After two whole hours of walking around the woods by the shack, Lauren and Camila went back inside. It was probably nearing 2am, and they were cold, and very hungry. In order to save money, the girls decided it was best to cut down on the dozens of snacks they were buying each week. Sure, they had to hunt for food more frequently but it'd be a positive outcome in the long run.
Or so they thought.
They couldn't seem to find any animals to eat tonight.
Sure there were birds and bunnies and skunks around but you can only get so much meat from a bird, bunnies are 'too cute to eat' according to Camila, and both girls downright refused to eat skunk. They're demons, they need big animals.
"There used to be so many animals around here, what happened?" Lauren huffed after plopping down on the futon.
"Well we have been hunting a lot more these days..." Camila sits next to her.
"But we couldn't have eaten all the animals in the area, it's impossible." Lauren frowns. "Maybe they know someone is hunting them..." The girls sit in silence for a few moments. "I'm hungry."
"We might have some snacks left." Camila gets up to check the cupboards. All that was inside was a few granola bars, water bottles, and a pack of raisins. Camila sighed and grabbed two waters and two granola bars. "The diner is open 24 hours, we can just go into town." She suggests.
"But our eyes, someone's going to see and then we'll be burned at the stake or something." Lauren grumpily opens up her granola bar.
"That's for witches not demons." Camila grins playfully.
"Whatever." Lauren tries to hide her smile. "They'll do something like that."
"Then let's just stay here until the sun goes up, duh. You're making it seem like we'll have these eyes forever." The younger girl teases.
"I'm just sooooooo hungry." Lauren puts her hand over her eyes and falls onto Camila's lap dramatically. "I might die."
"Immortal." Camila reminds the girl in a sing-song voice.
"Right... immortal." Lauren still wasn't sure. She needed to see to believe.
Ignoring Lauren's obviously skeptical tone, Camila changes the subject. "So... what shall we do to help pass the time?"
Lauren hums in thought. "Can you hand me my camera?" She smiles sweetly. Camila reaches over, careful not to drop Lauren off of her lap, and gets Lauren's camera for her. "Thanks, sweets." She cleans the lens with her shirt before turning it on. Camila watches her aim the camera up at her and snap a picture. "Oh." Lauren sits up. "Can I borrow your face?"
Camila giggles and nods. "What do you want me to do?"
"I just want a close up on your eyes." Lauren slowly zooms into Camila's face and focuses the camera on her dull, black orbs. "Perfect." She lowers the camera. "Thanks for being my model."
"You're very welcome." Camila pauses for a moment. "Wanna take some pictures of both of us?"
"Great idea! Can you help me open up the bed first, though?" The younger girl nods and they both stand up to unfold their bed. "I need to figure out how to put on a timer... Give me a minute."
Camila stretches her body out on the bed and turns over to watch Lauren. The older girl was hitting a bunch of buttons on the camera randomly. "You know you could always just read the manual." Camila suggests.
"Eh." Lauren waves the idea off. Camila smiles and crawls over to Lauren and rests her head on the brunettes shoulder to get a closer look at the device. Lauren freezes. Reaching from behind older demon, Camila pushes Lauren's hand out of the way to press a button on the camera. Lauren was too stunned to watch. Instead she turned and looked at Camila who was only a few centimeters from her face.
"There, silly." Camila gets off Lauren's back.
"How'd you know?" Lauren asks, her voice cracking slightly in the beginning.
"I actually read the manual." She grins proudly. "Now get over here so we can take some pictures, you goof." Lauren quickly lies down next to the younger girl and positions the camera in front of them. "What should we do?" Camila asks.
Lauren drums her fingers on her chin in thought. "Just smile for now." She hits the button, giving them a couple seconds to pose.
"Hang on you have crumbs on your lips." Camila smiles and holds the older girl's face steady as she brushes off the granola bar crumbs. Her actions are soon halted by the flash of Lauren's camera. "Oh my god that was only like three seconds!" Camila complains.
Lauren grabs the camera to see the image that was captured. It was actually cute in her opinion. Camila's fingers were wrapped around her chin while her other hand was on her lips. She had her own lips pulled inwards and her eyebrows furrowed. Lauren smiled and showed Camila. "I kind of like it." She tells the younger girl.
"So do I." Camila tells her honestly. "Let's try it again, though."
---
As soon as the sun comes up, the girls grab their money and shoes, and run into town. They slow down once the tree border is in sight, not wanting anyone to see two young girls running out of the woods at 5:30 in the morning and stop them for questioning. Panting, the hungry brunettes fast-walk the rest of the short distance to the diner.
The empty restaurant smells even better than the last time they were in here. A different waitress than before tells them they can sit wherever they please. They chose the same booth.
"I need some meat!" Lauren says as she looks through the menu.
"Me too." Camila agrees, her mouth watering at the sight of the juicy, steaming steaks on the menu. Her eyes meet Lauren's "Do we have enough money for two?"
Lauren takes the money out of her pocket and counts it under the table. Leaving the bill total off to the side along with a tip, she counts again. Then again after leaving aside grocery money. "We'll manage."
"What's going to happen when we run out of money?" The younger girl asks quietly so no one else in the room hears. "How will we get food and clothes and medicine and-"
"Hi, I'm Susan and I'll be your waitress this morning. Can I start you guys off with some drinks?" The very tired looking worker asks.
"I'll have a water." Lauren says as she fumbles with her silverware.
"I'll have water, too." Camila smiles.
The waitress nods and walks away.
Camila turns back to Lauren, awaiting an answer. The older girl was obviously thinking. "I'm not sure..." She finally says. "I don't know how to get a job. And we can't sell anything. I... I don't know."
Camila was saddened by the girls' actions. "I'm sorry. We can start worrying later. Let's just try to enjoy this meal." She gives Lauren a soft smile.
Their waitress comes back to take their order. Both girls order a steak and fries. While waiting for their food to come out, the girls sat in a slightly awkward silence. Camila could tell Lauren was stressing about their money situation. She felt guilty for bringing it up. She should have just stayed quiet. It was her fault Lauren was spending extra money. If she was still living on her own, she wouldn't have to be providing for two people. She shouldn't have to provide for her at all!
Lauren could sense Camila's change in demeanor. She had that little pouty face. The one she makes when she's doubting herself or feeling uneasy about something. "Hey, we'll be okay. I'll figure something out." She tries to make her feel better. The corners of the younger girls' mouth twitch up slightly as she nods. "What's wrong?" Camila shifts in her seat and shrugs, not making eye contact. "You can talk to me."
"I think I should move out..."
"What?" Lauren furrows her eyebrows. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No no no, it's not you I promise. I'm just... I'm a huge inconvenience." Camila pauses to rub her eyes. "You're spending all this money on me when you should be saving it for yourself. You're running out of money and it's all because of me."
"Camz, please don't think like that. God, I was the one who asked you to move in. It's not like this money was going to last the rest of my life, it was bound to run out sometime." Lauren tells her truthfully. "You don't have to move out and you're not an inconvenience. I promise."
Camila bites her lip in thought.
Lauren slides out of her side of the booth and sits down next to Camila, instantly wrapping her arms around her. "I'll be okay, you'll be okay, we'll both be okay." The younger brunette wiggles her arms out of Lauren's grasp to hug her back. The green eyed girl kisses the top of her head. "We'll be okay." She repeats.
Their food is set in front of them a few seconds later. Lauren thanked the waitress while Camila stays hugging Lauren's side. The older girl attempts to cut her steak with her arm around Camila's head, slightly nudging her on accident as she does so. Just as she's about to take a bite, she remembers she has her camera hanging around her neck. Careful not to smack Camila in the head with the heavy device, Lauren brings it up to her face and switches it on, capturing the image in front of her.
Camila finally sits up to eat, quickly cutting her steak so she can wrap her arm around Lauren again, forcing the older girl to stay seated next to her. Not that she wasn't going to stay anyway.
"As soon as we get home, I'm going to sleep." Camila announces.
"Home? So you're not moving out?" Lauren grins.
"No, you're stuck with me for a while longer." The brown eyed girl smiles smugly.
---
Once the girls got home, Camila buried herself under the covers and hoped Lauren would climb into bed after her. With her arms wrapped around her torso in attempt to keep herself warm, Camila watched Lauren walk around the shack, tidying things up. After waiting only five minutes, she grew impatient. "Lauren?" She called. Lauren turned around. "Are you going to go to sleep?"
"Oh... Yeah sure, I'll be right there."
"This might mess up our sleeping schedule for a while but oh well, I'm exhausted." Camila chuckles and watches Lauren pull up the blankets to sleep under. "Goodnight." She turns on her side.
"Goodnight." Lauren sighs contently and puts her hands under her head. A few moments later Camila faces Lauren once again and waits until she opens her eyes. Then, she quickly leans over and pecks the older demons cheek.
"Thank you." Camila says. "For everything. Assuring me when I need it, letting me live here, paying for me, sticking up for me. I feel like I don't thank you enough. I'm lucky to have you and I really appreciate everything you've done for me." She boldly snuggles extremely close to Lauren.
"You're welcome. Thank you for keeping me company and being sweet and... pretty." Lauren shakes her head at her sentence. She feels Camila laugh into her neck.
Lauren feels her body relax as they lay in silence. Camila played with a strand of Lauren's hair while staying curling up against her. She rolled the dark brown hair between her fingers and spun it around the digit. For some reason, both girls were now almost wide awake. It wasn't until Lauren began dragging her nails up and down Camila's back that she got tired again. The soothing action caused her eyes to slowly open and close as she fought to stay awake as well as ease into sleep at the same time. "Goodnight." Camila mumbles again sleepily.
"Goodnight, Camz."