Should Have Known (Camren)

Chapter 56

I stood back stage, my eyes shut tightly as I listened to the shouts from the crowd on the other side of the curtain. It was the first day of Austin's tour, and also the first day of the rest of my life. No one knew of my plan, not even Camila, but it had been eating at the back of my mind for days. I stood alone now, preparing for the moment that would change my life forever. My heart had been beating rapidly all morning, all through the afternoon, and up to that very point. I felt a soft hand on my shoulder and whipped around, meeting Camila's sparkling brown eyes and an equally as sparkling white smile.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "We still have half an hour before we go on stage."

"I know," I nodded. "I just needed a second to myself."

"Is everything alright?" she worried. "You look pale."

I swallowed hard and searched the backstage area, watching to make sure no one was around before gripping Camila's wrist and pulling her to the exit door at the very back of the room.

"Where are we going?" she demanded.

I ignored her, continuing to pull her around the back of the building and to a fire escape out of sight. She took one good look at the structure and raised her eyebrow at me, communicating the silent question of why the hell I'd taken her there to begin with.

"I need to talk to you," I told her.

"Is everything okay?" she pressed. "It's nothing bad, is it?"

"No, of course not. I just need to get some things off my chest."

A simple nod was my cue to continue to the top. I climbed up and up with Camila following close behind, and after an incredibly lengthy climb, we finally reached the top. I brushed the dust off my white pants and held out my hand for Camila to take as she appeared at the top of the ladder. She climbed over with one swift movement and reclaimed her rightful place by my side, following me to the edge of the building where I took a seat on the concrete.

"Should we be up here?" she wondered, taking a seat next to me.

"Who cares?" I chuckled. "I mean, come on, we've stolen a car before and you're worried about being on a roof?"

"We didn't technically steal the car," she argued. "We gave it back when we were done."

"And we'll go back downstairs when we're done up here. I just need to talk to you."

She shifted around so that she was in front of me and picked up both of my hands, watching me curiously as I prepared to speak. I had so much to say and so little time. There were so many things that I wanted to communicate to her, and I wasn't sure how I could fit it all into one sentence.

"Do you remember the night that you came out to talk to me on the porch when we were at Ally's lake house?" I asked.

"Of course," she laughed.

"Yeah, well, that was the point that I kind of gave up hope," I admitted. "We still weren't together but there was something there, and the whole time you were talking to me, I just kept silently wishing that you'd slip up and admit that you still had feelings for me, but then we almost kissed and the second you found an excuse to run away, you did."

"I was nervous," she defended. "I wanted to kiss you but I panicked."

"Right, well, I was thinking about that recently," I continued. "I was thinking about how ridiculous the amount of effort we both put forth to keep that little spark alive was, when all we really had to do was be truthful with each other and admit that we had never fallen in love. For a while there, I thought I'd lost you for good, but here we are because we finally grew up."