Listen while you read:
Cinematic Orchestra - To Build a Home
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Lauren wakes up tangled in her bed sheets. Green eyes look over to her right and saw Camila fast asleep as her naked body was covered with the bed sheets. She looked out the window and noticed that the sun was barely rising. Lauren rested her head back down on her pillow as she remembered the events of last night. She places her face in her hands. It's not that she regretted it, but she just wishes that she could've thought it through more. Lauren kept to her word that no one could keep a relationship steady in this world, or at least she couldn't. She looked over at the sleeping woman next to her and pushed away the strands of hair that covered her face. Lauren really didn't want to hurt Camila because she was a sweet and innocent person. Lauren just wanted the group to stay safe and that probably wouldn't happen if she was with Camila, because then she'd be solely focused on her.
Lauren made up her mind and decided not to make such a big deal out of this. With that, she got up and grabbed her clothes, quickly getting dressed. She walked out into the living room to see the guys fast asleep on the love seat cuddling one another, Ian being the big spoon. Lauren fixed the collar of her flannel and smiled as she exited her home. She walked to their car and took out her rifle before walking down the street to look for anything to catch.
A few hours later, Dinah awoke and felt Normani's arms wrapped around her. She looked out the window and saw it was quite early. She sighed as she laid back down. The Californian was unable to sleep and tried getting out of bed only to have a half asleep Normani pull her back.
Dinah couldn't hide the huge smile on her face and turned around to face her beautiful girlfriend. Normani sighed as Dinah just watched her. The relaxed features only made Normani more beautiful because she was simply flawless. Dinah ran her thumb across Normani's cheek and caressed it. She looked down at the Texan's lips and traced over them with her thumb. It was then that Normani began to wake. Her brown eyes fluttered open, and she wore a soft expression upon seeing the Californian in front of her.
"Good morning, gorgeous." Dinah said barely above a whisper.
Normani smiled and sighed, "Good morning, babe." Dinah couldn't help but giggle at the pet name Normani had given her. "Is Lauren making breakfast?"
"I don't know, I haven't checked yet."
"Come on, let's go check. I'm hungry." Normani said, giving Dinah a quick peck and getting up from the bed as she grabbed her clothes that were thrown about, getting dressed.
Dinah smiled and followed the Texan. As they neared the living room, they could hear soft giggles. Both women furrowed their eyebrows in confusion and then heard a camera going off. There, standing near the couch, were Lucy and Janel taking pictures of Ian and Calum who cuddled one another.
"You guys are messed up." Normani giggled as she held her foamy tooth brush.
"Then why aren't you stopping us?" Janel smiled.
Normani then began to slowly walk away, "Because I didn't see anything." She smiled, walking into the kitchen as she kept brushing her teeth.
"Don't show them these pictures because they'll wanna burn them." Dinah pointed as she began walking into the kitchen as well.
There she found Normani looking in the cabinets for anything. Suddenly, the door was kicked open, startling everyone and waking the boys in a panic. Lauren entered carrying a few bunnies and birds. Ian noticed he was cuddling Calum and quickly pushed him off of the couch.
"That never happened." Ian said pointing at Lucy and Janel, who giggled. He noticed the camera in Janel's hand along with the pictures in Lucy's. Ian then playfully threw Janel over his shoulders and spun her around a bit as they were in a fit of giggles.
Lauren walked into the kitchen and set the animals on the counter where she wasted no time in skinning them.
"Need help, Lo?" Dinah asked.
"Yeah, can you pluck the birds please?" Lauren said as she flashed an appreciative smile.
Dinah quickly got to it when suddenly Ally and Camila ran into the kitchen with eyes wide in worry.
"We heard a loud bang. Is everyone okay?" Ally asked, holding up her machete.
"Yeah, that was my bad. I had my hands full and kicked the door open." Lauren apologized.
"Can I help?" Camila asked tucking her bottom lip between her teeth as she eyed Lauren.
Lauren noticed the look Camila gave her and cleared her throat before looking away, "Yeah, can you help Dinah pluck and gut the birds?"
Lucy and Janel watched both girls interact strangely and glanced at one another suspiciously. They took a seat at the dining table and watched the rest of their odd behavior. Camila was obviously trying to get close to Lauren as well as being extremely touchy while Lauren kept ignoring the gestures.
"What do you think went down?" Lucy whispered to Janel.
"I don't know and I don't care to know. If something happened then they'll tell us. I'd rather not look too much into it." Janel replied, looking back at the pair. "But oh my gosh it's so obvious something happened." Lucy smiled to herself and turned back around to see the girls.
"Alright everything's done so now we turn on the stove." Lauren said.
"No electricity, Lo, remember." Dinah said.
"This is a gas stove, DJ, no electricity needed. We have a gas tank under the house." Lauren said as she turned it on.
"Does cooking oil go bad?" Normani asked, holding a bottle of it.
"Yes, Mani, so put that back."
Normani placed the cooking oil back and watched as Lauren neatly placed the food over the fire as it began to cook. Soon everyone was seated in the dining room eating the catch of the day. Everyone favored the birds more than the rabbit, but Lauren was content with whatever she got. Not long after, everyone finished and began grabbing their things to leave.
Lauren was the last one out of the door and she closed it. She looked at the door, remembering all the memories that were made behind it. She smiled and began to walk away as she was now at peace with what she found. Her family was still out there somewhere, and she was going to find them in due time. She put her rifle back into the trunk of the car and got into the driver's seat where she began to drive off. She looked in the rearview mirror and watched her childhood home get smaller and smaller.
Dinah noticed the veteran who had a bit of sadness in her eyes as she kept glancing at her rearview mirror, "You alright, Lo?" She asked, placing her hand on top of Lauren's.
"Yeah, just a little emotional about letting go, is all." Lauren said flashing a sad smile.
"Yeah, it's difficult. Just let me know if you're not okay to drive."
"No, I'm good. I gotta take care of my family anyway." She smiled.
The ride was peaceful. Dinah picked up a few of Lauren's CD's and offered to play them. Lauren smiled from ear to ear as they were all singing along to Lana Del Rey. Normani almost freaked out when she saw a Beyoncé CD, and was quick to play that one next. Lauren had never seen Dinah or Normani dance before, but seeing them attempt to do it in the car made everyone laugh hysterically. Ally and Lauren soon jumped in to dance as much as they could while Camila kept denying, saying she didn't know how to dance.
Hours had passed and they were only in Orlando, so they decided to stop there for a break as night began to roll in. They found a small city and wanted to do something other than stay in an abandoned home. Lauren drove them to a hotel that was 10 stories high. They all got out and looked up at the tall building as Lauren began to grab their things from the trunk.
"We really gonna stay here?" Calum said, looking up as he rubbed his eyes in exhaustion.
"Yeah, just because the world ended doesn't mean we can't treat ourselves." Lauren smiled walking in.
"Lauren, statistically there could be at least dozen creos on each floor a-and bats in the basement." Calum said running after the green eyed woman.
"Statistically we can take them." Ian said, receiving a fist bump from Lauren.
"You don't think she's serious, right?" Normani asked as she linked her arm with Dinah's.
"It's Lauren. Of course she's serious." Dinah said with a grin as they entered the hotel. "Stay close together! This place looks around 3,000 square feet and bats could be roaming."
Camila exited the car last as she grabbed the canteen. It was immediately taken out of her hands by Lucy and Janel who linked their arms with both of Camila's.
The Floridian looked at both women, slightly confused, "Can I help you?"
"Of course you can, now that you mention it." Janel smiled.
"We just wanna know of you and Lauren had an eventful night last night." Lucy smirked.
"You heard?" Camila asked in shock as she stopped in her tracks.
Lucy and Janel looked at one another and furrowed their eyebrows in confusion, "Yes? And we just wanna know what exactly went down." Janel said eyeing Camila.
Camila huffed and looked to see if everyone went inside, "Lauren and I slept together. I mean it should've been obvious if you heard" She admitted.
"Yeah, so did Janel and I." Lucy shrugged.
"No, I mean we slept together." Camila stressed.
"Oh! Yeah, we didn't do that."
"Holy shit. We knew something went down, but not that down." Janel said obviously shocked.
"You can't tell anyone because Lauren and I haven't even discussed what that really was."
"What is there to discuss?" Lucy asked.
"Where we stand with it all. I mean, was it just an in the moment deal or something more?"
"Then you better hop to it, but if I'm speaking honestly it may be the first one because Lauren has mentioned that relationships can't exist in a world like this." Janel said.
"But Dinah and Normani are together." Lucy added.
"That's them, not Lauren." Janel pointed out.
"Okay point is, yes, speak to Lauren as soon as you can. Also, don't be so obvious with it all. You look like you can't keep your hands off her and Lauren looks unfazed by it."
With that, the three women walked into the lobby where a chandelier hung. Everyone was seated on the leather couch, almost asleep.
"Come on guys pick a floor- oh! Let's go to the master suite, it's perfect for us." Lauren said excitedly. "It has a mini bar and-"
"Let's go." Ian quickly said standing up.
Lauren giggled, "And a swimming pool with-"
"Let's go." Dinah said standing up as well.
"With seven king sized mattresses covered in silk." Lauren finally finished.
Everyone then stood up and made their way over to the stair case where they saw it was safe. Lauren led the way while everyone else was on high alert, pointing their guns down the stairs or up them. After the seventh floor, everyone was practically pulling themselves up by the hand rails.
"Are we almost there yet?" Ally groaned as she ran a hand through her hair.
"Almost." Lauren said happily.
Everyone groaned until finally they made it to the tenth floor. Before Lauren opened the door, she ensured everyone rested a bit in case any of the infected were on the other side of that door.
"Ready?" Lauren asked as everyone nodded, holding up their guns.
She nodded as well and opened the door with her gun up as she walked up and down the hall. Everyone followed suit and notified one another that it was clear. With a swift kick, Ian opened the door. Everyone entered on high alert, but let their guard down upon seeing how beautiful everything looked. The bar was filled with liquor as well as glass cups. Ian let his gun drop where it dangled at his side on his strap as he walked over to the cabinet. Dinah made her way outside and saw the large empty pool giving a beautiful view of the city. Everyone one else stayed in the living room, admiring the furniture and soft carpet.
Normani flopped on her back onto the soft couch and let it embrace her, "Oh my gosh this is amazing." She smiled stretching herself on the couch, enjoying the feel of it.
"Everything looks so beautiful." Camila said eyeing the fireplace.
"I get first dibs on a bed!" Lucy said running off up the wide spiraled stair case.
Janel and Calum were quick to follow as well, and everyone soon joined. Lauren, unfortunately, was the last to head upstairs and saw Janel sprawled out enjoying her bed. Next to her was Lucy who closed the door with a smirk. Across from her were Ian and Calum who were playfully wrestling for the room. In the next one, Camila stood near the window of her chosen room as she looked out of it.
Lauren looked down the hall and noticed it was completely empty. She quietly closed the door behind her as she walked up to Camila and stood next to her, admiring the view.
"Beautiful even in ruins." Lauren commented.
"Yeah, I feel like there's always beauty found in anything or anyone." Camila smiled, looking over at the green eyed woman.
"Of course, but sometimes others can't see that. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
Camila simply admired Lauren's features as she looked out the window, the sunset kissing her face so perfectly.
"Lauren, what is this? What are we now that, what happened last night happened?" Camila asked suddenly.
Lauren looked over to see Camila wearing a serious expression. Lauren hadn't seen her like this since they met. She could see that Camila wasn't joking.
"I um... I'm not sure. I know that I don't regret what happened last night, but I just don't know what to call this." She said gesturing to the both of them.
"Lauren, I really like you if I haven't made that obvious yet. What happened last night meant a lot to me because I thought you felt the same. Lauren, I lo-"
"Don't. Don't say that word. Camila, you know I don't believe in relationships right now. Anything could happen, and plus, if we were a thing then I know it would be a distraction. I want to protect all of you and I can't do that if my mind is solely focused on one of you."
Camila lowered her head in sadness, "So I'm a distraction?"
"I'm not saying you are, I'm saying that you could be."
Before Camila could reply, Dinah opened the door with smile on her face, "Lauren, I need your help."
Lauren quickly followed the Polynesian outside and saw Ian and Calum throwing Janel and Lucy into the now filled pool. Ian and Calum had managed to get the filters running again and got clean water to run out. As they were about to grab Normani, Dinah sprung into action and jumped onto Calum's back. Ian tried helping the dark haired Australian, but that was when Lauren began pushing him towards the pool. Ian desperately grabbed onto Calum and Lauren as he fell, causing all four of them to be pushed in. Ally excitedly jumped in as everyone was telling her to, but she didn't have much choice since they were going to throw her in either way. The cool water was refreshing as they all popped their heads out, pushing their wet hair back.
"Mani, get in here." Dinah said as Normani walked outside and sat in one of the many chairs.
"No, thanks. I like my clothes dry for when I sleep."
"Then skinny dip." Lucy suggested.
Normani chuckled, "Okay, just because you walked past us butt naked doesn't mean we're all keen on people seeing our bodies."
"I knew I wasn't hallucinating that one." Camila commented coming outside.
"Camz, get in the pool!" Lauren exclaimed happily.
"Or at least throw Normani in." Dinah said.
"Do it and I'll break your little arm." Normani pointed.
"I wasn't going to." Camila smiled with her hands up in defense. "I just came out to find out the chismé."
"Wait, you're Mexican?" Calum asked.
"I'm half Mexican. The other half is Cuban." Camila answered taking a seat.
"Holy shit so am I." Lauren smiled putting out her hand for Camila to high five which she did gladly.
"Wait, you're Mexican?" Ian asked in shock.
"Her last name is Jauregui." Dinah pointed.
"I honestly didn't realize that. Are you Mexican too?"
Dinah giggled, "No, I'm Polynesian, but specifically Tongan."
"I'm Australian." Calum said, making everyone turn to him. "I'm not Asian." He clarified.
"Are you sure?" Normani giggled.
"I get that a lot, but yes, I am positively not Asian." Calum giggled.
Everyone laughed and enjoyed each other's company. Jokes were told as well as a few stories. Normani took out the camera and was taking pictures like crazy. Eventually, Camila jumped into the pool, and Dinah pulled Normani in as well when she was taking pictures of herself. It wasn't until the stars came out that everyone got out to start a fire. Everyone had a towel wrapped around them as they sat outside near the fire.
"Why couldn't we just start a fire in the fire place." Lucy asked.
"Because it might not be clean and we don't want to burn down the whole building." Lauren answered. Lucy didn't reply and simply nodded her head.
Ian then emerged from the room holding two bottles, "Do you guys want champagne or whiskey?"
"Just bring both out." Lauren suggested.
Ian nodded and brought out both bottles as Lauren ran inside to grab a few glasses. She handed everyone champagne glasses while giving Calum, Ian, and herself a glass for whisky. Ian poured everyone a glass and, after, rose his glass, initiating a toast.
"To our struggles and surviving tactics. May we have many years to go." Ian said nodding his head.
Everyone rose their glass and took a drink together. Camila and Janel set their glasses down at first sip, while everyone else downed the whole thing. Lauren then rose her glass to Ian as he poured her another drink before pouring one for himself and Calum. Dinah poured herself more champagne as well as for Normani before Lucy took the bottle and drank straight from it, only to then have it taken away by Allyson who did the same.
"Let's lighten up the mood." Lauren said.
"Stories?" Camila suggested.
"How about music." Dinah smiled.
"Yeah! Someone start." Lucy said excitedly.
"Some things we don't talk about
Rather do without
And just hold the smile." Dinah sang.
"Falling in and out of love
Ashamed and proud of
Together all the while." Camila sang with eyes closed as she felt the song.
Ally took a deep breath, "You can never say never
While we don't know when
But time and time again
Younger now than we were before."
"Don't let me go
Don't let me go
Don't let me go." Lauren sang with a Malibu bottle in hand.
They all enjoyed the songs each one of them shared. Everyone had lovely voices that corresponded to their choice of song. An hour went by and they kept drinking and singing until they eventually got tired of it and went to do other things.
"You guys need to bring it down a little." Janel chuckled.
"Seriously, let's not do anything stupid." Camila said, eyeing Lauren specifically. Green eyes looked at Camila through her glass and she set it down before grabbing the whisky bottle and pouring herself another.
The night was spent with everyone drinking until they couldn't walk. Camila and Janel had to keep an eye on them all in case they ended up hurting themselves. The most damage done was the small wrestling match Ian and Calum had. Lauren coached them both from her spot on the armrest of the couch with an empty shot glass in her hand. The four other women were out in the pool once more as they wanted to get sober quickly. Camila quickly ran inside to break up the small fight happening, only to get booed by Lauren, who almost fell back.
"Why'd you stop them? Calum was totally about to pile drive him." Lauren argued.
"I'm cutting you guys off. You've had enough." Camila said, taking the empty shot glass from Lauren's hand.
"Come on, Camz, we're just having some fun."
"No, not like this. You guys could get hurt."
"You're being no fun at all. You know what? I seen a vending machine that will probably have some candies to change your mind, I'll go grab them." Lauren said getting up and stumble to the door.
"Lauren, get back in here." Camila ordered, following the intoxicated woman.
"It'll be quick I promise. I'm doing this for you." She said, walking down the hall while holding onto the wall.
"What is she doing?" Normani asked, looking down the hall next to Camila.
Camila shook her head in disappointment, "She's getting me candy to try and bribe me to not cut them off of the drinks."
Normani shook her head as well while Dinah, Ally, and Janel walked up to watch over the eldest Floridian. Lauren finally made it to the vending machine at the end of the hall and held onto it for dear life to keep her balance. She looked inside the machine and seen a pack of Dots. She assumed Camila would enjoy those and took a small step back.
Lauren took off her flannel before she brought her fist back and swung it as hard as she could through the glass. In confusion Lauren tried wrapping her hand in her flannel, but decided against it, seeing as she should have wrapped the flannel around her hand first. She grabbed the candy and stumbled over to Camila, her hand out to hand them to her as she wore the biggest smile.
Before she could make it to Camila, however, a creo appeared form around the corner and attacked Lauren, dropping her to the ground. All the girls quickly ran to aid their intoxicated friend who had an infected on top of her. Before they could help Lauren, she saw an opportunity to kill it and took it by snapping its neck. The girls arrived in time to get the monster off of her.
"You're still a bad ass even when you're drunk, Lo." Dinah smiled as she helped Lauren up while shaking her head in disbelief.
"For you, Camzi." Lauren smiled before giving Camila a chaste kiss. Camila's eyes went wide in shock as Lauren pulled away.
Lauren patted a shocked Camila on the shoulder before walking past her as if nothing happened.
It was already getting late and everyone calmed down. Camila checked on everyone to make sure they were fine as Janel was doing the same. As she made her way into the room she chose, she found Lauren already in the bed, nearly asleep.
Camila sighed and neared the dark haired woman and poked her stomach, "Lauren, get up."
"No." Lauren mumbled.
"Yes, you can't sleep on your back right now, it's bad."
"Lay with me." She said turning to her side.
"No, I really don't want you to throw up on me in the middle of the night."
"Please, just lay with me, baby." Lauren said, causing Camila to get butterflies.
"What did you call me?" Camila asked.
"Baby. I can't have a little fun with what we have going on?"
Camila was at a loss for words. Of course she wanted to know where they stood with what recently happened, but she also wanted to keep whatever it was going. Camila would be lying if she said she didn't want that again. In fact she wanted more. More of Lauren's touch and kisses, but she also wanted to be able to hear Lauren say she felt the same way. Nevertheless, Camila laid down next to Lauren and allowed her to snuggle up next to her as they both drifted to sleep.
In the other room, Dinah and Normani were still awake talking about previous events. Both girls reminiscing the past. It was then that Normani asked Dinah what she wanted to say that day when they were attacked by the infected and followers.
Dinah giggled at the memory, "No, I don't wanna say now. It was an in the moment thing." The Californian said, bringing her hand to her face.
"I wanna know though. We survived, so you gotta tell me." Normani smiled looking at the woman laying next to her.
Dinah simply looked into her favorite pair of brown eyes as everything was coming back. It was her gorgeous eyes that caught her and entangled her in the Texans pulchitude features. She remembered seeing how disressed and fragile she was back then and how much she grew into the strong woman she is now. Dinah was proud of her.
The Polynesian took Normani's hand and kissed it, allowing her lips to linger for a moment, "The first time I met you, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. As I got to know you more and more, you intrigued me with how mature your mind was. It wasn't until I kissed you that night that I realized I had stronger feelings for you. Ones that I didn't think I could ever feel for anyone. When we kissed, I felt sparks, and I was addicted. It was then that I realized that what I felt for you was greater than admiration and respect." Dinah paused as she thought of her next words thoroughly. "I knew then that... I love you."
Normani was at a loss for words and simply stared at Dinah with eyes full of admiration. After a few moments of silence from Normani's end, Dinah felt the need to clarify her words. She was feeling quite nervous when Normani didn't say anything and was having second thoughts about even saying it.
"Now, you don't have to say it back if you're not ready, but I just had to let you know that-"
Dinah was immediately cut off by a pair of lips that kissed her so tenderly full of affection. Normani cupped Dinah's cheek as she let her lips linger for a moment longer. Once she pulled away, both women kept their eyes closed, allowing their emotions to run through them whIle their heads rested against one another.
"I love you, Dinah." Normani smiled. Dinah couldn't help the face eating smile tugging at her lips and small giggle of happiness.