———
Same time and place, yins
Lauren's POV
Camz and I were kind of chatting with everyone, and it was still kind of surreal to me that this would be goodbye to everything I loved for the better part of a year. There was so much I would miss, but the top one on my list was a feisty brunette with soul-searching brown eyes and a powerful and awe-inspiring mind.
Sinu had been here with Sofi up until a half hour ago, which was roughly noon; Sofi had a soccer game, and I refused to let her miss it. So I just hugged her really tight, and she made me promise I'd come home soon so I could come to one of her games. I agreed, as long as she promised to practice and be the best player she could be, as well as being a good student, daughter, sister, and most importantly, butterfly queen. She beamed at me before skipping off with Sinu, who I'd had a lengthy talk with the night before. She was a wonderful woman, and a great mother. Camila and Sofi were lucky to have her.
That reminded me that I forgot to see my mother in the cancer center where she was admitted, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.
I was kind of tired, I'll admit, and I was laid on my back across the seats. I saw a bunch of other Marines scattered across the airport waiting for the same flight; there were going to be over 200 people on this plane, and the majority of them would be soldiers.
None of our friends minded (since they were such Camren shippers, I guess they wouldn't) that Camz and I were cuddling with the tiny space the seats allotted. I think she was tired too, or maybe just being very quiet.
She was lying on me with her head on my chest when she spoke up. "Are you scared to go? Because I'm scared as hell to let you," she shifted her head upright, and her big brown eyes were watery, and my own eyes mirrored hers of their own accord.
I ignored her usage of the word 'hell' for now, but stashed away the receipt for later teasing purposes. "Of course. I'm human, I'm scared too. Terrified, even. But I've got Shawnie," Shawn, at hearing my baby-sounding nickname for him, turned his head and smiled sweetly at us before returning his attention to his boyfriend on his phone's screen. Camz and I waved to him from our awkward position. I had to remember to call him. "And a bunch of other people who have training; we watch out for each other, always."
"Semper Fidelis," Toby Cavanaugh said suddenly from across the row of seats.
I acknowledged him with a nod and smile.
"Oorah!" yelled this one guy, Brockway, who I remembered was always very excited about everything.
Suddenly all eyes were on us, and I blushed embarrassedly, Camila and I sat up, but I made sure to link her pinky with mine.
"Oorah," another soldier called out from someplace else.
"Oorah!" came the shout from a little boy. His mother scolded him for saying it and I kind of felt bad, but I laughed anyway.
A whole slew of soldiers were calling out "Oorah" and I guess that was because of what I said. I kinda felt awkward, to be honest.
"Look at you, Lo. You're hot shit. Got the whole airport pro-Marine. Semper Fi, sis," Austin said to me through Shawn's phone. I smiled widely at him, and regretted not calling him or at least sending a message or two on whatsapp. Half the time I didn't even know where my phone was at.
"Semper Fi. Love you. Maybe we'll get out there to see you soon." I said and he nodded. I let him finish up talking to Shawn; our conversations never needed to be very long, especially when I knew he didn't have a whole lot of time to talk.
When Shawn got off the phone, we all began talking again, loudly and without a care, because this would be the last time we'd get to for a while. I wasn't gonna be a downer about it, because they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder or whatever.
"Guys it's 1:15, we have 45 minutes to kill, wanna play a game?" Dinah asked excitedly.
"OMG yes, I love games!" Ally squealed, clapping happily.
"Girl... do not say 'OMG'. You can type it when you text but don't say it out loud... you're such a dork," Mani rolled her eyes with an unimpressed look.
"Okay, China, what's the game?" Camila questioned, and I was glad to see that her mood had brightened since her tiny tear fest earlier.
"Let's see who can fall asleep the fastest!"
"Ooh, I'm down!" Shawn piped up, already stretching out, kicking my shoulder in the process.
"Dude, you are too tall for this; get up, you're embarrassing me," I exclaimed, his booted foot resting on my shoulder now, probably centimeters from my ear.
"Sorry, Lo, trying to win a game here." With that, he totally ignored me and closed his eyes.
Camila giggled behind her hand and poked at his sized 13 boot, with the other. Somehow, he was already asleep. Giant pandas don't hibernate, but if they did, this would definitely be the irony I would not let go unmentioned. Well, Shawn's pretty damn tall, so that can basically equate to giant, and he's Austin's Panda, so that would make him a rare, hibernating giant panda, whoa. One with a giant boot on my shoulder, but I've digressed enough.
I wasn't mad at him, though, and stood, gently rested his foot down on the seat I had vacated. If Austin loved him, so did I; he was a lovable guy, just as silly as they came, and gay as hell. He was goofy like Camila, and extra like Dinah. That's probably why I liked him so much; he was a mixture of two of my all-time favorite people.
"Dinah all you do is sleep," Normani complained, pouting.
Dinah, who had slouched in her seat and had a hood pulled over her eyes, suddenly smirked. "Lions sleep a lot. And baby, that's not what I remember us doing last night, just saying..."
"Y'all need Jesus!" Ally laughed, looking up from her phone with a mocking gasp.
"Get it, D..." Shawn mumbled sleepily, softly snoring only seconds later.
"Uh, Allycat?" I call the tiny woman who was somehow older than us all with blonde streaks in her hair.
"Yeah Lauren?" she smiled warmly at me, locking her phone.
"Didn't you say you had to go to work at 1:30? You're gonna be late," I try to withhold a laugh as I see her eyes widen. I would assume that means that she forgot.
"Oh, Christ, my dad is going to fire me--"
"Allyson Brooke Hernandez! You just said the Lord's name in vain!" Camila accused, pointing a finger at the girl who was scurrying like mad gathering her things. She kissed Shawn's forehead and mine too, since I had sat down again and she looked at Camila with distaste before rushing off, making me promise to call her as soon as I could.
"And now there's just us, since Dinah and Shawn are basically dead to the world," Mani started, rolling her eyes, but glancing back at her younger girlfriend with fondness and care.
"I really really don't know what I'm gonna do with myself while you're gone, Laur. I'm going miss you so much." The smaller Cuban began, hugging her own torso. She was practically swimming in the hoodie I'd bought her from PX -- it was a gray pullover jumper with "Marines" on the front. She'd asked for one, so I had gotten one for her, and splurged and decided to get one for the rest of our friends too; Dinah was asleep in hers, a black version of Camila's, Mani's was green, and Ally's a white one with purple writing. I got Sofi a teddy bear with a sweater with "USMC", but stopped my spending there, so my wallet wouldn't slap the shit out of me for spending more than I was making.
"It's not gonna be too different from when I went to boot camp; oh, and Shawn too, because I know you guys are gonna miss him as well. It'll be just over twice as long as boot camp was, which I know doesn't sound reassuring, but it's the best I can do. I don't know if you know this, but leaving is so hard for me. Having him with me makes it easier. You guys will have each other until we get back, and I don't expect or want you to put your lives on hold for us. I love you guys, and I want you to live and grow and be happy so when we come back we can all be happy and healthy together in harmony."
Normani hummed and nodded her agreement. We were close in the way that we didn't always have to speak to convey our thoughts and emotions to each other. I appreciated that too. It was lovely to have several friends surround me and for each of them to have their own qualities that make them stand out and near and dear to my heart. I blew a kiss to Mani and smiled cutely, closing my eyes in the process.
"No! Your kisses are mine only," Camila complained, childishly and playfully attempting to intercept my airborne kiss before it could reach its destination of Normani's open and waiting palm. Her jaw dropped and she faced my now-satisfied girlfriend, incredulous.
"Rude ass!"
"Mani! Language! What would Dinah say?" I question, amused, holding in a chuckle.
"Nothing. That girl could probably sleep through an explosion," she answered, and I felt the strangest chill run through me, though I wasn't cold, I had like two layers on.
"Lauren, you owe me an actual kiss now, don't you think?" came Camila's voice, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Oh, but of course," I mumbled semi awkwardly, leaning in and meeting her pursed lips halfway across the small space between us. I felt her tongue against my lips when the shutter of a camera went off.
"Mani, what the hell?"
"Sorry! It's just... It's totally something Dinah would do but she's asleep, and usually if Dinah is asleep then Shawn is the replacement, but he's asleep too, and hey, Mila might thank me later for this picture when she's missing you. Besides, there are soooo many that DJ and Shawn have stashed away--"
"What?! Where? I swear to God, if anyone touched my camera..."
"Relax, Camz, no one even knows how to work those things--"
"Well, that's a blatant lie, you just--"
"Yeah, so that was all I was gonna say. Napping suddenly seems interesting to me now too. Bye." Normani then curled up on the uncomfortable seat on the opposite side of us that was next to my lion-haired best friend, and didn't appear to be asleep, but was sure as hell doing a splendid job of ignoring us, so I think I'd be doing alright to assume her mission was accomplished.
"Wanna cuddle? I know my uniform probably isn't the most comfortable thing to be against, but-" I stopped talking when I felt the petite body of my girlfriend pressed against my own.
We take up one of the wider, love-seat sized seats, and I place my head on her shoulder, focusing on the familiar sound of Camila's soft breathing and trying to quell the unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Her hand strokes my head, pushing back any stray strands and baby hairs that couldn't fit into the neat bun on my head.
I found myself dozing off, hearing her voice sighing, "I'm going to miss you so much." I returned the sentiment, despite the pressing feeling I had that something wasn't quite right.
——
It was probably about 15 minutes later when I heard raised voices of distress and fast-paced footfalls. I immediately opened my eyes and sat up, startling Camila awake also. I looked around, seeing Shawn and both halves of Norminah rousing too. Out in the walkways of the massively massive international airport, I could see the security forces rushing off to the direction of terminal C.
"I wonder what's going on down there...?" I heard Toby mumble.
His girlfriend perked up immediately, interest evident on her face. "What if it's 'A'? We should go check it out!" She stood up abruptly.
He quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back down to her seat. "No, Spence, we are not doing anything. Let the airport police do their jobs, it's not 'A', and it's not our issue to worry about; terminal C is like almost two miles away from here if you're walking."
"What terminal are we in?" Camz asked me.
"We're in terminal A. So we're a good distance away from whatever's happening over there, like Toby said," I replied, and she squeezed my hand, which I'd fallen asleep holding. Pins and needles.
"I had a weird feeling before I fell asleep... I wonder if this is why." I murmured to Shawn, who looked over at me with serious eyes, no traces of humor in the dark brown eyes.
A phone ringing broke our silent staring contest.
"Toby, that was Emily; she sent a text and said she's outside of terminal B, but they won't let her in. She just wants to say goodbye to you and see you off, but she said there's chaos and... guys with guns? Oh my God." she muttered the last part lowly and slowly, so not to draw attention to us over here.
"The airport police carry guns, Spence. And tell Em that it's not safe for her to be over there. I want her to just go home. I get that she rushed here after her shift at Papa H's but honestly, this sounds bigger than 'A' if there's guns in an airport and police and whatnot.
"It could just be a false alarm or whatever. Could just be no big deal. But no, text her back; tell her to go home, and that I'll see her walk across the stage along with you and the other girls at graduation. Where are they, by the way, I..." I stopped listening to the rest of the conversation as, at that point, it had lost its relevance to me, Shawn, and our civilian friends who were shaking in their figurative boots. It wasn't that Shawn and I weren't nervous, it's just that this reminded us of our simulated missions and training.
The adrenaline I could feel a bit was familiar to me, though not particularly welcomed; that wasn't the case for all of us, obviously, as I could feel Camila's pulse racing through her wrist from the way it was pressed against my skin.
"Babe. Baby, calm down, it's okay, right?" I asked, letting her go only to gently grip the sides of her face and guide her to look nowhere but at me, and hopefully to get her to block out the distant sounds of yelling and static that was universally associated with that of a taser.
"Whatever's happening over there, it's happening over there. And you know what?"
She shook her head slightly, her baby soft brown and wavy hairs tickling my hands. "No, what?"
"There's gotta be at least 150 Marines -- some of them veterans -- a few other military personnel, and an assload airport security, airport police, and those really cute port authority dogs you kept pointing out on the way in here. Plus there's Shawn and there's me. Plus Dinah and Normani. Even if we're scared, you mean the world to us; you mean the world to me, so I'll be damned if I'm going to let anything happen to you. So don't you worry your pretty little head, Camzi. Because every little thing... is gonna be alright," I trailed off. I'd started out being completely serious and finished singing the legend himself, Bob Marley, earning myself a beautiful giggle from my beautiful girl. Mission accomplished.
"Quick, Manibear, say something cute as hell!" Dinah said, throwing up her (admittedly large however endearing) hands.
"Something cute as hell!" she mimicked her rushed voice and everything. Damn, she cold.
Shawn's goofy laugh filled the immediate area, and he slapped his knee. "Ha! When you're not playing Beyoncé every waking moment, you're actually my spirit animal. The sass."
"Boy, you better be careful. That almost sounded like a diss to my queen," Normani raised an eyebrow, and I sighed, wishing I had headphones to block out the impending debate that was sure to come, but for what? I didn't have anything on me besides my clothes, my luggage and my patches. And a couple of dollars and my military ID, of course.
"Mani, don't even start a rant about the Bey right now. Not really the time."
"Babe, it's always the time, and here's why-" Normani went went on, talking Dinah's ear off instead, the poor girl.
Shawn sighed in relief, and I smiled at the pair. They really were perfect for each other. And if you could see them dance. Oh my God. Camz is the only girl for me, but those two are hot as all hell. Just sayin'.
"Ugh, I just got like, so hungry..." Shawn grumbled, a bitchy undertone to his voice. Don't you start, too.
As if on cue, Camila's stomach growled.
"Well, I have a couple MRE's-"
"No!" Shawn, Camila, and a few random uniforms I didn't even know all shouted at me. I just closed my mouth slowly and decided to say nothing else on the matter. I thought the chicken fajita ones were good, but I guess my opinion wasn't worth jack shit. Damn.
"Jesus fucking Christ," I muttered, feigning offense before standing. "Well, anyway, there's one of those little food shops around the corner, nice place. It's about... I dunno, 88 yards down the way. I can get a few sandwiches and a small bundle of bananas, if you all wanted?" I asked, raising my eyebrows as I stood.
I noticed how everyone stopped their side conversations; Mani stopped getting defensive about Beyoncé, Dinah stopped defending herself about it, and Camz stopped bugging Shawn about whether or not his feet smelled when he took his boots off. Weirdo.
"Food?" Because that's all Mani heard out of that sentence.
"Yas girl!" Dinah, being extra.
"Bananas!" Camila, of course.
"This shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!"
"Okay so everyone gets a banana except for Shawn. Got it. Be right back," I say, leaning down to kiss Camila's plump and pouty lips when she pointed to them. I laughed a little bit when Dinah made a gagging sound and said something like "Camren is so gross, ew" and left the area, leaving my trusty ILBE assault pack (or that camouflage backpack that a lot of people like to wear, the USMC one though, obviously) on my back.
I walked on, remembering the familiar path. My parents and I used to fly out of this airport often, into Colorado, sometimes Utah. We would go to ski resorts for impromptu vacations, and this started when I was about 7, and then ended when I was 13, the year before I met Camila. My life had been going downhill as a result of my parents and their failure to kick their bad habits and addictions. Until I met her, anyway, because that was the year things started looking better. That might have been due to me looking into her eyes though; they have the power to make just about anything better.
Maybe my parents were addicts in their own right. But, I realized that I've developed my own addiction; with parents such as mine, I really shouldn't have been surprised.
I was more than addicted to the honey brown eyes, silky smooth, yet raspy voice, brilliant mind, and overall adorableness that came in the form of Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao. I was fucking addicted, and like my parents, I guess, I didn't want to be anything but physically and mentally dependent on anything that had to do with her. I craved her. All the time, and in more ways than one, but I was ready to wait, as contradictory as that statement probably sounded. Waiting for anything more is the only thing we had time for anyways.
I was rounding the corner, and smiled when I saw that whatever was happening in terminal C didn't affect this shop that was between both A and B terminals. I saw the name of the familiar business and reminisced. It wasn't like most of the stores, it was a little more rundown, and my father always hated it, but my mother and I always agreed that it was quaint, in its own way; it had character. The small eatery doubled as a quick-mart, so people could sit and dine at tables (this took up maybe 12 yards of the store), or they could grab things from aged refrigerators along the walls behind some shelving past the aisles and aisles of boxed goods. That made up the rest of the small store. I loved it. I remembered getting lost and crying in the corner when I was 7 years old.
——
November 23, 1999; still Lauren's pov
"Why are you crying?" a small, boyish voice asked me. My knees were pulled up to my chest, and I had my tear-stained cheeks resting on top of them.
"My mommy and daddy left me, and I'm lost," I answered sadly, sniffling and roughly rubbing at my nose.
"You're not lost, you're in Flower."
"What? I'm not in a flower, I'm in a store," I emphasized, squinting at him like he was crazy. He had short, straight dark brown hair. It was really pretty and shiny, I wanted to touch it to see if it was soft, but my mother said I couldn't do things like that. One time in gym class in 2nd grade, my teacher's elbow looked really pointy, so I touched it, and she got really pissy about it. (a/n: this really happened 😒)
"No, I mean– this is the name of my parents' store; it's called Flower. That's where we are right now, so you're not lost, you're in Flower."
"Why?"
"Why what?" he asked me, smiling now, sitting cross-legged across from me on the surprisingly clean floor.
"Why's it called Flower?"
"My dad is from Pakistan, and he speaks a language called Urdu. So this place is named after a song he used to sing to my mother and I in Urdu." the boy explained to me, his pretty grin intact.
My tears were forgotten now, but I didn't realize this. "That sounds so cool! Will you sing it to me?"
His face got a little red, and he looked down for a moment, his smile dropping for a second before he laughed. "Um, maybe one day. I gotta find your parents. Help me out; what do they look like? Do they have eyes like yours?" He asked me, standing up and extending a hand to me.
I took his hand and got to my feet, shaking my head, sniffling for the last time and wiping away my last tears. "No, they have brown eyes. My bro- I mean, my cousin has green eyes but not my parents. My mom is not very tall, but my dad is kind of a big guy, and he has fuzzy cheeks." I explain, puffing out my cheeks, and the boy laughs.
"Who are you? ...Sorry. That was not polite. Um. I meant, what's your name? I'm Lauren, and I'm 7." I introduced awkwardly, sticking my hand out like I'd seen my father do with his clients and my mother do whenever she meets new people.
He took it and kissed it before blushing and kissing it. "Sorry about that, my dad does that to my mum. But I'm Zayn. And I'm 10. I might have seen some people who look like you described... follow me," he took my hand, and dragged me out of the dark and uninhabited corner of the store/restaurant- it no longer seemed uninviting to me. It seemed friendly, and to me, Flower or Flowers (I was a little lost when he was talking, but I didn't tell him that) had faces - and as of right now, in this moment - they all looked like Zayn.
He led me around the tall aisles of cereal boxes, ramen noodles, shampoo, diapers, Huggies brand wipes. My parents were stood near a man and a woman who smiled at Zayn. He looked like a mixture of the two, and shared their likeness enough for me to recognize them as his mother and father.
"Thank you so much, young man, for finding our daughter," my mother smiled gratefully, handing Zayn a crisp $5 bill, which I gaped at. I never got money.
He looked at the money, and then his parents, who nodded their assent. "Thank you."
"No, the thanks is all ours; Lauren's awfully curious all the time, and she wanders off if we turn our backs for even a moment," my father explained, speaking more toward the other adults in the area, his heavy hand grasping my shoulder not tightly enough to hurt me, but firmly enough that I couldn't move from my spot if I tried to.
"That's quite alright; Zayn is always here to watch over things, as one day, this will all be his, if he wants it to be," Zayn's father speaks. He is a man of average height, an inch or two shorter than my dad, his hair very dark and pretty and wavy. His skin was a light tan, like he was in the sun but used the proper SPF, which I never do, like my mom tells me to, which is why I always burn in the sun. And since I always burn in the sun, my parents don't let my outside very much, and so I'm very pale.
"Perhaps," The mother of Zayn smiles a pretty smile, and I realize that both of his parents have really cool foreign accents.
My parents pull me out of the store after buying me some beef jerky. I hate beef jerky. I stuffed it into my pocket, but did not plan to eat it. We promised the family - we learned they were Mr. and Mrs. Malik, and Zayn Malik - that we would visit Flower again the next time we were in the general B/A terminal area. Whatever that meant, I didn't know.
I waved at Zayn, and he waved back until we couldn't see each other anymore, as my father continued to drag me away.
——
September, 2010 - Lauren's pov continues
I looked to the store/restaurant of Flower. It was one of the few airport establishments that had a door, and considering the sheer massive size of this airport, Flower wasn't all that large.
I'll admit, it had been years since I'd been here, and years since I'd seen Zayn, or had any of the beef jerky I loved to hate. But then, I was the godmother (though, Shawn would probably interject and call me daddy material, and Camz would blush really hard and then I'd punch him in the dick and Norminah would either be recording it all, making out, or laughing their hot asses off. Ally? She'd probably be baking, texting or FaceTiming Troy, or trying to de-escalate the entire situation) of a certain fluffy dog back at the place the felt like home; he lived for that nasty stuff.
But on the door was a sign: "Under new management". Okay then, I guess.
I decided to just go inside, so I opened the door, surprised to see a completely remodeled restaurant. Instead of dark black and brown hues on the walls, and accents of green here and there, now thee was a lot of red, and there was quite literally a glass wall separating the dining area from the noticeably larger minimart-type of area.
I saw Zayn, though, and my eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. He was adorable the last time I saw him 5 years ago; it was safe to say that I couldn't use that adjective to describe him in that moment. I was gay as hell, but Zayn was fucking sexy -- he could get it. He had muscle, I could see the tense ones in his back and arms flex as he picked up a box from the back of the store and moved to bring it towards the front somewhere. He looked aggravated at something, but the deep-set frown on his now angular and hairy face only served to make him look hotter. Damn.
Not to mention that he was completely inked. I loved tattoos. Maybe I'd ask him where he got his done, I'd love to have some tattoos of my own one day soon.
His hair was long, he had a few locks of nearly jet black hair going into his eye, but it looked almost reminiscent of Superman's curl- but better. Finally, he looked up, and he almost dropped the box, and he stumbled over another box that was sitting off to the side that I guess he didn't see.
"Lauren fucking Jauregui!"
"Long time no see, Malik," I grinned, watching as he set the box onto the floor.
In his hurry over to me, he tripped again, this time stumbling hard, but I took a couple of big steps forward and reached my hands forward and steadied him by his strong and well-built shoulders.
"Careful, there, buddy. Goddamn, it's been--"
"5 years, Lauren; I can't believe it. Holy hell, you look hot." his eyebrows were raised, and he looked me up and down, but I liked that he didn't comment on my uniform right away. Because he obviously had to have seen that first.
I smirked. "I was actually going to say the same thing to you. Tattoos? Never would've guessed that from the goody two shoes little boy who always aimed to please his parents. Where are Mr. and Mrs. Malik? I stopped by to pick up a few things and I'd love to say hello..."
He shifted awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. He made everything look attractive, what the hell.
"Believe it or not, they sold this place. They live back home now, uh, my home in Bradford. That's in-"
"I know. Wow, you're leaving the States?" I asked, surprised.
"Yeah, I don't know, I've completed my schooling and my finals and whatnot, and I'm about ready to go back home, see my boyfriend again. It's been a long while, a couple months. How long have you been in the service, Heartbreaker?" Zayn asked me at last, his awkward demeanor fading, and his smirk fading.
"Not long, only about three months or so. And please," I scoffed, "I'm the farthest thing from a heartbreaker. I've been with one person, a girl, and she's the only one I want. And I don't plan to break any hearts. And I'd much rather it be mine than hers. I would never want her to hurt, for any reason."
Zayn was nodding. "I totally feel you. Liam is the same way -- that's my boyfriend -- he's way overprotective, but it's really quite attractive so I don't mind. At all."
I laughed and threw my head back, then rolled my eyes before leaving him to gather the things I came there for. I picked up a couple of the prepackaged sandwiches that were made only a few hours prior, a few small bags of crisps, two large bottles of water, and a bundle of bananas. I paid for them and slipped them into my "bottomless" backpack, as Camila always called it.
"So you've sold this place?" I asked.
Zayn nodded solemnly. "I'm actually just packing up all of the things that belonged to my family, and I'm going to bring it back to Bradford with me."
"If this is the last time I'm going to see you here, then I guess you and I are going to have to meet somewhere in the middle, yeah? Then I can meet this 'Liam', guy, who seems to be unbothered by how clumsy you are," I stuck my tongue out at him a blew a raspberry while he pouted adorably.
"Payno thinks it's cute, so whatever," he huffed, and I laughed, assuming that the name was a nickname for his boyfriend. I decided not to tell him that my own girlfriend was just as clumsy.
We exchanged numbers again - we had before, when I was 13 and he was 16 - since his number had changed back to his international number and not his Miami number. Or rather, I wrote his number down on a tiny notepad I had in one of my many pockets, since I allowed Sinu to keep my phone here.
I bid him farewell, as it was already 1:30, and should've been heading back to my friends so we would have some time to eat our snacks, and he walked me to the exit, opening the door.
The first thing I saw was the outright chaos in terminal C, as Flower was in between terminal B and C. There were airport security officers breaking into full sprints, chasing after several men in dark clothing, shooting their tasers and shouting at the civilians and all others to "move out of the way".
I wanted to continue watching the chaos continue to unfold, as I saw one of the men carrying what looked like an automatic weapon of some sort. My blood turned to ice in my veins, and I felt Zayn tugging me back into the store. But if this man had an actual gun, then who knew the kind of damage he could cause?
A cold sweat had already spread on the back of my neck and on my forehead as my pulse pounded, competing with the speed of the footfalls of the service dogs catching up to the man, who was zigzagging through civilians in the open space. They - being the people - were too shocked to listen to the officers earlier command to move and clear the way.
If his weapon were real, authorities could shoot to kill, but there was no way they could get a clear shot with all of the unrest and screaming that was going on. I could hardly hear myself think, let alone hear whatever the hell Zayn was talking about in a panicked tone, waving his hands wildly.
While my eyes were following the guy running toward the next terminal, I had completely forgotten that he was with about 5 other similarly-dressed men.
I was really concerned about the one guy though, because he was running towards the terminal where my loved ones were, as much as I cared about everyone else, my friends and my girlfriend would always be my priority.
"Where is he going?! Oh my God, holy fuck..." Zayn yelled, running a stressed and terrified hand through his hair but making no move to duck for cover or go back inside the building. No, he just stood next to me in front of the only store with doors and watched what happened next.
The man, who wasn't very tall, maybe around average, maybe less, turned his head, and maybe we locked eyes, maybe we didn't, but I swear I'd never forget such a cold blue. He dropped the gun that was in his hand, and immediately an officer who was gaining on him made a dive for it.
"It's a fake!"
The man, now lighter without his toy gun, runs straight towards Zayn and I.
"Uh, shit... Move!" I yell, shoving Zayn to the side and falling into a heap beside him on the floor as the mysterious man in black runs through the doors.
Right away, I'm on my feet, and without thinking, I've followed him into the store, because only Zayn, his parents, and myself (plus the new management, I suppose) know that the second exit is nearly impossible to find unless you know exactly where to look. So that meant he was stuck in here until the authorities could find him; I know right after he dropped his 'gun', several of his buddies appeared from seemingly nowhere to serve as a distraction, I guess.
I heard footsteps behind me, but didn't turn around, the familiar sound of loafers told me it was Zayn. They were probably Burberry. He might have been a Bradford bad boy (how? he's hot, yes, but he's the cutest thing, and the whole klutz thing? No?), but his parents still spoiled him rotten.
"Lo, are you out of your fucking mind?"
"Yes. And clearly you are too," I say lowly without looking at him. It was way too silent. The place wasn't as tiny as I may have made it seem, but it was smaller than some of the huge places, as the airport itself was gargantuan. I mean, its annual capacity was in excess of 30 million. Grande.
There weren't many places for the man to hide, and the dining area was very open, so it was clear to me that he wasn't over there.
"Lauren. We shouldn't be in here, we have to go... come on," Zayn almost pleaded, his hand pulling at my bicep. I shrugged him off, and my backpack.
"Can you take this?" I just wanted him to stop talking so I could hear, so I turned and walked with him towards the doors. The second he was out of them, I turned and shut them, turning the little knob and locking it from the inside.
The slight scuff of a boot on the linoleum caused me to whirl around, and I ducked, just barely missing the man, who was trying to sneak up behind me and probably bludgeon me to death with the crowbar in his hands. Real original. Totally not cliché or anything.
"Why are you here? What are you after?" I ask, continuing to dodge his sloppy advances. I'm suddenly so thankful for all of the hand-to-hand combat training I had to endure in boot camp.
"I want what's mine, is all," the man finally spoke, through a scratchy, though not deep voice. He was slightly winded from exerting himself with such largely arced swings of the crowbar, only to have me dodge it each time. I smirked at his struggle. It was pointless, but he didn't seem to see it that way.
I might've been a little scared earlier, when I saw him from a distance, scaring all those people and being part of so much chaos, but now, seeing how he definitely had no training the way I had gave me the upper hand, and therefore, confidence in my abilities to take control of the situation and diffuse it.
I was walking backward, avoiding the man's predictable lunges with the crowbar, when I got distracted by a rope tattoo on his wrist and forgot to watch where I was walking.
My stomach plummeted as the floor was suddenly no longer beneath my feet, and I was falling.
Well, I guess he found the second exit.
————
a/n: if i didn't end it there, it never would've ended jfc
original word count: 12,544 lol sorry 🙊
new word count is 6632