Sketches (Lauren/You)

Cause and Effect

It was like she was drowning. Seeing the two together, such polar opposites, yet they looked rather...happy.

The whole feeling that resulted from her seeing her ex-boyfriend and one of her high school friends together felt like that of drowning. Water filling her lungs, preventing her from screaming out (oh, how she wanted to scream out!), or else it would ruin her life. And actually yelling out to Zayn in jealousy and hurt would give the bastard a smug sense of satisfaction, she knew, and that in itself was worse than dying.

Lauren had to ignore the tug at the edges of her heart as Zayn's toned arm wrapped around Gigi's waist as the two entered the restaurant. His liquid onyx depths cut toward the green-eyed girl, as if mocking her, and he gave a smirk as he turned back to brush his lips onto the crown of the shorter girl.

He used to treat her in the same way.

Those loving glances, the slight caress of his lips against her head, the arm around her...so many things that she knew she wasn't going to get back.

Despite the hurt it caused her, she had resolved firmly in her mind that she would never, ever give the bastard another chance after what he had done to her.

"Lauren...there's something wrong..." Y/n's voice finally broke into her thoughts, ringing out like a clear bell through her mind.

Her emerald orbs flew up to meet his face, "Oh, no, Y/n. I'm fine." She closed them in a bright, albeit fake smile, as he opened the door for her to go in.

"That's good." Y/n said, although he knew she was lying through her teeth. She had just seen something that bothered her greatly. Y/n himself might have missed it, but something had caused her to go into a daze, her usually sparkling green eyes had taken a dull appearance. It made him realize that there was something underneath her kind, cheery exterior that she was hiding.

Not that he had expected her to tell him everything about what was wrong. It was none of his business, after all. They had only actually interacted with each other for a few days. And he respected her privacy by not prying too much more into the subject as to why she was so shaken up by whatever the hell she had seen.

Those thoughts were dissolved by a woman coming up to them. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and her chocolate brown orbs immediately softened once she saw Lauren standing there with a man she didn't recognize, "Hey, Lauren, it's been a while since we saw you here." She said in a friendly manner, giving her a toothy grin.

"Yes, it has, Ally!" Lauren said, giving the woman a smile. Unlike the one before, this one did not seem forced and fake. "Hopefully your food has gotten good." She said playfully.

"Oh, better than it was before." Ally said, giving her a confident, friendly wink in reassurance. "Since I came into the picture, of course..."

Lauren smiled, "Knowing you, you probably bossed everyone into submission."

Ally lightly tapped the crown of the dark haired girl's head with her fist, "I could just skip out on giving you and your..." She paused for a moment, taking in Y/n's appearance with a renewed smile, "...friend a table."

"Aw, now that wouldn't be good, Ally. You know I am one of your best customers." Lauren said with a chuckle.

"Oh, best customer as in to not show around here for a two week period." The sandy blonde quirked an eyebrow whilst smirking, looking at her with a friendliness that Y/n admired, for he had no really close friends other than his girlfriend, and a couple of other choice people.

"Ah, you know I have work at my restaurant. Waitressing..." Lauren returned the wink Ally gave her just a few moments before.

"Yes, yes, excuses, excuses..." Ally clapped a hand on each of the twosome's shoulders and showed Lauren and Y/n to a table. A beautiful, scenic one beside the window, overlooking the street and the bustling city. Once the two were seated, the blonde took out her order book and a pen and asked, "What would you like to drink?"