Me Without You

"Me and you, princess, always."

First and foremost before I proceed to this chapter I'm inclined to warn you that this is an attempt to write, it has been a struggle to do so these last few days so please don't hold your breaths for anything special.

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and messages, I read all of them and you're all such amazing human beings.

I'd also like to acknowledge the tragedy that happened in Manchester. As I've said in the past, I hate violence in all degrees and death is already such an inevitable part of life, for someone to take that into their own hands...it's disgusting.

My thoughts are with anyone who was affected, everyone who lost someone, and the ever growing cruelty in this world.

Let's be better than hate,

Love, only.

Sleep stopped becoming easy for Camila. She slept through the first night because the happenings of the day left her with dwindling energy and fighting her closing lids was becoming a losing battle and so she slept.

Camila slept that night because Lauren was still awake and if Lauren was still awake...well then Camila was safe. That's how she felt. That's what Lauren was to her...she was safety personified.

Well...she was that night.

Now...now Camila was terrified of letting Lauren out of her sight. And not because the girl acted as a safety barrier between Camila and the outside world, but because the only way Camila could ensure Lauren's safety was if she was there with her. So things began to get a little strained in their apartment.

It didn't help when the police arrived back to report that there was no evidence found on the box, no fingerprints, strands of her or dead skin cells found on anything.

The stalker was meticulous.

Camila was in a state of panic.

"Camila, I have to go, my class starts in half an hour," Lauren struggled with her girlfriend's hand that was latched tightly onto her arm. "I'm going straight to my car and from there I'll be going directly to class, nothing's gonna happen."

And normally that would soothe the brunette's mind, the certainty in the green-eyed girl's tone...but Lauren was singlehandedly the most important person in Camila's life and she'd just gotten the girl back.

And the thought of Lauren walking through their apartment door drew up memories of Lauren laying in a hospital bed with a tube down her throat to keep her breathing. It conjured up memories of Lauren beaten within an inch of her life or the large gash scars on the girl's porcelain skin and Camila felt her nerves peak.

Anxiety flowed through Camila in waves and her grip on Lauren tightened as her mind sent image after image to her, reminding her of how many times she'd nearly lost Lauren. And they'd been so young back then, so sure that the world could no longer beat them down but the scare two days prior proved otherwise.

The world could beat them down again. Lauren wasn't invincible.

And it was like a tidal wave of nerves suddenly halted any kind of air from reaching Camila's lungs. Breathing became a struggle, her breaths came in gasps and they were small.

Lauren caught onto it quickly, immediately dropping her bag to the floor and taking Camila's face between her hands.

"Camz, hey, hey, look at me," Lauren instructed, having no clue what to do in the situation after never having to deal with her girlfriend suffering from a panic attack. "Hey, I'm right here, I won't go anywhere, Camila, I need you to look at me, princess okay? Hey, calm down, you need to breathe, Camz, breathe for me."