Shades of Blue.

Chapter Twelve.

The very first time Lauren knew she was in love with Normani, was the very first day she ever saw her. Lauren's friend had been friends with Normani's boyfriend and he had convinced Lauren to go out and hang out with him and his friends. Lauren didn't want to go, but she had been having sex with him for three months without ever being seen in public with him.

He said she made him feel cheap and she felt kinda bad about it. So when he suggested hanging out with his friends, she thought: why not?

Normani was the one who opened the door for them when they got there, "Quince, your annoying friend is here," she had yelled, then looked at Lauren for a moment, "and he brought company."

Somewhere between her opening the door and by the time the night was over, Lauren fell in love with her. Normani's eyes were warm and inviting and when she smiled at Lauren, she smiled with all of her. She listened when Lauren spoke and whenever she touched her, Lauren could swear she felt her skin burn.

Loving Normani was as easy as it was hard. Loving Normani was nights spent dancing to songs Lauren felt more than she heard. It was kisses under the rain and kisses at the edge of swimming pools in strange houses and stolen glances and smiles given freely. Loving her was- it was nights spent telling each other secrets and days spent mapping out each others skin. It was overwhelming and a little too much and not nearly enough all at the same time.

Loving Normani was also watching her kiss someone else. Watching her sit on someone else's lap and tasting someone else on her tongue. It was nights spent fighting and yelling and Lauren telling her to leave and never come back, only for her to show up a day or two later with apologies on her lips and tears in her eyes. Loving Normani meant forgiving, over and over again. It meant trying to ignore hickeys on her skin and begging her to leave her boyfriend.

Begging and begging and fucking begging.

Loving Normani meant almost giving up because it was almost too much. Crying and yelling every single day wasn't healthy. It just wasn't. It was her showing up at Lauren's door with her suitcases in hand, "I broke up with him. I'm yours now. All yours."

And it was all Lauren ever needed to hear.

.....

Lauren loves loudly. She loves with pet names and gifts and random dinner dates. She loves as openly as she possibly can and so hard that sometimes it feels like a little too much. She loves with everything she has. Wears her heart on her sleeve although she knows it could be broken at any given moment.

Normani- Normani loves quietly. She loves with cuddles and morning kisses. She loves with the way she touches and the different smiles she gives. She loves in a 'blink and you'll miss it' kind of way. She keeps her heart hidden and rarely lets anyone touch it. She's not one for big gestures. She prefers the small meaningful kind.

That's why  Lauren is surprised when she comes home one Friday evening to find their house in order and only lit by candles and Normani standing in her red dress, the one she knows Lauren loves.

"Hi." Her voice comes out quiet, like she's afraid she'll break the magic if she's too loud.

Normani's lips quirk in a small tiny smile, "hey." She whispers back, "you were supposed to be home five minutes ago."

Lauren chuckles and shrugs, "my uber driver was being a little shit. Sorry I kept you waiting."

"It's okay." Normani moves to the table and picks a bunch of flowers, "these are for you."  Her voice is small and her eyes are vulnerable and Lauren's heart is feeling so many things at once that it makes her hands shake.