XIII.
Camila woke to the patter of small feet on her shoulder, prying her eyes open to see that she was locked tight against Lauren's body. The warmth emanating from the green eyed girl was incredibly comforting, and was keeping her toasty in the frigid room. Wanting only to remain in her current position forever, Camila reluctantly looked behind her into a pair of massive brown eyes and a wagging tail.
"Hi." Camila smiled, giggling as the dog scrambled over her body and landed in a heap between her and Lauren, staring up at them both with its mouth parted and tongue hanging out. "You look way better than you did yesterday. Did you get bigger?" Camila lifted an arm to pet the puppy, trailing her hand from the top of its head to the tip of its tail. She then leaned forward, brushing a strand of dark hair from Lauren's face and pressing a soft kiss to the bridge of her nose.
Camila found herself smiling as Lauren's eyes opened slowly and she blinked away the sleep. The brunette was unsure as to whether this was a new occurrence, but in the light of day, Lauren's eyes boasted a reflective sea of the most calming shade of green Camila had ever laid eyes on.
"Mmm?" Lauren yawned, stretching her pale limbs and curling into her pillow. Her eyes opened further, and she cracked a small smile. "Morning." Lauren had woken once through the night, and composed herself long enough to notice how perfectly their bodies locked together. Like fitted pieces of a puzzle, lock and key, Lauren had never felt so comfortable with the smaller girl bundled in her arms and a warm breath on her neck. Even with her past boyfriends, things hadn't been nearly as seamless. Body parts bumped together, awkward angles were created, sheets and blankets were tossed around in unruly abandon, and the small talk was absolutely endless. With Camila, everything was just effortless; sweet and simple.
"Did you sleep well?" Camila focused on stroking the dog's back gently as it sniffed Lauren's face.
"So well. I still can't believe last night actually happened. My mind still isn't sure if this is real or not." Lauren murmured back, staring dreamily at Camila. She didn't even have to hide it anymore, and it was all so surreal. The best part however, was yet to come.
"You better set your mind straight." Camila grinned at the heavy scratch in Lauren's sleep-lined voice. "Because it happened."
Lauren lifted the animal into her arms and let it sit on her chest, folding down its ears playfully. "So did you want to tell the others, or will I?"
"I think that's more of a two woman job." Camila chuckled, rolling her eyes and shifting her weight in preparation to rise to her feet. "I'm going to go get food, did you want anything?"
"Yeah."
"What did you want me to get you?"
Lauren smirked, reaching up and catching Camila's arm before she got too far away. As the puppy scooted away, she pulled the brunette down and stole her lips in a soft kiss. Camila smiled as Lauren's hand traveled up to cup her face and trace the line of her jaw with a thumb. "You really are enjoying that, aren't you?" Camila couldn't stop smiling as Lauren pulled back.
"You have no idea."
Camila padded up the stairs, her spine tingling with happiness at the knowledge that Lauren's eyes were locked on her no matter the move she made. When she emerged from the basement, she came face to face with a bustle of activity.
"Good morning Lauren—... wait." Dinah turned around with a box of Mini Wheats in her hand and a dumbfounded look on her face. Her makeup from the previous night was smeared, and her hair still held it perfectly curled elegance. "Camila? Whoa."
"Dinah, please don't make a big deal out of-"
"Why were you down there? Why do you look like you just hooked up with someone? Why aren't you wearing any pants? Do you know that there's a dog standing at your feet? Where's Lauren?"
Camila scooped up the dog, holding it against her chest as she made her way into the kitchen. "I'll tell you eventually, I didn't hook up with anyone, my pants are upstairs in a mess on my floor, and yes. I 'm very aware of the dog. We picked her up yesterday when someone left her to die on the street. Isn't she cute?" Camila held the shepherd puppy out to Dinah, letting it lap happily at the confused look on her face.
"Aww." Dinah set the box down, taking the animal and holding it up. "You're so precious! What's your name?"
"Yeah, we don't really have a name. It's a work in progress."
"Oh my god! I love this thing so much." Dinah then put on her baby voice as she cradled the traumatized dog in her arms. "Come on, we're going to go meet Normani, she is going to absolutely die when she sees you."
"Camz?" Lauren's voice rounded the entrance to the basement. "Is everything? Aw, damn it..."
Camila nodded. "Yep."
"Wait." Dinah stopped what she was doing, putting the dog down and letting her sniff the remnants of the bowl she had eaten from the previous evening. "Hold up."
There was a yawn from the upstairs, and Normani made her own elegant appearance. "What's all the commotion down here? Is Ally already gone?"
"Mani stop moving." Dinah's eyes were shifting from Lauren to Camila, then back again. "You two spent all of yesterday together, didn't you?" She asked carefully.
Camila nodded.
"And you spent the night together... didn't you?"
Lauren nodded.
"Are you...?"
There was a narrow choice in terms of the number of things Lauren could have opted to do in the moment. However, her happiness from the previous night was still going strong, and she didn't care how stupid it looked, or how cheesy she was being. She reached before her and took Camila's hand, lacing their fingers together and pressing her nails into the flesh gently.
"Sorry, she's mine now." Camila could barely comprehend the words and she spoke them, turning back to look into Lauren's affectionate eyes for just a brief moment.
"Damn right she is." Their hands were torn apart when Dinah advanced and scooped Camila up in a soul-crushing hug. "Finally. You finally see it. God that took fucking forever!"
Normani took more of a calm approach, stepping forward and looking Lauren straight in the eye. "You finally grew the balls to do it, did you?" She asked with a grin.
Lauren fumbled with the back of her neck. "Yeah."
"Well it's about damn time. Waiting for the two of you to get together was like watching grass die." The girl jabbed a finger into Lauren's chest. "I never want to have to wait that long for destiny again, do you hear me? Am I clear?"
When Normani withdrew her hand, Lauren rubbed at the sore spot. "Crystal."
"Wait a minute." Camila shook Dinah off as her feet landed back on the ground. "Why don't the two of you sound more surprised? Did you two know about this?"
"You may have been stupidly oblivious to her fawning." Normani nodded. "But the three of us knew the day after you got back from that little date you went on. Lauren had changed completely, and everyone saw it but you." There was a hint of laughter in her voice, one that hadn't quite left Normani ever since her and Lauren's gym conversation.
Camila looked at Lauren, dumbfounded. The girl had her eyes down on her feet, and a slight rouge was rising in her cheeks. "Is that true?"
"Yeah." Lauren looked up shyly. "I did my best to brush them off and deny everything, but the girls picked up on everything within the next few days. They all sort of... helped me to get where I was last night. I had conversations with each of them that made a massive difference in the way I saw things."
"I don't know what she told you, but she was really suffering Mila." Dinah leaned back against the door of the coat closet and folded her arms against her chest. "The nightmares were awful, the anxiety was high, and Lauren was more nervous that night at Ariana's party than I've ever seen her. As much as I hate to admit it, it was a little entertaining."
"You should have seen her face when she saw that picture of you in a bra and underwear." Normani added playfully. "She almost died."
"I'm such an oblivious idiot." Camila broke away from Dinah to move in and take Lauren's arm gently. "I should have seen it. I'm so sorry."
Lauren lifted her tussled hair up and to the side again. "Hey, you don't need to be sorry." She assured the girl, flashing both Normani and Dinah a warning glance. "Trust me, I don't even remember it anymore. Everything is so perfect, that I would go back and do it all again to be where we are right now."
Camila smiled, snuggling into the hoodie Lauren had put before appearing upstairs. The moment only lasted for a couple seconds, before the comfortable silence was broken by the sound of plastic hitting laminate.
"Hey lovebirds?" Normani asked as she poked her head over into the living room. "Did you know that there was a dog in the house?"
***
"Okay..." Dinah thought for a moment. "So let me get this straight. The two of you picked up this puppy, and now you want me and Mani to babysit it all night tonight so the two of you can go out on a date?" The girl flipped her blonde hair, tying it up neatly. "That seems like a pretty tall order if you ask me."
Camila finished up another bowl of apple slices, placing it down on the ground for the dog while she cleaned up the area and grabbed the box of Mini Wheats Dinah had abandoned. "Come on DJ. You and I both know that neither of you are leaving the house for the rest of the day. You look terrible, what did you guys even do last night?"
"I don't even remember." Normani groaned as she lay back on the couch and propped her feet up in Lauren's lap. "I think we had drinks at that tattoo place near the gas station. Or was it piercings?"
"Tell me you got a drunk tattoo." Lauren's eyes grew big and hopeful as she looked over at her friend. "Or a boob piercing. Oh god, please tell me you got a boob piercing."
"Not that I know of." Normani used the ball of her foot to poke Lauren in the stomach. "You would like that though, wouldn't you?"
Camila laughed, sitting down in the recliner and handing Lauren the box of cereal. "Please guys? How about I write you the first two papers of the semester, I can guarantee you at least an eighty percent."
Normani perked up from the other side of the couch, while Dinah looked up as well. "Ooh, I like the sound of that."
"I guess I'm not going out again tonight." Dinah admitted. "And it would be fun to just hang out with her. Ally will be here too, we can have bonding time."
Normani sighed. "Fine. I guess we can agree to that."
Lauren gave Camila a victorious look, to which the Cuban just winked.
"Wait, that paper offer has piggy backed onto this right?" Dinah questioned with a hopeful twinkle in her eye. "I could really use a nice strong start to the spring semester."
"Sorry, that's not happening." Lauren tossed a Mini Wheat across the room, letting it hit Dinah square on the nose. "Camz isn't going to have time for any of that. She's mine now." The green eyed girl felt her chest explode as Camila slipped down in her chair, curled her knees up to her chest and giggled while Dinah brushed cereal crumbs off her lap.
"You guys are so damn cute it's disgusting." Normani sat up and grabbed the box, popping a few wheat pillows in her mouth. Her nose crinkled as she chewed. "Ew, kinda like these things. Lauren, why do you eat this shit?"
"Because I'm human." Lauren replied, yanking the box back. "Sue me."
The sound of Lauren's phone filled the room, and she excused herself to head down into her room and take the call.
"We're going to have so much fun later tonight when your mommies go out on their date." Dinah crooned. "We can play with all the new toys you'll have, and online shop for little doggy outfits... ooh, maybe I can get you some of those little booties to wear so your paws don't get covered in salt on the sidewalks. You look like a doggy who would appreciate a nice gold accent. Wouldn't you? Yes you would."
"Don't get too attached to her." Camila warned. "We're not going to be able to keep her."
Dinah looked up in confusion. "What?"
"The lease. The landlords don't allow pets."
Dinah raised an eyebrow. "Yeah they do."
"What?"
Dinah gave Camila a pointed look. "My mom read through the least at least ten times before she agreed to let me sign." The blonde explained. "Pets are allowed, dogs especially because they have that guide dog training program at the school. We can keep her here, but if she does any physical damage to the house it will come out of the deposit we handed in at the beginning of last year."
Camila bit her lip in hesitation. "But there won't be anyone home for most of the day, what if she gets lonely? And our house is way too small to raise a German shepherd. Then there are the vet fees, the food, and a whole bunch of expenses..." As much as it pained her, Camila forced herself to recall everything Lauren had told her the night before.
"I can bring her to campus whenever she needs a little company." Normani offered. "There are dogs all over the place in the building that most of my classes are in this year. A lot of the professors carry treats, and there's even a doggy day care."
"And she's going to be a puppy for the rest of the semester, it's not like she's going to get massive any time soon." Dinah added. "Mila, your mom has always wanted a dog right? You probably have tons of room for her back home. We can just take any expenses out of the account we use to pay bills. She can't cost much more than electricity and heat does."
Camila had to admit Dinah was right. The family had never had a pet, and both her and Sofi absolutely adored dogs. The more she thought about it, the more she didn't want to part with the small speckled canine that was wandering around the living room contently. Their lakeside home was perfect for a dog that needed as much exercise as a fully grown German shepherd.
Seconds later, Lauren reappeared from her bedroom with a smile on her face. "I got a job interview!" She exclaimed to the room, catching the puppy's attention and opening her arms as it darted over to be scratched. She picked it up, grinning as it licked her face.
"Are you serious?" Normani sat up from where she had extended her body down the couch again. "Where?"
Lauren sat down on the arm of the recliner, letting the dog slip into Camila's lap. "You all were wasted, but back when we were at Hunter's, his roommate Matt said he would put a good word in for me at his work, and he did. It's an arts and entertainment bar in the East Village, and they needed more bartenders."
"You're going to work as a bartender?" Dinah asked incredulously.
"Well I don't have the job yet, but I'm going to go for the interview." Lauren shrugged. "I mean it can't possibly be that bad right? I've never bartended before, but there's a week of training, and I'll only work Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays if they need me. Matt said that if his manager likes me, then I can apply for a position as a server at their other location as well."
"You would be a fucking tip legend." Normani was nodding vigorously. "That's awesome Lauren, and I can coach you through the interview. They look for a very specific type of person when scouting out for bartenders. After some nice eye makeup, a little contouring and some boob work, you'll have yourself a job no problem."
Lauren blinked a few times, looking down at Camila who was grinning at her. "She's not wrong." The brunette said as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "I'm happy for you, but it better not mean that I don't get to see you as often."
Lauren slipped down on the chair next to Camila, curling into her side, closing her eyes and smiling. "Trust me, you've got me every minute of the day. If not more." She murmured, causing both Dinah and Normani to groan while muttering about just how much they were already regretting their new living arrangements.
***
"Let's do this." Lauren pulled Normani's car up into the parking lot of the pet store, cutting the engine and looking over to where Camila sat in the passenger seat with the dog balanced in her lap. The animal's ears were perked up, and she was moving her head side to side in order to take in all the new sights and sounds.
"This may not be such a good idea without a leash." Camila mumbled as she stroked the dog's fur. "Should I be worried about her wriggling out of my arms and taking off?"
"She's a docile puppy." Lauren assured her. "Don't worry, everything will be fine."
Camila ended up carrying the dog with one hand underneath, and the other across its chest. With its tiny arms draped over Camila's, and its curious brown eyes scanning every inch of the store as they walked, Lauren had to admit it was one of the cutest things she had ever seen.
"Alright, so we need a leash, food, and a few toys. Maybe some of those little treats they sell at the cash register as well."
"Hey Lauren?" Camila asked, scuffing gently at the fur on the puppy's belly. Lauren was knelt down next to a variety of dry food bags, and was busy comparing prices.
"What's up?"
"Um... Dinah told me that our lease actually does allow pets." She explained to the girl. "I know that you weren't really intent on keeping her, but I... I can take her home during the summer, and she doesn't need to come back if you don't want... "
"I heard." Lauren got to her feet, gazing down at the dog and scratching just behind her ear gently. "I think we should keep her." She said with a small nod, looking up at Camila. "And I promise I'll help raise her. It shouldn't be too hard right? The training, staying off the furniture, using the backyard for spur of the moment washroom breaks." Lauren smiled. "We'll have fun with it, and it'll be a great stress reliever, having some life in the house for once."
"Really? You'd be alright with that?"
"Of course." Lauren chuckled. "She makes you happy... how on earth could I deny something like that?"
Camila clutched the puppy closed to her, causing a small squeak as she smiled. "Thank you."
Lauren reached forward and brushed Camila's jaw with her thumb and forefinger. "We're going to need a name then." She added. "And I think it'd be best to assign one soon."
"Dinah wanted to call her Captain Morgan." Camila chuckled. "Or Jose Cuervo."
"Let me guess, or... Fireball? Sour Puss? Jack Daniels?"
"It's a girl." Camila reminded her.
"Fine. Jack...ie Daniels?"
"Don't even joke with me." Camila warned, nuzzling the top of the dog's head with her nose. "We're not naming our baby after alcohol of any type." She hesitated, noticing that there was a sale on hamsters, chinchillas and other small palm-sized pets. "Ooh look, can we get a chinchilla? I think they've actually been classified as the softest things on earth. Literally. They take dust baths, it's so cute."
"Hell no." Lauren shook her head. "No rodents... I love you, but I'm going to draw the line there."
"Oh come on, look how cute this little guy is." Camila knelt down next to one of the cages, peering in at what looked like the world's fluffiest oversized mouse. "Admit it Lauren, you can't resist that little face."
"Wanna bet?" The green eyed girl grabbed the back of Camila's hood, pulling her up and out of the pet aisle with a grumble.
One extendable leash and harness, one brush, four chew toys, food, puppy shampoo and a bunch of small bags was the grand total as the girls left the store. Thrilled to be able to run around on the snow, they watched the puppy bounce around the car while Camila followed it happily. As far as Lauren could tell, there was little difference between the ecstatic, fun loving, brown eyed ball of energy, and the cuddly canine.
"So where are you taking me tonight?" Lauren asked as they filed up the walkway to the front door, her arms full of PetSmart shopping bags. "Could I get a sneak preview?"
"Sure." Camila grinned behind her, loosening the dog's leash and letting it run up towards the front door. "Turn around."
Lauren frowned curiously, turning to look at Camila. She was completely caught off guard when a pair of sweet lips were on hers, and a hand was rested on her inner arm. "Shit." Lauren breathed as Camila pulled away and inched around her, unlocking the door and following the dog in out of the cold. The green eyed girl was left stunned, unsure if she was ever going to be able to get used the feeling.
***
As the evening drew near, Camila disappeared into her room to get ready, while Lauren hung back to watch Dinah and Normani argue over which spices to add to the hangover-cure soup they were crafting on the stove. Admittedly, it smelled a little like vomit.
"What is that? Is that oregano?" Dinah asked as she peered the crushed up leaves in Normani's palm.
"Nope. Sage."
"What's sage? Like... the Gemini?"
"Yes Dinah Jane. Like the Gemini." The Texan rolled her eyes, giving Lauren a cheeky grin. "No, it's an earthy spice. Sort of sweet, kind of savoury and super healthy. You'll like it, I promise."
"Fine."
Lauren sighed, watching her roommates bicker as the house began smelling like the inside of a greenhouse. When the door unlocked and opened, she turned to see Ally bustle in with a bag of percussion instruments in her arms.
"Ally!" Dinah attacked her before Lauren could even get a word in. "Guess what?"
"What?" The shorter girl nearly dropped the things in her arms, causing most of the contents to make a various medley of noises.
"Lauren and Mila –..." Lauren slapped a hand over Dinah's mouth, shushing her as Camila's door opened upstairs, and the sound of feet drew near.
"Do I look alright?" Camila asked as she stepped into the kitchen. Her dark brown hair was curled into waves, framing her face in perfect symmetry. She wore a skin tight pair of blue jeans, a navy long sleeved shirt, and in her hand was a pair of roughed up brown combat boots. Overtop was a dark green jacket covered in drawstrings, and topped with large red infinity scarf. It was simple, yet it suited her slender frame perfectly. "Ally! You're back."
Ally gave Camila as best a wave she could through the items in her arms. "Yeah, I really pushed through the paperwork today, so I left a little early. You look nice, where are you headed?"
"I've got a date." Camila shrugged, stepped onto the tile floor and taking one of the bags from the girl to set it down in the living room.
"A date?" Ally looked at the others in confusion. Lauren still had her hand plastered over Dinah's mouth, and Normani was busy furiously stirring to ensure that her bubbling concoction wouldn't burn. "A date with who?"
"With me." Lauren replied for Camila, struggling to fight the blush rising in her cheeks. Ally was the one she was most excited to tell, and her own cheesiness was embarrassing her. "She's got a date with me."
Ally blinked. "Wait— with..." The girl looked from Lauren, to Camila, then back again. "With you?"
"They're dating!" Dinah grabbed Lauren's wrist and moved it away long enough to blurt out the words of confirmation. Ally's eyes widened, and she burst into a smile.
"You are?!" Ally looked over at Lauren; her features were impressed. "What? How? When? How did this happen? Why didn't anyone text me?"
"Lauren! How about you go get ready, you can't go out looking like that." Dinah pushed Lauren towards her bedroom door, and the Latina gave her roommate an eye-roll before disappearing downstairs obediently.
Normani turned off the heat on the stove, turning to Camila. "Alright Mila. We're all here now. We want to hear everything." Normani and the others had heard plenty from Lauren's point of view, and they now wanted nothing more than to hear what Camila had to say. It wasn't snooping, she thought of it more like extreme caring.
Camila smiled, shaking her head gently as she scooped up the dog that sat at her feet and cradled it in her arms. "We just got to talking last night. I couldn't sleep, so I was out on the roof, you remember, right Dinah?"
"Oh yeah." Dinah spoke as she recalled when Camila had dragged her out to the same roof the previous year. "You can step out onto the garage roof from your bedroom window."
Camila nodded. "She showed up, and we just started talking. Then she started saying all these beautiful things, and I just... you know."
"You made the move?" Normani asked with a glitter in her eye. "You, Camila never-been-in-love Cabello made the move?"
"I guess you could say that." The Latina nodded shyly. "It felt right."
"And you're happy, right?" Dinah asked gently, giving Camila the once over. "This is a good thing that's happened?"
The Latina ignored Normani's parental look and hoisted herself up on the kitchen counter. "I'm happy." She assured Dinah, who as always, was the most concerned with something as irrelevant as her happiness. "I mean it's new, and it's different, and I don't really know how to handle myself..." Camila looked towards Lauren's door. "But it's good. Like, really good."
"And has she kissed you?" Ally asked excitedly.
Camila nodded again, smiling bashfully as she did so. "Yeah."
"Your first kiss!" Normani let her hands fly to her chest in bliss. "Oh my god that's got to be the most romantic thing I've ever heard! You two are going to be together forever, you just watch." She hesitated for a moment, then her eyes sparkled with excitement. "And it was all thanks to meee!"
After a moment of mulling, Camila figured it was best to restrain from informing Normani as to just how un-romantic her actual first kiss had been.
"Excuse me? Thanks to you? I was the one who introduced her to Ariana so it would give Lauren a swift kick to the ass." Dinah countered with a mock professionalism.
"Who was the one who even proposed the 36 questions to love study? Hmm?"
Camila slipped off the counter shaking her head, and pulled Lauren's door open, heading down into the cool room.
Lauren gave herself a once over in the mirror, running her hand through her straightened hair repeatedly, and frowning on the verge of frustration. After a montage of options, she had chosen a three quarter sleeved low cut beige sweater and a pair of black jeans as the base of the outfit. The Latina also looped a tan coloured knit scarf around her neck, and even added a larger, layered gold necklace underneath for complimentary accents. Still, Lauren wasn't exactly satisfied with the way it all came together.
"Hey." Lauren saw Camila in the mirror's reflection, and her pulse picked up.
"Hi." The green eyed girl smiled. "How did it go upstairs?"
"The ladies of The View are at it again." Camila folded her arms in front of her body and leaned against the back wall, crossing one leg over the other. Lauren had never felt so comfortably intimidated in all her life. "I don't even think they noticed that I left."
Lauren rolled her eyes playfully, tugging at her sleeves. "I've kind of accepted that I'm never going to look as good as you." She admitted, staring straight into her own eyes with a hint of a scowl.
"You're so ridiculous." Camila pushed herself off the wall, stepping forward and appearing just over Lauren's shoulder. "And I swear, if you keep looking at yourself like that... I'm going to shatter that mirror. Look at me."
When Lauren turned around, Camila's arms immediately wrapped around her hips again, and her hands slid carefully into the back pockets of her jeans. Lauren raised an eyebrow in interest. "And what do you think you're doing?"
"Trying to get you to understand just how beautiful your face is, and that you shouldn't be degrading it every time you look into the mirror." Camila wore a challenging look. Her wavy hair shifted slightly each time she moved, then fell back in place with an unmeasured charm.
"Are you sure it wasn't just a disguised attempt to touch my ass?" Lauren countered in an equally challenging tone. "Because I feel like you just wanted to touch my ass."
"That's just an added bonus." Camila shrugged. Her lips grazed Lauren's jaw. "I mean you do have an amazing ass."
"Look who's talking."
"Who?"
When Lauren kissed her, Camila smiled into the contact, and squeezed the girl's butt in her hands softly, causing a laugh to vibrate against her lips.
"Come on." Lauren moved them apart reluctantly, grabbing her black parka in one hand and Camila's arm in the other. "Before those queens up there start asking questions that we probably don't have answers to."
***
"Have fun you two. Don't get into too much trouble." Ally tossed Camila her car keys just as Lauren was shuffling on her black combat boots. "And by that, I mean please... please do not come back here covered in bruises, or with wounds on your hand, or after you've vandalized school property." Ally drew out the word vandalized, putting on a little unnecessary emphasis.
"My fault, Lauren's fault, and VERY Lauren's fault." Camila clarified quickly, kissing the head of the sleeping puppy in Dinah's arms and hurrying to pull the front door open. After a persistent buzz of insistence from the others, they had explained what they had been doing out of the house in the middle of the night to all the girls, and the response was less than impressed. She received a nudge, and the gaze of two dark green eyes as Lauren shook her head slowly. "What?" Camila frowned.
"Not your fault." The girl reminded her, shoving a finger hard into the middle of her chest. "Say it with me. Not. Your. Fault."
"Okay, just go." Camila smiled.
"Not until you say it."
"Lauren, the door is open right now, and we are very much not paying to heat the outdoors. Just go already."
"Not. Until. You say it." Lauren's persistence was impressive.
"Fine. It wasn't my fault."
The green eyed girl clapped her hands together happily, disappearing out into the blowing snow. Camila received a chorus of goodbyes and good lucks as she followed her roommate outside and towards the car.
"So where are you taking me?" Lauren asked curiously while she twisted in her seat to buckle the belt and adjusted the back to her liking. "Are we going to get food? Cause I could really use something to eat... as long as it wasn't made with sage." She shuddered as the single syllable escaped her.
Camila jammed Ally's keys in the ignition, revving the engine to life and cranking the gear shift into reverse. "What've you got against sage?" The girl asked as she turned behind her to look where she was going.
"Don't ask." Lauren sighed. She didn't recognize the destination upon arrival, but it was definitely a restaurant. Her heart soared when she stepped inside behind Camila, and got a look at the ambiance. The soft lightning, mood music and hardwood benches were all too familiar, not to mention the large stalks of what seemed to be bamboo sitting in iron pots in the corner of the room.
"You brought me to a sushi place?" Camila watched the girl's green eyes widen in joy, while the hostess showed them to a secluded booth. There was a fair crowd, most of which were students. Apparently they weren't the only ones who wanted to get in one more stress free night before classes began.
"No brown rice this time." Camila promised as she took off her jacket and rolled up her sleeves. "And everything is on me. You're not paying a cent tonight. Understood?"
"What if I insist?" Lauren offered as she settled in across from Camila. "I can be very persistent, you know that."
"Just don't!" Camila whined. She figured that being cutesy was the only way she was going to convince Lauren of anything. "I want this to be special."
"Alright." Lauren caved. "I'll behave, I promise."
While Lauren went to work carefully ordering a decent amount of food, Camila made light of her Japanese tradition. Ever since the first time they had taken her out, the Latina had found enjoyment in popping every last soybean from its pod, arranging them carefully in the bowl and salting them lightly. She then speared each bean individually on the pointy end of her wooden chopstick before popping it in her mouth.
Lauren watched her with a dreamy look on her face as the girl chased a rather slippery bean around her plate. She then caught herself playing with the jewelry around her neck as she asked Camila a rather daring question that was on her mind. "Camz, you don't regret any of this... do you?"
Camila looked up. It was crazy to Lauren how grown up, and mature of a woman Camila looked, only to have the heart of a five year old, and the mind of an intellect. "Regret what?"
"Me... I mean this. Like... us." Lauren stuttered pathetically. "You're not regretting all this change, are you?"
"No." Camila shook her head confidently. "I mean, I told the girls earlier that all of this is new and different for me, so I have no idea what I'm doing. But I'm nonetheless. I'm really happy, and I like it a lot." She then thought for a moment. "Wait why? Do you regret something?"
"Of course not." Lauren turned away the proposition without a second of hesitation. "It's just... I feel like this isn't real. None of this is actually happening, and I'm just stuck in some delusion that my head has made up to please the rest of me. You may think I'm crazy, but you know when there's something you've been fighting to have for ages now, and all of a sudden you finally get it?" The green eyed girl asked quietly as she watched her girlfriend from across the table. "Well I think a part of me doesn't know what to do now that I don't have that fight. The past few months have conditioned me to feel like this, like I won't ever be able to stop fighting for you."
Camila lifted her legs, propping her feet up on Lauren's knees under the table. "I know you've really been through a lot." She sympathized kindly. "Which is why there's somewhere super special I want to bring you tonight. I promise you're going to love it."
That had Lauren's curiosity peaked. "Can I at least get a hint?"
"Sorry." Camila shrugged. "You'll have to wait."
Dinner turned into dessert, which turned into a one block trek over to the Cineplex for an evening showing of Guardians of the Galaxy. Lauren's level of confidence grew as she put up the arm rest in between their seats, and curled her arms around Camila, who was happily nibbling on a handful of popcorn against her chest. The movie played, but her eyes didn't leave the girl in her arms as she watched the brunette giggle, cry, and hide her eyes through most of the riveting story.
"Why aren't you a blubbering mess like I am?" The brunette sniffed as a certain bipedal tree gave its life for its friends. Her voice was a whisper, not wanting to disturb those around them. "I'm bawling."
"Because a lot like my heart, my tear ducts are ice cold, and forever frozen." Lauren replied, looking lovingly down at the girl. "Plus I told you before. The only other movie that's made me cry is the Lion King."
"I don't believe that, you know." Camila countered softly, twisting in her seat to peer up at her girlfriend. "The part about your heart."
"And why would that be?"
"Come on Lauren, anyone who knows you has to know that isn't true." Camila didn't feel like she needed to give a straightforward answer. It just wasn't the case.
"SHHH." A voice in front of them made her jump, and she squinted into the darkness to see the form of what looked like a small teenage girl, no older than eleven or twelve.
"Sorry." Camila apologized sheepishly before shifting herself against Lauren and leaning in to kiss the side of her neck gently. The credits were just about to roll, so she needed something to do to pass the time that didn't involve crying her eyes out. Luckily for her, it turned out that kissing was far quieter, and far more satisfying than the remainder of the movie anyway.
***
"We're here." Camila pulled Ally's vehicle to a stop, looking over at Lauren who was just polishing off the last of the milk duds. "Ready?"
"I would be more ready if I knew what I needed to be ready for." The green eyed Latina replied sassily as she folded up the empty box of candy and tossed it on the dashboard.
Camila rolled her eyes, unlocking the front doors. "Let's go."
When Lauren stepped out of the car, she frowned almost immediately. Camila had driven them to an area that looked like it had been through its fair share of drug deals and gang fights. Backed into the end of an alley, Lauren watched the smaller girl lock up the car and pull a massive black tarp over the vehicle, hiding it from sight.
"There is no way this is happening right now." Lauren muttered as the cold traveled down her spine. "Why are you hiding the car?"
"Safekeeping." Camila replied. "You can never be too safe."
"Alright Camz. Where the fuck are we?"
Camila smiled. As sketchy as her surroundings were, something told Lauren that the brown haired beauty had it all under control. She was radiating more confidence that normal.
"Alright. So you know how last semester, I had that ridiculously late night class that you opted out of?"
"Yeah."
"Well, there was a lab for that class, and my lab partner's dad actually owns a huge string of office buildings in the city. He's got a horticulture company, they supply decorations, and work in these labs to fortify, and genetically modify plants to be better suited to the indoors and artificial sunlight."
"That's cool." Lauren followed Camila as she spoke, rounding a musty corner and arriving at the base of one building. They were faced with the back entrance, a space for garbage disposal, shipment elevators and rickety fire escapes.
"So we had to work on writing up a lab report, and because the science complex at school closes ridiculously early, she suggested we use one of her father's labs to run through our data a few times. I don't know, something had gone wrong with one of the petri dishes and we had some unusual numbers. We just needed clarification... our TA was quite picky."
"Alright." Lauren really needed Camila to get to her point.
"So we came here."
"You used professional horticulture facilities to gather data for an undergrad lab report?" Lauren questioned as Camila knelt down and began poking around at the latch that separated a large steel fence from the inside of the building.
"Yeah, is that bad?"
"Bad?" Lauren quirked an eyebrow. "God no! Why the heck didn't you tell me? And where can I sign up?"
Camila chuckled as the latch came loose, and with all her strength, pulled the fence up, garage door style so it folded into the ceiling.
"Wait, Camila... are you breaking into this building?"
"Not really." She shrugged. "We're not technically going to enter the building. We're just going to scale the side."
Lauren almost stopped breathing, freezing as Camila took a few steps inside the building. "Okay..." The green eyed girl chose her words carefully. "The list of things that I'm willing to do for you is endless, but I can honestly say that "scaling the side of a building" is not one of those things."
Camila turned around with a grin. "Oh stop." She had to take a few steps back and grab Lauren's hand. "You're not going to actually scale anything. There's a shipment elevator that brings any materials and equipment up to the higher floors."
"Um..." Lauren couldn't help but let herself get pulled through the eerily dark area. "So we are breaking into the building."
"This coming from the girl who dragged me into the middle of the NYU campus at two in the morning, only to steal her roommate's car and break into the Athletic Centre." The brunette smirked over at the girl, leading her towards the elevator at the end of the cement enclosure. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, I called Vanessa earlier today, and she told me I was free to... use the building." Camila said as she hit the "up" arrow on the elevator, and waited for the door to haul itself open before pulling Lauren inside. "I told her it was for a pretty special reason, and both her and her dad understood. Terry loves me."
Lauren exhaled as the lift thrust into motion, and her stomach slowly twisted the higher they got.
"So how far up are we going?"
"You'll see."
"Fuck Camila." Lauren muttered, steadying herself on the girl. "I'm too fucking old for this."
"I'm older than you." Camila pointed out as the elevator finally began to slow.
"By three months!"
"So? I've got three more months of wise in me than you do, so just go with it."
Lauren rolled her eyes as the doors slid open, and Camila pulled her into a darkened hallway. The motion sensor lights came on, and Lauren found herself flanked by two long rooms blocked off by display glass. Inside, sat rows upon rows of microscopes, glassware and finished black counters, all constructed in a neat and uniform fashion. It was like a biologist's dream come true.
"Wow." Lauren pressed herself up against the glass, the tip of her nose just bumping the cool surface. Camila appeared behind her, beaming from ear to ear.
"It's cool huh? And we're only on the fortieth floor."
Lauren spun around. "Are you serious?"
"So serious." Camila took her hand again, pulling her through the white hallways and towards another reflective steel elevator that sat around a few corners. "And we've still got a little bit of a climb."
The next elevator was considerably smaller, and the ride up only lasted a few seconds. As they exited the lift, Camila pulled Lauren through one more set of glass doors before she was hit with a frigid wind.
"Oh my god, are we..."
Camila just nodded, stepped to the side to reveal a scene that looked very much unlike anything Lauren had ever experienced. Her heart lurched as her eyes focused on what had to be the entire city of New York, laid out before her like a stunningly detailed display.
"Welcome to the roof."
"No fucking way." Lauren stammered as she gave herself a few internal reminders to breathe. "Are you for real right now? This is amazing! How many floors up are we?" Lauren asked, moving her head from side to side rapidly to take in as much as she could.
"Fifty-seven." Camila replied simply. She then appeared next to the girl, extending an arm out to direct Lauren's vision. "The rest of Manhattan is this way; you can tell from the buildings that are taller than this one off in the distance, I think the highest skyscraper is eighty something floors. There's Central Park... "She then turned Lauren around carefully, so she was facing the opposite direction. "Battery Park is over there, then the Brooklyn Bridge."
Lauren shuddered. "Now would this be a good time to tell you that I'm not exactly the biggest fan of heights?"
"Probably." Camila smiled, gripping Lauren's arm. "You'll be fine. There's also something else I want to show you."
"Are you serious right now? There's more?" Lauren couldn't hide the excitement in her voice as she followed her girlfriend around the roof entrance, revealing a whole other open area. Her breath was taken away for a second time when she realized the entire rooftop was essentially a garden. Open and exposed to the air, the plants were placed in rows, allowing for people to walk in and out of the display like a tourist attraction.
"All of the plants you see here are special, because they're meant to grow in super harsh conditions, and a climate with really low temperatures. They circulate the flora by the season, so it's like a rooftop garden that's always changing." Camila explained as she took the time to scan the garden as well.
"Wow." Lauren forgot for a moment that they were a gazillion feet in the air, and stepped forward, examining some of the plants. "I didn't even know there were plants that could survive the winter. I mean aside from pine."
Camila began explaining the composition of the different species, from the spiky holly bushes, to the bright pink heather flowers. She rattled off all the knowledge she had on the medicinal purpose of the hellbore plants, and why the witch hazel drooped the way it did. Lauren listened intently, seating herself on one of the ledge borders and just listening to Camila talk.
"How the heck do you know all of this?" Lauren asked when Camila finished her speech. "Do you have some kind of plant fetish I don't know about?"
Camila laughed, shaking her head. "My mom has both summer and winter gardens in our front yard. One of her favourite pastimes is growing stuff, and she loved the fact that we moved up to a climate that was so temperate in the spring, and crisp in the winter."
Camila then stood up, hooking her arm around Lauren's and tugging lightly. "And there's another one I think you'll really like. But they have to grow it over here because it doesn't really do very well in the wind. They also need to heat the ground beneath them to keep them around, but they've stayed here for years, and they're so pretty" Camila stepped over to the opposite end of the roof to where a small, secluded area was boxed in by a stone feature. Behind the rock, Lauren saw a cluster of vibrant pink flowers, layered similarly to roses and grown on a bed of dark leafy evergreen.
"Oh my gosh, they're beautiful." Lauren knelt down, brushing an open palm over the top of one of the flowers. "What's it called?"
The brunette grinned. "A Camellia."
"No way."
"Way."
Camila moved in and plucked the flower from its growing space, and Lauren lifted her head. "Wait, what are you doing?" Lauren asked. "Are you sure you're allowed to do that?"
"There are tons of these things up here. They aren't going to notice that one's missing." Camila replied sweetly. She then walked over to the edge of the roof, looking out over the city. "Stand up for a second, come here."
Lauren stood, moving carefully towards Camila to stand just behind her and grip the railing.
"I can't believe you're afraid of heights." The brunette thread one hand through her hair, parting the wavy locks over to one side. "You lost a little of your bravery card when I found out you were afraid of being out on the water, and now heights? You have more fears than I thought you did."
"My bravery card is just about as dead as my virginity card." Lauren said with a sly grin, wiggling an eyebrow at the girl playfully.
"Lauren!" Camila exclaimed, eyes flying wide. "Why would you tell me that?"
"I'm sorry." Lauren tilted her head to the side sympathetically. "I love you."
Camila rolled her eyes, "Put your hands behind your back." She then commanded. "And don't be asking any questions."
"Camila, I'm a million feet in the air, and ridiculously close to shitting myself right now. I am not going to put my hands behind my back."
"What do you think I'm going to do?" Camila asked with a laugh. "Push you off the roof?"
"Maybe."
"I thought you said you were going to behave." Camila reminded her girlfriend, the pink flower still sitting daintily in her cold bare hands.
"Ugh." Lauren linked her hands behind her back, keeping a close eye on Camila's movements. "What are you going to do?"
Camila fumbled with the flower for a moment, then reached up and thread it gently into Lauren's dark hair, letting it rest just above her ear. Lauren realized she had somehow managed to spear the base of the plant with a bobby pin without her knowing, and it held on to her hair perfectly. "There." Camila smiled as she stepped back and admired her handiwork. "You look beautiful."
"Is that what you brought me up here for?" Lauren asked with a grin. "To put a pink flower in my hair?"
"To teach you that you look really good in more than just black." Camila corrected.
"Camz..." Lauren tucked the strand of hair properly behind her ear.
"Look." Camila jerked her chin out towards the city. "Don't you love how all of the problems we have are such monsters when we're down on the ground, but from up here everything is just so insignificant?" Camila asked absentmindedly. "You just come up here, and forget about all the things that make life so infuriating."
"How often do you come up here?" Lauren asked curiously. "You seem to be pretty well acquainted with all this."
Camila smiled. "A lot more than I would care to admit. It's really not hard to get here, there's a bus that just stops at the corner." The brunette let both hands rest on the railing, putting all her weight against the ice cold metal. "Last night I told you that seeing as you had already showed me your favourite place in the city, it was my turn to show you mine." Camila recalled. "And this is it."
"Wow." Lauren nodded in understanding. "Now that I think about it, my favourite place in this city is deep in Central Park, and your favourite is almost in the clouds." The Miami native had never been good at picking out themes and symbolism in her high school English class. "I wonder what that says about us..."
Camila took hold of Lauren's scarf and pulled, moving the girl's body so there was no space between them. The body heat that had radiated into the knit fabric, and warmed her hands instantly. "This isn't one of your delusions Lauren." She whispered as the wind around them picked up.
Lauren's stomach leapt into her mouth, but just as quick as her insides bubbled, they proceeded to quell against Camila's touch.
"I might have been nothing but a delusion for a long time now." Camila continued bravely. "You can fight all you want, I'm not going to stop you. But I am going to need you to understand that I'm real now. We're real now, and all that shit you dealt with is irrelevant from here on out."
"I think I can manage that." Lauren could barely be heard over the sound of the wind around them. Camila lifted her head and pressed a soft kiss to Lauren's lips to create a stark contrast from their surroundings. Lauren wanted nothing more than to freeze the moment in time. To be able to play, and replay the feeling whenever she desired.
But she knew very well that she couldn't.
"We should head back." Camila said as she moved away slowly. It was dark around her, but the light in Lauren's eyes nearly matched the light of the flower in her hair.
"Do we have to?"
"We've got an eight-thirty class tomorrow morning. It's getting really late." Camila said with a soft smile, reaching up and letting her hand brush Lauren's jaw gently. It was a gesture that was becoming significant for both of them, in both comfort and familiarity.
Lauren couldn't help but focus the way Camila spoke to her, as if she had finally turned into the most important thing to her most important person. The green eyed girl ended up winning the battle, resulting in another half hour conversing on the rooftop between insistent kisses. When the clock hit eleven, they descended the skyscraper, uncovered Ally's untouched car, and headed home.
Upon arrival at the front door, Lauren turned with a bashful smile. "So this is me." She said, adjusting the flower that had remained in her hair for the ride over. "Thank you for tonight, I had a really great time."
"Oh is it? Alright." Camila played along, shuffling on her feet nervously, her hands jammed into the pockets of her coat. "So did I. Call me tomorrow?"
"I will."
Camila took the first two steps up, leaning in and brushing a kiss to Lauren's lips. When she pulled away, there was a proud look on her face. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Lauren grinned to herself, pushing the game a little further by unlocking the front door and slipping inside the home, closing and re-locking it behind her. She turned around to see Normani with a cup of tea in one hand, looking at her curiously.
"Lo? Hey, you're back in good time, and that's a cute flower..." She paused. "Where's Camila? Oh don't tell me you lost her."
"Wait for it." Lauren said breathlessly as she reached down to unlock the door quietly. The taste of Camila's lips still lingered on her own, and as much as she wasn't showing it, it was thrilling her.
"Lauren! Open the fucking door it's freezing out here!" Camila's muffled voice sounded on the other side of the door, and the green eyed girl pictured her tugging at it forcefully. It then burst open, and the brunette tumbled through clumsily, straight into Lauren's arms.
"Hi." Lauren green eyes glittered down into Camila's unimpressed brown ones. "How's it going?"
"I hate you so much." Camila husked as she straightened herself up and got to her feet, brushing off the snow. "Hey Mani."
"So disgustingly cute." Normani shook her head as she moved into the living room and plopped down into her nest of blankets on the couch. "By the way, Dinah's upstairs shampooing your puppy. I think she's given her a name and everything. They're really getting along."
Camila's shoes were off her feet in seconds, and she was jogging up the stairs into the second floor washroom.
"How did it go? I really like that smile that's on your face right now." Normani gestured for Lauren to sit down next to her. "It looks good on you."
"It was amazing." Lauren didn't even bother taking off her jacket as she collapsed on Normani's lap, sprawling her limbs out every which way to create the most comfortable, and annoying position she could. "We went for dinner, then saw a movie." Lauren reached up and patted Normani's cheeks playfully. "And then we broke into a corporate building."
"You did what?" Normani swatted Lauren's hands away. "Wait, back up a minute."
Luckily, Lauren didn't need to explain further, as Camila reappeared with the puppy in her arms, and Dinah on her heels.
"Oh my." Lauren craned her neck to see the animal was dressed in a pink wool sweater with a tiny turtleneck, three white hearts were patterned in down the stretch of its back. "What did Auntie Dinah do to you?"
"Auntie Dinah got us a nice coat for when we go outside." Dinah was grinning from ear to ear.
"I actually like the name Dinah picked." Camila added as she sat down next to Lauren and let the dog roam into her lap, its tail wagging.
"And what would that be?"
"Riley." Camila watched as the puppy began lapping at Lauren's nose, and her eyes scrunched tight while she smiled.
Lauren looked at the dog straight in the eye. Her gaze drifted to its brown eyes, long snout, adorably warm features and the scent of soft lavender. She smiled, noticing that Dinah had a bottle of puppy shampoo in her hand and a small towel draped around her neck.
"I love it." Lauren's voice softened. She reached down and dragged both hands gently over the dog's head, scratching affectionately and watching as the animal closed its eyes in content. She felt Camila rest her head on her shoulder, and for the first time in a long time, Lauren truly felt good. Really good. "Welcome to the family baby."
***
"Lauren?"
"Mmhm?"
"What happens after we die? Like where do we go?"
Both girls were spending the last hours of the blissful date on Camila's bed, doing a lot of nothing as the final minutes of the day ticked by. Riley was curled up at their feet, letting out small noises every time one of the girls spoke. While Lauren had her nose buried in a book, the brunette was busy questioning the larger things in life. Little did she know however, that her girlfriend was hardly listening.
"Mmhm." The Miami native mumbled, not moving her focused eyes from the page before her.
"Lauren..." Camila turned her head to the side. "Are you listening to me?"
"Mmhm."
Camila pouted, bringing one arm up swiftly to knock the book from Lauren's grip. It went crashing down pages first onto the girl's chest, leaving her hands grasping air. Lauren sighed with a small smile, folding the book closed and setting it down to the side. "You can be a little booger sometimes, you know that?"
"Yup." Camila smiled to herself, reaching over and flicking off the light. "Now answer me."
"What did you ask?"
Camila rolled her eyes. "What happens after we die?"
Lauren closed her eyes, dozing off slowly. "How would I know Camz?" She asked as she turned around to face the wall. The two of them just fit on the single bed, but there wasn't much wiggle room. Wiggle room was the last thing Lauren wanted though, for tonight she was going to make it a priority to be as close to the girl as humanly possible for multiple reasons. "I guess you go to heaven."
"But wouldn't heaven be crowded by now? I mean people have kinda been dying for a long time."
"Well... I guess while some people go to heaven, others... don't."
"Others like people who are douchebags." Camila confirmed.
"Correct."
"Like Alexander the Great... and Vlad the Impaler."
Lauren groaned. "Camz, I think calling those two douchebags is putting it a little light. A douchebag is more like the guy who licks his finger then puts it in your ear. Or the guy who says "keep the change" when it's like... three cents. Kinda like my little brother."
"Okay, yeah that's fair." Camila nodded, still looking up at the ceiling. "But still, there have got to be more people who go to heaven than hell right? Wouldn't heaven still get crowded?"
"Maybe they go to the edge of the earth."
Camila propped herself up on her elbows with a frown. "Isn't that what the Vikings believed? That the earth was flat?"
"Sure."
"And then you would fall off right?"
"Sure."
"Into heaven?"
Lauren was awake now, for listening to Camila's mind work was like watching a kitten play with a tube sock. She turned over and slid her arms around the girl's waist, pulling her down and peppering the side of her neck with a series of sweet, smiling kisses.
"Baby." Camila squirmed, giggling as she dipped her chin down the best she could. "Stop, that tickles." Camila wished the moment Lauren stopped that she hadn't told her too, but smiled again when she began to laugh softly. It was low, deep, full, and very much Lauren. It was nearly silent around them, and pressed to Camila's neck, she could hear every scratchy nuance the green eyed girl made. Camila was pretty sure she would never love anything as much as she did her girlfriend's laugh.
Lauren's laughter trailed off into words. "Go to sleep." She nuzzled against Camila's chest, closing her eyes. "It's almost midnight."
Camila pulled a series of blankets over them both, shuddering as a pocket of cold air hit her. She felt Lauren shiver as well, and used one hand to just brush the girl's cheeks. "You have to kiss me goodnight first." She declared quietly, admiring the contrast in Lauren's dark lashes on her pale skin.
"Too tired." Lauren murmured.
Camila waited for a moment, then sighed internally, leaning down against the pillow and draping her other arm over her eyes. Seconds later, a set of soft lips were moulded on her own. She smiled into the kiss, and her chest burst with happiness as she felt her girlfriend do the same.
Lauren's green eyes were radiating nothing but affection when moved away to rest against Camila's collarbone.
"I thought you were going to fight for it."
"I knew you couldn't resist."
***
Camila stretched the following morning, rolling over Lauren's sleeping body to head downstairs and open the back door. At the sound, Riley came scampering down the stairs, bolting out and getting lost in the snow covered patio. Her legs were so short that all Camila could see was the top of her body and her head, scooting through the snow like a tiny toboggan. The Latina just smiled, heading into the kitchen and popping two pieces of bread into the toaster.
One of the many great things about the winter season was that the sun took forever to rise in the morning, so she had the esteemed opportunity to watch the sky turn pink out the kitchen window. It took the edge off the fact she had to get up and start learning earlier than any human ever should.
When the bread had turned to toast, she slathered both slices in peanut butter, grabbed a banana and headed back up the stairs.
"Good morning!" Camila sang, setting the plate down with a clatter and unwrapping the peel off the fruit happily. "Time to get our physics on!"
"Mmmph." Lauren rolled over so she was face down on the pillow, and pulled whatever covers that had managed to stay on the bed, onto her body. "Hell no."
"Come on Laur." Camila sat down on the edge of the mattress, nibbling at the banana. "You better get used to this, because this is a Monday, Wednesday, Friday class. That's three out of five early days of the week." When Lauren didn't move, Camila proceeded to the shaking stage.
"Stop Camz." Lauren grumbled when Camila began poking at her like a pesky mosquito. "I just wanna sleep."
"I know." Camila had to agree. Nothing sounded better than being able to spend the entire day just lazing around the house with her girlfriend. "But we've got a busy lecture hall and some free body diagrams waiting for us. Don't you want to learn how fast a sled can go down an incline plane?"
"You know, as exciting as you make that sound... I really don't."
"Ugh, I knew staying out later last night was going to be a bad idea." Camila sighed as Lauren buried deeper into the covers, her eyes still shut. "Lauren, please get up." The brunette then draped her body over her girlfriend, shuffling herself up to plant a series of soft kisses on her exposed cheek then moving up to her temple. She then felt Lauren twist under her swiftly, and she was pulled tight against the girl's warm body.
"Five more minutes." Lauren insisted quietly. She had managed to nuzzle her way right up into the crook of Camila's neck.
"Fine. Five more minutes." Camila murmured, figuring that a little more time wouldn't hurt. Little did she know that it was more than could be said for the toast on the girl's night table that was becoming soggy at an alarming rate. "But you have to promise to get up after."
"I make no such promises."
***
To Camila, the campus was a whole different world when her hand was locked with Lauren's. It was new, sparkling outlook on the dreary atmosphere that normally boasted nothing but baggy eyes and gallons of coffee. When a particularly nosy group of guys decided they would flash a flirty wink at Camila, Lauren was right there to send them a look so sharp it would have cut steel like butter. When Lauren began dozing off at the beginning of the second hour, Camila was right there with an orange sharpie inches from her face, and the threat of a curly moustache on the horizon.
They were real.
***
A/N: I feel like the air of this fic has changed drastically now that they're together, and it gives me a serious case of the feels. I hope you enjoyed this really fluffy filler, because I can take it away with the click of a pen. - just wait (; Please feel free to message me, and sorry for any mistakes.
~ Rory