Truth Hurts

Lauren couldn't fathom why she was sitting in her best friend's baby daddy's car at the moment. Above all things she was tired. She was tired of her brother trying to find her a date. She was tired of Madison feeling sorry for her for not having a boyfriend. And she was tired of not feeling wanted. Sitting at home on a Friday night doing homework had always been her routine, but she didn't want that routine anymore. Seeing everyone around her with someone to hold and kiss and love sparked the loneliness in her.

Still though, all of this felt wrong. She shouldn't be talking to someone like Ricky. She knew his type all too well. The guy who thought that he could get away with anything that he wanted. The guy who thought he was cute enough to get any girl as he pleased and the he guy who wanted sex more than a real relationship. So she wondered how she could know this and still be convinced to meet up him. Well, Ricky has always been persuasive, she thought to herself.

When she got there he told her stories. Terrible stories about how his dad did horrible things to him.

"I could never understand why a father would want to hurt his son so much. I guess my dad just hated me," he shrugged, but there was a painful look in his eyes.

She could tell he was hurt. He gripped the steering wheel almost too tightly as he kept talking. Lauren immediately felt sorry for him, until she realized just what he was doing. He leaned into her, and she moved back and he missed her, kissing her cheek instead. She felt something tingle inside of her, having never been kissed by a guy, not even on the cheek. And out of all people it was Ricky!

"So this is what you do," she stated as she looked out of the window.

"What are you talking about?" He moved away from her, and focused his attention on the wheel.

She looked back at him and they both stared into each other's eyes for a minute. She moved her hand to his shoulder and sighed, "Ricky...I am very sorry about everything that happened to you."

"Don't feel sorry for-"

"I don't feel sorry for you," she stated it so confidentially that his eyes widened. With every girl that he had talked to, they always felt sorry for him, but this girl was telling him that she didn't feel sorry for him at all. And one of Amy's friends of all people! Ricky was confused.

"I do feel bad that you've gone through so much. But I don't think that's why you are the way that you are Ricky."

He felt himself getting angered. Who was this girl anyway? Why had he even called her? To be honest he didn't think she was that attractive. He was just...lonely that night, and he needed someone. But this wasn't at all what he expected.

"What the hell do you mean?" He glared at her but she just shrugged it off.

"I mean...there's people who push past their tragedies and the ones who let it control them. I've heard a lot of stories about people who have gone through so much in life and it's so sad. People who have been abused like you, or have even gone through worse than you. But that doesn't mean you have to hurt other people because of what happened to you."

He didn't know what to think. He'd never really been told something like that. Not even from his own therapist. He was almost too bewildered to be upset.

"...I haven't hurt anyone."

"I think we both know that you're lying Ricky. You hurt the people that try to get close to you. You make them feel wanted and then you have sex with them, and you take off."

He had had it up to here with this girl. He was ready to just kick her out of his car! Talking wasn't what they were really supposed to be doing that night. Though he didn't expect things to go too far, he didn't expect a speech quite like this.

"What makes you think you know me anyway!"

She shrugged and it pissed him off even more.

"You know nothing about me!"

"Maybe...or maybe not. I know what you did to Amy. You hurt her Ricky. She didn't know what she was doing, but you did. And you knew that you had no intention of being with her either! So you purposely hurt her by stealing away something that was important to her, and getting her pregnant nonetheless."

He stayed silent. He could feel his eyes beginning to sting and he squeezed them and opened them once again. She was making him feel guilty.

"Your father didn't make you do that to Amy. You chose to."

He was tired of hearing this, "Get out!"

"Ricky-"

"GET OUT!"

Before the two of them could say anything more there was a sudden tap on the window. Standing there was Madison and Jason. Their jaw dropped as they stared at the two and Lauren could feel heat rising to her cheeks.

"Lauren! What are you doing!" Lauren could barely hear the two of them, but she knew just what they were saying.

"Just get out," Ricky mumbled weakly.

She sighed as she opened the door, but then she turned and looked at him, "Just think about what I said. It's ok to admit that you need help Ricky. And if I were you, I would get it before you hurt anyone else."

He turned away from her and she finally got out of the car.

He drove off almost immediately, the entire conversation running through his mind. That was the first girl that had ever told him something like that. He didn't know if he hated it, or secretly admired it. But what he did know was that whatever she said had stung him in a way that he was unfamiliar with. Was she right about everything she had said? He didn't know. But what he did know was that Lauren was unlike any other girl he had come in contact with, and the words she said, were words that Ricky would never forget.

So this one-shot has been stuck in my head for quite some time, but I couldn't exactly figure out how to start it. Anyway, I've always been intrigued by Lauren and Ricky. I feel like a friendship with Lauren could have been helpful because she seems like she's smart enough not to fall for the things that Ricky made other characters on the show fall for. Anyway, hope you enjoyed.