Page 48 of Fighting for the Forbidden
“Lauren, please. Just hear me out.”
“Not now.”
“Please,” he begs.
“Not. Now.” Lauren spits, and Joe has no choice but to back away. “Are you okay?” she asks, turning her concerned eyes on me.
“Me? Yeah, I’m fine. Are you?” She shrugs before leading me back inside. “You really need to talk to him.” I know she probably doesn’t want to hear it, but I can’t stop the words falling from my mouth. Why I’m defending the fucker is beyond me, but I truly believe he does care, and if he’s done as good a job as I think he has of looking after her for the last few years then he deserves to be heard.
Mum’s stood in the hallway waiting to see what’s going on, concern written all over her face. “Just do what feels right,” she says to Lauren with a small smile before heading up the stairs.
“Let’s go.” Turning, she locks her eyes on mine.
“You sure?”
“Yes. Now take me away, Ben.”
“Fine, you’re driving.”
“Just point me in the right direction.”
* * *
“We’re going to Devon,aren’t we?” she asks the second we’re on the motorway heading out of the city.
“Is that okay?”
“Stop questioning everything,” she says with a chuckle. “I told you I didn’t care where we went, and I meant it.”
“I just want to make you happy.”
“This is making me happy.” She might not say that I’m the one making her happy in so many words, but hope explodes within me nonetheless. “I’m looking forward to meeting your friends properly.”
The journey is fairly quiet, and I allow Lauren the time she needs to process everything that’s whizzing around her head. It’s late afternoon when I direct her to pull up on the driveway of Dec’s house.
“Whoa, when you said you looked out on the beach, I wasn’t quite expecting this. It’s incredible.”
“Dec was really lucky to get this place.”
“I can’t believe you wanted to leave in favour of London.”
“It wasn’t the place that was calling me back.” She turns the engine off and shifts in her seat so she can look at me. “My home is wherever you are.” Her breath catches and her eyes soften. I expect her to say something, but after a few seconds, she just smiles. “Are you ready? This lot can be a little crazy.”
“Worse than those we left behind?”
“No, probably not,” I admit with a laugh, thinking of Erica and a few of the others.
“Holy shit, Ben!” Liv cries the second I step foot into the living room. She jumps up and runs towards me. She’s just about to collide with me when she takes in the cast. By some miracle, she manages to stop before she hits me and gently wraps her arms around my waist. “What’s happened? Are you okay? What’s going on with Lauren?” She fires the questions out without giving me a chance to answer any of them.
“Nothing, she’s right here,” Lauren says from behind me, causing Liv’s eyes to go so wide I’m worried they might pop out.
“Oh my god!” Liv turns her attention to Lauren and gives her the overenthusiastic hug I was almost about to get. “Can I get you drinks?”
“Sure.”
We follow Liv through to the kitchen. I can see Lauren looking around at everything out of the corner of my eye. It feels weird being back here, and even weirder having her with me. I never thought I’d ever have my two worlds become one, but it seems that it might just be happening.
Liv puts the kettle and coffee machine on and then turns her attention to us. “So are you two…”
