Camila spent the next morning sorting through boxes of boogie board fins, sprawled out on the sandy pine floor of the inventory room. It wasn't until her lunch break that she was able to call her hotel and request a driver to take her to the hospital. She went with a bag of sweet potato fries and boiled peanuts-courtesy of a worried, earnest Dinah-because apparently they were Lauren's favorites.
And Camila figured it would be criminal to take a cheddar bacon burger into a hospital. The place was surrounded by palm trees, airy and light, and Camila took the elevator and easily found Lauren's room.
She only spent about five minutes shuffling about outside the door, nervously crinkling the bag of food and fully expecting Lauren to tell her to get lost.
She wouldn't be wanted here. They barely even knew each other. This was probably too personal.
But Camila would be damned if she let Lauren sit in the hospital by herself. She breathed deeply and pushed open the door. Lauren groaned and sunk back into the pillows as soon as she walked in.
"I won't stay long!" Camila rushed out before Lauren could say anything. She nervously patted down her sundress while Lauren eyed her. "I just thought I'd bring you some food. And see how you are."
She held up the bag of fries and peanuts like an offering.
"No, that's not-I wasn't..." Lauren looked amused. She shook her head. "You can stay."
Her voice was stronger, normal again. She was breathing evenly and deeply, still sun-tinted in the hospital bed, hair salty and tangled. Her cheeks were a little flushed, and Camila smiled when she realized why.
"You don't have to be embarrassed, you know." She moved next to Lauren's bed and set the bag of food on her knees.
Lauren cut her eyes up. Camila looked too pleased with herself.
"I know you told me to stay in the shop last night, but it just wasn't feasible. I got to know Mars Bar a little better though. He is certainly a delight."
Lauren sighed and lifted her knees so that the bag of food tumbled into her lap. She was glad the containers had lids on them.
"Do you remember last night?" Camila pressed, settling into a chair by the bed.
Lauren pried the top off the sweet potato fries and visibly brightened. Camila suppressed a smile.
"Memory problems, remember?" Lauren said absently.
"I think you remember. Your cheeks are pink."
Lauren shook her head and chewed her food, too hungry to be embarrassed at the moment. She took the top off the boiled peanuts with fries still in her mouth and her eyes lit up.
"Have they fed you?" Camila wondered.
"Naw, iz shid."
Camila carefully tossed a wad of napkins into the fray. "Swearing is unbecoming, goofy feet."
Lauren's eyes flashed up at her. "The food here is shit, Camila Cabello. If you call me that again I'll wrap man 'o war tentacles around your legs while you sleep."
Camila gasped. Her hand dropped immediately to the red marks on her thigh.
Lauren grinned and messily opened more boiled peanuts. She had the juice all over her hands so she used her shoulder to push her hair back when it fell in her face. Camila leaned forward and tucked it behind her ear, even though she'd just been threatened.
Surely Lauren couldn't actually catch any jellyfish to drape over her in her slumber, right?
She sat quietly while Lauren ate, proud of herself for not asking about the accident or wreck or whatever it was that had stuck Lauren here and caused those scars.
"You went to work, right?" Lauren glanced at her. "Did Louis and Normani open the shop?"
Camila shook her head solemnly. "They actually went out of business in the fourteen hours you've been here."
"Not surprised. You know I can fire you?" Lauren pointed a fry in Camila's direction.
"I spent the morning sorting through twenty boxes of flippers, thank you very much."
"Fins, Camila. They're called fins. Penguins have flippers."
Camila tilted her head and committed that to memory. She realized Lauren had finished her peanuts and had no way to clean her hands, so she dug through her purse until she emerged with a Wet-Wipe. She stood up and lightly grabbed Lauren's wrist.
"Hold still." She instructed when Lauren tried to pull away.
"I can do it myself." Lauren protested. "Get lost."
Camila ignored her and Lauren stopped squirming when she realized it was futile. She watched Camila's face instead.
"Did anybody recognize you when you came up here?"
Camila shrugged. "Maybe. But it would be in bad taste to approach me in a hospital, even though I welcome and adore all of my fans."
Lauren snorted softly and sat back when Camila released her hands.
"Yale." Lauren said after eating a few more fries.
Camila lifted her eyebrows.
"Where I went to school." Lauren waved a hand around. "You asked yesterday. It was Yale."
Camila smiled slowly.
"I was a theatre studies major."
Camila's smile vanished and her jaw dropped. "What-that's-oh my-Lauren, how could-what are you-"
"I was the lead in A Streetcar Named Desire my junior year." Lauren interrupted Camila's stuttered mess.
Camila stared.
"And, believe it or not, I'm not from Candyland. I'm from-" Lauren shook her head and blushed slightly, painfully aware that she knew too many things about Camila Cabello. "-the same place as you, actually."
"Blanche or Stella?" Camila blurted, stuck on the previous information.
"I was Blanche."
"Lauren!"
Lauren recoiled, unsure why Camila suddenly seemed explosively angry.
"What are you doing running a surf shop in Florida?" Camila asked, eyes wide. "That's-that's flabbergasting!"
Lauren frowned. "Is that a legitimate adjective? King's English? Or are you making up words?"
"Lauren!"
Lauren sighed and tipped her head back against the pillows. She'd barely convinced herself to answer those few questions. She was finished now.
"Did you graduate?" Camila asked, much less manically. She was genuinely interested.
Lauren bit her tongue and shook her head.
"That's still...amazing." Camila studied her. "I can't believe it. You were in-I just can't believe it."
Lauren closed her eyes and discreetly wiped her still-greasy hands on the blanket. She could feel Camila bursting with excitement, probably questions. Lauren must've been a performer-singing, dancing, acting. She might appreciate theater as much as Camila. She was educated and gorgeous and dusted with sweet potato fry crumbs.
"One more question." Lauren mumbled, about ready to fall asleep. "Then you go make sure my shop isn't on fire."
Camila sat forward eagerly. "I would love to inquire about your musical preferences, and whether or not they extend beyond 50s and 60s era Rat Pack classics, but I can save that for another day."
Lauren managed to roll her closed eyes.
"My question is one I've already asked before." Camila didn't even need to think. The question was constantly there, and she continued when she saw that Lauren wasn't going to protest.
"Are you with anybody?" she asked tentatively, toes bouncing in anticipation. "Do you have a boyfriend, or...maybe a significant other?"
Lauren pursed her lips. Of course that was her question.
"It doesn't seem like you do." Camila plowed on. "But it's-you know, I don't want to assume. You know what they say about that. I'm just curious. I know it's none of my business..."
Camila trailed off and watched Lauren cautiously, ready to placate or apologize or flee if she saw Lauren's eyes flash.
"No." Lauren said simply. She evenly met Camila's gaze.
Camila smiled slightly. She was feeling a rush, far too excited for a hospital visit, probably because of all the theater talk. And she seemed to be experiencing an odd sense of triumph.
"Thank you for answering me." She said sincerely.
Lauren nodded and closed her eyes again.
Camila stood up and stooped quickly to kiss Lauren's cheek-brushing brown hair out of the way. She grabbed the empty food bag and whirled on her heel. Lauren laid calmly, eyes shut, pretending her face wasn't bright red and tingling.
"See you soon, goofy feet." Camila smiled from the door, and left the room before Lauren could catch her.
..................
Lauren was released in the late afternoon. It was raining-hot rain, like she'd learned only Florida managed to pull off-and she shoved Niall away when he tried to hold a newspaper over her head on the short walk from his car to the shop door. Lauren's laces were untied and her t-shirt was twisted sideways, and she reached the door right as Louis stepped out of it.
"Perfect timing!" he declared, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her under cover.
Camila stood behind him and smiled apologetically at Lauren.
"Those two boards up in Vero are ready. We have to go pick 'em up." Louis said brightly.
Lauren groaned and rubbed at her face.
Camila frowned. She laid a hand on Louis's arm. "Why can't we-we can just go without Lauren, right?"
"No. No, no...no. You can't." Lauren mumbled.
"We went all the way up to Jacksonville last year to pick up a longboard, brought home the wrong one, and Lauren hasn't let us go by ourselves ever since."
Lauren scoffed and ducked out of Louis's hold. "Yeah, because you're all fucking morons."
She turned and stalked out to Louis's truck, ignoring the rain. She climbed into the backseat and slammed the door loudly.
Louis sighed at Camila's worried expression. "Lauren doesn't drive." He said, like that would explain something.
"Ever?"
"Never." Louis gestured at Camila to see if she was ready to run through the rain. Camila nodded, and they waved goodbye to Niall and darted through the parking lot to the front seats of Louis's truck.
Camila peered into the back sympathetically. Lauren was lying on her back across the seats with her legs curled up against the door, shoes on the floor. She cut her eyes at Camila and stared until Camila looked away.
Louis bumped out onto the road and Lauren shut her eyes and tried to control her nerves. She was never good with wheels.
"Are you from here, Louis?" Camila asked after about ten minutes of driving. The truck was silent except for the rain, maybe thunder in the distance.
"Oh no, we're all from Ohio." He smiled. "Niall and Normani, too. We went to high school together."
Camila nodded, surprised. "And you all came down here together to open a surf shop?"
Louis bobbed his head a bit. He licked his lips and glanced at the rearview mirror.
"No." Lauren supplied bluntly.
"We didn't know anything about surfing when we moved here." Louis said vaguely.
"Louis still doesn't. He uses a giant foamie and wears boardies and pretends he's a surfer."
Louis rolled his eyes and leaned conspiratorially towards Camila. "She acts like a mean old grump sometimes, but don't let it fool you. Lauren's a softie."
"No." Lauren mumbled.
Camila glanced around to see Lauren lying on her side now, eyes closed, cheek pressed up against the fabric seat with an arm dangling over the edge.
Louis smiled. "She gives free surf lessons to kids."
Camila awwed. Lauren pushed a fist into the back of her seat until Camila reached behind and slapped her hand away.
"I can't believe all four of you moved down here together. I don't think I have many people who'd do that with me."
Louis shrugged. "Lauren needed-"
"Gah, just stop talking!" Lauren rolled over so that her face was pressed against the back seat and her voice was muffled. "She's a stranger, Louis."
That hurt a little bit. Camila clasped her hands on her lap and pressed her lips together. She watched the road and the scenery out the window. Louis glanced over, shaking his head.
"She's out of it." He mouthed, and Camila smiled faintly.
"I'm sure you have millions of admirers who'd love to move with you." He said out loud. "Normani, for one. Niall loves you. I'd go, 'cause you seem pretty awesome. You aren't some stuck up Hollywood bitch, you know."
Camila's smile grew. Louis winked at her.
"And Lauren would go. She tries to act all cool around you, but she's got stars in her eyes."
Lauren mumbled something against the backseat. Camila reached around and prodded her in the back.
"Hey, Lauren Jauregui." She said impulsively. "I am not a stranger, just so you know. I'll be your friend even if you won't be mine."
Lauren squirmed until Camila stopped poking her. "Is this kindergarten?" she muttered, but her shoulders softened and she reached an arm blindly behind her and grazed Camila's hand.
Louis lifted his eyebrows triumphantly. "See? Softie." He mouthed at Camila.
The drive took about an hour and a half. When they reached their destination-a large, modern surf store a few blocks from the water-Lauren was the first one out of the truck. She straightened her t-shirt, tied her shoes, and a ran a hand through her hair, then strode purposefully through the front door.
The rain had stopped, but the air was hot and humid and thick, and Camila tried to tame her hair while she hurried after Louis and Lauren. She veered off to browse the store while they dealt with the boards.
Where Lauren's shop was pine and sandy and wooden and bright, this one was clean-cut and black and white. It was large-at least four times the size of Lauren's-and well organized. Jupiter Surf had shaded areas out back where Niall could work on his boards on a haphazardly constructed wooden table, but this place had indoor workrooms.
It wasn't very warm, and Camila decided she liked Lauren's shop better.
Lauren and Louis walked back through the shop carrying two boards-Lauren held the noses, setting the pace, while Louis had the tails tucked under his arms and scrambled a bit to keep up.
They loaded them into the back of the truck with a board pad on the tailgate, and Lauren kicked off her shoes again and climbed into the backseat.
It was a silent drive as the sun was setting.
Louis hit a section of potholes in the road as they passed through Port St. Lucie, and the truck lurched violently from side to side. Camila seized her door handle and Louis held the wheel and straightened them out.
"We good back there?" he glanced at the rearview mirror.
Lauren struggled to catch her breath while nodding casually. She un-fisted her hands and rubbed at the red, half-moon welts on her palms. Camila watched her through the side mirror.
She tipped forward and gestured at the radio. "May I?"
"Go for it." Louis nodded.
Camila skipped over several stations-top forty, country, Spanish-language, talk shows-before landing on "Fly Me to the Moon." She smiled to herself, sat back, and caught Lauren's gaze in the mirror.
Lauren nodded slightly in thanks, relaxed, and tipped her head against the glass to go to sleep.
..........
Camila rolled over and groaned at the name lit up on her phone. It was in all caps, because that's how he'd entered it.
"AUSTIN MAHONE." His name was shouting at her.
New York's golden child, casting director and producer of the new film version of Anything Goes. Camila sighed into her pillow. She ignored the call and scrolled through her contacts to her manager's number instead. She sat up as it rang, mildly disappointed that she wouldn't be waking Harry in the middle of the night.
"Would you look at that, she's alive!" he greeted loudly.
Camila decided to cut him off before he could get started. "Harry, it's midnight." She announced, voice rough with sleep. "I just need you to catch me up very quickly. What's going on with the role? Have they cast somebody else?"
Harry was silent, on the precipice of some kind of rant.
"I know Ally's told you where I am, and I'm sorry I haven't called, but I'm here now. And I'm listening. Please."
Camila got out of bed and crossed to the sliding door, where she peeked through the curtains. The beach was dim, lit only by green lights on the hotel because of sea turtle nesting. She'd done some research.
"Well thank you, Camila." Harry drawled. "I'm great. It's nice of you to ask. How are you?"
"Harry, please."
He sighed. There was clanging on his end of the line, like he'd decided to cook himself a midnight snack.
"Of course they haven't given the role to somebody else. It's tailor-made for you, Camila. Mahone knows that, and he's making everybody wait to make a decision until it's been determined either that you'll take the role or that you've actually gone insane and dropped off the planet."
Camila groaned and dropped her head forward against the cold glass.
"Yes. That's what they're speculating." Harry carried on. "Camila Cabello had a breakdown. You weren't that far from crazy to begin with."
"I didn't have a breakdown." Camila protested.
Harry's voice rose. "Well I wouldn't know that, would I?"
Camila sighed.
"Listen, Camila, just tell me what happened with Austin Mahone. Did he insult you at that meeting? He probably offended you, right? So you vanished, some kind of extreme, ill-advised version of the silent treatment."
"I don't want to talk about it, Harry." Camila's voice was small.
"Then just give me an answer. Yes or no. Are you the next Reno Sweeney?"
Camila pushed off the glass door and paced past her bed, chewing on her lip.
Harry's tone was softer now, friendly. The clanging had stopped. "I don't mean to pressure you, but this movie is going to be huge. It's exactly what you were looking for. You wanted to get back to theater, right? This is your middle ground."
"It's...an amazing role." Camila admitted.
Harry jumped on that. "Right! And if you let it go because of something that golden little pretty boy has said to you, I will fly across the country myself and force feed you your Tonys."
Camila smiled slightly.
"They're statues, Camila. I don't think you'd enjoy them."
"Just...I need time, okay?" Camila said softly. "It's the role of a lifetime, Harry, but I haven't felt like myself in a while."
Harry sighed, resigned. "They'll wait. There's no doubt. They're quite taken with you, Miss Cabello."
"Thank you."
"But if I hang up this phone, you have to promise to answer when I call. I don't like getting all my news through Ally. She skews it and yells at me when I'm too pushy."
Camila chuckled. "I'll call. But you have to do something about those rumors. I'm not completely crazy."
"I'm telling everybody you've gone off the deep end." Harry assured. "Camila Cabello, off the reservation and around the bend. If you find some marbles on the floor, pick them up because they're probably hers."
"Shut your face, Harry."
"Sort yourself out, Camila. It'll all come up roses."
Camila could hear the smile in his voice. She hung up and got back under the covers. She thought about Anything Goes and wondered if Lauren liked Bing Crosby.
....
"Are you calling her this summer?"
Niall glanced at Lauren, eyebrow raised. He was waxing a ten-foot longboard in the shaping room and working up a sweat. Lauren sat on the floor with a glass of juice-not dressed, because she'd decided not to surf that morning.
She sighed when she realized what he was talking about.
"I don't know yet."
"Well, you should do it before the end of summer. So like...a couple months. But don't wait too long, dude. Unless you want her to come down for winter or whatever. She's getting a job soon, right?"
Lauren picked grains of sand off the palms of her hands. "Supposedly. That's what she said in the emails."
"You don't believe her?" Niall stopped waxing and raised his eyebrows. "I do. I think she's actually trying this time, Lauren."
Lauren rolled her eyes. "It's been three years."
Niall shrugged. "People change. She's not with your...with Mike anymore."
Lauren ground her teeth together. She took a deep breath and sipped from her juice.
"She just wants to see you." Niall continued waxing. "You know we'll all run her off if she tries anything."
"Normani will run you off if she hears you defending her." Lauren muttered.
"Maybe if you call her-"
"How can you push me to do this after-you know-you-fuck." Lauren cut her gaze at the back of Niall's head and tipped her own so that it knocked against the wall.
Niall turned and stared at her. "Deep down, somewhere in that big ol' heart of yours, I know you want this."
Lauren scoffed quietly. She stared down at her juice.
Niall threw his last little sliver of wax at her. He turned around and plucked a new one off the shelf.
"If you need time, sure. No prob, dude. But just think about calling her. Seeing her. For closure, if nothing else." Niall advised. "And then if you'd like, you can reject her apology and chop her out of your life like a green leg."
Lauren hummed. "Nicely worded, Niall."
Niall nodded, pleased with himself.
"But I don't trust her. After-I don't trust her."
Just saying it made Lauren feel like she couldn't breathe. Thinking about it. Her throat closed up a little bit, and she bit her cheek and waited for it to pass.
Niall kept his gaze politely fixed on the surfboard. "You don't have to do anything you're not ready for." He said quietly. He turned around and pointed his wax at Lauren.
"I'm just sayin'...We could probably turn Clara into a surfer. I'll make her a pink board and we can put her in a competition or something. One of those grom ones. She'd totally beat Louis."
Lauren chuckled, able to breathe again. "Normani's gonna beat the shit out of you when you welcome my mother with open arms."
"Wouldn't be the first time." Niall smiled.
Lauren stood up and stretched out her back and leaned against the doorway.
"Also, not open arms. Maybe like, concealed weapons and intimidating looks." Niall corrected. "I'm sure you'd have to bail at least one of us out of jail."
"What are you going to jail for?"
Camila appeared behind Lauren, hands shoved in her light linen pockets, eyebrows raised expectantly.
Niall waved his wax around vaguely.
"Loads of things." Lauren supplied before he could pull something ridiculous out of his ass. "Too many to count. Horan's a rule-breaker."
Camila laughed loudly, bright-eyed and minty fresh. She smiled at Lauren.
"You said you were going to teach me about wetsuits today. I thought we could get started early."
Lauren bobbed her head around.
"Unless you're going surfing or something." Camila said quickly, glancing at Niall. "Then I'll wait. I'll set up the display boards outside."
Lauren drank the rest of her juice and hid the glass behind some fins on one of Niall's shelves. She pushed Camila's shoulders lightly to get her to turn around, and then led the way out onto the shop floor and to one of the racks near the back wall.
Camila bounced eagerly on her heels.
"Hey," Lauren spun abruptly and held up a hand to keep Camila from running into her. She caught the side of Camila's boob and blushed furiously. "I'm sorry I said you were a stranger yesterday. That was-I was tired. And...you're obviously not a stranger. I mean I know who you are. Way too much."
Way too much.
Camila lifted an eyebrow. This was new. "I understand completely, Lauren."
Lauren nodded shortly and stutter-stepped backwards.
"How are you feeling today?" Camila asked, amused.
"Like I can breathe." Lauren smiled wryly.
She moved around the rack and gestured for Camila to follow her. She removed a suit and held it up, biting her cheek when Camila ran her fingers curiously down the length of neoprene.
"This is called a spring suit, or a shorty." Lauren informed. "Short arms, short legs. It's good for Florida winters, or if someone gets particularly cold. A full suit has long arms and legs, and it's mostly only divers who buy them here."
Camila grasped Lauren's wrist so that she could turn the suit around and see the back.
"The thickness is measured in millimeters. This is a 2/1, which means that it's two millimeters thick in the torso and one in the arms and legs."
"Do you ever wear one?" Camila wondered.
Lauren shrugged. "In winter, sometimes. And I wear booties if I'm on the reef."
Camila's eyes lit up. Lauren realized shortly that she was fascinated with the zip-on wetsuit booties. She batted her eyelashes until Lauren found a pair for her to try on, and she paired it with a neoprene hood and gloves.
"Do I look like a penguin?" was the first thing Camila asked, cheeks pushed together by the material.
Lauren tucked strands of dark hair back behind the hood. She held Camila by the chin and turned her head from side to side. Camila's eyes danced.
"You look like a fool, Camila Cabello." Lauren smiled.
She looked absolutely ridiculous, and she scurried away to the back room to show Niall.
Lauren lined up the rest of the wetsuits to show Camila and chuckled to herself when she heard Niall's laugh from the shop floor.