The Hook-up

Chapter 35

Bruno struggled to finish his last few shows without looking like a complete mess. His team shuffled him from show to show keeping his time with his fans to a minimum because he was so readable. Everyone could tell there was something wrong. He slept endlessly for the few days he had left until he got home. He wouldn't have time to figure things out while he was home though, his family was coming to visit and they couldn't see him the way he was. He had one day to figure it all out. As he drug himself into his house he leaned against the wall seeing one of Lauren's sweaters on the ground. He picked it up throwing it off to the side trying not to explode. "Fuck!" he exclaimed laying down on the couch. What am I going to do? I have a day. They think we're perfect. How am I going to get her here? He pulled his phone out of his pocket looking at the blank screen. She hadn't attempted to call him and he intended on giving her space, but it had been almost a week since she had even said anything to him. He moved through his phone calls finding her number. He pressed the green button to call her hearing the phone ring. It rang a few times before it went to her perky voicemail voice. He waited for it to end before he started to sing her the song he had written her after he broke the glass in the hotel room. "I miss you, Elle." He said hanging up the phone.

**

Lauren looked down at her packed suitcase the same morning Bruno tried to call her. She looked down at the phone with tears in her eyes trying to decide what to do. She missed his voice and knew that his head was spinning. She didn't want anything bad to happen to him. She knew that he would end up doing something stupid eventually but she was trying her hardest to move on from what had happened. As she thought of the thousands of things that Bruno could do to fuck himself over again she heard her phone ring again. She looked down at the phone seeing a 212 number pop up. Justin? She thought to herself picking it up.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Lauren...." She heard the familiar raspy voice on the other end.

"What's going on?" she asked him.

"Your sister called me. She thought you needed someone to talk to." He told her.

"I'm fine." She told him lying through her teeth.

"Come to New York for a few days. Get your mind off of him." He told her.

"I can't do that. That's weird." She told him.

"Come help me with my new project. I'll let you write a story for whatever magazine you want." He told her.

"Your new project?" she asked him. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. You're not bringing sexy back are you?"

"No. Not yet." He laughed through the phone. "Just come to the city. I'll tell you everything when you get here." He paused knowing that she was going to ask him about the flight.

"Check your e-mail. It's all there. I'll see you later tonight." He said hanging up the phone.

"What just happened?" she asked herself looking at her bag. "At least I don't have to pack..." she shrugged her shoulders looking at her phone seeing that her flight was to leave in about 3 hours. "Well shit. I gotta go." She sighed grabbing her sunglasses, keys and flip flops. She wrote Caitlin a note leaving it on the fridge telling her what was going on. She knew that Caitlin wouldn't be home that night because she was with her boyfriend so she didn't really care about what she was going to say. She grabbed the last few things she needed going to her car. She glanced down the street seeing a moving truck near Bruno's old apartment. "Well that's nice." She told herself turning on the radio so she couldn't get lost in her anxieties.

Late in the evening she landed in New York City trying to figure out, again, exactly why she was in New York City meeting the first boy who had broken her heart leaving the boy who had most recently broken her heart at home. She stopped in front of the swanky building in Manhattan looking up at the lights seeing his apartment near the top floor. She could see his art on the wall and knew she was in the right place. She told the guard who she was there to see. The large guard nodded his head with a smile letting her up to his floor. She knocked on the door feeling her palms start to sweat and her heart start to race. I can run away before he answers the door. I can do it.. I'm going to...."Oh. Hi!" she gasped seeing him open the door wearing jeans, a t-shirt and the same glasses she had always adored on him.

"Well, I'm glad you made it." He smiled leading her into his big home.

"Wow..." she looked over the house.

"Welcome to my crib." He smiled at her handing her a bottle of water. "Are you hungry?" he asked her looking at the counter seeing peanut butter cookies on the counter.

"Not right now." She told him.

"Lauren! He got to you if you don't even want cookies..." he said with concern in his voice.

"I didn't eat them after we broke up either." She told him thinking about the times when they would sit on the couch eating homemade cookies. She took off her sweater laying it on the couch near her purse forgetting the marks on her arms from Las Vegas.

"Lauren...what did..." he asked her looking at her arms touching them watching her cringe a little.

"They still hurt a little..." she told him trying not to cry.

**

Bruno looked over at Lauren's sweater forgetting his early thoughts about giving her space. He jumped up holding a drink in his hands grabbing his keys and his phone driving quickly to her apartment. He entered the gated community remembering the code driving down the road to get to her apartment. He was so frantic that he didn't even see her car missing from the parking lot. He ran up the stairs knocking on the door expecting her to open the door in tears at which point he would hold on to her tightly telling her he was so sorry for everything. Instead he stood there for ten minutes just waiting. He slumped onto the ground near the exterior wall just waiting. He sat there with just his thoughts not even realizing that it was almost 11 at night when he saw Caitlin walk up with John.

"What are you doing, Bruno?" she asked him. "She left earlier this morning."

"Oh." He said with sadness.

"Yeah. She'll be back in a week." John told him. "She went to New York." He told Bruno feeling Caitlin punch him in the side.

"Tell her to call me." He said standing up not saying anything else going to his car rubbing his eyes trying not to cry as he drove the five minutes back to his big lonely house.