When you're ready

24. I'm not coming back

Camila wasn't sure how she managed to know all the answers to the test the next day considering she and Shawn had barely spent any time actually studying, but somehow she did. Shawn was complaining about it in a teasing tone of voice as he drove out of the school's parking lot, telling her if he had failed, it would be her fault for distracting him.

" You were the one distracting me." Camila told him in a whisper, followed by a giggle. Shawn laughed and she thought it was endearing how his cheeks instantly turned red as they both remembered what had taken place in her bedroom the day before. " At least you didn't have to hide this thing like me."

Camila took her hair out of the way and pointed at the nasty hickey he had left on her neck that she had tried to disguise with makeup but didn't really do a good job with it.

" Did your aunt see it?" Shawn asked with an apologetic expression.

" What do you think?" Camila smiled at him as the car stopped at a red light.

" Sorry." He said in a tone of voice that showed he wasn't sorry at all.

Shawn took her hand in his and placed a kiss on it, holding it the whole way back to her house. As they stepped out of the car and Camila wrapped her arms around his neck in front of the house, Shawn noticed two other cars in the driveway.

" I think you guys have guests." Shawn told her as his hands rested on her hips.

Camila looked behind her to where Shawn had seen the two cars and noticed her aunt's car was there, which was odd since she was supposed to be at the hospital today. The other car was a blue one that she instantly recognized, feeling nervous as she turned her head to look at the house. She couldn't see anything through the window, but she knew they were there. It honestly took them longer than she had expected to visit.

" I guess." Camila whispered, looking back at Shawn. " I should get inside."

" Okay." Shawn smiled, but his eyes told her he had noticed how tense she had become when she saw the blue car. He leaned down and kissed her lips, his hand going up to hold her face before placing a second kiss on her cheek and walking back to his car.

Camila watched his car disappear and took a deep breath before opening the front door and walking into the house, finding both her parents on the couch holding mugs with coffee while her aunt sat at the armchair opposite to them.

" Camila!" Her mother exclaimed with excitement as she stood up and walked to Camila, not even giving her time to enter the house properly. " Oh, we missed you so much! Your sister wanted to come but she had this thing at school so-"

" Let's not overwhelm her right away, honey." Her father said, as he managed to calm her mother down and hug his daughter as well. " We just wanted to see how you're doing, Camilita."

Camila smiled at her father, already thankful for the way he always knew how to handle her mother and her talkative personality. She sat down awkwardly between them on the couch, looking at her aunt with desperate eyes.

" Like I said, Camila is doing great." Her aunt said, smiling at her with understanding. She knew better than anyone how Camila felt anxious over her mother's constant questions and insistence that it was time for her to talk again. " Her grades got better and she even made friends."

Camila knew she was being generous with the friends part, considering Shawn was the only person that she actually spent her time with. She sighed in defeat when her mother started talking again, asking questions she knew Camila wouldn't answer and not giving her any time to even process what was being said. Both her aunt and father tried to interrupt her or maybe make her slow down as the rain started outside, but suddenly she was talking about Camila's least favorite subject.

" I'm not saying you should start talking to everyone, but it couldn't hurt to at least do it with your own family." She said louder than the water that was suddenly pouring outside, in a tone of voice Camila had grown used to, one that even unintentionally always made her feel guilty. " And I was thinking that maybe you should come back with us."

" What? You want to take her back?" Her aunt asked in surprise.

" You said it yourself, she's doing great. These few months away were good for her, but maybe now she needs to be back home to recover completely." Her mother continued. " She can make new friends at home too and-"

" No!" Camila suddenly spoke louder than all three of them and the rain combined, making them look at her in shock. " You want me to talk? Okay, this is me talking. I don't want to go back."

" Oh my god!" Her mother looked at her in shock, laughing with excitement after hearing her voice after such a long time. " You're finally talking! This is a miracle. Oh, sweetheart, you'll love to be back home-"

" Did you hear anything I just said?" Camila fought to keep her voice steady and loud. " I'm not coming back."

" Is that because of that boy you were kissing outside?" Her mother asked, her face clearly showing she couldn't see why her daughter would prefer to stay there instead of coming back home.

" Yes, he's part of the reason." Camila confessed. " But I can't believe you don't see how terrified I was all the time back home. I don't want to feel like that again. I feel safe here."

" What about us? Don't you think we hate having you away?" Her mother yelled louder than her, and Camila flinched at her tone of voice, feeling like crying but trying to hold it in.

" Okay, that's enough!" Her aunt said. " She doesn't want to go back. You need to respect that."

Camila glanced at her dad on her other side and he was oddly silent. His eyes told her everything though: he understood how she felt, but that didn't change the fact that he missed her back home. Camila felt the tears on her face and suddenly she was standing up, walking to the door, and putting her shoes back on when she felt her mother holding her arm.

" Where do you think you're going?" She scolded Camila but still wasn't able to hold her back before she ran outside in the rain with her backpack.

Camila could feel the rain mixing with her tears, washing them away and soaking her clothes and hair as she ran to the one place she could think of, to the one person she knew would understand her.