Cimorelli - One Shots

Broken (Laurisa) - Part 2

I never knew who did it. Nobody else knew it happened. And Lauren was never the same again.

I still don't know how she did it, but Lauren somehow convinced me not to take her to the hospital or to the cops. Actually I did know, she clung to me, cried her poor heart out and begged me to just take her home that night. And I didn't have the heart to do anything else.

I knew that, at least, half of my family knew something wasn't quite right after that night, but I also knew that they had no idea of what was the issue. I had a feeling though that Dani and Christina did know what happened, at some extent, but never said anything, probably too deep in denial. And I sometimes wished I could do the same, pretend I couldn't see the bags darkening under my little sister's eyes, that I couldn't hear her quiet footsteps in the middle of the night or that I didn't noticed how quiet she become.

Two weeks went by since the dread night. Lauren had stopped using too big clothes, no longer having dark bruises to hide, but her own normal clothes were starting to look larger on her thin body.

It was an early Saturday morning and I was already wide awake. Now, before that night, I was rarely the first one awake on my home, let alone on weekends, but on those two weeks, I became more of an earlier riser than my oldest sister and for one reason and one reason only.

The sun was yet rising outside the living-room windows, the TV was on playing old cartoons and I had a warm cup of coffee in my hands – another thing I barely ever did before, was to drink the dark, energizing drink but now, it seemed as if it became my best friend – when she came down the stairs in silent, careful steps and a face that told me she, once again, barely slept during the night. I sighed and patted the spot next to me on the couch and she didn't think twice before snuggling as close to me as she could. Her arms went around my waist, her head lying on my chest as I wrapped my arm tightly around her and allowed her to steal some of my coffee, only playfully glaring at her for a moment. She giggled into the mug and kept sipping on the dark drink.

"You little thief..."

"You still love me, anyway" She made a kissy face and I shook my head, giggling at her antics. I got a little closer and she pecked my cheek while handing me back my mug. "... And next time, you should put a little more sugar on it"

"You steal my coffee and you're still complaining? Little brat..." I playfully reached out and smacked her backside. Lauren kept giggling quietly and snuggled her face on the material of my shirt, sighing deeply in contentment when I began to rub circles on her back. Her eyelids fell closed and I looked down at her, studying her soft features.

"... Lise?" She whispered, not bothering to open her eyes.

"Hm?"

"You're staring again, aren't you?" I let out a breathed chuckle and leaned down to drop a kiss to her forehead. She opened her eyes and looked deep in my eyes. I smiled sadly at her.

"How are you, baby girl?"

"I'm... Fine?" I raised a skeptical brow at her, tightening my arm around her when she tried to look down.

"Lauren? The truth" I stated seriously and my little sister looked down to her hand on my stomach. She began to trace random traces with the tips of her fingers and just stayed in silence for a long moment. I sighed, accepting her silence as an answer and brought my mug back to my lips, sipping on it slowly while staring of at nowhere.

"... I'm tired" Lauren whispered when I no longer expected her to talk. I was a little caught off of guard and looked down at her. She was still staring at her fingers and I hummed quietly.