Me Without You

"Me and you, princess, always."

"I-I-I-" Camila squeezed her eyes shut and tried to shake her head but Lauren's hand held it trapped. "C-can't...Laur-r-ren, I can't-I-"

"Fuck, fuck!" The raven-haired girl panicked, her eyes darting around the apartment as if it would provide some kind of solution. "Remember the pond...in the woods? Remember that? Hey, Camz, look at me, do you remember the pond? We went there, remember? We bailed on school that day, your first real act of rebellion. Go there again, mi amor, picture it."

"L-Lauren, I can't, I-"

"Camila, fuck, I'm right here!" The older girl yelled. "I'm not going anywhere, I'll stay. I'll get in under the covers with you and watch lame fucking Netflix shows that you love and we'll eat junk food all fucking day if you just breathe, princess." Lauren leaned in close to her girlfriend, watching the gasps slowly even out. "Just breathe for me, baby, there you go." She planted her forehead against the tanned one and exhaled slowly, her eyes closing as she felt Camila's evened out breath hit her lips. "There you go, princess."

Camila's body sort of slumped against Lauren's but the green-eyed girl didn't hesitate in catching her girl's weight, holding her up and in a tight embrace.

"I've got you, Camz, okay? I'll always fucking catch you, princess." She planted a series of kisses to the crown of the brunette's head.

She did as promised, she skipped class and stayed tucked into bed with her girlfriend until Camila's exhaustion finally got the better of her and she succumbed to sleep, giving Lauren ample amount of time to call Dinah.

The blonde picked up after the fourth ring panting and Lauren knew exactly what she was interrupting.

"Jesus, fuck, don't one of you have work?" She said in greeting.

"Hey Laur, nice to hear from you too, how's the weather over there?"

"Camila had a panic attack two hours ago." Lauren cut through the bullshit quickly and perched herself down on the couch.

"Wait, what?" The older girl took in how quickly Dinah's tone changed. "Is she okay? What the hell happened? Jauregui, she better fucking be okay."

"She is now, I managed to calm her down, look...something's been happening. Camila has a stalker," Lauren sighed and chimed in again quickly before Dinah stepped in with an overdramatic comment. "It started with stupid calls from some anonymous number, then she got this text...and then a couple of days ago the person sent her a cow's eye with some twisted letter."

"And you didn't tell me? Jesus, Lauren, I should be over there! She's my best friend!"

"And do what, huh? Dinah, she struggled to sleep last night out of fear, she couldn't let me walk out of the door this morning. You being here...it won't change that. It'll just make her feel like there's one more person she has to protect."

"So what then? Why'd you call me if all you're going to tell me is that I'm here with no means of helping my best friend?"

"You've seen her more in the last two years than I have...this anxiety thing...have you seen her with it before?"

"Once, when you left for Penn, she was a mess and she had these small little...moments, nothing to be overly worried about though."

"Lauren?" The green-eyed girl's eyes shot to the closed bedroom door and knew her time was dwindling with the blonde on the phone.

"Look, I'll keep you updated, I've got this for now." Lauren sighed, unsure of her own words.

Just as she hung up on the blonde, Camila's petite form slipped through the bedroom door, her eyes immediately in search of her girlfriend and it pained Lauren to see the frenzied look leave her eyes when she finally spotted her on the couch.