Touched By You

"Anything for you Cabellos."

"What would you have done if I wasn't in Miami for the next couple of days?" Lauren chastised as she dragged the teenage delinquent towards the rental car in the parking lot. "Suspended, Sof? Really?"

"Following in your foots-s-steps-s." The younger girl scoffed, dumping her bag into the back seat before sliding into the passenger.

"Ale would kill me if he found out I didn't tell him about this, you know that, right? Why the fuck are you going around punching people anyways? That's my gig, kid." Lauren thought over her words for a moment before correcting herself. "Was my gig."

"They s-said Ca-Camila married a butch dyke." Sofi kept her eyes trained to the window as she spoke and Lauren released a soft sigh, understanding her sister-in-law's frustrations. "S-s-said you're full of sh-sh-shit for what you s-said at the march."

And so Lauren understood why Sofi did what she did but she didn't accept it to be the right choice. Very much like how she didn't consider her past actions to be the right choices. If she could go back, she'd take back every hit she ever bestowed on her unwarranted victims.

"Hitting people is exactly what I'm trying to stop from happening, Sof," The older woman glanced over at the sullen teenager. "You don't want to follow in my footsteps in that respect, kid. I was fucked up, I still am, but I need to grow from that. Be better. I don't want you to feel the same regret I feel everyday."

Sofi didn't say much after that and Lauren wasn't sure if it was because of the girl's aversion to talking or because she was too stuck in her own head to respond but either way she respected Sofi's wishes and stayed silent herself.

She did, however, take a moment to appreciate the woman the girl was growing into. Sofi looked so much like Camila and that stubbornness was certainly something Lauren was far too familiar with. She knew Sofi would make the right choices and that this was just an occasion where her buttons were pushed too far, it wouldn't happen again. And so she wouldn't tell Alejandro that she bailed his daughter out of school for the rest of the day and luckily her suspension was only for a couple of days after Lauren had sweet-talked the principal and promised him a signed album from her wife. Sofi could fake being sick or something for those couple of days and then they'd both be in the clear.

But Lauren now knew that her choices were affecting those around her and not all of it was positively. Sofi would now have to endure what her peers were saying about her family. She'd have to bite her tongue and reign in her anger. It would be difficult and Lauren hadn't even considered this when she took that stage and said what she'd said.

She should've talked to Alejandro about it, talked to Chris and Sofi and made sure they understood what would be happening from then on out.

She was glad that she had the next couple of days in Miami to do exactly that, to talk to everyone about what would be happening and make sure they were on the same page. Chris was still living at her previous home as far as she knew along with the rest of the Jauregui bunch. Ale and Sofi had moved back to Miami after Sinu had been sent back to a rehabilitation centre because Ale had wanted Sofi to get back to the friends she knew and the life she'd been most comfortable in. They both had started visiting Sinu a couple of years back but Camila refused to see her mother no matter how much the woman asked for her.

Lauren had tried her best to talk her wife into going to see her mother, knowing that a mental illness never chose its victims and Sinu was simply a slave to the pain in her mind. The green-eyed girl understood that maybe Camila would need to work to accept that and so she stopped pushing for it.

She stopped the car outside of a Starbucks and Sofi was quick to slip out, Lauren following hot on her heels as the pair made their way into the establishment. After ordering a couple of chilled coffees, the pair took a seat across from each other and Sofi finally made contact with the raven-haired woman.

"I'm sorry." She spoke softly and precisely, knowing she always struggled with her S's.

Sofi respected Lauren, she always looked up to the woman because she spoke her mind and wouldn't let anyone change it. Lauren was her own person and she was strong for it. So Sofi hated to disappoint Lauren, she hated seeing that disappointment shining in those green-eyes that had always acted as her safety blanket.

After all, Lauren had been the light that was brought back into her family after her mother was sent away.

"You got nothing to be sorry for, kid," Lauren reached across the table and gave the younger girl's hand a soft squeeze. "Just don't do it again though. No matter what you hear about me or Camila, don't give them the satisfaction of seeing you get in trouble for it. Trust me, we can handle whatever the hell they say about us, we know our truths. Don't fight our battles for us, yeah?"

Sofi nodded, sipping from her drink slowly.

"And listen," Lauren sat back in her seat. "I'm sorry I didn't warn you guys about what I was gonna do. I was really only just gonna go there for Halsey and to hear what everyone else would be saying, I never intended to take the stage yet. I'm glad I did though, I'm glad I got to speak my truth, you know? I'm just sorry that everyone I love is getting the backlash for it."

"You di-i-id the right thing." The younger girl shook her head. "You got no-no-nothing to be s-sorry for."

"You call me though, okay? If anyone gives you shit for it or if you just need to vent, call me. You know I'm always here for you, Sof." Sofi had always been the little sister Lauren had always wanted. And yes, she had Taylor but the girl refused to speak with her for reasons Lauren stopped caring to find out.

The truth was, Lauren was tired of fighting a losing battle with her own sister. Taylor didn't want to salvage their relationship, she didn't want to forgive Lauren for their parents' split and so Lauren stopped feeling bad about it. Because she realised that her parents had split for them, not because of her. Lauren did not choose their lives for them, they did that themselves.

"I'll call." Sofi smiled to her sister-in-law, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Thanks, Laur."

"Anything for you Cabellos," The green-eyed girl rolled her eyes. "You know that."

She opened her mouth to say something else but was stopped by the buzzing of her phone in her pocket and for the second time that day she was met with an unfamiliar number displayed on the screen.

With a frown and a moment of deliberating, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Cabello," The voice spoke on the other line, it was hurried and out of breath. "Listen, my name is Holly Perkins, I'm a paramedic, something's happened to your wife."

Hi, angst is back.