Trouble

SEVEN

SEVEN

I woke up tucked into bed with Wes standing over me. "What time is it?" I asked as I tried to clear my head.

"Eleven," Wes told me.

I remembered why I was there. "Is Lauren okay?"

"She's fine."

"Fine? Wes, I know you're good, but-"

"She's all healed up now. Don't worry about her. How are you feeling?"

"Better. I'm starving, though."

"I figured you would be. I made breakfast. Come on out."

He left and I hit the bathroom to make myself slightly more presentable. My clothes were wrinkled, but I used some mouthwash to chase away morning breath and I brushed my hair. I headed out and saw Eddie had joined us. He was whispering to Lauren who looked exhausted but miraculously healed. Wes must have called in a healer because there was no way normal medicine fixed her up that quickly.

"You okay?" I asked her.

She looked at me and for what may have been the first time ever, she let her guard down completely. Her thoughts flooded my mind, too crazed to make any sense. She flung her arms around me.

"Thank you," she said. She was crying. I had never seen Lauren cry before. "If you hadn't come for me, I'd be dead..."

"No big," I said.

"Liar." She sounded more like herself as she pulled herself together. "You nearly burnt yourself out."

"I'm okay. I just needed to sleep it off."

"You risked your life for me."

"That's what I do. I'm okay, Lauren, really."

"I... I trusted that little shit..."

Lauren was herself again. I might have laughed, except I knew how she felt. "I know. We all did. It might not be his fault. They killed Frankie. They left him vulnerable, and I guess he wasn't strong enough to resist on his own."

"When we save his dumb ass- and we will- I'm going to kill him."

"That might defeat the purpose of saving him."

"I'm entitled to my rage."

"I never said you weren't."

We both shut up as food was placed in front of us. I immediately began stuffing my face. To my surprise, so did Lauren. I'd never seen a Beautiful Person shovel food down her throat that fast. Hell, Lauren barely ate at all. I looked at Eddie.

"She's hungry," Eddie supplied helpfully.

"Really? I thought she was just practicing for the Nathan's hotdog eating contest," I said. "She could give the champion a run for his money."

"Shut up, Asshole," Lauren snapped at me. "Last night took a lot out of me, alright?"

"Hey, it's not a criticism. It's nice to see you aren't anorexic."

My phone began to ring and I saw Emily's number. I immediately picked up. "Em, I'm okay," I said. "I'm sorry I didn't call. I overdid it and blacked out. I'm at Wes's place."

"Thank God..." Emily sighed in relief. "Is Lauren okay?"

"Yeah, I got her out... I have bad news, though... Carlos ate the cookies and joined the darkside."

Emily cursed. "He's grieving. He doesn't know what he's doing."

"I know. He's my next project."