XVI.
"Power."
Lauren could easily tell over the next few days that I had been quite frightened by the most recent of our balcony conversations. It was good, because I definitely wasn't trying to hide it. Some time passed, and we found ourselves a mere twenty four hours after a very "cloud nine" Valentine's Day.
"So." Lauren approached me one weekend afternoon. "I have a proposition."
Turning around from where I had been focusing on writing a paper, I saw that the girl was dressed in her black bikini. Her weight was propped on one foot over the other, and she had her hands planted firmly on her hips.
"I must admit." I admired. "I do like where this is going. Could it maybe get there in a few hours? I've got a paper to finish and a huge test to cram for."
"You're such a nerd." Lauren shook her head. "No, I mean I have an actual proposition. I figure since we didn't do anything for Valentines Day, and we're all going to be together for your birthday, the two of us should do something special tonight."
I turned around in my seat and lifted my eyebrows. "Are you calling what we did yesterday nothing?" I asked, a mock hurt in my voice. "I worked really hard."
Lauren rolled her eyes. "Camila, I really need you to shut up and listen to me for just one second."
"Fine." I grinned and turned around, my attention dividing to my laptop once more. "What's your proposition?"
"Let's go swimming."
I blinked, turning around again with a groan. "You want to go swimming? Lauren we live in Miami, people here spend a quarter of their lives swimming. How is that special?"
"We're going to go swimming somewhere special."
I gave her a pointed look. "If you tell me we're going to swim in the ocean at night because the view is nice then I'm going to hit you over the head with this notebook."
Lauren laughed. "No, that's not it."
"So where are we going to go?"
"It'll be a surprise."
"I don't like surprises."
"That's a lie." Lauren folded her arms, pressing her chest together. "No human doesn't like surprises."
"If I say yes will you let me finish this paper?"
"Yes."
"And study for my test?"
"Yes."
"Fine." I rolled my eyes. "I'll go swimming."
"Tonight?"
"Tonight."
With a small cheer, Lauren skipped away and disappeared into the bedroom, only to return five seconds later with my bathing suit in her hands.
***
A few hours later, I finally typed out the last few words on 19th century pop culture and hit the print button. I got up from the kitchen table and padded into the bedroom, swinging the door open to see Lauren sitting on the bed still in her suit, and leafing through a magazine. She looked up upon seeing me, her eyes brightening. "Are you done? Can we go?"
"Soon." I headed over to pluck the fresh sheet of paper from the printer. "I need to look this over a few times, I tend to make stupid spelling mistakes when I write about things I don't care about."
"C'mere." Lauren tossed the magazine over to the side and sat up straight. "Let me give you a hand."
I didn't hesitate for a moment before scurrying over to her and hopping up on the bed. The girl rested back against the headboard and nested me between her legs, tucking my body close to her chest. She then claimed to be scanning through my paper over my shoulder, but I knew that wasn't the case when her lips latched onto the side of my neck as if she were a member of the undead.
It was two in the morning when I had finally changed into my own bathing suit and crammed all I could for my test, while Lauren had taken a rather long catnap at my side. The soft sound of me closing the lid of my laptop woke her, despite the ridiculous hour.
"You're done?" She yawned, rolling over lazily. I propped my chin in my hand and gazed at her, not even trying to hide the moony look in my eyes. Her own were no doubt the brightest in the dark.
"I'm done." I nodded. "But it's late, you still want to do this?"
"Of course, come on." Lauren took my hand and pulled me from the bed. "There's something I want to show you."
"Show me?" I frowned. "Show me what? I thought we were going swimming."
"We are, you'll see." With a tug, I was led out of the apartment and towards the car, seated neatly in the passenger seat. Lauren took the wheel, and guided the vehicle to a large hotel that stood in the middle of the downtown metropolis. Even with a full parking lot, Lauren found a way to snag a spot from some deserving family.
"Lauren. It's two in the morning, how are we going to swim here?" I asked, breaking the silence that had accumulated on the ride over.
Lauren unlocked the door to her side, then pushed her way out to do the same to mine. "You'll see." She repeated, a little more of a teasing note in her voice. "And by the way, I know you trust me, so don't even try to pull that."
I sighed, getting up out of the car and taking her outstretched hand. Pulling me up onto the sidewalk, Lauren led me not into the large building, but around it.
"Stay close to me." The girl commanded, squeezing my hand. I watched in confusion as we approached the back of the hotel where a roof-tall fire escape and a grid of large dumpsters made their home.
"Lauren Jauregui... I don't even want to know what you're thinking right now." I hissed. "Come on, can't we just go in through the front?"
"Nope. All the main entrances are locked unless you're a paying customer." Lauren pulled me over to a series of doors that were all marked as employees only. I swore under my breath as she turned and took my arms, tucking me behind a nearby dumpster. "Be very quiet. Not a sound."
I nodded, and Lauren stepped away to grab the side of different dumpster and hoist herself up swiftly onto the ledge. Grabbing one of the black bags, she balanced on her toes and hurled it to the ground, glass and other goodies making a loud shattering sound against the pavement.
With a smirk in my direction, she then jumped down and darted back over to me just before the large door swung open and a middle aged maintenance man poked his head outside and looked around. With a grunt of disproval, he scuffed over to the bag and pulled it up off the ground, shaking the contents back to the bottom and retying the top. As he was knelt over, I watched in utter terror as Lauren crept out from our hiding place and moved without a sound across the way until she was directly behind him.
Then in the blink of an eye, she was next to me again, grinning wide with a single key card between her index and middle fingers.
Turning, we both watched the man throw the bag back into the garbage and get to his feet, patting around his back pocket for the missing card.
"Aw shit. Forgot that damn card again." He muttered, running his hands through his hair and walking away to enter the hotel through the front.
Once he was out of earshot, Lauren grabbed my hand and pulled, scanning the stolen card and shoving open the employee door with a devilish laugh.
"I can't believe you." I muttered as I was led through a dark corridor and past a few lovely smelling laundry rooms. "Do you even have an off switch?"
"I have an on switch. You've found it before." She replied softly, looking down at me with a smile. "Now stop being a complete killjoy and let's light this night on fire."
"You're such loser."
Lauren froze, pushing me against the wall with her body as a group of chatty housekeeping maids sauntered past with armfuls of fresh towels. Luckily, they didn't notice either of us, but I caught some pretty harsh gossip, half of it in incredibly fast Spanish.
"Wow... women can be harsh sometimes." Lauren muttered once the voices were barely audible. "Come on, let's move."
The two of us darted through one lonely hallway after another until we found the lobby. Fit with golden lights and large white marble looking pillars, the place was populated with late night partygoers. Turns out the front of the hotel was much more glamorous than the back.
"Take this and get yourself up to the roof." Lauren nudged me towards a set of gold coloured elevators that were marked with directions, pressing the white card in my hand. "I'll be there in a few."
"Wait, where are you going to go?"
"You'll see." Lauren smirked again, and I forced myself to not roll my eyes to the back of my head. Without another second wasted, she was off, almost halfway across the room.
"Lauren!" I half whispered, half shouted. "Wait, come back here!"
Lauren just wiggled her eyebrows playfully, vanishing around the corner.
***
I groaned to myself, heading towards the elevators and poking at the up button a few times. When the doors opened, I waited for a young couple to leave before filing in and promptly being followed by a group of older men.
The second I hit the button for the roof, one of them turned to me and spoke.
"Young lady, you know the rooftop pool is closed to guests at this hour? What on earth are you doing going up there?"
"Oh..." I blinked nervously. "Um... I think I left my phone up there. I was hoping someone would be able to let me in."
"Ah, I see." The man smiled as the elevator lurched into action. "Well you should be okay so long as there's a staff member up. Only the employee keys will work after hours."
"Oh okay, well... fingers crossed." I exhaled in relief, waiting for the men to disembark on the twentieth floor before doing the same at the top. Through a set of elegant glass doors was the rooftop pool, glowing a still blue on the inside with a series of underwater lights. Long deck chairs sat all around the outside, each one fitted with its own wooden side table while in the corner sat a tall shelf stocked with towels.
I stood for a moment and took in the scene, my heart pounding with excitement. I heard a thump behind me, and turned around to see Lauren unlocking the doors with another card and making her way outside. There was a bottle of dark wine in her hand, and a evil smile on her face.
"I brought a friend."
"Where did you get that?" I questioned. "And how did you pay for it?"
"The bar." Lauren set the bottle down on the smooth finished ground and pulled her shirt up over her head. "And I didn't."
My eyes went wide. "You stole it?!"
"Dude, the bottle is eighty dollars. You think I have that kind of money?" She asked with a laugh, tossing her shirt at me and kicking off her shorts in a similar way. "Come on, like you've never stolen something."
"Not something that's eighty dollars." I hissed. "What if we get caught up here?"
"We won't." Lauren stepped towards me and gave the hem of my own shirt a little tug. "Now just because your birthday is coming up doesn't mean to need to turn into an old lady. Arms up."
I dropped Lauren's things and obeyed, letting her remove my shirt and add it to the pile of discarded clothes. She then swiftly undid the snap on my jean shorts, and I couldn't help but smile.
"I'm starting to like where this is going." I murmured. "Was this all you wanted to show me?"
"Yes and no." Lauren stepped back so I could kick away my shorts. She then slid into the pool, careful to only get the ends of her hair wet and look up at me. "Join me."
I sat down on the edge, my feet dangling in the water as I reached for the bottle of wine and handed it to Lauren. She grabbed the cork between her teeth and yanked it out, spitting it to the side and handing the bottle right back.
"I get the first sip?"
"Try it. Tell me how it is."
Lifting the neck of the bottle to my lips, I let a generous amount of dark liquid slide down my throat. It burned on its way down, but the side effect was definitely addictive.
"It tastes like wine." I shrugged. "Half feet, half sour grapes. I don't understand why wine drinkers can be so picky about what tastes good. Especially with price tags like this."
Lauren chuckled, drifting forward and folding her arms up over my knees. "Not a wine fan?"
"I just don't get it." I sighed, handing her the bottle so she could give it a try. "It might be because I'm in high school. Maybe because I'm just ignorant."
"You're not ignorant." She replied, taking my wrists and giving me a gently pull towards the water. "Come on, swim with me."
I peered down into the clear water, reaching behind me to tie my hair up into a ponytail. "But it looks really cold."
"I'll keep you warm."
Indeed it was cold. I shivered as I slipped into the pool, Lauren catching me around the waist, her hands firm. Her body was warm. Very warm.
"You're not sick again, are you?" I asked her, my arms looping up around her neck. "You feel like you have a temperature."
"No, I'm alright." Lauren shook her head. "It's probably the wine."
"True." I encircled her hips with my legs. "Red is more romantic."
"Oh, so now you want romance?"
I grinned. "I don't think I need to want anything for you to give it to me." I told her. "You're kinda perfect."
"Camila." Lauren drew out my name, squeezing me in her arms while I took the chance to nestle into the crook of her neck. I closed my eyes as she moved through the water, stopping when her back was pressed to the side of the pool. The warmth from her body was so great that I swore I could stay like that forever.
"Yeah?" I mumbled quietly.
"Happy really early birthday."
"Thank you."
She sighed. "I suck at this...but I really wanted to show you that there are things about this city that are worth loving."
I looked up at her wearily. "Why?"
With a shrug, Lauren's features turned to subtle defeat. "I don't know. I guess it just feels like when you associate yourself with Miami, you associate yourself with me." She explained. "And I'm worried that I'm really not doing a very good job at proving that life doesn't always suck."
Looking down, my eyes began to trace the line of her collarbone. "Don't worry, it's not your job to prove that to me." I assured her. "Have you always lived here?"
There was a moment of quiet, and our eyes met for the briefest of seconds. She looked away, gazing at something over my shoulder before shaking her head.
"No." She then added. "Not always."
"Your family moved?"
"I guess you could say that." The girl shrugged. "I...um...yeah, kinda"
"It's okay." I stopped her. "You don't need to explain anything to me. Don't worry."
"I just feel bad." Lauren looked at me again. "You told me everything about yourself, and now I feel like I should do the same... I just..." '
"No." I stopped her again. "Lauren, I don't care what you think, you don't owe me anything. I look around myself and it baffles me just how much things have changed. I mean I'm sitting on top of a hotel right now, in a pool, with the most perfect woman in the world. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I could pull something like that off."
"Trust me." Lauren laughed softly, the water around us moving gently with her vibrations. "I never thought something like this was in the cards either."
"I'm really glad I picked you up that night." I replied, smiling. "Even if you were being a dick about it."
"I'm glad I was being a dick about it." Lauren countered. "Because it made you fight even harder."
"Totally worth fighting for."
"And it's still okay with you that we haven't labelled this relationship?" She continued by asking hopefully. "That's not weird?"
"I don't care." I grinned, grabbing the bottle behind her and lifting it to my lips. "As long as you keep treating me like I'm the only thing that matters, you can go sleep with whoever you want."
Lauren laughed again, leaning back against the edge of the pool and bringing me with her. I kissed her, shivering at the taste of red wine and signature sweetness on her lips as she moved against me, wrapping her arms around to my back once more.
Then, I felt it. A distinct burn on my back that was uneasy, but never crossed the threshold into pain. I recognized it from before, the last time Lauren was sick she had been emitting a similar heat from her wrists.
"Hey, are you sure you're alright?" I asked her, my voice low. "Something seems off."
"What do you mean?"
"Let me see your hands."
Lauren slowly moved her arms, bringing her hands around so they were before me. I moved my legs, touching the bottom of the pool while she let me go. Reaching up to take her hands in my own, I turned them upwards and peered down.
What I saw was utterly confusing. Her wrists were smooth, unmarked and unblemished, yet they were emanating a bright red colour. I brushed my thumbs over the skin, frowning as the heat became even more intense.
"It just happens." Lauren caught wind of the confusion on my face. "You know how some people sweat too much, other people don't brush their teeth enough? Yeah, this is my thing. My arms burn."
"Lauren, sweating and bad breath is normal." I told her turning her hands over slowly to make sure there was nothing on the other sides. Her skin was completely clean, no wounds, no marks, not even as much as a freckle in sight. "I don't think this should be happening. Have you seen someone about it?"
"Like a doctor?"
"Yeah."
"Nope."
I rolled my eyes. "I'll take you. I've still got the family doctor my parents registered me with, so it's not a big deal."
Lauren blinked. "You'll take me? Doesn't something like that cost a lot?"
"Whatever." I gave her wrists a little squeeze, watching her face to see if she reacted. Her expression didn't change, so there couldn't have been pain on her end either. "I want to make sure you're okay. Believe it or not I was really scared when you got sick."
"That's sweet, but you don't have to." Lauren quickly shook her head, tucking her wrists away behind my back once more. "I promise it's nothing you need to be worried about."
I curled my lip. "It would really make me feel better if you got it checked."
"Camila, don't worry about it." Lauren's voice turned a little more firm as she pressed her nails into my back gently. "If anything starts to feel unusual, then I promise I'll let you know right away."
"You promise?" I asked again.
"I promise." Lauren dipped forward and planted a quick kiss on my lips. "I love that you care so much. No one's really cared about me like that before."
"Really?" I leaned back into her arms. "That can't possibly be true."
"It isn't anymore." Lauren smiled.
I matched her smile before pushing off the wall and diving into the water backwards. It felt good to wash the makeup off my face and glide through the cool water, illuminated by the underwater lightning. When I popped up a few metres away, I saw Lauren was watching me with a grin.
"Catch me!" I called, disappearing back under the water and opening my eyes to see a blurry version of Lauren's body streaming towards me. I resurfaced and laughed, paddling away as she moved through the water at a speed far greater than mine.
As I hit the end of the pool and turned around, I saw Lauren's green eyes glowing nearly blue under the lights as she dove deeper and slowly began to surface beneath me.
"Lauren!" I shrieked, bursting into a chain of laughter as the girl dug her fingers hard into my side and had me curling up in a ball. "Stop Lauren, I'm really ticklish!"
"I noticed." Lauren gripped me around the waist and kept me afloat, despite the deep end of the pool causing neither of us being suspended. Her strength was constantly impressing me. "You're so adorable."
"You caught me." I shrugged.
We spent the next hour or so lazing around the water, periodically drying off then diving back in. Lauren looked like a goddess under the water, her long dark hair flowing in perfect waves around her face as the lack of gravity took its supernatural effect.
Things became so heavy that there came I time I could actually count the number of seconds between each kiss on both hands. When the bottle of wine was drained and the empty was stashed away, two hands slowly turned into a slightly tipsy one.
"I still don't see anything you know." I mumbled as I floated in the middle of the pool, looking up at the sky.
"Hm?" Lauren hummed as she swam around me, creating small waves that would occasionally bump me and change the direction in which I floated. "What do you mean?"
"I mean in the sky." I turned my head slowly, making sure my weight remained distributed on the water. "Remember when you went all philosophical on me and asked me to look at the sky? Well I pretty much do it every single night I can, and I still don't see anything."
"That's fine." Lauren's voice was nonchalant as she swam around me, occasionally dipping underneath my body and popping up on the other side. "What's your point?"
"I guess I just feel like you're waiting for me to see something." I replied. "And I'm just letting you down the same way I tend to let everyone down."
"Don't worry." She replied, standing up and placing her hands lightly my stomach. I curled up instinctively, my feet floating down to the floor of the pool as I shifted my weight. Taking her wrists, I slid up and latched against her body so my cheek was pressed to her clavicle. "I wasn't really looking for an answer more than I was wondering what you would say."
A moment of light silence sent a shiver through my body.
"We should go soon." I mumbled. "It's getting really late."
"It's been really late for hours now." Lauren chuckled, taking me by the shoulders and holding me at an arms length. "But yeah, I can kinda see where you're coming from."
"So how are we going to get out of here without anyone seeing us?" I asked, looking over at the glass doors that led to the elevators.
Lauren let me go and swam to the edge of the pool, pressing her palms to the smooth tile and hoisting her body out of the water. We're going to play it by ear." She told me as I drifted backwards and focused on the way her wet skin glistened under the blue lights.
"You look amazing." I admired, flowing backwards. "God it's not fair."
"Stop." Lauren smiled down at me, heading over to the neatly folded pile of towels and grabbing one from the top. Patting herself down with it, she then plucked another one and held it open.
I followed suit, paddling over and awkwardly pulling myself up and out of the water. Lauren wrapped the fluffy towel around my shoulders, bringing my right hand up to pin it against my chest and taking the left in hers. "I want to show you something." She said to me, giving me a light tug and leading me over to the edge of the roof.
The area was enclosed by a see-through barrier that was far taller than any human, but the spotless glass still offered a perfect view of the city below. Dozens and dozens of floors up, it wasn't hard to see almost everything.
"It's not all that bad you know." Lauren's unique voice was inches from my ear. "At least not when you look at it like this."
"What's not all that bad?"
"Miami." Lauren snaked her arms around my waist, resting her chin on my shoulder lightly and pressing her body close. "I can tell that you can't help but associate this place with losing your mother, with leaving your family, and with being alone."
Looking down, my eyes drifted over to a small cluster of multi-coloured lights. "You really have a knack for getting in my head." I replied to her, voice nothing but a low mumble.
"No matter how many people we have around us, we can always feel lonely." Lauren continued, seemingly ignoring me. "We can work for lifetimes perfecting what we have. We make lists, book dates, organize junk drawer after junk drawer... but one flap of a butterfly's wings, and everything can change."
"I don't get it."
"What I'm saying, is that bad memories can only really hurt us when we hold on to them. But something that once seemed like nothing can easily change that pain into pleasure." She explained, lifting an arm and holding it out in front of me. Her fist was closed, wrist pointed to the ground. It looked like she was giving a fist bump to an imaginary friend.
I glanced back at her, waiting for more. "Okay...?"
"Humans are fragile creatures, and we can be easily destroyed... but it does wonders for us when we learn to let go." She turned her hand around, wrist pointing up and opened her fist. I watched her fingers flex as if they had a set pattern of movement. Something changed in the air, and I could have sworn my body locked up for a split second.
The sensation was gone before I could even question it.
"I can't help but feel like when you associate negative thoughts with the city, you associate negative thoughts with me." Lauren's voice grew curious as she repeated herself from earlier. "And I know we've only knew each other for a few months now... but..."
I turned around and smiled up at her, clearly interrupting her train of thought where it hung. A small nod told her that I understood. It was all both of us needed.
But it feels like you've belonged right here my whole life.
***
Late the following evening, I hit the green dial button on my phone and set it down on the table, checking once to ensure that the speaker phone was activated before leaning back and taking a deep breath in. Lauren sat on the other end of the table, one leg crossed over the other with a curious look on her face.
"Hello?"
"Hi Dad. It's me." I said, clearing my throat.
"Happy early birthday Cami, how are you?"
"Thanks, I'm not too bad. School's going well, we're just getting into the winter semester and the break is coming up, so that's good."
"You're working hard?"
"Of course." I looked up at Lauren. "Shawn's pretty much keeping me on track, Dinah's helping as well."
"That's good to hear. How is everything going at the apartment? Have you settled in?"
"I have." I nodded subconsciously. "Actually, I wanted to let you know that I just recently met someone, and she's kinda staying with me. We're good friends, I promise that it's nothing weird."
There was a few seconds of quiet on the other end of the line, and I held my breath hoping that this wouldn't escalate into an argument. He sighed, humming on the end before responding.
"Well there's nothing I can do from here, so I trust you to be responsible." He spoke. "Is she on the lease? If the landlords find out then you might get into trouble. That could be going against fire hazards."
I looked up at Lauren with a small smile. "Trust me Dad, she doesn't take up any space at all. She actually helps out with rent."
"Alright, well just don't get yourself into trouble okay? I don't want to be woken in the middle of the night from a call saying my daughter has been arrested."
"I'll be careful." I assured him.
"Now is this girl someone I know?"
"No." I looked over at Lauren again, nibbling on my lip in thought. "She's just a friend... that I kinda kiss once and a while."
There was a quiet on the other end of the line while Lauren dropped her head in her arms on the other side of the table. I shrugged at her silently. I didn't know how to come out to a parent, and it wasn't like I had a point of reference to go on. Lauren had her eyes covered with her hands as my father cleared his throat.
To my surprise, the man just laughed. We both looked at the phone slowly, then at each other.
"What?"
"No nothing." He said, tapering off into a chuckle. "I think that's wonderful, and this way I don't have to worry about pregnancy scares."
I blinked. "Dad!"
"What?" He laughed again. "Do whatever makes you happiest Cami. You're an adult now, I support whatever choice you make."
"Thanks." I couldn't help but crack a small smile. I had no idea that blatantly discussing my constantly changing sexuality would end up being the catalyst for the first lighthearted conversation I had gone through with my father in weeks.
"And am I ever going to meet this girl?"
Looking back at Lauren, I shrugged. "Uh, she's not with me right now, but I can bring her when I visit."
"Good." There was some crackling on the other end, and he cleared his throat again. "Would you like to talk to your sister? She's just about to leave for a sleepover with some friends."
"Um..." I looked down at the phone. "Sure, if you want to put her on."
"Just give me a second here... Sofia? Can you come here please? You're sister is on the phone"
As I waited, I felt a nudge to my calf and looked up to see Lauren giving me a soft smile. I tried to reciprocate, but the feeling was washed away as Sofi took the phone.
"Hi Camila."
"Hey." I sat up a little straighter. "How are you? How's school?"
"It's fine." I could almost hear her shrug. "We're doing a lot of reading and writing, Dad's even helping me write a full picture book for a project."
"That sounds fun." I crossed my legs up on the chair beneath me. "So what are you going to write about?"
"Stuff." Sofi seemed like she was moving around the house, I assumed she was busy packing things up for her night out. I racked my brain for more things to say.
"So are you making new friends over there?"
"Lots." There was a violet crackle, and both Lauren and I sat up a little straighter. "Camila?" She then asked, cutting me off before I could ask what had happened.
"Yeah?"
"Are you coming out here soon?"
I swallowed. "Oh... um... I don't think so. I mean I will eventually, and I'll come to visit too sometime."
"So you're not going to come home?"
"I'm sorry." I ran my fingers through my hair and leaned forward, dropping my chin in my hands. "I really am, but you know I need to finish school out here, and...-"
"It's fine." Sofi shuffled around some more. "Here's Dad."
"Oh, okay." I breathed in. "Have a good time at your sleepover."
"She's been making lots of new friends, so no need to worry about that." It was my father again. "And she's been doing a lot better. School keeps her preoccupied, and she's insisted on getting into soccer again so she's joined a team. They've got a big sleepover at one of the girl's houses tonight."
"That's good." I responded. "I'm glad."
"Alright, well I have to get going as well, I don't want to get caught up in the morning traffic."
"Okay Dad." I sighed quietly. "Have a good night."
"You too Camila. Best wishes."
And with that, the line went dead. I sat still for a few seconds, watching as Lauren reached forward and hit the red button to end the call and lock the phone.
"I guess that was pretty self explanatory." I told her, lifting my head and mindlessly rubbing my eyes. "But at least I got it out of the way." '
"Sofia seems sweet." Lauren replied. "How old is she?"
"Almost eight." I told her. "She's in the second grade now."
"It must be rough." Lauren murmured. "It seemed like she really wanted you to go out there."
"Yeah." I leaned back. "I had to have the most heartbreaking talk with her right before my Dad announced that they were going to move. I remember telling her that I wasn't going to be there, and it just killed me. She cried, I cried... it was all a big mess. I mean I know there's a huge age gap between us, but that was part of the reason we were so close."
Lauren got to her feet and worked her way around the table, stopping when she was standing next to me, her hip at my shoulder.
"So." She murmured, draping her arms over my shoulders and pressing a warm palm to my cheek. "Exactly why didn't you want your Dad to know I was here?"
I shrugged, leaning against her hand. "I don't know, I just don't want him to meet you yet. You're kinda... my thing. Just mine."
Lauren tried to move her hand away, but I lifted my own to keep it in place. "I just... I feel like when they moved away, I lost such a huge sense of security in my life. It just felt like they wanted nothing to do with me, and they just didn't care..."
"I'm sure that's not true." Lauren ghosted her lips to my temple.
"True or not, it feels like now, all that stuff I lost came back with you." I said as a heat rose in my cheeks. "So I just want to keep you to myself for now. I hope you're okay with that."
"Of course I'm okay with that." The girl replied, slowly settling herself on my lap with her arms still around my neck. "And you never know, it may be less time than you think before you get to see them again."
***
A/N: fun fact, the way that Camila came out to her dad is how my roommate came out to me. Draw inspirations from real life whenever you can people, it makes for good funnies. We'll have a little bit of drama in the next chapter, nothing too angsty but definitely a much needed change from the constant fluff up until now.