*A week Later*
Lauren's POV
Over the days I have dealt with everything much better than I originally was. It's not all the way good but I have some sense of serenity.
"Mamá, let's go shopping for Leo" Aaliyah smiles
"Alright, go put your shoes on" I say
She goes into her room and I quickly get dressed in a white T-Shirt, red and black flannel, and black ripped jeans with a gold zipper on the knee area. I go into the closest and pull out a pair of Jordan's.
I go into Aaliyah's room to see what she's doing and see her distracted by the TV. I turn it off and put her shoes on for her, we leave out and head to the mall.
************************************************
I pick up my drink and take a big sip while glance around the restaurant. Out the corner of me eye I see a guy that were at the last two places we were at and another one across the room.
Being that Normani's house is the closest, I ask Aaliyah if she wants to go over there. She nods her head and I throw our stuff out, I grab her hand tightly and walk out. I go to the pay phone to call her incase they tapped into my phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey babe"
"Lauren? Why are you on a pay phone?"
"Cause my phone might be tapped into, are you home?"
"Yea, why are you whispering?"
"Something's about to happen and I need you to take Aaliyah"
"Sure"
"Thanks, have your door unlocked"
"Okay"
I hang the phone up and quickly put Aaliyah in her seat and get into the drivers seat. I watch the two guys walk out and I wait to see what car they get into before pushing down on the gas.
"Liyah"
"Hmm?"
"I love you a lot"
"I love you too mamá" She smiles
"Even if I'm not here, I'll still love you. Remember that, forever" I say
"Mhm"
I look in my rear view mirror and see the car ganging up on me. I make a sharp turn and press harder on the gas, swerving in and out of lanes. I manage to be out of sight after a few more swerves and turns, I turn onto Normani's block and throw the car in park as I pull up. I get Aaliyah and walk into the house, calling for Normani.
"Hey" She says, coming from the kitchen with a jar of pickles
"Hey...wassup with the pickle obsession?" I ask, furrowing my brows
"I've always liked pickles" She says
"Yea but it's almost every day now" I say
"Great observation" She says sarcastically
"Are you calling me a fatass?" She asks
"N-no, I-"
"Good. Hi little princess, how are you?"
"Hi mani, my tooth is gonna come out soon! See?" Aaliyah says while moving her tooth
"Whoa that's your front tooth, the tooth fairy's gonna give you a lot of money for that one" Mani smiles
I look out the window to check if those guys found me yet and Thank God they haven't.
"I'm gonna go take care of this, I'll see y'all later" I say
"Bye mamá"
"Bye, remember what I said"
"I will"
Normani stares at me then just starts crying, I stand there confused and wrap my arms around her.
"Babe why you crying?" I ask
"I just really have a bad feeling about this, please be careful"
"I will, I promise" I say while rubbing her back
She places her hands on my torso and brings her lips to mine, she gives me a kiss that's so heartfelt and sad at the same time, almost like it would be our last. It makes me wanna change my mind, but that would be a mistake.
"I love you Lauren, more than you probably think" She says softly
I nod my head and caress her face.
"I know Mani, I love you too" I say
I leave out and get into the car, still speeding. After a few minutes I slow down purposely to see if the car would pop back up and sure enough it does.
I drift around the corner and stop in front of an alleyway. I get out and hop over my car, running into the alley. I turn onto one of the dead ends and pull my gun out. A few seconds later they come running in and I shoot my gun at one of their kneecaps. The other one runs up to me and swings his right fist, I dodge it and grab onto it, twisting it behind his back. I pick up a bottle off the ground and smash it upside his head.
He falls out and I walk over to the one I already shot, I kick his wound and he screams in pain. He gets up and attempts to swing at me but I grab his hand and shoot another bullet into his neck.
His body goes limp and I'm pulled back by my shirt, I turn around and kick his balls. He groans and I make my way up the small flight of steps, he follows after he catches himself and I move toward the railing. When he's close enough I head butt him and flip him over the railing, he lands on his back, his head cracking open.
"Damn that's messy" I say
I turn around to walk away and I'm suddenly lifted into the air. I grab the head of whoever this is and push it back forcefully. They drop me and I swiftly move down the steps, I reach for my gun but it gets knocked out my hand.
"Lauren! Nice to finally see you!"
"Fonzi?!"
"The one and only, chica" He grins
"I will admit that you're good, you and your little posse. Including that bastard, Luke but I'll get to him eventually."
He trips me and smashes the side of my head on the ground, I hiss and he leans down.
"Didn't expect that either huh?" He laughs
I reach into my pocket and grab the pocket knife, cutting down his arm. He pulls away and I get up, running to the metal pole in the corner. I pick it up and swing at his head, he dodges it and grabs the other end and my eyes widen.
I might be fucked.
He jabs me in the chest with it, knocking the air out of me until I'm pushed against the wall.
"You have got to be better than that, was the two I sent too much for you? You're all burnt out bitch?"
He drops it and grins at me wickedly, twirling his finger.
"You're a angry little birdie, is it cause I had you're pretend uncle killed? Hit me LJ, show me what you got!"
I get off the wall and lift my leg to kick him, he grabs it and swings me to the other side of the alley. I quickly get up and walk behind him, ready to put him in a chokehold. As soon as my arm goes over his shoulder he grabs it and flips me over him.
"Fuck, fuck! Shit" I yell, holding my back
"Jauregui get your ass up"
I push myself up and pull out the second gun I had, I shoot and he moves out the way. He tries taking it from me but I keep my grip on this one. The gun goes off and I temporarily freeze up at the pain shooting through my thigh. I've taken a bullet once so I shake it off and try aiming at him.
Another bullet goes off, hitting me in my stomach. I hunch over, groaning in pain. He knees me in my face then shoots another bullet into my shoulder.
"This is where the road ends, shouldn't have worked for a scum like Luke"
He shoots another bullet but I duck, I try moving but my body gets weak and I drop to the ground.
"Tsk tsk tsk!"
He kicks the wound on my shoulder and I let out a bloody, ear shattering scream.
"There, there, It'll be over soon"
He shoots my rib cage and I roll onto my side, clutching onto it for dear life.
"How can I forget a good shot?"
He aims the gun again, the bullet piercing through the right side of my chest. My breathing starts becoming uneven and I gasp for air. He pulls me up by my shirt and pins me to the wall, wrapping his hands around my neck tightly.
"I'm shocked, honestly! This was too easy mija, you put up a good fight though. But not good enough" He laughs
He squeezes tighter and I try prying his hands off, my vision gets blurry and air circulation gets tighter and tighter.
"Lights out"
Another gun goes off and he drops to the floor, blood spilling out his head. My eyes find Normani who's standing next to Miguel, wide eyed with her gun aimed.
I smile as best as I can and feel myself sliding down the wall. She's quick to grab me and she holds me close to her.
"Thanks" I whisper
I kiss her forehead and she stars ballistically crying.
"Do-don't...cry Mani. I'll be...fine" I breathe out
"Jesus! Blood is gushing out of you!" She cries
My legs start giving out and Miguel helps her carry me to the other side. She lies my head on her lap and I look around them.
"Wh-whe-...where's-"
"Shh, she's with Justine" She says
"Gosh Lo, what the fuck?" Miguel sighs, voice cracking
"I was fine then he just came outta nowhere" I mumble
An intense wave of pain shoots through my body and my back arches as I scream loudly.
"I'll be right back" He says
He leaves and Normani strokes my hair slowly, I take her hand and rub my thumb over it.
"I love you...s-so much Normani" I say, struggling to breathe
My airwaves almost completely shut and I take a sharp intake of air. More tears fall from her eyes and she squeezes my hand tightly.
"I love you too Lauren"
She brings her hand down to my face and steadily rubs over it. She leans down and gives me the sweetest, love filled, longest kiss ever. She slowly pulls back, our faces still close.
"I'm sorry" I mumble
Miguel comes back on the phone with three hoodies.
"Yea it's five wounds...okay I'm doing that now"
He wraps one around the upper half of my body, my leg, and my shoulder. My breathing slows and my vision once again gets blurry, my eyes start shutting as my ears slowly fog up and ring.
"No! Lauren keep your eyes open!" He says
"Ju...st...resting..." I whisper
"She can't go yet! I didn't get to tell her" She cries
"Tell her what? What are you talking about?!"
My hearing is almost completely blocked and my eyes completely close.
"Normani...what didn't you tell her yet?"
"I'm pregnant"
My ears ring out and everything fades away.
A/N: Final Final Chapter coming some time 😘😘🙏🏾🙏🏾