The Hook-up

Chapter 91

"What do you think?" Lauren asked twirling around in a bright purple dress.

"I like it..." he said pushing a piece of hair out of her face.

"Bruno...when are you going to just leave your hair the way it is? It just looks so much more like you..." she asked touching the top of his hard hair.

"After this not for a lonnnggg time." He said to her walking to pick up the dress jacket that matched the other two pieces of his suit.

"But what are you wearing up there?" she asked him fixing the his tie so it sat straight.

"It's a secret." He told her slyly.

"Ugh. Whatever." She groaned leaving the room. "I don't know if I can do these heels for this long, Brunz."

"You're walking for like 15 minutes. That's it. You can do it." He said to her handing her the shoes that were sitting on the floor.

"I gueesss..." she smiled at him putting them on. "Wait...will my roll up flats fit in my purse?" she asked taking up the shoes running to the bedroom to get the shoes. She took the shoes and stuck them in her bag. "There. Then I can change when I get in there.

"Who is going to carry those heels?" he asked.

"You." She smirked at him.

"You know everyone is going to laugh at you." He told her sitting on the couch.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because now you're the girl that takes off her heels after the good part of the concert. We look out and pick which ones will be taking their shoes off..." he told her.

"Aww. Come on. I have an excuse..." she told him holding his shoulder to stand up. After she finished putting on her shoes he stood up and placed his hands around her waist.

"You have an excuse. But next time I'll need doctor's note." He laughed at her as they heard Geronimo start to bark at the door. "Stay there, babe." He said to her moving her out of the way to get to the door.

"Who is it?" she asked following him to see everyone that they were going to the event with.

"Aww, Laur. You're just so precious." Urbana said pulling the hair out that Bruno had pushed back.

"He's just going to move it back to the way it was." Lauren said in a flat tone.

"What's wrong?" she asked Lauren pulling her into the living room away from the boys that had decided to go outside to smoke.

"Nothing is wrong. I'm just tired. I'm always tired. And I feel fat and ugly." Lauren responded. "Do you want me to go on? Oh and stupid."

"Laurreeen. Come on. Tonight is going to be perfect. Forget about everything for a little bit, okay?" Urbana asked not knowing about their argument and Bruno's cheating.

"He slept with Damaris." She blurted out.

"He what?" Urbana asked hearing them come in the house.

"You heard me right." Lauren said in a sad tone. Lauren watched Urbana turn around you look Bruno dead in the eyes.

"No wonder she's a mess, Bruno. I really don't know if can look at you the same way anymore." Urbana said turning to Lauren. "Come on, Laur. Let's get in the car." The two of them walked past their significant others without saying anything to them.

"Was that what I think it was about?" Bruno asked.

"Yeah. But I didn't say anything. Lauren did." Phil responded.

The two groups remained silent in the car. Phil and Urbana, along with Ari and his sister joined them. They remained silent as well, knowing exactly the same thing everyone else did. Everyone's eyes, even the driver, kept their eyes glued to the couple. While stuck in traffic, Bruno leaned over to take Lauren's hand holding it gently to break some of the tension. She squeezed it in return hoping to break the obvious question.

"We talked about it. I'm sorry it happened. It shouldn't have happened. We're not getting married...." Bruno started to tell them watching their reaction when he said they weren't getting married. "Yet." He told them. "We're waiting for it to be the right time. If it's next week it's next week. If it's when they're two years old, then it's then. But not now." He said.

"What do you want, Lauren?" Zoe asked.

"I just want to move on. It was a mistake. We all make them. They're not going to stop. It changed things, yeah, but it happened and I don't live through mistakes. I live through reality. And this is it. This is where we are." She said firmly.

"It won't ever change." Bruno said softly. "I said I was sorry a million times." He told them.

Urbana shook her head still not sure what to think about them as the car stopped near the red carpet. Bruno gripped Lauren's hand tightly as they stepped out of the car to flashes. They heard Bruno's name being called from several different directions. Lauren leaned over to Bruno. "Which direction do you look?" she whispered.

"Forward. Not back. And not to the side. Just forward, Lauren." He said adjusting his sunglasses so no one could see how nervous he was.

She walked right behind him close enough so they could speak throughout the chaos. She felt him hold her hand tightly almost as a way to keep himself from shaking. "It's okay, Bruno. I'm right here." She told him as the Red Carpet staff directed them to the small interviews. They walked up to a smiling face that Bruno, Phil, Ari and Urbana knew.

"Oh! You all brought dates. That's amazing!" the girl, who she later found out was Brandy, said sweetly.

"Yeah. I can't hide her anymore." Bruno said turning his body in toward hers as she leaned in smiling. "That's great. Are you excited or more nervous about performing tonight?" the girl asked not digging into his personal life.

"I'm so excited for you all to see it. It's going to be so great." Bruno said.

"And you're one of the first performers?" Brandy questioned.

"I think we're on within the first hour. But exactly where I don't know." He answered.

"Well, we'll all be waiting. And hopefully that won't be the last time we see you tonight! You're nominated for several awards tonight...." She listed them and wished them all good luck ushering them off to the next few interviews that just noticed he had a date without asking many more questions than her name and who she was wearing. As they neared the last interview Bruno lagged behind with Lauren to talk to her.

"You're beautiful." He whispered in her ear.

"You're doing a great job, Brunz." She smiled at him.

"Well, I couldn't do it without you." He replied.

"Yeah you could. You would have been finnneee." She laughed at him.

"Please don't ever leave me, Lauren." He said turning to face her ignoring everything around them. "Please don't let this ruin us. Please." He said pushing back the piece of hair that Urbana had pulled out earlier in the evening making her smile.

"It changed us. It didn't ruin us, Bruno." She said to him feeling his hands move down her waist as if they were alone.

"Bruno...you know we're not alone..." she told him.

"I know." He responded keeping his hands on her hips leaning in as close as possible to her kissing her lightly and respectfully ignoring everyone around them.