Faking It | Wattys 2022

Chapter 15

"What event thing?" Camila curiously inquires. "Do you want me to come along?"

"It'll be boring, I'm sure you have much better things to do. Besides, you're my fake gi—"

Her words are muffled when she feels Camila's soft minty lips against her own, capturing her in a fiery kiss fueled by impulse and tension.

Instead of pushing away like she typically would, she melted in the dark-haired woman's arms, lightly scratching her fingernails against the nape of her neck.

"Karla! Stop making out in my kitchen and go talk to Tía Rosa!" Sinu scolds her when she enters the kitchen.

Camila pulled away, mouthing a 'sorry' before turning to her mother. "All she's going to do is embarrass me in front of Lauren,"

"Even better. Now, go!"

She intertwined their hands again, pulling Lauren towards the backyard and near the boathouse. "She was coming and I didn't want her to hear anything,"

"Right," Lauren cleared her throat. "No worries, I get it. As I was saying, um... You don't need to bore yourself with my life just because we're technically dating."

"Well, I'd like to come tomorrow evening if that's alright with you,"

Lauren shifted her weight from one foot to another. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. Contrary to what you may think, I actually enjoy having you around."

"I'm sure you do, Camila Cabello," Lauren sat down by the edge of the pool after taking off her heels, letting the bottom of her foot graze against the cold chlorine water. "I just don't want to bother you with my lame work stuff."

"If it's important to you then it's important to me," Camila shrugged, not realizing the weight behind the words she was saying. "Besides, you've been kissing up to my family's ass for the past two weeks. I owe you my entire life, Lauren."

"Just glad I could be of service, I guess..." Lauren trailed off. "My sister wants me to come home for Christmas and New Year,"

"Does she now?" Camila sounded intrigued by the sudden change of topic.

"Don't make me say it," Lauren pouted. "You already know what I'm going to ask,"

"No, I don't," the corner of her lips curled up into a smirk that made Lauren's stomach do somersaults.

"Since I met your family, I feel like it'd only be fair if you met mine. Y'know, seal the deal on both sides so that there are no gaps in our story."

"Or maybe you just can't survive a whole week without me,"

"You're so full of yourself, it truly baffles me sometimes."

"I'll have Gwen book the tickets," Camila responded with no hesitation. "And I'll let my parents know I'm going to be out of town,"

Lauren facepalmed herself, groaning. "Fuck, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot about them. Maybe we can come back earlier?"

"No, no," Camila scooted closer to the raven-haired woman. "It's fine, I promise. I think it'd be nice to get away from them for the holidays. They're kind of suffocating in case you haven't noticed."

"Oh, really?" Lauren feigned innocence. "I didn't even realize,"

"Shut up," she laughed quietly. "What do you want for Christmas?"

"You're asking me a bit too early, don't you think?"

"I like to get a head start on my gift shopping,"

Lauren looked up at the dark sky. "I don't know, to be honest. I've never had anyone ask me that before. Normani usually just gets me some fancy bottle of wine and calls it a day."

"Nick never got you anything?" The frown on her face deepens.

"We never had a good Christmas while we were together now that I actually think about it," Lauren's facial expression mirrors Camila's. "We always ended up arguing around that time,"

"Would you accept a gift if I got one for you?" Camila asked hesitantly.

"Camila... You've done more than enough for me already,"

"How can I show up at your family's house without a gift for my girlfriend?"

"Either way, you still manage to do things for me without me even asking you." Green eyes flickered to the loud howls of laughter coming from inside the house. "You take me out to all of these nice restaurants, send those big fancy bouquets to the school, and drive me to work every other day... None of that was in the contract, but you do it anyway. I can't take anything else from you."

"The restaurants and flowers are a part of being together," Camila undid another button on her shirt. "And I like driving you to work. It's less lonely in the car when you're in it."

Lauren's stomach lurched. "You talk about being alone a lot,"

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

"Telling you," Lauren clarified. "Why haven't you dated anyone after Lucy?"

"You said it yourself; people come and go. What's the point of letting them in if they just leave?"

"I only said that because I have bad luck with relationships in my life—both platonic and romantic ones."

Camila stared down at their feet in the water. "I just sort of got used to being alone. I mean, it's not that bad. Harry and Shawn let me hang around and work usually keeps me pretty busy."

"So, your life is just... Sleep, work, eat, and repeat?"

"Right on the nail, princess," Camila smiled at her. "I don't mind it, though. It's simple and I like simple. I guess the only difference is now I don't go out as often. Enough about me, you still never told me why you and Nick broke up. How come you never dated after him?"

"All love has ever done is ruin everything I've got going on for myself," Lauren said. "Nothing good ever comes out of being in love, so... Why bother, right?"

"Looks like they both did a number on us,"

Lauren hummed in agreement. "I guess so,"

"If it means anything—you're not that bad of a girlfriend, Lauren Jauregui."

"The same goes for you, Camila Cabello," she sucks in a deep breath. "Maybe one day we'll find love again,"

Camila craned her neck to look at Lauren's side profile, feeling a spark of electricity shoot through her body when their legs lightly brush against each other.

"Yeah, maybe,"