quotd:what is the most dead ship in all of fifth harmony?
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The next day consisted of rigorous training for the young females. Normani, Kehlani, and Ally occupied the punching bag portion of the room, Ashley and Dinah practiced combat skills while Lauren guided Hayley and Ariana in the shooting ranges. Amongst the two hackers, the petite, brunette seemed to be having the most difficulties; contrasting the blonde haired latter whom immediately got the hang of the weapon.

"This is pointless." The Italian descent suppressed an annoyed huff; slamming the machinery against the table before her.

The emerald eyed Cuban had been analyzing and observing the structures of both females and had already identified what Ariana was doing wrong. She wasn't confident,  mentally or physically.

"Step one, always breathe," Lauren began as she retrieved the abandoned pistol from the table. "Inhaling and exhaling is crucial, it provides a clear mindset and assures that your attention is primarily on the target at hand." She settled the gun into the latter's hand whom took it with minimal resistance. "Step two is structure. Bend your knees slightly and raise your arms." The leader's skillful fingers curved around the older woman's arms, setting them into position before releasing; resulting in Ariana releasing a shaky breath from the contact.

The shorter brunette took the advice into initiative; squinting her left eye and gripping onto the trigger, squeezing it in a quickening velocity. The bullet whizzed by the target as it enabled a aggravated groan from the female grasping onto the firearm.

"Breathe, Ari. Breathe."

Lauren's emeralds were full of sincereness, strength, and confidence concocted into one fierce mixture and that was enough for the Italian descent to swirl around, inhaling and exhaling as she pulled the trigger; the bullet flying in an increased velocity before hitting it's target. The room flooded in applause as Ariana finally succeeded in her task; earning high fives from her teammates while proceeding out the exit of the training center.

"You did great," The Cuban leader complimented while resting a hand on the latter's shoulder. "You're really badass, Ariana." Her remark and gesture was cordial but it was able to make the brunette hacker drop to her knees in joy long after she left.
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The note hung tapped to her wooden door, containing the handwriting of an owner that she adored more than life itself. Camila. That's why she remained sitting on her mattress in pure solitude, the words on the note echoing through her mind with the younger Latina's sultry, sinful tone that was laced with her accent of descent.

To my dearest Lauren,

I know how you're feeling right now; hurt, abandoned, and full of doubt. But, you don't need to because none of my doings resulted from you, from anyone of you. If your heart is still with mine, meet me at our spot and I swear to tell you the whole truth.

~XOXO Camila

The emerald eyed Cuban was flooded with contrasting and contradicting thoughts. A part of her wanted to ignore the claim, discarding it into the abyss of her mind but the other couldn't deny the burning urge she felt to see Camila. In short contemplation, she decided the latter; standing up to acquire a pair of ripped jeans, her '1975' graphic t-shirt, black combat boots and noting the chilled air during the evening, she threw on a black hoodie. Finishing, the raven haired female proceeded cautiously upon opening her rather creaky door; a few squeaks being made before she fully made it into the hallway, shutting her bedroom door, and meandering throughout the corridors.
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The ebony's back was rested against the headboard of her bed; glasses hung at the bridge of her nose as her eyes flickered through the writings on the pages. Being in an infamous gang didn't cease her admiration for reading as it granted her with knowledge expansion and an escape from reality.

"Beautiful."

The word was hardly audible but it was enough for Normani to note the Polynesian's presence in the corner of the room; she didn't even realize that she entered the vicinity.

"Can I aid you with anything, Dinah?"
She closed the book in her hand, resting it on the nightstand beside her before settling her gaze on the blonde.

Dinah suppressed a light chuckle as she began to move towards the majestic melanin woman whom still remained in her position; the mattress dipping upon her sitting beside her companion.

"We need to talk." The statement was long dreaded, both women intended to shy away from the conversation but they knew that it couldn't be avoided forever.

"About what exactly?"

"Listen, Normani," Dinah's hand took ahold of the other's, interlocking them together before continuing. "I accepted our terms of merely benefiting from one another with pleasure, no strings attached, because I needed an excuse to be closer to you at an intimate level. I personally never though that I'd let myself fall this deep for you but once I did, I opted to detach myself from you but I failed; only causing myself to descend deeper."

"Dinah..." Normani began as her eyes brimmed with forming tears.

"Coursing from your eyes, to your full pink lips is the sole reason why I continue on with my days; willing myself to wake up. I don't want to be bonded to the fantasy of awakening to that beautifully gracious smile of yours or to devote my life to hearing your sarcastic remark to whatever I do but in reality, I need that. I need you. Every ounce of my soul has fallen prey to you, Normani. You've captivated me in a way that no other lover of mine has and I don't plan on ever letting-" Her words were cut short by the older female's lips that pressed gently against her own.

Dinah was taken aback by the bold action that she was unaware that would take place but she regained control of her mentality and reciprocated the movement. The blonde lightly bit down on the ebony's lower lip, asking for further access which Normani gladly accepted as she allowed her to explore her wet cavern. The kiss continued for a few more minutes before the Islander pulled away; hand caressing the ebony's cheek as she ran her thumb along her bottom lip, foreheads resting against her's.

"-you go." She finished, inhaling and exhaling heavily in attempt to catch her breathing and Normani simply giggled at the female's bashfulness before kissing her once more.
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Kehlani and Ashley made another successful drop after a tedious evening of waiting on the dimly lit street corner; anxiously waiting for their next customer to arrive at the required meet up.

"I can't believe that man had us waiting over two hours for his ass." Ashley released a drawn out sigh as she rested her head against the window, eyes scanning the desolate streets.

"Yeah, but at least we got the money." Kehlani smirked as she peered over at the resting lilac haired female before averting her gaze back to the rose ahead of them.

The drive continued in a silent matter, both women immersed in their own separated worlds before they noted a familiar figure walking in the shadows of the night.

"Ashley, is that...Lauren?"

The duo confirmed their suspicions when seeing the similar worn out black sweatshirt that Lauren held close to her heart and the wave of black hair that escaped from her hood.

"Why is she out here at this time of night?"

"I don't know but I think we should follow her." Kehlani suggested, turning off her head lights as she crept a few feet behind the emerald eyed leader.

"Lani, I don't know if that the b-"

"We don't know what she's getting herself into, it's better to take precautions than none at all."

Giving up on protesting, Halsey slouched in her chair, hand resting on her forehead as they continued with the unknown trek of where the Cuban was heading.
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The shallow body of water glistened from the luminous moonlight that shone brightly on it. From the distance a lone figure stood at the edge of the dock; hands shoved in their back pants pockets as they peered out at the river.

"I knew you'd come," The brunette turned around, a bandana clung towards the lower half of her face but her radiant, chocolate orbs were present; more bold and lively than ever. "It's not like you to pass up an offer."

"Enough procrastinating, Camila," Lauren's voice was curt, enraged by the female standing in front of her. "I want the truth."

"Straight to the point without any form of welcome? You haven't changed one bit, Laur." The once deceased latter trekked towards the raven haired woman until she was merely feet away from her.

"It's surprising that you haven't either, noting that you're breathing and alive rather than being dead like you're supposed to be."

"Lauren, I had to fake my death to keep and the other safe. That's always been my main priority and that's all I can tell you, okay? But know that I always will do the best for you all."

"That's all you can tell me? Camila, what the hell is going on here? One minute I was burying you, balling my eyes out for you and how devastated I was and the next, you're writing me a note for your explanation of why you're not dead."

"Wow, to me it seems as though you wish that I was gone." Camila scoffed lightly, her tongue pushed against the inside of her cheek.

"You know that's not true but how do you expect me to react?" Lauren's emerald orbs glistened under the moonlight and it took everything in the younger Latina's willpower from pouncing on her like old times.  "How'd you do it?"

"With my help." A taller blonde female appeared, gun trained at Lauren as more women proceeded towards the dock; weapons raised.

"Taylor, I told you to wait."

"You reunion was taking longer than expected, Mila." Taylor smirked eyes flickering between the two women.

"Taylor? I should've known you were behind this mess." Lauren began, hand reaching in her back pocket for her concealed firearm but the brunette grasped onto her arm; gun cocked as she rested it on the side of her ex lover's skull.

"We don't want to fight Lauren, we just want your intel on rival gangs and you're free to go."

"Over my dead body." The Cuban twisted herself out of the petite woman's grip, retrieving her gun and aiming it at the latter.

"That can be arranged."

"She means, over our dead bodies." Ashley and Kehlani emerged from the woodlands, bandanas wrapped around their mouths with weapons pointed towards the other women.

"Stop this Camila." Ashley called out towards her ex gang member. "We don't need any more blood shed, just please come back to us."

"Come back to you?" The dark haired, Scottish woman cackled. "She practically begged us to recruit her. She was alone and broken and with our help, we mended her sorrows that you all created."

"Let's go girls, we'll get her next time."

With those words, all four women, including Camila, hopped onto their waiting motorcycles; the engine revving before disappearing into the night.

"Hey, you okay, Laur?" The melanin woman of the trio questioned.

"Yeah, I'm good." Lauren's small smile masked her true feeling of fear and worry. Fearing what would become of her gang with this newly, prominent threat and worried that she would never let go of Camila.
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I know that you all were on the verge of killing me for not updating soon but here is the long awaited update. I've gone through a lot of issues including the new of the closing of my school and upcoming exams and projects taking place so I haven't had time to sit down and write but I finally got the chance to on my break.

Hopefully you all liked this messy chapter and I'll see you on the next update! P.S. How are you guys liking Badlands, is it any good?

Normani slayed at the BBMAS! That spinnnnnn yassss queeeennnn! Normani is here for the throne!