Everything felt so... light. In every possible way. The sun seemed brighter, the sky bluer, the people on the streets – well, no, nothing really changed the impassive strangers, but they weren't important anyway. Nonetheless, she gave each and every one of them a radiant smile. Not that she could have done anything different since she couldn't wipe it off her face.
Camila glanced to the green-eyed girl walking beside her and down to their intertwined hands. Everything just felt so much more... real. Every touch and every look held so much more meaning now that they had laid their cards on the table. She couldn't help but swing their hands back and forth as she merrily skipped along the sidewalk, earning some irritated looks from strangers. But she didn't care.
Sure, they still weren't really anything other than friends, but she knew how to win Lauren's heart. Especially since she had the help from the one and only Dinah Jane Hansen.
Camila's smile widened – if that was even possible – as she remembered Dinah's reaction to the news that she had told Lauren how she felt and that there was now a real chance between them. Alright, there had also been the underlying disappointment in Dinah's voice when she heard that they hadn't kissed yet, but Camila was quick to shut it down. It would come. She knew it. And just the feeling, that she knew it would come, made her giddy. She was going to share her first kiss with Lauren, sooner or later – even though she secretly hoped it would be sooner rather than later. But to have Lauren as her first kiss? How lucky was she?! Although it made her really nervous to think about it... well, she would properly freak out when the time came.
"Camz, where are we even going?"
She grinned widely and looked into the sparkling green eyes. Green was definitely her favorite color. "It's a surprise!"
"Just like your song?" Lauren asked amused and lifted her eyebrows.
Camila nodded resolutely. Strangely enough, after their conversation she wasn't able to stop writing. It was as if someone had lifted the curtain and she could finally see the light. Everything suddenly worked and made sense. Sure, it probably wasn't as uplifting as her professor had hoped for, but it was real and every word came straight from her heart. But she would be damned, if Lauren heard the song before it was absolutely perfect. "Exactly. Well, maybe not that secretive..."
"Is that why we're nearing our neighborhood?" Lauren chuckled and pointed ahead of them.
Okay, so maybe it wasn't a secret at all, but whatever.
"Could be," she tried to be mysterious, but Lauren nudged her playfully. "Okay, yes, we're going home, but I won't say anything else!"
"You're such a dork," Lauren told her with a warm smile, that made her heart flutter, and she couldn't help but glance to her lips for a moment.
Camila bit her cheek as she quickly looked away. Soon. She only had to convince the green-eyed girl that she was worth the risk.
"Yeah, but I'm your dork," she replied cheesily and smirked proudly when Lauren giggled. "And you're mine."
"I can live with that," Lauren said with a large smile of her own and squeezed her hand. "Is whatever you have planned the reason why you pulled me into the wrong subway and tried to convince me that it was the right one which led to the heated discussion with that older man?"
Her cheeks got warmer and she quickly turned her head to look straight ahead. The lengths she had gone to make sure that they wouldn't be home too early...
"Could be," she mumbled and shrugged. Alright, so maybe she hadn't been subtle at all... but Lauren still didn't know what would hit her as soon as they got home and that had to count as a success, right?
With a spring in her step, Camila tugged on Lauren's hand and pulled her along. She really hoped that everything would go according to plan. Dinah had mysteriously called the mission 'Hoisting The Sails' or, for short, HTS in their text messages and various phone calls that went back and forth during the day.
The self-proclaimed captain of their so-called ship had told her that it would begin tonight by making sure that Lauren became aware that they 'belonged together'. Camila was still puzzled how Dinah could have possibly known from the start that the two of them would end up liking each other, but she wasn't complaining.
"Earth to Camz?" Lauren's voice suddenly snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned her head to face the girl. "We just passed our apartment building. Fancy walking back or did you change your mind?"
"Huh?" Camila blinked confused and came to a sudden stop on the sidewalk. Looking around she noticed that the entrance was a few feet behind them and blushed furiously. Whoops. "I, uh... I knew that. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention."
"Of course." Lauren winked at her and led her, smiling mischievously, to the door and held it open. "After you, m'lady!"
"Thanks," she mumbled shyly and a moment later she pulled a still giggling Lauren into the elevator.
Just as Lauren was about to press the button for their floor, Camila reached out and hit the highest one. The facial expression of the green-eyed girl was one between confusion and amusement, but Camila merely smirked and waited in silence. She really hoped that everything was ready, but knowing how obsessed Dinah was with them, she knew that she could count on her.
It didn't take long until the elevator doors slid open again and she gently tugged on Lauren's hand to guide her through the hallway.
"Camz, where are we going?" Lauren asked, sounding completely confused as they passed the last door and walked up to a hidden staircase around a corner.
"It's right behind that door," she assured the green-eyed girl and pointed at the metal door at the end of the stairs.
It was pure coincidence that she had found it as she had wandered through the building. But right now she was really glad she had. Glancing back to Lauren, she had to suppress a smile as she noticed how she shuffled her feet.
"Are we even allowed in there?" Lauren asked dubiously and looked nervously around. "Maybe we should just go back to our apartment?"
"Oh, now you're scared?" Camila grinned and squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, I'd never get you into trouble, I promise."
Sighing, Lauren ran her fingers through her hair before she nodded slowly. "Alright, lead the way... I hope you know what you're doing..."
"It's only a door, Lauren," she teased her. This was going to be awesome. But it still made her nervous... what if she wouldn't like it? What if she freaked out? "Come on, you can even open the door and show me what kind of a badass you really are."
Lauren straightened up at those words and stomped up the stairs. "I'm a total badass. I'm not scared of a door. How ridiculous is that! Pah... stupid..."
Camila chuckled as Lauren continued to grumble under her breath and quickly followed her. With every step she took, she grew more nervous. She bit her lip as she watched how Lauren reached out for the door handle. Hopefully everything was ready...
Sunlight hit her eyes as the door swang open and Camila blinked rapidly to get used to the sudden brightness. The entrance of the rooftop was at the west side of the building. It was just an added bonus, she mused to herself as she anxiously awaited Lauren's reaction to the scene in front of her. It would make the surprise even more... surprising. Thank God that the weather report had been right.
Camila held her breath as Lauren slowly stepped out into the sunlight. She could only see her back, but as the green-eyed girl walked further onto the rooftop and turned her head, she saw that her mouth was wide opened as were her eyes.
With a relieved smile, she followed her out into the sun, only stopping short to place a brick between the door and its frame. By accident Dinah had found out that it couldn't be opened from the outside. Camila thought it had been hilarious, but the taller girl hadn't been laughing with her and only muttered something about revenge and that she better watch her back.
But Dinah was harmless. Although, now that she thought about it, the girls went always out of their way to not anger her in any way... something about pranks and war... oh well... it was probably just a joke.
"Camz... what...? Did you do this?"
"I had a lot of help," she quickly waved off. "Do you like it?"
"Do I like...? I love it!" Lauren squealed and looked around with a bright smile. "This is so cool!"
Camila glanced at dozens of candles that Dinah had placed around the big mattress that was covered with numerous blankets and pillows. They had experimented the entire morning on where to put everything and, looking at the end result, it certainly paid off. She glanced calculating to the setting sun and noticed with pleasure that her timing had been on point too. It was perfect.
"Just where did you get all the plants from?" Lauren asked astonished and walked over to the small palm trees where fairy lights were hung between them. "That must have been heavy as fuck..."
"Oh, I know a guy," she replied, trying to sound cool, but Lauren only raised an eyebrow, obviously not falling for it. Camila sighed. "Alright, Ally knows a guy... he sells all kinds of plants and he owed her a favor. He and a few others brought them up here and they're going to collect them tomorrow morning."
Lauren smiled warmly as she took everything in and reached out to grab her hand. "This is amazing... and we're just in time for the sunset! Look how beautiful everything is from up here! Look at that skyline!"
Camila grinned at the excited girl beside her and intertwined their hands. She really loved how Lauren was able to enjoy and appreciate things that most people overlooked, like a simple sunset. "Yeah, I used to come here often..."
"Used to?"
Frowning slightly, she nodded. "Yeah... before everything got... a little crazy. Anyway, I have another surprise for you," Camila quickly changed the topic and Lauren turned her head slightly to look at her. "I've... well, I kind of made you... a CD with songs that remind me of you and stuff..."
Lauren's eyebrows shot up in surprise and another smile appeared on her lips. "Aww, you did?"
She bit her lip and felt herself blushing slightly. Lauren looked so beautiful in this light... it made her eyes even more intense... oh, she could look into them forever and not get bored...
Shaking her head slightly, Camila forced herself to come back to reality. "It's not... it's not anything special..."
"But it is special. A song says so much about a person and their feelings... no one has ever done something like this for me," the green-eyed girl mumbled and turned back to the sunset.
Frowning, she thought back to Lauren's ex-boyfriend. It was really not all that surprising... it had certainly looked as if he did everything with minimal effort. But this was really not the time to think about that idiot.
"Well, I'm a sucker for expressing myself through music, so you'll get tired of it pretty soon," Camila joked before walking over to the sound station to get it working.
This could either be the best idea she ever had, or it could become a disaster and embarrass her for all eternity. With a deep breath, she quickly pressed play and walked over to Lauren who already sat on the pillows.
Her cheeks grew warmer when she took a seat beside Lauren just as Taylor Swift sang her first verse of the song.
Your beautiful eyes
Stare right into my eyes...
Chuckling slightly, Lauren pulled her into a hug and Camila relaxed. Maybe this would end well... at least she wasn't freaked out... "You're cute... thanks, Camz."
"It's just the truth," she shrugged nonchalantly and she kept her left arm around Lauren's waist. "Although when I first noticed them, they made me really uncomfortable because I thought you could see right into my soul, they were so intense... I was scared that you would be able to look past all these walls I had built up... but a small part of me was kind of hoping that you would..."
Lauren's eyes never left hers before she gently took her hand and rubbed her thumb across the back of it. "You know, your eyes were the first thing I noticed, Camz. Before we even properly met, I mean. They looked so lost... so sad, hopeless... it was as if someone had taken the light out of them, they were so dull..."
Camila swallowed harshly and broke the eye contact, only for Lauren to cup her cheek softly, forcing her to look into her eyes once more.
"But you know what? Since we met I watched how the light slowly came back. And you know what I see in them right now?"
She shook her head slightly, not able to speak as Lauren broke into a warm smile.
"They sparkle like a thousand stars," the green-eyed girl said softly. "You look really happy."
"That's all because of you," she whispered back and Lauren blushed slightly.
For a short moment no one said anything before Lauren broke the silence again.
"Camz, do you believe in fate?"
Camila blinked confused and tilted her head at the sudden question. "I don't... I don't know, honestly. Do you?"
"I think I might," Lauren told her as she let her hand fall back into her lap and averted her eyes to the darkening sky. "I didn't use to. But lately... there are just so many coincidences, you know? Between us, I mean. It's crazy... New York has millions of citizens and we just happen to live next to each other. We went probably to the same places in Miami, but we never met... and now here we do?"
"Well, I'm grateful that we met when we did," Camila said honestly and leaned her head against Lauren's shoulder. "Did someone already tell you that you have some really awesome timing?"
"I think you did a couple of times, actually," Lauren chuckled.
"Good. 'Cause it's true," she mumbled and felt how Lauren nodded slowly.
"... I know."
With a content sigh, she tightened her grip on Lauren's waist and pulled her closer as they both watched the sun disappearing behind the high buildings, listening to the soft music in the background. Their evening had only started, but Camila hoped that phase one of mission HTS was on its way to success.
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A/N: Hi there, I hope everyone had a nice week! This chapter was a lot longer before I edited it and I think I might upload the second part of it as Chapter 42... orrr I could move on... Hm, I'm not sure... Anyway, click on the star if you liked it and thanks for reading (and waiting, haha)!