camren one shots

[p4] the polar express but make it camren

"Merry Christmas," Lauren smiles dopily, blinking sleep out of her eyes and stretching her limbs. She slowly sits up, trying to get her bearings.

Was that all just a dream?

Camila's looking at her phone now and Lauren takes the opportunity to look out the window, relief swelling when she sees her car just as she left it last night, parked ever so slightly on the grass.

She gets up, grabbing her jacket off of the bedpost and rifling through the pockets.

Still a hole, still no bell.

"Yeah, I think it's gone," Camila comments.

Lauren sighs, putting her hand absentmindedly in the other pocket and eyes going wide when she realizes that the ticket is still there, BELIEVE punched proudly into it.

She snaps back up at Camila, "Wait, you remember? That actually happened?"

"Yes," Camila smiles stupidly at her, "It would be quite the thing to forget, honestly."

Lauren swallows, toying with the ticket in her hand, "Wow."

"We probably shouldn't tell anyone," Camila says, "y'know, we're gonna sound insane if we do. But maybe we should make a time capsule for the tickets. The bell, too, if you hadn't lost it."

Lauren rolls her eyes, "Haha. You're hilarious, Camila."

"I know," Camila leans over and kisses her cheek, "Your family is on their way. They're bringing your presents and everyone's staying for dinner."

"Perks of our families actually liking each other," Lauren says, taking Camila's hand in hers and gently playing with her fingers, "Did you look up the other girls? The ones we met last night?"

"Um," Camila pulls out her phone, "yeah." She shows Lauren a profile, "That's Dinah. Turns out she does live in Santa Ana."

She pulls up a second, "That's Ally, she lives in Texas and it seems like she already committed to FSU next year."

"And that," Camila shows the final one, "is Normani. She and Ally live in Texas. So... I don't know what happened last night, but at least they're real."

"And Santa's real," Lauren says, "interesting."

Camila smiles, "Sure is. C'mon, time to get something to eat, I'm starving."

They go downstairs, only half surprised that Camila's seven-year-old sister is already up and looking at her stocking as if it holds all of the answers in the world. Camila sneaks up behind her and pulls her into a hug, slipping a peanut butter cup from her pocket to Sofia.

"What's Lolo doing here?" Sofia asks, mouth full of peanut butter cup.

"She snuck in last night," Sinu says, giving Lauren a lighthearted glare, "I didn't know she was here until this morning."

Camila rolls her eyes, handing Lauren a peanut butter cup as well, "Mami, calm down. We all know she's your favorite daughter anyway."

"Of course, Mija," Sinu hugs Lauren, "Merry Christmas, Lauren. Your family's coming in a little while, so I thought we'd have something to eat before they get here and then do presents."

"Mami, I wanna open presents now!"

"Sofia, don't think I didn't see your sister give you candy. Besides, I made pancakes. Up!" She gently pushes at Sofia's shoulder, urging the young girl up and to the table with a pout.

Before long, they finish eating and Lauren's siblings and parents arrive - Lauren's mother making sure to lecture her about spending time with family during the holidays (as if they don't treat the Cabellos like family already) - and get to opening presents.

Lauren's sibling seem to enjoy her gifts to them, Chris getting a football jersey for the Miami Dolphins (matching with their dad because Lauren thought it'd be funny) and Taylor receiving a new camera lens that Lauren saved for after overhearing too much begging.

Sofia plants herself in Lauren's lap after a while, excited at all of her gifts and asking Camila for assistance to open more than a few of them.

Lauren can't help but have her thoughts about the bell, wishing she hadn't lost it so stupidly and had some reminder of the night she had.

The parents all migrate to the kitchen after some time, Lauren's mother saying something about ordering an early dinner to eat and Camila's mother saying they should just cook, but Lauren tunes it out after a while.

Lauren's in one of Camila's new hoodies, Camila having insisted that Lauren's scent be all over it before she wears it and Lauren complying because who is she to complain about wearing a brand new hoodie?

Taylor and Chris are on the couch, Taylor fiddling with her new phone and Chris meticulously organizing his new baseball cards.

Camila's entertaining Sofia, helping her assemble something for one of her new toys and muttering a quiet shit when a post rolls under the tree.

Sofia's quick to grab it, calling out that there's another present addressed to Lauren among the tree's skirt and missing post.

She hands the small box to Lauren, who unravels the ribbon quickly and opens it.

Camila sits down next to her, gasping softly when they see what's inside.

The bell.

Lauren immediately picks it up and holds it close to her ear, gently shaking it and feeling excitement swell when it rings.

"Sofia, why were you yelling?" Alejandro asks as he walks into the room, Lauren's mother close behind with a bit of a frazzled look on her face.

"Lauren found another present," Sofia says, not bothering to look at them as she continues to assemble her toy.

"What'd you get, Lo?" her mother asks.

"It's a bell," Lauren says, thumb hovering over the little slip of paper at the bottom of the box.

"Interesting," Alejandro looks a little closer and Lauren hands it over, watching as he tries to get a sound out of it. His eyebrows furrow, but Lauren can hear a clear dinging.

"Oh, that's too bad. I'm sure you can get another one," Alejandro hands it back and Lauren's mother crinkles her eyebrows.

"Who's it from?"

Lauren shrugs, "Santa."

Camila takes it next, smiling delightedly when it dings and their parents leave again, letting Lauren read the note in peace.

Found this in the seat of my sleigh.
Better get that hole in your pocket fixed.
Mr. C.

Camila kisses her, murmuring a Merry Christmas against her lips and Lauren's sure that this was the best Christmas ever.

the end