Mani was the one to speak up, "She escaped custody..."
"What?! How did they let that happen?!" I spoke, frustrated, doing my best to keep the volume of my voice down.
"It was during transport from what we know, but I agree... how could they have let that happen? We've talked to the lawyer on our case and she recommended us having security over here until further notice for Mila's sake," Mani explained to me as I sat there with my head in my hands, struggling to wrap my mind around how in the fuck they could have lost track of her like that.
I sighed and threw my hands up in a fit of frustration, "I need to go smoke." I excused myself from the table and went outside, a freshly rolled blunt now in my hand.
Demi soon followed me outside, sitting next to me as I flicked my lighter, inhaling the smoke, "Laur, it's gonna be alright. They're already sending security over here first thing tomorrow morning."
I ran a hand through my hair and shook my head, "We don't know that, Dems... We don't know that."
She sighed, "I know, but we can hope that and she has no way of tracking Camila. You guys have a private address and the only people who know about it are friends and family."
"But we don't know if she's been tracking us or Camz and if she has for how long. I'm fucking scared for her, Dems. I swear if I ever see that woman, I'm gonna mess her up so bad there won't be anything left of her. If she comes into this house somehow, she's the one who needs to be scared," I spilled, talking myself in circles as I took another few hits.
I could feel myself getting really worked up and I knew I needed to calm down, but at this point, it felt near impossible. I held my head in my hands and continued to smoke my blunt in some sort of an effort to maintain control over my breathing. "Fuck!" I spat, dropping the roach of the blunt that I had accidentally let get so small that it burnt my fingers. I picked it up and threw it into the ashtray and gripped my hair, resisting the urge to just scream.
I felt a hand gently placed on my knee before Demi wrapped her arm around me, gently pulling me closer so that my head was resting on her shoulder. I felt tears burn my eyes and in that moment I lost all control that I had managed to maintain. I found myself crying uncontrollably, unable to regain control of my own breathing.
"Lauren, hey..." I heard Demi's voice, but I was unable to focus on it. It just sounded like an echo in my head.
Demi POV
All of the stress of this grueling situation had just crashed down on Lauren, who was so used to being in control of things and of herself, sadly resulting in her having a panic attack.
"Lauren, hey..." I spoke calmly, rubbing her arm gently. She didn't respond, only shaking her head, her hands still entangled in her hair. "Okay, I'm gonna help you calm down, Laur. I'm gonna sit you up so that you can breathe better," I explained, helping Lauren sit up, moving so that I was in front of her. I took her trembling hands in my own, "Open your eyes, hun. It'll help. It's gonna be alright. We're going to get everything taken care of."
Doing my best to reassure Lauren, I was relieved when she opened her eyes, looking at me. "Good, breathe with me, okay? Remember how?" She nodded, copying me as I coaxed her to slow down her breathing. Only 15 minutes later, Lauren was much calmer, just dealing with the lingering effects of her panic attack. I sat back down next to her, pulling her in for a hug. "Would you like to sit out here for a bit longer and calm down some more?"
She nodded before changing her response, quickly shaking her head and jumping up, "Camz is alone!"
I gently sat her back down, "I'll text Dinah to go stay in the room with her, okay? Here, I'll do it right now." I quickly texted Dinah, who responded immediately that she was already upstairs with Camila, who was still sleeping peacefully.
"She's already upstairs with her and Mila is still asleep. You can calm down, it's alright, Laur," I spoke calmly, hoping to have Lauren calm back down, seeing as she was already starting to panic again.
Lauren sighed, holding her head in her hands once more, "I'm sorry."
"Hey, never apologize for something like this. It's stressful, you're valid in feeling that way. It happens," I told Lauren, facing her towards me, moving her hair out of her face.
She nodded, "Okay."
"Good," I responded softly, allowing Lauren to rest her head back on my shoulder to finish calming down.
I looked up at the sound of the back door sliding open to see Ally coming outside, "Hey, Dinah was worried about Laur. Is she okay?"
I gave her a small smile, Lauren looking up at Ally in acknowledgment of her presence.
Ally POV
I gave Laur a sympathetic smile when I saw her bloodshot eyes and tear stains on her cheeks. I could tell she had been crying.
I sat down next to her, "You alright?"
"Is Dinah still with Camz?" She asked me anxiously.
I nodded without hesitation, "I just checked on them, Camila is still sleeping and Dinah is making sure she stays perfectly safe." Lauren nodded, letting out a shaky breath.
I noted Lauren's severely anxious state and looked over at Dems, "Did she have a panic attack?"
Demi nodded, "Yeah, but now we're just sitting out here and she's calming down."
"Aww, Lo. Everything will work itself out. Do you want a hug?" I offered. Lauren nodded bashfully and I welcomed her into my embrace.
She sighed, "I I think I just want to sleep," she spoke quietly.
"Okay, Laur. Want us to come inside with you?" Demi asked. Lauren shook her head, standing up.
"I love you guys," she spoke.
"We love you too" Demi and I responded in unison. She gave us a weak smile and headed inside, closing the door behind her.
I sighed, "Should we be worried about Laur? I kinda am."
"It's reasonable. Laur is used to being in control of Camila's safety as well as her own emotions and this whole situation is putting all of that in jeopardy. I'm just gonna make sure I keep an eye out for her," Demi explained.
"Yeah, you're right," I responded.
Lauren POV
I went straight up to my room and into my bathroom, locking the door behind me. I searched underneath the sink in the cupboards for the bag of Xanax I kept under there, relieved when I finally stumbled across it. I took out three of the yellow-colored bars, popped them, and washed them down with a mouthful of water. I left the bathroom, seeing Dinah on the bed with Camz beside her, sleeping.
"Hey, Laur. How do you feel?" I shrugged, climbing into the bed next to Dinah and getting situated under the covers.
She rolled over to face me, "Are you okay?"
Dinah POV
I searched Lauren's eyes for answers after she shrugged in response to my question about her well-being.
"Do you need anything?" I asked her softly.
She thought for a moment before quietly responding, "Can you stay in here with Camz and me tonight?"
I gave Laur a sympathetic smile, "Yeah, of course. You and I can put a movie on if you like, yeah?"
She nodded, "Please?"
"Sure, love." She turned on the tv and then handed me the remote. I put on Doctor Sleep, knowing it was one of Lauren's favorite movies.
"Wanna cuddle?" I offered. Lauren nodded, snuggling close to me as she watched the movie.
About half of the movie had played and I was surprised that Lauren was still awake and watching it, "Laur, are you not tired?"
"I I uhh, yeah... little bit," she slurred, not taking her eyes off of the screen.
I raised an eyebrow, "Lauren?"
She looked at me, "Mmm?"
"Did you take anything? I'm not upset if you did, I'd just rather know," I questioned her. I knew by Lauren's hesitated response and loss of eye contact with me when I asked that, she had taken something.
I gently lifted her chin so she was looking at me again, "Dems told me what happened, it's okay. I'm not upset, just concerned. Did you take Xanax?"
She nodded, "I I just felt like I was... like I was gonna keep having panic attacks and I I just wanted to sleep." Tears brimmed Lauren's eyes; I could tell that she meant what she said and that she was seriously anxious and stressed out about the entire situation at hand.
"How many did you have?" I inquired.
"Um, I... three?"
I nodded in acknowledgment, "Okay, maybe let's just have one or two next time though," I said softly as I pulled her closer and ran my fingers through her hair, "It's alright, why don't you close your eyes and let yourself sleep, okay? Like I said, I'm not upset or anything and I'll stay in here with you and Camz tonight. You don't need to worry yourself. Let yourself relax and get some sleep." Lauren nodded, closing her eyes as I continued to play with her hair until she had fallen asleep.
When I was sure that she was sleeping well, I closed my eyes with hopes of sleeping until the morning.
*Time skip - 4 am*
I woke up to cries interrupting the silence of the darkened bedroom. I turned over towards Camila, surprised to see her still asleep. I quickly realized that it was Lauren. I sat up, gently shaking Lauren, who sat up screaming incoherently and hyperventilating. Demi quickly came into the room, Ally and Normani following.
"It's alright, Lauren, it was just a dream," I whispered.
She looked around frantically, "W-where's Camz?!" Lauren cried in her half-asleep state.
Demi came and sat in front of Lauren, steadying her, "Hey, shh. Look, Mila is right there next to Dinah. Breathe, love... It's okay."
Camila sat up due to the commotion, calmly looking around, "W-what's happening?"
Taken aback that Camila didn't seem to be in her headspace, I explained, "Lauren had a bad dream, everything's okay, Mila." Camila looked concerned, repositioning herself next to Lauren, who immediately embraced Camila.
Camila allowed it, hugging Lauren, "Lauren, it's okay. It was just a dream. Just like you tell me, yeah?"
Lauren nodded and sniffled, "Y-yeah. I'm sorry baby, I I didn't mean to uh wake you up."
Camila tilted her head, "Don't be sorry. I wake you up lots when I have bad dreams. It's okay. Maybe we should go back to sleep though. Cuddles?" Lauren sighed and nodded in her groggy state, laying back down with Camila, cuddling up with her. I was relieved when the both of them quickly fell back asleep.
"What just happened?" Mani asked quietly.
"You guys were pretty much here for all of it. I doubt Laur will even remember tomorrow that she woke up like that," I responded.
"Why do you say that?" Ally asked me.
"She took three Xanax and then she fell asleep pretty hard," I told the girls.
Demi sighed, "Ugh, I'm worried about her," she confessed.
"Me too, but after all of this is over and done with, I'm sure everything will be just fine. We'll just keep a bit of a closer eye out for that kind of thing. You know how Laur is when she's stressed this bad. She tends to try to escape that feeling. She likes to be in control of those kinds of things. I don't really blame her for that. As long as she knows that Camila is safe we should be able to keep her stress and anxiety at a minimum," Mani suggested.
I nodded, "You're right, Mani," I yawned, "I'm gonna try and get some more sleep since they've both fallen back asleep, I told Lauren that I would stay in here with them tonight."
I hugged the girls and we exchanged sweet goodnights before they all head off to bed once more. I laid down, facing Lauren and Mila, thankful that they continued sleeping peacefully as I slowly drifted off to sleep myself.