A/N: I changed my Twitter @. It's now @Laurmani_DC3_5H. My Tumblr has been changed to mr-pibb-on-wattpad. 

"Why did you have to tell my parents that?" Normani asked Camila.

They had a pleasant time at Normani's parents' house. Neither her mom nor her dad asked where Lauren was because they were used to her avoiding their family functions. They quickly took a liking to Camila. Her bubbly personality was readily apparent, and she clearly adored Normani. They were aware that there were some problems with Normani's relationship with Lauren, but they didn't know the full extent of it until Camila brought it up.

They were all eating at the table when Normani's mother, Andrea, said that she was going to grab dessert out of the kitchen and Normani offered to help. While they were away, Camila took the opportunity to tell her father what was going on in their house. She thought it was important for them to know and that Normani might leave Lauren if her family members talked to her.

Normani's father, Derrick, was visibly upset when Normani and Andrea returned to the table prompting Andrea to ask him what was wrong. All of the information about the physical and verbal abuse got out into the open, and Normani's parents told her that she needed to move out immediately. Normani, however, was resistant. Even though she knew things were really bad with Lauren, she just wasn't ready to end them.

When Normani and Camila got in the car to leave, Normani turned her anger toward her. "None of this is any of my parents' business. What gave you the right to tell them about my private life?"

"Someone needs to talk some sense into you," Camila argued. "You know this relationship is over. Why won't you make it official? Why keep putting up with the abuse?"

"It's not that easy," Normani countered. "We've been together for a long time. Everything in our lives is connected. I can't just end things with the snap of a finger."

"Yes, you can!" Camila was starting to raise her voice. "All you have to do is move out, but you don't want to. You have battered women's syndrome. You feel so helpless and defeated that you don't think you can leave, but you can. You don't think you can make it on your own, but I'm here to help you. Your parents are here to help you. Why can't you see that?"

"Camila, let me make this decision on my own time. It's not just a matter of me being afraid of leaving; I still love Lauren. I know that sounds crazy, but I remember the person that she was. I don't know if she'll ever be that person again, but I know it's still there inside of her," Normani explained.

Camila, again, gave up on trying to get Normani to leave. She thought about what it would take to change Normani's mind. It was possible that nothing would get her to change her mind. With Lauren's temper getting worse by the day, Normani could end up being seriously beaten or killed.

When the two women walked in the door of their duplex, the tension between them was obvious, but Lauren said nothing. She decided that she was going to give Normani some space and see if things would heal themselves. Contrarily, though, Normani and Camila got over their little fight and grew closer. Camila only worked a few hours a day leaving a lot of time to spend with Normani with Lauren gone. This made Lauren increasingly uneasy with having Camila in the house and came up with a plan to spend some time alone with Normani.

"Hey, babe," said Lauren one evening to Normani who was watching TV in bed. "I'm thinking about going on vacation soon. We should go on a road trip or travel somewhere."

"I don't know, Lauren," Normani replied. "The last time we tried to spend time alone, it was a disaster."

"That's not going to happen again," Lauren promised.

"How do I know that? You have no control over your anger, and you refuse to get help. Besides, Camila is about to be off for the winter break because Dr. Reid is going on vacation. I don't want to leave her by herself."

"Shit, Normani. You care more about her than you care about me. You're with her most of the day every day. What about me? What about our relationship?" Lauren complained. "I think I've been more than nice by letting Camila stay for this long, and I don't even know what goes on between you two when I'm not here. Are we breaking up, or are we going to fix things? Tell me."

"I don't know yet," said Normani.

"Well, you better figure it out soon because I can't live like this anymore. We don't make love. We don't talk. We live like strangers."

"You know what's sad?" Normani asked rhetorically. "We've been living like this for over two years, and you're just noticing now that someone has come to take your place. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta get ready. Camila and I are going to the movies...something we haven't done in a long time."

Lauren being left home alone had become a regular thing. It used to be Normani sitting around hoping that Lauren would take her out. Lauren was left wondering what Normani meant by someone taking her place. Was that her way of saying that she was having an affair with Camila? Lauren knew she had fucked up, but how could Normani cheat on her in her own house with someone she let stay there? At first, she might have been paranoid with her suspicions, but there were strong signs now that Normani and Camila were more than just friends.

Being bored, Lauren let herself into Camila's room while she and Normani were at the movie theater. She wasn't really looking for anything. She just wanted to mess around with the high-tech gadgets Camila brought from her planet. Most of the labels to the controls and instructions were written in another language, but Lauren came across a computer-like device with instructions in English.

This is a machine used by mental health professionals in Orgcan to scan the mind for its most prominent memories.

Lauren's interest was piqued, and she kept on reading the directions. It made her think about what was going on in Normani's mind. She went back and forth on whether or not she should use it on her girlfriend. It would be a huge invasion of her privacy, but she was getting tired of being left in the dark about what was going on with Camila and whether Normani wanted to move out. She finally chose satisfy her curiosity and hid the machine in a hall closet to use on Normani later that night.

Camila and Normani came home laughing and talking about the movie they had just seen. The two got ready for bed and went to sleep without suspecting anything. Once Normani was out, Lauren pulled the machine out of the closet, set it up, and injected Normani with the sedative that came with it. With the cap on Normani's head, the monitor started to pick something up, and Lauren was let into the deepest parts of Normani's brain.

Andrea and Derrick looked much younger and were about to walk out of the door with their luggage. Normani looked to be about 12, and she was sitting on the floor next to a little boy who looked to be about eight.

"We'll be back tomorrow morning," Derrick announced. "Do you two need anything?"

"Nope. We're good," Normani responded.

"Remember that the creek is running high and fast after the heavy rains. Do not go swimming while we're gone," Andrea commanded.

"Okay, mom," whined the little boy.

"Normani never told me she had a brother," Lauren muttered to herself.
The two kids played video games and a round of basketball in their driveway. They looked like they were having fun at first, but seemed to have grown bored being stuck at the house.

"This sucks. I wanna go swimming," complained the little boy.

"Junior, mom said that we can't. It's dangerous," Normani explained.

"Mom thinks that everything is dangerous. Are you going to end up being boring like her?" asked Junior.

"I'm not boring," said Normani.

"Yes, you are. You're going to grow up being an overprotective mother just like her. Your kids won't be able to do anything. I feel sorry for them already," Junior added.

"Alright! We can go swimming, but only for a little while before it gets dark...and don't swim too far out."

"Yes!" shouted the boy. "I knew you could be cool."

Junior ran to his room to change into his swimming trunks, and Normani went to her room to put on a bathing suit. The two siblings trekked to the creek that ran through the woody area behind their neighborhood. When they got to its bank, Normani stared at it in awe.

"Wow! It is high and running fast," she mentioned.

"Don't be a scaredy cat. Last one down has to wash dishes tomorrow," Junior challenged.

Normani took him up on his challenge and raced into the water beating her brother, but Junior didn't care that he lost. He was just happy to be in the water. They splashed water on each other and took turns jumping into the creek using the rope that someone else tied to a tree long ago. Normani had jumped into the water a third time; and, when she came up, Junior was out of sight.

"Junior, where are you?" Normani shouted. She looked around and tried to listen closely, but couldn't pick up a sign of him.

"Junior!" she shouted again.

This time, she saw her brother's hands and head peak out of the water briefly. "Help!" he gurgled.

Normani didn't know if he was playing around or was seriously in trouble, but she didn't take any chances. He was much farther out than she had told him he could go. She tried to swim toward him, but it didn't look like she was making any progress. He was moving away faster than she could swim, and it felt like she had gotten to the point where the waters would also overpower her.

Knowing that there was nothing else she could do, she swam back to the bank and ran to her neighbors' house begging for help. Her neighbors ran with her back to the creek to see if they could find Junior, but they couldn't, and the husband called 911 on his cell phone.

The monitor went black leaving Lauren wondering what had happened, but it soon came back on with another memory.

There were dozens of people inside what looked like a church, and everyone was dressed in black. Most of the people there were either crying or had a somber look on their faces. Normani was sobbing and could barely hold herself up as an aunt helped her walk down the aisle. When she reached the front of the room, she stood looking into a casket. There, she saw the lifeless body of her brother holding his favorite action figurine.

Normani whispered so low that she was almost inaudible. "It's all my fault. I'm a terrible big sister. I let you down. I'm sorry."

The aunt then escorted Normani back to her seat.

Lauren was taken aback by the fact that such a huge part of Normani's life was never revealed to her. This was probably the root cause of Normani's depression. All of these years later, she could still be beating herself up over this.

Lauren's thought process was soon interrupted by the screen playing another memory.

Lauren and Normani were standing facing each other in white dresses. They were outside in a beautiful garden with an officiator standing in front of them. Their friends and family were looking on while sitting in their seats. Normani smiled and tears escaped her eyes as Lauren read her vows. Then, Normani read hers as Lauren also cried tears of joy. Afterward, the officiator instructed them to exchange their commitment rings. When that task was done, the two kissed, everyone cheered, and the photographer's camera flashed repeatedly taking picture after picture.

The screen went black again, which left Lauren disappointed. She wanted to watch more of that scene. It was one of the happiest times of their life together. She desperately wanted to return to that state and was tempted to wake Normani up right at the moment and kiss her, but the monitor flickered with a memory once again.

Normani and Lauren were sitting on a bench at the park. Normani seemed to be happy that they were finally spending quality time together, but Lauren had other things on her mind. "What's going on between you and Camila?"

"Lauren, I've told you before that we are just friends. Can't we just enjoy this day together?" Normani pleaded.

"I should call the military or immigration to have her taken away," Lauren said.

"Lauren, leave her alone. She means no harm," begged Normani.

"She's a freaking alien. She could be trying to take over our planet, or she could be carrying some kind of disease that will kill us all," Lauren hypothesized.

"Lauren, just stop!"

"Why are you always taking up for her? I swear that there's something going on between you two," exclaimed Lauren.

"For the last time, we are not fucking!" Normani yelled. "But, if you keep acting this way, you might push me to it. At least Camila knows how to be romantic."

Lauren's face turned a deep red and veins could be seen protruding from her forehead. Before Normani could see it coming, Lauren's arm whipped around, and she backhanded Normani across the face. Parents playing at the park with their children audibly gasped as they witnessed Normani fall off the bench onto the ground.

"Oh, my goodness!" said a young mother as she ran over to Normani. "Are you okay?"

When Normani removed her hand from her mouth, blood dripped out. "She's alright. Come on. Let's go," Lauren demanded trying to pull Normani up.

"She's not going anywhere with you. We're calling the cops," said another mother who had ran up to them.

"This doesn't concern you," said Lauren.

"The hell it doesn't!" hollered the second mother.

"It's fine. I'm okay. No one needs to call the cops," said Normani as she slowly got up from the ground.

"Sweetheart, it's not okay," said the first mother. "Please stay with us."

Normani ignored her and walked towards Lauren's car with Lauren following behind her. The two mothers looked in disbelief as Normani got into the car with the woman who had just hit her. Lauren drove them home nervous about possibly being stopped by the police while Normani wept quietly in the passenger's seat.

Lauren shook her head at that memory. It went from a really good one to one of the worst ones. She almost wanted to turn off the machine at that point, but hoped that the next scene would be happier ending this whole thing on a lighter note.

Normani's eyes opened slowly, and she stretched her arms. It didn't really look like morning. It looked to be later in the day. It also didn't look like Normani was in the bed she shared with Lauren. The sheets were the ones put on the bed in the guest bedroom. Normani rolled over and met the face of Camila. She smiled as she looked at the petite woman sleeping.

"You're so cute," she whispered.

Camila's eyes then slowly opened, and she yawned.

Normani giggled. "Did you enjoy your nap?"

"Mmmhmm," Camila hummed. Then, she moved in to kiss Normani on the lips. "That was beautiful."

"It was," Normani agreed. "Do you wanna go again before Lauren gets home?"

"You don't have to ask me twice," Camila laughed.

Lauren violently ripped the plug to the machine from the wall. The most telling part of that memory was the fact that she could see that Camila and Normani were topless because their shoulders weren't covered by the sheets. She knew it. She knew that Normani was sleeping with Camila. She didn't know how long it had been going on, but she was going to make sure it stopped.

Lauren removed the cap from Normani's head and put the machine on the floor in the corner of their bedroom. She had never felt so betrayed. Camila had the audacity to come in her home, take advantage of her kindness, and sleep with her life partner. The rage inside of her was almost too much to bear. She stared at her sleeping girlfriend who was oblivious to what she had just seen.

Lauren wanted to throw things. She wanted to burst into Camila's bedroom and strangle her to death, but she just sat in bed staring at Normani. For hours, she cried without sleeping until sunrise.