roses | Camren (Short Story)

🥀

"Hey, shh." She hushes, cooing softly, "It's okay. You're okay."

She continues muttering quiet words of reassurance while Camila continues to weep. She keeps her arms around the woman until the sounds coming from her petal lips turn into quiet whimpers, and then sniffles, and then nothing but slightly heavy breathing. She doesn't let go until Camila's hands lessen their deathlike grip on Lauren's shirt, the rose discarded onto the counter when the embrace began.

"Are you alright, Miss Cabello?" Lauren asks cautiously. She steps back, keeping her hands on Camila as she leans down to look into her sad doe eyes.

"Camila, please." The girl corrects weakly, then seemingly gathering herself as she wipes her tears away, looking to her side, "Sorry, I shouldn't have called you here. I-"

"I'm glad you did." Lauren interrupts her, making Camila look back at her, "What can I do to make you feel better?"

...

"Lauren?" Camila's brows knit together as she peers out of her bedroom window at the figure hunched over her rose bushes. The figure in black freezes and slowly turns around, revealing herself to Camila. She was right, it was indeed Lauren who gave her the fright of her life. She almost had a heart attack when she woke up to hear clanking in her back garden and looked up to see somebody near her beloved roses.

"I'm coming down!" She announces before closing her window, throwing a blanket over her shoulders. She tosses a pair of slippers onto the ground and slides her feet into them before darting down the staircase and heading into the garden.

"What are you doing out here in the cold?" She questions, wrapping her arms around her torso as she rather blindly makes her way towards the flashlight at the end of the garden. It must be around midnight, seeing how dark it is.

Lauren doesn't respond, just keeps doing whatever it is that she's doing.

When Camila gets closer, it becomes evident. The wall where the rose fell off a couple of weeks ago and died just a day or two ago, now houses a 2D version of it. Lauren is painting a rose onto the brick wall, surprisingly well.

"W-Wha-?" Camila breathes out, noticing the details of the rose. It almost looks real.

"Good morning, Camila." Lauren finally says though it's under her breath.

"What are you doing, Lauren?" Camila asks, her own voice dropping quieter,

"I'm painting." Lauren shrugs, dipping her brush back into one of the paint cans which must've been the source of the clanging which woke Camila, "I know how special this rose is to you, and this way it won't ever die."

Camila feels a tiny smile tug at her lips, and she checks the dryness of the ground beneath her before sitting down and resting her head on Lauren's shoulder.

"You're going to take my job, Laur." Camila jokes, causing a deep chuckle to come from Lauren.

"Never." Lauren denies, "I've seen your art. It's much better than this."

"Thank you." Camila grins, mesmerised by Lauren's brush strokes.

She must fall asleep at some point, because the next thing she knows, she's being carried bridal style up the stairs of her house.

She lets out a tiny, confused groan and brings a hand up to wipe at her eyes, peering up into brilliant green ones.

"Goodnight, Camila." The voice above her says, it's rasp calming her nerves. She listens to the footsteps leave after she's placed down on something soft, presumably her bed, but frowns when she realises who they belong to.

"Stay." She croaks out, still half-asleep, "Please."

There's a moment of hesitation before a dip in the bed behind her, and she rolls over to envelop herself in the other person's warmth, letting out a content sigh when an arm is resting across her waist.

...

Camila smiles shyly as she opens the door to see Lauren standing on the other side, one hand behind her back.

"Wow." Lauren breathes upon seeing Camila in her deep red dress, making her giggle nervously.

"You look fantastic." Lauren confesses as she's let into the house, quickly correcting herself to, "No, you look ethereal."

"You don't look so bad yourself." Camila teases, looking over Lauren's teal velvet dress. It compliments her eyes perfectly.

"Although," she adds, "It does feel a little weird not seeing you in your usual t-shirt, jeans and tool belt." This evokes a laugh from the pair, though Camila is mostly telling the truth.

"Oh! I brought you these." Lauren seems to remember after a moment of silence, bringing her hand from behind her back and holding out a bouquet of roses to the girl before her.

"Thank you," Camila says shyly, reaching out to take the bouquet. On her wrist, Lauren notices a new set of lines among the faded ones, these a dark black, although they do look a little sore still.

"When did you get a tattoo?" She asks, eyes glued to the tiny flower now permanently etched onto Camila's forearm.

"A few days ago." Camila shrugs, looking down at the simple rose and admitting, "It reminds me of you."

"You loved roses long before you met me, Camz." Lauren points out.

"True." Camila nods, "But you fixed the roses like you're fixing me, so..."

Lauren simply blushes at her date's words.