The Mystery That Is Lauren Jauregui - A Camren Fanfic-

3 - Private Circumstances

Lauren learned what being gay was at the age of nine, when her father explained that the next door neighbours were faggots and that they were disgusting people because of that. Lauren learned that she herself wasn't gay, when she was sixteen, and fell in love with Aiden Pierce.

She discovered she wasn't straight either, when realising that she liked girls as well, at the age of eighteen.

"Are you sure you're okay. You don't really look-"

"Thanks." Lauren mumbled before she jumped off the counter and made her way to the coffee machine with a sponge in her hand, ready to clean it, again. It was Sunday and Sundays at work were always boring, even with Normani there. And this Sunday was even worse, because Normani was asking loads of questions and was acting weird. Lauren didn't like it.

"I- I didn't mean it like that.." Normani sighed, following her tired looking colleague to the other side of the little cafe and laid a hand on her shoulder. Lauren flinched. "I'm just.. worried about you Lauren." She said, her voice softer than before.

Lauren scanned the cafe for any customers to run to, but is was empty, there was no way she was going to talk herself around this subject. "I'm fine." She shrugged, feeling how Normani let go of her shoulder then, but kept staring at her.

"Are you s-"

"Mani.." Lauren sighed, turning around to face the other girl, who wore a troubled expression on her face. "I'm telling you, I'm fine."

Normani scanned the cafe with her eyes before taking a deep breath. "Okay, why do you have like three bruises on your neck and a huge one on your arm?"

Lauren tried her best not to act surprised when finding out her colleague had noticed the bruises that Aiden had created after they left Normani's party two nights ago. "W-what?" The green eyed girl stuttered. "Oh yeah I'm clumsy and those are hickeys, you saw how Aiden was-"

"Yeah, I saw how Aiden was acting and those are not hickeys." She points at two bruises next to one another on the skin of Lauren's neck. "That's a hickey," She pointed at the light-purple spot on the other side of her neck. "But those ain't." She stared at the dark spots on Lauren's pale skin, she saw what they were, marks of his fingers. Lauren quickly turned around, sponge squeezed in her hand tightly.

"Lauren, is he hurting you?" Normani asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

The bell rang, indicating someone had walked into the little cafe, both girls turned their heads towards the door. "Well, well, well, if it isn't my girl in her sexy little work-outfit." Aiden spoke up sarcastically as he walked through the door, his two friends right behind him, wearing their red varsity jackets of course.

"H-hey babe." Lauren said, walking over to the counter to give her boyfriend a kiss. He however, turned his head away last minute and pointed at the sign above Lauren's head. "An Irish coffee for me please."

Lauren's eyebrows furrowed as she's still kinda leaning in but steps back. "It's not even noon yet." She said, to which Aiden's blue eyes stared into hers and he shrugged. "Does it matter?" He asked.

Lauren shrugged, feeling Normani's eyes burning on her back. "Are you staying or do you want it to go?" Lauren asked, acting normal.

"To go." He said before turning around to his mates. "Want anything?"

"A hot coco please." Dylan said while Rick only shrugged and sat down at one of the tables in the empty cafe.

"Hi Normani, by the way. Great party you threw Friday." Aiden said, spinning around and pointing at Lauren's colleague, who awkwardly smiled at him before grabbing the sponge that Lauren had been using and walked off to the back of the cafe without saying another word.

Lauren made the boys their orders and they left without really saying goodbye to her, which stung, since she really just wanted to be acknowledged by her boyfriend.