Camila's heart dropped.
Before she could say anything, Maia quietly slipped back into the house. Biting her lip and looking at the sleeping girl in her arms, Camila hurried back inside as well.
She heard movement in the kitchen, and quickly laid Presley's sleeping figure beside Lauren so she could slip into the other room. Her eyes then met Maia's, and she tilted her head to the side, almost in a silent question.
All she was met with was a soft nod from the other girl, to which Camila immediately opened her arms and looked at Maia hopefully. Moments later, she wrapped her arms around the distraught girl in a hug, feeling her heart break for her friend.
"I am sorry," Camila whispered, unsure of what else to say. Toby, who was on his phone by the counter, gave Camila a sad smile over his wife's shoulder. Camila would never point it out, but she could tell he had been crying as well.
"It's okay," Maia's voice wavered slightly when they pulled away from the hug. She wiped her eyes, shaking her head. "She handled it better than any of us."
"You did not lose her," Camila spoke up following a few moments of silence between them. "You... you may think you did, but you will see. You can not lose people. Love.... it can not be broken. Trust me."
"Thank you," Maia whispered, pulling Camila into another hug. Shocked, the smaller brown eyed girl quickly wiped a tear that had fallen from her own eye.
"What the fuck are y-?" The moment was interrupted by a groggy Lauren, who wandered into the room and quickly cupped her hands over her mouth when she saw a distressed Maia and teary eyed Camila in front of her.
"What's going on?" the dark haired girl rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times to let them adjust to the light. When Camila met her eyes pleadingly, Lauren furrowed her eyebrows and turned to Maia, which was when she realized.
"Oh," the green eyed girl whispered. "Oh."
"Yeah," Maia mumbled, glancing back at Toby who was watching their interaction. "We just got back... I-I... you guys can head home now."
"No," Lauren and Camila spoke up at the same time, surprising one another. They had both seen how stressed Maia had been before. Shaking her head, Lauren stepped forward and pulled the girl into a hug.
"You've been through a lot today," the green eyed girl said softly, comforting her friend. "Sleep in tomorrow. Both of you," she pulled away and pointed towards Toby. "We'll take care of Lucas." Camila nodded softly in agreement.
"Thank you," Maia whispered, biting her lip. "Was he okay tonight?"
"More than okay," Lauren laughed softly and glanced back into the living room. "Presley seemed to take a liking to him."
"Presley," Maia's eyebrows raised. "You guys having a kid is going to take me some getting used to."
"Where is she?" Toby asked, coming up behind Maia and placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Asleep," Lauren nodded, glancing at the clock. "It's almost midnight."
"Yeaaaah," Camila nodded, mid-yawn. Lauren laughed and nudged her side softly.
"Get to bed, yeah?" Lauren gave Maia a stern glare. The girl nodded, glancing up at Toby, who kissed her temple. "We'll see you in the morning."
After saying their goodnights, Lauren collapsed back onto the couch in the living room, being careful not to disturb Presley. When Camila didn't join her, though, the green eyed girl sat up once more.
"Camz?" she raised her voice slightly, but not enough to disturb anyone else. There were a few moments of silence, and then a small voice echoed from within the other room.
"In here."
Raising an eyebrow, Lauren walked quietly back in the kitchen. The room was now dark, but she could make out her wife's small figure in the moonlight that shone through the sliding glass door.
"Aren't you tired?" the green eyed girl asked, taking a few steps forwards. Camila had her back turned to the girl, her palms pressed against the cool glass as she gazed up at the sky.
"Yeah," Camila admitted, feeling Lauren walk to stand beside her. Biting her lip, she shivered slightly.
"Then come to bed," the girl replied quietly, giving Camila a look of confusion. "It's getting late."
"I know," the smaller girl mumbled, shaking her head and pressing her fingertips against the glass. "I-I... I..."
Upon hearing her wife's voice shake, Lauren grew confused. Carefully, she placed a hand on Camila's shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"I do not want to lose all this," Camila admitted, finally turning to face Lauren. Her eyes skitted downwards shyly.
"Lose this?" Lauren grew concerned, trailing her fingers down Camila's arm and taking her hand into her own. "Why would you lose this?"
"I-I do not know," the smaller girl shook her head. "Everyone has been losing people and... I-I just do not want things to change." She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back tears. "I like how things are now."
"Babe," Lauren whispered, shaking her head and moving forward to cup Camila's face in her hands. "You can't waste your time worrying about things you can't change."
"I c-can not help it," Camila sniffed, her eyes fluttering shut as Lauren ran a thumb over her cheek.
"C'mere," Lauren sighed, giving in and pulling the smaller girl into a hug. After a few moments of silence between them, Lauren pulled away and met Camila's eyes.
"Listen, I can't promise you that nothing will change," she said softly, lacing their fingers together and gently swinging their hands back and forth. "I wish I could. But what I can promise you is that I'll always be here. We're a team, remember? It's always going to be me and you. So even if everything around us changes, you still won't be able to get rid of me," she laughed softly, finding Camila's pinky in the darkness and locking it with her own. "And that's a promise."
Laughing softly, Camila wiped her eyes with her free hand and brought their interlocked fingers inbetween them so she could plant a kiss on the back of her hand.
"I will never leave," she nodded softly, turning back to the glass door and looking up at the sky. "You know that."
Wearing a soft, affectionate smile, Lauren watched as Camila gazed outside once more, her eyes fixed upwards. "What'cha looking at, babe?" she asked, pressing her hand against the glass and following Camila's eyes.
"The stars," Camila whispered, awe laced in her words. "I wish I could touch them."
"I don't think you'd want to do that," Lauren laughed softly and shook her head. "They're like a thousand degrees hot or something."
"You know what I mean," Camila giggled, nudging Lauren's shoulder. "They are just so pretty. But they are far away."
"Want to hear a funny story?" Lauren asked, a small smile playing on her lips. It was far past their usual bedtime, and she was beginning to become more careless with her words.
"What?" Camila tilted her head to the side and glanced at her wife.
"You know how I used to tell you that I'd give you the stars?" Lauren asked, biting her lip. Camila nodded after thinking for a few moments.
"Well last year, I was trying to think of the best possible birthday present I could get you, right?"
"You got me speakers," Camila remembered, nodding softly. "And the bracelet." She held up her wrist.
"Yeah, but that wasn't my original plan," Lauren bit her lip and shook her head. "That was the backup plan."
"Then what was the original plan?" Camila tilted her head to the side. Lauren's cheeks flushed slightly and she looked away.
"It's kinda cheesy," Lauren laughed, shaking her head. "I wanted to actually get you a star. They have these websites where you can literally buy a star and name it after someone, right?"
Camila nodded softly.
"Well I wanted to name a star after you. So I filled out a form online and submitted it and everything and they send a certificate to your house," Lauren sighed, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at herself. "Well I wasn't smart enough to double check the form when I filled it out on my phone."
"What do you mean?" the smaller girl tilted her head to the side.
"It autocorrected your name to Canola," Lauren mumbled.
"Huh?" Camila raised an eyebrow.
"I bought a star and named it Canola," Lauren deadpanned, looking up and shaking her head. "Canola."
Camila struggled to hide her smile, looking up at her wife in disbelief. "Canola?"
"Canola."
"You named a star Canola?" Camila couldn't contain her laughter, and she cupped her hands over her mouth to try and hide her smile.
"Don't rub it in," Lauren laughed, nudging her wife's shoulder and rolling her eyes playfully.
"Canola Cabello," the smaller girl mumbled, hanging her head down to hide her laughter.
"That's why I had to run out in the middle of the night with Dinah to get your actual present," Lauren laughed, tapping on the small pearl bracelet that Camila wore on her wrist.
"You are cute," Camila giggled, leaning into Lauren's side and resting her head on the girl's shoulder. "Is Canola out there?" she asked, tracing her fingers up the cool glass.
"Huh?"
"Where is Canola?" Camila giggled, pointing up to the sky. "Do you know where it is?"
"I-I, uh," Lauren cleared her throat, looking down at her feet. She knew exactly where the star was. She had memorized the coordinates and practiced finding the star before to show Camila on her last birthday, although her plans were changed after her little mistake.
"Here," Lauren whispered, gently taking Camila's hand in hers and bending her fingers into a pointing motion. Pressing their fingers against the glass, she carefully guided them upwards.
"The north star is the brightest," she said softly, moving behind her wife and resting her chin on her shoulder. "You have to find it first. Moving her hand to the side slightly, she stopped and tapped her finger against the glass. "There."
"Now Camila-Canola-is pretty hard to find. I picked one of the tiniest stars because I know you like to give love to the things that sometimes people tend to overlook," Lauren explained. "See these three stars that make a triangle?" She moved her finger to the side slightly.
"Yeah," Camila whispered, feeling Lauren wrap her free arm around her waist and lean her head against her own. "Well, Canola is right inbetween them. Right... there," she placed Camila's finger against the glass. "See it?"
Leaning forwards slightly, Camila could make out the small glimmer of a star right atop the space where her finger sat. Eyes widening, she turned back to Lauren with a soft smile on her face.
"That is Canola?"
"Unfortunately," Lauren laughed, earning a soft nudge from her wife, who immediately turned back to the glass door to gaze up at the sky again.
"I love it," Camila whispered, nodding softly. "It is our star."
"Our star?" Lauren raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Camila giggled, turning back around and looking up at Lauren with a playful look on her face. "Even though it is named Canola."
"Everybody makes mistakes," Lauren huffed half heartedly, reaching up and ruffling Camila's hair. "Some are just... more permanent than others."
"It is okay," Camila laughed, leaning against Lauren's side and gazing up at her adoringly. She'd come to learn that her wife looked exceptionally beautiful in the moonlight. It made her eyes light up like the ocean during a thunderstorm. There was something so captivating about her. "I will still love you."
"I'm honored," Lauren laughed, turning her head slightly to kiss Camila's cheek. Noticing how her wife yawned softly and rubbed her eyes, Lauren squinted and glanced at the clock.
"I think it's time we got some sleep," Lauren whispered, turning Camila to face her. Wrapping one arm under Camila's shoulders, she laughed softly. "Hop up."
"Huh?" Camila tilted her head to the side. "What are you-woah!" She hurried to grab onto Lauren's shoulders as the other girl hoisted her up into her arms.
"C'mon, Canola," Lauren giggled, carrying her wife bridal style into the living room, where Presley remained fast asleep. "You need your beauty rest."
Lauren set Camila down, falling back onto the couch and pulling her wife into the space beside her. Almost immediately, Camila curled up in her side, letting out a small kittenish yawn.
"Goodnight, Lo," Camila whispered, smiling to herself when she felt Lauren lace her fingers together. "You will always be my star."
--
a/n: canola cabello lmao (sorry i had to)
anyway, thank you for reading this far in the series and being so nice and funny and putting up with me and i love you all so so much you're wonderful
be nice to yourself
- lena (lenajfc on twitter, speakhurricanes on tumblr)