Camila did not say a word the entire trip back to Miami and none of the girls forced her to. The young brunette slept most of the time on the plane and when she fell asleep with her chin tucked into her chest, Lauren immediately guided her head to her shoulder so she could sleep a bit more comfortably. When they arrived back in Miami, all the girls went their separate ways.
Today is Wednesday and they got back to Miami on Sunday night. After giving Camila two days of space, like Dinah suggested she do, Lauren decides to go over to their apartment today instead of going to work.
"How's she doing, Dinah?" Lauren asks as she sips on her coffee.
"She is so distant and is having nightmares again almost every night. They are pitiful." Dinah runs her fingers through her blonde hair. "Sometimes she just screams in her sleep and other times she just begs over and over again for them to stop."
"Fuck." Lauren sighs. "I wish I could make it all go away for her."
"That makes two of us, Ralph." Dinah nurses her coffee.
As if on cue, they both hear a scream coming from Camila's room and Lauren immediately bolts from the kitchen to where the screams are coming from. The green-eyed girl throws open the door to the bedroom and her heart breaks when she sees Camila thrashing around on the bed. She immediately walks over and tries to take the girl into her arms, but as she starts to wrap her arms around the girl, a flying fist connects with her eye. She grimaces, but still sits down on the bed and pulls Camila into her lap. She rocks back and forth, whispering comforting words in the Latina's ear until she calms down from her nightmare. Lauren smooths Camila's hair back so it's away from her face and plants a kiss to her sweaty forehead.
Lauren holds her wife for hours as she sleeps and Dinah makes frequent trips in and out of the room to bring her food, refills of coffee, and ice to put on her bruising eye. When Camila stirs, the green-eyed girl breaks from her thoughts and smiles down at the girl.
Camila blinks her eyes open slowly while unconsciously snuggling her body further into the warm body underneath hers. However, when her eyes adjust, she looks up and sees green eyes looking down at her. Camila immediately sits up and stretches before turning her attention to the brunette sitting up against her head board. Before she can speak, Lauren beats her to it.
"I was um having coffee with Dinah this morning and you had another nightmare so I came in here and comforted you until you calmed down." Lauren offers her a smile.
Camila nods her head and she moves closer when she sees a bruise forming around one of Lauren's eyes. She reaches out, her fingers tracing the bruise. "What happened?"
"It's nothing." Lauren promises as she wraps her own hand around the tan hand and brings them down to rest in her lap.
"I did that, didn't I?" Camila frowns momentarily before looking down at their intertwined hands.
"You were asleep, you didn't mean to." The older brunette smiles sympathetically. "Plus, it doesn't hurt at all and I think it kinda makes me look like a badass." Lauren tries to lighten the mood a bit.
"Fuck. I'm so sorry, Lauren." Camila runs her fingers through her hair. "Next time you can just leave me, I'll eventually stop screaming I'm sure."
"I'll never leave you. Not again." Lauren promises as she looks into the brown eyes in front of her. The ones that are normally vibrant and bright, but today they are dull and darker shade of brown.
"I uh have therapy today so I better get ready." The younger Latina stands up from the bed.
"I can take you, if you want." Lauren offers and Camila turns around, her eyebrows furrowed.
"What about work?" She asks as she eyes the clock on her bedside table.
"I took a personal day." The green-eyed girl admits before standing up and walking to the door so Camila can have some privacy while getting ready.
"Lauren- " Camila starts, but Lauren holds up a hand.
"Before you finish that thought, I did it for me too. I have some errands to run and I need to take Cam to the vet for a check up." The art teacher answers and Camila just nods, not convinced at all. "I'll give you some space so you can shower, but I'll be in the living room when you're ready."
Camila offers a small smile before entering her bathroom and starting the process of getting ready. The younger brunette remembers almost all of what went down the other night at the club. She remembers almost being sexually assaulted and unfortunately, she remembers every harsh word she said to Lauren. Truthfully, she is embarrassed that she let her guard down with the guy at the bar, she is embarrassed that she accused Lauren of flirting with her childhood best friend, and she is embarrassed of every single thing that she yelled at the green-eyed girl. Truth be told, she missed the girl the two days they were away from each other. Dinah mentioned that she told Lauren to give Camila space and the younger brunette wanted to say that she didn't want any space from Lauren, but she couldn't put her stubbornness or pride aside.
After showering and throwing on some jeans and an Ed Sheeran sweatshirt, she makes her way to the living room where Dinah and Lauren are quietly watching television. When she enters, Lauren immediately turns her attention from the screen to the brunette. A quick smile makes it's way across her lips before she stands up.
"Ready?" She asks the younger Latina and when Camila just nods, she opens the door and escorts them out. They pull up to the building around 20 minutes later and Lauren turns the car off.
"You can just come back in an hour. Thank you for the ride." Camila smiles shyly before opening up the door and getting out. Lauren scrambles out of the car after her and meets the brunette in front of it.
"You sure you don't want me to come in with you? I don't mind." Lauren scans the brown eyes, her own pleading for Camila to let her come.
"I'll be okay, Lauren. I came by myself almost every day after the attack a year ago." Camila assures the worried girl. The older Cuban's shoulders deflate and she just nods her head in understanding.
"Just call me if you need me, okay? I'll be back in an hour." The green-eyed girl promises and Camila just nods and starts walking to the door. She takes two steps away and then stops in her tracks. She turns around and sees Lauren slowly walking back to her car.
"Lo?" She whispers and Lauren immediately turns around. Camila swiftly walks over to her and throws her arms around the girl's neck. "Thank you for being here."
Lauren's heart beats erratically in her chest as she takes in Camila's scent that seems stronger today and somewhat... different. Usually, she just smells like vanilla, but today the vanilla is there, but it seems to be stronger, like she used more of it to cover up another scent. Deciding to let it go for now, she wraps one arm around Camila's petite waist and places the other hand on the back of the younger girl's head, absentmindedly running her fingers through the still damp brown locks. Moments later, Camila pulls back slightly and locks eyes with Lauren. She stands on her toes a bit and leans in. Lauren flutters her eyes closed and Camila's lips land on the bruise around Lauren's right eye. The kiss, even if it isn't on her lips, sets Lauren's body on fire. When Camila pulls back, she offers her a tender smile. Lauren waits until Camila gets in the building before she pulls off and heads to the nearest coffee shop to wait.
An hour later, Lauren pulls back into the same parking lot and sees Camila standing under the owning of the building. She is turned to the side so she doesn't see Lauren. The green-eyed girl watches as Camila brings her hand up to her mouth and her lips attach around something. When the older brunette watches a cloud of smoke pool out of Camila's mouth, her eyes widen.
When did she start smoking? Lauren thinks as she watches Camila bring the white stick back to her lips and inhale the tobacco. The green-eyed girl does not consider herself uptight. She doesn't mind a lot of things, but smoking cigarettes, she minds. Anything that could potentially shorten her wife's life is not something she can be okay with. Camila immediately turns to the side and as soon as her eyes land on Lauren's car, she drops the white stick to the ground and digs her shoe into it.
When Camila enters the car, Lauren gets a whiff of cigarette smoke and she turns her nose up at the bitter, not welcomed scent. It is then that she realizes smoke is what she smelled on Camila earlier. Cigarette smoke is what the stronger scent of vanilla was trying to cover up.
Deciding not to question or interrogate Camila about it right now, Lauren just decides to ask her about the session. "How was it?" She puts the car in drive and pulls out of the parking lot.
The younger girl just shrugs. "It was therapy. A lot of talking about my many problems." Lauren just nods. She so desperately wants to get more out of the girl, but she doesn't want to force the girl into telling her things. She wants Camila to want to tell her. Lauren knows she will have to be patient with her so she just hands the brown-eyed girl the aux cord and lets her play her music for the rest of the drive home.
When they get back to the apartment, Camila thanks Lauren and mumbles something about taking a nap before leaving Lauren in the living room with Normani and Dinah. As soon as Camila is out of sight, Lauren slumps down on the couch and puts her head in her hands. When she looks up, she sees two sets of concerned eyes focused on her.
"She will open up more, I promise." Dinah breaks the silence. "After her first attack, she became this closed off too, but she got better with time." Lauren just nods.
"When did she start smoking?" She asks as she pulls her knees up on the couch and sets her chin on top of them.
Both Normani and Dinah's eyes widen.
"She started smoking again?" Normani questions. "Did you see her?"
Lauren just nods and Dinah sighs.
"Fuck. I thought we broke her of that." The Polynesian runs her fingers through her hair. "After the first attack, she started smoking when she met Austin. She said he let her try it to calm her nerves and it worked."
Lauren's blood boils. Of fucking course he got her started smoking.
"How did you get her to stop then?" The green-eyed girl asks the question that's been on her mind since she saw Camila smoking.
"I had a come to Jesus meeting with her. I told her she wasn't smoking in our apartment or around me because I don't want second hand smoke. I also told her that it would ruin her singing voice and she would never be able to sing again if she got lung cancer." Dinah states bluntly and Lauren's glad she isn't the only one who disapproves of the cancer sticks.
"Well I guess we can give her a few days to see if she comes to her senses and breaks it on her own, but if she keeps it up, we will have a come to Jesus meeting part two." Lauren states and both girls nod their heads in agreement.
Camila may not care about the consequences of smoking right now, but Lauren cares enough for the both of them and she refuses to just sit back and watch as her wife slowly kills herself.