One Life

Chapter 20

Lauren's POV

We were in the middle of our Reflection Summer Tour and it was going great, except that I was down in the dumps every now and again. Ever since that day I heard Justin in the studio I'd gotten rid of anything that reminded me of him. I deleted all the photos and videos of him on my phone and stopped listening to his music. Anytime his new song was playing I walked out of the room. It was just too painful thinking about him or even hearing his voice. I wished that I could just forget about him but I knew that was impossible.

"Hey Lauren want to come out and dance with Natalie?" Dinah asked.

"Yeah sure" I smiled. "Let's go"

We were walking towards the stage when we saw the other 3 girls gathered around someone talking excitedly. I was curious and walked over to see who it was. My breath caught in my throat. It was Justin. Damn this was going to be awkward. I stood rooted to the spot. I couldn't move. Why was he here?

"Hey guys" he said.

I could see that he was nervous. I guess he was scared how to talk to us. As far as I knew the girls had barely spoken to him. I hadn't told them what had happened when I went to see him, but I guess they knew it didn't go down well. I just didn't understand why they had to stop talking to him. They all had such a good relationship with him. It was a shame that it was probably ruined because of us.

"I need your help" he continued. "I'm releasing my new single 'What Do You Mean' on the 28th of August. I was wondering if you'd like to help promote it. All I'm asking is that you either take a picture or video holding up a sign saying "16 days until What Do You Mean?". Do you want to do it?"

I just nodded my head in agreement and walked off. I didn't care if it looked rude, I just wanted to get out of there. Dinah caught up to me. She didn't ask what was going on and I was thankful that she didn't. I was glad that Natalie was cool about us coming on during her set and dancing, at least it helped clear my head.

Justin's POV

I had noticed that Lauren had left but I didn't draw any attention to it. Since I'd finished with Chantel I'd done a lot of thinking about Lauren and I. As much as I wanted to be with here romantically, I wanted to be her friend more. I was going to put my feelings aside and just be friends with her. Her friendship was what I craved and missed the most.

I made my way to the stage. I knew that Lauren was up there so I waited until she was finished. I watched as she danced and I couldn't help but be in awe. The way her body moved to the music had me going all kinds of crazy. I told myself to stop thinking like that and remember that being her friend is more of a priority than her being my girlfriend. Dinah walked off stage with a smile on her face. Lauren came down after her and the smile was wiped off her face. I could see that she looked angry, but I didn't know why.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked.

"No" she said and began to walk away.

"What the hell is wrong with you? What have I done? All I want to do is talk" I said.

I noticed we were in the backstage area and everyone was around. This was a conversation I wanted to have alone. I didn't want the rest of the crew to find out.

"Please can we talk somewhere more private?" I asked. I was literally begging her.

"I don't want to talk to you Justin" Lauren snapped. "There's nothing to talk about"

"Lauren what the hell is going on with you?" I asked. I was seriously confused. Why did she seem so angry and upset with me?

"Don't act like you don't know Justin. A few months ago you say you love me, but when I say that I don't feel the same, you write a song shading me and how your mom doesn't like me. Just stop saying you care, when you don't. I know how you feel about me now, so just leave me alone" she cried.

Lauren ran away and I was really confused. How would she even know my mom doesn't even like her when they hadn't even met. I noticed that the four girls had seen the whole thing. I could see the shocked looks on their faces. Ally was the first to speak.

"Justin what is she on about?" she asked.

"I honestly don't know Ally" I shrugged. "Is it ok if I stay and watch the show? I'm hoping she may have cooled off after the show and maybe I can try speaking to her again"

The girls just nodded and excused themselves by saying they had to go get ready. I could tell they didn't want me coming backstage again after the show to speak to Lauren. I also got the impression that they didn't believe me when I said I didn't know what Lauren was on about. I sighed knowing that the girls more than likely hated me right now.

************

I was given a seat up in one of the balconies. Thankfully it was just me. I just wanted to be alone right now. The show began right on time and I was in awe at how amazing they were. Obviously I couldn't keep my eyes off Lauren. As I watched her perform I wondered what was going on inside her head. I was too busy thinking about what I was going to say to her backstage, until I heard her speak onstage.

"This next song is dedicated to a special someone here tonight" she said. "You know who you are" she smiled.

I felt a small glimmer of hope. Maybe she was giving me a chance after all. I noticed the girls looking at her curiously. Maybe they didn't know what was going on either. The music began to play and my heart dropped. Miss Movin' On was playing. Lauren dedicated that song to me to tell me that she was basically done with me and was moving on.

I couldn't listen so I stormed out to my car with tears in my eyes. I got into my car and let out a roar of frustration. After a few minutes I managed to calm myself down and started the car. 'Love Yourself' started playing on the MP3 player and that's when the penny dropped.

When Lauren had said I'd written a song about shading her I was confused. To be honest I was still confused because I didn't know how she managed to hear this. Then I remembered 2 months ago the girl at the front desk at the studio had told me some girl had come to see me but had left. At the time I had guessed it was probably Chantel trying to get back with me, but now I knew it was Lauren. I groaned in frustration when I realised this.

How could Lauren think the song was about her? It wasn't. It was about Chantel. The only songs I'd ever written about Lauren were about love and heartbreak. I considered going back into the concert and waiting backstage to tell Lauren about the song. But I knew better. She wouldn't listen to me and just get angrier.

I sighed and started the car. I lost Lauren tonight. I doubt we were even going to be friends anymore. But I wasn't going to give up on us. I only had one life and I wanted to spend it with her. It might take a few months, hell maybe even years, but I was never going to give up on Lauren Jauregui because she was the love of my life.