After a long night of holding and watching your peacefully sleeping girlfriend, you finally feel her begin to stir at 9:30 AM. You see her open her eyes and cutely yawn while stretching. She looks over at you and smiles once her eyes meet yours,
"Morning Beautiful. How'd you sleep?" You ask her,
"Great. How about you?"
"Pretty good," you lie with a small, fake smile plastered on your face. Unfortunately, you can't exactly be honest with her. If you were, you would have to say something like,
'I didn't sleep at all because I was too busy thinking of all of the ways you could find out about me and your fricking model status step-sister having a drunken hook-up right after we broke up.' Yeah... Not the easiest thing to admit.
"Well that's good because we have a long day ahead of us," Camila replies with a smile on her face.
Fucking fantastic,
"Oh ya... What are we doing exactly?"
"Well, we're going to get ready and have breakfast with everyone. Then we'll split up. You, me, Sel, Ally, Lo, Zayn, Mani, and Ariana," she says the last name with a slight hint of distaste, which reminds you to question her soon about her past with the girl, "we'll all go do something fun, meanwhile the parents will go do whatever they consider 'fun'," she says with a sarcastic voice while adding quotations, making you slightly laugh, "and then we'll all meet up again at the house and maybe go out to dinner,"
"Ok. Sounds good,"
For the most part...
"Oh wait! I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you... We have a special addition to the group... Drum roll please!" You roll your eyes but begin to make noises with your mouth anyways, going along with her silliness,
"Miss Dinah Jane Hansen will be accompanying us for the rest of the weekend!"
"Wait... Seriously?!"
"Ya! I decided it was finally time for me to be honest with her also about the whole family situation. I told her everything last week and the first thing she said was that she needs to meet them to see if, 'they're worthy of being graced by her Walz's presence,'" she attempts to imitate Dinah while adding an eye roll at the end yet continuing to smile. Not that you'd ever want to in the first place, but if you were to hurt Camila in any way, you know you'd have to run far, far away as fast as possible. Dinah would kill you, or anyone for that matter, if they hurt Camila. She's what you would call an overprotective best friend, which you greatly appreciate for Camila's sake.
"Well that's awesome. I can't wait to see her," you say actually telling the truth for what feels like the first time in a while. The more people to separate you and Green Eyes, the better.
"She's excited to see you too. We wanted to keep it a surprise but I think I've waited long enough to tell you, right?" You slightly nod your head and smile, "well we better get our butts up and start getting ready," she says while starting to stand up. Before she can begin walking to the bathroom, you grab her arm and swiftly pull her on top of you for a kiss. As soon as the kiss breaks due to smiling, she questions you,
"What was that for?"
"Because you're cute... And I love you a lot," you answer with a smile. You notice a blush form on her cheeks and she buries her face into the crook of your neck. It delights you to know that even after a few years, you can still make her blush with just a small act like that. She moves her head and kisses you again,
"I love you a lot more," before you can argue, she's up and running to the bathroom.
45 minutes later and you are both ready to go downstairs. You hold the door open for Camila and she gives you a small peck on the cheek before exiting the room. As you near the kitchen hand-in-hand, you can smell the delicious food wafting from the kitchen. When you enter the kitchen, you see the majority of the family either sitting at the table talking or preparing the food. You notice that the only people who are missing are Lauren, Normani, and Zayn.
Of course they're late,
"Morning you two," Kyle says, who is currently grabbing cups out of the cupboard,
"Morning Dad," Camila responds with a smile,
"CC, I don't think I've ever seen you so chipper in the morning before," Selena says with a smirk on her face,
"Oh my gosh! Remember that one time when she punched Laur for waking her up 'too early'," Ally says,
"Hey! It wasn't that bad..." Camila rebukes while looking at the floor, ashamed,
"She had a black eye!" Anna says while laughing. By this point everyone is laughing, including yourself, but you're rubbing Camila's back, signifying everyone is just joking with her. Camila stops frowning and begins to laugh as well,
"Well at least I taught her to let me sleep!" She says jokingly, "speaking of the devil, where are her and her minions anyway?"
"Fashionably late, as always," Ariana speaks for the first time. Camila and her make eye contact for a split second before Camila quickly looks away and occupies herself by walking further into the kitchen to grab a banana,
Weird... As soon as Ariana says this, you hear someone enter the kitchen,
"Not us!" Normani says sassily with a tired looking Zayn standing next to her,
"Great of you two to join us. Where's Lauren?" Anna asks,
"Taking her sweet time getting ready. You know her... Perfection takes time," Normani responds,
"Not with her. She usually just jumps out of bed and wears her pajamas around all day," Camila says,
"Well maybe she's trying to impress someone..." Zayn speaks up while subtly looking at you. This increases your nerves a little. Maybe you do need to have that talk with him and Normani,
"Hey! Leave Lolo alone. She always looks great, no matter what," Ally says,
"Thank you my favorite cousin," Lauren says while entering the room, looking gorgeous,
"Nice timing Laur, food's ready everybody!" George yells.
After eating the delicious meal and cleaning it up, everyone gathers together in the living room,
"Ok kids," Kyle says, "we're going to go to the country club for a while. Where are you guys going to go to?"
"We're not too sure yet," Ally replies,
"Maybe the mall or somewhere like that?" Camila suggests,
"Damn... I was really hoping we'd end up at a strip club," Selena jokes,
"Ya... She's definitely not mine," Selena's dad, who's name is John, jokes,
"Well wherever you end up, have fun and be safe please," Anna says, focusing on Lauren and Camila,
"We will," Lauren says back to her mom. You're trying your hardest to not pay attention to her whatsoever, knowing that if you do you'll get sucked in,
"When's Dinah supposed to get here?" You ask Camila,
"Soon," she responds,
"Who's Dinah?" Normani asks, having heard your conversation,
"One of our best friends," you inform her, "I think you'll really like her, she's great,"
"I'm sure I will," Normani says with a smile,
"Well we better get going," Ally says. Before anyone can move, you hear the doorbell ring. You and Camila both rush to the door, knowing exactly who it is. Everyone else follows behind, curiously. After practically racing to the door, Camila barely beats you. Once she reaches the door, she yanks it open and jumps into Dinah's expecting arms,
I swear they must have linked brains,
"China!" Camila yells,
"Walz!" Dinah responds with the same enthusiasm. Once she sets Camila down, you're instantly pulled into a tight hug,
"Y/N/N!"
"Finah!" After you speak, you feel a hand slap the back of your head. You realize Dinah had just hit you,
"Ouch! D, what the hell?"
"That's for what you put me through a few weeks ago," she says, brown eyes burning into Y/E/C. At first you're confused as to what she's talking about, but then you remember that Dinah was sort of involved with the whole break up fiasco,
"Oh yeah... Sorry about that," you genuinely say,
"It's okay. Don't let it happen again though, kay?" You instantly nod your head and she lets go of you. You turn around and see the entire family looking at you, Dinah, and Camila. Camila decides to begin the introduction,
"Everyone, this is one of our best friends, Dinah Jane Hansen. I met her in college and she's been here for me ever since. China, this is my family," Camila begins to introduce Dinah to everyone individually. She seems to be getting along with everyone quite nicely. Of course she's a bit cautious around Kyle, Anna, and Lauren, but once she talks to them she becomes much more comfortable. You notice that her and Normani have taken a fast liking to each other, just as you had predicted,
"Well, I hate to be the one to say it, but can we please go now?" Zayn asks,
"Where are we going?" Dinah questions,
"First, the mall," Lauren answers,
"Let's go then," Selena says.
After a twenty minute drive of listening to Camila and Dinah practically scream out every song that's played on the radio, you arrive at the mall. You exit the car and walk up, holding Camila's hand. You three meet the rest of the group at the front of the mall.
"So where to?" Normani asks,
"Well I don't know about all of you, but we're shopping," Selena says motioning to herself and Ariana. Normani, Ally, and Dinah agree, Zayn and Lauren say that they're going to just look around, and you and Camila are undecided,
"Come on, Mila. You know you want to do a little shopping with me," Ariana says while walking up to your girlfriend and slightly tugging her arm in an attempt to get her to go with her. Instead of moving forward, Camila takes three steps back from Ariana. You and Lauren seem to be the only people who notice the strange interaction. You send Lauren a look that says, 'Wtf? Explain please?' she just slightly rolls her eyes at Ariana behavior and shakes her head to practically tell you it's not her spot to say, them she looks away,
Ok... Now I'm really curious,
"Actually, Babe, do you think you can take me to that store you said I'd really like?" You say, trying to come up with a valid excuse as to why you can't stay with the group. In reality, you just want to talk to Camila about Ariana. Camila seems to understand and appreciate what you're trying to do,
"Oh yea! Of course. Let's go now," before you can walk away, Selena and her uncensored mouth speaks,
"Just out of curiosity, what store would that be? Victoria's Secret maybe? Are you gonna put on a little show for her, CC?" You and Camila both begin to blush and look at the ground. You can somehow feel the green eyes looking at you once again, but you refuse to look up and acknowledge her,
"Ooh I like you. Someone is finally able to embarrass Y/C/S/N (yours and Camila's ship name) as well as me. Are you by chance the prankster of the family?" Dinah asks with a smirk,
"Of course I fucking am," Selena responds with pride in her voice,
"Fantastic..." Dinah says with a devious tone,
"Well let's meet back here in an hour ok?" Camila says. Before anyone can respond, your girlfriend is already dragging you away.
After walking for five or so minutes with Camila, you end up sitting at a table in a small, relatively empty coffee shop, sipping on an iced tea,
"Thank you," she says, breaking the silence,
"For what?"
"For getting me out of there,"
"Well you might not want to thank me quite yet..." You say uneasily, knowing this might upset her,
"And why's that?"
"We need to talk,"
"About what?"
"Ariana," you notice she has this look in her eyes, almost like she was expecting you to bring her up,
"What about her?"
"Your past maybe? I'm not really too sure... I guess just whatever you think is important,"
"Ok. Well before I start, I'd just like to say that no one knows anything about me and her except Lauren, and I'd really like to keep it that way," she says with a nervous tone,
"Of course. You know I'd never tell anyone anything too much right?"
"Ya... I'm just kind of scared I guess,"
"Well you don't have to be, Cami. It's just me,"
"You're right... Ok so growing up, I always had a slight crush on Ariana. She's older than us by a few years but she's always been really pretty and she was the only friend of Sel's that was nice and actually acknowledged me. In the beginning, she would just do little things like say hi or smile at me, those small actions made me so happy though. Then as we got older, she would hug me and have secret conversations with me when she would come over and I loved it. I now know that I didn't love her, hell, I don't think I even really liked her that much, but I loved the attention she gave me.
About a year into the fall out with my parents and Lauren, when I was really struggling, she was supposed to be sleeping in Lauren's room. She ended up sneaking into my room at like one in the morning. She told me she could hear me crying through the wall and she wanted to see if I was ok. I was honest and told her I wasn't and she said she could make me feel better. She ended up kissing me which was the start of our 'relationship'.
We ended up 'dating' for almost three years in total secrecy. I thought I was head-over-heels in love with her and she told me she was too. She was my first for quite a few things and she was able to distract me from some of the shit that was happening with my family. The 'relationship' was far from perfect though. I wanted to tell the entire world that we were dating, but she said we couldn't. She claimed it was because of the age difference, but in all reality, it was because she was afraid of getting made fun of for dating me I think. It also would've been a little weird considering I'm her best friend's cousin. Not only did I have to be a secret, but I also had to be exclusive, meanwhile she wasn't. She dated multiple guys and girls while we were dating. Whenever I talked to somebody else or tried to move on from her, she would get furious and either yell at me, or ignore me for a week or so. It was absolutely toxic but I was completely engrossed with it.
One summer night approaching my senior year, we were upstairs in my room making-out and Lauren walked in. I tried to calm Ariana down by telling her it's only Lauren, she doesn't give a fuck, but she still freaked out and left. I was pissed off and stormed into Lauren's room, planning on telling her off. Instead of yelling at her, I somehow ended up telling her about the entire situation. She was really surprised and sad for me. She told me I needed to cut it off with Ari, that it was extremely fucked up and that I deserved to be treated better. At first I was completely taken back and angry when she said that, but eventually it hit me that she was 100% right.
A few months more of having to deal with Ariana's shit and I was finally done. The last straw for me was when I walked in on her having a threesome with two random guys at her house. I knew she was going to be pissed when I broke it off with her, so I decided that sending her a text was the best option. The text read something like, 'I'm sorry but I think it'd be best if we went our separate ways. We clearly want different things right now. I wish the best for you, you deserve to be happy.' I thought it was nice, short, and sweet. She didn't think the same way though.
I was alone at the house, probably reading and listening to music when she showed up, which was about twenty minutes after I had sent the text. It kind of surprised me that she would show up, especially that early, but before I had opened the door, I figured she maybe wanted to apologize and work it out or get her stuff that she had left or something like that. As soon as I opened the door, she shoved me inside and pushed me up against the wall. She started yelling at me, I can't remember exactly what was said, but it mainly consisted of name calling and cuss words. I tried to calm her down by talking rationally, but she wasn't having it. I think she wanted to make me mad so I would fight back. I refused to though, and this made her even more angry. She ended up punching me in the face and kicking me multiple times. I was terrified for my life at some points.
Miraculously, Lauren ended up walking in when Ariana was still beating the living hell out of me. She was able to pry her off of me and throw her out of the house. She had to drive me to the hospital. Turns out Ari severely bruised three of my ribs, gave me a concussion, and left behind a lot of nasty cuts and bruises. I had to beg Lauren to not tell our parents or the cops the truth. I came up with the classic, 'I was mugged by the man in the mask,' excuse. However strange it might sound, I didn't want to tell on Ariana. I was afraid of her and didn't want to associate myself with her whatsoever.
The problem was, she refused to leave me alone. Text messages, calls, emails, packages, showing up at the house, she just wouldn't stop. I couldn't wrap my head around it all. I knew she didn't love me, and I think deep down she knew she didn't either, yet she refused to let me go. I was almost like a game to her, and she didn't want to accept defeat. Luckily, I had Lauren to protect me. Oddly enough, the girl who was my supposed 'rival' was now my body guard. She wasn't necessarily nice to me, but she watched out for me, which is more than what I had expected from her.
When it was time for college, I made sure that Ariana had no clue where I went. That was honestly part of the reason why I didn't tell my other family members of my whereabouts. They had no clue what had happened between me and Ariana and they probably would have informed her where I was if they knew. It sucked and was unfortunate, but I did what I thought I had to do at the time," she finishes while wiping the tears that had fallen from her eyes,
"Oh my gosh... I'm so sorry, Love," you softly say while reaching your hand across to help wipe her face. You're beyond angry but you know you have to remain calm for Camila, "Why don't you speak up now though? She deserves to have some sort of punishment,"
"Who would believe me?"
"Lauren and me for sure. I think all of your family would believe you, C. It might be hard for them to take it all in, but once they do, they'll believe you,"
"I don't want to bring up the past though... I mean she seems to be fine now, aside from some of her odd comments. I just don't see the point of digging up the past when it can be left alone, you know?"
"Yeah. I guess I can see where you're coming from... But I think that she deserves to be punished. I also think it might help you to feel better. You deserve justice for what she did to you. Don't you want that?"
"Of course I do... But realistically it's not going to work that way. It's only going to bring it back to life and allow it to cause more pain,"
"Ok. I support and respect anything you choose to do or not to do. Are you ok though? With being around her I mean... I can only imagine how awful it is for you to have to see and talk to her. If you're scared or feel uncomfortable, we can leave,"
"Honestly, It's terrifying. But I'm not going to let that bitch stop me from reconnecting with my family or from you getting to know them. They already love you, by the way. Plus, it makes me feel ten times better knowing that you're here to protect me from her,"
"Good," you say with a small smile. You both stand up and hug each other for a few minutes, being able to communicate, 'I love you,' with just a simple embrace,
"You ready to go meet up with everybody?" You ask her,
"Yeah... Let's go," she grabs your hand and together, you exit the coffee shop.
A/n: And there's chapter 7! Hope you enjoyed! Sorry, it was sort of a boring beginning but I thought the ending was pretty exciting. Poor Camz, I've given her such a hard life... I promise I love her tons! For those of you who are here for Lern, no worries, she'll be getting her time to shine eventually;). Well it's 4:15 AM as I'm typing this so let me just get to the question... Q: how do you feel about Ariana? Should Camila spill the tea about her or nah? Should Y/N take matters into her own hands pertaining Ariana's "punishment" or nah? K, well thanks for reading if you still are, it honestly means so much to me:)
Love Only!
~L<3