You See the Smile That's On My Mouth (it's hiding the words that don't come out)

Untitled Part 1

: K-9

Chapter Text

They meet in kindergarten at Octavia Blake's birthday party.

Octavia invites the whole grade, swarms of kids show up to the rickety, wooden roller skating rink bearing colorfully wrapped gift boxes and clutching at a parent's hand. Lauren's dad takes her in the musty blue hatchback, and her stomach is jittery with excitement when he helps her out of her booster seat in the back of the car.

He kneels with her in the gravel of the parking lot, tucking a strand of hair back into her ponytail as he grips her shoulders. He assumes an expression that is meant to be serious, but she can see the smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Remember to say thank you, Baby Girl," he tells her as he runs a hand over her back, "don't eat cake until you vomit again, okay?" She grimaces at the memory and he leans in to press a hard kiss to her forehead. "I'll pick you up in three hours, all right?"

Lauren nods seriously before grabbing Octavia's present out of the backseat and tugging her dad toward the door. He leaves her there after running a hand through her hair again, watching her dodge through the crowd of children to deposit her present on the gift table, tiny arms pumping as she rushes to tackle Octavia in a hug.

Octavia is wearing a crown which Lauren thinks is pretty cool, and she helps Lauren tie her Unicorn roller skates on without laughing when Lauren stumbles over the double-knot.

(Lauren commits the double-knot to memory after that because even though Octavia was there to help her this time, her dad says you should always be prepared to do things on your own)

Octavia goes to snoop around the gift table and Lauren skates, arms pinwheeling, to the slick, shining wooden floor of the rink. There are purple and green lights strung across the room, and Lauren moves to hit all the purple reflections on the floor, watching enraptured as she glides through them.

She is just skidding her way around the curve of her first loop when she sees a girl clinging to the railing of the rink. The girl looks absolutely terrified, eyes wide and knuckles white as she grips the metal bar so tightly that Lauren almost fears she will break it. Her brown curls keep falling across her face and the girl can't push them back, unwilling to release her hold for even a second.

Lauren figures it is her duty to help her, no one should look so scared at a birthday party, there is going to be cake later and the whole room glows with color and the noise of pitched laughter. Lauren rolls toward the girl slowly, holding out her hands to stop when she reaches the railing next to her. The girl turns to her, still fearful but eyes narrowed a little bit in distrust.

"Do you need help?" Lauren asks, beginning to reach out a hand.

"No," the girl snaps, harsh and cutting as her grip tightens on the rail. Lauren pulls her hand back as though she has been bitten, pouting out her lower lip and angling away, just a bit.

"I was only offering," Lauren mumbles, "I was just trying to be nice like my dad said." And maybe her dad hadn't explicitly told her when he dropped her off to be nice, but he was always reminding her of it, like, all the time and he certainly wouldn't object to Lauren trying to rescue this pretty girl with the grumpy mouth. Lauren shrugs and turns to skate away, but the voice interrupts her again, softer this time.

"Wait!" the girl says, and Lauren turns, "I didn't mean it," and then quieter "I'm sorry." Lauren lets her pout drop and just stares at the girl. "I like your unicorn skates," the girl says and this, even more than the apology, makes Lauren smile.