Two Months Later
"Real question is how blatant can I get that I want to jump her the second I'm released?" Lauren sighed.
Halsey had been grilling her on her meeting with Camila from the day before.
"Depends. Will it scare her off?"
"Unlikely." Lauren shrugged, twirling her phone between her fingers. "She hasn't exactly told me to stop."
"She encouraged it?" Halsey tapped a cigarette on her table, eager for their yard time.
"She basically said we could fuck if I was lucky." Lauren sighed wistfully, a smile on her face.
"Good Lord you've caught feelings for the cop who arrested you." Halsey cackled. Lauren felt herself flush and rolled her eyes.
"I have done no such thing."
"Lies. Blatant lies." Halsey snickered. There was a tap on the end of their bed and the pair of them looked towards the door. "What do you want?"
"To make a deal." Billie shrugged, hands dug in her pockets. Lauren huffed and jumped off her bed, coming to stop in front of Billie.
"Why?"
"I'm bored of having to pay off guards." Billie curled her lip. "And people seem to actually like you."
"Well I don't got around beating up everyone I don't like." Lauren said, folding her arms across her chest. "Or shanking them."
"Whatever." Billie looked down the hallway. "How about we work together?"
"Why should I work with you?"
"Because the next time we meet, you'll end up in the medbay and you'll miss out on your precious visitation time." Billie said absently, waving down the hallway with a smirk.
Lauren clenched her jaw and tapped her foot against the floor slowly.
"Fine. How's this gonna work?"
"We get each other's contacts on the inside, I bring in 60% of the stuff and you sell it all."
Lauren blinked at her, her shoulders falling slack as Billie finally looked at her.
"You're putting a lot of trust in me here." Lauren said slowly. "You sure you don't want to sell some of it?"
"You got that business mind Jauregui. It's useful. I just like scaring people, but you, you know how they work." Billie said reluctantly.
"Oh my God." Lauren muttered before breaking out into a grin. "You need my help."
"What? No, it's just boring beating you up." Billie said quickly, stepping back and looking away.
"Ha! This is great, this is amazing, this is-" Lauren cut off with a choked cough when Billie shoved her back into the bed frame.
"This is because I'll get more time if I accidentally kill you Jauregui."
"Understood." Lauren wheezed. "Just tell me what you need."
"Your contact in here." Billie snapped.
"Not happening. She's mine." Lauren coughed and took a deep breath. "I'll sell for you, hell, I'll even give you a bigger share, but my contacts are mine."
There was a tense silence where Lauren could see Halsey getting ready for a fight, where Billie pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes.
"Fine. You've got yourself a deal Jauregui." Billie said with a tight, disdainful smile.
Lauren slumped against the bedframe as Billie left and Halsey appeared at her side, hand clutching at her arm.
"Sure about this Laur?"
"Nope. But I don't exactly have another choice." Lauren muttered, rubbing at her shoulder where it'd connected with the bed.
Yet another reminder that she wasn't untouchable in here.
----
"Chrissy." Lauren said, her chair teetering on two legs as Chris walked into the room.
"Don't call me that." Chris sighed, leaning against the wall instead of sitting.
"What've you got for me?" Lauren said with a grin, her arms tucking behind her head.
"Healy's eager to take you out." Chris shrugged. "If you keep expanding while in prison, he's gonna put a hit out on you."
Lauren cursed quietly and let her chair clatter to the floor, resting her elbows on the table with a frown.
"I can take it down a notch." Lauren muttered. "Focus on strengthening what I've got. Alright, anything else?"
"Rumours. Nothing concrete." Chris started quietly. "Apparently he's got someone in here."
"What?"
"Yeah, that's what I thought. I did some poking around... it does look like he's working with someone in here." Chris sighed, rubbing his forehead before sitting down.
"I figured he'd have some shady guard on his roll to be honest." Lauren mused.
Chris shook his head.
"You've got it wrong, it's an inmate."
Lauren felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand, a shudder going down her spine.
"No way. I'd have heard."
"It's new. I'd say a new angle to see what you're up to." Chris blew out a breath and watched Lauren closely. "You sure you've got this?"
"I can handle it. I'm halfway through my sentence. I can do this." Lauren muttered.
"I've got to go, but I'll come by soon." Chris said, leaning over the table and pressing a light kiss to Lauren's forehead. "Watch your back."
Lauren hummed and kept her head in her hands, staring blankly down at the table. She waited for Beckett to take her back to her cell but was surprised when the chair across from her scraped against the floor again.
She looked up and her eyes widened, a smile creeping onto her face.
"Hey, you okay?" Camila asked, tilting her head slightly. Lauren's smile spread and she nodded.
"Better now that you're here." She replied with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
"Charming." Camila huffed, stretching her arms over her head and watching Lauren curiously. "Congrats on making it halfway through your sentence."
"Did you bring me anything?" Lauren said with a grin. "Maybe a gift. I'll happily take a lap dance."
"Not sure how the guards would feel about that." Camila mused.
"You clearly feel okay with it." Lauren shot back with a satisfied smirk. Camila narrowed her eyes at her, forcing a smile off her face.
"No I didn't get you anything."
"Shame. Could do with a pick me up." Lauren huffed.
"What's happened?"
Lauren paused before giving in and explaining the situation to Camila; both that of Eilish and Healy.
"So now I've got to tell my boys to stand down a bit." Lauren finished with a groan.
"Want me to poke around Healy's business?" Camila asked, her brow furrowed and her jaw clenching. "'Cause I will. For you."
"For me?" Lauren blinked at her. Camila's eyes widened and a blush shot over her cheeks, disappearing down her neck and- Lauren promptly stopped wondering how far it went.
"Um. I mean- like- I'm good at my job. So like, it wouldn't be too much trouble." Camila stuttered.
"You can admit you like me Camz." Lauren said quietly. "It's not gonna end the world."
Camila huffed and stared up at the ceiling.
"I guess... you're not as horrible a person as I once thought." Camila muttered. Lauren grinned and reached over the table, her fingertips trailing over the back of Camila's hands.
"Enough to stop trying to take down my business?" Lauren asked lowly. Camila snorted and looked at her with a smirk.
"This isn't a personal vendetta anymore, your case is keeping us in business. So please, do evade the cops more." Camila purred.
Lauren swallowed harshly and sat back with a tight laugh.
"I know you're taking the piss but that sexy voice kinda gets me going." Lauren said quietly. Camila rolled her eyes with a bordering on fond, smile.
"It would, you're so easy." Camila snickered. Lauren raised an eyebrow, not one to shy away from a challenge.
"Oh I'm easy?" Camila nodded. "Need I remind you how easy it was to get you into my apartment? Not exactly much resistance from the supposed rival."
"Kinda hard to protest with your tongue down my throat." Camila mumbled.
"Please, you would've told me if you didn't want to." Lauren scoffed. Camila winced and scrunched up her nose.
"That... isn't un-accurate." She conceded.
"Because you want me." Lauren said with a smug shrug.
"God, is your ego not big enough?" Camila laughed, trying to ignore the way her heartbeat had increased, steadfastly pretending Lauren's smug gaze hadn't triggered the small box of memories from that night.
She'd tried so hard to not think about that night. So fucking hard. And yet... the more she learned about Lauren, the more it popped up. The more she couldn't help but wonder what might've been had they not been interrupted.
"If my flirting makes you uncomfortable I can stop." Lauren said quietly when Camila didn't respond.
"I wouldn't say uncomfortable is the right word." Camila muttered as she was yanked from her memories, biting her lip as she blinked at Lauren.
"Oh really?" Lauren asked, raising her eyebrow expectantly.
"Shut up." Camila grumbled.
"No no, do tell." Lauren rested her chin on her hand with a grin.
"Maybe when you get out... and stay out of trouble." Camila shot back.
"Ooh, that might be hard. Me and trouble are tight." Lauren pouted. Camila did not look at her lips.
"Then I guess you'll never know what the right word is." Camila said with a shrug.
"Oh I'm sure I could guess." Lauren smirked as Camila shifted in her seat, Lauren's heated gaze making her squirm.
"Like I said. When you get out." Camila repeated, clearing her throat quietly and finally opening her case file.
"I'll hold you to that Cabello."
"You better."
----
Lauren paced in her cell, lights out had been hours ago but she couldn't sleep.
"Laur, fucking go to bed." Halsey groaned, cracking open one eye as Lauren passed her again.
"I need to know who's on Healy's payroll. But I can't ask the outside 'cause they need to lay low for now." Lauren muttered to herself, her hands wringing together insistently.
"Laur."
"But who the fuck would be willing to try and screw me?" Lauren frowned, her lips pursed tightly together.
"Lauren."
"Eilish was awful friendly earlier today."
"Lauren."
"But would she really work with Healy? Just to what? Keep an eye on me? Or maybe she's trying to take away my contacts from the outside." Lauren was getting more and more agitated with each step.
"Jauregui." Halsey hissed, kicking Lauren in the leg as she passed.
"What?" Lauren stopped and glared at Halsey.
"Bed. Get in it."
"And do what?" Lauren said with a frown.
"Fucking sleep! Theorise tomorrow."
Lauren clambered into her bed and shuffled around before huffing and staring at the ceiling.
She'd already told everyone to keep a low profile and just keep the current profits alive. Dinah and Normani had sounded concerned but had reluctantly agreed to staying out of it and making sure no one got burned on the outside.
Lauren could handle the inside.
She could handle Eilish. And with her being the only person suddenly nosing around her business, it was a likely guess that she was Healy's inside girl.
Lauren sighed and closed her eyes.
Now she just had to figure out what to do about it.