So this is it. I have a criminal record now. Great.

The man who arrested me roughly throws me into the cell, closing the metal bar door behind me and glaring at me before striding away. I stand there by the door for a second, regretting every decision I've ever made and wondering if I could possibly get him to let me go before I finally sigh and turn around, heading to a bench on the other side of the room from the one taken by another girl. She has dark hair and pale hands, is wearing something a a lot more criminal-y than my own outfit that consists of skinny joggers and an oversized, extremely comfy hoodie, but I can't see her face because she's looking down and picking at the loose threads of a hole in her jeans. I want to not notice the spots of dried blood on the bottom half of her right leg but it's nearly impossible. That's why I didn't sit beside her.

Still, though, after five minutes of sitting in this cold, bare room I get bored.

"I'm Y/n." I say, having to clear my throat because the first attempt was silent and dry.

She responds with a grunt-like sound and a shift of her body in her seat.

"What- What are you in for?" I ask the mysterious girl, regretting it instantly when she looks up at me. She's gorgeous - mesmerising, really. Something about her bone structure seems almost primal, and perhaps it's accentuated by the wild, animalistic look in her light eyes and the perfectly bushy brows that perch above them.

She cracks her knuckles, the sound seeming to reverberate around the walls, as she slowly drags her eyes across my body. Then she speaks with a hot smirk and causal tone, "Shot a guy in the foot with a stolen gun. You?"

"I uh... I robbed an... animal shelter." I speak in broken sentences because I'm in the same room as a murderer, probably, or at least a crazy person who'd steal a gun and shoot someone in the foot with it, and she's damn near perfect-looking. Would anyone not be stuttering at this point?

"What did the guy do?" I ask after a minute's silence. Our eyes hadn't left each other's and I find myself wondering what color hers are. It's hard to tell from this far away but true definitely of a light hue.

"Thank you." She says quietly, and I frown in confusion, "Nobody's asked me that yet." Yet as in the time she's been in here? How long is that? Had... had she done something like this before?

I nod slowly and she looks away as she continues, "He..."

She shakes her head quickly and looks back up at me, "What did you steal?"

What? Is she just going to ignore the question? I probably shouldn't have asked it. She's probably crazy. Crazy and beautiful.

She probably thinks we're best friends now.

"I didn't really steal anything." I reply, and she tilts her head to the side and furrows her brows, "There were a bunch of cats they were going to euthanise tomorrow morning, and they weren't letting anyone take them tonight so I... broke in and saved them all."

That's when she tossed her head back in laughter, clapping her hands together and making me flinch.

When she returned her eyes to me they were squinting from her smile. Suddenly, she got to her feet and made her way over to me, sitting on the seat beside me and sticking her hand out to me.

Oh great, she definitely thinks we're best friends now.

"I'm Lauren." She introduces herself. That's a... normal name. Maybe she's okay.

"Hi." I say sheepishly and shake her hand, cautious to touch her because she could've just killed a man and I don't know why.

"What happened to the cats you didn't steal?" She asks, and in her green eyes I see both amusement and curiosity. Green. She has green eyes. Green and blue and there's little bits of brown as well, almost like a map of Earth.

"You have really pretty eyes." I comment, unable to say anything else. The only proof that she heard me is a blink, but that could be coincidence.

I cough and inform her that they took them all back.

I thought she'd laugh again, but she just nods and lets her eyes fall to her feet... and her bloodstained shoe.

As though only now noticing it, she quickly bends down and takes the shoe off, tossing it into the corner of the room closest to her, before she rolls her jeans up so the blood on them isn't visible anymore. Then she clears her throat as she sits back up.

She seems nervous as she looks back into my eyes.

"He was abusive." She states simply, eyes darting between mine, "The man I shot. I stole the gun from him and shot him with it because he deserves to feel the pain he inflicted on others; on his wife and daughter and... on the woman he cheated on them with." When she adds the last part the corner of her jaw tightens, making her temples do the same, and she looks out at the holding cell's door.

I stay solemnly silent, not sure what else to do.

"I- she didn't know. She didn't know that he had a wife and daughter when she went home with him that first night. She didn't know until..." there's a pause, and I get an inkling she's talking about herself, "until she shot him."

Subconsciously, my hand reaches out and rests on her thigh, making her jump and look down at it.

"I expect someone will be coming to bail you out soon." She mumbles, and when she looks back at me my heart rate rockets until I can practically hear it echoing in the room.

"Maybe." I shrug, wanting to change the atmosphere a little, "My parents are super strict, though. If they know I've technically broken the law they'll likely want me to stay the night to learn my lesson."

She nods, a small smirk crossing her lips before faltering, "My parents were strict too."

Were. "What happened to them?"

"Nothing, I think. I ran away from home when I was fifteen."

Damn, she's had a rough life.

She chuckles, "And I expect you'll be hearing all about it with your questions."

"Oh. I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"It's okay."

"So, where are you from Y/n?"

—

"Y/n Y/l/n!" A loud voice booms, followed by the changing of metal. My eyes peel open and instantly close again because it's too bright. Then I feel a warmth beside me and almost leap out of the hard mattress, succeeding in banging my hand against the wall.

"You're free to go." The man continues, and I look about myself with confusion before remembering I'm in jail. Wow. How could I forget something like that?

"Okay." I croak, still trying to wake up fully. I look down to see Lauren looking up at me with wide eyes, chest heaving quickly, and I smile a little.

Last night she'd had nightmares that made her thrash about in bed. I'd had to wake her up in fear she'd hurt herself and even though I barely knew her, when she asked if I could stay in her bed I couldn't say no. The prison cell was cold anyway so I'd be grateful for the warmth she'd provide.

"Hey," I say quietly as the policeman turns around and busied himself with looking up and down the hall, obviously getting impatient, "When you get out, call me." I smile, and she frowns.

"I don't have your number." She points out, and my face falls. I clearly didn't think this through.

"Um..." I drawl as I think of how I could give it to her. "Excuse me, officer!" I call, and he turns quickly. It's a different one from last night, so he might be a little friendlier.

Upon asking if he had a pen, though, he shakes his head.

"Not until you're out of here." He explains. I guess that makes sense; they don't want people vandalising the cell. Suddenly I get an idea.

"Tell me yours, I'll put it in my phone when I'm out." I suggest and her face lights up.

What happened to me call her a crazy murderer? Well, first of all I got to know her more over the night. We didn't stop talking until an officer came back and told us to stop because we had been laughing too loudly. She was nice about it though, so me and Lauren decided to go to bed. Before that, though, I found out that she's actually really nice... apart from the fact that she shot someone. She didn't have a choice though.

She's artistic and she loves to sing, and she is apparently great at making cocktails since she worked in a bar before the whole 'that guy' thing happened (she never told me his name so I never asked).

And she loves animals too, which is why she laughed when I told her why I was arrested. She said it reminded her of what she would've done before 'everything'.

She had some issues, of course, but I'd only known her for a night and I think I'd already stared seeing through them to the person beneath.

She tells me her number and I repeat it a few times to remember it before climbing out of bed and giving her a hug. Oh yeah, she told me she's a hugger.

"Good luck." I say into her hair, and she nods. I didn't have to specify what she'd need the luck for.

She lets go first and I quickly do the same, noticing my mother standing behind the officer now. When did she get here?

"Bye Lauren." I say over my shoulder when I reach the door, trying to mentally prepare myself for the scolding I'm about to get.

"Bye Y/n. And, thanks."

I nod and leave, the officer locking the door behind me before I gather my things from the tray at the front desk.

I'm putting her number into my phone when my mom finishes signing paperwork and makes her way up to me.

"New friend, huh?" She asks in a judging tone. I shrug and watch her face turn sour.

"What'd she do? Drugs? Vandalism?" She asks, and I decide to spare her the truth in fear she'd have a heart attack.

"She was just caught up in something unfortunate." I nod to assure myself and she scoffs. God, I hate her sometimes.

"Well I don't like her. I don't want you getting caught up in something unfortunate. And speaking of you, what do you think you're doing breaking the law!?"

I sigh and follow her out of the station, into the car, and back home. All the while ignoring the lesson she's supposedly teaching me and thinking about the girl I've just met.

I hope to dear god she'll get the better end of the case's outcome.