A/N: This was posted on 5hfanfiction on tumblr originally, but it was removed about a day later for whatever reason.
"Locomotive to Grand Avenue Station is now boarding. Next destination is approximately two miles away"
Normani sighed deeply as she listened to the automated voice over the intercom, she just wanted this horrible day to be over with. She'd been rejected by yet another modeling agency. The only reason she had moved to Queens in the first place was to pursue a modeling career, but reality was now setting in for her. Not everything was so easy, the only thing she had experienced in her month of living here was stress and confusion.
Sighing deeply, she stepped into the packed subway car. She tried not to pay attention to the people who spoke harsh words to her when she accidentally bumped into them as a result of the car surging forward. She watched as graffiti covered walls and old steel columns flew past her. This was what she wanted, a fast paced lifestyle in the chic, modern city of New York, right?
Several loud beeps and a stampede of people brought her out of her troubled thoughts. As she exits the car, she bumps into yet another person only this time she hears a crash followed by a feminine voice cursing loudly. Turning to her left, she was met with a beautiful blonde. As she remained motionless next to the girl who was fussing around with what looked like a now busted up Nikon, she examined her features. Light, naturally tanned skin, taut muscles flexing lightly, and intricate swirls and lines of a tribal tattoo covered the majority of her left arm. Damn, this girl was absolutely stunning.
When the girl looked up, she noticed Normani and how she was checking her out. Smirking, she cleared her throat and watched as the slightly shorter girl snapped her head up with a light blush, obviously embarrassed about being caught.
"I-I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going, I'll pay for the camera..." She trails off as she notices that the girl is chuckling.
"Relax, it's just the lens that's broken. About the only good thing about Nikons really. I'm Dinah," she says with a charming smile.
"Normani. Sorry about your cam- uh your lens. Really, I can buy you a new one." Yeah, she feels bad, but does she really want to pay for a lousy camera lens? Of course not, it's already hard enough paying rent in her overpriced apartment.
"Nonsense, but please for the sake of other people and yourself- please watch where you're going."
"Sure, I will." she just smiles at Dinah, what else was she supposed to do?
After a few long, awkward seconds Dinah offers to treat the taller girl to some drinks. With intentions of having a few drinks to get her mind off of her hectic day, Normani accepts with a small smile.
Walking out into the cold, crisp environment that is New York in the fall, they chat lightly and it's then that she discovers that Dinah is extremely cocky. She came off as charming at first, but now it's just annoying. They pass up Normani's apartment building and just when she thought she couldn't take another minute of Dinah's failed attempts at flirting, they arrive at a small, elegant building that has 'Angel Walk Lounge' in bold, cursive letters on a maroon overhang. When they get inside, they are met with the strong aroma of cinnamon and wine. It's cozy she thinks as she walks over to the counter.
"What would you like, Miss?"
Startled by the sudden voice, Normani turns around to see Dinah behind the counter tying an apron around her waist.
"What are you doing behind the counter? Dinah you could get in serio-"
"Relax, Babe. I kind of own this place, well co-owner, but you get the point." Dinah says with a proud smile as she grabbed a shot glass and set in on the counter.
"Don't call me Babe, it's not exactly a title you give someone you just met."
"Okay, Beautiful, Mama, Sweets, Princess or Sugar? Any one works for me." Dinah leans on her elbows as she smirks at the older girl, finding it to be quite fun to torment her.
"Any one, huh?" She inquires and receives a nod from Dinah in response.
"How about my name? It's simple if you'd actually try to be respectful." She fires at the girl, who is still sitting there with a shit-eating grin on her face, staring up at her.
"Okay, Normani. What would you like to drink?"
"Why don't you recommend something? You are the bartender, after all."
The two share a quick smile before Dinah reaches under the counter and pulls out several bottles of liquor.
"Well, I can recommend a couple. A Fireball, which describes your personality. Or a Beautiful Lady, which describes your looks," She laughs as she watches Normani roll her eyes.
"Do you ever quit? I've known you for an hour and you're worse than by ex boyfriend was," She chides playfully as she watches Dinah pour small amounts of various liquors into the small glass with ease.
"I was going to say Chocolate Heaven, but I didn't know if you'd take it the wrong way."
This honest statement earns a small laugh from the older girl, how could someone be charming, yet so annoying at the same time?
"I am heavenly, aren't I?" She pauses as she picks up the small shot glass from the counter. "But good thinking, 'cause if you called me that then you would have gotten slapped. Mainly because it was literally the lamest thing ever."
The two share a few more laughs and drinks together before a raven haired girl strolls in humming a random tune.
"Hey Dmac, want me to star- Oh, hello." She hovers around the first table as she watches Normani with a raised eyebrow. She coughs slightly again before speaking. "I didn't know you had already opened up. Slow day so far?"
"Calm down Lauser, you aren't late. This is Normani. We ran into each other at the station and I figured she could use a drink. She was a little... How do I put this? Nervous? At a loss for words? Eh, whatever. It happens pretty damn often when people see me." Dinah jested as she tossed a rag to the girl who was apparently named Lauser.
The other two girls rolled their eyes yet again at the girl behind the counter.
"Normani right? I'm Lauren."
"Hi, does she always act like this?" Normani shakes the girl's hand as she awaits her response.
"You mean cocky with a side of complete and utter fuckboy persona? Only when you first meet her, she either starts acting like a normal person or you just get used to it after a while," Lauren replies and smirks when the darker skinned girl cackles loudly.
Dinah glares at the girl before grabbing a nearby rag and twisting it tightly. After a few seconds of staring Lauren down, Dinah rushes from behind the counter and chases after her. As the two run around the dimly lit lounge, Normani watches with an amused smile. She could get used to these two dorks.
"DJ! No Stop please!" Lauren screeched as Dinah finally cornered her.
Dinah shakes her head in a negative motion before responding. "Uh-uh. Not until you apologize."
"For what? I was telling her the truth!"
Dinah stops her playful actions when she hears Normani laughing hysterically and she can't help but love the sound. She feels a sense of pride knowing that she was at least half the reason she was laughing.
It's at this time when Lauren decides that it's time to run and she does so without Dinah even noticing, that is until she almost trips on the Tongan girl's foot.
When she's knocked out of her stupor, Dinah grabs the back of Lauren's shirt and walks her behind the counter and hands her a spray bottle.
"How about we get this place up and running now, the evening rush should be here any minute now, yeah?" Dinah suggests as she herself starts washing up some tall glasses.
Hearing the words 'evening rush' Normani checks the time on her phone and sees that it's 5:13pm. She figures that she'd rather be at home relaxing than stay here while rowdy men and women decide to take over the bar.
Noticing the girl on her phone, Dinah decides to speak up. "Have somewhere you need to be?"
Normani looks up upon hearing the girl's question. "Nah, not really. I just think I should be getting home."
"Let me get you a cab, it's getting dark out. You don't need to be walking alone," Dinah says with finality, leaving no room for Normani to argue.
Normani can't help but swoon at how caring and sweet the younger girl is despite how she regularly acts. For the first time since she's lived here, she's felt cared for by someone outside of her small circle of friends, and she's only known the girl for less than two whole hours.
"It'll be here in about five minutes, let me walk you out." She hurries to the door to open it for the slightly shorter girl, smiling kindly.
=====
When Normani walks into her apartment, she is greeted by her best friends Zendaya and Ally, both of them looking far less than amused.
"Mani! Where've you been?" Ally pouts at her friend as she lays her jacket on their tattered leather couch.
"I was out with a friend is all. Why?"
A smirk appears on Zendaya's face as she stares down at Normani. "Who's this friend? Did you meet a guy? Tell us 'bout him."
"Well for one, it's a her not a him. Still care?" Normani sends a pointed look to the pair, earning groans and sighs as they take in the information.
"Eh, not really. But you do need to get back out there, it's been over a year since everything happened with Keith."
Normani scoffs as she heard the name of her ex. He had been cheating on her with her best friend at the time, Jilly, for several months. She caught them red-handed after she got home from the gym one night and then the truth had to be spilt. To say she was heartbroken would had to have been an understatement, she felt broken and betrayed. It took her months to stop sulking in her room alone and that was even after the three of them had moved over 2,000 miles away to pursue their dreams.
"I just don't have the time for relationships right now, okay? I have to focus on getting signed which isn't going too well right now." Normani snapped as she walked into their small kitchen to grab a bottle of water.
Ally's and Zendaya's faces fell at the words that spewed from their friend's plump lips.
"Still no luck huh?"
Normani sighs in response and throws herself onto the couch, landing with a small thud. She doesn't care to talk about being rejected yet again, she had just gotten her mind off of it afterall.
=====
The following afternoon, Normani was making her way through the gloomy and damp city streets on her way to the subway station when a familiar voice comes from behind her.
"Babe! Hey, wait up will ya?" Dinah chuckled breathlessly as she caught up to the model, who was scowling at her.
Fighting the urge to roll her eyes. Normani stops in her tracks and turns to look at the Polynesian, who has the same smirk etched on her face as the day before.
"Are you stalking me or something now? And what did I tell you about calling me that?" she huffs as she continues walking to her destination.
"You said not to call someone who you just met that. Technically, we didn't just meet." Dinah retorts as she shoves her hands into the pockets of her bomber jacket. "And no, I'm not stalking you. I live a block away and I seen you coming out of the dance studio."
Normani scoffs and inwardly curses herself for not walking faster when she heard the other girl calling out to her.
"I thought you were into modeling?"
"I am, is it a crime to do more than two things?" she fires at Dinah. Can't this girl ever just have a conversation without being snarky and difficult?
"It would be wrong of me to incriminate someone for that, seeing as I'm a photographer and a bartender."
Normani bits her lip and looks down at her feet as they walk. "Look, I'm sorry for being so rude to you okay? The last couple of days haven't been too good..."
"S'okay, can I help in any way?"
"No, not really, you'd probably just annoy me all day anyway." The model quips playfully as they round a corner, oblivious to the hurt expression that flashed across the Tongan's face.
The two fall into a surprisingly comfortable silence as they continue their walk to the subway station. All is well until a man shoves Normani out of the way, this causes her to partially lose her balance and is teetering dangerously close to the tracks.
"Watch it!" Dinah yells at the man as she rushes over and balances her out before standing protectively in front of her.
"Excuse me?" The mystery man says in a gruff voice.
The man walks back over to them, Normani becomes increasingly nervous, not only for herself, but for Dinah too. Why did the girl have to be so outspoken?
"I said watch where you're going. She could have been hurt if she fell, granted a train didn't run her over," Dinah calmly urged as she looked directly at the man. A loud horn, followed by the loud rattle of the tracks vibrating intensely broke the two out of their intense standoff.
"Why don't you tell your bitch to watch where she's goi-" The man is cut off as a slap is delivered to his right cheek. "Watch your damn mouth." Dinah scoffs as she pulls Normani away from the man and into the subway car.
The car is nearly empty this time around being that it's Sunday, so the two sit down near the back of the car.
"You didn't have to do that, you could have let 'em go." Normani rests a hand on Dinah's arm, the action gains the girl's attention.
"Yeah, I did actually. He should have at least apologized for it, he needs to learn some respect."
"So you slap him?" Normani laughs along with the other girl for a short period of time as her grip tightens on her arm, finding comfort in the close proximity.
"He went too far, calling you that word. Care to join me at the bar again?"
"No, I'm really tired today. I'd rather just head back to my place today." She sees a look of disappointment take over Dinah's face, but she quickly covers it up with a smile. "But, I'd gladly join you tomorrow if you'd like."
"I'm off tomorrow, day after tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I'll see you then." They seal the deal with small grins on their faces as they come to a screeching halt.
The two get off the subway in a rush and begin their trek out into the light rain that began falling. After more light teasing, the two part ways outside of Normani's apartment building with smiles on their faces and butterflies in their stomachs. Normani couldn't think of the reason why she felt this way, she had met the girl just yesterday.
=====
"You're going to become an alcoholic if you keep coming in here for drinks every day, you do realize that?" Lauren jested playfully as Normani sets her umbrella aside and takes a seat on the cushioned bar stool. It's been a little over two months since she and Dinah ran into each other and she's been to the lounge almost every day for drinks, or maybe it's to see a certain bartender, at least that's what Lauren thinks.
"I came here for a certain reason today Lolo, where's Dinah?"
"Don't know, she hasn't shown up yet- wait, here she comes!" Lauren laughs as Dinah, whose hair and clothes are soaking wet, trudges into the bar with her head down.
"I- I hate r-rain, so damn m-much." She gets out as clearly as possible with her teeth chattering violently.
Normani looks at the girl sympathetically and walks over to her, draping her nearly dry coat over the girl's shoulders.
"Where the hell is your jacket DJ? Not even an umbrella?" Lauren tries to stifle her laughter as she and another bartender, Liam, watch Normani comfort the youngest of the group.
"S-shut it Lauser. The weatherman said i-it was supposed to b-be warm and dry out today."
"Poor Dinah, C'mere." Normani brings the Polynesian into a warm hug, ignoring the fact that her clothes were getting wet in the process. The two stood there in each others arms for several long minutes, while the other two in the room looked on with smirks on their faces. They thought that Dinah and Normani went well together, throughout the last two months that Normani's been in their lives she's brought countless smiles to Dinah's face, even though they literally annoy each other to no end.
=====
"So I wanted to ask you for a favor." Normani starts off as she and Dinah take their seats in a secluded booth after Dinah warmed up and changed into dry clothes.
"Depends on what it is, Babe," Dinah smirks as she sees Normani narrow her eyes at her. She never did stop calling her that, it was fun seeing Normani get even the least bit irritated. Regardless of how often she tormented the shorter girl, Normani always welcomed Dinah with open arms after a week of knowing her. Dinah herself never had bad intentions, she just wanted to get a rise out of Normani. She thought if was cute when she got frustrated, she had since the day they met.
"Well, I'm going to be applying to another agency soon and I needed some new headshots. I was wondering if you would be my lovely photographer, you in?"
Dinah's face breaks into a wide grin, effectively covering up the slight disappointment when Normani didn't ask her another question. "Of course I will! You didn't have to kiss up to me by calling me lovely though...."
"I was telling you the truth. You are lovely, when you aren't acting cocky, that is," Normani watches in amusement as Dinah looks away, a light blush spreads across her cheeks.
"What you actin' shy for, Dinah?"
This question makes the Tongan beauty blush even more, and Normani finds it funny how the tables have turned.
After her face returns to its regular color, Dinah faces the model once again and props her elbows up on the table. "When and where did you plan on having these photos taken?" She tries to be professional, but she immediately cracks a smile as Normani furrows her perfectly sculpted eyebrows, she hadn't thought of that.
"You're the photographer here, but I'm free all week."
"My apartment, tomorrow? Maybe then we can just watch movies or something." Dinah knows it's soon, but she's always ready when it comes to photography.
"It's set. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go make some phone calls. Later DJ!"
And with that, she was out the door. Before Dinah can get up, Lauren runs over to the small booth and practically throws herself onto the rounded bench.
"So what'd she ask you?" She says as if everything was normal, and that she didn't just hurtle herself onto a bench.
"Nothing really, just asked me to take some headshots for her is all..." She trails off with a sad smile.
"You need to take initiative Dmac! Someone has to make the first move," Lauren exclaims rather loudly, gaining the attention of the few people that were actually in the bar.
Dinah rolls her eyes at Lauren, she hates that her friend knows her so well and for being able to see the feelings she had for the model.
"What makes you think she even has feelings for me, Lauren?"
"It's not that hard to tell. She looks at you with more love in her eyes than Camila looks at me with anymore.... But anyways, you should ask her out to dinner or something. Isn't your photography exhibit opening next week?"
Noticing how Lauren's face dropped at the mention of Camila, but choosing to ignore it, Dinah shoots down Lauren's idea of a date. "I'm going to be discussing my work all that the whole night Laur, I'm not asking a girl out just to end up ignoring her the whole night."
"Okay, how about a rooftop dinner? It's New York, you have a ton of options."
"Who the hell has a rooftop dinner in November, especially in New York?"
The two discuss ideas for the perfect date for around thirty minutes until the lounge starts filling up with more people, keeping the two busy for the rest of the night.
=====
Walking up to the address Dinah had texted her the day before, Normani examined the gray stone wall of the seemingly high end townhouse. She wondered how it was possible for a bar owner to live in a nice place like this, she was a model and her roommates were musicians, you'd think they'd be the ones living in a place like this.
"Are you going to come inside or...?"
Normani jumped at the soft, ever familiar voice that came from behind her. When she turns around, she spots the young Polynesian leaning against the wall with a smug smirk on her face, clad in a white tank top and gray joggers. She looked Dinah up and down with no shame. Hey, it's not her fault that the girls' choice of clothing showed off just the right amount of toned muscle and the tattoos that covered her arms and chest.
"You have a habit of sneaking up on me, don't you Hansen?"
"I can't help it, seeing you get so flustered is kinda cute, not to mention it's funny," Dinah flashes a coy smile before she pushes herself off the wall and walks up to her client.
Normani smiles fondly at the girl before speaking. "Wanna get this over with?"
"You say it like you don't want to be around me that long, I'm hurt." Dinah brings her hand up to her heart with a mock painful expression on her face.
"Like I said yesterday, you're kind of annoying sometimes." Normani playfully chides and watches as the girl in front of her continues to feign hurt, adding a little more drama and sarcasm by falling back up against the wall.
"Oh my, you're going to kill your photographer if you don't stop!"
"C'mon, you little dork." The shorter of the two laughs as she tugs Dinah over to the stairs of the building.
=====
"These are your old headshots? No wonder they passed you up, no offense." Dinah stated as she looked through Normani's old portfolio, that had been made several years earlier.
"What do you mean? What's so bad about them?" Inquired the young model, pique evident in her voice.
"You have so much makeup caked on your face in these photos I'm surprised you aren't on cake boss yet, Mani." Dinah looks up at the girl sitting next to her on the hardwood floor of her apartment.
"I need the makeup though, I need to be absolutely flawless for these pictures, kinda why I'm wearing it right now..." She motions to her face and smiles weakly at the girl in front of her who has a look of confusion and mischief on her face.
Dinah says nothing as she stands up and walks into her bathroom, grabs a small plastic box, and sits back down, this time much closer to the older girl. "You're flawless either way! But agencies want to see what you look like without it so they know what they're working with." She grabs a tiny makeup wipe from the box and gently wipes off some of the foundation that is caked on Normani's cheek.
"Hey! I spent like two hours on my makeup this morning, stop!" She tries to swat Dinah's hands away to no avail, as Dinah was having none of it.
"Girl, don't make me go Queen B on your ess, I will start singing."
"Ess? You mean ass?" Normani retorts sassily as she finally allows Dinah to wipe the rest of the makeup off.
"Shush, it's a habit. There we go, now you're all set." Dinah finishes and hands Normani a small mirror, allowing her to examine her face. She sighs and rubs at the small imperfections that are now completely visible on her face. Dinah notices the troubled look on her face and tilts her chin up.
"You look stunning, no model is going to have one-hundred percent flawless skin or looks. You're pretty damn close to it though." Dinah pauses as she looks down to the old photos and back up again. "Look at it this way, these agencies want to see who you are, and this-" She points to the photos that are scattered around the floor "- isn't you."
Tears well up in Normani's eyes as she listens to the younger girl speak. She wouldn't have believed her if it wasn't for the look of adoration on her face and the pure honesty and love laced in her voice. Dinah could say things that made her feel on top of the world, even being in the girl's presence now made butterflies flutter in her stomach and her touch made goose bumps rise on her skin. She had fallen for the overconfident bartender in the short couple of months she had known her.
"Thank you Dinah, really." She leans her head on the girl's shoulder and wipes away a stray tear that fell.
"Hey, stop crying. We can't have you with bloodshot eyes in these photos, that ain't cute."
"How do you go from being the sweetest person ever to a complete asshole so quickly?"
"Only telling the truth babe, now let's get this over with!" Dinah chuckles as she jumps up and jogs towards her gear.
=====
After taking several photos in Dinah's makeshift studio as well as various places around the block, the two women head over to a small shop a few blocks away to get them developed. That leads them to where they are now; on Dinah's bed looking through the photos to determine which to use in the young models portfolio.
"These photos are amazing Dinah! But do you really think a pretty picture is enough for these agencies?"
"Probably not, but the beautiful girl in the picture is definitely more than enough," Dinah proclaims as she looks at Normani with a love that is far more than platonic evident in her eyes
'Fuck it' Dinah thinks and presses her plump lips to those of Normani. It starts off slow and shy, as if the two women are afraid of going any further, but soon progresses into one of heated passion. As soon as Normani begins kissing back with just as much vigor that Dinah went in with, they fall back onto the soft bed, never breaking the increasingly feverish kiss. Normani was seeing stars and though it's cliche, she felt as if fireworks and bombs exploded around them in a fiery display of absolute passion.
Pulling away, the women break into a fit of giggles and rest their foreheads against one another.
"I've wanted to do that for so long, you have no idea... " Dinah trails off as she relishes in the close proximity of the girl she had fallen in love with.
"And I've been waiting for you to do it, lord knows I'd never have the courage to."
The girls laugh together and soon a calm stillness envelopes them. They lay there just taking in the events of the past few minutes, taking in the presence of the girl they're lying next to and thinking about where they want to go from here.
"I'd like to take you out sometime, yeah?" Dinah rasps out and brings a hand up to the older girl's cheek, lightly tracing the outline of her jaw.
"Like a date? If so, then hell yes." Normani rolls on top of Dinah and peppers kisses on the girls blushing face before moving down and resting her head on the girl's chest, lulled to sleep by the steady beat of the girl's heart.
=====
It's about a month later, or a week before Christmas when the two make their way out into the city to celebrate Normani finally getting signed to an agency, it's not a huge deal like DNA or Elite, but it's something and that's certainly enough for Normani.
"I don't know whether I love or hate this time of year, everyone is either way too happy or extremely rude and hasty," Dinah claims as she and Normani walk through the city, viewing all the colorful lights and Christmas decorations, each block and resident having their own unique way of decorating.
"Don't be such a little Grinch, it's the most wonderful time of the year!" Normani sings as she picks up some snow off the sidewalk and chucks it at Dinah, earning a glare from the other girl in response.
"Don't make me push you in the snow, Mani. I will do it!"
She laughs at they way the taller girl puffs her chest out and tries to look threatening. The Poly's mock glare and defensive stance fades and evolves into a pout when the other girl only laughs in response.
"Ugh, come on, I have to get to the bar."
"Babe relax, I'm joking around. But I do know that you'd never actually push me in the snow, would you?" She quirks a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at Dinah, who in turn rolls her eyes.
"Hmm, thought so..." She pauses as she looks down at their hands that are clasped together. "Can I ask you something?"
"You just did, but ask away." Dinah smirks at Normani but it's quickly wipes as yet another snowball is thrown at her, this time landing on her face.
"Dinah, listen I'm serious."
"Then stop throwing snow at me!"
Choosing not to respond, Normani coughs lightly before speaking in a shy voice, her choice of words surprising Dinah.
"What do you see in me? What keeps bringing you back to me? I was a bitch to you when we first met, I don't get it."
"It's simple really. I see a lot of things in you. Both big and little things, good and bad. It's definitely the little things that keep me coming back. No matter how rude you are sometimes," Dinah finishes with a smirk as Normani slaps her shoulder.
"You're an asshole."
"So you've told me before, many of times actually."
The pair was all smiles as they neared Dinah's lounge, but looks of confusion crossed their faces as loud screams were heard, coming from inside the bar.
"What the?" Dinah rushed towards the door and barreled in, Normani following close behind.
When they get inside, they are met with chairs and bar stools that have been knocked over and two fuming ladies, which Dinah immediately recognizes as Camila and Lauren, each being held back by Liam and a another young man. A small group of customers watches it all go down from the back of the lounge with terrified faces.
"Four years! Four freaking years Camila! You threw it away by cheating on me with that damn Dorito!"
Normani raises an eyebrow at Lauren and turns to Dinah "Can you tell me who Dorito is? I'm lost."
"I think his name is Austin, or was. I'm going to kill that little fuckboy, at least kick his ass," Dinah hisses as she walks towards the girls.
While Liam was looking over towards the door to see who walked in, Lauren manages to grab a bottle from the liquor cabinet and raises in above her head, attempting to throw it but is stopped by Dinah.
"Lauren! That's a two-hundred dollar bottle of Moscato!" Dinah manages to pry the bottle from Lauren's tight grasp and asks Liam, who has let go of Lauren by now, to throw Camila out.
"Lauren calm down, okay? Relax, she's gone now," Dinah plants a loving kiss on the girl's forehead and brings her into a hug as she begins sobbing uncontrollably.
"She f-fucking cheated on me Dinah! I should have known something was up when I seen her with Austin last week!" Lauren sobs into her best friend's shoulder. Dinah on the other hand wasn't sure how else to comfort the crying girl, so she rubs the girls back in a soothing manner. Noticing the conflicted look on Dinah's face, Normani walks over and whispers comforting things into the Lauren's ear, calming her down further.
"I swear I'm going to give that banana loving bitch a poly beat down the next time I see her." Dinah fumes as she moves towards the door, but is stopped in her tracks by both Lauren and Normani.
"Babe, Lauren needs you right now. Look at her... " Normani motions towards the girl and Dinah's heart breaks a little at the sight. Lauren looks so broken and vulnerable at the moment, with tears running down her face profusely, her hair is tousled and knotted, and her eyes are bloodshot.
"Why don't you take today off Lauser? Me and Liam can hold it down here tonight."
"I- No I can't just let me freshen up, I'll be okay,"
Ignoring her claims, Dinah turns to Liam and Normani.
"Can one of you take her home? I don't want her to be alone right now."
Normani grins. "I will, just give me an address and I'll take yo-"
"I can't go back to my apartment. Camila might be there! Please, can I stay with you Dinah?" Lauren pleads as more tears fall down her face.
"Take her back to mine, I'll be there later on," Dinah pecks her girlfriend's lips and apologizes for not being able to celebrate her accomplishment before sending the two on their way. She was livid, Lauren was one of, if not the sweetest girl she'd ever met. How could someone ever do that to her? Especially Camila, the girl they'd been friends with since the first grade.
=====
Walking through the cold, dimly lit streets in Ridgewood, a small neighborhood in Queens, at one O'clock in the morning definitely wasn't where Dinah wanted to be right now. She wanted to be with her best friend, not headed towards the girl who had cheated best friend's place. Walking up the steps to a small townhouse, Dinah pounded on the door for several minutes until a boy answered the door with a crooked grin on his face as he looked Dinah up and down, shamelessly checking her out.
Dinah shot him a disgusted look. "Are you Austin?"
"Yeah. C'mon thickums, come inside." His smile grew as he kept staring at Dinah.
"Why don't you shut up, prick. Where's Camila?"
"Don't know, this girl freaked out after she walked in on us and Camilla chased after her."
Dinah narrowed her eyes at the boy. "I really should kick your ass, but I wouldn't want to be charged with animal abuse."
"Real original, what's your name?"
Dinah scoffs at him and walks away, somewhat regretting her decision to walk all alone this late at night. As she walks, she turns back several times to make sure no one is following her, she swears she hears someones footsteps. She picks up her pace as she rounds a corner, the footsteps sounding closer than before. Dinah prays that she's just a little paranoid, because now she hears at least two pairs of footsteps behind her.
"Dinah! Hey, wait up!"
After hearing the familiar voice, she turns around and lets out a relieved sigh when she sees two of her long-time friends, Kehlani and Victoria, walking up to her with smiles on their faces.
"Hey ladies, Tori I thought you went back to Cali?"
"I'm visiting, we were all on our way over to your place actually."
"Who was that in Mila and Lo's apartment? Relative?" Tori asks with a bright smile.
"How about the guy Camila cheated on Lauren with."
The statement results in Kehlani repeatedly asking if Lauren was alright and Tori threatening to find Camila and kick her ass, then actually turning back in the direction of Camila's place.
"No ones seen Camila since Lauren almost threw a damn bottle at her head at the lounge. Lauren's at my place, C'mon." Dinah nods her head and continues on her walk, thankful she's not alone in the dead of night.
=====
"I'll be fine! I just need to pack up my stuff and move out. I can't be around her anymore." The broken hearted Latina exclaims in an exasperated voice.
"Maybe it was a one time thing?" Kehlani states, though it came out more like a question.
"It's been going on for over three months, I'm pretty damn sure it's not just a one time thing."
For the past thirty minutes or so, Lauren had been asked far too many questions and smothered by the group of girls.
Tori sighs deeply and pulls Lauren into her arms. "Why don't we just settle down and watch movies the rest of the night? We can worry about her and Dorito boy tomorrow."
"How 'bout we watch How to Get Away With Murder, I haven't seen the last few episodes!"
Dinah gawked at Kehlani before standing up. "Hell no, the new season of Orange is the New Black was just put up on Netflix! I will fight you for this Lani!"
Lauren giggles and speaks up as the two girls walk up to each other, both taking a defensive stance as they playfully glare at each other. "I'm with Dinah on this one, have you seen Diane Guerrero? Lord help me... " She trails off whilst fanning herself.
"And Dascha? That girl is fine as hell."
"Why am I in a room with a bunch of lesbians?" Tori mutters as she rubs her temples.
Dinah raises an eyebrow at the blonde girl. "I thought you were Bi?"
"There's a difference!"
"Oh shut up, you still like pus-" Normani clamps a hand over Dinah's mouth before she can finish her sentence.
"So Orange is the New Black it is then?"
A/N: Thoughts? I really loved writing this! I talked about it with tattedupdayuh a long time ago and well, here it is!