Love Me (Normani)

Chapter 38

It had been two weeks and a lot had changed. Normani hadn't heard a word from Dinah since their break up, her and Lauren were practically flirting every chance they got - she couldn't lie, it was mostly Lauren. Normani was now eating all of her meals under supervision, obviously not eating everything, but it was a good start. A great start considering the past, almost year. Normani was slowly gaining some weight, and strangely enough, she was becoming okay with it. Lauren was as supportive as she had always been, if Lauren wasn't there or couldn't be there at meal times, it was Camila. Camila had also been immensely supportive and focused on helping the girl get better. Oddly enough, because of Normani's eating disorder, the three of them had got even closer. So on reflection, it wasn't a totally bad thing. Well, depending on how you looked at it. However, her mother was still not talking to Normani, and her parents were still fighting, and now it was over her. Over her eating disorder. Her father had found out when he was tidying up Normani's room for her and found containers of uneaten food under her bed from dinner. Gross, she knew, but it was all out of desperation. Now, the couple were at loggerheads and she couldn't feel more guilty. "I c-can't eat anymore Mila." Normani sniffled. "Try one more bite Mani, then you'll have eaten half. You can be finished then." Normani looked at the small Cuban with pleading eyes. "One more, that's all." Normani refused, shaking her head and put the fork down as a protest. So Camila took the fork herself and poked a small piece of chicken and put some rice on it. "One more bite, you got this." Normani saw that she wouldn't get around Camila this time and reluctantly opened her mouth. She chewed the food painfully slowly, and to be honest it unnerved Camila, but she was getting used to it. "Gone?" Camila asked. Normani nodded. "Open," Normani opened her mouth. "Lift up your tongue." Normani looked around awkwardly. "Mani, that trick isn't gonna work again. You know that. Swallow it, then you're finished." "But Mila-" "Normani." She said sternly. Normani saw her pressing eyes and reluctantly swallowed the food. "Open, tongue up." Normani did as she was told and Camila smiled when she saw the food had disappeared. "Well done, now come on. Come to the kitchen with me so I can put this stuff away." Camila had learnt from Lauren not to leave Normani alone after meals or she'd go to the bathroom and purge it up. Normani sighed and followed her out. "You wanna do the honours?" Camila passed Normani the plate so she could throw the rest of her lunch away. She could see that Normani felt better doing that, so Camila just went with it. "My Dad'll do the dishes. Don't worry about it." Normani mumbled. "Okay." Camila smiled, pulling the girl to the garden so they could sit outside. "When's Lauren coming over?" Normani asked impatiently. "Soon, she did tell you she had to drop her sister off at her new friend's house." "Yeah but shouldn't she be here by now?" "Relax Mani." Camila chuckled, noticing the way she shivered, even though it was warm outside. Because Normani's weight was so low, she felt cold all the time. "Can I put a jumper on now?" "I'll get you one." Camila smiled gently, going to grab one from her room for her. Normani also wasn't allowed to wear anything with long sleeves when she was eating in case she tried to put food in them, which she admittedly had done before. Camila came back and gave the girl one of Lauren's hoodies. "I don't think it's yours but it looked comfy, who's is it?" "Lauren's." Normani answered with chattering teeth as she slipped the oversized hoodie over her. "Why do you have Lo's sweatshirt?" "It's comfy and warm and I love it." Normani said dramatically making both girl's giggle. "Did you hear the door?" Normani asked when she heard a bell. "It's probably Lauren, I'll get it." "Kay, thanks Mila." Normani said, picking at the grass beneath her. "Hey." Lauren greeted the girl with kiss before she sat down. "Is that my sweatshirt?" She pointed to it questioningly with confusion written on her face. "Uh yeah, do you want it back?" Lauren blushed. "No, it's fine." "Are you sure?" Normani asked. "You can have it, you look cute in my clothes anyway." Normani blushed and leaned in to kiss Lauren who smiled and connected their lips. "Uh.." a voice from behind them stuttered. Camila. Oh shit. "C-Camz!" "I can, we-we can explain." Normani tried but Camila looked completely shocked. "What..what just happened?" "Uh.." Lauren struggled to find her words. "Are you two.." Camila turned to Lauren. "So are you.." "Gay, yeah." She mumbled. "And you.." "Bi." Normani said in the same low voice. "And you guys are.." "No, we're not together." Lauren said quickly. "But you just-" "We're getting there." Normani explained. "Are you..okay with this?" Lauren asked worriedly. "How could you not fucking tell me?" Camila whined to Lauren. "I was scared.." "Why?" Camila asked, sitting down in front of Lauren. "I was just scared you wouldn't accept me." Camila just frowned and pulled the girl into a hug. "You're such an idiot Lauren." She chuckled. "You're still the same Lauren I always knew and loved. Nothing's gonna change that." Lauren breathed a sigh of relief and hugged the girl back. "Thank God." "See? I told you it'd be fine." Normani said with a smile. "You two would be so cute together. I ship it." Camila clapped. Lauren chuckled and pulled Normani into her lap. "So that's why you had her hoodie." Camila smirked at Normani. "I left it here actually." Lauren corrected her. "And we're not official, Dinah and Normani just broke up a couple weeks ago." "So? You two are obviously dying to be together, and as long as you two are happy, I really don't see a problem here. If you want to make it official and show each other off to the world and be all cute and coupley, why wait?" Camila shrugged. Lauren looked down at Normani and smiled. "What do you think?" "She's right. I just want to be with you." "Okay..Normani Kordei, will you be my girlfriend?" Normani bit her bottom lip and nodded, leaning in to kiss Lauren. "Absolutely." Camila squealed and clapped excitedly. "And thus Laurmani is alive!" "Laur-what?" Lauren pulled away to ask. "It's your new ship name, duh." Normani groaned and let her head fall into Lauren's neck. Lauren giggled and looked up at Camila with a bright smile gracing her features. "Thanks Camz." "You're welcome Lo."