I hummed quietly to myself as I made Lauren and I two cups of coffee. Lauren was sitting on the bed with her laptop on her lap, browsing for the perfect apartment for the two of us. Things has been a lot less hectic this past few days, thankfully. Although, I still got the record deal in my mind and I'm not changing my decision anytime soon. The both of us are already excited to move in together, and that's the only thing I care about right now. I sighed happily, moving to sit beside Lauren with two cups of coffee in my hands.
The girl smiled gratefully and took her cup from my hand before leaning in to sloppily kiss my cheeks. I made a playful disgusted noise as I wiped off her saliva from my cheek. "That was gross..." Groaning, I let my head fall on her shoulder, my eyes immediately training on the screen in front of us. "You love me." She whispered. Lauren grinned and kissed the top of my head. "Tell me something I don't know." I rolled my eyes.
She adorably scrunched up her nose and took a sip from her cup.
We sat in silence for a few seconds before Lauren said, "So, I just bookmarked a few apartments here in New York City that I thought would be perfect for us, but it's not going to be perfect without your opinion so here is the first one that I picked." My girlfriend rambled excitedly, making me giggle in amusement. "What do you think?" She turned to me, waiting to hear my opinion with sparks in her eyes. She looked so giddy and excited waiting for me to say something.
Smiling in amusement, I browsed the apartment. "Don't you think that it's a bit too big for just the two of us?" Lauren tilted her head to the side, letting her hair cascade. "But it's not just the two of us." The girl said with a small smile. I blinked in confusion. "Huh? Is somebody else moving in with us? But I thought-" Lauren cut me off, "Of course, someday we're going to adopt cute little huskies together so I picked an apartment that going to fit the six of us- I meant the three of us."
I sighed, not wanting to pop her little bubble. "Lauren... We can't afford to rent that apartment every month. We would need to work extra shifts which would mean we would barely have the time to spend together, and we still have college." I tried to explain to her, which only made her pout in annoyance. "Fine..." She grumbled stubbornly, switching to a different apartment. I pecked her lips and then continued to listen to her rambling.
"We should just pick a simple apartment that we can afford, we do have quite the amount of money in our bank account." Lauren noted, letting me snuggle on her shoulder. "Mhmm..." I mumbled in her shoulder. "You've been a little tense lately," I husked out, encircling my arms around her waist. I heard her breath hitch when I began kissing her neck. She was gripping her laptop tightly, trying to focus.
"How about," I whispered seductively, taking her laptop out of her hand and moving it aside, instead opting to settle myself on her thighs. "You relax a little." I look her in the eye just to notice that her usually vibrant green eyes were now darker. Smirking, she quickly moved up to take my lips between hers, making me moan quietly.
We broke apart and she whispered something before connecting our lips once again in a rough kiss. I giggle, leaning my forehead against hers. I examined her gorgeous face, taking in her beauty. Her enviable vibrant, emerald eyes that leaves you mesmerized, those cute little freckles across the bridge of her nose. Biting my lip, we both smashed our lips for a searing kiss once again."That sounds perfect, love."
_
"Gosh, I can't believe that you guys are already moving in together." Dinah said. Lauren and I smiled at each other before shrugging, "What's the difference? They literally live together already so I don't see what's the problem." Normani said as she laid on her stomach with the laptop in front of her. "Aren't you guys moving a little too fast?" The Polynesian said, making the four of us stare at her incredulously.
"What?" She stared at us in confusion. The four of us exchanged looks before Ally said, "Is Dinah Jane, the captain of the Camren ship, questioning her own ship?" We all playfully gasped. "I'm just worried about you guys, that's all." Dinah said. I smiled gratefully at my best friend's concern. "Don't worry about it Dinah," Lauren waved off her concerns, settling her arms around my shoulders to tug me closer to her side. "We're both happy."
Dinah pouted like a child, making us even more confused about her behavior. I expected her to be supportive about our decision seeing that she was basically obsessed about Lauren and I's relationship. "Is that even what you're actually worried about?" Normani quirked an eyebrow. The taller girl stayed quiet, playing with her hair quietly. Ally snorted, also eliciting a laugh from Normani. I looked at Lauren to see if she has an idea about what they're talking about. It looks like she's confused too.
"Oh my gosh," Ally wheezed, wiping away a fake tear, Normani snickered, making Dinah groan in embarrassment. "Stop laughing at me." This only made Ally snort once again before calming herself down, "She's totally lying by the way." The small girl said. "Guys..." Dinah said through the pillow she buried her face in.
"Mhmm, she just doesn't want you guys to leave because she feels like you guys will be too far away." Normani said, softly patting Dinah's mane. We looked at Dinah to see her reaction but she just stayed quiet with her face hidden in the pillow. "Aww, DJ." Lauren awed and plopped herself on top of her, snuggling her face on the taller girl's shoulder. I pouted before also plopping myself on top of Dinah.
She groaned in annoyance and pushed our faces away with both of her hands. Lauren and I gave Dinah's cheeks a big smooch at the same time. "That's so cute," I awed. "Now this makes me feel like we're abandoning a dog on the streets," I said, snuggling closer to Dinah. "Did you just compare me to an abandoned dog-"
"Yeah, it's like her owners abandoned her on the streets." Normani said. "Oh my God," Dinah groaned, giving up.
"I won't forgive you guys if you make our little Dinah Jane feel like this again." Ally wagged her finger indignantly at the both of us. "Take care of our little puppy for us." Lauren said while we still sandwich Dinah between the two of us. "Do you know how many people would kill to be in your position right now, Dinah?" Normani said in a serious tone.
"And I don't care so now get off me! I don't wanna be in a Camren sandwich." She groaned, continuing to push our face away with her hands. "Fine." I mumbled the best I could with her hand covering half of my face. Lauren and I complied, sitting up properly. "You do know the apartment we rented out if basically just a couple of blocks away?" Lauren raised a brow with a mischievous smirk.
Dinah blinked at us blankly as if she finally realized how she overreacted. "Well that was a waste of precious time." She muttered and sat on the headboard as if nothing happened. We exchanged looks before bursting into fits of laughter. Typical Dinah Jane. "What ya'll hoes laughin' about?"
"Well that was short lived." I said, giggling. I turned my head to see Lauren looking at me with a boyish grin. I giggled once again and moved closer to kiss her. It was supposed to be a quick peck but then she put her hands on my back to tug me closer. I sighed and tangled one hand to her hair while the other one gripped the front of her shirt tightly. I bit her lower lip and pulled at it gently with a smirk, making Lauren groan.
"How did it escalate to this?" I heard one of them whisper quietly behind us. "Just roll with it." I heard another whisper but we were too occupied to even care. I continue to kiss my girlfriend deeply. I was about to move my head to the side to deepen the kiss but then I heard another hushed voice, "It's like they don't even care that we are literally right behind them and I can see Lauren's hand about to move down to Chancho's ass. Why aren't we stopping them? Don't tell me you guys are enjoying this-" Then I heard a hard slap and a wince after.
I groaned in annoyance as I was forced to part our lips, but Lauren's hand stayed on my lower back. The raven haired girl smiled widely at me before pecking the side of my lips.
"Wait, weren't we here to help them pack all of their stuff?" Ally said.
_
"So now that we have established that I shouldn't have kissed you that much to show you that you belong to me in front of the new student, maybe now you can help me carry the boxes to our apartment, Camz." Lauren grunted as she picked up a heavy box from the trunk of the car. I rolled my eyes, "The poor boy was so embarrassed that he ran off - But that doesn't matter. Oh my gosh, this place is perfect Laur."
"Did you not see a huge rat just ran off from the door?" Lauren said, making me stop from my tracks and re-think about all of my decisions in life. "Why don't we just go back to our dorm room-" I was about to sprint back to our car when I heard Lauren's heavenly laughter, "I'm just messing with you Camz. This place is perfect." I glared at the green eyed beauty before nodding in agreement.
I craned my head upwards to examine the tall building the best I could with heavy loads in my arms. I let a huge smile appear on my lips. The apartment wasn't too extravagant but it was just perfect for us, a place that we can afford. I squealed once more and pecked Lauren's cheeks before running off inside. "Hey! Don't run! You're going to trip with that heavy box in your hands!" I heard my girlfriend reprimand me but I ignored her and ran inside.
Soon, Lauren caught up with me. "Seeing how clumsy you are, I would have expected you to trip on the way." She smirked. "Hush," I glared at her, playfully shaking my head. "The inside is even more perfect." Lauren smiled in amusement, "Yeah, yeah."
"Wow look at this place! Oh look that cute old piano there- Eeep!" Lauren pulled me to her using her hand that was wrapped around my waist to prevent my feet from falling in a hole on the floor. A piece of plank was missing on the floor. "Why the hell is a plank missing?" Lauren was about to complain very loudly when a man twice the size of us appeared from around the corner to greet us. "Oh you must be Lauren and Camila."
Lauren ignored the man's greeting and instead started complaining, "My girlfriend's foot could have gotten stuck in there!" I hissed at her to be nice. The man looked down on us because of the height difference and quirked an eyebrow in amusement. I swear I heard Lauren gulp in fright because of the man. "Sorry, I was just about to work on that before you guys arrived but you came in early so I couldn't. I'm terribly sorry."
"Oh." Lauren muttered quietly, her hands still on my waist. "I'm Rob by the way, the owner of this apartment complex. People call me Big Rob so you're welcome to call me Big Rob too." He smiled brightly at us and I was confused. Very confused. For a second there I thought he was going to be a very scary man. "Here's your apartment keys and you can find your room upstairs. I would have helped you guys settle in but I have some business to attend to so have a nice stay!" He handed me two keys.
Big Rob smiled at us briefly before stepping outside and closing the door. I looked at the keys on my hands and saw the number on the keys. "Apparently our room is Room 17." I muttered quietly, still confused from what just happened. "Seems like a nice man." Lauren shrugged before a she smiled brightly. "Okay, now let's go finish unpacking our stuff."
I pouted at the thought of doing manual labor. I had no choice but to comply. The two of us quietly went up the wooden steps . I hummed a cheerful tune as we walk towards our room. "Oooh, it looks even better than the pictures." I gasped, "We haven't even went inside our room yet." Lauren smiled in amusement. "Hush, you need to be more optimistic Lo." I shook my head, I put down the boxes and tugged the keys out of my back pocket. I inserted it inside the lock and turned it.
Lauren was about to open the door but I tugged on her wrist, stopping her. I quietly took the boxes from her hands and set them down on the floor before making her wrap her arms around my waist. Lauren stared at me confused as I wrap mine around her neck, pulling her in for a tight hug. She didn't ask why I suddenly hugged her but instead opted to tighten the hug, nuzzling her face on my neck. "Thank you for taking this step with me." I said.
"I love you." She mumbled against my shoulder, turning her head to place light kisses on my neck. "I love you too." I pecked her temples. After a few seconds, we broke apart, smiling at each other before we turned the knob together. With boxes still in my hands, I admired the place in awe. I set the boxes down on the ground before running around the room in glee. I spent the next few minutes examining every inch of the apartment before I just stood on the middle of the room, not moving.
In the middle of the room was the biggest window that showcases New York City in all its glory. I stood there, in awe, running my eyes over the busy streets. "Wow," I gasped. "Wow indeed." I felt familiar arms hug me from behind. "I knew this apartment was the one for us." I pecked her lips softly before escaping from her embrace once again and running around the furnished room, laughing.
I was already on the sofa, jumping on it when I caught the glimpse of Lauren looking at me with a glint in her eyes that I can't explain as she leaned against the wall. "You... You're looking at me with that look again." I pointed my finger at her accusingly, making her tilt her head like a confused puppy. "What look?"
"That... That kind of look! I don't know!" I pouted in frustration, eliciting a laugh from the raven haired woman. Lauren quietly walked towards the couch where I was standing, and held her hands out for me. I took it and jumped down. I was surprised when she pulled me to her chest, laughing mischievously. "It's the kind of look only reserved for you, m'lady."
I stood there, flustered. Lauren was just smiling at me as if she just hadn't said the most embarrassing yet cute thing ever. My face was red in embarrassment, I softly hit her chest with my fist before turning away from her. "Why do you always want to make me flustered?" I mumbled, my face burning red. "I don't know, it's cute."
The older girl turned my body to face her and held both of my hands, "After we're done unpacking, how about we go eat outside?" My face brightened up at the idea of food, "That sounds wonderful, but I have an even better idea." I pecked her lips and said, "Why don't we eat first then finish unpacking." She looked at me surprised before bursting into fits of laughter. "You're unbelievable. You're never going to change are you?" Lauren pecked my nose, making me scrunch it up.
"Don't count on it, food always comes first in my house."
"In our house," Lauren corrected, "Yeah, whatever." I waved her off.
"Unbelievable."
_
After eating at some cheap restaurant, we went out to walk for a bit. It was already afternoon by the time we finished but we could care less. We stopped by to watch some street performers. One girl caught my attention. She looked like she might have been 16 but that wasn't what caught my attention initially, it was her voice and her eyes. Her eyes were blank and gray, but they still had light in them. She was smiling so brightly, like she doing something she loves.
Her voice was powerful and heartwarming, she had a story to tell. Beside her was a boy that looked younger than her, maybe 12. He played the guitar as she sang. They look alike so he might have been her brother. I recognized the song they were playing, so even I started singing along quietly, not wanting to divert the attention of the people to me and instead focus on the girl.
"Our lives are stories, waiting to be told
In search of silver linings, we discovered gold
And judgement taught us that our hearts were wrong
But they're the ones that we'll look down upon"
"The rules say our emotions don't comply
But we'll defy the rules until we die"
I turned my head to the woman who had her arms around me when I heard her singing also. "You're singing." I said with a small smile. "Hmm?" Lauren looked down at me, seeing she was taller than me and wearing ankle boots. "Oh, yeah. Don't you remember? We used to sing this together all the time. I guess I didn't notice I was singing it 'til now."
It warmed my heart as I remembered the old times. "Mhmm..." I mumbled quietly with a tight lipped smile. We were both in love with the song, and I guess it had so much meaning to us.
"So let's be sinners to be saints
And let's be winners by mistake
The world may disapprove
But my world is only you
And if we're sinners then it feels like heaven to me"
The song ended and the crowd clapped loudly for the girl. She sang so emotionally and brilliantly, it made me feel like Simon just wasted a record deal on me. There are so much more artists that waits to let their stories be told but unfortunately never got the chance to but then here I am, declining a chance I may never get again. I smiled absentmindedly as her brother helped her down the stool and guided her to the center. People started leaving money on the empty guitar case and Lauren and I left a couple of dollars in there, we were truly moved.
After that, Lauren and I went back to our apartment to finish packing. We were so excited to move in already. The restaurant we ate at was only a few blocks away from the apartment so we didn't use the car. The car was just parked by the apartment.
"Come on, let's finish unpacking." Lauren nudged me before opening the trunk of her car. She tried to carry three boxes at the same time, which ended very badly. "Yeah, no. What's got you in a hurry?" I said as I carried one of the boxes she tried to carry all at once. "Nothing, I just can't wait to actually see what the apartment looks like after we finish unpacking." Lauren smiled childishly as we walked towards the door.
"Me too, cutie." I said, pecking her nose. I skipped ahead to open the door for her since she had two boxes to carry, "Our castle awaits, my knight." Lauren laughed heartily, "If I'm the knight, aren't I supposed to be the one to open the door for you, my princess?" I wagged my index finger at her, "Nope, that's not how it works here, Lo." She bit my finger that was in front of my face playfully as she made a low growl erupt from her throat. I gulped when she bit it a little harder and gave a little lick.
How did this it get to this? I thought to myself, feeling quite hot. She might have noticed the effect she had on me and winked seductively at me before walking ahead of me. "Okay, we need to finish unpacking all of our stuff quicker." I said in urgency, walking up the stairs ahead of her. "Why is that?" She laughed. "I'm sure you know why." I winked at her and now it was her turn to gulp.
I opened the door and we set the boxes down on the ground. Soon, it was only two boxes left and we finally finished carrying all the boxes upstairs. I mean, it wasn't that many but it was still manual labor so... Anyway, Lauren and I began putting all the stuff in the box in place. Fortunately, the apartment we bought was fully furnished. Lauren brought all her art supplies, books, camera and some other valuable stuff while I just brought my books, some things to decorate the place, valuables and my instruments.
After we settled all of our things in the room, Lauren apparently decided to lay on the floor when there is literally a couch beside her. "You do know there's a couch beside you, right?" I said with my hands on my waists, staring down at her in amusement. "I know..." She uttered, making no move but instead closed her eyes. After a few quiet seconds, she opened her arms, silently asking for me to cuddle with her.
I rolled my eyes and laid down beside her with my head resting on her shoulder. I smiled and kissed her defined jaw. "I can't believe we have this place all to ourselves..." Lauren said. I nodded once in agreement. I rolled over and straddled Lauren's waist. She stared at with a smile as I scrunched up her cheeks together.
"So what are we going to do now?" I asked in a bored tone. She shrugged, also bored. I tried thinking of something fun to do and an idea popped in my mind. I smiled widely before jumping and getting my speakers from my bag. I plopped down on the couch with a mischievous smile as I browsed through my music playlist. "How about we go disturb our neighbors and sing as loud as we want?"
Lauren made a thinking face, which by the way made her look constipated, before nodding. She jumped onto her feet. "This place could use some lightening up after all. Too gloomy for me."
I finally found the right song and laughed merrily.
"Ain't got a soapbox I can stand upon
But God gave me a stage, a guitar and a song
My daddy told me, son don't you get involved
In politics, religions, other peoples' quarrels
I'll paint the picture let me set the scene
I know when I have children, they will know what it means
And I'll pass on these things my family's given to me
Just love and understanding positivity"
Lauren and I started dancing to the upbeat song, finding our rhythm. We had the volume to the highest and the whole apartment was vibrating with music. I had my back against Lauren's front as we danced, laughing together. "I could get used to this," I said, laughing. Lauren smiled back at me, her hands setting around my waist and pecked my cheeks as we swayed to the music.
"We could change this whole world with a piano
Add a bass, some guitar, grab a beat and away we go
I'm just a boy with a one man show
No university no degree but lord knows
Everybody's talking about exponential growth
And the stock market crashing and their portfolios
While I'll be sitting here with a song that I wrote
Saying love could change the world in a moment
But what do I know?"
As we were dancing, I accidentally stepped on Lauren's foot. "Ow..." She winced and laughed at the same time. "Sorry," I giggled. We both continued dancing around the spacious room, basically not caring how we're disturbing the other people in the building. Lauren playfully dipped me, making me squeal in surprise.
Then a loud knock resonated from the right wall and a loud shout, "Turn it down!" The deep voice said, making me grimace. "Oops, I guess the walls are thin." I said. "You know what that means," Lauren smirked. She didn't give me time to question when she picked me up by my thighs and laying me down on the couch.
"That means you have to be quiet." She smirked.
_
The next day, I woke up with Lauren. I had my head against her shoulders, I was basically laying half on top of her. I can just imagine how her arm feels right now. The curtains were open and the bright light passed through the window, making me groan in annoyance. I turned to my side so I didn't face the windows, this caused Lauren to groan when I stirred. I laughed quietly before slipping out of her embrace gently. I sat up and remembered I was just wearing Lauren's over-sized tee and nothing but my underwear.
I smile absentmindedly as I admired the canvases that were painted on by Lauren. They were all scattered around the room. Soon, I felt the bed stir and a hand tugged on my shirt, making me turn my head to face Lauren. I giggled as she pouted at me, knowing that her bright emerald eyes and plump lips were my weakness.
"Nooo... Cuddle with me a little longer." My girlfriend whined, rubbing her tired eyes with a pout. I smiled, "We can't it's already 9:00. I'm going to cook us breakfast." I yawned and stretched my body, making the shirt I was wearing rise. I swear I heard a groan behind me from Lauren but I brushed it off and instead stood up, not even bothering to wear something underneath but my underwear. I pecked her cheeks and then lips before walking to the door.
I walked outside of our room to the small kitchen.
"Fine, be like that." I heard Lauren shout from our room and a grumble came after. I shook my head in amusement. I happily walked towards the fridge and opened it with a smile. After I opened it, my smile immediately fell. Oops, I guess we forgot something.
"What's the matter?" Lauren yawned, scratching her cheeks cutely. I had to remind myself not to stare too much at her body. She was just wearing a sports bra and shorts. I moved aside and let her see for herself. "I guess we forgot to go grocery shopping." The fridge was empty, which I took a long time to accept seeing that food is everything.
"Wow, how can we forget to buy groceries? I mean, food is everything!" I exclaimed exasperatedly, throwing my hands in the air in frustration. The green eyes girl didn't seem to mind much, which puzzled me since she loves food as much as me. "Why aren't you freaking out as much as me! Food! Food! Fooooood!" I groaned. Lauren wrapped her arms around me in a hug and pecked my lips. "You need a hug." She mumbled against my shoulders, which made me relax.
"No, I need food but this works too I guess." I joked, making her laugh against my neck.
After a few quiet seconds, I felt Lauren tense, making me intrigued. "I just remembered something." She let go of me and scrambled to get her bag. I followed her. Lauren opened her bag and held out a box of Lucky Charms. I stare at it with confusion, "Why do you even have a box of Lucky Charms in your bag?"
"I get hungry." She shrugged nonchalantly. I decided not to question it.
We spent the morning joking around and unpacking the rest of our stuff, which was fun but then I remembered that I had to go and meet Simon today, making my day already stressful. Talking to the guy is nerve wracking enough. "Oh God, I just remembered that I have to go and talk to Simon today." I groaned and slumped head against the wall. "Aw... I thought we were going to spend the day together, love." She frowned.
I hugged her, still groaning. "But Simon is scary."
"I know he looks like a mean old man but maybe he's actually nice. I mean, he recognizes real talent, there's that." Lauren complimented. "Thanks, sweets." I gave her cheeks a big smooch. Lauren quirked a perfectly sculptured eyebrow, "Who said I was talking about you?" She smirked, making me hit her on the chest softly.
"Kidding, kidding. Hmm... I really wanna spend the whole day with you though." Hearing her say that made an idea pop up in my mind, "How about you just come with me then?" I offered. Lauren looked at me hesitantly, "Won't I disturb you guys or anything? It's a pretty busy place after all."
"You're going to come with me missy and you can't complain about it because we're still going together anyways." I grinned victoriously and stood up, lifting her up with me. "Well I guess I have no choice then, seeing that I have this very stubborn girlfriend that wont take no for an answer."
"Whatever, now let's go get ready."