TWO DAYS LATER

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"So are you going to tell me about that girl you were with when you got off the bus, or am I going to have to do some digging of my own?" my mum said as she placed a plate in front of me on the dining room table.

I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks as I blushed, looking down at my plate and fidgeting with my knife and fork.

"Her name is Lauren Knight," I said quietly, refusing to look my mum in the eye.

I wasn't worried to tell my mum that I was dating a girl. She was stern and strict, but not prejudice or homophobic. I knew she would support me and my choices, as long as I was making the right ones. The sex however, I wasn't going to tell her about that.

"How come I've never heard of her before?" she questioned me further.

"We weren't really friends until camp," I said casually.

'Friends'. That was one way to put it. I had already told myself I wasn't going to tell her about the bullying. It was in the past, Lauren had changed, and I was happy now. I didn't want to open old wounds.

"You seemed to be a bit more than friends to me," she said, and I finally looked up and caught her eye.

She had a smirk on her face and I couldn't help but break out into a sly smile. I could feel my cheeks getting redder by the second and I covered my face with my hands.

"Mum, stop!" I whined, and I heard her laugh loudly next to me.

"So...is it Facebook official?" she asked.

"Oh my god, mum. You did not just say that!" I laughed, and I spent the rest of the night telling mum all about how Lauren and I had grown closer at camp, albeit leaving out a few...major...details.

That night I tossed and turned in my bed, nervous but excited for the following day. Lauren and I were yet to be together in a normal school environment and while I was sure of her feelings for me, I wasn't sure how being at school would effect how she acted around me. As I lay staring at the ceiling my phone vibrated loudly next to me.

Lauren ♥️: can't wait to see you tomorrow, goodnight x

I smiled to myself as I sleepily wrote back a reply.

'Me either, goodnight L xxx'

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TWO WEEKS LATER

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"Scar, wait!" I heard Lauren yell from behind me, her voice accompanied by loud and fast approaching footsteps.

I didn't acknowledge her calls, instead keeping my head down and continuing to walk towards the school gates toward the bus stop. Unfortunately my speed was no match to Lauren's and she caught up almost instantly.

"Why are you ignoring me, Scarlet?" she asked me, her tone short and hurt.

"Forget it, Lauren. If you don't know what you've done then I don't want to talk to you right now!" I snapped at her.

I knew I was most likely overreacting, but this was the straw that broke the camels back. Dakota had told me during lunch that she saw Lauren talking light heartedly with Emily and Louise in the bathrooms, not even an hour after Louise had purposely knocked my unfinished art project off my desk, smashing it to pieces. Lauren had promised me she would have nothing to do with those girls ever again. Obviously I was stupid for believing her.

It was obvious that Lauren missed the popularity, regardless of whether or not she thought those girls were bad people. I knew she wanted to be with me, but I also knew she missed being in charge of her minions. She missed the power.

Truthfully, dating Lauren was harder than I thought it would be. When we had gotten back to school she struggled with the change. Even the teachers were talking about the shift in social groups, and even though she got along great with my friends, her self esteem from not being 'Miss Popular' was declining.

"I genuinely have no idea what I've done," she snapped back at me, grabbing my arm and pulling me back to her as I tried to storm away.

I felt the tears threaten to spill down my cheeks and I wasn't strong enough to stop them.

"You promised..." I whispered quietly, and her face changed from confused to guilty in a matter of seconds.

"Scar, I...my dad, he —" she stammered, but I shook my head at her.

"I don't want to talk to you right now," I said monotonously, pulling my arm from her grip.

"Let me drive you home. I'll explain everything," she said hurriedly, her face stricken with worry.

I couldn't say no to her. As much as I wanted to tell her to go away, she had some kind of hold over me that I couldn't explain. I sighed and nodded, wordlessly turning around and walking in the direction of her car.

The drive was silent and I stared out of the passenger side window the entire time. I could feel Lauren's eyes on me at every stop light, but I refused to look at her. We eventually pulled into my driveway, the car becoming eerily silent after she turned the engine off.

"My dad, Scar...he said I need to stay friends with those girls," she finally spoke, and my heart sank to my stomach.

"Why?" I asked quietly, my voice barely audible.

"Their status, their money, I don't know," she huffed frustratingly, "All I know is that my dad said I have to be nice to them otherwise he won't pay for my university fees."

I looked at her and her face held so many emotions, none of which I could identify. She shakily reached out a hand and placed it gingerly on my thigh. She stared at it for a few seconds and let out a shaky breath when I didn't shove her hand away.

"He doesn't know about us," she admitted, "My mum does, and she's fine with it all, but she told me not to tell my dad. Apparently he's a closet homophobe. I had no idea."

These words broke my heart. I placed my hand on hers and squeezed it tightly. My anger with her had completely dissipated and I felt horrible at the situation she was in.

"We'll figure it out," I said, hoping my voice sounded strong and supportive, and then I reached my hand up to her face and pulled her in for a kiss.

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NINE MONTHS LATER

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"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Lauren, happy birthday to you!" everyone chorused, albeit off key and out of time, as Lauren's red face looked down at the floor with a shy smile.

It was Lauren's eighteenth birthday and a bunch of people from school had been invited to her house for a small dinner. I suggested she have a big party but she insisted she didn't want one.

Instead of spending the day together like I thought we would've, she told me she had something important she needed to do and she would catch up with me in the afternoon. She wouldn't tell me where she was going, just that it was important and she would pick me up from my house that afternoon. When she finally arrived at my house, her face held a grin that I couldn't decipher.

"What are you smirking at?" I asked her, and she chuckled at me before leaning over the centre console and pressing a chase kiss to my lips.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," she said cheekily, before putting her seatbelt on and driving towards her house.

That night after everyone had gone home, Lauren and I sat upstairs in her bedroom as she unwrapped her gifts. Her dad was away on a business trip which meant I could stay the night without raising any suspicion. Lauren reaches out and grabbed the gift from me, reading the card and looking up at me.

"I told you not to get me anything, baby," she almost whined, but I shook my head and leant over to kiss her softly.

"And I told you to stop talking nonsense," I smirked against her lips, kissing her one more time before sitting back down to watch her open the gift.

It was nothing amazing. A pair of shoes I know she had been wanting, her favourite chocolate that you could only get from America (luckily for me, a friend of mine from my previous school had visited there three weeks beforehand and she managed to buy some for me), the newest book from her favourite series and a photo frame with a photo of us inside it.

"Holy shit, you didn't?!" she exclaimed, holding up her gifts separately as she processed them all.

"I did," I smirked cheekily, and she crawled over to me and tackled me in a hug, both of us falling to the floor with a loud thud.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said, pressing firm kisses on every single inch of my face, then kissing my lips firmly but gently.

I smiled up at her as she lay on top of me, tucking loose strands of hair behind her ears and cupping her jawline softly.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you, too," she whispered back.

We lay together in silence for a while before she quickly shifted and stood up, walking over and reaching her hand under her bed, pulling out an unmarked box.

"I bought you something, too," she said mysteriously.

I looked at her confusedly, and she continued talking.

"I bought it today, I thought you might like it. If you don't, I can take it back. Well...I can't take it back if you try it, but..." she said quickly, but halted when I took the box from her hands.

I opened the box curiously and pulled out its contents, revealing something I had only ever seen in porn. A strap on.

"Lauren...I..." I stammered, feeling my face go bright red.

"I thought...you know, since I'm finally eighteen and I can buy this stuff now, we could try it. We don't have to, here...give it back. I'll return it," she tried to grab the device from me but I snatched it away, inspecting it closely.

"I want to," I said simply, and her face went from embarrassed, to shocked, to extremely turned on.

She pounced on me quickly, grabbing my face with both hands and smashing her mouth against mine, her tongue immediately forcing itself past my lips to tangle with mine. In a matter of seconds we were both naked and I watched intently as she strapped the device against her body.

"Be gentle?" I said nervously as she lined herself up at my entrance.

"Of course, tell me to stop at any time if you don't like it, okay?" she said, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead before slowly sliding into me.

I gasped loudly and I could feel my body stretching to accommodate the thick length. My eyes never left hers and I gave her a quick nod, telling her she could continue. She moved rhythmically and gently, my body quickly becoming used to the feeling and eventually enjoying it. I didn't realise that Lauren would get physical pleasure from it too, but a quick glance down showed me that the base of the length was pressed firmly against her clit.

Both of us were covered in sweat as our bodies rocked together, "I love you's" spilling from our mouths as we both reached our highs at the same time. Lauren pulled out of me and collapsed on the bed next to me, slowly and lazily ripping the Velcro harness off her body and dropping it off the side of the bed.

"Wow," she breathed.

"Yeah...wow," I replied.

༻✧༺

FOUR AND A HALF YEARS LATER

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"Lauren Knight, Bachelor of Exercise Physiology, Honours," the announcer said, and Lauren's mother and I both stood up in our seats and screamed and clapped loudly to celebrate her graduation, much to Lauren's embarrassment.

Lauren had been accepted into Federation Square University with a full Scholarship. As soon as she had found out the good news, she had told her father about me. Knowing she didn't need his money to support her University fees anymore, she proudly introduced me as her girlfriend on our one year anniversary.

Since then, he and Mrs Knight had gotten a divorce and he had moved to Hong Kong to further his business. Mrs Knight has since started dating a wonderful man who Lauren claims she likes much more than her father. He couldn't make it today though, his son was graduating at a different university.

I hadn't gone to University like my mum desperately wanted me to, instead deciding to go straight into the workforce. I had been with the same company for three and a half years now, slowly making my way into an authority position. I was second in charge of an organisation that provided support for children who had lost parents in action. It was something that was close to my heart, and I know my mum was beyond proud of me.

Dakota has gone on from high school to do a photography course, and was now a popular events photographer. Ellen was studying medicine at a University in Canberra, and was currently sitting at the top of her class. Karina was doing volunteer work oversees, working to build orphanages for communities in third world countries. Alyssa and Bella both went into engineering, Bella choosing civil while Alyssa chose environmental.

At twenty two years old, both Lauren and I had achieved so much, both separately and together, and we had almost saved up enough money to move out into our own apartment together. That was something we were both looking forward to. We couldn't wait to begin the rest of our lives together.

༻✧༺

EIGHT MONTHS LATER

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I woke up on our six year anniversary to an empty bed. Lauren started work at 7am every morning so she was usually gone before I woke up. I was able to work from home most days, so I could clean the apartment, walk the dogs and take care of things here while Lauren was gone.

Lauren and I had agreed to do no gifts this year for our anniversary, but I knew she would be cheeky and get me something anyway, so I decided to take the dogs for a walk up to the shops and buy her a nice bouquet of flowers.

"Henry, Frank, walkies!" I called out in a high pitched voice, and braced myself as two large Great Danes came bounding out from one of the bedrooms.

Lauren had embraced my love for unnecessarily human names for animals, and allowed me to name our dogs. They were only one and still had a lot of growing to do still, but were already up to my hips in size. I attached the lead to both of their collars and left the house, walking the short distance up the street towards the local family owned florist.

The owners daughter played with Henry and Frank at the park next to the florist while I went inside and tried to find the perfect bouquet for Lauren.

"Hey, Wendy!" I greeted the owner, walking up and giving her a quick hug. She had become a close friend of mine and Lauren's over the past seven months since we had moved into our new apartment, as Lauren and I loved to surprise each other with flowers often.

"Hey there, Scarlet, special occasion today or are you just feeling generous?" she asked me.

"Six year anniversary," I smiled at her.

"Say no more," she said, and hurried out to the back room.

She returned with an array of different flowers and began to busy herself, eventually creating the most beautiful display I had ever seen in my entire life.

"Wow, it's beautiful!" I exclaimed, reaching into my bag to grab my wallet.

"It's on the house," Wendy told me, but I shook my head at her.

"No, I can't accept that, please tell me how much I owe you," I insisted, pulling my wallet out, but she pushed my hand away.

"You ladies have given me enough business in the past seven months to last me a lifetime. Please take these, I insist!" she said kindly, and I walked behind the counter to give her a tight hug.

By the time Lauren arrived home that afternoon, it was 4pm and the sun would set in a matter of hours. She walked through the door looking flustered and exhausted, but her eyes lit up as soon as she saw me and the beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting on the kitchen counter.

"Scar!" she exclaimed, dropping her bag on the floor and striding over to me quickly, lifting me up and spinning me around, placing me on the kitchen counter next to the flowers and kissing me passionately.

"Get dressed, I'm taking you somewhere special!" she murmured against my lips, pressing one last kiss to them before making her way to the shower.

"Get dressed in what?" I called loudly through the bathroom door.

"Just something casual!" she called back, and then I heard the shower stream start.

I chose a pair of black jeans, a white t-shirt and a blue denim jacket. I put on some light makeup and pulled my waist length hair back into a high ponytail. Finishing the outfit with a pair of black heeled boots, I observed my outfit in the mirror intently, trying to pick out any flaws.

"Perfect," I heard Lauren say, and she walked over to me wrapped in a towel, pressing a kiss to my cheek before grabbing clothes from the wardrobe and changing into something similar. She wore blue jeans and a long sleeved white top with a blazer over the top. As we both got older, her style had grown more masculine and I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it. I found it extremely sexy. She slipped on a pair of dress shoes and quickly applied a bit of makeup before grabbing her wallet and walking towards me.

"Let's go, beautiful," she winked at me, before grabbing my hand and pulling me out the door.

We drove for twenty five minutes before arriving at a secluded beach, somewhere that we had been many times before, somewhere we called 'our special spot'. Lauren kissed me and got out of the car, walking to the boot and opening it. I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car, only to see Lauren walking towards me with a picnic basket, a picnic rug and a bunch of tea light candles.

"Now, I didn't have time to set this up today, so just close your eyes while I do this, okay?" she said, and I laughed loudly but did as I was told, covering my eyes and waiting while she set up.

"Fucking stay on fire, you little bitch!" I heard her mutter angrily, and I couldn't help but chuckle. My girlfriend...always such a charmer.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now..." she said excitedly.

I opened my eyes and "aww'd" loudly. In front of me on the sand was a beautiful picnic surrounded by candles.

"I know. So unexpected, right?" she said sarcastically, and I rolled my eyes in reply.

Lauren had picked up all of my favourite foods including an array of sushi, fruit salads, chocolate, Nutella covered strawberries and a bottle of expensive wine.

"This is amazing, Laur!" I said with a mouthful of food, and she chuckled loudly at me.

We ate, we drank and we talked about how incredible the last six years of our live had been. The sun was dipping behind the horizon, turning the water into a beautiful shade of shimmering gold. The sky was a gorgeous deep orange, with hues of pink, purple and blue scattered throughout. And just as I thought the night couldn't get any more magical, dolphins began to jump out of the water in the distance.

"Lauren, look!" I squealed, jumping off the picnic blanket and running towards the shoreline.

I couldn't help but stare in awe, a huge smile on my face. Today was perfect, and I genuinely thought it couldn't be better than this. But I was wrong. I turned around towards the picnic blanket to tell Lauren to come and stand with me, but she wasn't there. Instead she was knelt in front of me on one knee, a ring in her hand, looking up at me.

"Oh my god," I whispered.

"I had a speech prepared, but I forget it, I'm so nervous..." she stammered, and I reached down with a shaking hand to cup her cheek.

"Scar, I love you more than anything. Will you marry me?" she asked me.

I couldn't remember saying