Actual Love | a Lauren/You Fanfiction

3 • I Was Never One For Confrontations

"You!" was the first thing I heard when I walked into the canteen.

I followed the source of the voice and ended up seeing Alessia, Tori, and Ariana by a table, looking directly at me with furious glances. The canteen was pretty empty, so it wasn't hard to miss their fuming selves.

"Me?" I said with confusion, walking towards them and setting my backpack on the chair, their eyes still penetrating through me.

"Care to explain?!" Ariana squeaked, trying to sound intimidating, but it only made me smile with amusement. She held up her phone, which happened to be showing an article about Lauren and I.

"Uh, I'm on the Internet...?" I said unsurely, giving her a sheepish smile, however, I knew that wouldn't suffice with them.

"I should've known," Alessia mumbled to herself, her eyes focused on nothing as she looked ahead. "Her name was Lauren... you wouldn't let us meet her... she lived in a mansion..."

I sighed when I realised how they must have felt. "Guys, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But I couldn't exactly say anything because I didn't want to risk anything." When they didn't reply, I asked cautiously, "Are you angry at me?"

They kept their heads held high to show that they weren't going to give in, but when they exchanged looks and glanced at me, they sighed, loosening up a little. They weren't frowning anymore, but they weren't smiling either.

"We're not angry, Y/N," Tori spoke for them all, her voice soft with compassion. "It's just, we thought that you would have trusted us enough to tell us."

I looked carefully at them and saw that their anger that was once there had now disappeared, only sadness filling those expressions. They weren't annoyed with me, just a little betrayed that I hadn't shared something this big. And I felt insanely bad.

I nodded my head, frowning. "I'm sorry. I do trust you and I should have said."

"It would have helped us give you advice, too!" Alessia inputted. "You know, with Lauren and everything."

I ran my hands through my hair. "You're right, guys. From now on, I'll tell you the truth about everything."

"Promise?" Ariana asked, raising her pinky in the air for me to interlock mine with.

I cracked a smile and raised mine, too. "I promise."

They all smiled and it made me realise how lucky I was to have them. They could have easily stopped being my friend because of how big this secret was that I had kept from them, but they didn't, and I was lucky for that. We took a seat at the table that they were standing by, and that's when I decided to tell them what had happened earlier this morning.

"So, since I'm supposed to be telling you the truth and all, I may as well tell you that the paparazzi kind of found me before," I said, frowning slightly as I remembered that claustrophobic feeling of them all surrounding me.

"Ouch, how did that go?" Tori asked, pulling a face.

I bit my lip anxiously. "I don't even know. But I'm scared about what's going to happen with Lauren. We're already walking on thin ice. What if this makes her decide to like, de-friend me?"

"Has she asked you about everything?" Alessia asked, her fingers resting on the table and crossed over one another. "Like, sent any texts or anything?"