For You ... -Camren

**CHAPTER 07**

"Oh yeah, I definitely like you better." He clapped his hands together, looking around for his kids, both of whom had already escaped to sit in front of the television, Ellie leaning back on the couch with her phone in hand, texting furiously. "I'm going to go find my niece. And congratulate her."

"And maybe have a glass, or three, of wine," Kate muttered behind him, smiling softly at Lauren as if she was in on the joke. And considering Lauren just met her husband, she supposed she was.

She watched as they headed towards the kitchen and took a deep breath. Eight days with the Cabello family no longer seemed as easy as it had before, and half of them hadn't even arrived yet.

//

Carol was there to help her.

It was a good thing too; had she been on her own, she would have failed miserably, falling back on old habits. But she had Carol, staring her down, arms crossed, lips pressed in a thin line.

"No." Camila blinked, staring at Lauren for a moment before turning and staring at her grandmother.

"Why are you grinning?" she asked, still looking at her grandmother. Carol shrugged.

"The girl has backbone."

"I just asked if we could share her slice of cake." Lauren felt a surge of guilt, made to push her plate over, but Carol shook her head, giving her a quelling look.

"She doesn't want to share, Camila."

"That's not the problem," Camila said, frowning and turning back to Lauren. "I just don't understand why you two are acting so weird."

"It doesn't bother you that she said no?" Carol asked innocently. It was anything but innocent; her eyes held a mischievous gleam.

"She's at perfect liberty to say no, Grandma. I just don't get why you seem to think it's such a big deal. What's going on with you two?"

"Nothing," Lauren said, the same time Carol shrugged and exclaimed:

"Respect the candy!"

"Respect the what?' Camila looked between them, her frown turning into a look of worry, but when it became clear that no answer was forthcoming, she threw up her hands. "You know, whatever you two are doing, I don't want to be involved."

"Respect the candy!" Carol shouted after her as Camila walked away, shaking her head the entire time. "Do you think she got the message?" she asked Lauren. Lauren merely pushed her slice of cake away.

"I suddenly don't have an appetite."

"No one said it would be easy, hon." Lauren looked up at Carol, unable to help the pleading expression she knew was on her face.

"Hurting her won't wash away my pain, Mrs. Cabello. And she's hurt. Hurting." Concern flitted over Carol's face as she considered Lauren's words but she shook her head after a moment.

"It's just a slice of cake."

"The cake wasn't what hurt her, Mrs. Cabello. And you know it." She swallowed, stood, and shook her head. "I think...I think I do need to stand up for myself. But you can't help me. You can't side with me." Carol blinked, mimicking Camila's reaction from earlier, before her eyes narrowed.

"You're missing the point, Lauren."

"Mrs. Cabello—"

"No. You listen to me. The two of you are blindfolded idiots, fumbling around in the dark, desperately searching for the goddamn exit, when all you need to do is grow the hell up and call out to each other." She picked up the plate and held it out for Lauren, a hard set to her shoulders, a vulnerability Lauren had not yet seen from her in her gaze. "I'm not choosing her over you, or helping you rather than her. I'm the idiot who's trying to get you idiots to call out to each other, or at the very least, pull off the blindfolds."