Lauren chewed her lip nervously as Camila pulled the car into her driveway. Her mind was ablaze with Jade's words about Camila's lack of commitment to her, the struggle to commit to Camila herself since she was so afraid of hurting her like she hurt Jade, and the confusing comment about Camila's family emergency. Lauren had been dying to ask about it since Camila had told her, but wasn't sure if she'd be overstepping a boundary by doing so. Wasn't her job as Camila's girlfriend to be there for her, though? But how could she be there for Camila when she knew literally nothing about the situation? It was all so confusing.
"Hey loser, we're here," Camila spoke, taking Lauren out of her rather depressing train of thought and bringing her back to the real world.
As she made eye contact with Camila, who was holding the passenger side door open for Lauren to step out of the car, she couldn't help but think of what she herself was hiding from the other Latina.
Camila waved her hand in front of Lauren's face to get her attention, "Hey, you okay?"
Lauren simply nodded and slipped out of the car, following Camila up the front steps and into her house. As Camila closed the door behind them, Lauren took in her surroundings.
Flowers hung delicately from string lights in the entryway and into the living room. Red petals were also dispersed on and around the couch, coffee table, and in a pathway that led upstairs. The rose Camila had given the green eyed girl was just a small portion of what Camila had been setting up. The thought and effort Camila put into all of this made Lauren smile happily.
Camila beamed back at her easily, "This is just the first of many things that I want to do to show you how committed I am to you," Camila spoke and took Lauren's hands in her own, "I love you, Lauren, and I don't want you to doubt that for even a second longer."
It was at that moment that Lauren realized how stupid she had been. Of course Camila hadn't been cheating on her. She was busy with her family crisis and Lauren felt so bad for making Camila feel as if her family wasn't as important as the relationship they had.
Sensing that Lauren wanted to say something, Camila quickly reached for one of the many whiteboards around the house and handed it over to the taller girl.
Lauren quickly scribbled on the smooth surface before turning it to face Camila.
I love you too. I'm so sorry.
"It's okay as long as we're okay," Camila responded with watery eyes, "You mean so much to me and I'm not sure what I'd do if i lost you."
Camila's words resonated within Lauren and she returned her sentiments with a meaningful look.
Camila smiled at her girlfriend again and wiped the happy tears now spilling down her cheeks, "The food will only take me a few minutes, want to wait in the living room and I'll let you know when it's done?"
Lauren nodded and leaned forward to kiss her girlfriend passionately, but before it could get too intense, Camila pulled away with a wink and walked into the kitchen, "Save that for later."
Lauren's grin reached her eyes this time as she took a seat on the petal covered couch. The amount of thought Camila had put into everything struck Lauren even more when she heard music begin to play from the speakers. She hummed along easily with Elliott Smith's easy melodies as she thought more about the big thing she was keeping from Camila.
Deciding that she should tell her the news she had received a few days prior, she reached for the whiteboard again and wrote it out in big careful letters.
She hoped that the news wouldn't hinder how much progress they had made with their relationship today. In fact, the thing that scared her the most about telling Camila her secret was that she might not love her anymore since things would be different. She tried to shake the thought out of her mind as she looked back at the words on the board.
In two weeks I'm having s-
A loud scream abruptly cut off her reading.
With adrenaline pumping, she raced toward the kitchen. Was Camila okay? What happened? Was she hurt?
As she sprinted toward Camila, she nearly ran into the smaller girl.
"Fuck!" the younger of the duo cursed out loud as she raced past Lauren and jammed her feet into the first two shoes she could find. Lauren immediately followed suit, not able to ask any questions.
"Where the fuck are my keys?" Camila spoke in a hurried tone, franticly searching the entryway.
Lauren, able to hear her blood pumping through her veins with all of the nervous uncertainty of the sight in front of her, quickly reached for them and held them out to the other girl.
As soon as Camila went to grab them, she immediately paused, locking eyes with Lauren.
"You can't come with me. It's a family emergency."
Lauren was immediately hurt by Camila's words and reached for another whiteboard.
Let me be there for you.
Camila read over the words quickly and shook her head, "No, you can't come. I have to go now, I'm sorry." she spoke and grabbed the keys from Lauren's hand, quickly running out the door.
As the door shut with a loud bang, Lauren couldn't fight back the tears that threatened to spill. She thought that things with Camila were getting better, but now she was completely confused and hurt. Why wouldn't Camila let her come? What was going on? Who was this mystery family member?
The questions piled up quickly in Lauren's mind and she couldn't help but feel that if she didn't go with Camila right now, she might lose her forever.
Acting at a fast pace, she opened and closed the front door and sprinted toward Camila's car. Before Camila had the chance to not let Lauren in, she grabbed the handle of the door and opened it, slipping inside just as Camila began to back out of the driveway.
The sudden action caused Camila to jam on her breaks, "Lauren! What are you doing? Get out of the car!" she yelled, her voice cracking with emotion.
Lauren shook her head defiantly and buckled herself into the passenger seat.
"Fuck," Camila cursed to no one in particular and jammed the car into reverse again, speeding backward down the driveway and then pulling onto the street with screeching tires.
Lauren wished like hell that she was able to say something to help calm Camila down, to help assure her that whatever was happening would be alright.
Instead of words, Lauren reached out to take Camila's right hand, the one that wasn't tightly gripping the steering wheel.
The touch caught Camila, who was very much lost in her own thoughts about the condition of her son, very much by surprise and caused her to jerk the wheel unexpectedly to the side and veer them into the lane of oncoming traffic.
"Fuck Lauren!" Camila swore as she tore her hand away from Lauren's and sharply turned the wheel to put them back in their lane. She looked over at the green eyed girl, who had shrunk down into her seat with tears dripping down both of her cheeks and was trying hard not to make a sound. The sight made Camila's heart clench.
"I'm sorry, Laur-" Camila began to apologize for her insensitive behavior and attempt to explain the situation at hand as her eyes remained on the girl beside her, but was cut off by the deafening sound of a truck's horn. Before she could process what was happening, she felt the rough impact of the semi truck colliding with her small car. The last thing she saw were Lauren's terrified green eyes before everything went dark.
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A/N:
Now that we have reached the end of the chapter, I'm here to tell you that this is also the end of the story.
There will most likely be an epilogue at some point in the future, as well as a sequel next summer if you guys want it.
What do you think happened with Camila's son?
What is Lauren's secret?
What do you think might happen after the crash?
Thank you so much for your support of this story. It means more to me than you know.
Let me know if you want a sequel/epilogue.
Thanks for reading and goodbye for now,
X
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Tongue Tied (Camren)
Fanfiction"Hey," an attractive brunette said with a small smile. Lauren felt her heart speed up. She had never, ever wished she was able to speak so badly. Trigger warning.
