Actual Love | a Lauren/You Fanfiction

10 • Two Words: Plot Twist

"We're really glad you're okay, Y/N," Ariana said, her voice slightly muffled due to the fact that her head was tucked into my shoulder.

Alessia, Tori, and Ariana all felt extremely guilty for what happened to me, despite it not being their fault at all, so as soon as I (surprisingly) returned to college the next day, I was met with hugs and reassuring gestures/comments. They didn't pity me, which I was grateful for, and everybody who worked there was extremely supportive. Especially my aunt. She knew how to make me feel better.

"Even though I'm still iffy about Lauren, I'm glad you have her to help you get through this," Alessia told me, meaning every word, and that meant a lot to me. I was glad that she was warming up to Lauren. She needed to know how lucky I was to have her.

Y/BF/N ended up FaceTime-ing me, along with my parents, as they wanted to check up on me, which was completely understandable. I realised just how much extra I was missing them, but it helped to know that this summer, I was going back to England to see them again. That was enough to keep me going.

Harmonizers were defending me left, right and centre, and I couldn't be any more appreciative. Aside from the minority who went a little too far and were bullying the girls who did this to me, they were great, and I knew they had good intentions. It amazed me to see how supportive a group of people could be to someone they had never even met. Especially those who approached me in real life and physically made me feel better. It was beautiful.

As promised, Lauren made management find the girls who did this to me, and urged me to press charges, but I knew better than that. I felt like Lauren was more pissed than me, and so I knew that her feelings currently were just a heat-of-the-moment reaction. She would regret them if I actually went forward with it. I didn't need to press charges to those girls seeing as they only did it for attention, and I knew that the amount of media-related punishments they were getting from fans would be enough to stop them from repeating their actions. 

"Lauren, try to calm down–" Ally attempted to calm a fuming Lauren Jauregui, but it was obviously the wrong move.

"Ally, no! I can't calm down! Those girls disrespected Y/N's privacy and they deserve to be punished!" Lauren exclaimed, her eyes appearing stormy grey as if reflecting her anger.

"Exactly," Normani agreed, her voice softer than her bandmate's. "This is why it's Y/N's decision to press charges or not."

We were all in one of the meetings rooms in Syco Records, in the midst of a meeting with their management, but their management just decided to give us some space when they saw that Lauren wanted to 'discuss' the decision we had in mind.

Lauren stayed silent after realising the truth of Normani's words, and she sighed with defeat, her eyes darting to mine. I smiled softly, standing up from my seat and joining her side. I took her hand in mine, beginning to rub reassuring circles on it with my thumb. I knew she was trying to do what was best for me, and knowing that she cared about me that much made me overwhelmingly happy. Nobody had ever cared that much before.

"You don't always have to be the good guy, Y/N," Lauren pointed out, her anger diminishing as she spoke with a gentle voice. "Everybody will understand your actions. They're valid."

I licked my lips as I smiled her way, nodding slightly. "I know, love. But I'm choosing to do the right thing. You're letting your feelings blind you from doing that."