Framed

Fourteen, Part Two.

They find Harry hidden in the bushes outside of the science building, trembling, desperately trying to turn on his phone so he can tell somebody that he's still alive. 

Louis and Harry both break into tears when they're reunited, gripping the back of each other's shirts in their embrace, whispering the things they had been wishing they had said before they were separated. They don't break the hug until long after Lauren looked away from the reunion, focusing on the nearest police officer that wasn't aiming at her with a death glare. 

"Lucy?"

The officer, a Hispanic woman with highlights tucked under her police cap, gives Lauren a look that seems something like pity. She gives the pale teen a slow shake of her head. 

"No luck yet, kid."

"Thanks." Lauren has stopped trying to hide the hollow in her voice by now. 

Zayn is sitting next to her now, sipping on his thermos of water, watching the chaos die down. He stays with her until he sees Camila approach, and then moves aside to give her his seat.

"You sure, Zayn?" Camila asks, voice quieter than usual. The tattooed boy nods, and leaves the area, heading over to Harry and Louis. 

"Hey," Lauren says morosely when she sees Camila sit. 

"Hey."

"I'm so glad you're safe." Lauren says at first. "I didn't get to see you until now, and since you were with Louis I didn't want to bother you." 

"You wouldn't have been bothering me, Lolo." Camila says, voice hushed as well. "I wanted to see you. I just wasn't sure I was able to."

"Because of the cops, and the circumstances that I was found." Lauren assumes, closing her eyes slowly as Camila nods. 

Rest. All she wants is some rest. 

"I shouldn't be putting you through this." Lauren lulls her head back, lets it rest on the back of the chair, just trying to ignore all the stimuli going on, with officers rushing in and out of the school gates, students waiting in silence and fear, with occasional whispering. The short taps on the shoulder and turning to an officer who says solemnly, "Can we ask you a few questions?" knowing all the well that you have no choice or say in the matter. 

It's a hopeless feeling, being so helpless. 

"It would have happened anyways," Camila replied, staring at Lauren until she opened her eyes. "And a good person - friend or girlfriend - wouldn't leave you alone when you need the help of others most."

Something was different, and it wasn't the lack of light gleaming in Camila's eyes. She was starting to look at Lauren like everyone else did. So she closed her eyes again. 

"What were you doing while I was gone?" Lauren asked, innocently enough, trying to imbue lightheartedness into her voice. 

"I went to lunch, talked to Taylor. Cameron was killed while we were talking, and they found us in a supply closet."

"At least you were hidden." Lauren mentions, trying to look on the bright side of things, and failing miserably. 

"I want to talk to you about something...once we're out of here." Camila says, some nervousness ringing through in her voice. "I don't want to discuss it here, but I think we need to talk about it."

"Yeah. Anything, Camz." Lauren's eyes stay closed, not wanting to look at Camila when something between them was obviously there. Yet, she was right. Despite the agony of a waiting game, Lauren knew now was not the time to talk seriously. 

What had happened between the past few hours where she had seen Camila? Lauren mulled over the options, because she couldn't sleep like this, surrounded by noise. She wouldn't be able to doze off, no matter how long she closed her eyes. 

She could have just had enough. The crimminal investigation process - at least the one she looked up on Wikipedia - was long and grueling just to read. To churn herself through that system and come out aquitted would be even longer. It was exhausting just to witness, and maybe Camila wanted to get out of it while she could. Lauren wouldn't blame her, since she was mainly out of the picture as a suspect. 

Camila could have heard something. Lauren had gotten somewhat used to the whispers that surrounded her name now, like the vapors that people smoke out of a cigarette. With cigarettes came smoke, and with Lauren's name came whispers. It was a cycle of its own by now. 

It was something she had to cast out of her mind for now, because she heard footsteps, a group of them, heading in her direction. They were adults, boots pounding on the concrete. 

Lauren forces her eyes to open, and the sight in front of her doesn't surprise her. Policemen. She takes the time to look each one of them in the eye, letting them know that she's there, and she's watching them just as much as they're watching her. 

"Don't ask me about Lucy, I already told you that I didn't know where she is." Lauren mumbles aloud, loosely glancing at the officers, who keep coming forward. 

"That's not what we're here to ask you about." the officer in front says. He is wire thin, with a blonde mustache and equally fake platinum hair. He's lowering his voice on purpose to try to seem intimidating, and Lauren can see through it. "We checked some of the fingerprints that were on the two bodies. Apparently, both of them died via poisoning. We found that this chemical induced a heart attack into whoever was injected with said chemical. But the chemical is not what we're here to ask you about."

"Then what is it?" Lauren asked, already rendered impatient from her last conversation with Camila.

"The boy who initially died on campus was the only person you know whose name was Austin Mahone?"

"Yes...but what does this have to do with the deaths of Cameron and Dua?"

"His fingerprints were the ones we found on both of their bodies."