off camera.

chapter nine

Lauren laughs. "You don't look twelve."

"Are you sure about that?" Camila eyes her sceptically. "I get comments all the time where people are like what the fuck, she's not a middle schooler? And, I mean, I get where they're coming from."

"If you look twelve, so do I," Lauren answers, and as the plane makes its way onto the runway and Camila grips the armrest of her seat, Lauren sends her a comforting smile and pries her hand off it, taking it in her own. She kisses the back of it and Camila's pretty sure a part of her melts right then and there. "I've got you, Camz. We're okay."

"I hate that we have to fly to get home, but I've really missed my family. FaceTiming with Sofi just isn't the same, we can't do dramatic HSM duets over the internet," Camila jokes, gripping Lauren's hand tighter as the plane speeds up to take off. Lauren winces, but she doesn't let go, thumb tracing patterns over her knuckles. "I wonder if Sofi will remember you. She'd just turned five when we stopped talking, right?"

"Something like that," Lauren answers, shrugging. "I doubt she'll remember. I never really interacted with her except for when she was a literal baby. How old is she now?"

"Nine," Camila replies, and she hadn't really realised how much she missed her sister until they're talking about it. "I'm totally going to make her be in a video. She's kind of sassy, and my audience adore her."

Lauren laughs. "Yeah, I watched the videos you've done with her. They were really cute, especially the sibling tag."

"Have you just gone through my entire channel and watched everything?" Camila asks, eyebrows raised, and Lauren blushes embarrassedly, nodding. "Wow, didn't realise I'd let a fan get this close. You're an excellent stalker."

Lauren rolls her eyes, and Camila finds the pink tint on her cheeks completely adorable. "Shut up."

Camila sends her a teasing grin, but it softens and turns into a real one, her heart fluttering when Lauren rests her head on Camila's shoulder. "All jokes aside, it means a lot to me that you've watched everything. All I really wanted when I first started it was your support."

Lauren winces. "I'm so sorry. God, I was so stupid, and you don't know how fucking proud I am of you, that you didn't quit when everyone was making fun of it."

"If anything, it just made me want to prove them wrong. I think I might've," Camila shrugs, running her fingers through Lauren's hair. "Besides, I have your support now, and that makes me really happy."

"You're kind of the most talented person I've ever met, so I'm not surprised your channel exploded," Lauren smiles, "anyway, are you excited for Thanksgiving?"

"Lo, I'm always excited to stuff my face with food," Camila laughs, and she can't help herself; she throws an arm around Lauren's shoulder and pulls her even closer, and the older girl sighs happily. "I'm going to say that I'm thankful I've reconnected with my fiancée of ten years."

Lauren snorts with laughter, and grabs Camila's left hand, frowning down at it. "Um, I don't see your ring, bitch. I'm not buying you another one, that cost like, two whole dollars."

Camila laughs. "It doesn't even fit me anymore, and I had to take it off when my finger went green, remember?"

Lauren cringes at the memory. "Oh, yeah. Mood rings always did that back then. Still, I'm glad you took my opposal seriously."

Camila smiles, her heart warm at the memory of little Lauren, down on one knee, telling her that she's opposing to her. "What're you going to say you're thankful for?"

Lauren just shrugs. "I don't know, I was thinking about saying that I'm thankful for this weird girl I've been hanging out with lately-"

Camila gives her a playful shove. "Wow, that's what I get for being interested, huh?"