2 - You Promise, I Promise

25.8K 805 486
                                    

"Lauren, I'm sorry but there's not much you nor I can do now." Camila fretfully explained; trying to offer some realistic comfort to the sobbing girl in front of her. Her intrepid efforts had been seemingly unappreciated and she, too, felt helpless.

However, she understood completely. It was only hours after the tragic passing of her best friend and her friend's boyfriend, Duke Hunt, and Lauren was still unable to cope with the cruel ache in her chest. The pain was crippling her and she had no other avenue to relief herself of it than to bawl her eyes out.

The atmosphere that surrounded them was murky and bleak; suffocating them from the inside. It wasn't just because of the particularly dark room they were in. It was the bottomless pit that they both were freefalling in. The specific tunnel only led to more uncertainty, and maybe complete and total darkness the more they plunged down.

Birdgirl was seated on a quaint, red leather padded wooden chair and was in front of Lauren, who was perched by the edge of her queen-sized platform bed. She reached for her friend's left hand and gripped it tightly, hoping the pressure within her grasp would offer some sort of comfort.

"Not much." Lauren, an 18-year-old, countered. She lifted her head up just enough for the dim glow that the lamp on her left bedside table offered to reveal the aftermath of her continuous weeping. Her green eyes were bloodshot and her lips were swollen, coupled by her reddened cheeks. Her raspy voice brimmed of desperation yet with a faint hopefulness at the same time. "That means there's at least one. Please tell me. It hurts so much."

Her entire torso began to shake uncontrollably once more as she gave in to the unfair ache that loss had slapped her. She sobbed, dropping her head down as her tears trickled down to her blue jeans.

Camila could not fathom the pain in her own chest as she was presented with her friend's significantly different exterior and aura amid her grief. She dreadfully needed to see her pale cheeks and the lively green hues in her irises; not for herself but for the girl who possessed the aforementioned features.

"Yes," The younger girl breathed with widened, pleading eyes. She begged the world to give her friend a break. She had witnessed her cry since she saw the green-eyed girl hunched over to her best friend's lifeless body. "And the most important one is to move forward and live. He would want you to."

"That's too cliché .How am I supposed to be comforted with a cliché?" Lauren sniffled, running her free hand through her tussled long, wavy dark brown locks. She slouched down as her hand hit her lap. She shook her head as tears surged down her cheeks. "And how could you say that? You were his best friend. Seventeen years, Camz. That should make a difference."

Camila swallowed an enormous lump in her throat, nodding in agreement. "I know. But, Lauren," She whispered. "I'm telling you from here." She lifted the older brunette's hand and rested it in the middle of her chest. She clenched her jaw from the tension she had been feeling. "I care about you."

The corner of the green-eyed girl's lips were pulled downwards, making a frown evident in her tear and sweat-stained features. She choked through her sobs. "Will you help me?" She greatly beseeched.

"With all every fiber of my being, Lo." The wingman offered a weak, supposedly reassuring smile as she held Lauren's left hand with both of hers. She perched the clasped hands on her lap; her right thumb caressing her friend's hand.

The older brunette nodded despite avoiding Camila's gaze. She rubbed the back of her free hand against her nostrils, sniffling in the process.

"How do you do it, Camz?" She shyly probed, the severity of the situation she was shoving her friend with finally dawning over her.

"I think I chose to focus on the good things." Camila shrugged, not necessarily knowing the reason behind her rather calm exterior. That was other than the fact that she put Lauren's well-being before her own. "He wouldn't want you or me to be sad, you know? I know he'd be happy for our happiness." She reasoned with as much truth as she could muster given her knowledge of the kind of person Duke was.

Birdgirl (camren) PREVIEWWhere stories live. Discover now