Breaking Walls (Lauren Cimorelli)

Chapter 19

Coley's POV

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I have some clothes from when I spent those nights at the hospital. Yes, I know, I'll be home before she gets home tomorrow," I heard a voice say as I slowly opened my eyes, "I know, Lise, I know. I'll tell her... eventually." I looked up to see Lauren standing beside my bed on the phone, and she gave me a small smile before speaking again. "Hey, I gotta go. I'll text you later. Love you too, bye." She ended the phone call before sitting back down on my bed, running her hand through my hair. "Hey," She smiled.

"Hey," I responded, letting out a small yawn. "What time is it?"

"Around 9. How'd you sleep?" She asked, continuing to run her hand through my hair gently. It made me smile.

"I slept fine," I responded, sitting up and taking her other hand in mine. "Was that Lisa on the phone?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," She paused, "She was just wondering if we were okay. She knows that we're for the most part here alone, so she was just worried."

"That's sweet of her," I said, looking down at our hands and intertwining our fingers. "So what do you have to tell someone?" I asked softly, not averting my eyes from our hands.

She gave me a confused look before nodding her head and sighing, moving her hand from my hair to my neck. "She wants me to... tell Christina about us." I immediately looked up when I heard that, and Lauren looked as nervous as I felt. "I know, I know, I don't want to either."

"She's not gonna be okay with us, Laur," I told her, "You've said yourself that she's against so many things, one of them being gay. She's basically in charge of you since your parents are hardly around. How are we gonna see each other? How is s-"

I was cut off by Lauren leaning forward and softly kissing my forehead, leaning her own against mine after. "We'll be okay. I know we will. I won't let her do anything. I could never stand up to her because I felt like I had nothing to stand up for, but now I do. Don't worry about this, okay?"

I let out a small laugh. "I'm usually the one that reassures you."

She smiled. "Well, while you're recovering, we're switching."

"And why is that?" I asked.

"Because I don't want you to have to worry about anything. I just want you to get better. That should be your number one priority."

"Lauren, I'm okay. It's basically just a sprained ankle," I reminded her.

"A really bad sprained ankle that you can barely walk on. And you have cuts and bruises all over your body-"

"That will heal," I said, rubbing her hand with my thumb. "I got really lucky, okay? It could've been a lot worse."

She tilted her head a little, making me smile at the cute movement. "I know, I know, but I still want you to recover, even if it's just little stuff."

"I will recover. But I don't wanna be on bed rest for a week. I'm going back to school in two days, and I'm not walking around that place using crutches."

"Coley, you're gonna have to. The doctor said to let your ankle rest for a week before you walk-" I cut her off.

"Lauren, it's a sprained ankle. That's all it is. Besides, I can already walk," I smiled, putting my un-damaged foot on the ground and slowly putting the other one on it.

"Coley..." Lauren warned.

"It's okay, Laur," I chuckled. I started to limp around my room, trying to get adjusted to walking with my other foot, and being careful not to put all of my weight on it. I stood beside my desk and leaned against it. "See?"