The sixth month an accident occurred.
After Lauren's long and tortuous stay in the cold mountains, she and Camila planned to reunite on the outskirts of Dope Tattoos. The occasion, however, was not as romantic as both had planned.
Clara would be taken for a medical check-up. She had contracted a terrible cold from the low temperatures, so Lauren decided to have her checked out when her father suggested that she take care of the ailing woman, her eldest daughter.
"Do you know where Troy is?" Lucy asked her before the tattoo artist got out of the store. Her red hair stood out in the studio "He went out a few hours ago to buy something, but he didn't come back. Simon is worried. He even left his things."
"Have you tried calling him yet?"
"He doesn't answer. I also texted Joy, but she knows as much as we do."
Joy and Troy didn't have an official relationship, but it was clear there was chemistry between them. Since he and Ally broke up, Camila haven't seen him smile as much as he did when the girl was by his side.
"I... I really have to go, Lucy. Lauren's waiting for me."
"I know. I didn't want to worry you. Surely he have fallen asleep, or time has passed him a little."
"Most likely. We already know Troy."
But for that very reason, Camila felt something was not right.
"Can you keep me informed, Lucy?"
"Of course. If that idiot comes back I'll even give him a few blows from you."
"I like the idea."
Camila laughed turned around, and, just as she was leaving, Lucy got her attention again.
"Are you really still a virgin with such a sexy girlfriend, Mila?"
Camila rolled her eyes. Her friend was an idiot.
***
Lauren was waiting for her outside of Dope Tattoos, against in her car with a cigarette in her mouth. She wore a green dress, plus matching shoes. Two bandages decorated her wrists, and the makeup she wore was less intimidating than ever.
More than cheering Camila up, it hurt to see her.
She hadn't expected such a different Lauren. Camila hadn't expected such a change.
"I really have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world" It was the first thing that the painter let out of her lips, and saying that was more an involuntary act than an attempt to seduce her.
The tattoo artist smiled as she let out a sigh. She looked different, but she was still the painter she had fallen in love with.
Her exterior had changed a bit, maybe too much, but she was still there. Her unicorn was there.
"It's also what I think when I see you, Lauren" Camila said with a smile before joining their lips for a few seconds. They'd missed contact after so many days.
Lauren's breath of cigarette smoke invaded Camila, and she mentally asked herself how much Lauren had smoked before seeing her. Still, she enjoyed the kiss as she had with all those they had shared.
Lauren's lips remained. Their taste. Their warmth. Their touch. Her head kept spinning, spinning in a sea of uncontrollable emotions, and she even felt that love had grown since the last time Camila had seen her.
"I love you, Camz. You can't understand how much, but I do" Her voice was subtle, delicate as a feather, and her tongue caressed Camila's name in a majestic act "I counted every damn day in those mountains because I really wanted to see you again."
"I love you too, Lauren" Camila said with a smile that was just for Lauren. The painter's hand, always restless, traveled to her cheek to caress her "Did you think about me a lot? I did."
Although her intentions were to be seductive, unintentionally, a slight blush had appeared on her cheeks when she admitted it, so she hid her face around her girlfriend's neck to hide.
"I told you I counted every damn day, I think..." At first Camila didn't seem to get her message, but finally a mischievous smile appeared on her face "Oh, that. Yes, I thought about you a lot. Every day, when I could, in despair, and it never seemed to be enough."
And their talk would've continued outside that tattoo shop for the rest of the day if not for Clara, who, tired of waiting, decided to pull her head out the back window of her daughter's car.
"I know this is a romantic encounter and you're having fun, but I really need to be on time for my appointment. I'm tired of coughing... Besides, I don't want to keep handsome Dr. Brown waiting."
Lauren laughed at her mother's words and opened the copilot's door for her girlfriend to enter. Once in her place the painter took her hand, thus giving her a known warmth that she had really needed.
"I'm sorry my mother interrupted us, Camz. She's anxious to see the protagonist of all her sexual fantasies. Sometimes I think she got sick on purpose."
"Don't say that in front of Camila!" The woman exclaimed with great shame "What will she think of me now?"
"Don't worry, Mom. Camila will understand, even I do. If my birthday hadn't been declared International Gay Birthing Day, I'd have sexual fantasies about him, too."
***
It was a few minutes before arriving from the hospital that Camila received a call from Milika.
"Hello?" There was nervousness in her mother's voice behind the line. Something wasn't right.
"What is going on?"
And Camila was waiting with her heart in her hand for her mother to tell her that nothing bad was happening.
"Ally was in an accident. Jamie and she were in the car when a drunk skipped a signal" Camila could hear Milika sobbing out of control. She could feel the broken heart of a heartbroken mother.
"Are you all right? Ally is all right?" Camila was beginning to worry.
Her mother preferred not to give her an answer.
"Please, Mila. Come soon."
And the call ended with a worried mother and a sister who didn't know exactly what was going on.
Camila took a deep breath, seeking to undo the knot that had formed in her throat. Her vision began to become blurred.
When she turned her gaze, she discovered that Lauren was watching her with obvious concern in her eyes.
"Is something wrong, Camz?"
"Please, Lauren, drive fast."
***
Troy was already in the waiting room when Camila, Lauren, and her mother arrived. Dinah and Normani were also there. None seemed to have good news for her.
"How's Ally? And how about Jamie?" It was the first thing she managed to ask her sisters, who were wiping each other's tears.
"We don't know" Normani replied between sobs "Mom's been talking to doctors for a long time, but nobody wants to tell us anything."
The knot in Camila's throat became increasingly unbearable.
"Dad's at home with the others, but he doesn't stop calling. He is very worried" Dinah told her. Dinah tried to hold back her tears, but every second a rebellious drop of sadness slipped down her cheek.
"Jamie's car is a mess, Mila. You should see it... It's horrible."
But Camila didn't want to see it, or imagine it, or think about it. All she wanted was for her sister to be okay.
Unable to hold back her tears, she let herself be wrapped in the arms of her girlfriend, who silently tried to comfort her. Clara stroked her back before she spoke.
"I'll go buy a coffee. I think I'm left here" The woman announced subtly "I'll be waiting for you, Lauren."
"I'll be there."
When Clara left, Dinah took courage to present a false smile to the painter.
"Hello, idiot. That dress looks terrible on you."
"Thank you, Dinah. I didn't expect anything more from you."
But in the midst of all this, Lauren reached out to the tallest girl to make her understand that she wasn't going to leave her alone.
"From the way Dinah talked about you I thought you'd be more... intimidating" It was Normani, who, like her foster sister, was trying to keep her feelings inside.
"I am, I swear. This is just my worried girlfriend phase."
Normani, in tears, laughed at her.
"She's adorable, Dinah."
"Thank you. I guess you're Camila's only foster sister who doesn't behave like an idiot."
Camila smiled in her arms. Lauren knew how to liven up a heavy atmosphere like that without turning it into a party.
"I would stay longer, but I have to go" The painter announced with a certain melancholy while holding Camila's hands to take them away from her body. Her grip felt like the last effort of two opposing poles of a magnet not to separate, and her eyes looked at Lauren as they asked silently if everything would be okay. "Call me if anything happens, Camz."
"I will."
"Okay. You can also text to me, which would be much better. My phone makes a funny sound when I get written and a lot of people get upset. It's a show."
"Then I will text to you."
Lauren simply kissed her before hugging her tightly, just as the tattoo artist had done every time her heart broke.
"I hope everything goes well."
But the phrase didn't seem to be addressed only to the tattoo artist.
***
The tattoo artist approached Troy gently. All of her foster siblings, who had arrived shortly after her, comforted each other.
Troy, on the other hand, had no one.
Camila hugged him without asking if she could do it, and Troy received this gesture as if he really needed it. She pulled back to look into his eyes, those that were covered by a blue curtain full of contained pain, and discovered how heartbreaking the eyes of one who suffers for love can be.
"Are you all right, Troy?"
He thought about it before he answered.
"I don't think so" The tall boy replied as he crossed his arms.
"Do you want to talk?"
He nodded. It seemed like he really needed to.
"I care about her, Mila, and just because I still love her doesn't mean I'm desperate to go out with her again. Actually, I don't want to do it again. I'm happy with Joy. But I worry, Mila, I worry because I care about her... And I hate that this happened to her."
"You're not the only one who hates it."
"I know" he nodded sadly. "Ally is at a memorable stage in her life, Mila. Jamie makes her very happy, really very happy, and I love knowing that. I swear, we've talked a couple of times and I've never seen such a pure smile on her face, even when she was with me. It's almost magical" Troy said it with a melancholic joy, of those that can easily be played on a piano to create a delicious melody "... And I don't understand."
"What don't you understand?"
"Why does life attack people at their best in this way?"
Unable to avoid thinking of a particular painter, Camila asked herself the same question.
***
Milika got to them when the talk with the doctors was over. Her cheeks retained traces of dry tears, her eyes were red, and even the shadow of pain that had previously decorated her features could be seen.
"How's she doing?"
"She's awake" Milika gave them a smile of relief that only a mother could put on her face. "She has a few bruises, wounds and fractures, but she'll be fine. Jamie too. This has been nothing but a terrible fright."
Camila almost started crying right there because of the happiness she felt with the news. Troy, who had approached the group to listen to the little girl's mother, let out a sigh full of tranquility.
"We'll be able to get into the room soon. Jamie is there. Has a broken arm, but insisted on being next to Ally. Their love is real, and I didn't expect anything like that after all the Dinah dramas..."
"Okay, I may have overstepped a little, but it won't happen anymore. I felt bad remembering that our last talk before the accident was actually an argument."
Camila smiled slightly. Knowing that the drama between her sisters was about to end made her feel very relieved.
Milika left shortly afterwards to call Gordon, whose scream was heard over the loudspeaker.
"Maybe I was blind" Dinah reflected. She couldn't forgive herself for arguing with Ally over something as stupid as a boy. "Maybe I didn't think that if Jamie made her happy there had to be a reason."
"We talked a couple of times. Believe me, the love is pure for Ally" Troy cleared with a smile of no more than sincere. He just wanted the girl to be happy, even with someone else.
"I wonder how it will be. We haven't been able to introduce ourselves yet" Said the tattoo artist with some curiosity.
Now that her sister was out of danger, she was allowed to think about things like that.
"She's a lovely girl, believe me."
Troy's words echoed in the hallway, and the eyes of the three sisters turned to look at him. Two pairs with surprise, a couple with anger
Normani hit Troy's head, and maybe she did it too hard.
"They didn't know yet, you idiot."
***
"Why didn't you tell us, Ally?" Camila gently questioned her as she stroked the hair of her sister, who looked small and fragile on that hospital stretcher.
Her leg was broken, she had a bandage on her shoulder and there were scratches all over her body, but, considering the severity of that accident, she had certainly been lucky.
"I was scared, Mila. Very scared" Ally recognized. "You know, you know how it feels. That lot of thoughts, that idea that something must be wrong with you, that feeling that you don't even know yourself... I know mom and dad accepted you, I know they're not bad people, I know our family is amazing, but fear was still there. It reminded me that they loved me over and over again, but I never had enough courage. I feared myself."
The tattoo artist looked into her eyes to express how much she understood each of her words, and even at that moment when everything had come to light, her sister still hid shadows of insecurity.
"Besides, with the whole Troy thing, I didn't want her to be hated. Jamie is important to me, Mila, and I really didn't want to lose her for being too stupid."
Jamie, the beautiful brown-skinned girl who had been talking to Dinah just a few steps away, turned to look at her girlfriend when she heard her name.
"You're an idiot, yes, but a lovely one. You wouldn't have lost me for that" Her hands came together, and Camila wondered with a tender smile if she and Lauren had that look of unconditional love in their eyes every time they were together.
Dinah, who couldn't stand such loving interactions, decided to interrupt the moment.
"Ally, I know I promised not to get mad at you again, but it will happen again if you don't tell me how Normani knew about all this and I didn't."
Normani laughed at this question.
"We are partners of crafts, Dinah Jane" The brunette replied when rolling the eyes "The partners of crafts do not keep secrets between themselves."
And that's how Ally won a new partner.
***
Lauren's car was quiet, too quiet for her liking. Clara's eyes were lost, Lauren was breathing heavily, and Camila felt too uncomfortable not to feel something terrible happen.
"How'd it go?"
Lauren sighed before holding her hand to give her some peace of mind. Camila denied. Even that little touch didn't feel right at the time.
"Nothing. Doctor Brown said that the cold will take a while to leave, just that..."
"Just that one thing?"
"Okay. He also did a little checkup, but I swear I didn't feel any sexual attraction to him. That only happens to me with you."
But even though her voice had that typical touch of humor, the tattoo artist knew that everything she said hid a big lie.
"Lauren, are you-"
The painter seriously interrupted her before she could continue.
"Why do you always ask questions that I hate to answer?"
***
Although Lauren hated answering, when they both arrived at the painter's apartment and hugged each other with melancholy, the tattoo artist knew she had to make an effort to ask one more time.
"Are you all right, Lauren?"
Camila hugged her with strength, feeling that Lauren was falling. She didn't know where Lauren's mind was, how strong her suffering was, but Camila felt her slowly drifting away, as well as the dragonflies that quickly get lost in a garden full of flowers.
And in that garden the flowers began to fade.
"I need you to draw..." Lauren ignored her concern again and, honestly, Camila was getting tired of asking. She was getting tired of trying to help the one who didn't want help. "Draw the most beautiful dragonfly you've ever made, and paint it with as many colors as you can. I want it to be worthy of being a tattoo."
Tattoo artist without tattoos frowned at this.
"Love... are you okay?""
Camila was getting tired, but she thought it was worth asking one more time. Lauren was worth it.
The painter didn't respond at the time, but when the tattoo artist fell asleep in her arms, dreaming of fantasy worlds that Lauren had slowly forgotten amid nightmares that tormented her every night.
"I'm sorry, Camz, but I'm leaving soon."
You don't know how much I loved and hated writing this chapter. I swear, it was a challenge.
-Lore-
Note: Damian has a cold. Juan has a cold too. We've been playing all day, but it's terrible to take care of them both. Sometimes I don't know if I have a boyfriend or just another son.
How are you doing?
Have a good life.