june 27th | camren

two

Camila stands on the sidewalk in front of Lauren's house for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do. She knows what Ally would do, and she also knows that Ally would probably be right, but she can't bring herself to turn around and accept that she didn't even get to leave Lauren a present this year. On the one hand she's willing to stick around until the party will inevitably end, on the other she knows that the risk of someone recognizing her is much too big.

Just when she's about to give up and walk away, the front door swings open and a tall guy covered in tattoos steps outside with a cigarette between his lips. Camila recognizes him instantly—Zayn, one of Lauren's friends from college.

He barely glances Camila's way as he sits down on the steps leading up to the front porch and lights his cigarette, but Camila can't take her eyes off of him. Something heavy settles in her stomach as she realizes that Zayn probably takes his time with Lauren for granted, like it can't all end with blinding white lights and screeching breaks and the smell of melting tires on asphalt.

Zayn must somehow notice Camila's staring, because when he's halfway through his cigarette his gaze flickers up, and his eyes widen. "C-Camila?"

Camila unfreezes at the mention of her name. Shit. She messed up. Ally is gonna be so mad. "Uh," she stutters weakly. "Who?"

"Holy shit," Zayn says, just above a whisper. He takes a few long strides until he's in front of Camila. "I thought you were dead."

Camila wrinkles her nose at the smell of alcohol on Zayn's breath, instinctively taking a step backwards. She doesn't want to kill Zayn, but she can't risk him telling Lauren about any of this. Lauren is not supposed to know that Camila is still alive, sort of.

Camila sets her present down in the grass of Lauren's front yard so it won't get messy, her eyes locked on Zayn's throat. His skin pulsates with every heartbeat, and Camila bares her fangs with a low growl. Now that she's set her mind on killing Zayn, she doesn't care that she once knew him before, or what his death would do to Lauren. All she can think about is the taste of his blood on her lips, the sudden rush of warmth it will bring. Few things are better than fresh human blood, and Camila hasn't felt that high in way too long.

She takes a step forward and reaches up to pull Zayn down like she's going to kiss him, but before she can dig her teeth into his skin, two hands wrap around her arms and tear her away from him.

Her first instinct is to attack whoever just interrupted her; she hisses through gritted teeth, and narrows her eyes to look through the red haze of rage that's clouding her vision. She's about to lunge forward and rip their throat out when she feels the same two hands from before gripping at her shoulders.

"Camila, it's me. Calm down, it's just me."

Ally.

Camila blinks Ally into vision, slowly regaining control over her body again. Her nostrils flare in embarrassment and she opens her mouth to mutter an apology, but Ally's already gone to take care of Zayn.

If she hadn't just almost killed two people, Camila would've thought the sight of Ally compelling Zayn to be really funny; Ally is barely five feet tall, and yet she has full control over Zayn, who's towering over her by almost a full foot.

"Nothing happened here," Ally says in a low and commanding voice. "You went out for a smoke, and that's it." When she dismisses him with the wave of her hand, Zayn blinks a few times before trudging towards the front door and disappearing back inside.

Ally turns to Camila. "Perfectly capable to take care of yourself, huh?"

Camila bites her lip. "Uh—"

"It's okay," Ally sighs. She picks up Lauren's present, and hands it back to Camila. "You better hurry; it's almost dawn."

Camila is still a little dazed as she hurries across Lauren's front yard. She double-checks that her present is still intact before carefully placing it between the potted plant and the wooden bench, making sure the wind won't be able to blow it away.

"Come on, my car is around the corner," Ally says, gesturing vaguely at some point in the distance.

The walk to Ally's car is filled with silence. Camila mentally prepares herself for a speech about responsibility and whatnot, because she knows she fucked up. She completely lost control with Zayn, and if Ally hadn't interfered he would've been dead right now. No matter how much she still craves his blood, she doesn't want to be responsible for the second death of someone Lauren cares about.

"Thank you," Camila mumbles, a few minutes later, while Ally is driving them back to the house.

Ally looks at her. "You're welcome."

"Are you mad?"

"No," Ally says, her voice a tone softer than Camila's used to in situations like this. "Just—don't doubt me again, okay? You're important to me, Camila. I don't want you getting hurt."

Camila's eyes snap up to Ally's face at that. She knew Ally cared about her, but it's the first time Ally actually said it. It's nice. Camila feels the corners of her lips tugging up into a sheepish smile, and she reaches over to touch Ally's hand for a moment.

Ally rolls her eyes at the contact, but there's a gentle smile on her lips, too.