrugged not knowing what the short girls problem was either.
"Later Sergeant Whatever," Austin walked down the last of the stairs with his bags in hand.
"It was nice meeting you, Mr. Mahone." Lauren didn't know what to think of him besides the fact that he was inconsiderate. She opened the door to let him out, only to see Camila drive full speed away.
"Camila came home by herself and Austin must've said a couple things out of spite from all of us kicking him out." Troy shrugged. "He's an ass and she's probably just pissed."
Lauren nodded at the reasonable explanation, just happy to be back at the house. They spent the rest of the day relaxing, watching movies with each other and planning the Labor Day weekend block party as they do every year.
"So you guys do a block party every year?" Lauren asked curiously.
"Not a block party, more of the entire town gets to have a carnival all weekend." Ally answered, "We get some rides and there'll be some game booths, and the little bakeries and restaurants will set up their own tents to sell food. Everyone pitches in and it really is just a nice time."
"There's even a town barbecue at night. Just like the one we had here two nights ago, but just bigger at the town square." Troy added.
Lauren smiled, nodding. She loved the way the small town worked, and could get used to how they are all together. It was a nice a perfect vibe, even though she sensed that Maia was now openly getting closer to her mentally and physically.
"Wanna go on a walk?" Maia asked sweetly, lending a hand to Lauren who smiled back up at her.
Lauren stood up and met eyes with a glaring Camila, who hasn't said a word ever since she got back.
"Sure."
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A/N: Sorry this chapter was super rushed, and a bunch of random things went through my head as I wrote it. I hope you don't hate the story lol
I'm always up for new suggestions for fics. I don't have a life and won't mind writing new fics! Just shoot me a message and I'll happily take it.
Thanks for reading!