you make me sick (for being so perfect)

Fourteen.

                  

Lauren wiggles her fingers between Camila's as she waits for the door in front of them to open, her heart pounding through her chest. While she knows she trusts Camila, she's incredibly nervous for her to meet her art class friends, because she doesn't know if it'll go well. She's never faced this situation before and has no idea what to expect.

"Lo?" Camila seems to sense her nerves, and Lauren hums in acknowledgement, her eyes looking over the patterns carved into the door in front of them. "Don't be nervous, honey. All that's going to happen is I'm going to meet your friends."

"I don't know how it'll happen, though." Lauren tells her. "That's what makes me nervous. It's not you."

"I didn't think it was me," Camila is quick to assure her, and Lauren's worry melts away. "I just want you to be comfortable, Lolo. I can always go home if you're not ready for me to meet your art class friends."

"No, don't go," Lauren keeps a tight grip on her hand in case Camila decides she's going to leave anyway. "Alexa wants to meet you. And Keana and Lucy, and I guess Lucy's girlfriend Vero, but I don't know if she's here. Sometimes she doesn't come and hang out with us."

"Okay," Camila nods as the door in front of them swings open, and her thumb traces patterns over Lauren's knuckles, probably in an effort to calm her down.

"Lo," Alexa sends her a wide smile, and Lauren looks up for a moment to return it, before looking down at her shoes. "This must be Camila? She's told me lots about you, actually- it's really cute. Come in!"

At the prompt, Lauren enters Alexa's house, still holding onto Camila's hand. She takes her shoes off and then looks up at Alexa, pointing to Camila. "Lex? This is Camz. She's my girlfriend."

"I know, Lo," Alexa laughs, but Lauren doesn't know what's funny. "You told me she was coming with you the other day when you texted me. Lucy and Keana are in the lounge if you want to introduce them to your girlfriend."

"Is Vero here?" Lauren asks as she grabs Camila's hand again, tugging her towards Alexa's lounge. "I want Camz to meet her too."

"Nope, she's not," Alexa tells her, "but maybe you and Camila can go on a double date with Lucy and Vero. Then they can meet."

Lauren looks up at Camila with hopeful eyes, because really, that's the best idea she's heard all week. "Yes! Camz, can we go on a double date with Lucy and Vero?"

Camila shrugs. "If you want, I guess."

"Okay," Lauren nods and sits down on the couch next to Lucy, making sure that Camila is next to her. Then, she kisses her girlfriend on the cheek and announces to the room, "This is Camila, she's my girlfriend. Isn't she pretty?"

Camila blushes, presumably at Lauren's compliment, as her friends greet her. Lauren tunes out a little bit as Keana takes Camila into conversation, but smiles when she feels someone take hold of her free hand and she turns around to see Lucy.

"Hi," Lauren lets go of Camila's hand and holds her fist out for Lucy to bump, their usual greeting, as Lucy doesn't like hugs unless they're from Vero. "You weren't at art class on Wednesday. Why weren't you there?"

"I was with Vero." Lucy replies and starts fiddling with Lauren's fingers. Lauren doesn't mind it, because she knows it's one of Lucy's stims. "She asked me to skip. Would you skip if your Camila asked you to?"

"No," Lauren shakes her head quickly, because art class is part of her usual routine and she doesn't want to ruin that. "I would never miss art class. Maybe one day Camila can come with me to it, but she's not good at art. She drew that picture on my wall that's like a stick person with green eyes."