Should Have Known (Camren)

Chapter 44

March, 2014

I pulled the sheets down ever so slightly, making sure to leave Camila's sleeping form undisturbed as I crawled out of bed. I tip-toed quietly to where her clothes were scattered on the floor and folded them on the corner of the bed, leaving them in case she woke up in my absence and then finding my way over to my suitcase to pull out a set of clean pajamas. I threw them on as hastily as possible and stepped outside, shutting the door behind me and praying that she wouldn't wake up before I returned. I glanced at the clock as I found my way through the dimly lit hotel room- 11:50 P.M. I had ten minutes to make sure my plan for Camila's birthday was fool proof.

I walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, making sure the cake that I had placed there upon our arrival remained untouched. I pulled it out and sat it on the counter, turning the container over in my hands as I examined it and placing it back down as I turned around to retrieve her birthday card and began to write. I quickly became lost in my writing, spilling out my thoughts of her in the most sentimental way possible but making sure not to give away too much, glancing at the clock every once in a while as midnight quickly approached.

"Lo?" her scratchy tone squeaked from the bedroom doorway.

Shit, I cursed silently.

I whipped around and grabbed the cake off the counter, shoving it into the refrigerator and hiding the card behind my back just in the knick of time. She rounded the corner and stopped in front of the island, rubbing her eyes sleepily as she tried to make sense of the scene around her.

"What are you doing up?" she asked me.

"Getting a drink," I lied.

"Oh," she yawned. "That's what I was coming to do too."

She reached for the handle on the refrigerator but I stepped in front of her, blocking her reach and causing her to furrow her brow in confusion.

"I'll bring it to you. Just head back to bed," I offered.

"I can get it myself," she protested, reaching for the handle again.

"No," I snapped, grabbing her wrist and glancing nervously at the clock as the last minute until midnight ticked by.

"Why are you being so weird?" she whined. "I want to go back to sleep. It's late."

"I'll get it for you," I repeated.

"Okay," she sighed, leaning back against the counter and nodding towards the refrigerator. "Then get it. I'll wait right here."

My heart pounded in my chest as my eyes flitted back and forth between Camila's expectant gaze and the clock above the stove, the silence growing between us until 12:00 finally appeared.

"Alright," I agreed, turning around and blocking her view as I stuffed the card into the envelope and pulled the cake off the shelf.

A smile slowly creeped across her face as I presented it to her, shoving it in her direction and signaling for her to take it.

"Happy birthday Camila," I grinned.

She rolled her eyes playfully and took the cake from my hands, sitting it on the counter behind her and then pulling me in for a hug.

"You didn't have to do all of this," she mumbled into my t-shirt.

"I kind of did..." I said hesitantly, pulling out of her embrace and handing her the card. "I didn't have time to get you an actual present since we've been so busy on the road and stuff...so I figured I'd make up for it with a surprise party featuring just the two of us."