Time Shift (Camren)

Chapter 24: Flash Forward

Normani laughed, "You're cute," she patted his cheek affectionately, "Now, I'm leaving before I start crying."

Cameron chuckled as she walked away and suddenly, Dinah was standing before him, arms crossed over her chest.

"Do I really have to forget you?" she asked and Cameron could see tears in her eyes, "I feel like I've learned so much about myself since you arrived here."

"You learned from yourself, not from me," he smiled, "Besides, you're already as cool as you will always be. You don't need me for that."

"Still, it won't be the same," she sighed and hugged him.

"Thank you for being my home away from home," Cameron told her.

"You're family. I did what I could to help," she replied and then added, whispering to his ear, "Do me a favor. When you see me in the future, tell me something to check if I remember any of this. Just in case."

"I will," Cameron said, amused, as he ended the hug, "I just hope you won't think I'm crazy and smack me in the head."

"I'll try my best," Dinah giggled, "See you in a few years, I guess."

"See you in a few days," he replied, knowing that, if he succeeded, he would see her during the holidays.

As Dinah left the room, Cameron took a deep breath and turn to Camila and Lauren, who had been watching the whole scene in silence.

"Thank you for believing my crazy story. It couldn't have been easy," he smiled at them, "I'm glad I could tell you the truth, even if we didn't have much time to talk."

"I wish we'd had more time," Camila's voice was shaky as she held back her tears, unsuccessfully, "But we'll keep our promise."

"We will, Cam," Lauren cleared her throat, looking down, "And I also wanted to say, I'm sorry. I was really rude a few times in the past days."

"It's all right. You didn't know who I was," Cameron smiled, "Besides, I still think it was funny when you said my mother didn't know you."

"Ugh," Lauren covered her face, "I'm the worst. I really wasn't thinking straight back then."

"There's nothing straight about the way you think, Lauser!" Dinah yelled from outside the room and Lauren snorted a laugh and blushed.

Camila rolled her eyes, "Anyway, people say things they don't mean when they're angry. Don't be so hard on yourself, Lauren."

Cameron looked at them. A part of him was happy because he was finally going home, but he couldn't help feeling sad that he wouldn't be able to be with these versions of his mothers anymore.

"I love you, both," he said, pulling them into a group hug, "You've always been the best moms. Even now."

As Camila and Lauren held him as tight as they could, the device on Cameron's hand started beeping more intensively, as if letting them know that their time was up.

"I guess we-" Lauren started saying, as she moved away from the hug, but a strange sensation in the back of her neck stopped her in her tracks.

She was about to ask about that feeling but, suddenly, Cameron wasn't in front of her anymore.

In fact, the whole room she was in looked different.

"What's going on?" Camila said besides her, "Where are we?"

Lauren turned to look at her, slightly relieved at the fact that, wherever she was, Camila was there with her.

"I don't know," Lauren looked around, stepping closer to Camila.