Stand by me

Chapter twenty

Fair warning there's a long authors note at the end of this chapter. Feel free to skip if you'd like but I have a few questions that I'd like to ask :)

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"Lauren..."

It was her. Lauren's birth mother. The women who ruined her life. The women who ruined Lauren.

Lauren dropped her phone onto the ground startling the girls at the table. Clara looked up at her daughter with disgust but once registering that Lauren wasn't alone her disgust filled face morphed into a faux surprised look.

"Clara. " was all Lauren could fit through her lump filled throat. How could she be here? Wasn't she still stuck in Cuba? Fuck! Lauren could feel the dread race through her body landing in her shaking hands. What was she supposed to do? She hasn't seen her in years, grateful for the distance.

"Wait you guys know each other?"  Asked Demi her once calm disposition morphing to concern once she saw the fear in her daughters eyes.

"Why yes we do know each other don't we my little Lauren. I'm a close family friend of Mike her father. Or well was her father." Clara's face filling with faux empathy looking on at the struggling teen. Lauren couldn't believe she had the audacity to mention her fathers beloved name. She has nerve.

Clara knew she wouldn't say anything though. Lauren never does.

"Um.... yeah we uh know um each other. Uh I've gotta run to the bathroom." Lauren rushed pass the group finding the nearest bathroom. Her lungs were failing her, gasping for air that didn't seem to come. Her hands were shaking or had they been shaking the whole time? Lauren could see spots in her vision but couldn't seem to calm herself down.

Leaning over the sink Lauren tried to breathe, but no matter how much she tried it didn't seem to work. Getting upset, Lauren all of a sudden threw her tiny fist out and punched the mirror with all that she had in her. The pain didn't register in her mind just yet.

"Fuck!" She screamed, mental pain coursing through her body. How is she still letting her get to her? Sliding down the wall Lauren curled into herself and let the heart wrenching sobs envelope her.

"Lauren? Are you ok?" Came a voice from behind the door. The voice sounded like it belonged to Dinah. And it did. She couldn't give Lauren space. She knew something was terribly wrong. She could feel it deep in her heart. And she was right. And Dinah didn't want to be. She wasn't prepared for the sight she was about to witness.

"Lauren, honey I'm coming in ok? I need to make sure you're ok." Dinah slowly opened the door, her heart in her throat with bated breath. The sight was heartbreaking.

Lauren was curled into herself to make herself seem much smaller, sobs tearing through her body unwillingly as she tried to get herself to stop crying. D o you know what that's like? To hear someone try so fucking hard to not cry? Its truly the most heart breaking sound Dinah has witnessed in her whole life. There was blood seeping out of her knuckles from when she punched the now broken mirror. She truly was a mess. But such a beautiful mess though.

Dinah gasped in horror rushing over to the young girl. "Lauren! Are you ok?" She asked panicking as she tried to asses the situation. Lauren couldn't respond she was far to gone in toed to have a coherent sense of what was going on in her head. So she did what she does best and stayed silent.

Dinah picked her up, curling Lauren's body into hers and slid down the adjacent wall. Rocking Lauren seemed to help but not fast enough. Dinah seemed to remember that Justin had said that when she goes high up that she needs skin to skin contact In order to be brought back from the high she was experiencing. And god it wasn't a goo high.