Time To Grow

Chapter 2

"Fuck, how many more could there be out there?" Lauren asked, raking her fingers through her dark locks.

"A bunch. There's always this many Laur, you know that," Ally stated with a shrug. "It should be done in the next fifteen minutes or so. But then we have soundcheck shortly after that."

Lauren nodded slowly, and put on a smile as two fans came in. They both ran up to Lauren first, pulling her in for a hug. She hugged them back as best as she could, and let out a heavy breath when they moved on to the other girls. Lauren posed for the picture, standing next to Normani. The photographer snapped the photo, and the girls headed out. More fans trickled in either with their friends or on their own, and she did her best to just stay happy, friendly, and give the hugs people wanted.

Its wasn't that she didn't like doing the meet and greets. She loved to see fans, and hear what they had to say. However, this just wasn't a day where she wanted to be there. She would have preferred to be in her bunk doing some journal writing, and listening to music. She wanted to tune out the world for a little while, but with the tour happening that wasn't exactly an option for her right now.

Ally had been right, a little over fifteen minutes had passed before the last fan was exiting the meet and greet area. The girls proceeded to go into their large dressing room, to get ready to do a sound check. They had a few minutes to sit back there before going on stage. It was good to have a small breather. While she sat back there, Lauren drank part of a decaf tea, and nibbled on fruit.

Shortly the girls were in one of the wings of the stage, getting their mics handed to them. Lauren took a deep breath and walked out on stage, taking her seat.

Everything was smooth sailing until about halfway through. One fan had asked her a question, and she was about to answer it as her stomach churned. She pressed her lips together for a moment, trying to keep herself composed so she could answer. She did just that, but as she finished, she rose from her spot.

"Sorry guys, excuse me," she mumbled, passing her mic to Camila as she sprinted off stage.

Fans began to mumble to each other, as did the other girls in the group. Ally stood up, and tried to quiet the crowd down. Dinah leaned it to the other girls, and sighed.

"I'm gonna go check on her."

The others nodded, and Dinah ran backstage as the other girls controlled the fans.

"Dinah's going to check on Lauren, I'm sure everything is okay. But we've got to keep things moving, so y'all get ready for another song," Ally told them, taking a seat again with Normani and Camila, preparing to sing.

Meanwhile, Dinah was in the back now, trying to find Lauren. It wasn't until she heard gagging coming from the bathroom that she knew where to find her. Lauren was kneeling in front of the toilet, the contents of her stomach coming back up. Dinah went in and pulled the older girl's hair out of the way as she rubbed her back.

"Girl, what is going on?" she asked her.

"It was probably just," Lauren paused to throw up again, "the fruit I ate not sitting well."

Dinah licked her lips, and tucked Lauren's hair down the back of her shirt. She went to find the girl her toothbrush, and some mouthwash. When she re-entered the bathroom, Lauren was pretty much done.

"I'm sorry you had to see that.. I'm so fucking embarrassed," she muttered.

Lauren got her teeth brushed and her mouth rinsed out, and headed out to sit on one of the couches, with her head in Dinah's lap.

"I found out that I'm pregnant last night."

Dinah swallowed hard. "You're pregnant," she repeated.

"Don't tell anyone else, please. I can't handle that right now. We'll tell them that I just wasn't feeling well. No need to go into more detail than that."

The younger girl nodded. "Okay."

A minute later, she could hear the sound of high heels clicking against tile as Camila, Ally, and Normani came back. They all wore smiles on their faces until they saw Lauren. They immediately had worried looks gracing their facial features.

"What happened, Lauren?" Normani asked softly, sitting on the couch next to Dinah, pulling Lauren's legs into her lap.

"I was feeling a little sick. I'll be fine by the time we go on tonight, don't worry."

Ally and Camila looked at Dinah, who had her eyes locked on Lauren. She could feel the other girl's eyes drilling into her, but she tried to ignore it.

"The fans hope you get better Lo, I think they'll be excited to see you on stage tonight," Ally told her. "I think all of us were feeling worried about you."

"I know, I'm sorry. Hopefully it doesn't happen again."

Camila nudged Ally, and the two of them gave Lauren a kiss on the head before going to see Mahogany in her dressing room. Dinah and Normani stayed put. Lauren reached for one of Dinah's hands, and gave it a squeeze. Their hands rested by her tummy, and Normani's eyes followed them. She stared for a moment, before looking up at Dinah. She opened her mouth to ask a question, but Dinah shook her head quickly. Don't say it, she pleaded with her eyes. Let her be.

Normani picked up on the message Dinah tried to get across, and she stayed quiet, running her hands gently over Lauren's legs.

Lauren breathed steadily, and she felt herself nodding off. Dinah sighed.

"We'll wake you up in twenty, Lolo. Then we have to start preparing and stuff."

Lauren didn't reply, that was good enough for her. She was drained, throwing up usually did that to a person. A quick nap to get energized was all she was going to need, at least for now.