Dawn in Vancouver

Chapter 20: "Help me"

"Don't worry beautiful," she said tenderly, nuzzling her nose with hers. Lauren had simply lost herself from the moment she had kissed her, she wasn't thinking, she wasn't breathing. She was literally spellbound by Camila Cabello.

That beautiful woman she had watched for five days and lived with hour after hour for two days. They alone in their own little world. She had liked Camila from the moment she had seen her. She was a beautiful woman and now that she knew her better, that she knew what was hidden behind that cute, tender and loving woman she was much more captivated.

Never in her entire life had anything like this ever happened to her, she had never felt so much. For a moment Ryan flashed through her mind but his image was quickly erased as she felt Camila's soft hands slowly caress her neck.

"This is crazy," Camila said softly. "I've never...I've never kissed anyone else before. I'm crazy."

"Then let's go crazy together," Lauren whispered and took Camila's lips with hers as they both let out a soft moan of relief at feeling each other again.

Camila lost herself completely in the woman in her arms. That woman who was currently kissing her in the sweetest, most loving and tender way she had ever experienced. Jason had never kissed her like that before. Ever. And she was sure he never would. No one could ever match that moment, no one other than Lauren Jauregui herself.

WHISTLER STATION:

"I hear you" Ryan said crossing his arms as he looked seriously at Jason who only sighed softly.

"The story with Camila has been a story full of love and tenderness" -Jason looked him in the eyes-. "From the moment I saw her for the first time I fell madly in love with her. She was the prettiest and most beautiful woman I had ever met in my life. She had that killer body and that smile that made you delirious."

"Did she?" -Ryan said softly.

"Camila started selling her books and fame slowly changed her," Jason whispered. "She stopped being my beautiful Camila and became cold and calculating. Behind that façade of a tender woman, she hides a cold woman who only cares about fame."

"That's not what I think," Ryan said. "Nor what Lauren thinks of her."

"It's because none of you really know her. You don't know what she can hide" -Jason sighed. "She's been unfaithful to me so many times I don't have an exact number of men since we got married. Every tour was a new man."

Jason saw Ryan watching him intently and laughed inside.

"I tried to be a good husband but she made things harder for me every time with a new lover for every state and every hour. I became colder to her. I was too hurt to know that the woman I love didn't value me the same way I value her."

"You treat her like dirt and you're unfaithful to her," Ryan's voice was cold, not quite believing him. "You don't sound like a man who fights for his marriage."

"What would you do in my place?" -Jason's voice was soft for pity as he sat next to his friend, "What would you do if Lauren was unfaithful to you?"

"Lauren would never be able to do something like that to me. She knows that I love her deeply. And she is completely in love with me. We have a perfect marriage."

"Maybe it's perfect...but haven't you thought that with the fame she has, with how much she travels, she might meet someone else?"

"I trust her with all my heart," Ryan sounded very confident. "Lauren loves me."

"That's what I thought of Camila and she ended up deceiving me," they looked into each other's eyes. "Women are unpredictable, especially when they think they don't need a man. That's why I'm hard on Camila. I want her by my side no matter what it takes and I want her love back."

"Well, the way you treat her, you don't make much merit for her to choose you over the lovers she has" -Jason smiled inwardly as he listened to him. "He had accepted his story."

"Idiot."

Jason said to himself trying his hardest to hold back a smile at how idiotic and innocent Ryan was.

"I know it must be horrible to be cheated on by a woman" -Ryan sighed. "Lauren would never do it, but I think it would drive me crazy or I couldn't handle it. I'm very much in love with my wife."

"I'm too embarrassed to tell you this kind of stuff," Jason sighed. "But it happens. And well, I often get frustrated and angry with myself for not being a better man for Camila. That she seeks with lovers what she says she lacks with me. I want to give her many things. If Camila didn't cheat on me or reject me I would never cheat on her with other women" -Ryan stared at him. "But you're a man, Ry. You must understand me. I have needs."

"That's one of the lowest excuses a man can find for being unfaithful to his wife. If you're happy with your wife you don't need another woman" -Ryan smiled remembering Lauren. "Lauren and I have the best sex ever."

"But you don't have the problems I have with Camila" -Jason felt tears sliding down his eyes, surprising Ryan. "She sees me as little. I lied to you with everything I said about her today" -Jason sobbed. "We're really struggling financially because I'm the only breadwinner in the house. She doesn't help with anything and all her money is spent on nonsense. She likes to live in excess and I try to give her everything she asks for. But, many times it is impossible for me. And that's when she gets mad, yells at me and we end up arguing."

Ryan got up to give Jason something to wipe away his tears. Jason Duval was crying in front of him. Something he hadn't done since he was a teenager. Jason hated crying. Ryan remembered in high school he used to say that crying was only for wimps when his dad gave him one of those big beatings that was constant in his life.

"And you haven't tried talking to her?" -Ryan said. "You could use this trip to clear the air and see if your marriage is still worth it."

"I want you to help me Ryan," she said wiping away her tears. "I want to have a perfect marriage like you and Lauren have. I don't want to fail like my father did. I want to be different from him. Help me Ryan. I want to win my wife back and show her that I can be different. I want her to be different and fall in love with me again. I want her back. I want my Camila back."

Ryan just stared at Jason as he watched him cry, and he began to doubt Camila. Would she be a cold, calculating, unfaithful woman like Jason said? He draped an arm around Jason's shoulders giving him support. Jason had had a rough childhood with a military father who he said had always hated him for not following in his footsteps. Maybe he could still save his marriage. Maybe Camila Cabello was still worth it.

Ryan had noticed something kind and gentle about Camila. Maybe it was just misunderstandings between couples. Maybe he could fix it. He would help them. He'd ask Lauren for help and help them. For old times' sake. To old friendship and to love.