Thank you so much for all the support guys!! We're already at over 1.5k reads, that's CRAZY!! Thanks for all the comments and votes, you guys are awesome!!
I hope you guys like the new cover, learnt to use Photoshop to do that (awful, awful time, but I like the result :P) !
So I'm not completely happy with this one, but I have three important projects due tomorrow at midnight, and having this stuck in my head was really messing up with my work! Hope you'll still enjoy it, and there'll be more coming your way this week!
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Once they finally arrived, they went directly back to her room. The girls had sent them a text to say that they were sorry, but that they had eaten without them because they were starving, and they were taking too long. Once everything was put away, Lauren let herself fall on the bed and grabbed the room service menu.
"It's getting late, what do you want for dinner, Camz?"
"I want pizza."
"You already had ice cream, today."
"Never stopped me from eating pizza, before."
"Until you ended up in the hospital for malnutrition..."
"Now, blaming this on pizza is a bit too much, Lauren Michelle Jauregui Morgado!"
Lauren turned back toward her, an eye brow raised, appraising her skeptically.
"What? So you can full name me, and I can't? You may make the rules, but I can still full name you whenever I want!"
"You're unbearable."
"You love me."
"Doesn't mean I have to like you."
"Yes it does!"
Lauren didn't answer, and focused back on the menu of the room service.
"Lauren! ...You like me! ...Lo-oh!"
It wasn't fair to play on that, but now that she knew how needy Camila could get when she didn't have her full attention, she couldn't help wanting to tease her about it. When she felt the bed dip beside her, she had to concentrate really hard to hold back a smile. The next second, Camila was pushing the menu away from her and plopping down on her lap
"Lolo!"
Camila wasn't even looking her in the eyes, she was pouting down at Lauren's sweater, gingerly picking lint off of it.
"Yes, Camzi?"
"You like me."
"I love you."
"Yes, but you like me too, right?"
"Oh! Look at that pouty face, such a cute little thing."
To annoy her further, she squished her cheeks with one hand, holding her face close.
"Loooo!"
"Of course I like you, baby. You're my favorite."
"Of who?"
"Of everyone."
Lauren gave her an Eskimo kiss before letting go of her face.
"Now, what do you want for Dinner? Don't answer pizza, I want you to pick actual food!"
"Ugh! Can I get mac and cheese and chicken nuggets?"
"No, baby. From now on I want you to eat real food, you need to slow down on junk food or you won't get better."
"But they have the ones shaped like dinosaurs!"
"I said no, and if you continue I'll send you to the corner, don't forget your rules."
At that, Camila whined and started wiggling around like a discontented child. Lauren frowned a bit in confusion, she had expected a snarky retort, but definitely not that.
"Camila, now tell me what you want."
Unhappy with her situation, Camila let herself slide on the side until her head was lying on her arms on the mattress, still straddling Lauren.
"Camzi, what's going on?"
"I'm not hungry."
Just at that moment her stomach started grumbling.
"Did you just lie to me, little girl?"
Lauren's tone was serious. Like a jack in a box, Camila sprung up.
"NO! I just... I don't feel good, Lo."
Her voice cracked on her name, her head was pounding, her stomach was in knots and she felt like she was going to throw up.
"You do look pretty pale, but your forehead's not warm. Come on, you really need to eat something if you're starting to feel sick."
"Please, can I have the dinosaur nuggets?"
"I'm happy you asked so politely, but no baby, you can't have the dinosaur nuggets. Since you're not feeling fine, how do you feel about chicken noodle soup?"
"No, they make it so bland here!"
"There's a Cuban restaurant not too far, how about I order una sopa de pollo?"
"Con fideos?"
"Yup! A good old Cuban chicken noodle soup, what do you think?"
"Okay."
Lauren got up, keeping Camila in her arms who protested a bit at first, but then calmed down and settled once she realized that Lauren had no problem holding her up. Lauren wanted to keep her close, and with how clingy Camila was acting, it was safe to assume that she felt the same way. To grab her phone, she put her on her hip to free her arm the time to find and dial the restaurant. She ordered two soups, all the while softly rocking Camila up and down out of reflex. Camila's face had found its way back to the crook of Lauren's neck. The excitement she had felt while shopping was gone, and it seemed that during that respite, all her stress and anguish had just accumulated and had been released through her body all at once when they crossed the hotel doors.
"What's going on in that beautiful little head?"
Camila just shrugged, hoping that Lauren wouldn't put her down. Lauren had first feared that Camila had caught something while they were out, but then realized that it all felt really familiar.
"Do you know what triggered your anxiety, baby?"
Camila teared up at those words, how could she deserve someone like Lauren? Apart from the fact that she had understood what was going on, it was the way she was handling it that made Camila emotional. She hadn't asked her what was wrong, even better she had actually implied that it was okay to not know what was wrong.
"...No..."
"It's okay, how about we go over our schedule for the week?"
It was a trick that Lauren used on herself when she was feeling particularly overwhelmed. When things felt out of control and just too much, and she felt like quitting and moving back to Miami, she would sat down and go over their schedule, reducing each day to a series of tasks. It had become a reflex by now, and it made busy weeks a lot easier to handle, she just had to stick to the tasks for the day, and it would all get done. She had invested in a good planner app on her phone, and was always updating it, which really came in handy right.
Her arms were getting tired, so she walked to the armchair in the corner, and put Camila on her lap.
"Let's look at it, okay? See, it's a small week. Tomorrow is another free day, so we can do whatever you feel like doing. On Wednesday we have an interview in the morning, and then just dance rehearsals in the afternoon, then we'll back on the bus on our way for Richmond, VA. Thursday, we have a radio show in the morning, so that means we'll need to go to bed early the day before, and then the usual set for a concert day. Friday, we have the concert in Norfolk, and miracle! We have a free weekend!"
"Yeah, but then next week-"
"Next week is next week, you shouldn't even be thinking about it yet. And it doesn't change anything, as long as we do each task as and when we should, things are going to go just fine. We're a team, a very big team, so if you can't give a 100%, you have plenty of people around you that can help you achieve that. You have me, and you also have Ally, Mani and DJ, and then aaall the people that work with us and that are always ready to help you."
Okay, well that made Camila feel better. She really liked how well organized Lauren's planner looked, to see it all on paper made it far less overwhelming than just thinking about it. She could feel the knot in her stomach progressively loosen, maybe she could actually do it. The knock at the door announced that their dinner was here, Lauren got up, sitting Camila back down, and giving her her phone.
"There, you can look at it a bit longer while I get the door."
Camila smiled up at her, and started going through each day again, letting her eyes roam on the carefully crafted tasks list. As much as she loved meeting their fans and singing, touring was still really hard for her. The rhythm was hectic and tensions tended to get high pretty fast after a couple months. They all loved each other but fatigue, stress and homesickness was a bad mix. Looking back up at Lauren who was closing the door, she couldn't help but hoping that maybe, things would be different this time. Feeling a bit more confident, she quickly added a series of tasks to the lists.
"Time to eat, Camzi!"
She got up, and handed Lauren back her phone, then proceeded to give her a big hug, whispering in here ear how thankful she was to have her in her life. Lauren grabbed her by the sides and pulled her even closer to her, letting her be surrounded by Camila's sweet clean baby smell.
"You're welcome, baby. I want you to come to me when that happens, and we can work on making it better together, okay?"
"Is that another general rule?"
"Yes. And giving thank you hugs, too."
"You're a tyrant."
"You love me."
"Well, I learnt today that it doesn't mean I have to like you..."
"And did you hear about the second rule you have to follow to win our bet?"
Lauren sounded very proud of herself, and Camila would have probably been exasperated if her voice wasn't so husky and sexy, and so, so close to her ear.
"Fine, I like you."
"See? Wasn't so hard. Come on, the soup should be at the right temperature by now."
Lauren kissed her cheek, and guided her toward the table. They ate in silence, both a lot hungrier than they had originally thought they were. Once they were done, Camila insisted on clearing the table while Lauren took her shower, since she had made it and paid for dinner. Now alone in the room, Camila found herself bored pretty fast. It was funny how used she had become to Lauren's constant presence. She jumped when she heard a knock at the door. Through the peek-hole she saw that it was just Dinah, so she quickly opened.
"Hey! Are you guys doing anything? I'm bored, and Ally and Mani are skyping with their families."
"No, Lauren is showering."
"And what are you doing?"
"Nothing, I don't know what to do."
"How about you start by showing me what you got at the mall today?"
Dinah just started to make her way toward the bags before Camila could react.
"Oh my god, you guys went to Toys'r'us without me? I love this place, makes me wish I was a kid so I could get all the toys now that I have the money! Who did you get stuff for?
When Dinah turned around she noticed right away that Camila was uncomfortable. She was playing with her lower lip with one hand, and kept glancing back at the bathroom door. Camila didn't know what to do, on the one hand she wanted to deny even knowing about the existence of this bag, but on the other hand, she was sharing a tour bus with her and Lauren this year, so maybe it would be better to just admit it right away? Why couldn't Lauren already be back? She would know what to say!
"Camila?"
"Yeah, huh...It's not really for someone. I mean! Yes, it is for someone! It wouldn't make any sense if not, but like, uhh..."
"Hey DJ, what are you guys doing?"
"Camila is rambling about those toys not being for someone, or something like that. Who are they for?"
"They're Camila's. New bedtime routine."
"What? You get to play with toys as part of your treatment?? Ugh! Why don't ever have cool treatments!"
"Well, she's not allowed any screen-time at night, so I'm not sure you would actually like it."
"True that! Okay, but why toys?"
"Well, being bored doesn't exactly helps when you can't sleep, and you know how bad she is once she starts reading! I looked for other ideas, but knitting seemed a tad bit too dangerous to be worth it, so yeah, toys."
"Yeah, I see what you mean, what did you guys get?
Camila still hadn't moved or said a word, so Lauren lightly pushed her toward the bag, nodding with a smile when Camila looked back at her with uncertainty. Without a word she sat on the floor by the bag, quickly followed by Dinah. Lauren stayed close, just in case things went wrong. She had heard the whole conversation from the bathroom, she was going to let Camila handle it the way she wanted, but when the rambling started she decided to say it for her. It was rather smart, they were going to share a bus with Dinah, so it might be better if she knew, that would be one less thing for Camila to worry about.
"PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS KINETIC SAND!!"
"Uhm, yeah, it was Lauren's idea."
"That's so cool!! Can we open it? You know how they always have some on display that you can play with? I ALWAYS play with it, I don't even care how many hands it was in before! Can we open it?"
"Lauren said we had to wait until we had boxes to put it in. She forgot to buy some at Walmart."
"Hey! You were there, too!"
"I'm not the one that made the stupid rule that it couldn't be open until we had the boxes."
"You have plenty of other stuff, just chose something else. You'll play with it in the bus."
Both Camila and Dinah exchanged disappointed looks.
"Oookay, what else do you have then, other than the best thing in the world?"
Lauren rolled her eyes at the pair. She would definitely have to hide the sand until they were back on the bus, she didn't want them to try to go on some secret mission during the night to retrieve it.
"I have some color by number coloring books?"
"Aww! The dogs one looks so cute!"
As Dinah kept reacting in a positive way, Camila was feeling less and less shy.
"The Disney one is really cool too, like look! You can't really know what it is you're coloring until you start, because it's all mixed up lines!"
"You're gonna have to get like a huge box of coloring pencils!"
"Lauren bought me the 152 ultimate Crayola crayon box!"
"Lauren, you gotta stop spoiling her...and start spoiling me! Where's my kinetic sand ultimate bucket at??"
That made all three girls crack up. They kept looking at the stuff in the bag, it had definitely been different from what she had first expected, and she really hoped she could play with them with Camila from time to time, it looked like they all were pretty chill activities. She did make Camila swear on her first born that she wouldn't ever play Legos on the ground of the bus, though. No way was she gonna have those evil traps anywhere near her feet.
"Come on baby, time to go shower."
"But-!"
"You'll play after, now is shower time! It's part of your new routine."
Camila pouted, but she did get up, hugged Dinah goodnight, and went.
"You're good with her, you know that?"
"Thanks, DJ. I try."
"No really, you take good care of her. I don't know what you guys have been doing, and I don't care- no let's be real, I wanna know, I'm the captain! But I get it if you want it to stay between you guys, but it's really doing some good. She's looking more and more like her old self -apart from being like glued to your side!"
"It's nothing like that..."
"Maybe not yet, but I pray every night that you guys will just stop being idiots."
"Dinah, it's not that simple."
"If you think she sees you just as a friend, you need to buy new eyes."
"I-...Wha-?"
"Gosh, you guys really deserve each other, you dumbasses! Alright my job here is done. Good night Lauren."
She even added a little eyebrow wiggle at that, before fleeing the scene.
Lauren just stood there flabbergasted. Before she could even start going over the implications of Dinah's words, she heard a loud bang coming from the bathroom. In half a second flat, she was at the door, uselessly trying to open the door.
"BABY! CAMILA!! Are you okay, baby can you hear me?"
Pictures of Camila with her skull cracked open were flashing through her mind, and there she was stuck behind that stupid door, while Camila was maybe bleeding out on the ground!
"Ouch!"
"Oh my god! Camila are you okay? Please open the door baby! Can you do that?"
Relief flooded through her when she heard steps coming toward the door, and –finally!- the door clicked open.
"I think I broke my butt."
Lauren was on her in an instant, checking every last limb of her body.
"What happened?"
"My foot slipped, and I fell on my butt."
Camila could hardly hold back her tears, apart from the shock of thinking she was going to die for a second, her butt was really killing her. It would have hurt either way, but since it was already bruised, it was like the worst pain her bottom had ever been in.
"Okay, show me the booty, let's make sure you didn't actually break something. Take off your towel."
"Lauren! ...I'm uncovered!"
"Of course, you were in the freaking shower, Camz! Okay, just wait a second!"
Lauren quickly grabbed the sweater she had been wearing today, and pulled it gently over Camila's head, and down her chest.
"There you go! Now off with that towel."
Camila let it drop obediently, and turned around.
"Oh wow! That was some spanking that tub gave you, baby."
Lauren tentatively pressed around to make sure that her tailbone was good, but thankfully, the booty was probably just going to bruise. Lauren loved that booty, she hated to see it in such a state. She had never hidden her obsession for Camila's butt, she had started calling it "the booty" while they were still on the X factor, and damn, it had just gotten better and better!
"Lauren, could you stop giving a sympathetic look to my butt! I'm hurting!"
"I know, from how it's looking that must hurt pretty bad... Want me to kiss it better?"
"Lauren!!"
"How bad is it, baby? It's doesn't look like it's swelling, I don't really see blood underneath the skin, you can walk and stand, it's pretty encouraging."
She had gotten up, and was now hugging the pouty girl from behind.
"How do you even know those sort of stuff?"
"What stuff?"
"Butt stuff! ...Wait no, not "butt stuff-butt stuff", just, like, things about... You know what I mean!"
Lauren had a fit at that one. Her sweet little Camila.
"That's for me to know, and you to never found out, I fear."
"I'll found out one day!"
Lauren smiled softly at that one.
"Yeah... You might..."
Camila had turned her head toward her, hearing how solemn her words were. She was looking curiously at her with her head tilted to the side like a puppy, which only made Lauren smile harder.
"But you'll have to be extra good for that!"
"I am good!"
"Then go lie down on the bed, I'll go get some ice for the booty."
Some cream, ice and ibuprofen later, Camila felt better. She could feel her heartbeat in her butt, but the pain had dulled considerably. She was now comfortably lying along Lauren's body, legs on each side of her. With a pout and some teary eyes, she had convinced Lauren to put on Netflix. Of course, it was stupid to believe that she might sway her into watching Parks & Rec. Instead, Lauren had put on Cosmos, hoping that the soothing voice of Neil Degrasse Tyson might put her to sleep. It wasn't enough to do so, but Camila was completely limp against her, loving the combination of Lauren's hand combing through her hair, and the other tracing over one of her arms.
The peacefulness was disturbed a few minutes later by a notification from Lauren's planner. She frowned in confusion, she was sure that she had nothing to do today. She took her hand out of Camila's hair to grab her phone. The movement made the small girl whine, the sound slightly muffled because Camila was in her now usual spot, her face burrowed against Lauren's neck, her nose stroking it from time to time.
As she read her notification, Lauren started smiling. Of course Camila would have gone and added some stuff! She couldn't be mad though, "give Camila kisses and sing to her" was by far the greatest task ever put on that planner.
"Oh man! Just when I thought I was done with my day!"
Camila started giggling adorably, well aware of what contained that notification.
"I don't have a choice, though, right?"
"You did say that everything had to be done."
"Alright! Then I guess I'll do it right now, get it out of the way, you know!"
In one movement, she grabbed Camila under her armpits, pulled her higher on her body so they were face to face, and started peppering kisses all over her face: on her cheeks, her nose, her closed eye lids, and the little mole right at the top of her forehead that Lauren loved so much. Now that they were in this position, Dinah's words came back to her. Could it be true? Could Camila like her that way, too? Lauren had come out as bisexual to the girls about a year and a half into their career, she had secretly hoped that Camila would have a similar revelation to make, but she never said anything. Then again, she didn't really date anyone, nor show interest in anyone. And it was true that Camila never acted the way she did with Lauren with anyone else.
"Hey, you stopped..."
Camila's eyes were staring at her, her eyes drifting down to her lips every few seconds. Lauren's heart was already beating faster, were they about to?...
...And her phone started ringing. Of course.
"Sorry! It's Taylor, I have to answer."
Camila's heart was also beating pretty fast. Had she really just been about to...? And was Lauren really going to let her? Her body wouldn't even let her try to hide that smile, she was grinning like a fool! Lauren noticed and softly smiled at her, lifting up her head just enough to give her an eskimo kiss, and nuzzle there for a second. She settled back down on Lauren, hoping that Taylor was fine, and that that phone call would be short.
In the end, it lasted a good half hour during which Lauren had constantly been tracing circles on Camila back, and rocking her by moving her raised legs from left to right. When Lauren finally hung up, Camila felt seconds away from drifting. When she felt Lauren's breath against her ear, her whole body shuddered.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy, when skies are grey.
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away.
The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping,
I dreamed I held you in my arms.
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head and I cried.
I'll always love you, and make you happy
If you will only say the same.
But if you leave me to love another
You'll regret it all someday."
Lauren's husky voice quietly singing in her hear put her to sleep before she could hear the end of the song. Before finally succumbing to sleep, she kissed Lauren's throat three times, one for each word she meant to say.
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Thank you so much to all the people that answered my question last time, talking with all of you was awesome!! I got to meet some really amazing people :D ! I think I want to do that from now on, ask you guys a question at the end of the chapter so we get to know each other better! (I'll take suggestions for that too :D !!)
What fandom made you discover and start reading fanfiction?
Personally, I started with a show that was on TV way back when that was called "Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye, then for some reason I started reading Stargate Atlantis' ones (I wasn't even watching the show!), then the real discovery was twilight (maaan, I think my English level is due more to those than my English classes xD!). After that dwindled down (like 6 years later...) I got into Carmilla, then The 100, and very recently 5h!