A/N: Trigger Warning
Two more days had passed, concluding Lauren's first week back in the States one to remember. Though she hasn't gotten as much as sleep as she'd like, her new friends continued to bring her to do many adventurous things. They went to an amusement park in the city, went to the mall that had a zip line, and even visited an aquarium.
Yesterday they even bought tickets to catch a college football game since most of them were alumni's at the University of Georgia. Lauren never attended any high school game, so they thought it would be perfect under the circumstances.
"So you tailgate for a pregame, scream at the players, then go home?" Lauren playfully asked.
"Pretty much," Louis shrugged as he hopped onto the back of the truck bed. "Except, today marks the start of a perfect Labor Day weekend which means that we tailgate, scream, then continue the party at the lake."
"I thought it was the carnival?"
"That's tomorrow. The lake is for anyone 19 and older," Ally added on. "It's been a tradition in this town for years."
Lauren nodded in understanding. The rest of the group set up their chairs in the parking lot next to their rented RV, thanks to Dinah and Troy. They even brought out a barbecue grill for cooking their delicious annual lunch to kick off the weekend, with canopies and small tables for all of them to hang out.
The entire parking lot was full of football fans and party goers, cheering and chanting for their teams.
"Here, put this on." Maia threw a red jersey at Lauren, one that resembled the teams.
"You didn't have to buy this for me," The green eyed girl stood up. Over the past 36 hours, they've gotten closer to the point where Maia constantly has her smiling. Camila sat quietly and kept to herself, unless someone approached her. She was giving off a different vibe than before, and as much as Lauren wanted to know why, all she wanted was to have a great time.
"I know, silly. I wanted to." Maia flirted. "I want you to feel right at home, so it even has your last name on the back. I hope its spelled right." She chuckled out as Lauren took a look.
In white letters, it read Jauregui with a big number 21 below it.
"I didn't know what number to get, but you definitely look like a twenty one." Maia winked as Lauren hugged her.
"Thanks Maia."
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The day went on and many people in the parking lot were feeling buzzed. Of course, since most of them were college students, fights had broken out. Both physical and verbal, and it was all so entertaining to the green eyed girl.
"Ouch," Camila was nudged forward by a drunken male. "Watch it."
Lauren stood back and watched, knowing that the smaller brunette was able to stand her ground.
"Come on, baby. Don't be like that" The man drunkenly slurred, putting hands on Camila. "How about we get out of here-"
"I think that's enough, buddy." Lauren courageously stepped in between them, moving Camila behind her back.
"Who the hell are you?" He angrily asked. "I was just talking to her, buddy."
"She clearly didn't want to talk to you." Lauren shrugged. "Just walk away."
"Is there something wrong here?" Another voice joined them, putting the drunk man in a friendly head lock. Lauren noticed he was buffer than his friend and had Greek letters on his shirt that signaled that he was in a fraternity, but still held her head up high as the crowd started gathering around.
"Look, he was harassing my friend. I stepped in and now it's over. There's no need to start something." Lauren narrowed her eyes, feeling Dinah and Troy join her sides.
"Oh, I know you." The man evilly smirked as he let go of his friend, "You're the soldier. I think harassing is a strong word. He was... just trying to flatter her."
"Good talk." Lauren turned around before feeling a strong hold on her forearm.
"I wasn't fini-" The man tried to talk again, but Lauren gave a strong head-butt to his chest in defense. She shook her head as she looked down at the now fallen boy.
"Now you are. Have a good day." Lauren walked away with her friends closely behind, hearing cheers from nearby observers.
They walked back over to their usual spot, Dinah rubbing Lauren's neck in victory over the stupid college boys while Camila cleaned off Lauren's bloody cut on her forehead.
"Thank you," Camila said quietly. Dinah took it as a cue to leave and grab the groups attention to anywhere else but the two girls.
"It was nothing," The Sergeant shrugged.
"Trust me, it was something." Camila lowered her head, laughing. "You saved Maia and now you technically saved me from God knows what. You sacrificed yourself for Maia and ended up getting bit by a freaking snake, and now, you risked getting a beating."
"Camz," Lauren started, placing a gentle hand on the girls chin to meet her eyes. "Are you alright?"
"Yea," Camila falsely smiled as she breathed out."Why?"
"After I came back from the hospital.. you've been different." Lauren took the opportunity to care for the girl, wanting what they had before. "I want to make sure you're okay-"
Lauren was hushed by Camila's soft lips. Inside their stomachs was something they've never felt before, the feeling that Dinah and Normani described whenever they talked about each other.
"Whoa," Lauren leaned her forehead on the shorter girls. "So I'm guessing you're okay?"
"Yea," Camila whispered back, kissing her again. She knew that she was going too fast and in too deep for it just to be a 'fling', but she wanted to stick to her word.
"Aye!" Dinah called out from the other side of the car, "Let's go watch the game!"
The two girls kept the little incident to themselves, flirting subtly while the group entered the large stadium and watched the men on the field from the fourth row. They didn't know how they scored cheap tickets to such close seats, but definitely didn't mind.
They were even on the Jumbotron TV, cheering and screaming at the camera just having a great time.
During half time, Lauren and Dinah were pulled off by men in official business suits that looked like they were the secret service for the President. They were led onto the field to be recognized as war heroes again, getting loud cheers from the sold out stadium.
"Wow," Lauren's eyes went wide, happy that Dinah forced her to come back.
On the field also came on Normani with Camila with flowers, each handing them to the girls and taking a picture taken by a man who claimed he worked for the towns newspaper.
"Thank you." Lauren whispered into Camila's ear, knowing that she and Normani were the one's to give their names out to the officials of the stadium.
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"We dominated against Florida!" Louis jumped excitedly as they exited their vehicles at the lake. "How'd you like it Lauren?"
"It was insane," She smiled at the group. "Thank you all."
"Stop thanking us," Normani put an arm around her, speaking quietly so the rest of the group couldn't hear. "Just enjoy your time here because it's definitely our pleasure giving you new memories to take back."
"Alright Kordei," Lauren smiled at her best friends fiance. "But thank you." She said again, getting a playful eye roll from the other girl.
The group joined the cheerful young adults who occupied the lake. The sun had went down twenty minutes prior, so there were portable lanterns that illuminated the entire scene and it was nevertheless, beyond beautiful.
There were people in the water, hanging out in their tubes and other floaties. On the high rocks, others were cliff jumping. Music was playing all around and it was the cliche lake party that was shown in movies.
"Let me guess, you guys did this in high school" Lauren smiled as she caught up to Camila.
"Well, yes." Camila shook her head, "But not on Labor Day weekend. Everyone respects the traditions of the town, so in high school we would come here any other time besides the holiday."
Lauren nodded, playfully nudging the girl to the side as they continued walking. They continued going back and forth, before eventually intertwining their fingers gently. They were farther behind their group, so they didn't care to hide away.
"Are you gonna play lifeguard again?" Camila nodded towards the water where people were cliff jumping.
"If need be," Lauren shrugged as she chuckled. "I'd rather be doing something else though." She flirted before lowering her head to quickly kiss Camila.
"I want to show you something." The shorter girl said softly, pulling Lauren into a different direction than their friends.
They walked hand in hand, continuing their flirtatious talking and getting to know one another. Lauren was infatuated learning more and more of Camila's past and her goals for the future, while Camila loved hearing more and more of the Sergeants war stories still.
"Wow" Lauren said under her breath. Farther down from the party was a pathway that had lit fairy lights on the trees, leading to a dock that had one small boat waiting.
"Wait here," Camila stopped the girl in the middle of the small dock, pressing some buttons towards the side of the boat. Soft music started playing, and Lauren immediately knew what it was.
"Slow Dancing in a Burning Room," Lauren stated as she smiled back at Camila. "John Mayer... Nice choice."
"The boat was originally placed here about twenty years ago." Camila shrugged as she wrapped her arms behind Lauren's neck, starting to sway side to side. "Some guy did it for his wife who had cancer and they got married here on the dock. They went on some voyage for a week until they came back, and a couple days after, she died. So he left it here and added the speakers for anyone else and I guess it's just been another tradition of the town."
Lauren smiled down at her, loving the way she talked and knew so much about little things. They danced together peacefully, taking in each others appearances.
"It's like you were meant to be here." Camila breathed out quietly, "It feels like you've been with us since forever."
Lauren didn't reply since she felt the same way. Instead, she settled to lowering her head to kiss the smaller girl again. The feeling inside never felt stronger.
They stayed quiet as Camila rested her head on the Sergeants soldier, swaying to the song still.
After the song was over, another one came on.
"Sorry, I guess it's on shuffle" Camila chuckled out as a fast paced rock song came on.
"No it's okay, I used to listen to this all the time." Lauren remembered always hearing the Foo Fighters song, The Pretender, every time she would go out to train or before any mission thanks to Zayn.
Nearby she heard childish screams from several voices, which caught her attention quickly.
"Probably some stupid teens paint balling again," Camila shrugged as the voices and sounds of guns started getting closer. "You probably want to duck until they pass. They have shitty aim."
Lauren felt her heart pounding faster and harder now, hearing the sounds of gun shots and screams coming closer and closer. The song she always listened to was now blasting, even though in reality it was barely audible.
"They have shitty aim" Lauren's mind flashed back to one of her prior missions, where her general talked about the Afghanistan army. His voice filled her head as she stared off into the woods, then hearing Camila in pain.
"Fuck," Camila looked down at her own shirt which was now colored blue due to a paintball hitting her in the chest. "Watch out" She pointed behind Lauren where younger teens were shooting one another, several balls missing her by inches.
One boy ran towards the dock to take cover, but was close enough to the green eyed girl who was still in a numb faze. All Lauren had was a blurred vision, going back and forth between her memories on the battlefield and reality.
"What are you doing?" The boys voice raised as Lauren harshly took the gun out of his hands, shooting all of friends all in the head.
"Lauren!" She heard Camila's voice as she visioned being back in the war zone. "Lauren stop! You're hurting them!"
The song ended and it all went silent, Lauren's vision coming back to normal. She saw a several bodies on the ground, holding their painted heads and chests in pain, all the while her arm was still pointing the gun. The green eyes looked down and realized she was still aiming at the boys body, screaming and begging her to stop. He was left untouched before Lauren fell to her knees, breathing in and out heavily trying to catch her breath.
"Lauren what the hell!" Camila ran over to the younger teens. "They're just kids!"
Lauren felt the world closing in on her, feeling as if she was having a panic attack.
"What the fuck happened?" Dinah was the first to appear, followed by the rest of the group. "We heard screaming!"
"Th-The kids were paintballing," Camila was all flustered. "I got hit and then she grabbed one of the guns and started shooting them, all in the heads."
Lauren was in crouching over her knees, covering her ears and squeezing her eyes tight.
The girls all helped the fallen kids in pain, noticing that Lauren shot them in the center of their foreheads and straight to where their hearts would be.
Troy and Louis tried grabbing Lauren, while Dinah went over to the boats controls to pause the music until she realized what song had just been recently playing.
"Fuck," Dinah muttered under her breath.
"What happened?" Hailee stood back, stunned.
"One of the songs that played was the one we all listen to before going to fight, and there were guns and screaming.." Dinah rubbed her temples as Normani comforted her. "It triggered something inside of her."
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