Never Let Me Go (Camren/Norminah)

Chapter 27: He Died Every Night to Let Her Breathe

"Yours is the light by which my spirit is born; yours is the darkness of my soul's return — you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars."

- E.E Cummings

***

Lauren found a great joy in half dragging, half guiding her set of hungover companions through the best parts of the city like a mini walking zombie band. They began by picking up some post-breakfast snow cones, blue for Lucas, a cherry red for Cam, and a bright purple grape for Emily. The kids walked in a line of three in front of the rest, talking amongst themselves and disrupting without shame, nearly every other pedestrian that tried to use the sidewalk.

When they arrived on campus, things were expectedly quiet. A few students were dashed between the buildings, others biking across the cobblestone expanses and sitting two by two on the lawns. Ally had found a set of benches, and instructed the kids to sit and finish their sugary treats before they ended up as stains on their shirts.

"I guess summer classes haven't started yet." Camila yawned, lifting her sunglasses an inch before wincing at how bright the day was and setting them back in place. "I'm going to run to the cafeteria in the north residence and get some fries. My body needs something to soak up all the fun from last night."

Lauren nodded watching in amusement as she hooked her arm in Normani's and yanked the equally has hungover girl with her, both of them meandering to one of the larger buildings and disappearing inside. Lauren sat down next to Cam, both elbows balancing behind her as she looked out over the campus.

"Things really haven't changed a whole bunch." Dinah commented from beneath her own set of sunglasses. "I overheard there was a new Starbucks in the library though. That might have done me well back during exams."

"And they accept the app." Ally added. "That also might have done you well back during exams."

"Aunt Dinah, did you drink a lot when you were in school?" Emily asked. The girl was seated next to her, nibbling happily at her grape snow cone that Lauren was only seconds from stealing away for a bite.

"What?" Dinah straightened up. "Pfft, noo of course not. I didn't— I mean we never— what did your mother tell you?"

Emily blinked. "You know I'm talking about coffee, right? Like from Starbucks?"

Ally had one leg folded over the other, her arms folded as she whistled to herself.

"Oh." Dinah shrugged. "Yeah, I was a caffeine addict. Here's my advice, don't go crazy on the coffee until you get to university or college. If you exhaust your resources by then, the caffeine isn't going to do anything to you, and you'll end up falling asleep in almost every class you take."

Emily laughed, Cameron doing the same without a clue why. After finishing off his snow cone, he handed Lauren the garbage and took off across the grass, laughing hysterically in the sunshine. "Would you go keep an eye on him sweetie?" The green eyed girl leaned over to Ally's daughter, smiling hopefully. "Because I know if I ask Lucas all he'll do is roll his eyes."

The girl nodded with a grin, handing what was left of her snow cone to her mother and hopping off the bench, racing after the five year old. Lauren looked on as they tumbled around the grass, laughing and enjoying the weather. Meanwhile, her eldest son sat next to her, his legs curled up on the bench seat and face buried in his snow cone. He looked up when she tapped him, his lips and surrounding mouth stained a deep blue.

"You should get up and join them out there, grouchy smurf." She teased, draping her arm over his shoulder.

"Okay, Gargamel." Lucas replied quickly, drinking down what was left of his cone and handing her the leftovers in the exact same way Cameron had. The boy slid out from beneath her arm, joining the others on the grass and executing a number of fancy flips and twists before landing on his feet.