Stranded

#21

"Jesus... is that Dinah?" Hailee places the planks of wood down on the ground and looks at Luna who was over in the corner listening.

"Oh no... that's not good."

They heard Dinah loud and clear for they weren't too far away from the stairs and that the holes in the walls were somewhat easy for them to listen to. They knew about the little incident that happened a couple nights ago at a bar they went to, Camila and Lauren opting out for they were taking care of their daughters, and Dinah had been somewhat off ever since. Normani had been pushed to the ground before she could take a hit at the man, but Dinah had stepped in and beat the man to the ground breaking his nose. Dinah had always been protective over her friends, but what scared them was the fact that the man was drunk and he didn't mean to push Normani. It was wrong, but he didn't force himself on her. But that sent Dinah into a frenzy, causing concern among the three of them. And they were afraid that Dinah was lashing out on someone downstairs. Stumbling down the stairs, they came across Dinah being held back by Normani, and Lauren was huddled against the wall, Camila had her hands on her face. They were lucky that Dinah didn't do any significant damage to Lauren, from what they could tell, and they stood there not knowing what to do.

"Luna... Hailee, take Lauren outside please." Camila said in a serious tone and definitely they wouldn't want to argue when Camila was in an angry mood. Dinah was in for a lot of trouble.

They didn't wait a second longer and they helped Lauren up and out the door, not sparing a glance back at the rest of the group. Lauren was completely shaken up by Dinah, well that's what they assumed for Dinah was crying and Lauren was in a pure shock and meltdown. Never had they seen something like that before. Knowing Lauren and Dinah, Dinah would never hurt her Friends, but after Camila told them what happened, how she tried to pull Dinah away from Lauren, who held a strong grip on Lauren's neck, not choking her but slamming her against the wall, that ticked Lauren off. Luna took the position beside Lauren's right hand and started talking to her, rubbing her back, softly cooing and coaxing Lauren to come back while Camila left to enter the living area to deal with Dinah.

Hailee kneeled down in front of Lauren, rubbing soft circles into her knees, telling her everything was going to be okay.

Their friend had been so much better, dealing with memories, her traumas, after seeing a therapist weekly, but today, something ticked and I thrown her way back from the progress made. Lauren had covered her ears, her head facing down towards the ground, and she shook in fear. Perhaps when Lauren and Normani were playing, Dinah's sudden outburst had triggered a haunting memory for Lauren, making her spiral down into the depths of those who hurt her, and Luna, along with Hailee felt helpless. They were thankful that Jasmine and Lily were back on the boat with a babysitter for the day to avoid seeing their mother like this, for they didn't know what her capabilities were and with the two of them not around, it was easier.

"Lauren honey... it's okay... your safe with us. You got to come back now." Luna speaks softly, caressing her arms and her back, looking to Hailee for help when Camila exits the house with anger written in her expression.

"I don't know what to do Camila... it's like she's not even listening." Hailee whispers and Camila sighs.

"Lauren... please my love... come back. Don't disappear in there baby. I need you to focus on Hailee. She's scared, so is Luna. Jasmine and Lily will be scared too if you don't come back baby. Please come back to me my love."

"I know... its... it's not her fault..." Lauren repeated the words like a broken record, and the three woman realised that Lauren doesn't blame Dinah at all.

"Lauren... Dinah pushed you against a wall Lauren... some of it is her fault for hurting you. Yes... she didn't mean it but..."

"I said no. It's not her fault... she's not the monster..." Lauren's sudden outburst scared them, "I am."