Beautiful When You Don't Try (Camren)

Chapter 13

"So, how long have you two been back in town?"

Lauren leaned forward and pressed her face against the grated divider that separated the front and back seat to look at the clock on the dash. "Not even twelve hours." Not even twelve hours and she had already met Camila's parents, been verbally assaulted for her absenteeism in her friend's lives, gotten into a fight with Camila, and has now been arrested...not even twelve hours. She still had four days to go.

Camila dropped her head back against the seat. "My parents are going to kill me. Margaret is going to kill me." She sat up as quickly as she could with her hands cuffed behind her back. Zayn said they were necessary and protocol but she figured it was some part of a sick fantasy that he was playing in his head. "Can you imagine what the papers are going to say?"

Lauren giggled and put on a fake news anchor voice. "Just days after award winning artist Camila Cabello was slated to be photographed by up and coming photographer Lauren Jauregui, the two were arrested for DUI, failure to produce a valid drivers license, and being in possession of a vehicle not register to either. The two were detained in their home town of..." She trailed off as the realization hit her. This was going to out them. Maybe not that they were dating but at least make their history be known. It was going to peak interest and entice prying eyes.

Camila read the look on Lauren's face and kicked her lightly. "Yeah!"

The raven haired woman thought quickly. "H-hey, Zaaaayn..." She cooed in his ear and the young rookie tried to hide his smirk. "I know and respect that you are a sworn protector of the law," Though you have broken almost all of them. "And I would never ask you to turn a blind eye to our-"

"Our?" Camila asked but Lauren ignored her.

"Our apparent disregard for them, but is there any way you could, you know, keep it quiet?"

Zayn glanced over his shoulder to her, still pressed against the divider, and smirked. "Are you still worried about your reputation after everything you been through?" She rolled her eyes. It wasn't really her reputation she was worried about. She didn't have to appeal to the general public like Camila did. And at the rate she and Camila were progressing, they weren't going to be ready to come out as soon as they got back. "I'll do what I can to keep it quiet, if...you go out with me Friday night."

Lauren snapped her face away from the divided. "You want a date?" Lauren asked in bewilderment.

"Yeah. You strung me along in high school and now I want to show you what you've have been missing."

She looked to Camila who was visibly angry with the request and obviously wasn't going to be able to hold it in much longer. Lauren knew Zayn would keep their secret until they were ready for the world to know, but she also remembered what he said about the rookie sitting next to him. "Zayn, I'm seeing someone."

He shrugged his shoulders and glanced out of his window. "Yeah? I am too, so what?"

She rolled her eyes again and smiled. "You're never going to change. And because of that, even if I wasn't dating anyone, it would never work out between us. Sorry, but no."

"Oh, come on, Babe." He pleaded looking in the rearview mirror. "Forget the jerk off for one night and I guarantee you that you wont even remember his name at the end of it."

"Jerking off is all you're going to be doing, Malik. She said no."

The still very juvenile man glanced over his shoulder to the frustrated diva and smiled broadly. "Someone's got her panties in a twist. I can help you with those too, Cabello." She glared coldly at him but he continued to smile. "It's still a little weird to see you two together, let alone sticking up for each other. Then again, it's probably a little weird to see me in the front seat of a cop car."