Through Her Eyes (Camren)

Chapter 28: Company

Lauren liked watching Camila.

Her cute nose, her ears and her cheeks, begging to be touched. Her mouth moved against the pillow like she was speaking, no words. Her skin with tiny moles and faint smile lines, secrets Lauren could only see if she looked close enough. Look deeper, look closer, find what's inside.

It may have been creepy to stare, but Camila had crept into her room at night to stare at Lauren before. Lauren thought this was only fair. She was just repaying the favor.

Also, Camila was... Lauren wasn't even sure of the word, but she never wanted to look away. Their bed was warm and welcoming, and Lauren would have been happy, actually happy like she'd never knew she could be, to lay there and stare forever.

Camila's cat seemed to have other ideas.

The plaintive meowing had started just as Lauren woke and only gotten louder and more insistent over the next hour. By now Elvis's howls were a constant, miserable thing. Camila must have left her door open at night for the cat to sleep in her bed. Or perhaps Elvis just didn't like sharing his human with Lauren.

Whichever it was, Lauren wished the cat would be quiet because Camila's eyelashes had begun to flutter. Lauren had soothed her back to sleep with a hand in her hair and a soft word twice, but now light was coming in through their window, highlighting Camila's angles, and Lauren knew the moment would soon end.

What came next, Lauren didn't know. Her head spun with uncertainty.

When she looked back to the crinkle she'd been studying just by Camila's eye, Camila was watching her too, her eyes half lidded and sleepy.

"Do you know you have a scar on your eyebrow?" Lauren murmured. "Tiny scar, right here."

Her fingers reached out to touch like she'd been wanting to all morning and Camila made a curious noise. Lauren's thumb grazed delicate skin.

"Oh," Camila said softly, and reached out questioningly. Lauren didn't think she pulled away but Camila's hand never quite touched her face, stopping short.

Camila rolled back, eyes on the ceiling as she stretched, hands against the headboard. The single blanket she'd had wrapped around her feet, hogging most of it from Lauren, slipped to the floor. Just Camila and Lauren on a bed together, their toes brushing.

Camila tilted her head, watching Lauren from an odd angle, a funny smile on her face.

"I missed you," Lauren said, and wasn't sure why.

"While I was sleeping?" Camila asked. Her voice was low and drowsy, hair ruffled endearingly.

Lauren shrugged against the pillows, stretching an arm above her head to bump Camila's on the headboard. "Sort of. Maybe before that? I don't know, it's early."

Camila hummed agreeably, her eyes drifting shut like she might consider going back to sleep. Lauren hoped for a moment that Camila would, so she could go back to shameless staring. Not that she wouldn't stare when Camila was awake, she was just slightly more shamed about it.

Lauren didn't know what the right thing to say was after everything Camila had trusted her with. In the morning light Camila still looked like the same Camila as always. She still felt the same at Lauren's side, the same way Camila had felt curled up against her the first night. Camila hadn't changed, and Lauren didn't know if she should have to say anything at all.

Maybe they could plant Ben's glasses in the garden.

Camila's fingers tickled Lauren's skin, two fingers crawling up Lauren's arm until Camila's hand was in her hair. Her eyes twinkled, mischievous as she began to play with Lauren's hair, humming a song to charm the hidden snakes.