While Camila was still in the shower, Lauren tired of being confined to her room. The whirlwind of emotions she'd just experienced with Camila had left her feeling a bit unsettled. They'd fought and presumably gotten over it, but she didn't really know where they stood. She felt the need to vent to the one most suitable for listening. Martin. Twice in one day? Maybe Martin should start raising his hourly rates.
Camila's singing was heard faintly amongst the loud sounds of the water hitting both her body and the tile around her. Lauren walked past the bathroom and headed downstairs to find Martin. On her way through the kitchen, she saw a face she hadn't seen in a while. Alejandro was seated happily at the kitchen table and going through some files of some sort. Lauren offered him a smile and a short wave in the midst of passing by. She was glad to see a smile on his face, because nearly every other time in the past, he had a deeply set frown or scowl plaguing his features. Although she didn't know him much, she did enjoy seeing him out of his rut - even if for a little while.
"Marty?" Lauren whistled for her beloved dog as soon as she'd gotten through the back door. Martin rose from his reclined position in his massive dog house and trotted over to her.
"Hey!" Lauren squealed and prepared to shower him in affection, like she hadn't seen him earlier today. "I have even more to tell you about Camila. Guess what just happened..."
As usual, she was met with that slow panting. He wasn't a very good guesser. But then again, he never really had been.
"Well, we just got into a fight. Remember at the beginning of the summer when we used to fight all the time?" she paused for him to think back. Once she felt like he understood, she continued. "Yeah. We haven't fought like that in a while. But we did today, just a few minutes ago..."
"Camila is making me go absolutely crazy. One second I'm happy and lovey-dovey and shit, and the next, I'm seeing red and cursing and so fucking mad at her. And then we're kissing..." she mentioned with a smile. "And then we're laughing. I don't know how that happens," Lauren offered Martin a synopsis of what had just gone down between them, then felt like she should elaborate.
"It was over something so stupid, too. She keeps getting jealous over Keana. Remember her? I just told you about her earlier, but I'll refresh you. I used to like her a lot before Camila came along and changed everything. But she won't believe me. She keeps insisting that I like her and stuff and she got so worked up about it that she tried going through my phone..." Lauren sighed and prepared to give him the entire recap of the situation with Camila.
Speaking of the said girl, Camila was just exiting the shower when she suddenly longed for Lauren. She wrapped a towel around her nude body and dried off quickly. She moisturized and dressed herself in her underwear and towel before darting back over to Lauren's room. Her girlfriend wasn't in there, though, and Camila had to admit that she was a little disappointed. Taking showers had always given her the alone time to gather her thoughts and attempt to be rational. In the process of actually reflecting on what Lauren had said, she realized that they were both being quite immature about the whole thing. She was willing to talk to her now, and she knew that would be a fleeting decision. Careful not to prolong it so she could change her mind and keep up her stubborn pride, Camila dressed herself in something comfortable and set off for Lauren.
The taller girl obviously wasn't in her room nor the bathroom, so Camila was certain she'd find her somewhere downstairs. She cleared the stairs leisurely and was swinging her arms when she saw Alejandro perched at the table. He seemed busy with paperwork, but Camila hadn't seen him in a while. She saw it fit to go over and say hello.
"Hi, daddy," Camila greeted her father lightheartedly, then paused just after she'd said it. This man actually wasn't her father. It was still difficult for her to grasp. Sebastian was the man that that title rightfully belonged to, but she just didn't know if that would ever come naturally.
"Camila!" his face lit up when he saw her hanging in the doorway. "Hi. Come here, come here."
Camila curiously walked over and was taken by surprise when the man rose up and encased her in a strong hug. He kissed her temple paternally and seized her shoulders giddily. "What? What's going on?" she asked in response to his random burst of affection.
"I have great news. Where's Lauren? I want to tell you at the same time," Alejandro smiled to himself and looked back at his papers scattered about the table.
"Well, I don't know. I was just looking for her. What's the news?" Camila smiled too, feeding off of his positive energy.
"Go find her, and I'll tell you both," he sent her off hastily and encouraged her to find the other teenager.
Well, she wasn't upstairs. And as her ears perked up for any signs of the green-eyed girl down here, she didn't sense her around here either. Lauren was nowhere to be found in the kitchen nor in the living room. After looking in the strangest of places for her girlfriend - like the laundry room, the dining room, and even the closet - Camila resorted to peeking outside of their front door to see if Lauren's car was still there in the driveway. Her car was parked where it always was, so then where was she? Camila liked to think that she knew her way around the Jaureguis' house by now, but Lauren was nowhere to be found. She went to ask Michael about his daughters whereabouts.
"Hey, Papa J?" Camila addressed him when she sauntered back into the living room he was almost always sprawled out on the couch.
"Hey, Camila," he shifted his attention from the tv to the girl that had just entered.
"Do you know where Lauren is?" she asked of him quickly, hovering over him from behind.
"I thought she went out to the back to go talk to that crazy old dog," he laughed fondly and craned his neck behind him to see. Beyond the blinds, he could see Lauren's figure with Martin's. "Yeah, see? She's still out there."
"Oh," Camila mumbled. That was the one place she hadn't thought to look. And now that she knew, she guessed that she probably could've. Lauren had told her of that peculiar habit before. "Thank you."
She separated from him without much more and continued her journey to reunite with Lauren. The back door was hard to open, and Camila fumbled with the lock for a second or two before finally freeing it. She recomposed herself and quietly let herself outside, careful not to disturb Lauren.
And Lauren wasn't disturbed. She didn't even notice that she had company now, because she was so busy talking to Martin. Camila could see Martin's back rising and falling as he laid there in the grass, and she could see how Lauren was rubbing her hand along the length of his back repetitively. She was avidly talking to him, and although she had no idea what they were talking about, she was so endeared with Lauren for talking to him at all. Any leftover anger she had from earlier dissipated into thin air at the sight of the two of them. Lauren's love for her dog was precious. It made Camila wish that Oswald liked her half as much.
Eventually deciding to announce her presence instead of just watching them in adoration from afar, Camila walked off of the deck and over to where they were laying. Lauren heard someone coming and startled for a moment before she registered that it was just her girlfriend, and the topic they'd been on, coming to join them. She didn't really know how she felt about Camila imposing on her time with Martin, because she wasn't really finished telling him everything yet. The last thing she'd said was kind of at a cliffhanger, and she didn't want to just leave him hanging. She tried to finish as naturally as she could, although Camila was sitting cross-legged beside Martin now.
"I just feel like communication should never be an issue for two people living under the same roof, I guess. That's all..." she mumbled to Martin sheepishly, and Camila instantly knew the context.
"Are you finished?" Camila asked tentatively of the girl that was still laying down and hadn't really acknowledged her presence.
"I guess," Lauren finally looked up at her, then ran a hand through her hair. She wasn't still mad at Camila, not at all. But she did feel slightly estranged from her, and she couldn't place why. She wanted to touch her or hug her or something, but she felt like it would be strange to do so at this time.
"Can I try?" Camila asked mousily, experiencing the same distant feelings that Lauren did. There was this awkward tension that they couldn't seem to get past on their own. Camila assumed that's what would happen when you fight, nearly have angry sex, and then leave each other alone for a while.
"Try what-" Lauren stopped herself from asking when Camila gathered her hair to the side and laid next to Martin. Martin turned his head to face her, and Camila cautiously rubbed his head and let her hand rest on his side. "Oh. Yeah, go ahead... I guess..."
Camila wanted to connect with Lauren again, and she wanted to talk to her without that awkwardness. She wanted that natural vibe between them to return, and maybe she could restore it by talking to Martin. Martin could be the happy medium. Camila bit her lip as she hesitated, because this was quite weird. Why would she talk to a dog that couldn't respond when she had a perfectly fine human right beside her? She disregarded that and tried to let her venting happen the way Lauren did. Maybe she could just tell Martin the things she wanted to say to Lauren.
"Well, I'm not mad at her anymore. I'm sure she told you what happened... But I'm not so sure she knows my side. Do you want to hear mine?" she asked and brushed over his fur with her fingertips.
Martin only stared at her, then brought his paws up towards his chest. He let his long tongue hang out in response. Camila took that as a yes.
"I tried telling her, but both of us were angry and I know that we weren't really listening to each other. That's what happens when you're mad... All you want to do is get your point across and you don't really care what the other person has to say. I know she wasn't hearing me, because I wasn't hearing her either. But if she was listening right now... I think I've finally put my emotions into perspective," Camila said to Martin, although those admissions were clearly intended for the dark haired girl beside her.
Lauren looked at Camila over Martin's large body curiously. She caught onto what she was doing, and she just had to smile at how cute she was. Lauren propped herself up with her elbow and rested her head on her hand as she waited for the beautiful girl to speak.
"I know I might've been a little irrational. And I don't always handle things the way I should. And I run away from my problems when they get too difficult to deal with in the moment..." Camila acknowledged and glanced at Lauren, who had just highlighted all of those qualities for her. "But it didn't stem from trust issues. I trust her completely. All of that happened because I just got... Scared. I didn't like thinking that there was any possibility that I could be losing the best thing that's ever happened to me just as quickly as she got here. I just didn't want anything bad to happen or for anything to threaten the one thing that's made me genuinely happy. I just lashed out, I don't know," Camila tried to articulate her feelings and the intentions behind what happened, but struggled to say it aloud.
Martin didn't even interrupt her or say anything at all in response. Camila appreciated that. She was starting to see why Lauren had adopted this habit for herself.
"Martin, you're a very good listener. You know that?" Camila laughed at the huge being beside her and fondly ruffled his fur. "I guess something that I can add onto that is that... I didn't mean most of the things I said. Everything was just intense and I said some things that I shouldn't have. But I'm sure Lauren knows that already, because I'm sure she knows that I adore her."
"Wait, Martin I still have some things I need to say, too," Lauren spoke up suddenly, startling Camila slightly with her voice. Martin hardly responded to her words, but Lauren held eye contact with Camila for a moment and got determination to push through it anyway. Their gaze was broken when Lauren directed her attention back to Martin. "I know that I said a lot of shit that I didn't mean too. And that's my problem. I don't know when to quit, and I never know when to shut up. But Camila should know that about me and hopefully didn't take anything I said to heart... Because it was all bullshit and I didn't mean any of it either," she said quietly in response, casting her eyes towards her silent girlfriend.
"Well, I kinda knew that she didn't mean it... But that didn't stop it from affecting me the way she was trying to. I'm pretty sure we both hurt each other, which was what we were trying to do. It was stupid. It's okay, though. We were both wrong," Camila was undoubtedly still talking to Martin, but trained her eyes on Lauren anyway.
"I already know that I'm not good with words and that I'm shit at reassuring people... Especially with something like this... And I don't know how to put my thoughts into context, but my intentions are honest. And I'd never wanna actually hurt Camila, but I don't know how to help it when I do," Lauren made a face when it clicked that her venom had its intended effect.
"She fixes it on her own," Camila wore a somber smile at her honesty. "Whenever we talk, she is helping. When she doesn't ignore me and she doesn't let me ignore her, and she tries to talk it through, she's helping. Just being there is helping. She doesn't always need an elaborate apology to make me forgive her. I usually do anyway."
"Good," Lauren exhaled in relief, because she had no idea what else to say besides variances of I'm sorry. Despite Camila admitting that it wasn't necessary, she felt inclined to put her stance on it out there. "I just want her to know that there isn't any competition, but if it really bothers her, I'm willing to drop Keana just like I did before. Camila is special to me. I don't want to do anything else to cause problems between us, and the last thing I want to do is lose her over something that can be easily fixed," Lauren continued to speak as if she was talking to Martin, but they both knew the truth by now. Now, neither of them were looking away.
"And I just want her to know that if she really means it, then I should trust her and put a little more faith in her than I have been. And if she enjoys talking to someone, I'm not really in a position to dictate who she can and can't be friends with. I could be more logical about everything and keep in mind that our relationship is a lot stronger than that," Camila quickly reacted to Lauren's claim and stilled the hand that was absently stroking against Martin's back.
"I still want her to know how important she is to me. If I have to show her by cutting off someone she doesn't like, then I will," Lauren openly promised to Camila, but was still in the childish habit of not addressing her directly.
"I know how important I am to her. I've always known. Lauren can talk to whoever she wants to, because I know that I'm the only one she's coming back to at the end of every day. And I'm the only one she's sleeping beside at night. So she can keep her around, and I won't be crazy about it," Camila revised her response and insisted on her decision.
"If she really would be okay with it, then we can meet in the middle. I'll talk to her a lot less," she announced.
"Oh, and Martin... I also wanted her to know that I'm sorry for being so skeptical and trying to go through her phone," Camila broached and blushed momentarily, now embarrassed by how carried away she'd gotten.
"And I want her to know that it's fine, and I think it's actually kind of funny now. And I think that if she had her head on straight, she could've figured out my password... It's her name," Lauren shared with purpose, glancing over at Camila, although her words were still directed at Martin. "2269 spells Camz."
Camila was slightly facing away from Lauren, and she was glad she was. The broad grin that appeared after she said that would've embarrassed her. The torrent of butterflies it had released in her stomach was intense. Camila didn't really say anything profound in response to that, she was smiling so hard. "Oh."
"Marty, I'm pretty confident that both of us are aware of what we did wrong. I knew having a civil conversation without yelling and fighting would improve this whole situation. Do you have any other advice on how to get over this?" Lauren asked Martin as she rubbed over his head and mussed up his fur.
Martin was mostly indifferent to her question, but he looked at her when she said his name. He then laid his big head back down and resorted to laying down like before.
"Good idea. That's what I thought, too," Lauren laughed and Camila giggled at the display. "And maybe if Camila is up to it, we can all hang out or something and she can form a real opinion about her for herself," Lauren went out on a limb and suggested, but Camila's expression let her know that wasn't the brightest of ideas.
"Baby steps," Camila admonished, because although she was willing to accept their friendship, she wasn't so sure she wanted to be all buddy-buddy with her just yet.
"Okay, listen," Lauren laughed at her outward response and scratched behind Martin's ears. "I don't know how to go about everything. I'm learning. I don't know a lot of things, buddy. All I know for sure is that I love her. And because I know that, nothing else really matters," she came to a satisfied conclusion and draped herself over Martin's large body.
Camila accepted her answer with an understanding nod and rested against Martin again, opposite of Lauren. A few beats of silence passed and Camila had yet to distinguish what Lauren has just shared with her directly. When she did, there was no big show of it. Despite her internal elation, she only exhibited the fact that she was aware of it by adopting the faintest of smiles. She kind of picked at the grass while she repeated Lauren's admission over and over again in her mind.
"I wonder what Camz is over there smiling about like a little loser," Lauren smirked as she indiscreetly talked about Camila into Martin's ear.
"You love me?" Camila marveled at the words that had just fallen from her lips so effortlessly, and finally spoke to her directly.
"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Martin," Lauren teased, then gave Martin the most incredulous look. "I thought our sessions were supposed to be confidential?"
"Shut up," Camila laughed obnoxiously at her, and then again at Martin's disgruntled appearance. He didn't appreciate the way they kept switching positions, apparently.
"Of course I love you," Lauren affirmed easily and had now become a little bashful herself. To distract from Camila's soft, loving stare, she ran her fingers through Martin's coat.
Camila let the official declaration marinate for a minute before returning it with the same amount of sincerity. "You should already know that I do."
"I would sure hope so," Lauren reached over Martin and picked up Camila's hand. "I mean, a part of me kind of knew... But you never really want to assume."
"Something in us knew, and something in us will always know," Camila added onto it gleefully.
"God, get over here," Lauren scoffed at the distance that was still annoyingly separating them and tugged at her hand to pull her over completely.
Camila wasted no time in obliging. Martin had had it up to here with the both of them using him as a pillow, and he grumbled in a low non-intimidating growl when Camila climbed over him. He left the two lovers lying there in the grass and trudged back over to his dog house. As soon as he got in, Camila had just quite literally fallen into Lauren's arms. She landed on top of her ungracefully and knocked the wind out of the girl that was receiving her, but neither of them minded the brief discomfort. Lauren's smile was infectious as her fingers glided over Camila's exposed skin. The brown-eyed girl leaned down to capture those grinning lips in a sweet kiss, just before caressing her face. As soon as their lips moulded, it was as if the past few days had never even happened.
"I love you, Lauren," Camila expressed to her with as much candor as she liked.
"I love you, Camz," Lauren reciprocated for the first time since their uncertain avowal in Camila's bath tub. A content sigh followed that, and she said it again. "I really love you."
"Oh my god," Camila exhaled giddily. "Remember that time we took our bath together?"
"I was just thinking about that, actually," lauren looked at her curiously. Either Camila was over here reading minds, or they were really on that much of the same wavelength.
"I knew I loved you then," she revealed. At the time, it just seemed easier to disguise it with ambiguity. "I just didn't want to say it for sure until you did."
"I was pretty confused for a while. I had no idea what you were doing to me or why it was happening so quickly... But I recently figured it out. And once I did, everything else made so much sense. I don't know," Lauren shared with her softly. This felt so right. This was how they were meant to be, in the arms of one another.
"I know the feeling. It's so liberating being able to finally tell you. I was always so scared that I would say it too quickly and it would make you feel weird or something..." Camila shared another one of her fears regarding those three little words.
"I'm just glad that you do," Lauren shrugged and held her even closer. The ends of Camila's hair were tickling her fingertips as she stroked her hand along her back. And they laid like that for a while, just enjoying their company. Camila had forgotten all about the real reason she'd come out here, and suddenly remembered when the back door opened and Alejandro curiously wandered out there in search of them.
"Oh, there you are," he muttered to himself in the process of getting down from the deck.
Camila tensed momentarily as she saw him coming over to them. She didn't know how he would feel about seeing her in such an intimate position with Lauren, but she didn't want to move. Lauren wouldn't have let her anyway. Camila was resting comfortably on top of Lauren and Lauren was beneath her, holding her in place securely with a strong arm around her body. This obviously wasn't platonic, and Camila figured that she could withstand his comments if it turned out that he had a problem with it after all.
"I see you've found her," he chucked as he came over. Deciding to accomodate them instead of persuading them to come inside, he merely squatted beside the cuddling pair.
"Yeah, I got kind of distracted, sorry," Camila smiled apologetically for prolonging his news.
"That's alright, I've got you both here now. I want to tell you something very important," he said with a grin as he brought his hands together.
Green eyes met brown in a nervous exchange. Lauren was aware of his unusually happy aura, but sensed something else as well. They both give him a subtle nod, giving him the go-ahead to share it with them.
"I've gotten a job," he exclaimed giddily and beamed at them after enlightening them with such. "You are talking to the newest member of the Board of Directors for Bank of America."
"Really?" Camila shrieked with excitement. To that, he broke into an even wider grin and nodded dopily. Camila matched his expression and separated from Lauren to throw her arms around him proudly. "Oh my God!"
"It took me long enough," he poked fun at himself as his daughter squeezed him as hard as she could to convey just how happy she was for him.
"I know, I was always wondering why you were wasting your time applying for jobs like Walmart and McDonald's..." Camila released him and sat back on her knees there in the grass. Lauren was oddly quiet and pensive through it all.
"I needed something to bring in money - however little it may be - while I waited for their decisions. Each one said six to eight weeks to make a decision, so I was just trying to find something to do in the meantime," Alejandro shrugged at his flawed thought process, but smiled again despite it.
"So, what is it? What are you gonna be doing? And when do you start?" Camila jumbled her words as her speech got ahead of her mouth, due to her immense excitement for him.
"The next meeting is in a month, and I'm assuming that that'll be my first appearance. There's an entire group, but well be working on our own for the most part. It's a little more than what I've done before as far as establishing the administrative policies... I was originally going to be an independent director, but they just decided to let me replace someone else," Alejandro continued to fill her in on the specifics of it, thriving from her positivity.
"Don't you have to get elected for those types of things?" Camila questioned as she went into more thought about her dad's new job.
"I was. I put in a word for myself, then got back with my boss from the old company. We discussed giving me that job back, but he couldn't be convinced. He knew my work habits as an investment banker, and he knew I was good at what I did. Instead, I told him our situation and pretty much begged for another chance somewhere else... And I guess I won him over," Alejandro gave them a concise explanation. "The next thing I know, I've been elected into the Board of Directors."
"I am so proud of you," Camila gushed and hugged him once more, resting her head on his shoulder like she used to when she was younger.
"Thank you," Alejandro was glowing at the news, and so was Camila. Lauren was distancing herself from the situation and was nearly sulking by the time Camila had relinquished her hold on him. "Well, I just wanted to let you know. I'll leave you two to it," he dismissed himself shortly after.
"Okay," Camila nodded and watched him stand upright once more. It was such a good feeling to know that he was once again employed, because she knew just how heavily losing his job weighed on his heart. He internalized the company's decision and let it impact everything else. Camila had restored faith for their household as she watched him on his way back inside. Everything was looking up because of this wondrous news.
"Wow, Laur," Camila grinned back at Lauren once they were alone once more. "Can you believe it? He finally did it."
"Yeah, it's cool. I'm happy for him," Lauren mustered up a faux smile in spite of what she was thinking. Camila immediately caught onto the shift in her demeanor.
"Are you okay?" Camila asked Lauren as she slowly inched back over to her. Only now had she realized that Lauren hadn't said anything at all during that whole exchange.
"Yeah," Lauren nodded absently. Now really wasn't the time for those technicalities.
"Lauren," Camila deadpanned and frowned at her unwillingness to confide in her about whatever it was.
"I'm fine," Lauren waved it off and extended her arms for Camila to return to, but she stayed in place.
"What's the matter..." Camila asked of her one more time, because she wasn't going to accept that flippant and often dismissive response.
"Camz... Nothing," Lauren groaned, simply because she didn't want to voice the selfish thoughts flowing through her head. All of it was selfish. She had her own best interest at heart, not the Cabellos'. She didn't want to let Camila in on how shitty her opinion was. But she also saw that Camila's persistent stare wasn't one permitting her to keep it to herself. "I just realized something that I wish I hadn't, okay? It didn't make me very happy. That's all."
"Realized what?" Camila's brow furrowed, bemused. "You're not happy that he got the job?"
"No, of course I'm happy for him.... It's just..." Lauren mumbled and started to feel incredibly narcissistic for thinking this way, but couldn't help it.
"It's just what?" Camila pressed in the same fashion Lauren was usually doing to her. Qualities of the other were showing up in their own personalities, and she didn't know whether to feel happy about that or to be concerned.
"You were only staying here with me because he didn't have a job. Now he does..." Lauren sighed, knowing Camila would catch on. "That means you're going to leave soon."
"Oh," Camila suddenly went very stone-faced. That part hadn't dawned on her yet. Why would Lauren plant that thought into her mind after being so genuinely happy? She couldn't have let her enjoy it for a little longer? That was something she didn't have any ready responses for. And oh was all she could say.
"I told you that it was nothing," she mumbled irritably, now ripping out a clump of grass from where she sat. Then she tried to gently put it back, because the grass didn't deserve that.
"Well, I would've figured that out eventually..." Camila shrugged. "I wasn't prepared to have it brought to my attention now, though..."
"We should've been preparing ourselves for this instead of acting like this would be forever. We let all of that stupid shit happen this week when we should've just been enjoying our last few days together," Lauren grumbled at how attached she'd allowed herself to get to her girlfriend, but then again at how stupid they had been to let such trivial things come between them.
She'd always known how difficult it would be on her when Camila had to leave, but she would always comfort that with the safety of knowing that Alejandro was still unemployed. She sought comfort in that unfortunate factor, because it would ensure more time with her. Often times, when she was happy, she found herself hoping that he never found a job - just to prolong the temporary bliss she'd discovered in Camila. And she hated herself for seeing it that way.
"I mean, yeah... But even though we might be moving out soon, we still have until then to prepare ourselves emotionally or physically or whatever... And we still have that time to cherish each other," Camila tried her hand at being optimistic, but saw in Lauren's silent eye roll that she wasn't being at all receptive.
"Yeah. I know," Lauren sighed at all of the cliche things that Camila was saying, because it sounded a lot like bullshit when she was in this mood. Cynical thinking was a dangerous zone for her.
"Lauren, don't think too much about it..." Camila placed her hand on her arm, which Lauren responded negatively to.
"Think too much about what? About how you just got here and now you're gonna leave so soon? And how I just fucking told you that I loved you, and you said it too, but now we don't even have time to live like it? How this entire summer was just some fucking set up for us from the beginning? Sure. I won't think about it," Lauren ranted and expelled everything she was upsetting herself with, but tried not to place any blame on Camila.
"I'm sorry," Camila now felt the need to internalize everything she was saying. She couldn't help but feel like it was her fault, when they were both well aware that it wasn't. It was beyond both of them.
"No, fuck, it's not your fault..." Lauren tangled both hands in her hair and gave Camila a distressed look. "I'm not blaming you, babe, and I don't mean for it to come out that way. I just don't want you to leave me already."
"Lauren..." Camila pleaded with her and tried to coax her hands out of her hair gently, lowering one at a time back down towards her lap. "Me leaving doesn't have to automatically be a bad thing..."
"What else would it be, Camz? For the past month or however long it's been, I've been getting along with you by my side... You've like, become a part of my day. I wake up next to you and I go to sleep right beside you. We do everything together because we spend every fucking day together. I'm supposed to go from that to not seeing you at all? Or seeing you on the weekends or some shit? That's bullshit and you know it," Lauren made herself so upset thinking negatively that tears had sprung to her eyes at the thought of living her life without Camila again.
"Stop thinking about the bad things..." Camila softly instructed her, but she felt so helpless. Everything Lauren was saying was true, and she was in no place to aid her by discrediting anything.
"There are no good things," she countered sorely and wiped her eyes in annoyance.
"Okay, maybe not... But if you're gonna think about it like that, then you should realize that you're wasting the time we still have by being upset about it instead of kissing me right now," Camila posed a preferable alternative to sulking about the inevitable.
Lauren drew in a deep breath to calm herself down and reluctantly cast her eyes over to her girlfriend. Camila, who saw that she now had her attention, decided to play it to her advantage. She was sitting a foot or two away from Lauren, and she leaned towards her as she made an obnoxious kissy face. Her lips puckered in that adorable way and Lauren found herself smiling, even though she was still largely upset with their new circumstances. Lauren shook her head, and Camila crawled over to her with her lips still jutted out, planning to steal a kiss from her whether she wanted to give her one or not.
"Camz..." Lauren laughed when Camila had climbed into her lap, straddling her in a way that forced Lauren to lay back. Camila then proceeded to attack her face with an infinite amount of kisses. There were so many, Lauren lost count within the first few seconds. The sounds that accompanied her kisses roused a giggle out of Lauren. Camila was truly the only person that could make her laugh when she was nearly about to cry.
"What?" Camila smirked and rested her hand on Lauren's side. Her kisses slowed to be more meaningful as she let her lips linger on her lips, then let them brush over her cheek, then attached to her jawline, and finally skimmed over her neck. It was all affection; All love.
Those kisses were completely chaste, but Lauren's body didn't know that. It responded the way it always did to neck kisses, and she tried to ward it off - because now was not the time. She gathered Camila's hair to the side in order to see her face clearly, then pulled Camila back towards her lips. "I love you," was nearly whispered against them before she sealed the promise with yet another kiss.
"I love you too," Camila's lips turned up into a smile at the exchange. "Love only."
"God, I'm really gonna miss this," Lauren held onto Camila's small body a little tighter, once again hit with the reminder that this wasn't at all permanent. "We're only just now getting to experience it, too..."
"Babe, stop acting like I'm moving out first thing tomorrow. We'll probably still be here for a few more weeks at least," Camila, who had somehow ended up on top of her again, brought a solitary finger to her lips to quiet her negativity.
"I know, I'm not trying to. It's just there in the back of my mind, not living together anymore and all of that... You know, but I'll stop bringing it up," Lauren acquiesced and laid her head back in defeat.
"I just told you that I love you. You think that's gonna change just because we're not living together?" Camila kinked an eyebrow.
"No," Lauren mumbled.
"Exactly. Anyway, if this was really supposed to happen, babe... We'll be living together again, just like this in a few years. We'll be in our little apartment and I'll wake up to those beautiful eyes just like I get to now..." she grinned down at her and stared into the green eyes she'd just mentioned. "And we'll kiss and giggle at breakfast time and let our food get cold because we're too busy staring at each other, even though we always stare at each other..." she said and proved her point as she refused to deter her gaze. "And we'll spend time with each other daily doing a little bit of everything and a lot of nothing, because that's all we do now anyway - except maybe then, we'll have to go to work every day or something, I don't know how adults work. But I'm sure it'll be just like this, Laur."
"I hope it will be," Lauren said and smiled distantly at that idea.
"It will."
-
When time permitted and the grass became too itchy to bear unnecessarily, the two girls found themselves back inside of Lauren's house. They'd spent a couple of hours out there, and they didn't even realize it. By the time they were back in, they just opted to go to her room. Neither the living room nor the kitchen were of any interest to them.
"Camz, I'm hungry," Lauren complained as soon as her body flopped onto the bed.
"We just came from the kitchen," Camila side-eyed her, already knowing where this was headed. And she knew she'd oblige, because she would do just about anything for her these days.
"I know, but I wasn't hungry then," Lauren pouted and let her head loll over to compel Camila. "Hey-"
"I hate you," Camila sighed and got up from where she'd just sat down in Lauren's swivel chair. She walked over to the door and stood in the threshold before asking Lauren. "What do you want?"
"I think my dad just bought an entire box of fruit snacks. Oh my God, and he bought some Gushers, some Little Debbie cakes... And like two separate things of Oreos... And a big bag of Doritos..." Lauren fantasized about all that was downstairs in their pantry, just waiting to be devoured. Michael was pretty much the best dad ever, because he was always buying snacks. It was amazing how much self control Lauren exhibited. All of those snacks were constantly calling her name, especially at midnight, but she usually ignored it. Some temptations were stronger than others. "Mmm, just bring anything. Everything."
"So greedy," Camila laughed and poked fun at her hunger.
Camila shook her head and let herself out. On her way downstairs, she happily let her fingers glide over the wall. She was humming quietly to herself as she guided herself to the kitchen in search of snacks for her girlfriend. She heard two men's voices carrying from the living room, which she easily identified as Michaels and Alejandro's. It was just white noise until she tuned into what they were saying. They were talking about Sinu, and she was a topic no one had dared talk about since she'd gone.
"That's really great. How do you think Sinu will take it?" she heard Michael ask as she sauntered towards the pantry to find all of the things that Lauren mentioned.
"I'm not sure, we haven't spoken since -" Alejandro began, but stopped abruptly. Camila felt like it was probably still difficult for him to speak on it. She still couldn't believe that she thought he was cheating. It was awfully obvious that he adored that woman - for whatever reason. "We haven't spoken..."
"She doesn't know anything about the new placement?" Michael wondered incredulously as Camila casually scanned over all of the products in the pantry. She figured Mike must've put the new groceries away, because they were all jammed in here, still in the plastic bags and everything.
"She doesn't know anything about anything. I'm telling you, we haven't spoken at all," Alejandro answered him distantly. "It's not like I haven't tried. She's ignored my calls and my text... Even my emails... And I don't know where she is, so I can't even go to her."
"So she doesn't even know anything at all about the move?" Michael asked as he grew more incredulous, because those were the kinds of things you'd communicate to your wife, regardless of what's going on. "How is she supposed to come back if she doesn't even know you're moving?"
And that stopped Camila in her tracks.
Moving? What kind of moving? Like, the simple out of the Jaureguis house and back home moving? Or the daunting across the town, across the state, or across the country move? She had to know. Camila abandoned her mission of getting Lauren's snacks and prepared to listen in. She felt like the eavesdropping was okay this time, because this would actually affect her. She wasn't just being nosey.
"I don't know," Alejandro mumbled, then proceeded to say something Camila couldn't quite perceive. She strained to hear them, then wished she hadn't.
"Have you found the house yet?" Michael questioned, and Camila assumed that this was a follow up conversation in response to a previous one. He obviously had more information than she did at the moment, but wasn't it always that way? That always seemed to be the case.
"Houses in North Carolina are a lot different than the ones here. The neighborhoods aren't as spacious and there aren't any beaches where we'll be, at least not for a long way. It's difficult, you know, going from one extreme to another. I'm looking for something more sensible, since she's not here to influence the decision and get me to pay eight hundred thousand dollars more than necessary for a three-person household. The mansion was never necessary to me. I'm looking for some near the area, but I might have to settle for a longer commute because while we don't need anything exceptionally big, I don't want one that's too cramped or in any bad neighborhoods like the ones nearby," Alejandro went into some detail, but Camila was still left in the dark. She'd stopped listening after North Carolina. And she couldn't even wrap her mind around that.
North Carolina? When did that even come into play? And why was it even being considered? North Carolina? She didn't want to go there. She had nothing against it and assumed it was probably a decent enough place to live, but it wasn't in her plans. There was nothing to do there - nothing close to what she was used to, at least. He'd said himself that they didn't even have any beaches. What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to spend her time? And why would he decide to go there of all places in the country? What was wrong with New York or California or Hawaii or some other exciting state? They might as well pack up and go straight to the middle of nowhere, since that was where they were basically headed. She couldn't believe this.
"Yeah, but even so, I hear great things about North Carolina all the time," Michael offered some positivity.
"Yeah, it should be nice adjusting to it. I'm sure we'll have enough time. I would feel guilty about taking Camila out of school, but she's been homeschooled. She didn't really seem to have any deep connections with anyone back on the island, so I won't really feel like I'm taking her away from her friends, either. We've got some family up there, in Raleigh, I think. It should be fine. I think we'll both be looking forward to this new experience," Alejandro gave his stance on the other considerable factors as he continued this conversation with Michael.
So, it was official. They were moving, and they weren't going back to the house she knew. She heard a little more of his plans, but she couldn't even focus on anything save the disturbing fact of them moving at all. Although her mouth had been watering when she finally discovered the snacks Lauren was raving about, she quickly lost her appetite. She wasn't in the mood to eat, and she needed to go ahead and share this with Lauren as civilly as she could. She didn't know how she would react and didn't know how to poise herself for it. Lauren was distraught earlier just because of the fact that she was moving out of her house. What would she think if she found out they'd no longer be sharing the same state?
Camila's throat felt tight at the image that came to mind of Lauren's reaction. She didn't want her to be upset or anything like she was earlier, but she didn't want to cause another problem by letting her find out something of that sort rather than just telling her. Camila steeled herself for the reaction when she got it off of her chest. Slowly, she returned back to Lauren's room empty handed and with a heavy conscience. Lauren heard her enter and happily turned around to receive her food, and was dismayed to find that there was no such thing.
"Hey? What happened?" Lauren asked, referring to her lack of snacks and not the sullen look on her girlfriend's face. When she made note of it, the smile vanished and she reiterated the question with different intent. "Wait, what happened..."
"Um... So... I have something to tell you..." Camila manipulated her fingers as she stood there before her girlfriend. This wasn't about to be easy.
"What?" Lauren asked with the notion that she was about to receive some terrible news.
She had no idea how correct her intuition was.
A/N
ITS BEEN 84 YEARS.
And I am so sorry y'all omg I just needed a break from writing 25/8. It was only supposed to be one week lol but that week "off" was spent writing a oneshot for my friend's birthday (It's a camren wedding called For My Moon, go check it out. I think it's my best!!) so I took an actual week off and binge wrote this in three days lol yay
(No offense NC 😆)
QOC: Well well well, Walk A Mile is wrapping up slowly but surely. I didn't mean for one thing to happen after another lol but that's just the way the cookie crumbled. Do you think it'll be endgame? ;)
I've got two endings in mind so far. But because I know that I'll be on camren shippers' most wanted list if I don't make this endgame, it probably will be either way lol. I'm excited for this to end so I can start on the new fic I mentioned in the last chapter. It might not be up for a bit, but I will be writing it. Promise.
"You're an immaculate creation and your life has so much meaning. Don't let social norms define your beauty." (this is something my girlfriend told me and I thought it was just lovely) ily all xx