Are You There? ("Those Eyes" sequel, Camren Fan Fic)

Chapter 28: Won't Sacrifice

Camila's POV:

I have no fucking idea why Simon always wants to talk to me, why am I always the one in trouble? I already told him there's no way I'm going solo, Fifth Harmony won't break up. It doesn't matter if he offers me a huge contract, I won't leave the girls. They mean the world to me and we're in this together, even though Normani isn't exactly a good friend. The driver takes me to Simon's office and I slowly walk in to meet him. "Camila, its nice to see you." He greets me standing up. "Hey Simon." I answer softly and sit in front of him. He stares at me for a minute, his cold eyes set on mine showing no emotion whatsoever. "We need to have a serious conversation." He finally says leaning back on his leather chair. "Is this about the solo career? Because I thought I had already made it clear I have no intention in..." "Its not about that." He interrupts me. "Its about your past behavior and how that's affecting the group." Simon adds and my heart stops beating. "What are you..." I start saying but he interrupts me once more taking out his phone and reading something out loud. "The 17 year old member of Fifth Harmony, Camila Cabello, was spotted with one of her bandmates walking out of a maternity clinic in L.A.. When asking what was going on, the presumably innocent member of the American girl band formed by Simon Cowell a couple of years ago stated: "Hey douche bag Lauren came here with me, I'm the one you should be asking questions and no, I'm not fucking pregnant." Rough, she seemed pissed, especially considering how hard it would be to tour around the country carrying a baby. Camila is currently dating pop star Austin Mahone, who apparently didn't know about Camila's possible pregnancy. The cuban singer has been in most gossip magazines since certain lesbian sex tape went public, and it looks like the The X Factor finalists aren't the good girls they used to be, at least Miss Cabello isn't." He finishes reading and sighs. Fuck, that wasn't a nice sigh. "I don't know what to say." I answer softly and bite my trembling lip. My eyes start to get teary, but I hold everything back. "What am I supposed to do Camila? Everything's ruined, you guys can't go on tour if you're pregnant." He says holding his head. "But Simon I'm not pregnant, the test came out negative." I protest and I feel a big lump in my throat. "I don't know Camila. The producers called and said they're not interested anymore." He states. "I wasn't interested in them anyways." I answer trying to show confidence, when in reality I'm crumbling inside. "Not just those producers, the band producers don't want drama around you guys, and they already let the sex tape thing go. They're not willing to take that chance again." He tells me running his fingers through his thick short hair. "What does that mean?" I ask him softly. "You're extremely talented, there's no doubt about that. But we can't have that kind of negative rumors around anymore. I'm really, really sorry to say this Camila, but your contract is over, we're going to have to let you go." He says and I can't hold the tears back anymore. "No, you can't break us up Simon." I say between desperate sobs. This has been my dream all of my life, he can't take that away from me. "Camila this isn't easy for anyone, we had to cancel the tour to sort things out. I'm really sorry, but we feel this is what's best for the group." He says matter of factly. "Simon, you can't do this." I say wiping the stupid tears from my face. "Ingrid will take you home and we'll talk to your parents so they come pick you up as soon as possible. I'll call you all tomorrow to tell the girls about everything." He says and walks me to the door. I guess there's not much I can do, I chose to lie to protect Lauren and now I have to accept the consequences. I don't regret a single thing though. This means I no longer have to pretend I'm dating Austin, so that's not horrible. But I also have to walk away from my dreams and go back to Miami until I decide what to do with my life. I can always go back to school or pursuit a solo career after all. It sucks that I have to be away from the girls and Lauren, but her happiness is what makes me the happiest. And then I just stop crying. Of course it will be hard to go back to a normal life, but its worth it. Seeing a smile on Lauren's face makes it all worth it. I walk to the car where Ingrid was waiting for me and get in. "How are you Camila?" She says smiling sweetly at me. "Shocked." I answer sighing. "I'm really sorry." She says and drive the rest of the way home in silence. I guess reality hasn't really weighed in and I'm in this denial kind of mood. I walk into the silent apartment and directly find myself opening Lauren's door. I see her curled up body sleeping peacefully and remember we're not exactly on the best terms after she found out I was hiding that Simon had proposed me a solo career. I slowly stand beside her bed and her eyes start to open up, revealing the amazing green color that has left me speechless so many times before. "Hey Camz, how did it go?" She asks me yawning and I try to give her a soft smile, but words don't come out of my life, I can't find the easy and least painful way to say this. "Hey are you okay?" She asks again and I sit down on her bed after I start feeling lightheaded. This is really happening, I'm leaving Fifth Harmony and the love of my life, she'll have to go on tours and I won't be able to see her as much anymore. She's going to keep meeting celebrities and partying away from me. She's going to slip away from my fingers, in fact I feel like I have already lost her for good. "Camila what happened? Did he pressure you about your solo career?" She says holding my hand, but I just shake my head and feel the tears streaming down my cheeks again. "Camzi talk to me, what happened?" Lauren says wrapping her arms around my shaking body. "He said... God, this is really bad Lo." I start stuttering trying to come up with something to say, but my head's a mess and I can barely talk between the sobs. "I'm here, just tell me." She says comforting staring deeply into my eyes. "I... He said... I have to leave the band Lauren." I manage to say with a deep breath trying to steady my breathing, but I can't. Lauren's jaw drops as she stares intently at me. "What? What do you mean?" She says holding my face and wipes some tears from my cheeks. I try to mutter and answer, but I can't stop crying. "I'm going to lose you Lauren, and I'm so scared." I finish saying and she hugs me tight. "No, shut up, you won't lose me babe." She assures rubbing my back and after a couple of minutes I kind of calm down. I try to explain what happened and why Simon thinks the group will be better off without me. "Are you fucking kidding me? We need to tell Simon it was me, you can't take the blame." She interjects frowning. "Yes I can, and I will." I answer matter of factly. "No, I should've never let you do this. I'm going to call Simon right now." She says standing up, but I grab her wrist. "No, you won't. It was my choice to do this." I say and she sits back down. "Its not fair." She protests and bites her lips. "But I love you, and sometimes love isn't fair. Love isn't about fairness, its about giving yourself completely to someone else and trusting blindly in their instincts. And I love you more than anything in this world." I say putting a strand of hair behind her ear. I really have no fucking clue what I'm doing, just that my heart is telling me this is the right thing to do. "You just got to promise me I won't lose you when you're out touring and partying with cool celebrities while I'm doing homework." I joke trying to ease the mood, but on the inside my heart is more confused than ever. Uncertainty is driving me insane, but looking into Lauren's eyes I suddenly don't feel that scared. I could stare into her eyes forever.

Lauren's POV:

I can't let her do this. She can't sacrifice her career just because I was an idiot. Its not her fucking fault and I just can't let her do this. How could I stay in the group living my dream when she left her behind because of my mistake? I could never live with myself knowing that I took that away from her. Camila's so passionate about music, and she the most talented person I have ever met. Suddenly someone knocks on my door. "Lauren, Ingrid wants to see us in the living room." We hear Ally's voice and Camila smiles at me. "Lets go, you already know what this is about." She says rubbing my cheek and plants a soft kiss on my lips. "I love you." I tell her staring into her deep brown orbs and we walk out of my room. I love her and I can't let her do this. "Ingrid, I need to talk to Simon." I say as soon as we walk into the living room where the other girls are waiting for us. "Lauren don't!" Camila says pulling my arm, but I ignore her request. "Girls sit down, you'll talk to Simon first thing tomorrow morning. He'll explain this better when you see him, but there's something you girls need to know." Ingrid says crossing her arms. "It can't wait until tomorrow, I need to talk to him right now." I repeat walking closer to the older lady. "Lauren please calm down and sit down." She says staring at me with her icy blue eyes. "Don't tell me to fucking calm down, I can't let her do this!" I say loudly and Camila holds me back. "Lauren please don't do this." She whispers in my ear and nod softly sitting down. Ingrid explains how Camila has to leave the band because of some private issues and all I want is to say everything's my fault, I can't do this to her. "Camz please forgive me for doing this, but Ingrid, Camila wasn't the one taking the pregnancy test, it was me. I'm the one who should leave the band, not her." I say squeezing Camila's hand. This is the right thing to do. The girls and Ingrid gasp loudly and Camila just sighs. "Wow, I didn't know that. You should tell Simon that tomorrow, I guess that changes everything." Ingrid says with a surprised look on her pale face. "You shouldn't have done that." Camila says softly. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't let you take the blame for something that could ruin your life forever." I answer setting my eyes on hers. "Lauren why didn't you tell us?" Dinah asks me. "I don't know, I should've been honest since day one." I answer forcing a smile. Suddenly someone knock on our front door and Ingrid walks to open the door. A young police man walks in. "Hey ladies, I need to talk to Camila Cabello about a home invasion a couple of weeks ago. We had to wait until her concussion was gone before we could ask her some questions about that night. Can I have a word with you?" He asks politely and Camila nods. "I'm going to do it, I'll tell him everything we know." She whispers in my ear before following the officer to an empty room.