Come Back, Be Here (Camren)

Chapter 3

Unable to stare into the green eyes before her, Camila starts to play with her fingers. She wants to apologize for her outburst, but she doesn't know how. She never knows how to apologize for them so she's gotten to where she just doesn't. Luckily, Lauren speaks up and breaks the awkward silence. "Are you okay? How are you feeling, babe?"

Camila's eyebrows knit together at the use of the pet name. "Why do you keep calling me that?" She finally drops her hands to her side and looks up to search the girl's face for answers. Instead, she just finds herself getting lost in the green eyes that are oozing nothing but love and kindness.

Lauren swallows the lump that has set up camp in her throat and steps forward. "Look, I know you are mad at me, but I did it for a good reason and I've been trying to get in touch with you for a year, but I haven't been able to. I came to find you as soon as I got a flight." The artist slowly reaches her hand out and clasps it around Camila's left hand. To her surprise, she doesn't pull away so Lauren takes it upon herself to interlace their hands. Out of habit, Lauren's finger goes to trace Camila's wedding band, but all she feels is smooth skin under her touch. Stunned, Lauren looks down and finds Camila's ring finger bare. "W-where's your wedding ring?"

"What wedding ring? I'm not married." The younger girl states simply as she looks into the eyes in front of her and watches them fill with tears and a hint of disbelief.

Lauren panics as she runs her fingers through her hair. "Tell me this is some kind of joke." She narrows her eyes at the brunette in front of her. "Camila, we've been married for two fucking years!"

Camila steps back when Lauren raises her voice and Lauren immediately chastises herself when she sees the fear and confusion in the younger girl's eyes. "I-I don't know what you're talking about. I'm sorry." The brunette takes another step back, clearly intimidated by the girl in front of her.

Dinah, having witnessed the whole scene, steps in after something clicks in her mind. She quickly approaches the green-eyed brunette who looks as if she will break down as soon as one more word leaves Camila's mouth. "Lauren, is it? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Lauren tears her eyes away from the confused brown ones before her and stares at the Polynesian. Once the words register within her, she solemnly nods her head and follows the girl to the front of the bar where she sat earlier with Normani. Dinah sits down and pulls the bar stool next to her out as an invitation for Lauren to do the same.

"Let me start by introducing myself." The Polynesian turns to face Lauren. "I'm Dinah. Camila's childhood friend."

That's where I've heard that name before. Lauren thinks as she remembers her wife's stories about her childhood and high school days.

Lauren carefully takes the hand that has been extended to her and shakes it. "Lauren. Camila's wife." She speaks confidently.

Dinah sighs and offers the brunette a sympathetic smile. "I believe you... but Camila might not." She finally states after finding the right words to say. Lauren just furrows her eyebrows and waits for the blonde to continue. "About a year ago, I got a call from Camila's mother. She was frantic." Lauren feels her hands getting clammy as she listens to Dinah. "Apparently Camila had been assaulted one night at a hotel here in Miami. None of us even knew Camila was back, we hadn't really spoken to her in years. I mean the last thing we knew was that Camila had left the country to teach abroad." Dinah explains.

Lauren's worst fears just came true. Her wife was hurt and she wasn't there to protect her. Her heart slams against her chest cavity with so much force that she can hear it in her ears. Dinah knows it's a lot to process so she gives the girl in front of her some time to do so. Lauren clears her throat and finally speaks up. "She was assaulted.. was she umm..." Lauren can't find it in herself to choke out the one word that sits on the edge of her tongue.

Luckily, Dinah knows what she is insinuating and quickly comes to her aid. "No, no they didn't touch her like that." Dinah reassures the green-eyed girl and watches her release a sigh of relief, similar to the one she released herself after the doctors informed them all in the waiting room that it was physical abuse, but not sexual abuse. "But they left her in critical condition." She regretfully informs Lauren. "They uh bashed her head into a wall and the knife they held to her throat left a cut so deep that it almost killed her." She continues. "They took everything she owned. Money, phone, and we didn't know it then, but her wedding ring."

Lauren balls her fists up so tightly that she can feel her nails piercing through her palms.

How could they do that to my baby? To Camila? The kindest, most innocent human being to walk the face of the earth. Lauren questions as unwanted images of a beaten Camila pour into her mind.

"So the head trauma... she can't remember anything?" Lauren asks, her voice laced with emotion.

"She remembers everything up until her senior year of high school." Dinah informs the distraught girl sitting on the stool in front of her.

Lauren's shoulders slump. "Is there uh any chance she will get her memory back?"

"They said it's possible, but not likely. The doctors said it's a miracle she even survived." Dinah looks over her shoulder at the brunette girl who is talking to Normani. The Polynesian absolutely hated being separated from Camila all through college and two years after college. Dinah understood Camila's reasoning for wanting to leave the states and tried not to take offense when Camila changed her number and didn't tell anyone back home, including her. That didn't change the fact that everyday she missed her best friend and everyday she beat herself up for not standing up for Camila more, for not letting Camila know that what she was feeling was okay. Ever since she received the call from Sinu, the Polynesian has promised herself that she would never leave her chancho again. Ever.

She turns back around when she hears sniffling and watches as the green-eyed girl angrily wipes away the tears that are racing down her face.

"Look, Lauren. I don't know you or anything about you, but I believe that you two were married. I can tell you love her. I see it in your eyes. I'm not asking you to get lost, but just lay low for awhile please." She pleads. "Mila is still recovering from the attack and she's still going to counseling twice a month. She also has panic attacks like the one you saw earlier quite frequently." Lauren nods her head, quietly agreeing to Dinah's request.

Dinah knows there is one more thing she has to tell the girl sitting before her, but she doesn't really know how to go about doing that, seeing as she is already severely distraught. However, the Polynesian knows the girl before her needs to know, even if it will be hard for her to cope with it. "Lauren, there's also something else you should know."

Lauren watches as the blonde in front of her tries to find the courage to tell her something. Her heart continues to pound against the inside of her chest forcefully and she swears there is someone wrapping their hands around her throat and choking her.

"Mila is kind of-" Dinah starts, only to be interrupted by her friend's voice.

"Baby!" Lauren hears a familiar voice shout and she turns around to answer to the name that the same familiar voice has called her for the past 4 years. Her eyes find the brown-eyed girl and the smile that was making it's way to her lips, suddenly diminishes as she realizes that term of endearment is not being directed toward her.

Lauren watches as the young teacher makes her way across the bar, the green-eyed girl's heart sinking further and further with each step she takes away from her.

Lauren has felt pain. The time she broke her arm in the 5th grade. The time she collided with the pavement headfirst after she fell off of her skateboard in the 10th grade. The time she was nailed in the face with the softball in 12th grade.

But none of that pain even comes close to comparing to the pain she is feeling right now as she watches her Camila... her Camz... her wife... jump into the arms of someone else.