House of Moonlight (Halren)

four- "She should keep me close."

It's strange.

Halsey decides it's very strange.

Strange the way doctors acted at the facility.

Strange the way her fellow 'inmates' (as she liked to call them) eyed her warily.

Strange that her two friends never pushed to know her reason for being there.

Halsey just felt...strange.

But not strange in that way where she felt out of place, that had become a norm to her. Feeling excluded and being an introvert had become what she was accustomed to.

Extroversion had suddenly entered her life and she was finding it to be a menace.

Suddenly she had Camila inviting her to find cool books in the small library or Dinah doing her nails. Camila was attempting to teach her Spanish and Dinah was keeping her in the loop with the latest celebrity gossip, not that she had a particular interest in it, but it was nice that Dinah treated her like a normal person.

Halsey always liked being by her lonesome, it left her heart clear of any complications and unwarranted concerns, but now...now when she saw Camila's eyes go darker than usual, she wanted to soothe the girl's inner demons.

Now, when Dinah's eyes lingered on the kitchen too long, Halsey tried to distract her from temptation with poorly constructed jokes and a false sense of confidence that only Dinah could elicit from her.

Now...now Halsey cared.

Hence why her sudden lean towards being an extrovert was a menace.

The good thing about the pair, however, were that they knew just about everyone in the facility. Camila was pretty much a celebrity in the place, she greeted everyone with a smile and even went as far as hugs. Halsey almost cringed at the very sight. Who hugged people they barely spoke to? Camila. Camila did.

Dinah was a bit more...particular about who she said hi to and Halsey could respect that. The main person, aside from herself and Camila, Halsey noticed Dinah talking to had been Keana.

Keana was...entirely too pretty, Halsey decided. She had an innocence around her that left everyone feeling just a little protective over her even if they barely knew the girl. She was a selective mute, never spoke more than perhaps two words every two days, but she spoke in gestures and kind smiles and Halsey tried to find that weird but she simply couldn't. Keana was nice and untainted by happenings in the centre.

Keana hung out with Lucy, their relationship was borderline romantic but Halsey had yet to see them overstep that boundary and from what she'd been told from Dinah, they weren't planning to either. Lucy was protective of the light-haired girl and in turn, Keana offered Lucy her wholehearted trust.

Halsey never had that.

That unwavering trust in someone.

Every now and then Halsey would spot the duo with another girl, but her head was always down in their company and never could the blue-haired girl quite pinpoint the raven-haired girl's facial features.

And sure, she was curious, but not curious enough to fully investigate. She just...kind of wished she knew what the girl looked like. It was that simple. But more of the time she let it slide.

Until she couldn't anymore.

"Whose the girl with Keana and Luce?" Halsey nodded over to the three girls chatting amongst themselves. Or more so...Lauren and Lucy were kind of talking whilst Keana was stuck to Lucy's side.

"Oh," Dinah's eyes widened for a moment, a little apprehensive about this gossip but figured Halsey couldn't do any harm. "That's Lauren. Lauren Jauregui. She's...."