A/N- Hey guys! I wanted to write something else but all I wanted to do was update this so here it goes!
For the second time that day Lauren was worried about her best friend. Julia had eaten her food uncharacteristically fast then after muttering 'bathroom' she had walked out. That was fifteen minutes ago. In the meanwhile the rest of the group had finished lunch and now Matt was going on and on about coming to rehearsals. Normally walking out while the director was talking was extremely rude and Lauren knew that Julia would take her firstborn if she ever did but Julia wasn't there. Nick, in the meantime, had caught on that Lauren wasn't listening and when she looked up he was staring right at her. She glanced at the door then back at him and mouthed 'Julia'. He gave her a slight nod and she inconspicuously snuck out.
Lauren wandered down the hall to the bathroom she was in minutes before with Brian. She swung the door open and heard the characteristic sound of someone throwing up in the last stall. She walked down to it and knocked.
"Jules? Are you in there?"
"Go away Lauren."
"Not a chance. You can't get rid of me that easily. Now open the door."
"Go back and listen to what Matt is saying. I'll be right there."
"If you don't open this door I'm going to crawl under it, which could be uncomfortable for both of us." Lauren heard the lock slide and the door opened. Julia was sitting on the floor and Lauren sunk down next to her.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"You don't seem fine."
"Its just a bug."
"How'd you get it?"
"I don't know."
"You should go home Jules."
"I told you I'm fine."
"If not for your sake for ours. The last thing we need is a repeat of the strep disaster." Just the mention of it was enough to make Julia shudder. Meredith had gotten strep from the kids she nannied for. Determined to work through it, she came to rehearsal sick and didn't tell anyone. Within two days the entire team had it. Which of course pushed back their whole rehearsal schedule and delayed a show.
"Its not contagious."
"How do you know?"
"I just do."
"How long have you had it?"
"It just started."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"I could swear you were sick this morning too."
"I was. By just started I meant like this morning."
"I don't think it just started. You seemed sick when I picked you up at the airport too."
"Well I wasn't. Its just a twenty-four hour thing. Okay?" Julia stood up and flushed the toilet. Lauren stood up to and grabbed her arm.
"Julia. We're going to be roommates again. It's hard to hide things from someone if you're living together. So, if there's something going on, tell me now. It's better than me finding out later. No judgment. Right now. This is your chance."
"There is nothing going on."
"Okay." Lauren looked at her doubtfully, "I'll be keeping an eye on you."
"Lo. Don't worry about me. There are so many more important things than a stomach bug. The show, Brian and Meredith's relationship, and most importantly Joe."
"You can tell me anything though. Despite that stuff I always am going to have time for my best friend."
"I know. And if I ever have a problem I'll tell you."
"Promise?"
"Yeah-yeah." Lauren knew by the way she averted her eyes that Julia didn't mean it. But, she decided to let it go for now. When she got home however she was definitely going to employ Jaime and Melissa to help with a full-scale investigation, "Now lets go. Nick and Matt are probably going nuts."
"I see you two have decided to grace us with your presence." Matt said the moment they entered, destroying any chances they had at entering unnoticed. Nick shot him a warning look, which he ignored.
"We were in the bathroom."
"I realize that. But thirty minutes is a bit extreme."
"It was a girl problem." That shut Matt up. And silenced every boy in the room. Once Joe had asked and in order to make sure it never happened again Lauren had told him exactly what happened when a girl went to the bathroom with other girls. They never asked again and just the words 'girl problem' were enough to deter them completely.
"As I was saying…." Matt restarted but no one was listening. Everyone was too wrapped up in either the Brian and Meredith situation or with what was happening with Julia to listen. Suddenly his voice was heard loudly, "I can see I'm not getting through to you! Rehearsal is over today! Can you guys please come tomorrow able to focus on what I'm saying?" There were nods all around and the Starkids started standing up. Lauren immediately snatched Darren.
"What's up?"
"Out here." She pulled him outside into the Chicago air and behind the building, "What happened a few months ago?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You and Julia. What happened?"
"She was in town. She came over. Some stuff happened. She left the next morning."
"Did she seem okay then?"
"What do you mean by 'okay'?"
"She didn't seem sick or preoccupied by anything."
"No." Lauren nodded to herself.
"So this is a new thing. Whatever it is."
"I would understand a little better if you explained what's going on." Lauren thought about telling him what happened in the bathroom. He would know what to do. But she thought better of it. If Julia didn't want Lauren to know she definitely wouldn't want Darren to know. She decided that if she Jaime and Melissa couldn't handle it within the next few days she would go straight to Darren.
"Its nothing. I was a little worried but I don't think its anything. If anything I think its probably residual worry from talking to Brian. If anything comes up I'll tell you." Lauren mentally punished her self for using almost exactly the same lie Julia had just used.
"Alrighty then. Need a ride?" Lauren looked at the parking lot where she saw that Melissa had driven up and Jaime and Julia were getting into her car.
"Nope." She smiled and gestured to the girls, "Got a reunion."
A/N- Hope you guys enjoyed it! I'm going to go write a one-shot now. Review!