The M&G That Changed It All (a Lauren Jauregui story)

Chapter 6

After the show, Anna, Jenny, Isa and Charlie made their way backstage, showing their backstage passes to the security guard, who showed them to the girls changing room. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." Ally called.

The security guard opened the door and let the four girls into the room.

"Hello, girls." Normani said with a smile.

The security guard shut the door behind the four fans.

"Take a seat." She popped a green grape into her mouth and smiled as she chewed.

Isa, Charlie and Jenny sat on the couch opposite, Ally, Dinah, Camila and Ally, deliberately leaving no room for Anna so she would have no choice but to sit next to Lauren. The three friends were going to push Anna into Lauren's arms, that were wide open for the young girl, no matter what.

Anna reluctantly took a seat next to Lauren, who was chewing on a piece of cookie. Anna sat as far away from Lauren as possible, she didn't want to be close to the green-eyed singer as she was already feeling uncomfortable and they had only been in the room for two minutes, how was she supposed to survive an hour with the girl she had fallen for four years ago, but could never be with?

Anna could feel Lauren's eyes on her. She bit her lip nervously and scratched the back of her hand, something she always did when she felt uncomfortable.

"So girls. Tell us something about yourself." Ally broke the awkward silence. She kept an eye on Lauren.

"We have been friends since nursery school." Jenny said, gesturing to herself, Charlie and Isa. "Anna came along in our first year of high school when her mum got transferred into the seventh division of the army." Jenny clamped her hand over her mouth when she realised what she had just said.

Isa slapped Jenny on the back of the head. Jenny looked at Isa, who glared at the older girl.

"OUCH. Isa that hurt." Jenny said, rubbing the back of her head.

Isa didn't reply, she turned her attention to her blue-eyed friend, who was nearly in tears.

Anna looked at Jenny, shocked, her mouth fell open slightly. Her eyes stung with tears at the mention of her mum. She bit her lip.

"What?" Lauren said. She leaned forward in her seat, eyebrows furrowed and face full of confusion. "What did you just say?" She put the last piece of cookie into her mouth and chewed.

Jenny's hand fell from her mouth. "That Anna's mum is in the army." She said casually.

Isa slapped Jenny on the back of the head again.

"Ouch." Jenny said. "Stop that, Isa." She rubbed the back of her head again to sooth the pain.

"No. You know Anna's mum is a sensitive topic. Stop talking about her, unless you was to be the one to have to calm her down." Isa yelled, angrily. She wasn't really angry. She was just sick of Jenny putting her foot in her mouth.

"Sorry Anna." Jenny turned to her youngest friend, who was watching her with tears in her eyes.

"Its okay." Anna mumbled, wiping her eyes and taking a deep breath. She couldn't keep her voice from shaking.

"Your mom's in the army." Lauren breathed.

"Lauren!" Ally shouted.

Lauren turned to Ally. "What?" She asked innocently.

"Stop!" Ally scolded.

Lauren huffed. She turned her attention back to Anna. She wrapped her arms around the young fan. She rubbed Anna's back to calm her. "Its okay." She whispered in Anna's ear. She felt Anna lean into her and take a deep breath. She could feel her own heart break as Anna tried not to cry.

Anna took another deep breath, taking in Lauren's sent - vanilla, which she found oddly comforting.

Charlie reached over, placing a hand on Anna's knee.

Anna looked at Charlie with sad eyes. She shook her head and wiped her eyes again. She took another deep breath and said. "I'm okay."

Lauren released Anna from her grip.

Dinah, Ally, Camila and Normani watched Lauren closely. They never really saw her like this. They smirked. Dinah made eye-contact with Lauren and an unspoken conversation took place between them.

"Anna." Lauren turned to Anna. "Can I speak to you? Outside?" Lauren grew nervous.

Anna nodded. Lauren got to her feet and helped Anna up onto her own feet, leading her out of the room. She closed the door behind them and leaned against the wall, Anna's hand still in her own. Anna's eyes were trained on the ground.

"Anna." Lauren lifted her free hand to Anna's chin, moving the girls head so she could look her in the eye. "I have something to tell you." She looked into Anna's deep blue eyes, almost becoming completely lost in them, she could drown in them if she wasn't careful. She cleared her throat. "From the moment you walked into the meet and greet room, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. I haven't been able to keep my eyes off of you." She took a deep breath, her eyes leaving Anna's for a brief moment to glance at Anna's lips. "When I fall for someone, I fall hard." Lauren cleared her throat. "I've fallen for you." She looked into Anna's deep blue eyes, biting her lip.

Anna's breath caught in her throat. "Jenny was right. Dammit!" Anna thought. She looked into Lauren's memorising green eyes. "I fell for you while you were performing on The X Factor and I did nothing about it because I never thought I would meet you. But I guess I have." She cleared her throat.

"Really?" Lauren breathed. She scratched the back of her neck nervously, looking into Anna's eyes.

Anna nodded. Her eyes fell onto Lauren's lips for a brief moment. Her previous uncomfortable feeling was gone, replaced by nerves.

Lauren found herself leaning towards Anna, closing the gap between them. She caught Anna's soft lips in a short sweet kiss. She felt Anna pull her closer, she was a little taken aback, but  shook the feeling off and kissed Anna gently. She felt Anna wrap her arms around her back and she smiled into the kiss.

The two girls pulled away at the same time, both needing to take a breath.

"Anna." Lauren looked into Anna's deep blue eyes. "Will you be my girlfriend?" Lauren grew nervous.

The question was sudden, but Anna didn't even need to think about her response. She nodded, smiling, looking into Lauren's green eyes.

"Give me your phone." Anna handed Lauren her phone. Lauren quickly typed in her number, handing Anna her phone back.

"We should probably get back." Anna said. She sent a quick text to the number Lauren had put into her phone so Lauren had her number."They'll probably think I've kidnapped you." Anna joked.

Lauren giggled, checking her phone when it beeped and saving the new number into her phone. She nodded, taking her hand and leading her back into the dressing room. The two girls took their seats.

"So, what did we miss?" Lauren asked.

"Nothing really." Ally said. "What happened with you two, what took you so long?

"Nothing really." Lauren answered. She looked at Anna, who was having an unspoken conversation with Jenny. She smiled.

"What time is it?" Isa asked, changing the subject.

"Its.... 11:15." Camila answered, looking at the time on her phone. Camila was oddly quiet for the whole time the girls were in the room, she was never shy, but her friends and the fans never questioned it, they just assumed she was tired or having a bad day.

"We should probably get home. We have school in the morning." Charlie said. She rolled her eyes at the thought of school.

The four fans stood, they hugged their idols before leaving the room. Anna glanced at Lauren before Jenny pushed her out the room.