By Sun and Candlelight / CAMREN

Chapter 16 - Brunch

Lauren drove home from her date, smiling the whole way. She walked into her house, being careful to stay quiet and not wake Lori. Normani and Ruby were on the couch, watching a movie. Normani immediately grabbed the remote and turned it off.

"How did it go?" Normani asked, buoyed by the clear grin on Lauren's face.

"It was really great," Lauren said, with a happy sigh. She kicked off her shoes and sat down on the loveseat and pulled her feet up underneath her. "How was Lori?"

"She was fine," Ruby said, waving off the question, "We want to hear about your date."

Normani giggled and Lauren looked at Ruby and grinned.

"You are just like your mother," Lauren said, smiling at Ruby.

"So, tell us!" Normani said.

"Well, I was surprised when I got there to see Camila limping around using a crutch," Lauren said.

"Oh, please tell me she wasn't actually stuck under a rock," Normani said, raising an eyebrow.

"Shush, Mani," Lauren said, grinning, "I asked her what happened, but she wanted to eat first and relax. She ordered from Lorenzo's – have you been there?"

"I love Lorenzo's," Ruby said excitedly, "Mom took me there on my birthday!"

"The food was incredible, and we had a lovely dinner," Lauren said, "And then we sat on the couch and spent a lot of time talking about ourselves. Camila was in a serious accident last year. Her car was hit by a drunk driver and she was badly injured. Her best friend was killed."

"Oh my god," Normani said, her voice soft and filled with concern.

"She still suffers from the injuries sometimes," Lauren said, "And she's been hurting since the festival last weekend."

"That sucks," Ruby said, matter-of-factly.

"Ruby, you know I hate when you say that," Normani chided.

"Sorry," Ruby said, then she added quietly, "But it does."

"Anyway," Lauren said, before Normani could correct Ruby further, "She's still healing and sometimes it gets very painful. Now that I know what's going on, she can be more open to letting me help her when she needs it."

"That's good," Normani said, "Dinah seems so protective of Camila– now I understand why."

"I told her a bit about my life as well," Lauren said, "About Justin."

"You told her?" Normani said, her mouth agape. Normani knew that Lauren never talked about Lori's father with anyone.

"Yes, she's already a close friend and now that our relationship is changing, I wanted her to know," Lauren said.

"So, is she your girlfriend?" Ruby asked, grinning.

"We didn't label it," Lauren said, chuckling, "But I guess so."

"Did you kiss?" Ruby asked, giggling.

"Ruby, that's rude!" Normani said, smiling then looking at Lauren, "Did you?"

Lauren laughed at Normani's foolishness then nodded, feeling the blush on her face, "Yes, we kissed. And it was very nice. Also, I invited her to brunch on Sunday. I hope you guys don't mind."

"Not at all," Normani answered happily.

"Are you going to invite Dinah?" Ruby asked, looking at Normani.

The question caught Normani off guard and her mind went blank for a moment. "Umm..." she said, looking at Lauren with an expression pleading for help.

"Mom, I know you guys have something going on," Ruby huffed out, "I'm not stupid. You were flirting with each other at the Harvest Festival and she calls you, like, every night."