Common Misconception

“Lauren, we need to talk.”

I pulled her aside once we'd gotten to the festival that afternoon. Most of the tents were over flowing with people who were trying to stay out of the sun. It was a good thing The Kick's were on the VIP list and still had access to their private lounge.

We separated from the group and weaved through the crowd to the lounge. It was nice and cool and empty. We sat down in two fancy looking velvet tufted wing backed chairs.

“What's going on, Lee?” Lauren asked enthusiastically. “Oh, is it okay if I call you that? Lee?”

I'd never been referred to as Lee without it following after Lynn, it seemed weird, but her British accent made it sound cool, so I didn't mind it.

“Sure.” She smiled in response. “I wanted to talk to you about...” I looked over her shoulder to make sure no one followed us in.

“About Dan?” She raised up an eyebrow and smirked. I could tell by her look that she'd found out that I found out that she knew about the previous night.“As his best friend you'd like to know my opinion on the whole incident?” She paused for a second. “I have to say, I'm a tiny bit disappointed, but mostly glad it happened.”

I furrowed my brows and pushed my body back, turning my ear towards her. “Excuse me?”

“Dan is rather picky” She scrunched her face like she'd smelt something bad. “He's shy, but at least the guy knows what he wants, right?”

“Uh, I guess?” I didn't know where to go with this. I looked down in my lap and shook my head. Lauren seemed to be happy that Daniel rejected me. I was confused and angry at the same time. I knew we only just met each other, but I, personally, would be a little more sympathetic towards someone who'd just been rejected. That shit is mortifying. “I really don't understand what's going on here. Do you like Daniel, or something? Is that why you're so protective over him?” I folded my arms across my body.

“Why does everyone think that?” She laughed out loud for a few seconds, but then quieted down once she noticed my irritated expression. “Oh, you're being serious?”

“Well, this whole situation is making you shit rainbows, so yeah, I'm a little peeved. I mean, you knew this whole time and you still embarrassed us at breakfast? You're not as nice as you seem, you know that?”

“What?” Lauren uncrossed her legs and sat straight, her body leaning slightly towards me. “I'm sorry Lee, I didn't mean to embarrass you. What happened at breakfast was just me teasing Dan. That's just how we are with each other. That bloke didn't even tell me.” She held up her hands accusingly and leaned back into her chair. “Not that it's any of my business.”

“No!” My voice grew louder “It's not any of your business! It was embarrassing enough that Daniel pushed me away, but then you had to go off and tell everyone.”

Lauren's timid expression suddenly grew into shock as her jaw hung low. She spoke soft and slowly. “What do you mean he 'pushed you away'?”

I was so agitated I didn't answer her.

“Oh dear Lord.” She covered her mouth. “You mean to tell me that you two didn't hook up?”

“What?” I looked at her surprised. “No.”

“Lee” She inched forward in her chair until our knees were touching. She grabbed my arms and held onto them. “I am so sorry!”

“Wait, what did you think?”

She scooted back into her chair, covering her mouth once again. “You two had been acting so friendly towards one another. Last night, you were gone for quiet some time. I looked around and when I approached the trailer I saw you and Dan through the window. Your arms were around each other, so I left assuming you two were...”

Lauren and I stared at one another. I felt a tickling sensation in my lungs the heavier I breathed. I don't know if it was because I was so embarrassed, or because of how ridiculous the whole situation was, but I started laughing. It was muffled at first, and slowly grew louder.

“Oh” Lauren sat there confused as she watched me, not knowing what was going on.

I was bent over by this point. tears streaming down my face. Even if I wanted to stop I couldn't I was having a full on laugh attack.

Lauren began laughing as she watched me squirm. Her pale skin growing red the more hearty her laugh became. The two of us eventually ended up on the floor. It took us a few minutes to finally catch our breath.

“I feel like such an idiot for teasing you two this morning. I thought you two were being shy for a completely different reason.” Lauren's hands laid over her forehead. “Oh my God, how fucking embarrassing!”

“It's okay, you really didn't know.” We laughed again for a brief second. “Honestly, I just had a bad break-up before I came here. It ended with my ex completely ignoring me. I don't even know if I like Daniel like that, but I guess the attention he was giving me made me feel special again. Poor guy was probably just trying to be nice, but I took it the wrong way.”

Lauren turned towards me and examined my face. “I'm sorry to hear that about your ex”

“It's okay. Shit happens.” I laid on my back and stared up at the tent's ceiling.

I hadn't thought about Connor the entire time we were in LA, but just the mere mention of his name flooded my mind with memories. I felt my eyes welling up, so I quickly changed the subject.

“You never answered my question.” I sat back up and leaned against the foot of the chair. “Do you have feelings for Daniel?”

“I don't know” She sat up as well and held her knees in her arms. “Our friendship is much too important to me.”

“Friendships end up being the best relationships. If you have any feeling towards him, I really think you should explore them.”

“I don't want to ruin what we have. I mean honestly, we can't live without each other, we've become that dependent.”

Lauren and I helped each other off the floor. “Between us, Daniel seems really into you. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you take a chance." I paused for a second and looked over at her. "Promise me you'll take a chance.”

Lauren smiled. “We should probably get going. I'm sure everyone's wondering where we are.”

We headed back towards the main concert area.

Adam, Kadie, and Jebrone were off meeting with potential clients, so I stuck with “The Brits” (as we'd refer to them) for the rest of the day. There was the awkward exchange between Daniel and I, but we managed to keep clear of each other for most of the day.

We roamed from stage to stage and saw most of our favorite bands, and artists, perform in the span of the day.

“Lynn!” I heard Kadie shout  as she ran up from behind me. The last show of the night had just ended and everyone was heading back to the parking lot to head home. I separated from the group to meet Kadie halfway. “How'd it go with Lauren?”

“Huge misunderstanding! She thought Daniel and I hooked up and she was just trying to tease him about it. She felt horrible when I told her what really happened.”

Kadie laughed. “Honestly, she seems too nice to be a bitch. I'm glad it worked out.”

We began walking towards the parking lot when I noticed a couple of people in the far distance, standing between two cars. I squinted my eyes and saw that it was Daniel. His hands were wrapped around Lauren's face as he leaned down to kiss her. Her smile was so big, it could've been seen from space. I smiled back at Kadie, “Yeah, I'm glad it worked out too”