Riptide (a camren fic)

Chapter 15: the page is double sided...b*tch

This isn't going how she intended.

The subject is clear. Getting there, unfortunately is a different, difficult, story.

Lauren struggles to continue the conversation. Camila impulsively takes that as an opportunity to grasp the reins of the subject.

Camila grits her teeth, resisting the urge to make a snarky comment. Dinah's amusement isn't helping. Neither is Lauren's sudden mood change and uncharacteristic timidity.

"So the concert was...interesting?" Camila begins cautiously. Lauren's eyes dart up to meet hers sharply. Expectantly. Relieved. The conversation is in motion, regardless of how painfully cringe worthy Camila is beginning to feel. "I've never seen The 1975 live."

Nailed it.

"Wow, that was a fail," Dinah yawns.

Lauren's expression falls. And Camila has the distinct impression that Dinah is right.

"Oh yeah," Lauren mutters. "It was – fun." The statement comes out more as a question than an actual statement.

"Yeah. Fun."

The silence that falls between them is terse, exacerbating the nervous atmosphere.

"So about this talk..." Camila trails off. She moves to plop at the edge of her bed.

There's an awkwardness that grows amid the silence. One that Camila had secretly dreaded the moment she made the decision to finally talk to Lauren.

It's weird and strange. And Camila has the sudden urge to kick Lauren out of her room. The urge vanishes the moment Lauren turns to looks at her intently.

It isn't her fault, Camila reminds herself. It isn't Lauren's fault in the slightest. She didn't ask for this kind of messy reunion.

"Um, so when we were at the concert things got kind of, uh," Camila hesitates. "Intense?"

Whatever was suddenly bothering Lauren before seems to dissipate as she jumps on the chance to change the topic.

"I wanna apologize for that," Lauren begins quickly. "It got out of hand and it was my fault."

"What? No, I'm the one who should be apologizing," Camila responds incredulously. "I practically threw myself at you."

"It's not anything I didn't want," Lauren admits sheepishly.

Camila remains rooted to the spot, stilling upon hearing the words fall from Lauren's mouth. Heat flourishes through her chest, climbing feverishly up her neck and spreading across her face.

The easy manner in which Lauren confesses does something to Camila. Something that has her avoiding Dinah's all too amused smirk and refusing to acknowledge her racing heart.

"Okay, um, good? Because, uh, same."

Lauren opens her mouth, but Camila quickly interjects.

"And still," Camila says, trying to suppress the flustered feeling. Lauren glances up at her. She averts her eyes, hoping that looking at anything but Lauren's hopeful expression would make this easier to get out. "I initiated it. I'm pretty sure I broke, like, all of the guidelines that night."

Lauren lets out an exasperated chuckle. "I'm pretty sure those rules are useless now. Which is why we really do need to talk about this. Us." She stresses the last word.

Panic immediately bursts into her system, poisoning the bashfulness until it becomes mortification.

Lauren sighs noisily, before coming to join her on the bed. It's almost ridiculous how the first thing Camila becomes aware of is how close Lauren decides to sit next to her. Their knees touch.