you make me sick (for being so perfect)

Seven.

Lauren swings their hands as she pulls her along the street. "We're not too far away now."

"I'm just going to trust you on this." Camila laughs. "For all I know, you could be taking me out to a cabin in the woods to sacrifice my soul to Satan."

"Is that a joke?" Lauren asks her as she abruptly turns them around a corner. "I don't want to sound dumb if I take it like it's not a joke. I think it is, though."

"Ding, ding, you're correct," Camila tries to make herself sound like a game show host, but it really doesn't work very well. "Yeah, it was a joke. I don't really think you're a Satanist, Lo. You're too sweet to be a devil worshipper."

Lauren blushes and leads her up a driveway. "Thank you. You're sweet too."

Camila feels Lauren drop her hand as she goes to unlock the front door to the house they're in front of. "So... this is definitely your house, right? Like I said, we could be anywhere. For all I know I could be your accomplice in a hardcore robbery."

Lauren laughs, and Camila decides that hearing Lauren laugh is one of her favourite sounds in the world. "No. This is my house. We're home alone until four because Chris likes to go to the mall with his friends after school and Taylor has soccer on Friday and doesn't get home until the same time as my mom. My dad gets home at four though."

"Alright then." Camila pulls her phone from her pocket and checks the time. "We've got half an hour alone time, then. What do you want to do?"

"Um... I don't know." Lauren looks around and closes the front door behind them. "I could, uh, give you a house tour? If that's okay."

Camila watches as Lauren rocks herself backwards and forwards on her heels. "That'd be wonderful. Now that I think about it, I probably should've given you a tour of my house, too. Anyway, I'm excited to see your house. Especially your bedroom."

Lauren flushes and taps her fingers against her pants. "Yes. I will show you everything. Um..." she pauses and circles her hand around Camila's wrist, pulling her forwards. "So, uh, this is the lounge... it's where we eat on pizza night and watch TV. I, um- Camz, what are you doing?"

Camila freezes when Lauren stares down at their hands with wide eyes. While Lauren had just grabbed Camila's wrist, the other girl had moved so their fingers were interlocked. "I'm holding your hand, Lolo. Is that okay?"

"Um... yeah." Lauren blinks down at their hands and swallows, rocking on her heels again. "So, uh, I guess I'll- I'll show y-you the other-"

"Lauren?" Camila interrupts her and squeezes her hand softly. She feels Lauren's fingers wiggle between hers and smiles. "Don't be nervous. It's just me."

"I... um, I'm trying not to be." Lauren looks down at her feet and lets go of Camila's hand, clenching and unclenching the fingers on both hands repeatedly. Camila figures it's one of the stims Dinah told her about. "It's just hard."

Camila tries to meet Lauren's gaze. "Why is it hard?"

"It's just that... I mean, I've hung out with you with the girls and stuff, and we've had that FaceTime talk, but..." Lauren sighs and sits down on the couch, tapping out a rhythm on her thighs. "I've never spent time with you alone before. Not properly. It's scary."

"So... you're worried that you'll say or do something you think is 'odd'?" Camila asks.

Lauren nods. "Yeah. Because Mani, Ally and Dinah aren't here to tell me what's okay."

"They might not be here, but I am." Camila points out. "And I'm your friend as much as they are. If you ever say something that upsets me, I'll let you know, okay? I don't want you to hold yourself back around me. I like you for you – I don't want some watered down version of my Lolo whenever we hang out alone."