A/N: Listen to the above song "Make It To Me" by Sam Smith for a better read. I thought it'd go great with this chapter.
** TRIGGER WARNING **
VIOLENCE AND BULLYING
Nothing too bad happens, but just in case, I put it in there. I'll warn you when it comes and ends.
== ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ ==
After the encounter with Lauren, Camila couldn't keep her mind tamed. Three week already passed since that day. But the memory of her holding Lauren's face and being real close was still crystal clear. Oh no.
It was a Saturday and here was Camila, all alone in her room moping around in her bed dejectedly. She was the only Cabello in the mansion at the moment.
"Why does Lauren have to be homeless?!" She shouted. And why am I rich!?
Liking each other is out of the picture... this isn't fair.
Camila visited Lauren every time she was available after school. The alley next to Burger King became her secret haven in a way. There's rarely any cars and people passing, so that's a relief.
Everytime they would meet up, both of them would talk about how their day went. It was always relaxing being with each other. If one of them spoke, the other would stay quiet and listen.
The small Latina loved how Lauren was so passionate about everything she would tell her. It always came from the heart. Camila just wished she would be more open about her personal life.
Like how did Lauren become homeless? Where's her parents? Siblings?
Those questions kept popping in Camila's head, but she kept them to herself. The brunette didn't want to push Lauren to answer. The time will come when she will open up to her.
Camila is willing to wait.
When the Latina became tired of rolling in bed thinking about the 'whys' and 'what ifs' of her life, she lazily got up.
It was only 4pm in the afternoon, so Camila went down stairs. "Egyyppt!!"
Instantly, her personal butler came rushing into the living room from the kitchen.
"Yes, Ms. Cabello?" He stopped right in front of Camila.
"Can you take me to Dinah's please?"
"Already one step ahead of you ma'am." Egypt showed her the keys to the limo with a smile.
The brunette smiled back. "You know me so well."
Egypt tilted the hat on his head in acknowledgement. Then went outside to get the limo ready.
Once she was at Dinah's front door, Egypt drove off. The Latina was about to knock, when it suddenly opened.
"Ahhhhh!!!!" Dinah and Camila screamed simultaneously.
"Shit, it's just you Waltz! Don't do that!" Dinah breathed out.
"I can say the same for you! You literally scared the heck outta me!"
The Polynesian girl laughed. "What are you even doing here? I didn't get a text that you'll come over."
"Well... I actually wanted to tell you something." Camila uttered.
"Ahh hell nahh!! Don't tell me..."
Wait, does Dinah now I like Lauren? What do I do?! Oh, that's why I'm at her house... I'm scared. But I have to tell her. No I don't, but we tell each other everything!.. Maybe she can help, ughhhh! Why am I talking to myself anywayy?! Camila's subconsciousness was going crazy.
Fuck it. I'll just say it in one breath.
"I like Lauren!"
"Are you pregnant!?"
Camila and Dinah said that at the same time.
"Wait, what!?" Dinah asked shocked.
"What?!" Camila's eyes widened.
"Did you jus-noooo wayyy!!!"
"Hold on, you thought I was pregnant?!"
"Whoa whoa and triple whoa!! Scratch whatever I said a few seconds ago, but am I hearing right? Waltz, repeat that one more time." Dinah still didn't believe what she heard.
"N-no! I don't want too..." Camila covered her face in embarrassment.
"Cmon, just one more time!"
The brunette hesitated at first, but she couldn't care less anymore. "...I-I like Lauren!! There, now shut up!"
"Aww!!! My Lil Chancho is growing up!" Dinah gave her best friend a hug.
"So, you're not gonna say anything like 'omg why her?' or 'dawg, you outta your mind?!'" Camila was surprised at the Polynesian girl's reaction.
"What, no! I've been your closest and most trustworthy friend since day 1. Why would I ever?!"
"But... she's homeless and I'm... me." Camila uttered looking down sadly.
"Why you lookin sad? You're you and that's the reason why I love being best friends with you Chancho. The Camila I know stays true to herself and doesn't let anything get in her way. Don't forget that same sex marriage is now legalized in all 50 states. Love wins. You're lucky to be alive at this time. So be happy!" Dinah let go of her and punched Camila's arm playfully afterwards. "And to be honest, I kinda knew you swing that way anyway."
"Wooow, way to ruin your beautiful speech with that sexuality joke DJ." Camila smiled shaking her head.
"Whatever, at least my jokes are better than yours.. So, are you gonna tell Lauren?" Dinah asked excitedly.
"Are you crazy?! Nooo!"
"Why the heck not!?"
"Um, let's see... did you forget that she might reject me?" Camila replied back like it was the most obvious thing.
"Reject? You? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Lauren should be the one scared of telling yo-" Dinah stopped. "Um, I mean uh....damn it!"
"Back up, back the fuuhhck up!!" It was Camila's turn to be surprised. "Lauren likes me too?!"
Omg is this real? Cupid are you finally coming to fix my love life!?
Dinah face-palmed herself. "I'm so bad at keeping secrets... I'm so sorry Lauren."
"Hold on! What are you saying? What's going on?!"
"We should take this inside... it's quite a long story." Dinah grabbed Camila's arm and pulled her into the house.
Once they were both comfortable in Dinah's room, the said girl began to explain everything that happened those past three weeks...
*Flashback from about two weeks ago*
It was after school on a Friday when Dinah sneaked into the usual alley. Camila wasn't with her this time because of babysitting duty.
The Polynesian beauty saw Lauren pacing back and forth frantically. The green eyed girl seemed to be stressed out about something. She wanted to know what was going on, so Dinah slowly tip toed closer to Lauren. Only when she wasn't facing her of course.
Once at a hearing distance, Dinah hid behind a stack of boxes and listened.
"Should I tell her now? No... it's too early." Lauren had a frustrated look on her face. "But maybe luck will be on my side...but maybe not-ughhh!!" The green eyed beauty ruffled her hair angrily.
Dinah watched the scene unfold with confused eyes.
"Why is this so complicated? Camila is such a sweet and caring girl. I'm just homeless barely keeping myself alive..." A tear rolled down Lauren's pale complexion. "She would never take me seriously... If only this would end already. I know it was my idea to do this again, but I just want Camila to know who I truly am. Even if she'll hate me for-..."
Dinah was really shocked to hear what Lauren was saying so she leaned in a little further. The tall girl got too close to the boxes and they all toppled down with a loud crash.
"Shit."
Lauren instantly turned to face the cause of the noise. "W-who's there!"
Sighing Dinah walked out to reveal herself. "Chill, it's just me Lauser.."
"I told you not to call me that DJ..." Lauren pouted.
"Well I like it, so deal with it."
"Fineee. Why didn't you tell me you were here? Were you eavesdropping on me??" Lauren looked scared for a second but quickly hid it with curiosity.
"There's no point in lying. So yeah I was, but for a good reason."
"When was eavesdropping ever a good thing?"
"You looked frustrated, I didn't want to make it worse. Plus, I wanted to know what was up before I approached you." Dinah confessed.
"I bet you know everything now..." Lauren looked down nervously.
"Well, only about you liking Camila. The rest went in one ear and left the other. Just hear me out. First, I'm alright with you liking my best friend. Don't worry about getting my consent or anything. Second, bishh go get her before someone else does! I've seen them dudes lookin at her some type of way. Was bout to slap all them across their shitty faces! And third, you need assistance, so I'll be your wingwoman." Dinah gave her a thumbs up.
The pale skinned girl was left with her mouth wide open. "I'm shocked with how you're taking this.. I would expect you to freak out or something." Lauren brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Are you being serious?"
"Dawg, I'm as serious as I am in with love Beyonce!" The Polynesian girl put her hand up. "That's a lot of love so appreciate it girl."
Lauren smiled knowing it was the truth. She still couldn't find the right words to say, so the green eyed beauty just ran towards Dinah and tackled her into a bone crushing hug.
"Whoa, Lauser! You're giving me a death grip!"
"S-sorry.." Lauren let go of Dinah slowly and a thought hit her. "I'm so sorry! I must have dirtied your clothes! I'm so dumb-"
"Don't you ever call yourself dumb!!" Dinah suddenly shouted. "If you want to give me a hug don't hesitate because you think you'll dirty my clothes!"
Lauren was taken aback again with Dinah's words. Not once has anyone ever said that to her. "I-I don't know what to say..."
"You don't have to say anything. Lauren even if you're homeless I don't and will not look down upon you. I will treat you like any other person, fair and equal."
Lauren looked at Dinah with her kind, green emerald eyes. "I'm glad I met you and Camila."
Dinah smiled. "Same for the both of us... but now let's get talkin about that crush you got on Waltz..."
*End of Flashback*
"You never told me that you visited Lauren without me." Camila raised an eyebrow.
"It was meant to help Lauren with this whole love business." Dinah continued.
"Okay, so lemme just get everything straight... Lauren likes me? Right?"
Dinah nodded. "Yep, no doubt about it."
Camila internally screamed and jumped for joy. "Let's visit her now!!"
"Dawg, you gotta chill," Dinah stood up from the bed to fetch her keys. "Okay now we can go."
Camila quickly followed Dinah down the stairs and out the door. The car ride was silent. The Latina was becoming nervous with every passing second they got closer to Burger King. As Dinah parked her car, they both got out and headed to the alley. It became a habit for the both of them now.
But what they saw once they got there was something they never would have expected.
** WARNING STARTS NOW **
Lauren was being beaten up by four girls about their age of 18. She was lying on the ground covering her head with her arms. It was Lauren's only protection. The green eyed beauty seemed so defenseless against her attackers that something inside Camila was triggered.
"Hey!! What the fuck do you think you're doing to her!" The brunette shouted at the girls. The teenagers stopped their assaults and looked at Camila.
"Waltz..." Dinah put a hand on one of Camila's shoulders to calm her. The brunette instantly shook it off and walked towards the commotion.
"Yeah, you heard what I said!! Back off from her right now!!"
The highschool girl with strong perfume let go of Lauren and approached the smaller Latina. "What'd you say bitch? You askin' for a fight with us??"
Camila intensely looked into the eyes of the girl in front of her. She was of course scared, but wouldn't dare show it.
Lauren struggled to watch this all unfold from the ground. She laid there unmoving and couldn't feel a thing. Her surroundings were spinning and blood was trickling down from the sides of her head. Every part of her was numb. Lauren knew that plenty of bruises would be visible tomorrow, if she even survived to see the next day.
"Look here, I am NOT looking for a fight. But if you don't stop what your doing to my friend... you'll see a side of me you'll regret ever witnessing." Camila uttered furiously.
I feel like I've seen these girls before... but where I can't seem to remember...
"You're friend?? She's fucking homeless! Why do you even care for this trash? We're actually doing you a favor and throwing it out for you!" Another girl with huge loop earrings approached Camila.
"Don't even think of stepping one feet closer to me... " The Latina was losing her temper with these girls. The only thing holding her back were her clenched fists. "And she is NOT trash!"
"Yes. She. IS."
In that instant, Camila didn't think twice of pushing the girl with strong perfume down. It was enough for her to fall back landing on the wet hard ground.
"What the fuck! I just bought this new outfit! You'll pay for this!! Girls, get her!!!" The girl on the ground called for her back up.
Camila was so ready until Dinah came in front of her.
"Don't even think about it..." Dinah looked at the three girls that surrounded Lauren with menacing eyes, cracking her knuckles. "I can show you what it feels like to get a Poly beatdown. And trust me, you're not gonna like it."
Instantly the girls stopped in their tracks. They looked at each other with frightful expressions on their faces.
"Why'd you stop!? Go!!!" the girl on the ground commanded again.
Without anyone realizing, Lauren was on her feet again. She was slowly approaching the three distracted girls from behind. When she got at a close enough range, Lauren used the strength she had left to kick all three girls.
With that, they all fell face first in a puddle that splashed their "leader" as well.
"Nooo! This can't be happening right now!!" The the first girl who Camila pushed stood up wiping the dirty water from her face. Then she walked back to Lauren. "You did this brat!!" She grabbed Lauren's hair roughly and dragged her back down ramming the green eyed girl's head onto the ground.
** END OF WARNING **
"NOOO!!!" Camila ran towards them with tears streaming down her eyes now. "That's enough, please!!!"
Dinah rushed over too. This time she pulled the girl by her hair imitating the same exact action she did to Lauren. Instead of the head smash the Polynesian wanted to do, Dinah just kicked the girl back down to where her group was in the puddle. This time she stood down for good.
"Lauren, can you hear me!! It's Camila!!" the Latina held onto Lauren's face to keep her focused.
"I-I can see the light... it's s-so beautiful.." the green eyed beauty said in a dazed tone and then blanked out.
"Nuhh uhh, Lauser not yet! Nope, you can't see that light... you ain't ready to go!" Dinah quickly took Lauren and scooped her up bridal style. "We're taking her to Miami Hospital! I ain't letting your lover die before you guys become a couple!!"
Camila just smiled wiping her tears.
Rushing back to the car, both of them didn't even think twice on leaving those girls in the alley.
Once out of sight the group of girls slowly got up.
"You'll regret doing this to us... Camila."
[<<<$$$>>>]
In the hospital, Camila and Dinah were pacing back and forth for half an hour in the waiting lounge.
Why did this happen? Who were those girls!? I swear I've seen them before...
Camila had so much going on in her head. Her eyes were swollen from crying. The brunette didn't know whether her heart hurt phyiscally, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, figuratively, or intellectually. If it was even possible, it could've been all of the above.
Lauren didn't deserve any of this...
Just then, a middle aged man walked in. "I'm Doctor Hernandez, are you Dinah and Camila?"
"Yes!!" They yelled at the same time.
"How is she?" Camila quickly asked.
"Is she okay?" Dinah added.
The doctor smiled. "Ladies calm down. She will be okay, but Lauren did lose a lot of blood and had a major concussion. Theres really bad injuries on other parts of body too. She will need to stay here for the mean time to heal."
Both of them exhaled out of relief.
"May we see her?" Camila spoke almost inaudibly.
"Yes you can. Lauren hasn't woken up yet, but try talking to her. She might hear you." Doctor Hernandez explained.
"I'm Dinah, thank you so much doc." The Polynesian girl smiled shaking hands with the older man.
"It's no problem at all," he looked at the brunette now. "You must be Camila then?"
The Latina nodded. "Why?.."
"Lauren keeps saying you're name unconsciously. I'm guessing you two are close?"
Dinah and Camila looked at each other.
"Y-yeah we somewhat are..."
"Then I won't keep you two waiting any longer." Dr. Hernandez told them Lauren's room number and took his leave.
The two best friends looked for Room L27. Arriving to their destination, Dinah knocked and opened the door quietly.
The nurse smiled at them when they entered. Then the kind lady walked out to leave them some privacy with Lauren.
Once they got closer, both girls finally saw how the green eyed beauty looked on the bed.
Lauren was connected to tubes on both arms and her mouth. She had bandages on her head and arms as well. There seemed to be more but aren't visible due to the blanket.
Camila wanted to cry again, but she took a deep breath to stop herself. All she wanted were those beautiful green eyes to open and look at her again.
Sensing Camila's uneasiness, Dinah put a hand on her shoulder just like what she did in the alley. This time the brunette didn't shake it off, but instead put her own hand on top of it.
"Go on... talk to Lauren. She's probably waiting to hear your voice." Dinah whispered.
Camila did as she was told. Pulling up a chair next to Lauren's bed, the brunette spoke. "Hey Lauren... it's me Camila. I'm here for you. So w-wake up as-" She couldn't take it, tears started to fill her eyes. "...as soon as possible." The smaller Latina grabbed Lauren's hand and intertwined theirs together.
Please...
Camila stayed in the same position for another hour. At that time, Dinah sat next to her comforting the brunette.
When the nurse came back to check up on Lauren, they said their goodbyes and headed to Dinah's place again.
Both of them were silent until they got back.
"DJ, why did those girls mess with Lauren?" Camila suddenly asked while closing the car door.
"There's always those types of people that will test you. Life is like that. All we can do is try to fight that obstacle and move forward." Dinah unlocked the door to her house.
Her best friend was right. Before you realize it, life randomly throws bombs on your path. It's either you think before the timer goes off or do something reckless because you over think it.
Fuck reality and it's messed up ways.
Nothing's going to change Camila's mind on what she already knew though...
Lauren is someone important in her life now. Nothing or nobody can alter that...
...Or so she thought.
== ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ ==
A/N: There's still so much I have planned for this fanfic!
All I'm gonna say is to expect the unexpected from me.
Thanks for reading, voting, and commenting on this story. Stay tuned for more!
Be Unique. Always.
~ Lorraine :)
Tumblr: officially-uniquee89