“I don’t know what kind of game you think you’re playing, Lauren. But this isn’t funny,” Camila snapped once the nurse left the room.
“I’m not playing games, Camila.”
“And I’m not going with you,” Camila rebutted, crossing her arms and wincing when IV tugged under her skin.
“Well then you’re stuck here,” Lauren shrugged, trying to make Camila realize the better option.
“Fine,” Camila huffed, lying down so she wasn’t facing Lauren.
Lauren rolled her eyes. Camila heard footsteps leave the room and sat up, watching her disappear down the hallway. Good riddance. She didn’t need Lauren screwing her up even more.
––
Lauren’s never done something so impulsive.
She doubted that anyone had ever bought a house using only an iPhone before. But she was Lauren Jauregui, and she knew people who could make it happen. Now it was only a matter of getting Camila there in one piece.
Ending the call with her Real Estate agent, she grabbed the grocery bag from her car and headed back into the hospital. It was now her job to take care of Camila, and she was going to do it the right way.
When she entered the hospital room once more, she quickly set the plastic bags down to rush over to the motionless figure on the bed. Camila sat with her legs in front of her, and her head moved down to her feet, as if she were folding herself in half. Lauren saw her move and realized she was crying.
“Mila…” she approached the girl cautiously, and Camila’s head shot up. Her eyes were bloodshot and tears stained her cheeks. A look of fear crossed her face when she saw Lauren, but it quickly turned to anger.
"This is all your fault!” she snapped, curling up in a ball and burying her head in her knees.
“What is?” Lauren racked her brain, trying to figure out something she could have done wrong.
Camila’s hand shot out from the bed, shoving a tear-soaked phone in front of Lauren. The green-eyed girl wiped the iPhone on her jeans before reading the screen.
“Oh,” Lauren whispered. She gently set the phone back on Camila’s bed and slumped down in one of her chairs.
“I can’t believe they would cancel the tour. You should’ve just done it without me,” Camila huffed. Her voice was muffled.
“It’s not Fifth Harmony without Camila Cabello,” Lauren argued.
Camila shook her head and sat up, pointing an incriminating finger at Lauren. “Don’t do this. Don’t act like you care,” she practically growled. Her small hand balled into a fist and she clutched it to her chest, staring blanking into the distance.
Lauren sat up straighter. Camila’s sudden outburst was unexpected. She decided to ignore it.
“I brought some stuff to eat,” she said, grabbing the grocery bag from the door and bringing it over to the bed.
Camila’s nose instantly crinkled at the sight of the food and she crossed her arms, turning her head away and shaking her head. “I’m not eating.”
Lauren shrugged, opening a plastic container of grapes and sitting back down in the chair, popping one into her mouth. “More for me, then.”
Camila rolled her eyes, shoving the grocery bag off of her bed and onto the floor. Lauren ignored this, and tossed another grape into her mouth.
“When are you going to leave?!” Camila groaned, falling back onto the bed and falling face-first into her pillow.
“Whenever you get in my car,” Lauren smirked. She rolled a grape in-between her thumb and index finger before throwing it up in the air and catching it in her mouth.
Camila groaned dramatically, the noise only came out as a soft humming due to her mouth being muffled by the large pillow.
“Catch,” Lauren said, ignoring Camila’s annoyance and tossing a grape in her direction. It bounced off Camila’s head and landed on the floor.
“What the hell, Lauren?” Camila snapped her head up. Lauren tossed another grape at her, hitting Camila square on the forehead.
“Oh my god,” Camila huffed, lying on her back so she was facing the wall opposite of Lauren.
Another grape hit her shoulder and she ignored it. After three more grapes bouncing off of her back, she sat up and glared at Lauren.
“What will it take for you to leave me alone?” she asked, gritting her teeth.
“Play a game with me,” Lauren smiled, tossing a grape at Camila once more. The small girl caught it and sent it flying back at Lauren, missing her arm by a few inches.
“Lousy shot,” Lauren smirked.
Camila rolled her eyes. “What’s the game?” she mumbled, crossing her arms.
“I toss you a grape, you catch it with your boca,” she pointed to her mouth.
“That’s a stupid game. And I’m not eating.”
“Either you eat here, with me. Or you eat tomorrow when the nurses hold you down and force it down your throat,” Lauren’s tone grew serious.
Camila shook her head. “I don’t care. I want you to leave.”
“I’ll leave when you agree to come with me.”
“Come with you where?’ Camila raised an eyebrow. “I am not going to Miami, Lauren.”
“Not Miami. Los Angeles.”
“We’re in LA, smartass,” Camila groaned, running her fingers through her tangled hair. Lauren just laughed and tossed another grape in Camila’s direction.
“Would you s–!” Camila started, but paused when Lauren tossed Camila her phone. Camila caught it quickly, turning it rightside up and looking at the screen.
“It’s a house,” she noted, giving Lauren a confused look.
“My house. Our house,” Lauren said, tossing a grape at Camila’s forehead. Camila tossed Lauren’s phone on the bed next to her and rolled her eyes.
“If you throw one more grape at me I s–“
Another grape hit her forehead and Lauren giggled from her chair.
“C’mon, Camz. Let’s play a game.”
“Lauren. Oh my god,” Camila groaned. She didn’t know it was possible for someone to be so persistent.
“For every grape you eat, I’ll answer any question you ask me. One hundred percent truthfully.”
Lauren saw Camila consider her offer and silently celebrated her small victory. Camila motioned to the grapes a few minutes later, telling Lauren to go.
Lauren purposely threw the first grape too high. She had to make Camila want this. Camila rolled her eyes when Lauren threw another one just a few inches out of her reach.
“Lauren, you suck at throwing.”
“No I don’t. You just suck at catching.”
Lauren threw another grape, this time perfectly aligned. Camila opened her mouth to catch it, but it bounced off her nose.
“You can’t say that was a bad throw,” Lauren laughed, and she saw Camila try to hold back a smile.
“Okay, okay. Fine. That one was my fault. Throw another one,” Camila turned on the bed so she was facing Lauren. This was progress.
Camila caught the next grape Lauren tossed perfectly. She didn’t even realize she had eaten it until it was gone. Lauren smiled, and Camila met her eyes.
She cupped her hands to her mouth and glared at Lauren. “Of course,” she hissed, crossing her arms. “You’re just doing this to get me to eat, so I get better, and then you don’t have to live with the guilt of knowing I’m like this. I know how you work.”
“That’s not what I’m doing,” Lauren rebutted, and Camila rolled her eyes. The small girl ignored her and lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
Another grape hit her face.
“You scored a point. That means you can ask me one question.”
“Can you please leave?” Camila huffed.
“Nope. That was your question,” Lauren smirked and Camila groaned, rolling over on her side.
“That doesn’t count,” Camila mumbled after a few minutes of silence. Lauren smirked when she realized Camila was still hung up on her game.
“Fine. You eat another grape and I’ll answer two questions,” Lauren said, holding out the container to Camila.
"I hate you,” Camila mumbled, sitting up and grabbing a grape. She popped it in her mouth and Lauren averted her eyes. She knew how nervous Camila got eating around people. She kept an eye on her, though. And Camila finally swallowed after literally pulverizing the small fruit into grape juice with her teeth.
“Okay, two questions, Cabello. Hit me with your worst,” Lauren crossed her legs on the chair underneath her.
Camila thought for a moment. What could she ask that completely humiliated Lauren and made her leave? She couldn’t think of anything. So she blurted out the question that had been on her mind for ages.
“Why did you ignore me?”
Lauren’s head shot up. She hadn’t been expecting that question. Regaining her composure, she shrugged. “That’s funny, I figured you’d wanna know if I was a virgin or not,” she smirked.
“Okay, ew,” Camila rolled her eyes and laid on her back. “Forget it, Lauren.”
Lauren stayed quiet. As Camila laid there and more time passed, she wondered if Lauren would ever leave. This wasn’t something she was used to. People didn’t usually put up with her moods like this.
But Lauren knew. Camila needed someone to fight for her, and that’s what she intended on doing. If Camila came running at her with her fist raised, Lauren wouldn’t push her away. She would just hug her until Camila stopped punching her.
It seemed like hours had passed when Lauren finally spoke up again.
“I thought you wanted to be left alone.”
Camila, who had previously been asleep, shot up in her bed and looked at Lauren, confused.
“What?” she asked, wiping her eyes.
“I thought you wanted to be ignored.”
“No, no I heard you. But why?” Camila asked. Lauren could tell she’d been asleep, because her guard was down now that she was tired.
“You left the room whenever I entered, Camila. That’s a pretty clear sign that you didn’t want to be around me,” Lauren bit her lip and saw Camila ponder this for a second.
“Yeah, well I did, Lauren. You didn’t even try.”
Lauren watched as Camila lay back down, glad that she couldn’t see how nervous Lauren was.
“Well I’m trying now, Camila. So here’s your second chance.”
“Yeah, whatever. I have one more question,” Camila turned to face Lauren. The green-eyed girl could tell Camila was thinking intensely over choosing her next words.
“Am I fat?”
Lauren choked on her grape and she composed herself for a second, looking at Camila in utter shock. “Of course you’re not, Mila, y–“
“Don’t lie, please,” Camila shook her head and scooted so her legs were hanging off the edge of the bed. “You said you’d tell the truth. And everyone always says I look fine just so they don’t hurt my feelings. Please tell me the truth, Lauren, please…”
If Camila was able to get on her knees and beg, she would be doing it.
If Lauren hadn’t felt guilty before, she sure did now.
“Am I fat?” Lauren countered her question with one of her own. Camila raised an eyebrow at her.
“Are you crazy?” she asked, motioning to Lauren. “You’re like… perfect.”
“Camila, you realize that I weigh more than you.”
Camila rolled her eyes and lay back on the bed. “This isn’t about you. The question was about me. You’ve got to stop with these stupid mind games.”
Lauren didn’t reply. She’d seen the look in Camila’s eyes. She knew she was thinking about what Lauren had said. And that was more than enough for her. She wasn’t going to give up on Camila.
––
a/n: so everyone seemed to want another part of this so here it is! i don't know how long i'm gonna be continuing this for, but i've been enjoying writing it, and you guys seem to have been enjoying reading it so... we'll see where this goes! let me know what you think!
- lena (twitter)