One Life

Chapter 16

Justin's POV

I'd spent a week with the girls. They basically wouldn't let me leave. As much as I wanted to stay I had to leave and get some work done. I finally managed to get a plane ticket back to LA which meant I would be leaving today. The girls knew I was leaving and I could tell they were bummed. I was packing the last of my stuff when I got a text off Lauren telling me to come see her before I left.

When I was done packing I headed for the girls dressing room. As much as I wanted to stay for a bit more I knew I had to go back. I had so much new material I wanted to record and I couldn't wait any longer. I walked in and saw the girls waiting for me. I smiled when I saw Ally holding a plate of cookies in her hands.

"We just wanted to say goodbye" Normani said. "Plus Ally wanted an excuse to bake"

I laughed. "So is this a going away party?" I asked unsurely. "I can't hang around unfortunately as my flight is in 2 hours"

"No not really" Dinah shrugged. "We just wanted to see you one last time. Who knows when we will meet again"

I smiled. The girls hugged me and said their goodbyes before they had to rush off for an interview. I felt sad watching them go knowing it would be ages until we met again. I went over to the table to take a cookie. I heard the door bang open, before I had a chance to turn around I was being hugged from behind. I turned around to see that it was Lauren.

"Sorry" she mumbled. "I just wanted one last hug before you left. I love you, you know that right? I'm really going to miss having you around"

I smiled sadly. "I love you too Lauren" I told her. I did love her, just not in the way she loved me. She loved me as a friend whilst I was in love with her. When the hug broke apart I smiled at her.

"I've to go now. I'll call you when I land" I said.

Lauren just smiled sadly at me and told me to be safe. I walked out of the room and made my way to the car park where a taxi was waiting for me. I turned around the corner and bumped into Lauren's boyfriend, damn I couldn't remember his name.

"Oh hey Justin" he said. "You leaving now?"

"Yeah" I nodded. "See you around Brian" I began to walk away when I heard him saying something.

"It's Brad" he corrected me.

"I really don't care" I muttered.

I continued walking. I just wanted to get home. I missed my family and friends. I got into the taxi and reached the airport an hour before my flight left which meant I had to rush through the airport before my gate closed. Before I boarded the plane I sent a text to each of the girls thanking them for letting me hang with them for the week.

*********

4 Months Later

"You've reached the voicemail of...."

Dammit straight to voicemail again. I was trying to call Lauren but it kept going to voicemail. I sighed. Lauren and I spoke at least once a week and she always picked up. I wondered what was going on. I looked at my watch to check that I was calling at the right time and I was.

I decided to message her on Twitter to see if something had happened to her phone. I clicked onto her profile to see that she'd tweeted a link to Big Sean's 'I Don't Fuck With You'. I was going to retweet it when I saw the comments. After reading a few of the tweets if gotten the gist of what was going on and I was fuming.

If I ever saw Brad again I'd punch him. Ok fine maybe it was James who'd said that bit, but Brad had just sat there and laughed instead of defending her. The girls had a hard enough time constantly being slut shamed and now James said "we all had a bit of a go", that was just going to add to the slut shaming. I was mad. Really mad. I was protective over the girls and I didn't ever want to see them upset or be disrespected.

I needed to see Lauren. I knew she'd be upset over this. I had to see if she was ok. I grabbed a bag and stuffed a change of clothes and a toothbrush into it. I called Scooter to tell him I was going to go see Lauren and that I wouldn't be around for a few days. I don't think he was too happy about me leaving but I didn't care. My priority right now was making sure Lauren was ok. I sent Lauren a text telling her I was on the way. Maybe I was being over dramatic by flying halfway across the country to see if she was ok, but I didn't  care. I just want to see for myself that she was ok and that the comment hadn't bothered her too much. Before the plane got ready to take off I felt a buzz in my pocket. I pulled out my phone and saw that it was a text from Lauren.

[Lauren 13:12]

See you soon.