Camila didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until she blinked her eyes open the next morning. She yawned, grimacing at the IV still in her arm. Quietly, she tugged at the end of the plastic tube, removing the needle from her arm. She knotted the end of the tube, taping it back on the inside of her arm to give it the appearance that the IV was still in her vein.
When she turned over, she realized Lauren was still there. She must've fallen asleep in the chair. The darker haired girl had her upper body still on the chair, but the rest of her body was sprawled out on the cold tile floor. Camila was surprised she hadn't left as soon as she fell asleep. She figured Lauren would be dying to get away from her.
Not that she really wanted her to leave. Lauren was getting on her nerves, but she didn't mind the company. The only thing that bothered her was the fact that she was constantly second guessing Lauren's kindness. She was scared that the girl with green eyes had different intentions.
Camila sat up. She hated to admit it, but she was starving. She ignored it as best as she could, though. Her eyes landed on the container of grapes from last night and she smirked. Leaning out of her bed, she snatched the container and set it next to her.
She tossed a grape in Lauren's direction, hitting her arm.
After tossing a second grape, she heard Lauren groan, which caused her to giggle.
"Wake upppp," she hummed. Another grape bounced off the top of Lauren's head.
Lauren mumbled something that Camila couldn't understand. Camila gave up on going easy on Lauren. She grabbed a handful of grapes and sent them flying in Lauren's direction.
"Okay, okay! I'm up!" Lauren whined, holding two of her hands in the air as if she was surrendering. She sat up to come see a giggling Camila sitting on the bed above her.
"Well good morning, sunshine. What's got you in such a good mood?"
Camila crinkled her nose and shrugged. She tossed another grape at Lauren. "I dunno. I like annoying you. It's fun."
Rolling her eyes, Lauren pulled herself back up in the uncomfortable plastic chair and sent Camila a glare that feigned annoyance. Camila, satisfied, closed the contained of grapes and pushed it away from her.
"So am I gonna have to sleep in this stiff-ass chair for another night, or are you going to agree to leave with me?" Lauren asked after a few moments of silence. She saw Camila's expression falter and could've sworn there was a glimpse of fear in her eyes. Camila seemed to have composed herself very quickly, though.
"I don't understand why you insist on staying here until I go home with you," Camila sighed, shaking her head and stood up off the bed. Lauren jumped up to stop her, but realized Camila wasn't having trouble standing.
Camila, completely forgetting about the IV tube she had taped to her arm, started to walk towards her backpack on the other side of the room and raised an eyebrow when she felt something tug on her arm.
Shit.
She immediately met Lauren's eyes, biting her lip when she realized Lauren had seen.
"I-I forgot it was in my arm..."
Lauren walked over to the tube, which was now hanging from the tall piece of metal equipment. She plucked it out of the air and inspected it, raising an eyebrow at Camila.
"There's no needle in here. You tied it off, didn't you?"
Camila looked like a child that had been caught doing something they weren't supposed to. But again, she quickly rid herself of any vulnerability and rolled her eyes at Lauren.
"If I said I did, will you leave me alone?"
Lauren sighed, walking over and grabbing Camila's arm. She made her sit back down on the bed and stood in front of her with her arms crossed.
"This is exactly why I don't want to leave you here alone, Camila."
Camila pondered this for a second and shrugged. "Awesome, Lauren. I really don't care. I'm not leaving with you, so do whatever the hell you want," she huffed, bringing her feet up on the bed and turning towards the opposite wall.
Lauren squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath before speaking again.
"Camila, you do know the other option, right?" she asked, running a hand through her hair and recalling the conversation she'd privately had with the nurse once Camila had fallen asleep.
"Yeah, I do. I'm not stupid. I'd rather stay here and wait until there's a bed open in the rehab place than go home with you, Lauren."
Lauren was glad she could ignore Camila's attitude. She had come to realize it was all an act, and Lauren was determined not to fall for it.
"They want to send you an institution in Missouri. For a month."
That sure got Camila's attention. The small girl whipped her position around on the bed so she was facing Lauren once more, and Lauren almost had to grab her to stop her from falling off the bed.
"What?" Camila's voice was filled with worry.
"I talked to the nurse when you were asleep. I researched this place, too. It doesn't look too fun, Camila. At least you'd have some freedom here."
Camila bit her lip, running a nervous hand through her hair. This isn't what she had expected. She just wanted Lauren to leave, and then wait until she could go to the rehab center. She could fake it for a week. In a week, she could get away with hiding her food in her clothes and jogging in circles around her bedroom to burn the calories after each meal.
But a month? In an institution. If what Lauren was saying was true, Camila wouldn't be able to keep the weight off. Lauren didn't know any of her secrets. Maybe going home with Lauren wasn't such a bad idea. If things got bad, Camila could always run away.
Was she really considering running away? This wasn't like her.
Camila took a deep breath. She didn't want to give in to Lauren. If she faltered on her decision once, Lauren would realize she could change Camila's mind again. And who knows what it would be about that time.
But Camila realized her best chance at keeping the weight off was to go home with Lauren.
"I'm not going to an institution," she said firmly, crossing her arms.
"So you're coming home with me, then?" Lauren asked. Camila could practically feel the satisfaction radiating off of the older girl.
"I'm not going to an institution," Camila repeated. She wouldn't directly say she was giving in and going with Lauren. Luckily, Lauren didn't force her to.
"Well then I'll go tell the nurse that you're coming with me then," Lauren gave her a curt nod before disappearing out of the room.
Camila groaned in frustration, kicking her leg out and knocking over the IV pole. The sound of metal against the tile floor made her flinch, but she quickly shook it off. She wanted this to be over. She just wanted things to go back to normal again. Before the tour started, before her and Lauren got into a fight, before the girls made her invisible to them.
If she could go back in time, there would be only one thing she would change. She would be skinny.
A stampede of footsteps snapped her out of her mind, and she quickly stood up. Suddenly, three pairs of arms were wrapped around her and she nearly fell off the bed. She winced. She hated being touched. Her three bandmates squealed excitedly and Camila felt like she would suffocate any second.
"Guys! She just woke up, give her some space!" Lauren's voice echoed through the room and the other three girls quickly let go of Camila and took a few steps back.
Camila glanced at Lauren, who was standing in the doorway with two Starbucks cups in her hands. The other three girls were staring at her, expecting her to say something. Camila just sighed and laid down, turning her back to them.
"I told you she wouldn't talk to you," Lauren huffed. Camila heard footsteps circling around the bed and soon Lauren was standing in front of her. She kneeled down so their faces were at the same level and held up one of the cups she had in her hand.
"It's Green Tea with honey. It'll make your throat feel better," she explained softly. Camila bit her lip, sitting up slightly and taking the cup from Lauren. How'd she know her throat had been dry? Camila though she'd done a good job of hiding it.
"Please try to drink some of it, Mila," Lauren said quieter, so the other girls didn't hear her. Camila nodded nervously and stayed still as Lauren walked back around the other side of the bed.
Biting her lip, Camila sat up, still keeping her back to the girls on the other side of the room. She spun the cup around in her hands and cupped her palms around the warmth.
"Why does she talk to you, then?" Ally's voice filled the silence. Lauren didn't respond, and Camila assumed she had shrugged.
"She's not going to drink it," Normani said. Camila heard the girls move against the wall, guessing that they were sitting down. This meant they didn't plan on leaving anytime soon. She kept her eyes fixed on the cup.
"She will," Lauren said simply.
Why did Lauren have so much faith in her? Camila didn't like this. She was slowly becoming more and more aware that she didn't want to let Lauren down. That wasn't a good thing.
"If she won't even take an IV, she's not going to drink that, Lauren," Normani rebutted. Camila furrowed her eyebrows, and didn't think twice before raising the cup to her mouth and taking a small sip. The warm liquid did soothe her throat. Lauren was right. She heard all the other girls silence.
"Told you," Lauren laughed, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. Camila smiled softly to herself, glad that the other girls couldn't see her.
"Geez, Lauren, what'd you do to her?" Dinah laughed softly. Camila knew she had said it in good spirits, but it still bothered her.
"I didn't do anything. She did. I only bought the drink," Lauren said quickly, giving the credit to Camila. She wanted Camila to know that she was making progress on her own. She wanted Camila to be proud of herself. Truth be told, she hadn't expected her to drink anything when the other girls were around. So when Camila had, it surprised even Lauren.
Lauren was sticking up for her. Camila hadn't realized how foreign that feeling was to her. It felt good. Instead of just being Camila against the world, it was Camila and Lauren against the world. She could deal with that, right?
Someone believed in her. That wasn't such a bad feeling.
She took another sip.
a/n: so here's chapter 3! i really liked how this turned out. your comments and messages literallly make my day. i'm trying to portray this as realistically as possible, so hopefully i'm doing that respectfully. let me know what you think!!
- lena