Don't Let Her Fall Apart

Three

Going to pick up Lauren the next day the tears in her eyes didn't go unnoticed by me and made me worry about what happened when she went home last night. "LoLo are you ok?" I asked as I walked over to her.

Looking down at her feet she shakes her head. "Nope when I came home last night I was locked out for two hours until they decided to finally open the door and let me in." She mumbles. "They said that it was my punishment for embarrassing them in front of your parents." Sighing softly I pulled her in for a tight hug as I let her cry on my shoulders. I should have fought hard to make sure that she'd never have to come home. She deserves so much better than parents who treat her horribly.

Driving to school Lauren gently played with my fingers as she looked out the window. "Do you have any plans after school?" She asked softly. I shook my head. "Nope. As far as I know I'm free." I told her. She looks at me. "Let's take a ride. Let's go to the beach after school today. Let's get away from here for just a little while." She says. I thought about it and I knew I could use a break from studying nonstop. "Ok." I agreed. Lauren smiled "great."

Sitting in class I was working on one of the papers I needed for one of my class when Brad came up to. "You better stay away from my girlfriend or I'll hurt you." He threatens. I chuckled "I'm sure you will Brad." I said. "I'm sure you will."

His eyes hardened as he glared down at me. "I mean it Hansen stay away from Lucy or I'll get the boys to do what they did to Lauren to do to you." He spits. I rolled my eyes as I stood up. "Brad I'm not scared of you. I'll never be scared of you so you can save your threatening words because the mean nothing to me." I said. "Goodbye Brad."

Walking to class Lauren slowly made her way next to me as she looks at me. "How come you never let anything anyone says bother you?" She asked. I shrugged "I don't know. I mean I've always been pretty calm when people tried to fight me that it just became my way of fighting back. My parents always told me to never show fear to people who think they can scare me." I told her.

"Can you teach me that?" She asked.

I nodded "yeah but why?" Lauren frowns "because I'm sick of people seeing me as this weak girl. I'm tried of being picked on by Lucy and Brad and them thinking they can get away with it." She says. "You just have to ignore their words because everything they tell you isn't true. Their words can't hurt if you don't listen to them." I told her. Lauren thought about it and nodded "yeah you're right Dinah."

-

The drive to the beach was very peaceful and nice as Lauren sang to the radio next to me and I loved it. I loved spending time with her because she has made me happier than I have been in a while. I know things aren't perfect but it's still nice to have a friend around.

"You know we have no swim suits right?" Lauren asked.

I shrugged "let's just swim in our underwear. It's almost the same thing." I said as I took off my shirt. She giggled but agreed as she took off her shirt as well before we ran towards the beach and got into the water. Going under we swam farther away until we were away from the shore.

Looking at me Lauren smiled before pulling me in for a hug. "Thank you for being here for me. I really appreciate it DJ." She says. I smiled a little as I hugged her back. "You're welcome Lo." I whispered softly. Pulling away she looked deep into my eyes and before I could react to anything she gently pressed her lips to mind in a soft kiss.