After getting a ride to Ally's apartment (which was only fifteen minutes from the coffee shop), Camila and Lauren waited behind the barista as she attempted to unlock her door. It was the demons' first times in a place of living (beside their own home) since they were ten years old and they could already tell things were a lot different compared to eight and nine years ago.
The furniture and interior designs of the building were nothing like they've seen before, there were a lot of new pieces of technology that looked so advanced they didn't think they'd be able to ever work it, and even the people seemed different.
Ally's apartment was cozy and small, just like her. Everything was very well kept and the décor inside was welcoming and relaxing. Just the overall feel of her home made their moods change. It emitted joy from the walls and enveloped them in happiness.
The older girl had a pastel theme to her apartment that matched everything from the inspiring quotes framed on the entryway walls to soft pillows on her couch.
Camila and Lauren watched her hang her keys on the hook next to the door and set her purse on the counter top. "Would you guys like anything to drink?" She asked, slipping out of her shoes and kicking them off. They piled in the corner of the entryway along with a couple other pairs of shoes. "I have soda, water, tea, coffee, lemonade, juice, milk, wine... How old are you guys? Eighteen and nineteen? Never mind, forget I said wine."
The girls chuckle at their friend. "I'll take some lemonade." Lauren tells her, sitting down on a stool Ally had at her counter.
"I'll take a lemonade too." Camila added, slipping onto the stool next to her girlfriend's.
The shorter girl pulled out three glasses and a pitcher full of lemonade from her fridge. "Dinah should be getting here any minute. She went to the store to get some snacks." She informed them before handing over their drinks.
"What movies are we watching?" Camila asked, looking over her glass before she took a nice, long drink of the yellow liquid.
"Well, I have a huge selection of movies you guys can choose from and we can get to that later, but I think we should discuss what's going on with Normani before anything else. It was hard to survive the week because I didn't know how to act with her." Ally told the demons.
Just then, the door opened and in came Dinah with various bags on her arms. "Hey guys!" She kicked the door closed and set down the bags at her feet. She pulled Ally over to give her a quick kiss before hanging her jacket on the hook by the door and bringing the bags to the kitchen to unload. "I hope you all are hungry because I got a lot of snacks."
"I can see that." Lauren chuckles and raises her eyebrows at the cloth bags on the ground.
After getting everything set out on the counters to show, the girls grabbed plates and piled on the snacks they wanted, taking them to the living room area so they could all sit comfortably for their discussion. Camila and Lauren sat on the loveseat in the corner and Dinah and Ally took the couch. Their drinks and plates were set on the coffee table in the middle of both couples.
"So, first things first, how do we act? I've been pretending like we didn't hear what they were saying in the alley for three weeks so I don't think we should change that..." The oldest girl moves her eyes from friend to friend as she talks.
"I've been myself with Derik, too. Still getting on him for being an idiot but not in a way that tells him I know anything." Dinah adds in. "But this issue has a lot to do with you two." She addresses Camila and Lauren. "They're trying to split you guys up, so you should be telling us what to do."
Camila nods. "You guys have known them longer so we can't really tell if they're acting differently or anything, but yeah I get what you're saying." She reaches for Lauren's hand to play with her fingers. "Is this something either of them would do? Try and break up a couple?"
"I could never see Mani doing something like that." Ally says honestly. "I can't tell who the mastermind behind this plan is or how they were able to convince the other person to go along with it, but it seems very out of character for them. Especially Mani."
"I feel like Derik would do something stupid like this." Dinah butts in. "It's an idiot all around; breaking up a couple doesn't seem too far of a stretch for him."
"I just don't get why it's us." Lauren speaks. "What makes Camz and I so special?"
Ally and Dinah think for a moment before the taller girl begins talking again. "I know it really bruised Derik's ego when Camila said she wasn't interested in him and Lauren beating the crap out of him didn't help. There's a rumor that he's trying to date every girl in town and he's covered everyone except us four. And I know Mani is crushing hard on you, Lauren. So hard she feels threatened by Camila. Both of their reasons combined must be too much for them to handle or something..." The pizza girl shrugs.
"To be honest, I thought you and Normani hated my guts." Lauren says to Ally with a chuckle.
"No, it's not that we hated you. You were just kind of..." She tries to look for the nicest word she can use to describe the girl. "You didn't really talk and always wore dark clothing and just freaked us out a little." She concludes. "Once you started coming in with Camila you began having actual conversations with us and came out of your shell a bit. Like she brought out the best in you." Lauren blushed slightly at her words and looked over at her girlfriend.
"Yeah I guess she did." She smiled.
Ally continued where she left off. "After that, Normani took a huge liking to you. She said now that she knew more about you, she didn't want to stop learning more. She kept telling herself you and Camila were just affectionate best friends but I could tell by the way you looked at each other that you were more than that." She smiled.
Camila and Lauren look at each other again. The older of the two brought Camila's hand to her lips with a smile, kissing the soft hand and bringing it back down.
"On my birthday she was hardcore flirting with you, Lauren." Dinah says. "She rarely chases after anyone. She prefers when the other person chases her, but there was something about you that she really liked. What even happened that day? When you guys left for a little while..." She asks.
"Camz." Lauren nods her head, wanting the younger girl to explain herself just in case she says something wrong.
The brown eyed girl shifts. "I got jealous. I could tell Normani was flirting and I didn't want Lauren to end up with anyone else." She admits. "I had a huge crush on her without really knowing it." Camila says.
"Awww!" Dinah and Ally coo at the same time.
The younger girl sighs. "So I went back home because I was tired of seeing Normani flirt with my girl and I really didn't expect Lauren to run after me, but she did. Then we talked about it and she helped me decipher the feelings I was unintentionally keeping to myself. And after that she told me that she's had a crush on me since the day we met and now... here we are." She smiles.
"That's adorable!" Ally exclaims.
Dinah continues what she was saying earlier, "After she saw you on your first date she started getting bitter. Now she couldn't deny that you were just best friends. That day we saw her walk in for a salad must have been the day they started their stupid plan." She says.
"That was the day we told you guys we were dating. She didn't even know yet." Lauren says.
"I told her you guys were official when I talked to her outside." Dinah admits. "Who knows what happened after work. That day Ally and I..." She trails off. Camila and Lauren raise their eyebrows. "Came here right after our shifts ended." The girl tells.
"Okayyy..." Camila drags out, not knowing why her friend suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence. "I think we should pretend like we don't know anything about their plan." She says after a short pause. "That way we can see where they go. Obviously their idea of kissing in front of us isn't going to get them anywhere."
"I don't want them to start advancing, though." Lauren says to her girlfriend. "What if there's a moment where we're not together and one of them comes up to you. What if they kidnap you, Camz. I don't want them to kidnap you." She tightens her grip on her hand.
"They're not going to kidnap me, baby girl." Camila assures her, rubbing her cheek.
"We'll keep an eye on both of you if you were to separate." Ally adds to put Lauren at ease. "I'll make sure neither if you are left alone with one or both of them."
"Yeah, me too." Dinah says. "We'll all look out for each other because that's what true friends do." Her lips curl up. All four girls smile at each other.
---
Later on, the girls ordered food and started a movie which acted as background noise more than an actual form of entertainment. During the duration of the film, the four friends talked about different things, more positive things compared to the previous conversation they were having. They talked about different things such as Orange Is The New Black; now that Camila and Lauren knew what the show was about (they agreed the brunette looked like Maritza, too).
"So where do you guys live exactly?" Dinah questions, shifting into a more comfortable position. "I always see you guys walking from the north but I the nearest houses or apartments are south."
Camila and Lauren look at each other nervously. They didn't know if they should tell their friends what they were. They would have to if they were to tell them where they lived. Considering the fact that Camila's own parents kicked her out, she didn't think the girls would react positively. But before Camila could come up with an excuse Lauren spoke.
"We don't live in any of the homes here." She says vaguely, hoping they would somewhat drop it after she answered that question. They didn't.
"So like the next town over?" Ally furrows her eyebrows.
The older of the two demons clears her throat. "Not exactly."
"Then where exactly?" The pizza girl chuckles.
The demons took a minute to think. "We, uh, live in the forest behind the diner and coffee shop." Lauren thought if she were to say they lived in the woods, their friends would assume they rented a cabin or something. They didn't.
They must have known the town well enough to realize there were no properties in the middle of the woods. "How?" Dinah urges her to continue.
Lauren looks at Camila for help. "We, well I mean not me, just Lauren..." She starts nervously, trying to come up with something to say as she talked. "I mean- Okay, so, um." She swallows. "We have, like, a house in the woods... kind of." She rubs her own arm nervously.
"Like you have a vacation house or..." Ally trails off.
"No, not a vacation house." Lauren says, her voice slightly higher than before.
Dinah and Ally give each other confused looks. "Then what do you mean?"
"We live there. Full time. In the woods. Lauren and I. Lauren built a house and I moved in with her." Camila finally says, done with the whole avoiding-the-question game each couple was playing. If their friends thought they were weird for it, so be it. Maybe they weren't true friends like they said they were.
"Ohhh, I get it!" Ally exclaims. Lauren and Camila were surprised. "You guys are like mountain women, right? One of those people who move out of the city to escape the noise and such or to be one with nature? That's so cool!"
The demons give each other another look and slightly shrug. That could work for now. "Yep! Mountain woman, that's us." Camila laughs out nervously.
"That explains it." Dinah slaps her knee. "That's why you guys have to charge your stuff down here and work at the coffee shop for money and have no idea what some things are. Wow, I can't believe we're friends with mountain woman!" She tells her girlfriend. "I've always wanted to meet one. Can we come to your house sometime?" She asks like an excited little kid; her eyes lighting up in wonder.
"Yeah, one of these days." Lauren chuckles in relief and amusement.
"Cool!" The taller girl grins.
For the rest of the afternoon, Camila and Lauren felt a lot more at ease. If they were to be 'mountain woman' to their friends, that would give them an excuse for a lot of their actions. They silently agreed that would be the best thing to do.
---
Ally and Dinah dropped off their friends at the coffee shop where they then made their way to the line of trees at the base of the forest, waving to the girls in the car before turning back around. Camila took her girlfriends hand and rubbed her thumb across her soft skin as they walked.
"I feel somewhat better now that we know how to act." Lauren spoke.
Camila smiled, glad that the older girl was more confident about the situation that she was earlier. "They're not going to get anywhere. Derik was never going to make me his and he's an idiot for thinking that he would be able to. I am wholeheartedly, one hundred percent, and completely yours. You know that. Him and Normani are going to need to do a lot more if they want to try and separate us. But no matter what they say to me, I'm not going to leave your side. You're my baby girl and my best friend and my fellow demon and roommate and the person who knows and care the most about me. No one can ever replace you." She says, not even having to think twice about what she was saying.
Lauren stopped walking, stopping her girlfriend as well. She gave the younger brunette a loving look before cupping her cheek and bringing her face forward for a kiss. God, she could not have asked for anyone better in her life. Camila cared for her, was patient with her, assured her when she needed it, treated her right, and was just all around perfect in her eyes.
Lauren knew there was a word for what she wanted to use to describe the brunette but she couldn't think of it at the moment. Camila's soft lips moving against her own were too distracting. The older demon broke away so she could successful use her head. She looking into Camila's big, brown eyes and searched for the word she was looking for. It took her a couple seconds but she finally got it.
Love.
She smiled to herself before the smile faltered slightly. She was afraid Camila wouldn't say it back if she were to tell her. But before she could stop herself for saying it, she blurted the three words out. She didn't want to second guess herself. Even if Camila didn't say it back, it wasn't like she NEVER would, right?
"I love you." She told the younger girl. Camila's eyes widened but Lauren didn't feel regret for what she said. "I love you, Camila." She said again, her smile growing. The brown eyed girl still didn't respond. She couldn't find words.
Saying you loved someone was big. A big step in a relationship. That's what Lauren thought anyway. Loving someone was hard, was it not? Loving someone meant fighting for each other, fighting for their relationship. She could see her and Camila doing that. They already kind of were with this whole Normani and Derik situation.
It was silent for another few moments. Then, Lauren noticed tears streaming down Camila's cheeks. Regret set in. "Should- should I not have said that?" The green eyed girl asked, her smile completely gone by now. Her eyes darted away for a second nervously. "I'm sorry." She told her, not knowing what else to say. She didn't mean to make her cry. She didn't think Camila would react that badly.
"No." Was all that Camila said. She wiped her tears with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "No." She said again, shaking her head and smiling. "You love me?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows. Lauren nodded hesitantly. "You're, like, in love with me?" Her head tilts to the side.
"I'm in love with you, Camz." The green eyed girl nodded again, playing with her fingers. Camila let another tear fall from her cheek before wrapping her arms around Lauren's neck, pulling her in for a hug. A sob rocked her chest against her girlfriends'. "I don't understand what's wrong." The older girl said, rubbing her back.
Camila pulled away slightly to look into Lauren's eyes. "I didn't think anyone would ever say that to me." She admitted. "I didn't think anyone would l-love me. Would be in love with me." The girl clarifies.
"Well I am." Lauren tells her, rubbing her cheek. "I should have told you sooner. I love you a lot, Camila."
"I love you too, Lauren." Camila said, pulling her over for another hug and kissing her quickly on the lips. "God, I love you so fucking much." The younger girl peppers more and more kisses on Lauren's face, repeatedly mumbling 'I love you's' in between.
Lauren grins and lifts Camila up, spinning her around and laughing. "I love you too!"
"This is so cool." The younger girl says, her feet planting on the firm ground once again.
Lauren kisses her hand. "What is?"
"Being in looove." Her voice deepens at the last word, causing Lauren to giggle. The girls continue their walk back home, swinging their arms in between their bodies.
Lauren smiles. "Yeah, it's pretty cool."
"I can't wait to tell you how much I love you all the time." The younger demon says. "In the morning, the afternoon, the evening, right when we wake up, before we go to sleep..." She lists. Lauren smiles bashfully. "Come here, my love." She pulled the girl over and lifted her up. The older demon wrapped her legs around Camila's waist so she could be carried home.
The girls got to their shared shack and kicked off their shoes. The sun was just now setting. Lauren stretched her arms over her head and yawned. "Is there a rule against falling asleep at eight?" She asked.
"I don't think so." Camila chuckled. "Are you ready for bed now?"
Lauren curled up in her spot. "Yeah. Are you coming to bed soon?" She asked hopefully. The younger girl smiled.
"Let me just go to the bathroom first." She said.
The older girl waited for her girlfriend to come back in their bed. She combed her fingers through her hair and sighed. Lauren unbuttoned her jeans and kicked them down her legs, letting them fall over the side of the bed. She shifted towards the door to wait for Camila to come back inside, letting her arm rest against her bare thigh.
Once Camila walked through the door and saw her girlfriend, she sighed.
"What?" Lauren asked.
The younger girl walked over to the side of the bed and kneeled down to Lauren's level. "You are so fucking beautiful and you aren't even trying." She told her, tracing her finger on her lips. Lauren blushed and attempted to hide her face but Camila pinned her arms over her head and leaned forward for a kiss.
Lauren's body relaxed against her girlfriend's and she wiggled her hands free to cup Camila's cheeks passionately. The younger girl stood up slowly from her kneeling position and carefully leaned over Lauren's body, all without breaking away from her soft lips.
The older girl moved her mouth against Camila's, fighting a smile as she did so. Lauren's hands gradually made their way down the brunette's neck, past her shoulder and to her lower back, guiding Camila until she was up from the hard ground, now in their bed, straddling her waist.
The brown eyed girl broke away for a moment to catch her breath and move her hair out of her face. Lauren licked her lips and looked into Camila's eyes, waiting for her to lean back down and continue her sweet kisses. Once Camila leaned in again, the demons continued their previous actions. Lauren bit down on the younger girls' plump lip, causing her to raise her eyebrows in surprise. Later on, the hands on Camila's back moved even lower, lightly pushing down on her butt.
Camila pulled away. "Lauren." She called.
"Hmm?" The older girl hummed.
The brunette's lip curled up slightly. "Are you aware of the position of your hands?"
"I'm aware." Lauren squeezed the flesh in her hands.
Camila raised her eyebrow. "Well well well, getting more confident are we?"
"This is..." Lauren looked deep into the brown eyes above her. "I can, like..." Her hands twitched slightly. "Am I allowed to do this?" She asked nervously.
The younger girl giggled. "Of course you can, my love. You're just holding my butt." She shrugged.
"Yeah, I know. It's just-"
"I know it's a big deal for you," Camila stroked Lauren's long, dark hair. "But you don't even have to ask. You can grab this ass any time, any day." She told her girlfriend with a grin.
"Yeah?"
A chuckle escaped Camila's mouth. "Yes, Lo."
The older girl smiled and nodded. "Okay." Lauren leaned back up to keep kissing her girlfriend. Camila moved her head from side to side slowly as they kissed, her hands resting on Lauren's shoulders. "Hey." The green eyed girl mumbled against Camila's lips. The younger girl looked up. "I love you." She smiled.
Camila's heart fluttered at the words. "I love you too, baby girl." She replied.
"I really want to keep kissing you, but I'm minutes away from falling asleep and I don't want you to think your lips are boring me because most certainly are not, I'm just really tired." Lauren informed her, wrapping her arms around the younger girls' petite body.
"Okay." The younger demon chuckled and was about to roll off but Lauren stopped her.
"Wait." Lauren tightens her grip on her body. "You can stay on me." She said slowly. Camila's eyebrows twitched in confusion. "You can lay on me when you sleep. Like this." She motioned to their current position.
"You want me to sleep on you?" Camila asked.
The older girl nodded. "I like holding you." Lauren admitted.
"Aww, baby." The black eyes above the older girl softened. "That's so cute!" She cooed.
Lauren chewed on her bottom lip. "Are you comfortable?" She asked. Camila shifted her legs so they were no longer on the sides of Lauren's thighs, they were laced together. The younger girl hummed in confirmation. Then, Camila wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and sighed into her warm neck.
"Goodnight, pretty girl." Camila husked.
Lauren rubbed her hands up and down her girlfriend's back. "Goodnight. I love you." She smiled at her words.
"I love you too." The younger girl said in a sing song voice. "Sweet dreams." Camila wished her, placing a final kiss on her neck.
The next morning, Camila woke up on her girlfriend's chest and smiled instantly. God, I'm so lucky she thought. After studying Lauren's adorable sleeping face, the younger girl sighed and carefully rolled off of her body, making her way to the kitchen area.
She yawned and scratched her head, browsing through the shelf of food. Since there wasn't much for them to eat due to it being near the end of the week, she glanced at her sleeping girlfriend and squinted in thought. It was a slightly overcast Sunday morning and Lauren would most likely sleep in an hour or so longer than usual.
Camila slipped on her shoes and pulled her sweatshirt over her head. She grabbed some money from the bank she painted on the shelf in the living room/bedroom area and kissed Lauren's forehead, walking out into the chilly air.
The younger girl walked into town and down the street to the diner. Once inside, she walked up to the counter and asked if she was able to take her order to go instead of sitting inside to eat. The cook made her order and put it in two separate boxes.
After being wished a nice day, the brown eyed demon exited the restaurant and skipped back home, careful not to shake the food too much. She hummed a tune to herself as she went on, playing with the lint in her pocket. Once Camila reached her favorite patch of flowers, she bent down to pick some for her girlfriend and continued walking.
She peaked her head through the curtain in the doorway once reaching the shack in the woods and saw her girlfriend still sleeping peacefully. "Lauren." She called out, walking inside and taking off her shoes. "Wake up, baby girl." Camila said, crawling into bed. The older girl didn't stir. "My looove." She brushed Lauren's dark hair away from her face. "I have breakfast."
The older girl groaned softly in her sleep. Camila chuckled and kissed Lauren's warm cheek. "Wake up, Laur, our food is getting cold." She persuaded her. After a few more moments of poking and kissing and light shaking, Lauren opened her eyes, the green orbs shining brightly. She reached up to rub Camila's cheek. "Hi, pretty girl." The younger girl smiled.
"Good morning." Lauren replied in a sleepy voice.
"I have breakfast for you." She informed her, sitting back to let the older girl do the same.
Lauren pushed her body to an upright position, "What is it?" She asked, not finding the usual apple and water bottle in front of her. Camila picked up the take out box and set it on her girlfriend's lap. The older girl opened it curiously, her eyes widening at what she saw. "Where'd you get this?" She asked, looking back up at the younger girl.
"I went into town for us. We didn't have much to eat and I was craving waffles so..." She trailed off with a shrug. "I hope you don't like pancakes more than you like waffles because that's all I got." She told Lauren, pulling out plastic forks and knives from the bag.
"I don't have a favorite." Lauren licked her lips at the delicious food in front of her and opened the utensils. The two dug right in to the hot meal, dividing the order evenly between them. It took the hungry girls less than fifteen minutes to finish every last bite of the waffles and eggs.
They sat back in bed and rested their head on each other. "I love the diner." Camila stated.
"Me too." Lauren agreed. Then, the older girl smiled at her thoughts and she began talking once again. "You know what else I love?" The younger girl hummed. "You."
Camila grinned bashfully. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing that." She admitted to her girlfriend. In one swift motion, the older girl pinned her girlfriend below her and started attacking her with kisses, repeatedly saying I love you in between. The younger girl giggled out, not even trying to fight Lauren off. "I love you too, silly girl."
"Thank you for getting breakfast." Lauren smiled.
Just then, Camila remembered the flowers she picked for her girlfriend. "Hold on." She wiggled out from under the girl and pulled the diner bag over to her, reaching inside to get the flowers. "I got these for you, too." She smiled softly, holding them out to her.
"Thanks, Camz." Lauren cooed, looking up at her girl and smiling appreciatively. "That's so sweet of you." She told her, looking through the different colors.
"You're welcome." Camila kissed her hand.
---
Later in the day, the demons bathed, changed into clean clothes, and walked to the store for their weekly shop. They had a system. Lauren pushed the cart and told Camila what was on the list, and Camila grabbed said item and placed it in their basket. After they finished that, Camila would read down the list while Lauren checked the cart to make sure they didn't miss anything.
"Bread." Camila read from the middle of the list.
"Got it!" Lauren pointed.
"Chips."
"Uh huh."
"Granola bars."
"Check."
"Pistachios."
"Ummm," Lauren shifted some things around in the cart. "No."
Camila snapped her fingers. "Must have missed them." She said. "I'll be right back, sweets." She pecked her girlfriends' cheek quickly as she walked passed her, making her way to the aisle where the pistachios were.
The brunette demon hummed to herself as she looked along the shelf, letting out an 'ah!' once she saw the various bags of pistachios. "Lightly salted, salted and peppered, no shells." She read out loud.
"I'd go with salted and peppered." A familiar voice spoke from the end of the aisle.
Camila turned her head up to see who it was. Upon making eye contact with the person, the younger girl froze. There was a flash of uneasiness on her face but she hoped it was able to go undetected. She didn't want them to know she was kind of afraid of being alone with them.
"Hi, Normani." The demon smiled nervously.
A/N: :)
-Nina