Hey so this is a bit heavy on the feels. Hope you enjoy please review x x

Darren's muffled voice carried through the apartment door, begging them to open up. Julia listened apprehensively, as his fist once again hammered on the wood, causing the entire door frame to shake. He'd been out there for the past hour and there was no sign of him giving up.

"Just let him in Juls," Meredith whispered quietly, leaning against Brian's shoulder, "he's not going to leave."

Julia nodded slowly and got up. She took a deep breath as she opened the door, preparing herself for the emotional mess that would greet her,

"Where is she Julia?… I need to talk to her," Darren pleaded, lunging forwards. Julia immediately stepped towards him, blocking his path. Up close she could see that is hazel eyes were bloodshot and exhausted, hollowed by dark purple shadows.

"Darren…"

"Please…let me see her. I won't leave, I won't" he choked, gripping her arm desperately. His voice was rising hysterically. She felt Brian's hand on her shoulder, pulling her back as he stepped past her.

"Dar bro, shut up for a second and just listen. We're not going to let you see Lauren in this state, so either you get your shit together or go home."

Darren stared at him in disbelief,

"Are you f**king kidding me? She's my girlfriend. I have a right to see her."

"Ya, because you've been a fantastic boyfriend," Julia interjected, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"None of this is any of your business," he growled.

"I think you should go," Brian reasoned, "give her some space."

"What makes you think you know best?! Get the f**k out of my way and LET ME SEE HER!" Darren roared, making a go for Brian.

Julia flinched back against the wall. She'd never seen him act like this. Brian, on the other hand, appeared unfazed and in control. He shoved Darren against the wall, pinning him there and after a few seconds he stopped struggling. Brian let go of him hesitantly and stood back. A tense silence hung between them. Darren looked down at the ground, ashamed,

"Is she ok?" he asked eventually, his voice breaking.

"What do you think?" Julia hissed.

Darren lifted his head and stared at her in desperation,

"Julia, I love her... Please, just give me a chance."

She stood with her arms crossed, appraising him. She was torn. A part of her wanted to shut the door in his face, yell the face off him and never let him near Lauren again; while the other half of her accepted that Lauren needed him right now. She needed to hear everything directly from Darren,

"Ok," she said coldly.

He looked up disbelievingly and she nodded, "she's in her room."

She stepped back. Without sparing them another glance, Darren was gone, taking the familiar route to the small bedroom at the end of the hall. Reaching Lauren's door, he stopped suddenly, consumed by fear. He pushed the door open tentatively and saw her small figure curled up on the bed, her back to him. Jaime was kneeling down on the floor beside her, talking in a soft hushed tone. She stopped as Darren stepped in and looked up. Lauren remained completely still.

Jaime stood and walked over towards him. She opened her mouth about to say something but closed it a second later. She gave him a pitying look and shrugged past him, closing the door on her way out. His throat had all of a sudden become extremely dry,

"Lo?" he croaked.

She didn't answer. Darren walked over and sat down facing her. He reached forward and took her icy hand, "Lauren, let me explain. It's not what you think."

Her eyes shifted into focus and he felt a lump form in his throat as he saw the distrust in her eyes,

"I was helping Devin catch up with the school work she missed. Afterwards ...Devin kissed me...and I guess, in the moment, I let her," he choked, edging closer to her and squeezing her limp hand, "it was a mistake and it meant nothing... nothing."

"Why didn't you just tell me at the bar?" Lauren whispered weakly.

"I was afraid. I can't lose you Lauren."

"I thought... I don't know," she mumbled.

"Lo, I promise you, it was a mistake."

A silent tear rolled down Lauren's cheek. Darren reached forward and wiped it away, his touch soft and tender,

"I thought you were different. I gave you my heart and convinced myself that you weren't like other guys… I thought you'd never hurt me."

"I thought I was protecting you."

"From what? Devin?" she asked, pulling her small hand out of his hold.

Darren sat back defeated and placed his head in his hands, "I was protecting you from this. I thought that keeping it from you would save you from getting hurt. It's not like the kiss meant anything, so I figured it was best if it was just forgotten about."

"You know it means something to Devin."

"I don't care about Devin! I care about you!" he said, slamming his fist against the wall, "Tell me how to fix this Lauren. What do I do?"

"...I don't know ...I think maybe...maybe we should take a break," she stuttered quietly.

Darren's head snapped up, "what? NO! Please Lo, we can get past this…"

"I need some time. Time to focus on school, on other things."

Darren was now on his feet, pacing back and forth frantically, running his hands through his dishevelled curls,

"No Lo, you can't give up on us. I made a mistake, I'm sorry... I'll do anything."

Lauren sat up slowly and hugged her knees to her chest,

"Darren stop, this is killing me! Do you think I've just stopped loving you? Do you think I want us to break up? Do you think I want any of this?" she cried.

"Then let's not break up," Darren reasoned, slumping down on the bed next to her.

"You don't understand!"

"I'm trying," he breathed, the exhaustion invading every inch of his body.

Lauren stayed silent for a minute before speaking, "There's stuff you don't know about. Stuff I tried to forget about when I came to college."

"What?"

"Nothing important," she sighed, glancing away nervously

"Don't push me away Lo."

"I need time," she said softly, standing up, "trust is a really big issue for me and I need to figure things out."

"So this is your solution?" Darren asked deflated, "why don't we start all over, take things one step at a time? Let me prove to you. "

Lauren's head began to shake from side to side, "stop making this harder than it already is."

Darren bowed his head in defeat, "I made a mistake. Don't do this. I can't live my life without you Lo."

Lauren's chocolate brown eyes glistened as the tears flowed down her face, "Darren stop…"

Darren stood and took a step towards her. She was wearing the blue hoodie that she'd been wearing the first time he'd ever met her and the memory of that day started playing over and over in his head.

"You still love me," he stated.

She didn't say anything but he knew her answer. Without warnig, he leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips, his hands on her waist, pulling her towrads him and closing the gap between them. She pulled away after a few seconds, but it was enough to let him know,

"I think you should go," she whispered, extracting herself from his arms.

Darren nodded and reluctantly turned away.

"I'm not giving up on you," he said, reaching the bedroom door and looking back at her.

Lauren lowered herself down onto the floor, as the door clicked shut and hugged herself tightly. She waited for the tears to return, but all she felt was a numbness.

:'( We'll have to see how things work out.