You and I, holding hands (Camren)

Part 2

It's a weird feeling knowing that someone you don't really know is sleeping in your house.

Every noise you hear, every shadow you see, every thing that seems out of place, you think it's her. Which doesn't make any sense because as far as you can tell you haven't heard a single thing come from her room... which is next to yours. And you find yourself straining to hear something, anything, like she's some secret creature of the night.

You laugh at that, because really? Maybe you shouldn't have seen that stupid movie with her, about the werewolf neighbor. It's making you act crazy, more so than usual. But it feels too dark in your room - has it always been this dark? And you feel restless.

Time is going by slow and all you want to do is sleep but your mind won't let you. So you get up, slip on your slippers and walk down to the kitchen. Maybe some water or warm milk will help. That's a thing, right? People in movies do it all the time.

You don't turn the light on when you enter the kitchen. Instead you head straight to the refrigerator, letting its light illuminate the room, which you find makes the other room much much darker. You leave the refrigerator door open as you poor a cup, microwave it, drink it at the table. Which was a bad idea because the next thing you know the voice that greets you scares the hell out of you.

'Oh my god!' You yell, the warm milk landing on your legs. 'Shit!'

There are hands on you, pulling you back from the broken glass. You pull away from the hands, almost slipping on the spilled milk, the kitchen light burning your eyes. 'Lauren?!' You screech out, 'what are you doing?!'

Lauren's eyes are a tired red, bags under them. She looks shocked and amused and you have half a mind to smack her. 'I'm so sorry, Camila! I did not mean to scare.' Her arms are spread out to the side, like she means no harm, and you want to yell.

'Make some noise before walking in on a girl sitting in the dark!' Your voice is still high and slightly shaky and you swear your heart is in your throat. You sit back down, resting your head in your hands.

'I should have, I'm sorry.' She says apologetically, yawning afterward. After a moment, she takes a seat herself and sighs, 'couldn't sleep?'

You laugh shortly, pulling your pajama pants away from your sticky skin, 'no.'

'Neither can I,' Lauren says quietly, her hands running through her hair. 'Different house, different vibe.'

You nod your head, because you understand. 'I felt the same way when we first moved here,' you say with a small smile you hope is comforting.

Lauren smiles back and then laughs. 'This is crazy, isn't it?'

'What is?' You ask, confused.

'This,' she says, her hands thrown up. At your still confused face, she explains, 'me, you, sofi, our parents... I just never expected this to happen. I never expected getting a new family, you know?' She says a little sadly, a little distant.

'I get it; you had siblings and then you didn't, and now you do again, in a new house... I get it.'

'Yeah,' she nods, looking at you. She's quiet a moment, like she's thinking of how to say what she wants to. 'I'm glad my dad met your mom. I've seen him date a few women - they were nice and what not, but it always seemed like he was doing all the work, putting in all this effort to make it work with them. They'd break up with him and he'd be so hurt. But when he met your mom, something changed.' She's smiling, so genuinely, her eyes lightened, reveling a full moon.

'He was happier and lighter and just... I hadn't seen him smile so much, so often. It made me nervous at first, because if this relationship didn't work out? It'd probably...' she shakes her head of that thought, 'uh, but then he brought her home for dinner, and she was so pretty, your mom, and nice, and she talked to me like she knew me forever.'

You smile at that because that's your mom. She has a way of speaking to people that makes them instantly comfortable. Something you wish you inherited. 'Yeah, that's her,' you say, laughing.

'Yeah,' she agrees. 'And how she interacted with my dad, it was great. I was really happy that he found her. And they kept going out. When he told me that she had two daughters and that he wanted us to meet, I was nervous. But I'm glad we did because you guys were so welcoming, which was weird because it wasn't your house?' Her laugh is light and loud and the butterflies are back; you smile at her. 'After you guys left that night, I had the thought: if our parents decided to take this relationship further and marry, move in, I'd want them to be my family... and look it, here we are.' Her voice cracks slightly, emotion high and real.

You're touched beyond belief and you have to do something. So you stand up and walk over to her, pulling her up to stand. She looks at you, a little startled, a little nervous but you smile and wrap your arms around her shoulders, pulling her close. You hug her tight, her hair tickling your nose, her smell intoxicating. She hugs you back and you feel like you're floating.

'I'm so glad you feel that way,' you whisper into her hair. You pull slightly back, so you can see her and smile. 'We felt the same way.'

Lauren just looks at you, something in her eyes you can't quite place and she hugs you again. She buries her face in your neck and her hot breath sends shivers down your spine.

You know the feelings stirring inside you are different than the ones you feel for your friends Normani and Ally. You know you shouldn't be feeling this light or good when hugging Lauren. You know what's happening here and you don't know if you're strong enough to stop yourself. And the hug is still going, you're still holding her but not as tightly, and you think you're swaying now.

You think... 'Mila?' Sofi's tired voice hits you fast and hard even though it was quiet and you jump back, crashing into the table.

'Sof? What's wrong?' You rub at your backside, and walk toward her. 'Is everything okay?'

She nods her mussed head, leaning against you when you wrap your arm around her. 'You weren't in your room,' she yawns.

'No, I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep.' Lauren clears her throat, 'neither could Lauren.'

'Want some milk, Sofi?' Lauren asks, opening the fridge.

Sofi says yes and sits at the table, keeping her head up with tired arms.
You look at her and then at Lauren, her piercing green eyes staring at you, and you shiver.

It's going to be a long night...

Scratch that, it's going to be a long week.