Bound To You (camren au)

love (for the first time), part 1

settle in and get some snacks bc this is gonna be a long one

-

So, if you asked Camila what exactly she thought her life was going to be like after her soulmate and her best friend packed up and moved away to San Francisco, she wouldn't be able to tell you. In all honesty, right after it happened, she couldn't tell you what was going to go down the day after Lauren left, much less, well - much less five years later.

Oh - right. Another thing she didn't really prepare for.

See, when Lauren Jauregui walked out of Camila's life and took Camila's heart with her, she'd never really talked about any plans to come back. They made a clean break. It was what they needed.

Camila assumed the healing and the much-needed therapy and the soul-searching would take a while. A long time, sure. She wouldn't have cried so hard if she'd thought Lauren was going to come back anytime soon, right? Her heart wouldn't have cracked in two unless she'd figured that Lauren was going to be gone for a very, very long time.

She'd expected it on some level, okay? That Lauren wouldn't be back for a while.

She didn't think it would take five years, but - let's be honest, she never really saw any of this coming in the first place.

-

"Angel, it's time to get up."

A lot can change in five years.

"Honey." A pillow thwacks into Camila's ribcage, but it still manages to be lovingly gentle. "You're gonna be late for work."

"No, I'm not." Camila's alarm just went off, like, five seconds ago.

The pillow hits her ribs again. Camila puts her hands up to defend herself, groaning in feigned pain. "God, you fucking demon, I'm up. Get away from me."

When she opens both her eyes, Lucy Vives is grinning toothily, one of her many throw pillows in her arms, poised to smack Camila with it.

"Alright." Camila sits up slowly, gathering her hair up behind her, tangled from sleep. "So where'd you get the coke? Can I have some?"

Lucy's grin turns equal parts disgruntled and endeared - a familiar expression, when it comes to Camila. "You're so stupid."

"Sorry, you were acting so hyper I just assumed you had finally given into hard drugs."

"Not a chance. Been there, done that," deadpans Lucy.

Camila laughs despite knowing it's not really a joke. "Then what is it?" She pushes the covers off of her and swings her legs off the bed. "You want a morning quickie?"

"Gross." Lucy goes to whack her with the pillow again and Camila dodges. She's cracking up at this point, and she can already smell coffee. The curtains in Camila's bedroom have already all been pulled open, letting the warm sunlight stream through. It's a gorgeous day, and an even better morning.

Almost suspiciously great. Lucy's the sweetest person in the world, but she usually doesn't take the time to do all this - the coffee, the curtains, the obnoxious and very deliberate wake-up call - on a daily basis. Camila's lived with her for a long time. Yeah, sure, Lucy babied her a lot when Camila first moved into one of Lucy's many, many spare bedrooms, but by this point she's realized Camila is an adult who can fend for herself, so-

Camila stands, tilts her neck from side to side, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She raises her eyebrows at Lucy. "I mean, I'm down."

"You're giving me gray hairs," says Lucy.