Shortcake - A Richpez Story

Chapter 7

Lauren's POV

Everything around me seems dull and suffocating. Except for Joey. Joey is here helping me through it all, helping me just breathe. I can't believe I told him. I can't believe I actually said anything about what was going on. I'm so stupid for saying anything.

The walls I've put around myself are crumbling, layers that I've covered myself in are dissapearing, along with my facade. Everything's coming down, the truth is coming out, and I'm in the middle of it. I've what has caused all of this drama, all of this mess. The mess that is my life. I used to be okay with my messy life because I'd had my friends there with me. Now I'm alone.

Joey's POV

"Lauren," I say after a long silence, plate of eggs in hand.

She looks up.

"You're not alone. You don't have to keep your pain inside."

She offers me a small smile.

I put a small plate of food in front of her, and settle down on the floor, back against the couch, with a plate for myself. I put on a Disney movie and let it play softly in the background, watching Lauren cut up her food into tiny pieces.

"Lo, you should eat," I say softly. She nods her head.

I see her struggle to put the small piece of food up to her lips. Eventually she takes a bite, but chews more than nessacary.

I sigh deeply, and open my mouth to talk once more. "We should talk about what happened. We need to find someone to help you."

"Help me?" Lauren looks alarmed. "W-what do you mean by 'help' I don't need help Joey I'm fine I got out of that situation and everything's gonna be fine." She pauses to breathe. "Im fine now."

I look at the dark circles under her eyes, her shaky hands, listen to the hysteria creeping up in her voice, panic tangling her thoughts. Her eyes are filled with alarm and are red because of the lack of sleep.

"How long has it been since you've slept?" I meant to ask that in my head, but when Lauren answers me with a shrug, I realize I must've said it aloud.

"You look tired, you should get some sleep," I say, earning me another shrug. "Hey, I miss the old you. When can I get my Lauren back?" I nudge her shoulder with mine. This makes a smile emerge on her frail - looking face.

"C'mon, to the bedroom!" I exclaim, jumping up and grabbing her hand.

She giggles as I drag her to my bedroom.

"JoJo I can sleep on the couch," Lauren protests.

"Pfft, what kind of gentleman would I be then?" I ask, raising my eyebrow.

"Hah, who said you were a gentleman?" She scoffs. "You're my best friend."

I hold my hand to my heart and fake cry. "My heart! It's breaking!"

This sends us both into a fit of laughter and giggles, and for a moment, nothing has changed. We're still the same people we were a year ago. Then reality hits, and Lauren yawns.

"Yeah, okay, time for bed," I say, even though it's only one.

She rolls her eyes. "Joey."

"C'mon Lo, you know you need to sleep," I murmur.

This time she lets out a sigh. "I know. I guess five hours of sleep in a few days doesn't cut it, huh?"

"What?" I yelp. "Lauren!"

"Hey, it's not like everyone slept a full seven or eight hours in college!" Lauren says defensively.

"We're not in college! Lo, you gotta take care of yourself!" I exclaim, exasperated.

"Well...I spent a lot of nights with Will and I didn't like sleeping there, so I just waited there for a while until Will fell asleep so I could get outta there," she explains. "But Will stays up late a lot so by the time I left it was already morning and so...I didn't get a lot of sleep." She shrugs once more.

"Why didn't you sleep there?" I ask, worry creeping up in my voice.

She looks down, suddenly embarrassed. "You can't laugh, okay?"

I put one hand behind my back and the other on my heart. "Swear on my life, Miss Lopez."

"Well, I have this fear of bed bugs...and I can't really sleep if I don't check..." She trails off.

Relief floods my body, as I was preparing for the worst. "Aw, Lo, would you like me to check before you sleep?"

She looks up at me, now bashful. "Yes, please."

I do, despite knowing that I do not, in fact, have bedbugs. I let her watch me, give her a thumbs up, and let her sleep. Except for the fact that when I go to check on her thirty minutes later she sits on the bed, back pressed up against the wall, hugging herself.

She jumps when I knock on the door. I'm about to ask if she's ok, when she blurts out "c-can I just sleep on the couch?"

"Yeah, Lo, of course," I reply.

She sighs, visibly releived. "Thank you."

We go over to the couch and she finally seems to settle. I can her fighting sleep, her eyes fluttering slider and then snapping open. Meanwhile, I try and do everything to stay quiet and still while the movie from earlier plays softly in the background.

I'm in the middle of texting Jaime when I feel Lauren slump over onto me, head resting on my shoulder. I move it ever so carefully to my lap, and pull the blanket off the back of the couch and lay it over her. As I do, I notice something on her wrist. A red line, going from the left side to the right. A cut. I reach over and, inch by inch, pull her sleeve up furthur. More cuts, and a lot of them.

Holy shit.

Lauren did this to herself. How could she do this to herself? I roll her sleeve back down. At this point, Jon and Rob come back, quietly, thank god.

They notice Lauren sleeping on the couch, on my lap, and nod a hello to me to avoid talking. They descend into Robs's room, as I only had two bedrooms and Jon usually slept in the living room.

I, on the other hand, decided to stay in the same spot until Lauren woke up. Which turned out to be a difficult task as Lauren seemed to want to sleep the day away. I couldn't blame her, though, for the little amount she'd been sleeping this week. Eventually, sleep took over my body, too, and without thinking, laid down and wrapped my arms around Lauren to keep her from falling off the couch. Her skin seemed to be burning, as if on fire. It alarmed me, but before I could think about it, sleep consumed me.

A/N: I. Am. So. Sorry! I know it's only been a week or so, but I haven't posted anything but random crap. I've just had a lot to do and haven't been able to write. Unfortunately, it will probably be the same over Thanksgiving break because I have things to work on. So sorry about that. I'll try and post as much as I can, but I don't know how much I'll end up doing. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, bye!

Word count: 1238