that's why our ribs are cages ➸ camren

chapter 10 ➸ it's a shame

"What're you doing?" Camila yawned, strolling into the kitchen with a sleepy smile on her face. Both girls had fallen asleep on Camila's bed, and Lauren had woken up first. The green eyed girl now stood in the kitchen, squinting to read one of the measurements in her cookbook.

"I figured we'd have something other than takeout for dinner," Lauren turned to study Camila. She was still in shock that they'd kissed earlier that day. It wasn't a bad shock, either. She jumped when the smaller girl pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Oh, I-I... sorry," Camila bit her lip and back away, afraid that she'd crossed some sort of invisible boundary. Lauren quickly shook her head and grabbed Camila's hand before she could back up any further.

"No, sorry, I'm just... not used to that sorta stuff," Lauren admitted. Camila smiled softly and scooted closer to Lauren.

"It's okay," the smaller girl shrugged. "I'll warn you ahead of time, alright?" She smirked and took a step closer to Lauren and bit her lip.

"I'm gonna kiss you in 3..." Lauren laughed softly at Camila's playfulness.

"2..." Their faces were inches apart.

"And—,"

"What smells so good?" Chris chuckled, turning into the kitchen. Both girls quickly separated and Camila's face grew bright red. Lauren whipped her head back around to the cookbook and took a deep breath. Camila bit her lip when she heard Lauren let out a soft laugh.

"Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir Fry," Lauren read off of the cookbook, pointing to the picture on the first page. "Mom used to make it a lot," she shrugged and turned her attention back to the food in the pan.

Chris's eyes widened and he turned to Camila with a look of surprise on his face. Camila grew confused.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at Chris. Lauren turned around and looked at both of them, just as confused as Camila was.

"I just... you haven't talked about Mom in a long time," Chris mumbled, looking down at his feet. Usually when he would bring up their mother, Lauren would flip out on him.

Camila bit her lip and looked at Lauren for a reaction. The older girl just shrugged softly and turned back to the food, stirring it around in the pan and turning up the heat slightly. Chris and Camila exchanged glances, but didn't say anything else.

"When's it gonna be ready, babe?" Camila asked, peering over Lauren's shoulder and into the pan. She hadn't even realized the word had slipped out of her mouth.

"Babe?" Chris and Lauren spoke at the same time. Camila's face turned bright red.

"I, uh, I call everyone babe," she quickly jumped to her own defense. "Right, babe?" she turned to Chris and ruffled his hair. The younger boy scoffed, bringing his hands up to fix his hair before wandering off into the living room and becoming distracted by a hockey game on the television.

"That was close," Lauren smirked, keeping her eyes on the cookbook in front of her. Camila quickly turned around and bit her lip nervously.

"I... Y-yeah, sorry about that," Camila shook her head and walked over to the sink, staring out the window at the city below them. "It just sorta... came out."

Lauren giggled and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't care," she glanced over at Camila. "You can keep calling me that," she bit her lip and quickly shook her head. "I-I mean, only if you want to, that is."

Camila smiled softly and walked over to Lauren. "We need to stop second guessing ourselves," she nodded once. The green eyed girl giggled and nodded in agreement.