Support Systems(Laurinah)

7

Lauren P.O.V

The sun was beginning to sink behind the trees as we pulled into the drive wave. I put the car in park and let out a deep breath turning to see Dinah curled up in her seat, her head resting against the window, her hair falling over face. I took a second to just stare at her, take in her beauty with no distraction. She was breathtakingly beautiful, seeing her like this her face holding no fear, no hatred, just relaxation. It was a sight I knew I was never going to take for granted.

Without thinking I reached my hand out and gently swiped her hair and tucked it behind her ear, she to stirred at my actions but I didn't retract my hand. I let my fingertips trail back down and follow her jawline before I slowly cupped her cheek into my hand. Running my thumb over her cheek bone she finally woke up. Her eyes fluttered opened and the initial confusion of where she was beyond adorable. Her eyes finally made there way to mine and she seemed to sink into my touch. Bringing her hand up to cover mine she removed my hand, interlacing them together instead. I stared back into her eyes, they were swirling filled with so much emotion. It had dawned on me that neither of us had said a word yet. I don't think we really need to anymore. Her eyes were always able to tell me what her body didn't.

"We're home." I finally broke the silence, slightly upset that it felt like I had burst the perfect bubble we were just in, but it was ok. There would be more moments like that. I knew that it wouldn't be long before I could sit with her again in silence, letting our eyes have a conversation with a level of understanding that no one could comprehend.

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I walked out of the bathroom to see Dinah getting off the phone.

"I don't want to talk about this right now, I don't know when I'll be home.....yes I'm at Laurens......bye mom." She hung up throwing her phone on the bed and laying down on her back releasing a frustrated breath, I could feel the distress radiating off of her with another feeling I couldn't quite pinpoint, exhaustion? I rubbed my towel through my hair one last time before laying down onto my bed next to her.Wincing slightly reminding me of my injury I got while we were out. Silence once again over took us. I wanted to approach her about the phone call but I figured I could give her a second to collect her thoughts. I stared back up at the ceiling, my mind wandering as I again found myself creating things out of the random shaped that littered my popcorn ceiling.

I realized that school would be starting in two days. In two days we would be starting our last year of high school. It all felt surreal, Dinah had always planned that we would move off together and rent out a small apartment in the city within walking distance of the campus. We had created this whole fantasy about living up and escaping this town and starting new lives together.

The reality of it all finally began to settle within me though. While I would love nothing more than live out that dream with the girl I felt myself falling more for everyday, the idea seemed more and more unrealistic. I wanted to go into digital design and animation, Dinah had wanted to go into ocean biology but that was before everything hit the fan for her. I wasn't even sure if she has even thought about the future, or if shes just trying to make it day by day. Leaving tomorrows problems for tomorrow Dinah.

" My mom wants to know when I'm coming home." She had finally broken the silence. I rolled my head over so I was looking at her, taking in her angled face her eyes fixed on a single point on the ceiling. The last time Dinah spent a considerable amount of time away from home was very soon after her dad had passed. She had gotten into an argument with her mom, and ended up staying with me for a two weeks. It dawned on me that I still have yet to know the reasons behind that first argument. Dinah and her mom got into it enough to the point where it'd be uncommon for them not to be bickering. So I imagine what it was that drove her away that first time.