Time To Grow

Chapter 18

 Lauren had gone back to see her therapist once more during her short time off. She had something she had wanted to talk to her about before heading off to the UK. Lauren was going to make a big move while they were there. Part of her needed to know that it was okay for her to be doing it, and she wanted to make sure that her therapist would be available to call if it didn't go the way she hoped. She was pretty sure that things were going to go smoothly, but there really was no guarantee.

When she got to the hotel in London, she went up to the hotel room, setting her stuff down. Turned out she'd be rooming with Camila, while the other girls shared a room across the hall. Camila stepped out of the bathroom and gave Lauren a hug, smiling.

"Hey you. I'm glad you got here safe and sound."

Lauren smiled. "I'm glad that I get to room with you, Camz."

The two had drifted apart over the last little while, but more recently they had been getting closer, like they used to be. They used to have a blast when they'd share a room, and they were looking forward to this, even if it was really just for sleeping purposes..

"Hey, can I talk to you about something?" she asked the younger girl.

"Of course, you know you can always do that."

Lauren took a deep breath. "I don't know if you've really realized it, but I'm really falling for Dinah."

"We all know that, I think everyone does. We see how you are together." Camila said, winking.

"Well. She wanted me to be her girlfriend before, but I told her that I had to focus on me. I've seen my therapist twice, and I know that's not much. But I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that tells me I made the wrong choice by not saying yes to Dinah. That feeling has been there pretty much since I made the decision. I can do me and date her, right?"

"You can do whatever you set your mind to. You're more than just a relationship, you're more than the things you're dealing with emotionally. If you want to date Dinah, date Dinah. Just don't hurt her or I'm going to kill you. I'll also hide all of the Nutella and cereal," Camila said with a smile.

"Thanks Camz. Now, I want to be romantic and shit, so I want to run an idea by you.."

The next little while was spent talking to Camila about the plan she had in mind. She got the younger girl's approval, and that was a relief to Lauren. Camila was so close to Dinah, so knowing that she thought it was a good idea made her feel more confident.

While they were there for work related reasons, the girls did have time to do a little sightseeing. Everywhere they went, Lauren had been a little out of it. She was too busy thinking about the girl she was falling for. Her brain was running fast. The green eyed girl was nervous, she was really worrying that things wouldn't go well. It hadn't been that long since she had denied Dinah when she asked if they could be together. She worried that the younger girl would be mad at her for asking the same thing so soon.

"Are you okay?" Ally asked, putting a hand on her shoulder as they walked.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just doing some thinking," Lauren replied. "It's so amazing here."

"It is. I'm glad we're getting the chance to look around before things get crazy the next few days," the shortest girl said with a smile.

Lauren smiled, and stopped to take a few pictures here and there. Pictures always made some of the best memories. They had gone to the London eye, and Lauren sighed. She didn't want to go up right away. She was going to just.. later that day. It was tall, and it looked like it could be fun, even though she really didn't like heights all that much. It was worth a shot though. Dinah seemed to like it, so hopefully she was going to like it more when she brought the girl there for a second time.

As they got back to the hotel that afternoon, Lauren pulled Normani and Ally aside.

"I need you two to do me a favour.."

"What is it Lo?"

"Tell Dinah that we're all going out for dinner tonight. Tell her to dress nice. Not like, fancy. Kind of like interview nice, you know what I mean? Put together looking," she said, struggling a little to explain what she meant.

"Why? Are we?" Normani asked.

"I'm taking her out. And then we'll grab food. I just want her to be surprised when she realizes that it's just going to be she and I."

"Won't she get suspicious if we're not getting ready to go out too?" Ally asked. It was a valid point.

"Maybe you two and Camz could go get food or something. I don't know. But will you help me?"

"Of course."

Lauren pulled her friends into a tight group hug. The fact that all of them were so okay with this almost surprised her. She really wouldn't want it any other way though. She loved that they were supporting this, and even helping her get the night set up. If they had said no, she would have just gone up to ask Dinah to go somewhere with her, but the surprise was something she wanted to see the girl's reaction to. Dinah would go down to the lobby and expect to see everyone, but Lauren would be there, nobody else.

"About an hour and a half, okay? 'Leave' before she does but just don't come down. Thank you so much, you don't know what it means to me," Lauren said, before turning to go into the room she was sharing with Camila. This was going to be a magical night if it went the way she hoped it would, so all she could do now was wait and see.

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a/n: Every time I update I get sad because it means we're just that much closer to the end. I've decided that the next chapter is going to be the last one before the epilogue. It will contain their night together, and it seems like a good place to leave it before I share the epilogue, which will move things along a little further ahead in time, so I have something to start transitioning into the sequel with. Having a 20th chapter before the epilogue would just feel out of place for me. Anyway, this chapter was mainly a filler, but I hope you enjoyed. Prepare yourselves for lots of fluff.