The Hook-up

Chapter 225

"Lauren, do you want or need someone to come with you?" Larissa asked her sister handing her clothes to put in a bag for the babies.

"He's not going to physically hurt me, Riss. I won't put up with it." she told her sister.

"Aunt Lauren why aren't you at your house?" Ella asked her aunt. "Did Bruno hurt you again?" She knows too much for a 10 year old.

"We just needed to get away for a little bit, Ella. We'll go back soon." she told her niece the only thing she could think of. "Will you go take Everlee in the other room with Ezra and your dad?" she asked to get her away from the conversation that she and Larissa were going to have.

"You say that though...." Larissa said as her daughter left the room.

"He's not going to hurt me. If anything he's going to beg for my forgiveness and I am going to laugh in his face." she said with a smile.

"Do you really want this to be over?" Larissa asked.

"I don't know. I think this is the best thing. He was right. We are like best friends. I miss talking to him and him being there, but I don't miss the fighting or the sarcasm or meanness that we both had toward each other after the album came out. And I don't want my children around that. I already know that they've seen too much."

"They have seen too much. You're right." Larissa answered. "I guess you're right. And I know he's hurt you, but y'all have been apart for three weeks. I think that's the longest you've made it."

**

Bruno looked at the clock on the microwave as he folded a set of baby sheets that Ryan had somehow managed to get his hands on. He probably got them from his sister. But oh god, what if she knows what is going on. I don't want anyone to know..not yet. This is too much. Not right now. It doesn't have to be public...he thought to himself moving things around to make sure they were baby safe. He sat down on the couch glancing at his phone to see a text from Damaris that said she missed him and then checked his tweets to see several fans talking about who his sweetie was at the last concert, because Lauren had let it be known that she was in Los Angeles and not with him. Shit. He thought hearing Geronimo run to the front of the house. "Oh hiii.." Lauren said setting down the babies to pet Geronimo. Oh god. I miss him. She thought to herself watching the dog go to the babies who smiled at him as he buried his head into Ezra's car seat. "Okay, okay. That's enough." Lauren said pointing toward Bruno. The dog quickly walked back to Bruno seeing Bruno standing at the edge of the room.

"Hi." he said looking into the distance. "Is their stuff in the car still?"

"Yeah. Can you get it?" she asked walking past him to get to the living room.

"Yeah. And you don't have to check things. I got everything you told me to." he said almost rolling his eyes in his voice knowing exactly what she was doing by walking past him. She ignored his statement wandering into the babies's room to see what he had gotten. She moved her hand enough to still hold Elzra in her arms to touch the cribs. Hmm. He didn't do too bad.. She thought checking to see the sheets that he had placed on the mattresses.Those are Tahiti's..."I told you!" he smiled at her from behind.

"I just wanted to make sure." she said handing Ezra to him after he started making noises to go to his father.

"Aww, look, Elle. He missed me." Bruno said with a smile. "I missed you too." Bruno said looking at him a way she hadn't seen him look at his son since they were one month old.

"Yeah. He does." she answered placing some things in the dresser. "I'm putting all the things where they were before. You can keep this stuff here. I have enough stuff at my mom's."

"Laur, how long are you going to stay there?" he asked a bit concerned. "There's not enough room there for all of that stuff."

"That's really none of your business." she told him with a bit of frustration. "I won't be coming back."

"I wasn't expecting you to come back." he replied. "I know we need to just be away from each other." he told her walking to the living room with Ezra. She followed him sitting with Everlee on the couch.

"How was your trip?" she asked him trying to think of something to ask him that wouldn't cause them any tension.

"Aside from missing you while I was there it was fine." he replied.

"It's really not my problem, Bruno. You made the decision." she told him with little emotion in her voice.

"Are you okay?" he asked worried about her lack of emotion.

"I'm working on it." she said moving away from him looking away from him. Not now. He doesn't need to know that it hurts me. He doesn't need to know that this is killing me on the inside.

"I am too." he said in the same almost tearful tone.

"I don't want to hurt us anymore, Bruno. No matter how hard it hurts to be away from each other." she told hm. "It's not going to go away right away. It's going to take both of us some time. It's going to take some time to...." she felt his hand reach for hers turning her around to listen to what she was going to say. She looked into his eyes seeing the same tears she had in her eyes. "It's going to take time for me to realize that not everyone touches me the way you do. Or moves their tongue maybe a bit too fast when they kiss, or pulls me into their arms when they wake up, or let's me hit them in the face in the middle of the night. It's going to be hard." she said now feeling the same tears that she had the night she left the house.

"I know...." he said wiping away the tears from her eyes moving down to her hands where she would usually have her wedding ring. "It's okay..."

She pulled away from him reaching for Ezra who was just about to start to cry.

"Stay and eat diner at least?" he asked her.

"Will your girlfriend get upset?" she questioned.

"I don't know. Will your boyfriend?" he wondered with a half smile standing up with the baby.