AFTER. (lxc version)

Chapter 32.

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I rush to Matthew's car and my phone vibrates with a text from Ally.

"2875 Cornell Rd." The text reads. I type the address into my phone navigation and pull out of the parking lot. It says I will arrive in fifteen minutes. What could be going on there that Ally could possibly need me to come there. Lauren and I aren't even on speaking terms. I hope Lauren is okay and not hurt. I couldn't make out what the crashing noise was, it sounded like something breaking. I am still as confused when I arrive at the address as I was when I left my room. Matthew has called twice but I ignore it, I need the navigation to stay on the screen and honestly, the confused look on his face when I left him there is haunting me.

"Mila, thank you for coming. I know you have company. Is Matthew with you?" Ally asks and gestures for me to come inside.

"No, she's back at the dorms. What is going on? Where is Lauren?"

"She's in the back yard. She is out of control" she sighs.

"And I am here because?" I ask as nicely as I can. What does Lauren being out of control have to do with me?

"I don't know, I know you hate her but she is drunk, completely belligerent. She showed up here and opened a bottle of her father's scotch. She drank over half the bottle! And then she started breaking things, all my mother's dishes, a glass cabinet, basically everything she could get her hands on"

"What? Why?" Lauren told me she doesn't drink.

"Her dad just told her that he and my mother are getting married" she tells me as if that explains it.

"Okay? So Lauren doesn't want them to get married?" I am still confused. Ally leads me through the large kitchen and I gasp as I take in the huge mess Lauren has made. There are broken dishes scattered across the floor and a large wooden cabinet knocked onto it's side with the glass panels missing and broken.

"No, It's a long story. Right after her dad told her they left town for the weekend. Thank god they aren't here but I think that's why Lauren came here, to confront her dad. She never comes here" she explains and opens the back door. I see a shadow sitting at a small table on the patio. Lauren.

"I don't know what you think I can do, but I will try" I tell Ally and she nods.

She leans down and puts her hand on my shoulder. "She was calling out for you" She tells me quietly and my heart stops. I walk towards Lauren and she looks up at me. Her eyes are blood shot and she's wearing a gray beanie. Her eyes go wide then darken and I want to step back. She looks almost scary under the dim patio light.

"How did you get here?" Lauren raises her voice and stands up.

"Ally.. she" I answer and wish I wouldn't have told her.

"You fucking called her?" she yells towards Ally and Ally walks back inside, ignoring Lauren.

"You leave her alone Lauren, she is worried about you" I scold her and she sits back down, gesturing for me to take a seat. I sit across from her and watch as she grabs the nearly empty bottle of dark liquor and puts it to her mouth. I watched her as she gulps it down. When she is finished the bottle slams down onto the glass of the patio table and it makes me jump. I am just glad it didn't break.

"Aww, aren't you two something. You both are so predictable. Poor Lauren is upset so you gang up on me and try to make me feel bad for breaking some shitty china" She says with a sick smirk.

"I thought you don't drink?" I ask her and cross my arms.

"I don't. Until now I guess. Don't try to patronize me, you're no better than me" she snaps and takes another swig. I can't deny that being near her, even in her drunken state, breathes life into me. I have missed the feeling Lauren gives me.