off camera.

chapter six

Lauren's stomach twists and turns. "You mean that?"

"Yeah," Camila smiles, "god, I really want to play with your hair, but I don't want to mess it up."

"I like to make my hair look intentionally messy, so go ahead," Lauren mumbles, wrapping her arms around Camila's waist, and she practically melts when the younger girl starts running her fingers through her hair. "Hey, Camz?"

"Yeah?" Camila asks, and Lauren rolls her eyes a little when Joffrey comes on screen. "What's up?"

"Do you ever see yourself moving into mainstream media?" Lauren questions, because she knows that if Camila really worked on her music, she could be propelled to stardom. "Or would you just stick to YouTube?"

"Well, I mean... do you know Troye Sivan?" Camila asks, and Lauren nods in reply. "Well, when he became a real musician, he sort of... ditched YouTube, and I saw a few people accusing him of like... thinking he was better than it? Which is completely stupid, because I know Troye, and he's so sweet. I feel like for me, if my music ever really took off like that, I'd still post videos as much as I could. Obviously not weekly, because it takes up like two full days a week just filming and editing, and when you're a musician, you're constantly writing or recording or touring, so that wouldn't be realistic. Yes, music is my main passion, and if I could go into that full time, I would, but I'd still put up as many videos as I could, even if it was monthly rather than weekly."

Lauren plays with Camila's fingers, "Because that's what people know you for, or because that's what you love to do?"

"A little bit of both, honestly," Camila shrugs, "I mean, some of my viewers only watch my vlogs and comedy videos, and others prefer the music, and I wouldn't want to just alienate them. I feel like I have a good balance right now, you know? Even if I do post a cover or an original song, there's still my weekly vlog, which reminds me, I'll need to get some footage for that tonight. It's always great when I actually do something interesting."

"I'll watch anything you post," Lauren murmurs, and she means it. Since they'd reconnected, she'd managed to get through all of the videos up on Camila's main channel. "You're so creative."

Camila is quiet for a moment, and Lauren wonders if somehow she'd said something wrong, but then the younger girl just blurts out, "Will you be in a video?"

Lauren frowns, not quite understanding. "You want me in a video? Why? It's not like I can bring you any publicity."

"Well, no, obviously not, but it's not about that," Camila shakes her head, "I'd collab with someone with one subscriber, as long as they were my friend and we had a good time together. And I know we will have a good time."

Lauren considers it, but she isn't sure she wants to be put out there under the public eye. She knows that the internet brings out the worst in people; because they're hidden behind a screen, people say the stuff they wouldn't dare to say to your face. She opens her mouth to say no, to apologise, but takes one look at the hopeful spark in Camila's gentle brown eyes and finds herself nodding. "Okay. Yeah. I'll do it."

Camila grins practically from ear to ear, and Lauren's heart soars at the sight. "Okay. Good. We don't have to do anything like, extreme. Ooh, I've never done a mukbang before, we could order a bunch of food from Domino's and just pig out and talk."

Lauren hums. It doesn't sound too stressful, so she nods. "Okay. That sounds good."

"Alright, Camren, time to go, car's here," Dinah peers around from the hallway and raises her eyebrows at how close they are. "Well, you look comfortable. Sure you want to come?"