Bound To You (camren au)

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"I like who?" Camila asks, playing dumb. She leans into the vanity, sharpening up her eyeliner with a q-tip. Dinah stands behind her, curling Camila's hair with a curling iron. She's surprisingly gentle when it comes to other people's hair, even though she's bleached her own half to death. It still manages to look good, though.

She can practically hear Dinah's eye-roll. "Ralph. Duh." Stupidest nickname ever.

Camila hums. "Okay," she replies, and she giggles when Dinah huffs loudly. "So?" Dinah asks. "What are you gonna do about it?"

"Nothing, jesus." Camila shuffles around in her makeup bag for her lipstick. Her eyes flick over to Lauren's currently unoccupied vanity. The brunette is downstairs on the main stage running through her closing number with Lucy while the rest of them are beginning to get ready for stage. Camila doesn't want to think about how they're probably, like, making out or something down there. They can't seem to keep their hands off of each other. "Why do I have to do anything? Can't I just have my crush in peace?"

Dinah whines, sounding disappointed. "That's so boring."

"Plus," Camila can't help adding, "she and Lucy seem to be... well, you know. I wouldn't want to ruin that for them." She can't keep the bitterness from creeping into her voice.

"Puh-lease, her and Lucy are friends-with-benefits at best," Dinah says. "It's not like they're really dating."

"Well, they might as well be. And Lucy is my boss. I'm not trying to get on her bad side." Camila's eyes slide over to the other side of the dressing room, where Normani is applying thick coats of mascara. "I think I've already pissed off enough girls in here for my first week."

Dinah follows her gaze. "Who, Mani?" Camila suddenly remembers that Dinah and Normani are, like, ultimate best friends, and kind of regrets saying anything in the first place. "She's not pissed off at you, she's just jealous."

"Those pretty much sound like the same thing to me."

"Trust me, they're not." Dinah doesn't quite sound defensive, but she seems adamant about this. "Normani is just still protective over Lauren. She'll back off eventually."

Abruptly, at the mention of Lauren and Normani's relationship, Camila recalls something. "Lucy doesn't want me with Lauren either," she says in realization. "She told me that inter-cast relationships were banned."

Dinah's face screws up in confusion. "She did? Christ. They're totally not. Wow, Lucy can be a sneaky bitch sometimes."

"Couldn't agree more."

Both of them jump a little as Lauren bounces up to them, slinging her arms around Camila's neck. "Hi, baby, you look beautiful," she says über-casually, which just makes Camila blush furiously. "So why are we calling Lucy a sneaky bitch?"

Camila is definitely not about to tell her, but it doesn't matter because apparently Dinah has no such reservations. "Did you know Lucy told Mila that there was a rule against inter-cast relationships so she would stay away from you?"

"DJ!" Camila hisses, swatting at her arm.

Lauren looks unfazed. "Yeah, Camila told me."

Camila whirls around to stare at her in disbelief. "Did I?" Dinah is snickering at her. "Stupid bitch," she says, and Camila tries and fails to hit her again.

"Yeah." Lauren takes the curling iron from Dinah, unplugging it from the outlet while Dinah runs her hand through Camila's hair, softening the curls. "I asked Luce about it and she told me she just wanted me all to herself." She's grinning. "How cute is that?"