"Remember, Lauren, this is our day! Okay?" Maggie leaned out the car window, watching as Lauren dug through the trunk of the car. The black haired girl tossed two beach towels in Camila's direction and glanced up at her sister, whose blonde hair was flowing gently in the wind.
"I know, dork," Lauren laughed, nudging her sister's shoulder as she moved around the front of the car to help the smaller girl carry the beach bag. "I told you, I have errands to run. Besides, I don't even want to spend time with you," she teased. Maggie scowled playfully, sticking her tongue out at her older sister.
"You sure you're gonna be okay?" Lauren asked, turning to Camila. Her wife had promised to spend a special day with Maggie while they were still in Florida. Camila saw Maggie as her own sister and nothing less.
"I am sure," Camila laughed, taking the bag from Lauren and shifting it on her shoulder. "I am sorry you can not come with us," she glanced over at Maggie with a small smile on her face. "She wanted it to be just us."
"I get it," Lauren rolled her eyes playfully, pulling Camila into her side. "I can't share you very well, can I?" she laughed and kissed her cheek.
"Now get outta' my car, weirdo," Lauren turned back to Maggie, who opted for crawling out of the window instead of using the door. She smiled widely, taking the towels out of Camila's arms to help her carry.
"I'll be back in two hours, call me if you need anything, okay?" Lauren eyed both of the girls, making sure Camila had her phone with her. Once they said their goodbyes, Maggie took off down the beach, prompting Camila to run after her after sneaking a quick kiss on Lauren's cheek.
Lauren laughed softly, watching as Maggie almost immediately shed her cover up and ran into the water. Camila carefully laid down the towels, which made Lauren laugh even harder when she saw how meticulous she was about making sure everything was neat.
The green eyed girl couldn't help but watch them for a few minutes as Camila followed Maggie down to the edge of the water, holding her hand and helping her keep her balance as they walked further into the waves, until the water reached their knees.
Lauren didn't consider herself protective. She was just... careful. Okay, sometimes a little bit more than careful. But who could blame her, really? She had known Camila when the girl could barely crack an egg, let alone take care of herself and a child. But things had changed. Lauren still couldn't help but look out for her, though. She still remembered the small girl that sought comfort in her room after having a nightmare.
So, it was hard to blame her when she decided that her errands could wait. She told herself she would only stick around for a few minutes, just in case they changed their minds. Maybe the water was too cold, or the sand was too hot. Maybe Lauren was just making excuses.
But that didn't stop her from slipping into one of the small beach stores when Camila wasn't looking in her direction. She figured she'd browse for a few minutes, and then if Camila and Maggie were still okay, she'd be on her merry way.
The green eyed girl ran her fingers through her hair, absentmindedly walking up and down the aisles and browsing through the random tourist merchandise. Finding nothing interesting, she turned to leave, but paused when she heard a voice.
Not just any voice, either. At first, she couldn't figure out who it was. But she knew that voice. It resonated deep within her.
Scott.
Just as Lauren made the realization, the owner of the voice entered her aisle and nearly ran into her. She stumbled a few steps backwards, memories flashing through her head of all the pain this man had caused Camila. Her Camila.
But she had to be tactical about this. She couldn't just punch him. Well, she could. But she needed answers first.
"Wait, do I know you?" Lauren asked once she composed herself, putting on her best innocent face and praying that he didn't know much about her. Scott paused, turning around and scanning Lauren up and down.
"I do!" Lauren nodded quickly. "We went to high school together, right. I'm Lauren. You're..." she played dumb. "Scott, right?"
"Oh, right," he nodded, turning around and running a hand through his hair. Lauren struggled to contain the look of disgust on her face.
"Hey, you got in that car accident, didn't you?" Lauren asked, continuing her act.
"Uh, yeah, I did," he chuckled. Lauren bit down on her lip when she saw how lightly he took it.
"I haven't seen you around," Lauren furrowed her eyebrows, pursing her lips and feigning confusion. "I mean, I've seen almost everyone I knew from high school around here at one point or another. Did you move?"
"Nah, I live with my parents a few minutes away," he shrugged, laughing and cupping the back of his neck. "It's a funny story actually. There was all this drama with one of the girls that was in the car and I skipped town until her case was closed or whatever. The freak ended up killing her uncle and p-,"
Before he could finish his sentence, Lauren's fist was balled tightly in his collar, pushing him up against the wall.
"You know that 'freak' you're talking about? Yeah, she's my wife," Lauren snarled, tightening her fists. "And if you're looking for the freak, stop looking at everyone else but yourself," she leaned in closer. "If you ever... ever even go near her, I w-,"
Lauren was cut off by the ringing of a bell to signal that someone else had entered the store. Before she had time to react, she was met with Camila and Maggie's wide eyes, frozen at the end of the aisle.
Camila quickly ran to Lauren's side, pulling her away from the wall. Scott scoffed, glaring at Lauren from a few feet away. Meanwhile, the green eyed girl stood frozen, expecting everything to come crashing down.
Instead, Camila pushed her a few steps back, placing her hands on her shoulders and giving her a soft nod. Unsure of what was going on, Lauren watched as Camila turned back around to face Scott. Her breath caught in her throat.
"I forgive you," were the first words that left Camila's mouth, making Lauren's jaw practically drop to the floor. "You may break a person, but you can never destroy them," her voice was low, years of anger and anguish boiling in the back of her throat.
"I hope you are happy," Camila's voice faltered for a moment, prodding Lauren to reach out and grab her hand. "I hope you are happy because I am. You do not have any power over me anymore."
Without another word, Camila let go of Lauren's hand and practically marched out of the store, calling for them to follow. Instead, Lauren stood frozen, replaying what had just happened over and over in her head.
Before Lauren even had a chance to follow up Camila's words with a snide comment, a small blonde stormed down the aisle. Without even looking at her older sister, Maggie turned to Scott, landing her knee right inbetween his legs and causing the man to double over in pain.
Lauren gasped, looking down at Maggie who looked more than pleased with herself. "Margaret Jauregui!" she gasped, trying to not to laugh but failing when she saw just how serious the smaller girl was.
"I'm so s-," she turned to Scott, realizing what she was about to say. Pausing for a moment, she glanced back at Maggie before shaking her head. "Actually, I'm not sorry. You deserved that." She grabbed Maggie's hand. "C'mon."
Maggie was the first to break into laughter when they exited the store, and Lauren quickly followed.
"I know I'm not supposed to promote violence but he had it coming," Lauren whispered, grabbing her sister's hand and tugging her away from the store before Scott could come after them. Her first instinct was to find Camila and make sure she was alright.
She immediately spotted the small girl on the beach, sitting in the sand with a towel wrapped around her shoulders. Slowly, Lauren knelt down beside her. Maggie understood, smiling softly at her sister and sitting down on the other side of Camila.
"Are you okay?" Lauren asked, placing a hand on Camila's thigh. The brown eyed girl looked up and shrugged softly.
"That was weird," Camila admitted with a soft laugh. Lauren breathed a sigh of relief. At least Camila wasn't traumatized. "What did I see in him?" The smaller girl crinkled her nose and shook her head.
"It is weird," Camila's voice got softer. She ran her fingers through the sand absentmindedly. "Very weird."
"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have had to see him at all," Lauren shook her head and looked down. Camila, however, looked up at Lauren and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Why?" Camila tilted her head to the side. "He does not matter anymore. He never really did," she laughed softly and glanced over at Maggie. "He is the past. You..." she turned back to Lauren, reaching up and brushing her hair out of her face. "You are the present. And the future." Camila shrugged. She didn't think it had been that big of a deal.
"Are you sure?" Lauren asked, meeting Camila's eyes and trying to search for any sign of fear. Instead, the smaller girl just laughed and shook her head. Before Lauren could say anything, though, Camila's eyes shifted to something behind them.
Moments later, Camila's lips were against hers, pulling her into a kiss. Lauren's breath caught in her throat but she didn't argue. She brought a hand up to Camila's cheek, separating them when she needed to catch her breath.
"What was th...?" Lauren trailed off when she saw Camila craning her neck to see behind them. Raising an eyebrow, the green eyed girl turned around, immediately seeing who Camila was looking at. Scott stood down the beach, his eyes wide after what he had just seen.
Before Camila could come to her own defense, Lauren smirked, making direct eye contact with Scott before cupping the back of Camila's neck and pulling her into another kiss. Camila giggled against her lips, hearing Maggie laugh proudly from beside them.
Right before the kiss pulled away, Lauren flashed her middle finger behind Camila's back, causing Maggie to laugh even harder. Camila took a deep breath once the kiss broke, feeling her cheeks burn bright red.
"Once more for good measure," Lauren whispered, stealing another quick kiss from her wife. When they looked behind them once again, Scott quickly turned his head away, causing all three girls to erupt into laughter.
"I'm proud of you," Lauren said softly, squeezing Camila's hand. "And I hope you know that every single word you said in there was one hundred percent true."
"I learned from the best," Camila giggled, leaning her head on Lauren's shoulder. The green eyed girl couldn't help but notice how her eyes kept flickering over in Scott's direction, though.
"You don't really wanna be at the same place as him," Lauren laughed, shaking her head. "C'mon," she whispered before standing up and gathering their things. Camila watched in confusion.
"Why don't we go roller skating? It's too hot outside anyway," Lauren raised an eyebrow. She saw Camila smile in relief and offered her wife a hand, helping her to her feet.
"Let's go!" Maggie squealed, hopping to her feet and taking off towards the car. Lauren couldn't help but laugh as she shoved everything into their beach bag.
"Come on," Camila whined playfully, grabbing Lauren's hand. The green eyed girl raised an eyebrow at her wife, tossing the bag over her shoulder and eyeing Maggie, who was waiting expectantly by the car.
"Hop on," Lauren laughed turning around and holding out her arms. Giggling, Camila hopped onto Lauren's back, allowing the older girl to hook her arms under her legs to hold her in place.
"I love you, by the way," Camila whispered as Lauren trudged up the beach, carrying the smaller girl on her back. The brown eyed girl leaned her head down to place a kiss on Lauren's cheek.
"I love you more," Lauren laughed, letting the bag slip off of her shoulder once they reached the car. Camila hopped off of Lauren's back and began helping them load their things back into the car.
Lauren, however, took a step back. She watched as Camila ruffled Maggie's hair, causing the smaller girl to pout playfully and earn an apologetic hug from her. She couldn't help but laugh.
They had come so far from where they first started. Camila's compassion and understanding continued to shock her, and she'd come to terms with the fact that she would never truly get used to it. And surprisingly, she was alright with that.
--
a/n: dun dun dun
i'm exhausted for some reason lol so have a great day babes. i love you and i hope your monday is wonderful even though it's a monday.
- lena (lenajfc on twitter, tendermoonlight on tumblr)