Feelings were... Something Camila Cabello never really learned how to deal with growing up.
Truthfully, she had numerous opportunities to learn from her kindhearted mother, but she spent too much of her younger years drowning in Lauren Jauregui and teenage angst to care about anything else.
She cracked her knuckles, straightening up in her uncomfortable desk chair before her fingers began eagerly typing into Google.
'How to ask somebody how to be your girlfriend?'
'Is it weird to ask your booty call to be more than a fling?'
'Do one-night stand relationships typically evolve into something more?'
She spent most of her afternoon reading through a bunch of Reddit threads about people speaking from their own experiences and found herself deeper in a slump knowing how pathetic she looked right about now.
Glancing down at the now returned ring on her pinky finger, an immense wave of guilt began swirling in the pit of her stomach again.
"Fuck me," Camila muttered. She slammed her laptop shut and grabbed her coat off of the hook on her bedroom door. She rubbed her sweaty palms on her pants leg before shakily dialing Keana's number.
"Keana? I'm ready to meet him now. If that offer still stands."
-
"How do I look?"
Dinah poked her head up from the couch and gave the raven-haired woman a thumbs up. "Like a piece of frickin' meat, Ralph! Cabello would be crazy if she didn't rip that dress off of you."
"I think you look beautiful, babes," Normani offered a much more appropriate compliment. "Where are you guys going tonight?"
"There's a new steakhouse restaurant that opened up downtown. She somehow got us a table last second so we're going." Lauren answered. "Heels or flats?"
"Definitely heels," Normani got up and handed Lauren her signature black stilettos that she kept in the shoe rack by the door. "These," she bent down to help her put them on.
Lauren placed one hand on the wall for support as Normani strapped her up. "Thanks, Manibear,"
Once she finished, she rose back to her feet and gave Lauren a sad smile. "Are you still mad at me?"
"Mani," Lauren sighed. "I just wish I found out about it sooner. And in a different way. I felt more betrayed than anything. I tell you guys everything that goes on with Camila and me, but... For some reason, none of you felt like you could talk to me about them."
"It's not you—"
"I know," she cut her off. "It's fine. I'm over it. She'll tell me when she's ready, I hope. Ally should be home soon, but until then, please don't burn the place down."
"Aye, aye, captain," Normani pretended to salute her. "Stay safe and don't do anything I wouldn't do,"
Lauren grabbed her phone off of the counter and opened the front door to find Camila already standing on the other side, dressed in a pantsuit with a stunning watch on her right wrist to top it off.
"Hi," Lauren said breathlessly.
"Hey, you," Camila tugged at her wrist to pull the raven-haired woman into her embrace. She rested her hands on the bottom of Lauren's back and smiled sweetly at her. "You look beautiful, baby girl,"
Lauren felt her cheeks redden with embarrassment. "Thank you. You don't look too shabby yourself."
"Are you ready? Do you have your coat and everything?"
"Right here," Lauren raised her arm that had her coat draped over it. "Are we walking?"
Camila pointed down to Lauren's heels. "You want to walk in those shoes? That's like a twenty-minute walk. Our Uber is downstairs waiting already."
"My knight in shining armor," Lauren swooned.
"Maybe I'll get lucky and have you for dessert," Camila teased and began leading the way to the elevator with a small gift bag in her free hand.
"So," Lauren waited until they were seated inside the Uber to start up another conversation. "What were you up to this afternoon? You weren't picking up any of my calls."
"I was busy running some errands," the lie slipped past her lips so easily she wondered how her mother ever called her a terrible liar growing up. "My mom really wants to come up and I'm not sure how much I can keep dodging her."
"Well... Do you have a reason as to why you don't want her to visit?"
"I'm tired of her trying to coddle me," Camila groaned. "I can take care of myself. I don't need her to watch over me through every step of my life."
"You're her only child, you can't blame her for caring so much, Camz. She just loves you, that's all."
"What's that one phrase about loving from a distance?"
Lauren slapped the dark-haired woman lightly on her bicep. "God, I can't stand you. Let the woman visit, for crying out loud."
"She's going to want to meet you," Camila said grumpily. "Everything is going to turn to shit,"
"No, it won't," Lauren gave her leg a reassuring squeeze. "I'd love to meet her if that's okay with you. She's known me since I was a baby, there's nothing new to introduce."
"Besides your gorgeous tits,"
"Camila,"
The dark-haired woman smiled smugly, leaning in to press a kiss to the corner of Lauren's mouth. "You don't have to if you don't want to. The whole... Meeting each other's parents thing is played out now, isn't it? Aren't we in newer times where shit like that doesn't matter?"
"And here I thought you were a gentlewoman,"
"Oh, baby, I'm nowhere close to gentle,"
"If you keep talking like that we won't make it to the restaurant,"
"I hate putting you in uncomfortable positions like this, that's all. Honestly, you're one of the only few people I care about and the last thing I want to do is hurt you."
Lauren could feel her heart pounding erratically in her chest, a fond look in her eyes. "I'd do anything for you, Camz. I mean that. And if it means sitting through a horrible dinner with your mom then consider it done."
"I know," Camila responded. "I would too," her voice grew weaker with every word.
-
"You're positive she knows?" Dinah paced around the living room in circles. "Like one hundred percent?"
"She confronted the both of us about it," Normani repeated herself for what felt like the millionth time. "There's no hiding it anymore, DJ. The world knows you're in heat with Shawn Mendes."
"I haven't seen him since..." Dinah tried to figure out the math in her head. "Two days ago. That's a record, isn't it?"
"You're going to have to talk to her about it," Ally added gruffly. "I'm not going to be in the middle of some petty cat fight that tears our friend group apart,"
"Don't be so dramatic, Allyson. This is just a minor inconvenience on both ends!" Dinah sat down and put her feet on the coffee table. "When she comes home I'll tell her and explain how embarrassing it was for me to be sleeping with Shawn Mendes out of all people. She'll understand and everything will be just peachy again."
Normani scoffed. "Seems like you underestimate how good Lauren can hold a grudge,"
"You said earlier she wasn't mad,"
"Yeah, me," she pointed to herself. "Then she went on to explain how she felt hurt that nobody could trust us when we know everything about her and sex-on-a-stick Cabello."
Dinah furrowed her eyebrows as she shook her head. "Well... When you put it like that..."
"Shhh," Ally leaped her to her feet and shushed them all once she heard somebody banging on the door. "That might be her,"
Rushing over to open the door, Ally gasped in shock when she opened it and found Lauren on the other side, soaked in rain. Her hair dripped water all over the tiles while her heels dangling from her hand.
"She knows," Lauren said low enough just for Ally to hear. "I mean, she really really knows,"
-
I'm seriously sorry about the long gaps between updates. I'm trying my best to stay on top of work and writing. The next few chapters will be more of flashbacks and explanations, so buckle up!