"Camz, why are you so nervous?" Lauren chuckles at the anxious brunette who is currently smoothing out her dress for the hundredth time.
"Because they know me, but I don't know them and that makes me nervous. I mean they met me before the accident so what if they hate this me?" Camila wipes her sweaty hands on her red dress.
"Well at least Dinah's here to make you look better." Ally shrugs and Dinah scoffs in annoyance.
"I feel the love, Allyson." The Polynesian crosses her arms and pouts.
"I just hate disappointing people and they obviously once thought highly of me because they let me marry you. I just feel like this me will let them down and I hate letting people down." Camila voices her concerns.
Currently, all five girls are headed over to the Jauregui house for Thanksgiving and while all the other girls are excited, mainly about the food, Camila can't help but be apprehensive about it. When they pull up to the house, Lauren immediately turns off the car and gets out. She meets the nervous brunette in front of the car and puts her hands on the exposed tanned shoulders in front of her.
"Camila, they'll love you." Lauren smiles warmly at the girl. Truth be told, she's flattered that Camila's nervous about meeting her parents... again. It reminds her of the first time she brought the girl home.
Flashback
"Baby, they'll love you." Lauren promises as she turns to face the brunette sitting in her passenger's seat.
Lauren and Camila have been dating for about 5 months now and Lauren thought it was about time that Camila met her parents. Plus, they have been bugging her nonstop to bring her by.
"What if you talked me up and I don't live up to their expectations. Oh God, what if they hate me and then we break up because you don't want to date a girl that your parents hate." The younger girl rambles.
"Camz." The green-eyed girl cups her tanned cheeks with her hands. "First, they would never hate you. Second, if they did, which wouldn't happen in a million years, I would never break up with you."
"Promise?" Camila lifts her pinky in between the two and Lauren chuckles momentarily before dropping a hand from the girl's face and interlocking her pinky with the awaiting one. She uses their interlocked fingers to pull the girl closer and capture Camila's lips in hers. Lauren moves her lips slowly and Camila follows suit. The green-eyed girl trails her thumb back and forth across the tanned cheek under it momentarily before pulling away.
"No one's opinion of you will ever change my opinion of you." Lauren promises, her green eyes oozing love and adoration.
"Same, babe." Camila breathes out and the older girl takes her hand so she can lead them up the driveway.
"Ready?" Lauren asks as they approach the door.
"Ready." The younger brunette nods, her eyes trained on the wooden door before her.
End of Flashback
"Promise?" Camila reaches out her pinky and Lauren doesn't hesitate to wrap hers around it.
"Promise." She smiles. "Ready?"
"Ready." Camila nods and Lauren leads the four girls up to her front door. She opens it and walks into her childhood home. As soon as she enters, she is greeted by Clara and Mike.
"Hi, honey." Clara embraces her daughter.
"Hi, mom." Lauren wraps her arms around the woman and breathes in the familiar, comforting scent of her mother. When Clara lets her go, Mike immediately embraces her in a bear hug.
"We missed you, kiddo." Mike mumbles as he hugs his daughter tightly to his chest.
"Dad, no offense, but you smell like wood and sweat." The brunette scrunches up her nose.
"Oh sorry, honey. I've been working on some Adirondack chairs for the backyard." Mike self-consciously smells his shirt and grimaces.
"Yeah, I saw that on Instagram. I can't wait to try them out." Lauren smiles. "Anyways, I'm being rude. Mom, dad, this is Dinah, Ally, and Normani." She introduces the three girls to her parents before turning to face her wife. "And of course you already know Camila."
"We are so glad you all could join us for Thanksgiving. It's so nice to meet you all and Camila, honey, it's so great to see you again." Clara smiles warmly at the brunette, but there is pity laced in her eyes and Camila wishes that it wasn't directed at her.
"It's nice to meet you, Mama J." Dinah pipes up and all the other girls nod their heads in agreement.
"Yes, thank you so much for opening up your beautiful home to us." Ally chimes in.
"Yes, thank you." Camila smiles shyly and Mike and Clara smile sadly at her.
"We are glad you could all be here." Clara says. "Everyone is in the backyard so let's join them all, yeah?"
All the girls nod and follow the mother of three to the backyard.
"Lauren Jauregui." The green-eyed girl hears her name being called and she doesn't even have to look to know who the voice belongs to. A small smile plays on her lips when she looks to her right and sees Vero walking toward her, Alexa and Keana right behind her.
"Hi, guys." The brunette meets them halfway and embraces them all in a group hug. The other four girls walk away to a nearby table to sit down so they can give the friends some privacy.
Moments later, someone plops down next to Camila at the table and the Latina jumps at the sudden movement. "Camila Cabello." Vero smiles widely at the brunette. "Last time I saw you, you were chastising me for hitting on your work friends at your wedding."
"I don't really remember the last time I saw you. Those memories were kind of forced out of my head and by forced I mean beaten." Camila chuckles until she realizes that she is the only one laughing.
"Too soon." Dinah mumbles and everyone nods in agreement.
"Well it's nice to see you again." Vero smiles and pats Camila on the shoulder before getting up and allowing Lauren to take her place.
"I'm Keana." The girl extends her hand across the table and Camila takes it in hers. "Last time I saw you was-" She pauses when she notices Lauren giving her the 'please stop talking' look. "Never mind." Keana smiles sheepishly
"Lex, this is Camila." Lauren introduces the two and Camila smiles and extends her hand. However, she immediately retracts it when the girl across the table doesn't make a move to shake it. Lauren clenches her jaw and gives her friend a death glare, but Alexa just avoids looking at the green-eyed girl.
Clara, noticing the tension, quickly speaks up. "Chris and Taylor wish they could make it, but they couldn't. Taylor went to a friend's house in New York to attend the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Chris went with his girlfriend to her parent's house in Georgia."
Lauren nods her head in understanding.
The rest of the lunch goes by rather smoothly. Everyone eats until they cannot eat anymore and when it seems as if everyone has thrown in their napkins, Alexa leans over the table and whispers to Lauren. "Can we talk to you alone?"
Before Lauren can answer, Clara chimes in. "Girls, why don't I show you around?" Clara offers and Normani, Ally, Dinah, and Camila stand up and follow the older brunette into the house. When they are all gone inside, Lauren turns to her friends.
"What are you doing?" Alexa speaks up before Lauren gets the chance.
"Eating?" Lauren chuckles.
"No, with Camila. What are you doing?" Alexa crosses her arms.
The green-eyed girl just sits there, not knowing what to say or where Alexa is going with this.
"She has a boyfriend Lauren and you are just sticking around and being her side piece." Alexa deadpans and Lauren's eyes widen at her words.
"Lex..." Vero tries to butt in.
"No, Vero. I want to know why she is letting this girl string her along. You were successful in Venice and you just threw it all away for her." The girl points to the house.
"Alexa, that's enough." Keana speaks up, but Alexa keeps ranting.
"Her head's fucked up, Lauren. She can't remember you and she never will so just move on already! You're a catch and you are just throwing your life away to try to win a girl back who is too fucked up in the head to leave her abusive boy-"
"Alexa, stop!" Vero slams her hands down on the table and then nods her head to the house. All four girls turn around to look and they see Dinah, Ally, Normani, and Camila standing on the back steps of the house.
Camila, having heard enough of the conversation, turns around and walks back into the house, Ally on her heels. Dinah, however, storms over to the table.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" The Polynesian walks over and Lauren stands up from the table and places a hand on Dinah's chest to stop her from moving forward.
"I'm being a good friend." Alexa stands up. "Because your friend is doing Lauren wrong."
Dinah tries to step forward, but Lauren holds her back.
"I got this, D." Lauren assures the girl. Dinah just nods and stalks off in the direction of the house, but not before giving Alexa the dirtiest look her face can make. When Dinah makes it into the house, Lauren turns around to face her friend.
"First of all, Alexa, she's not some girl she's my fucking wife. Second of all, Camila told me from the get go that she may never get her memory back and that she wouldn't be mad or blame me if I left." Lauren places her palms on the table and leans forward so she is closer to the girl. "I stay because she's my home and I'd rather have her in my life as just a friend than not at all." The green-eyed stares intensely at the girl in front of her. "Third of all, if I ever hear you call my girl damaged or fucked up in the head again, I will not stop Dinah from beating your ass. Hell, I won't hesitate to either."
"You're making a mistake, Lauren. Choosing her over your closest friends." Alexa scoffs and shakes her head in disbelief.
"A close friend would never ask me to choose." Lauren replies. "I would tell you to apologize to Camila, but I doubt you will. So instead, why don't you just get the fuck out of my house." The brunette points to the door attached to their backyard fence and Alexa storms out.
When she leaves, Lauren turns to Vero and Keana. "You guys don't feel that way, do you?"
"No!" They both say in unison and Lauren offers them a sad smile.
"Good. I love you guys." She breathes out. "Now, I'm going to check on my girl." The older Latina informs them before entering the house again. As soon as she steps inside, she comes face to face with an angry Clara and Mike.
"Please tell us you kicked that girl out of our house." Clara asks.
"Of course." Lauren answers immediately.
"Good because no one talks about our daughter-in-law like that." Mike pats Lauren on the back.
"Where is she?" Her eyes search the house.
"Living room." Clara points in the direction and Lauren kisses her on the cheek before making her way into the living room. She sees all the girls sitting around Camila. Dinah seems to be trying to cheer the girl up and Lauren hears her favorite laugh so she knows it must be working. When she walks in, all the girls stand up from the couch.
"We will let you two talk alone." Normani says while dragging her fiancé and Ally out of the area. Lauren offers them all a grateful smile as they pass by her. When she sits down on the couch, Camila speaks up.
"She's right you know." The girl mumbles.
Lauren quickly looks her way, but Camila stays looking at her hands that are neatly folded in her lap.
"I am damaged and I feel like I'm holding you back." She continues when Lauren doesn't say anything.
"No, she's not right, Camz. Nothing she said was right." Lauren informs the girl, her heart breaking when she sees a tear fall from Camila's chin to her red dress. "Hey, look at me." She coaxes and Camila slowly raises her head and meets the green-eyed girl's tender gaze. "You are not damaged. You have some internal and external scars, but you aren't damaged."
Camila nods her head and starts to look back down, but Lauren quickly hooks a finger under the girl's chin and forces her to keep eye contact.
"I love you." Lauren finally speaks the three words that she has been itching to say since she was reunited with Camila. "Every single part of you and I don't know how much you heard of the conversation, but you are not stringing me along either. I choose to stay. I do." She puts a finger to her own chest. "I will always choose you and I'd rather have you as a friend than not at all."
"I so badly want to tell you that I would understand if you left like I did a couple of months ago, but I don't know if I could tell you that because I don't know if I could be okay if you left." Camila admits and Lauren's heart flutters as she processes what Camila just told her. "You've become such a big part of my life, Lauren. You've become my best friend and I don't want to lose you, but if staying is only hurting you then I will let you go. If you agree with anything Alexa said then I'll let you go."
Lauren immediately shakes her head. "I don't wanna go." She raises her hand from her own lap and places it on top of Camila's. "You're my best friend too, Camz. You have been for almost 5 years now and I could never willingly walk out of your life." Camila smiles at Lauren's words and the older girl matches her smile almost immediately. "And I did not agree with a single thing Alexa said. Not one thing. That's why I told her to get the fuck out of my house."
Camila's eyes widen. "You didn't have to do that for me. I know she's your friend."
Lauren traces circles on the backs of Camila's hands with her thumb. "I didn't just do it for you, I did it for me too. It hurt me to hear her say those things about you. Plus, if I didn't throw her out, Clara and Mike would've done it." Lauren chuckles lightly. "They love you, by the way. I don't think they ever stopped."
"Really?" Camila's eyes brighten.
"Really." The older Latina feels a smile crawl to her lips. "I mean face it, Camz, you are pretty lovable."
The brown-eyed girl laughs and playfully tosses some hair over her right shoulder. "Yeah, I guess I kind of am, huh?"
"You kinda are." Lauren squeezes Camila's hand before releasing it and standing up from the coach. "Now, let's go sit in my dad's new chairs. If we leave before trying them out, we will all be disowned."
Camila chuckles as she stands up from the sofa. "We wouldn't want that. Lead the way, Jauregui." She states before following the brunette back out of the house.
As Camila walks beside the green-eyed girl, she feels a hand slip into hers. She looks down and smiles at the pale hand that contrasts beautifully with her tan one.
All Camila has ever known are touches that leave bruises in their wake.
She never knew that they also had the ability to take your breath away while simultaneously setting your whole body on fire.
Camila had no idea that a touch could actually heal a person... Not until she met Lauren.