It has been a few weeks since Camila had told you everything about her family and her past. At first you were shocked when she said she actually wanted to not only attend her family get together, but she wanted you to go with her. You questioned her at first as to why she would want to go to that. She informed you that she finally feels ready to face her family, whether it's to tell them to fuck off to their faces or to try to forgive them, she isn't exactly sure yet. Plus, she does have some family members that she misses dearly, for instance her cousins Ally Brooke Hernandez and Selena Gomez. (A/n let's just pretend they're related. If you don't like it, you should know what to do by now.) Unfortunately for Camila, when she had cut ties with her immediate family, that meant she had to disconnect not only from them, but with her entire family, whom she was very close to. Ally and Selena had not only been Camila's cousins growing up, but they were also friends and almost older sisters to her so it was very difficult for her to lose them. You know that the reunion is going to be anything but easy for Camila and she needs all the support she can get. You tell her with zero hesitance that you will go with her.
*Day Of The Reunion*
The day that you have been feeling slightly anxious about has finally arrived. It is Friday and the reunion lasts through Sunday. You and Camila plan to sleep in her old room unless things go wrong of course, then you'll stay in a hotel or just go back home. You have approximately an hour long drive to Camila's parent's house. Throughout the drive, you can tell Camila's anxiety is gradually increasing. She's extremely nervous, which she has every right to be. You try to comfort her by having nice, light, and random conversations. You go from telling her what's been happening at work recently to this one time you accidentally tripped and knocked over an entire row of baked goods down at a grocery store which resulted in you getting yelled at by the manager. You feel special when she laughs, even if it is just over a stupid little story. When an hour passes and you finally arrive at the family's house, Camila begins to panic,
"You know maybe this wasn't the best idea? Maybe I'm not ready? Oh fuck, I'm definitely not ready! What in the hell made me think I was ready? Let's just go back home and take a nap!" you almost laugh at how fast she has just said everything and at the current look on her face but you restrain yourself,
"Baby," you grab her hand and start tracing small shapes, knowing it calms her down, "I know you're nervous, I'm kind of nervous too. But you need to do this. It's time for you to move on from your past and the only way you'll be able to do that is to face it. Plus, I think it's time for me to meet all of your great family members like Ally and Selena. I deserve to hear some of your embarrassing childhood stories too!" She playfully hits your shoulder and let's out a small laugh, "And I promise C, I won't let anyone hurt you. If anyone tries anything, I will personally unleash the wrath of Finah Jane and I put together!" She lets out an even bigger laugh this time and you know you've successfully completed your job of calming her down, "You can do this, Love. We can do this," She smiles and gives you a sweet kiss,
"Thank you so much Babe. You're right, we can do this! Let's go," You both exit the car, link hands, and walk towards the front door.
Within a few seconds of ringing the doorbell, the door opens revealing a pretty girl who looks to be in her mid-twenties, five feet tall, has dirty-blonde hair, and tan skin.
"Oh my gosh! Mila!" The girl shouts out which kind of startles you considering you're literally all standing right next to each other. Camila quickly let's go of your hand and practically runs into the girl's arms,
"Allycat!" They hold each other for ten seconds or so before pulling back,
"Mila, I'm so happy to see you! They told me you might come but I honestly didn't think you would. I've missed you so much,"
"Als, I've missed you so much too. I'm so sorry for not contacting you these past years. Just with everything that happened, I didn't think I could really talk to you," You can see Camila genuinely feels bad for not talking to Ally by the way she sounds and looks at the ground,
"Don't worry about it CC. (A/n let's pretend that's a nick name for her. K thanks.) I completely understand, you did what you had to do. I'm just glad you're here now. And who's this?" Ally looks in your direction,
"This is my girlfriend, Y/N Y/LN. Y/N, this is Ally," You decide it's time to speak,
"Hi Ally. It's great to meet you. I've heard great things about you,"
"It's great to meet you too, Y/N. I've only been around you for a few minutes but I can already tell my cousin here is head-over-heels for you," You're confused as to how Ally would know that. You look to Camila for help,
"Ally always has been really great at reading people. Especially me," You redirect your attention back towards Ally,
"Well Ally, I can't exactly speak for Cami, but I can definitely say that I am head-over-heels for her,"
"Aww. You got yourself a keeper here CC. Let's go inside shall we?"
As you enter the house, you notice it is very nice. It is quite large and clean. It still gives off a nice, welcoming vibe to you though. You follow Ally and Camila into the living room and see what looks to be, a married couple, sitting on the couch watching tv. From Camila's posture and facial expression, she looks to be comfortable around them. The couple looks away from the television and their faces instantly brighten when they see Camila,
"CC! Look at you all grown up!" The man shouts out and he and the woman stand up and rush towards Camila. What is it with this family yelling within such close proximities to one another?
"Uncle George and Aunt Claire! It's so nice to see you both!" (A/n for all the parents I'm just going to make up names. You know what to do if you don't like it.)
"We've missed you so much Camila. We're so happy you're here!" Aunt Claire says with a smile on her face,
"I've missed you both too,"
"Who's this pretty girl standing next to you?" Aunt Claire asks,
"This is my wonderful girlfriend, Y/N. Y/N, these are George and Claire Hernandez, Ally's parents,"
"Mr and Mrs Hernandez, it's great to meet you," you say kindly,
"It's great to meet you too, Sweetheart. Please feel free to call us George and Claire," George says with a smile on his face. You're glad Camila's family has been completely nice and welcoming so far. Ally decides to get involved with the conversation,
"Well, we're the only people here right now. Mila, why don't you go give Y/N a little house tour?"
"Ya, that's a good idea," Camila says while sticking her hand out towards you, "Is that ok with you?"
"Of course," you say while grabbing her hand and sending a smile towards the Hernandez family, silently telling them goodbye for now.
After walking around Camila's entire house for twenty minutes, you finally end up in her bedroom which is where you'll be sleeping the next few nights. Upon entering her room, you notice how empty and sad it looks. You can tell that that's exactly how Camila had left it, meaning nobody had touched it in years,
"Welcome to my humble abode," Camila says rather softly. You scan her face to see how she's feeling. Even though she has a small smile on her face, her eyes contain a bit of sadness,
"I promise it hasn't always looked this depressing," she says, reading your thoughts, "I took everything with me when I left. It used to have pictures, journals, books, awards, my guitar, and of course my One Direction posters," You let a laugh out, from the stories she has shared, you have always found it to be quite funny and amusing how big of a Directioner she once was, "this was my safe place. When we had the falling out, I didn't feel comfortable around my family. The only place I could really go to and be away from them was here. My favorite thing about my room is the view though actually," Whilst looking at Camila's room, you had failed to realize that she has quite a large window which actually does have a really nice view, out looking her neighborhood, "when I was younger, I thought that I could see the entire town from here. As I got older, I didn't really pay much attention to the town, but to what was up above it. Throughout high school, I would climb out of the window and go sit on the roof at night and just stare at the moon and stars. As you know, I've always been really fascinated with astronomy. I'll take you up to the roof one of these nights. It's really amazing,"
"Yeah, that sounds great," you respond back. You love that your girlfriend is continuing to open up to you. You can't wait to learn more and more about her. You look at Camila and see she's practically staring at your lips. You both lean in at the same time. What once started off as a gentle, sweet kiss, suddenly turns into a heated make-out session. Before anything can be taken too far, you hear a knock on the door. You both pull away and slightly readjust your clothing. You inwardly grown as Camila stands up and walks over to the door. As soon as she opens the door, you see Ally, who if you're reading correctly, has a slight hint of nervousness on her face,
"CC, your parents are here."
As you're walking down the steps and heading towards the kitchen, you're scared. You know that this is absolutely terrifying for Camila though, so you need to be strong for her. You're holding her hand, softly rubbing it, and as you draw closer to the kitchen, her grip continues to tighten. You're not sure how everything is going to work out. For your girlfriend's sake, you hope it goes as well as it possibly can. Of course, you being you, can't stop your brain from imagining the absolute worst though. Before entering the kitchen, Ally sends a small smile directed towards Camila, as if saying, 'No worries, we've got you,' without actually having to utter a word.
When you enter the kitchen, you see the Hernandez parents, plus two new people. You quickly recognize that they must be Camila's dad and step-mom. At first glance, they just look to be an ordinary, nice couple. You remind yourself that they treated the love of your life like garbage, and you can't help but to have at least a little bit of a hateful feeling directed towards them. Camila is staring at her parents, her parents are staring right back at her, almost as if they were to look away for a split second, she'd disappear. Everybody else is completely silent, not knowing what to do exactly. You hate this awkward, silent tension, but it's not like you can do anything about it. After what feels like an eternity, Camila's dad speaks,
"Camila...You came," he didn't say much, but you can instantly tell he's shocked, happy, and relieved. You have absolutely no idea what Camila is planning on saying to him. You do all you can do in this moment for her by holding her hand,
"Ya... I think it's finally time to hear what you have to say," she responds with a straight face. You can tell she's trying her hardest to not let any emotion seep through her facade,
"Ok. Well let me start by saying we're sorry. So, so sorry Camila. We were terrible parents to you and you didn't deserve any of it. We should've listened to you, respected you, encouraged you, and supported you. We both loved you so much Mija, we were just really bad at showing it. We thought that if we pushed you to be competitive that that would better you and help you in the future, but clearly that wasn't right. It was absolute torture for all of us the day you left but it also helped us to realize just how bad we were to you. If I could, I would take back everything that we did to you but unfortunately I can't. What I can do though is promise to treat you better now. I don't expect you to forgive us now, but I'm really hoping that you'll give us a chance to prove to you how much we love you. Please, Mila?" Everyone in the room by this point has tears in their eyes. You can tell that he's being genuine about everything he had just said,
"Ok Dad. I don't forgive either of you, yet, but I appreciate your apology and I promise that I will try to work on forgiving you," After she says this, you let go of Camila's hand because her dad and step-mom both step forward to hug her. Kind of surprisingly to you, Camila reciprocates the hug. Even though Camila would deny it if you were to ask her ten minutes ago, she had missed both of her parents, a lot. Camila's step-mom speaks for herself for the first time,
"CC, we've missed you so much. Everything your dad said goes for me too, but I'd also like to add that I failed you. I promised you when you were six that I would never replace your mom but that I'd always be there for you whenever you needed me. I'm so sorry I didn't live up to that, but I'm here now saying it again. I promise to actually be here for you, no matter what, this time. I love you Honey and I'm so glad you're here," Camila hugs her with a smile on her face. You can't seem to stop smiling, you're just so happy for your girlfriend. She deserves this,
"Mila, who's this?" Camila's dad asks,
"My girlfriend, Y/N," before you can say anything, Camila's dad responds back instantly,
"Does she make you happy?"
"The happiest," Camila's parents turn directly towards you after she says that,
"Hi Y/N, I'm Kyle and this is my wife Anna. Thank you for making our little girl happy," He says with a grateful smile on his face. Even though they both seem nice, you can't help but feel nervous. This is your first time meeting her parents after all,
"No problem, Sir. I can honestly say she makes me the happiest too,"
"Well that's good to hear," Anna says with a smile,
"Keep making her happy. Or else..." Kyle responds with a straight face. This scares you a bit so you nod your head rather quickly. The Hernandez's, who have just witnessed this entire encounter, all start laughing,
"Kyle! Quit scaring the poor kid and let's all go to the backyard where everything's set up!" George yells, which you have now determined is his normal speaking volume. Everyone heads toward the door which leads to the backyard. When Camila is about to walk forward, you grab her hand and lightly pull her back towards you. Before she can question you, you lean in and give her a small, sweet kiss,
"I'm so proud of you Baby," With that, you grab her hand and walk towards the door, both of you wearing huge smiles.
The backyard is nicely set up. There're tables which are filled with lots of food, an ice chest filled with many drinks, chairs, a big barbecue pit, a pool, a basketball hoop, a green lawn, and lights that are hanging all around. Everybody seems to be having a nice time catching up with their family, meanwhile you are getting to learn a lot about Camila and her family, which is something you were never sure you were ever going to have the privilege of doing. As for Camila, she seems to be extremely happy. This is way better then what you could have ever imagined. The party is still missing a few people though. Selena and her family and Camila's step-sister and her friends are going to be what the family refers to as, 'fashionably late.' You can tell Camila is excited to see Selena and she's nervous to see her step-sister. You're pretty curious as to who they are, but you predict that they'll both probably be great, just like the rest of the family. Fifteen minutes or so pass, and you see two girls, a woman, and a man walk through the door. As soon as Camila and Ally see one girl in particular walk up, they both jump up quickly,
"Sel!" They both yell at the same time while running in the girl's direction. The three girls practically collide and start hugging each other,
"Dios Mío! Karla fucking Camila Cabello! Is that you in the flesh?" Selena yells out,
"Selena Marie! Language," The woman, who you now assume to be Selena's mom, scolds her,
"Sorry Ma!" Selena responds, not really paying attention due to the fact that she's so focused on Camila and Ally. You decide to join the group after leaving them alone for a few minutes. You walk up silently and stand next to Camila,
"So you're the girlfriend right?" Selena asks you. You assume that that's one of the topics that they were talking about in the short time that they've been huddled together,
"Yep. And you're the cool cousin right?"
"The coolest cousin in the fucking world. I like her already C! I'm gonna inform you all about your beloved here," You both smirk at each other, meanwhile Camila's using one hand to hold your hand and the other to flip Selena off.
As the four of you continue to talk, you are the only one to notice that the other guest who had walked in with Selena was walking towards your circle. She's a sexy girl with long, brown hair, brown eyes, tan skin, and looks to be a bit older than you and Camila. You decide to speak up,
"And who's this?" The girls stop their conversation and look up to see who you're talking about. You look at Camila, who hadn't seemed to notice the girl arrive with Selena before. If you didn't know Camila so well, you wouldn't have been able to detect the flash of panic that had filled her eyes for a mere second at her first glance at this girl,
"Oh shit. I'm sorry, I kinda forgot about you..." Selena says to the girl, "Y/N, this is Ariana Grande, my main hoe. Ari, this is Camila's bitch, Y/N," The girl, Ariana, has a look in her eyes that you couldn't quite recognize, but you don't really like it,
"Nice to meet you," she says with what looks to be a fake smile plastered on her face. You don't know her though so it's not fair to judge that fast, "Ally, Mila, great to see you again ladies," although she says Ally's name, she's really only looking at Camila,
"You all know each other?" You decide to butt in, not really digging the vibes Ariana's sending to Camila,
"Oh yea. I've been friends with Sel since diapers. That means I've known the entire fam for a long time. I used to be, close, with your girlfriend, before she just up and left," she responds with a bit of what you would call, bitterness, to the end of her statement. The way she says 'close' creeps you out. What does that even mean? You look at Camila and can clearly see she's uncomfortable,
"Well, it's been a great chat but Y/N/N and I are going to go get our feet wet. Bye," Camila says rather quickly while grabbing your hand. Her behavior is strange but you don't blame her. Ariana and her seem to have a strange history of some sort. You politely wave while walking away from the girls. Camila leads you over to the pool. You both take your shoes off and sit down on the outside edge so your feet can touch the water. You know you're going to have to ask about Ariana eventually, but for now you're not worried about it. You wrap your arm around her as she rests her head on your shoulder.
"Thank you," she says,
"For what?"
"For being here,"
"Of course. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Thanks for having me." She leans her head up and kisses you. The kiss lasts only a few seconds considering you're around all of her family, but it was still perfect, nonetheless. After that, you two sit in a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's presence. But of course, all good things must come to an end. You both eventually decide to get up and head back over to where her family is at. As soon as you approach, you notice three new figures whose backs are facing you, two females and one male from the looks of it. You guess that one of them must be Camila's 'fashionably late' step-sister and the other two her friends. As soon as someone notices you and Camila have reappeared, this person being Anna, they instantly make your presence known,
"Well, how nice of you love birds to join us again. We were just talking about you two actually," When Anna says this, the three figures turn around to look at you and Camila.
The first thing you see is green.
A/n: Whoop there it is... Chapter 5- complete! Zayumm... Hope you liked it! Q: can you guess what the green object is?;)
~L<3