The Hook-up

Chapter 110

uren stretched out on the couch on a Thursday evening flipping through The Knot folding pages of things that she liked. They hadn't decided on a day but talked more about getting married before the babies arrived. Lauren was feeling pressure from her mother to just get it over with and Bruno was starting to be asked questions about everything and just wanted it over with himself. She turned down a few pages of beach weddings with women in long braids and flowers in their hair. I want it like that...but I don't know if I'll get that because he hasn't been home since the shower...And she wasn't thinking like he's busy and will be home late, but thinking that literally he was spending nights in the studio and coming home to sleep and then waking up as she was coming home from work. She didn't ask him about it, she knew exactly where he was because she had Dani keep an eye on him for her. She wasn't worried, just lonely knowing that he was not even 30 minutes away and nowhere near her. "Elle?" she heard from the back of the house causing the dogs to run toward the back of the house.

"Hi." She turned smiling at him seeing him yawn as he was walking toward the refrigerator. She heard the sound of bottle popping open and liquid hit a glass. "Bruno?" she asked him. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." He said taking a sip of whatever liquor he was drinking. I'm not going to ask him why he is doing that. I won't do it. I don't want to fight. I'm not going to start a fight.

"I don't want to fight, Bruno. I'm just going to sit here and continue reading. If you want to fight, it's not going to be with me tonight." She told him sternly flipping her body back to the front of the couch. He didn't respond to her statement sitting at the table looking at his phone.

"Lauren?" he asked her not sure what she was going to say.

"Yeah?" she asked not turning to look at him.

"This album sucks. I can't do anything right. There's like 4 good songs. The rest have ended up in the trash. It's such shit. I don't even know what to do." He told her.

"Bruno...." She turned around looking at his tired blood shot eyes. She saw the concern and the emotion in his eyes. She moved her body the right way leaning to stand up to sit next to him. "I don't know what to tell you."

"You can tell me how the fuck we ended up here." He said starting to sound angry. She gave him a confused look not sure what he was talking about. "None of this was supposed to happen. We were supposed to have gorilla sex until my dick fell off and you weren't supposed to have kids and we were going to be that couple that goes out all night that everyone loves to party with. But now you're on the couch flipping through The Knot and eating cookies waiting for me. Last year we were out getting shit faced after I finished the American tour. Uggghhh." He said finishing his drink not paying attention to her as she got up to walk away. "Where are you going?"

"To bed." She said to him. "I told you I didn't want to argue."

"You're cheating on me." He said to her under his breath.

"I what?" she turned and asked her.

"You're cheating on me with someone. I don't know who....but you are." He answered throwing his glass toward the sink watching it break. She didn't respond to him walking back toward the bedroom. "Lauren!" he yelled at her reaching for her arm gripping it in a way she hadn't felt in months.

"Stop it!" she exclaimed trying to get out of his grip. "Stop it. Stop it." She cried feeling tears of frustration and pain throughout her body.

"Tell me who it is...." He answered her cries reaching with his other arm to her hair that had fallen pulling it a little.

"No one, Bruno! No one!" she screamed at him. "It's no one! There's no one!"

"Fuck you! Let me see your phone!" he said letting go of her arm to reach for her phone still gripping her back.

"Please let go of me." She begged him as he went through her text messages.

"Who is James?" he responded accusingly.

"It's Jammeesss..." she emphasized with a girly voice mimicking one of the stylists he had met.

"Oh." He replied still angry but letting go of her back. He turned to her looking down at her arms realizing what he was doing. "Lauren...." He said in a soft tone. "Go to your sister's house for a couple days. I'm sorry. I need to figure this out...." She looked at how upset he was slipping on a pair of flip-flops by the door going to get the broom to clean up his mess not saying anything.

"No. It's okay...." She said frantically cleaning up his mess. "It's really....it's okay..." she trembled trying not to cry. "It's okay. It's okay. I know. I know you're stressed out. It's a lot...." She continued to try to stop crying as she bent down to sweep up the glass. She felt herself start getting light headed as she swept the glass into the dust pant. "It's a lot...you'll figure it out...." She gasped reaching for her forehead feeling things start to spin.

"Elle!" he shouted watching her head hit the side of a cabinet and the glass shatter even more as the dust pant fell out of her hand. "Laurrreeennn..." he whined running toward her in his bare feet feeling the small pieces of glass pierce through his feet. He pushed back the pain bending down trying to wake her up. "Lauren! Come on...." He yelled back watching the dogs running toward her to see what was wrong. "No!" he shouted. "You'll hurt yourself. Go away!" he yelled at them still holding her feeling her limp body against his body. "Stay there, baby..." he said leaning her against the cabinet quickly rising, with his feet bleeding, to get her some water.

"Owwww...." Bruno heard Lauren start to wake up. "Owww..." she groaned reaching her arm that was starting to bruise.

"Don't move, baby...don't move..." he told her stumbling to reach for her to pick her up.

"Put me down...." She said to him in an angry tone as he neared the couch leaving a trail of small drips of blood on the floor. "Put me down, damnit." He set her down lightly on the couch watching her reach for her stomach to check on the babies.

"You fainted, Elle..." he tried to figure out what happened to her sitting on the opposite couch.

"Your feet are bleeding, Bruno...you cut yourself on the glass...." She responded wiping away her tears.

"I'll clean it up..." he stood up reaching for the blanket on the floor for her. "Here....go to sleep...." He said to her bending down to kiss her head then her nose wiping away her tears. "Don't cry. Baby, don't cry..." he sang in a melodic tone making her smile a little. He pulled away looking at her tired eyes. She watched him walk away then closed her eyes trying not to focus on the pain in her arm, the same place that he always got when he was angry, the marks just below her wrist we getting bigger and near her hand she could feel nail marks. No one needs to know about this. She told herself placing her uninjured hand on her stomach finding a comfortable spot on the couch she was sitting at earlier in the evening.

Bruno turned around to watch Lauren for a few seconds. I'm so dumb. Why do I do this? The one night when I should have just stayed at the studio and got it all out, I came home and I drank more. And I got mad. And I hurt her...I hurt her again...all this time....He bent down with a spray wiping up the splatters of blood feeling his own tears fall next to the glass pieces causing the splinter of glass to glisten as his tears fell on the floor. He sat on his knees with the towel in the same place covering his head making the floor glisten until it glowed like a Cullen's skin in the bright afternoon sunlight.