Time To Grow

Chapter 19

Lauren paced back and forth a few times as she waited in the lobby. She was feeling more anxious than ever. She almost thought about bailing on the plan, but she knew deep down that she couldn't do that. She knew she would regret it if she did. Hearing heels clicking across the floor, Lauren stopped pacing and looked up, smiling as she saw her soon to be girlfriend walking toward her.

"Hey, where are the others? I swear, they left like five minutes ago to come down here."

"Actually, there's a change in plans." Lauren licked her lips nervously. "Come on.. Let's uh, let's go grab some food. It's just going to be you and I."

"That works for me. Can we get pizza? I'm really in the mood for that," Dinah told her.

"Of course."

The girls exited the hotel with a security guard following a little bit behind them, just in case. He wasn't close enough to be intruding, but they had to have him there. The fans would be going absolutely crazy, or at least that's what they expected would happen if they realized the two of them were wandering around. Dinah slipped an arm around Lauren's waist, and she pulled her body closer to hers as they walked. Despite Lauren turning her down before, it didn't seem to effect their closeness.

As they reached the pizza place, they got a spot to sit and ordered a small pepperoni pizza to split between them. Dinah looked at Lauren curiously, and the older girl just shifted nervously in her seat.

"So, what happened to the others? Why'd they bail on coming with us?" Dinah asked.

"They were never invited to the first place," Lauren admitted. "We said that they were so you'd think it was a group thing when really I was just trying to surprise you with a night for.. well, us."

Dinah smiled, reaching across the table. She took one of Lauren's hands in her own, giving it a squeeze. "You're sweet, Lauser. I'm glad I get to spend time with you. I missed you when we went back home, even though we texted and called each other. And now it sucks too because you're rooming with Mila. No offense to her or anything but I'd rather be with you. I love the girls, but you're my favorite. Don't tell them I said that."

"I think they might already know that, but I won't say a word."

When the pizza showed up, both girls were practically drooling from how delicious it looked. They each took their first slice, and nodded to each other as the bit in. Lauren tried to hold back a moan as she chewed up what she had in her mouth before taking another bite, one that was a lot larger than the first. It was hot and it burned her mouth a little bit, but she did care. Dinah didn't either, as she was doing the exact same thing.

It was quiet while they ate, but it wasn't a weird type of quiet. Both of them were too distracted by the pizza to say much, aside from quick mentions about how delicious it was. They ended up finishing the small pizza, giving one of the slices to their security guard, considering that he was there and deserved it. Once they paid, Lauren stood up, offering a hand out to her friend. Dinah accepted it, taking Lauren's hand and giving it a squeeze.

The green eyed girl lead them away from the pizza place, and in the opposite direction of the hotel.

"Lauren?"

"Hm?"

"Where are we going?"

"Don't ask questions yet. Just wait."

Lauren brought Dinah to the London Eye. Dinah looked around and scrunched up her face.

"Weren't we here before?"

"We were, but I got.. something arranged. Come on." she said.

Dinah was confused as to why they were back there. However, when they finally got into the passenger capsule, she was more confused. It was literally just them, and the security guard. As they started to go up, Lauren tugged Dinah to look out at everything around them. The green eyed girl took a deep breath, looking up to lock her gaze with Dinah's.

"Lauren, this is.."

"It took a lot of convincing to let us have this one to ourselves. But I needed us to be alone," she looked at the guard, "or well, mostly alone. But I figure that this would be a good place to do this. The hotel didn't seem special enough, neither did the pizza place. I know that I told you that we couldn't be together. I told you I needed to work on me. I've regretted turning you down since the day I did it. Dinah, I've had a lot of shit happen lately. It feels like my life has been chaos. Losing my baby was hard. It still is hard to deal with sometimes. It felt like there was something missing in my life, kind of like an empty space in my heart. You.. you seem to be the only thing to fill that void. I like you a lot, you know that. I think everyone knows that."

Lauren put her arms around Dinah's neck loosely, before the taller girl snaked her arms around Lauren's waist, pulling her closer.

"I want to be with you. You make me feel things that I've never felt for another person before. I always thought I'd end up falling for a guy, but clearly that's not how this is working," she chuckled. "You make me smile even when it feels like the light is vanishing from my world. I want to make you happy like you make me. I want us to make each other happy, together. I shouldn't have asked you to wait. So I'm asking you now. Dinah Jane Hansen, will you be my girlfriend?"

Dinah crashed her lips together with Lauren's, holding her close. Lauren happily returned it, moving her lips gently against the girl's, before Dinah pulled back, a large grin present on her face.

"Of course."

-

a/n: And there you have it. The epilogue will be posted in a few days once I figure out how I want it written.

Also, I'd like to get your input. What kind of things would you like to see in the sequel? It's going to be taking place a few years into the future. I'd love to hear your ideas so I can try to include them.