Riptide (a camren fic)

Chapter 6: Freeze Pops or Otter Pops?

But it's not the first time these moments come, as if the gravity of the situation falls upon her like an avalanche. It comes in small bursts. That tragic realization that Dinah hadn't even really lived much.

Dinah had never gone anywhere despite the constant comments about wanting to leave. She had expressed a lot of desires with wanting to see the world. Joking about going to Australia and seeing koalas. The UK (though Camila's sure it's only because the legal age to drink was 18).

They'd never even left Miami. Most of the memories that come to mind when she thinks of Dinah's life is within the small area of their neighborhood and the beach. There was never really any money for trips out of state, much less out of the city. Every opportunity would forever be taken away from Dinah.

She would be eighteen by now. Dinah probably would have gained that glamorized freedom one demands the moment they become legal. Or at least she's sure Dinah would've rubbed it in her parents' face that she would've been officially able to go into a club.

It comes in a slow lethargic moment - the moment Camila realizes that she, herself, is also eighteen. Has been eighteen for much longer than Dinah would have been.

Hell she could stroll down to the nearest liquor store and demand a box of cigarettes if she really wanted to. Not that she would. Those tobacco commercials with people's faces ripping off had pretty much traumatized her into never purchasing a pack.

But the point was that she could do it. If she wanted to.

And yet, what have these months accounted for? Absolutely nothing.

There was a whole other world out there that Dinah didn't and would never know. The familiar sand and waves of the local beaches would be the only thing Dinah would ever surf. Dreams of seeing the west coast, traveling would forever be out of her reach.

It's insulting that the very thing that brought life into her eyes was the very thing that took it all away.

Camila stops the video, earning a questioning glance from Dinah. But she doesn't say anything. It's like opening up a can of worms. More unwanted things to think about.

But even if she did want to, her thoughts are interrupted when a familiar tap comes from her window. It's almost absurd to say she recognizes the gentle knock, as if she memorized the motion in which someone's knuckles rap against the clear surface. It's even more ridiculous how the feelings of relief come flooding through her body with each approaching step towards her window.

Camila hates the way she feels her heart skip a beat as she pulls away the blinds to find Lauren Jauregui standing outside.

"Do you guys not know how to use doors or what?" Dinah probes as she also approaches the window.

Camila lifts up the lever and then they're staring at each other without the transparent barrier.

"Hi," Lauren greets nervously.

"Hi," Camila returns, stepping aside to let her neighbor in.

Lauren hesitates, glancing uncertainly through the open window. It's a stark difference to the past situation in which Lauren had just casually waltzed into her room at four in the morning.

"I'm sorry about yesterday," Camila begins.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't do anything," Lauren reassures, almost helplessly.

An awkward pause fills the room. Awkward, filled with more things Camila wants to say but doesn't know how to articulate.

"Come in," Camila adds, as the seconds of Lauren's lingering becomes even more awkward.