Chapter 30

I was woken by the sound of a phone ringing. The sunlight immediately met my eyes making me close them again. "What?" I heard Cody mumble. "Oh shit!" He sat up quickly. I sat up too and rubbed my eyes. "Yeah, I'm with her. Tell him she'll be home in ten minutes." He said before hanging up.

"Nooo." I refused. "Come on, you gotta go face it." "But you're going to come into the house, yeah? You'll come be with me." "I'm gonna be right by your side whenever you need me all the way through this and that's a promise that I plan on keeping." He said as we climbed down the tree. "That'll be a first." "Oi!" Cody slapped my butt. I giggled and started running towards the car.

"Deep breaths." Cody prepared me. We were sat in the car outside the house. "I don't think I can do this." I stared at the front door. "Do it for Lil. You just gotta stay calm and keep a smile on your face so she knows everything's going to be okay. And then you can feel whatever you wanna feel with me." "You're coming inside, right?" "If you want me to." "Mhm." I nodded and got out of the car.

I took his hand and walked into the house. "Thank God you're safe!" Mom came and hugged me. I refused to let go of Cody's hand. "You can let go." He laughed a little. I shook my head and stood close to him. "Come outside." Mom walked into the living room. We followed her and went out the back door.

"Have you told her yet?" I watched Trey pushing Lilly on the swing. "No, not yet." Dad said. "Codes, I have some things in my trunk. Wanna come help me?" Cara stood up. "Good idea. I'd love to." "No!" I caught Cody before he could move. "I'm going to be right inside. It's okay." He held my face in his hands. "I promise." Cody kissed my forehead.

I watched Cody and Cara walk inside and then turned back around. "Lil, come sit down. We need to talk to you." Mom called her. Lilly and Trey came up to the table and we all sat down. I sat on Trey's lap and made him wrap his arms around me.

"Are we going out somewhere?" Lilly asked. Her naivety in itself made me want to start crying. "No, Lilly. We have something serious to talk to you about." Mom said. Lilly instantly looked at Trey and I. I had to look away from her straight away. Mom and Dad explained to Lilly what's going on, she sat in tears from the word go.

"I'm so sorry, baby." Dad held his arms out for her. Lilly jumped off her seat and fell into his arms. "I'm sorry but I can't stay here." I got up. Trey caught my wrist. "No, Trey. Let go." I pulled my hand free and went inside. I went to the kitchen and let Cody pick me up. I hid my face in his neck and he rubbed my back after placing me on the counter.

"I'm sorry, Lon." Cara rubbed my arm. I didn't say anything because I was crying too much. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. I thought we'd spoken about this?" Cody pulled me away from his body and held my face in his hands so he could see me. "She was so happy and it all changed within seconds. Her whole face just dropped, Cody. You should of seen it, it was awful." "I know, I know." He kissed my nose.

"I don't wanna be here. I wanna go home." "This is your home, Lauren." "I wanna go to your house." I pushed him away and jumped off the counter. "Lauren, you can't run from this. You have to stay here." "I don't like it here." "Well you're staying and that's that." "Fine. I'll walk." I left the room.

As I opened the front door, Cody's hand pushed it closed. "Just stay for a little bit." Cody whispered as I turned to face him. "I don't feel comfortable here." "Please, baby." He said. I moved my face closer to his and pressed my lips against his. "So will you stay?" Cody asked barely breaking our lips apart.

I sighed and nodded. "You wanna go to your bedroom?" "Yes." I said and ran upstairs. Cody laughed as he closed the door behind him. There was a knock on the door after a few minutes and Trey came into the room.

"I need to talk to you." He sat on the dresser. "Okay.." "Mom and Dad have spoken about Lilly and where she's going to live." "And..?" "Dad's moving out so they decided that Lilly will stay here with Mom." "She'll still see Dad though?!" I panicked. "All the time! He's not moving far, for now he's going to be living with Cara and I until he finds a house."

"Okay. And what about me?" "It's your decision." "Huh?" I gulped. "You're over the legal age to choose who you live with so it's up to you. Obviously, you might want to stay here while Dad finds a house but when he does, you can live with him or with Mom." "Can I just move in with you?" I looked at Cody. They both laughed a little.

"Give it a few years." Trey joked. "You and Cara moved in when you had only been together a few months." "I'm twenty, you're sisteen." I sighed and laid against Cody. "I know it's hard for you because you're not really that old. You're just a kid. But you gotta struggle through it." Trey forced a smile.

"And think of it this way, you'll have three bedrooms." I laughed a little bit. "I'm so excited now." I said sarcastically. "Dad's getting a new job too. It's a massive pay rise." "Looks like I'm living in his mansion with him." I grinned. "I know you're gonna live with him anyway. Even if it's the smallest place ever." "Daddy's my best friend." I smiled.

"What's this job?" Cody guided us away from the 'having to choose between my parents' situation. "A manager. Matt's been speaking to him about it." "Oh cool! Dad could be my manager!" I said. "You already have two." Cody laughed. "Anyway, I'm gonna go downstairs." Trey slid himself off my dresser.

"Can you tell them that I'm staying here until Dad finds a house?" "Sure." Trey smiled and left the room. My phone went off, signifying I had an email. I got it out of my pocket and looked at the new email. "So?" Cody waited for me to tell him. "Oh. Matt said that Teen Vogue want me to do a shoot while we're in New York." "Sounds cool." Cody smiled.

"It does. I haven't done a shoot in a few weeks, feels like forever." "Why did you do your last shoot?" "I needed artwork for my new single." "Oh yeah." He laughed a little. "Can I see the artwork?" "You may." I opened my camera roll and clicked on the picture. (The picture is just like the one on the cover of Carly Rae Jepsen's album; Kiss).

"I like it." He took my phone off of me and zoomed in on the photo. "Okay. You don't have to look that closely." I giggled and took it back. "I'm proud of you, you know?" "Thank you." I smiled. "And I'm proud of you. Having your own little headlining tour half way across the world and shiz." I nudged him. "Well you know." He smiled cockily. I giggled and we both laid back on the bed.

"Where are we sleeping tonight?" Cody asked me. "Actually, I want to talk to you about that." "What?" He groaned. "Do you mind if we don't? Just for tonight?" Cody was quiet for a while before answering me. "So how long is it going to take for Marcus to completely replace me?" "Oh come on, you're being stupid." I rolled my eyes.

"Am I though?" "Yes you are! I want to spend some time with him and talk to him because he knows and understands exactly what I'm going through." "I understand." "Not first hand." I looked at the ground. Cody got up and started pacing back and forth, I sat up and watched him.

"I want to be there to comfort you. This isn't fair." "You think I find this fair? My parents are breaking up and all you care about is not being able to sleep with me tonight? What's in it for you anyway? Sex isn't anywhere near the equa-" "You think that I want to be with you tonight just to have sex with you?" "It's all you want." I let out a small chuckle.

"Are you serious?!" He shouted. "Cody!" I hushed him. "Are you serious?" He repeated quieter this time. "I'm done with this." I waved him away. Cody laughed slightly. "I'm just gonna go, I know that this is hard for you and I don't want to fight with you." He picked up his phone. "Mhm." I nodded and got comfortable on my bed.

After a few hours of sitting on my bed and thinking my phone started to ring. I answered without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?" I spoke. I was hoping to hear Cody's voice. "Hey." Marcus' voice filled my ears. "Oh hi." "You could sound less disappointed." "I'm sorry." I forced a smile. "You seem sad." He said. It was almost a question, not a statement.

I explained to him everything that had happened. We spoke about it for what came to being a few hours and then I agreed to going over to his house tonight. He's babysitting and wanted company. I wanted to speak with someone who's gone through what I'm going through.

"Lauren?" Dad came into my room seconds after I'd hung up. "Mhm?" I looked up at him. "You couldn't possibly help me pack? Your mother usually does it for me. I'm useless." He sighed. I laughed and got up. "Is this how it's going to be now then? Lauren helping Daddy do everything?" I asked while going into their bedroom.

"You're definately living with me then?" "When you find a house." I comfirmed. "You're gonna have to help me find a house. I need my leading lady's opinion." "Of course." I smiled as I emptied his side of the closet. "It's gonna have to have a big enough bedroom for me." I said. "And Lilly needs a decent size." I told him.

"Yes. I need a guest room too." "That goes without saying." I said. "While we're alone, I want to talk to you about a trip that Matt's asked me to go on." "To New York?" "Yes, how did you know?" "You really think he's going to consider taking you across the country without informing your parents?" "Oh yeah." I laughed.

"Cody's coming which is obvious. But I was going to ask if you wanted to come with me too?" "I'd love to do that!" "Yay!" "How come Cody left anyway?" He asked. "Oh. We kinda had an argument." I shrugged. "Is everything okay?" "It will be. You know us, we're always fighting." I smiled. "But I'm going to a sleepover tonight, okay?" I asked for permission.

"You'll have to ask your mother. I'm not going to be here." "Oh." I said quietly. "Who's sleepover is it?" "Marcus'." "He's a guy, yeah?" "Mhmm." I nodded. "I'm not sure, Lauren." "Why not?! He's like my new best friend!" I convinced. "Why don't you have girls as friends?" "Because girls are annoying and anyway, I have some." "You have two. Alli and Madison." "Okay shh." I giggled.

"But there's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing bad that can happen!" "I disagree." "Cody and I have sleepovers all the time." "You're calling them sleepovers now?" "No. But we sleep together pretty much every night. So what's the difference?" "Cody knows boundries." "You think Marcus wants me to sleep at his house to make a move?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Does Cody agree with this sleepover?" "He doesn't know." "And will you be telling him?" "Yes." "When?" "Tomorrow." I grinned which made Dad laugh. "I'm a good girl." I batted my eyelashes. "I won't do anything bad, I promise." "You lost your virginity at sixteen, the legal age is eighteen here." Dad pointed out.

"We were in London and the legal age there is sixteen." "Do you guys fly to London evey time?" "Dad, please?" "I told you, speak to Mom." "Speak to Mom about what?" Mom's voice made me jump. "This sleepover thing I was invited to." I smiled innocently.

"Who's sleepover is it?" "Madison's." I kept my smile. Dad was trying not to laugh at me. "I want to take you to Madison's house." "I was going to ask Trey as he has to drive Dad to his house anyway. It saves fuel." I grinned. "How old is this Marcus dude?" Mom asked. "I said Madison." "You lied." She smirked.

"He's sixteen. Just like me. Two innocent kids." I said. "I'm not sure." "His little sister will be there, she's seven. So nothing can happen." I shrugged. "When you tell Cody, you can go." "Why does he get to make the decision?" "I just need proof that you've told him that you're going to be sleeping at another guy's house tonight." She simply smiled before taking her credit card off the dresser and going downstairs.

"I'm not ready for World War Three." I sighed. "Don't go then." "Or! I could just tell her I'm sleeping at Cody's and then go to Marcus' house." I said. Dad laughed at me and carried on packing. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." "Good." I smiled.

When I finally arrived at Marcus' house it was around seven. He invited me in and I put my things in his room. "Have you eaten?" He asked. "Nope. Have you?" "No and I was wondering if you can cook because I'm rubbish." "Let's order pizza." I clapped my hands. "Yeah!" Laura agreed with me. "Fine." He said and went downstairs. Laura and I followed after him.

Macus called up and ordered. "It'll be ten minutes." He said. I nodded. "Can we watch movies?" Laura asked. "Why don't you go play?" "But I wanna play with Lauren." She said. "Let's watch movies." I walked into the living room.

"Oh joy." Marcus came after me. "Stop being so boring." I laughed at him. We chose a disney film and put it on. The three of us sat on the couch and watched it. When the pizza came, Marcus collected it and we all ate. "After this, you're going to bed." "I don't want to." Laura told him. "I'll read you a story." I told her. She grinned and sat back down.

I put her to bed and then Marcus and I sat on the couch together with blankets over us. "How are you doing?" He asked. "Huh?" "You seem to be able to hold everything together in a way that I can't see what you're actually feeling." "That's the point." I shrugged. "I don't like it." "I have to do it." "No now. No one else is here, you don't have to lie to me." "But I-" "Tell me you're scared." He cut me off.

"What?" "Tell me that you're scared." "No." "You've got to let your guard down. I know you want to or else you'd be wrapped up in your boyfriend's arms right now. You wanna let me in and you know it." "He doesn't understand. He's trying and I know he is but it's not the same. His parents love each other so much! They're setting the perfect example. So he doesn't understand what it's like to watch the foundation of what you thought love was to fail." "I know what you mean."

"I'm worried that my relationships, not just mine and Cody's but even relationships after mine and Cody's, are going to be affected by this." "They won't be. I know it feels like that but now that you've seen it, you won't let yourself follow the same path." "I guess I just.. You're right, I am scared. I'm so scared."

"I know you are but it's going to be okay. Trust me." "Do you still get upset about it?" "Yes. It hurts me most when I have to watch my little sister be sad about it." "I'm afraid that Lilly's never going to forget this and that when she gets old enough to date, she won't, because she got hurt so bad." "I have the exact same fear as you do." He smiled reassuringly.

"When do you see your Mom then? You live in different states." "Oh, we don't see her." "Ever?" "Not anymore. One day she just woke up and decided she didn't want a family and that was that. We moved here so we wouldn't ever bump into her." "Oh wow." I covered my mouth. "She was never the motherly figure you'd want around though. Laura always adored Dad and I was fine by myself." "Is she upset?" "Yes. But she's coping." He said.

"And you haven't spoken to your mom since?" "Nope. I don't have a mom anymore." He shrugged. "That's gotta hurt you." "It does but where's the sense in crying over it?" "To grieve. Let out the pain." "The way I see it; the world is going to keep turning, seasons will forever change and years will go by. You can mourn over the past or smile at the possibilities the future might bring."

"You're a wise young man, you are." I smiled at him. "Thank you." He smiled back. "So what now?" I looked around the room. "Where do you want to sleep tonight?" Marcus asked me. I thought about it and then opened my mouth to speak but I was cut off by my phone ringing. "It's Cody. Stay quiet." I told him. He nodded and I answered.

"Hey." "So where actually are you?" An annoyed Cody spoke. "What do you mean?" "Your mom just stopped by, she said she thought you were over here. Alli told her you were asleep in her room. Where the fuck are you?!" He raised his voice. "Calm down!" "You think it's fun to play games?" "I'm not playing games." "If you're with him then I'll-" "What will you do exactly?" I rested my feet over Marcus' lap and put the phone on my stomach after pressing speaker phone.

"Are you with him?" "Who's him? I know a lot of people who can be referred to as him so which him are you talking about?" "Lauren!" "You seriously need to relax." "You want me to relax while you're at some other guy's house?" "Yes I do." I comfirmed. "You're unbelievable." He chuckled slightly.

"If I find out that anything's happened then the-" "Excuse me?" I sat up. "Since when do you have the right to say that?" I asked. "Since you didn't tell me you were sleeping at some guy's house!" "I can do what I want. You wouldn't be this mad if I was at Madison's house." I said.

"Jesus!" Marcus laughed as he got up. "What?" Cody asked. "Nothing. Carry on with with your lecture." I watched Marcus leave the room. "There's a big difference between Marcus and Madison." He said while Marcus stood in the doorway with two sodas. "Yeah. You fucked Madison, you didn't go there with Marcus." I smiled which made Marcus laugh.

"Tell him to shut up." Cody hissed. "Woah." I giggled. "What's the real difference then?" I waited. He was quiet for a few moments and then sighed. "Baby, please." His voice had turned soft and desperate. "Please what?" "Please don't do anything." I took it off speaker phone and pressed it to my ear.

"Do you not think that the more you shout at me, the more I'm going to want to do something?" "I know, I'm sorry." "Why don't you pick me up tomorrow morning and we can talk then? I'm not going to do anything that I wouldn't do if I was hanging out with Alli. Okay?" "Okay." "I love you." "I love you too." "Okay, bye." I said and hung up.

"Wow." Marcus handed me the soda and sat down. "How did it change that quickly?" "It happens all the time. He's just scared that I'm going to do to him what he did to me." "What did he do to you?" "He cheated on me." "Seriously?! What a jerk." "That was the reason we broke up." "So he cheated with Madison?" "No. He cheated with this girl he used to be close with and then when we'd broken up, he went to see Madison and they ended up sleeping together." I explained.

"You say it as if you don't care." "Of course I care, I'm just tired of it." "And how come you don't wear your ring anymore?" "I found out about him and Madison." "So he didn't tell you?" "Nope. She did." "I bet that was a big fight." "I just took off the ring and told him I knew. I said I wasn't mad, I was disappointed and that was that." I said. "I don't get it." Marcus shook his head.

"Get what?" "He had sex with what I'm guessing is your best friend?" "Mhm." "And you weren't mad." "Have you ever been in a serious, long-term relationship?" I asked. "No, bu-" "Well then you don't understand the sorts of things we go through. I took off the ring which hurt him a lot. I haven't put it back on in almost two weeks so he's learned that he's done something wrong." I shrugged.

"Where do you wanna sleep tonight?" "Well, this couch is very comfy." I said while getting comfortable. "Okay. Just tell me when you're tired and I'll leave you alone." "Leave me alone?" "Well, yeah." "I didn't say I wanted to sleep alone. I get cold and lonely." I pouted.

"I don't think it would be appropriate." He refused. "I didn't ask if you thought it would be appropriate, I was saying I want you to sleep down here with me." "I'll go get some more blankets then." "Marcus, would you just lie down behind me." I pulled his arm. His body fell behind mine on the couch and his arm loosely wrapped around my waist.

"I don't want to cross any boundaries." Marcus whispered. "I don't want to do anything to make you uncomfortable." "You're not making me uncomfortable." "But what would Cody say?" "Cody's not here." I closed my eyes.