ONE SHOT
"So, why are you guys throwing a party again?" Lauren asks Camila in what could have been a whisper if it weren't for the fact that there is music blasting from the stereo system in one corner of the room, drowning out her words.
Camila looks at Lauren half asleep and half drunk and gives her a crooked smile that makes Lauren's heart skip a beat. "Dinah's got a good grade on her midterm," she replies after a moment, basically talking in Lauren's ear.
Which is really inconvenient because Lauren is also a bit dizzy and Camila's breath caressing her ear is doing things to her body.
Things that are not so pure, by the way.
Taking advantage of the fact that they are close, Camila rests her head on Lauren's shoulder and they both watch the way the neon lights move around the living room, illuminating a dozen bodies dancing at the rhythm of the music on the dance floor.
Or the middle of the living room, whatever.
"Do you wanna dance?" Lauren talks slowly, turning her head so Camila can actually hear her above the noise.
Camila turns her head too and they are close but Lauren doesn't dare to move because she is sure she will either throw up thanks to the alcohol running in her veins, or she will end up kissing Camila.
(That last thought has been in her mind for days now and it is driving Lauren insane, seriously.)
Camila just shakes her head after a couple of seconds, silently telling Lauren that she is totally fine sitting on the couch with her. There are other people sitting there too but Lauren doesn't recognize them, so she doesn't pay them any attention even though they are literally making out beside her.
But hey, at least someone is having a good time, right?
Not like Lauren is not having fun, but she would rather be making out with someone, to be honest.
Dinah —Lauren and Camila's best friend— walks up to them a few minutes later, eyeing them suspiciously before she tells the other two people to get out of the couch and to get a room.
(But not really.)
"What's up? Are you guys okay?" Dinah asks them in a concerned tone, leaning over to look at the both of them as she sits beside Lauren.
When Lauren looks at Camila again she is sleeping but to be quite honest, she is not even surprised.
"I think she's tired," Lauren replies with sarcasm, giggling when Dinah claps her hands right in front of Camila's face to wake her up.
The motion obviously does nothing because Camila is actually a heavy sleeper and she is literally sleeping in the middle of a fucking party, so Lauren shoves Dinah away, assuring her that they are okay before the Polynesian girl decides to do her own things and leave them alone.
Almost fifteen minutes later Camila wakes up but when she does, she does something that Lauren has only dreamed before and in her current state, makes it really hard for her to believe that it actually happened.
Because when Camila wakes up, she looks around with her brow slightly furrowed and her lips frowned in a pout as if she is searching for someone and she is not happy that she is not finding that person, whoever that is.
Her eyes scan every single face in the room and Lauren is silently watching Camila until she looks up and her brown eyes find Lauren's green ones. The green-eyed girl smiles and the scowl adorning Camila's features turn into a happy grin, though it disappears as soon as she leans in to softly kiss Lauren's lips.
It probably lasted less than a second, really, and once the touch ends, Lauren is left with her eyes wide open and her heart thumping like crazy between her lungs.
She doesn't know if Camila is conscious of her actions (she highly doubts it) and when Lauren looks around to see if anyone —especially Dinah, Ally or Normani— saw them, she is greeted with people dancing and minding their own business. Which is kind of relieving in a sense, but on the other hand, it is not because no one will believe her when she tells them.
"Camz," Lauren calls her, heart still beating hard in her chest. "Camila," Lauren moves her, waking Camila up again.
(She fucking fell asleep after the kiss, what the hell.)
"Yeah?" Camila replies, blinking heavily as she tries to keep her eyes on Lauren's dark green ones.
"You just..." Lauren trails off, furrowing her eyebrows and trying to find the right words to speak but from the way Camila is looking at her, Lauren knows she won't remember anything. "Nevermind," she chuckles, shaking her head softly before she takes Camila's hand. "Come on, let's get you to bed," she says in a soft tone that Camila doesn't get to hear.
But Camila follows her anyway. She always does; trustfully so.
Lauren keeps her hands gripping Camila's wrists and even though she is not as sober as she would like to be, she still manages to lead Camila to the girl's bedroom without any inconvenient.
"It's locked," Camila says, rubbing one eye tiredly and leaning against the wall in front of her bedroom door. "My key..."
"Your key is here, I know," Lauren giggles, taking Camila's arm to show her her own wrist. "I need it to open your door," she adds, pulling on the wristband that has Camila's door key on it.
Lauren manages to take Camila's key and opens the locked door before she turns around and finds her friend again.
Camila gives her another cute smile and Lauren returns it as she motions for her to walk inside the room.
"Hey, Lauser," Dinah finds them again just as Camila trips and falls on the carpeted floor of her bedroom.
Lauren barks out a loud laugh that Camila finds contagious and Dinah just looks at them like they are crazy before she takes Lauren's arm to demand her attention.
"Are you staying over?" Dinah inquiries in a loud tone, raising her eyebrows expectantly at the girl in front of them.
"Um..."
"It's like four in the morning, please stay," Dinah tells her, brushing a strand of hair out of Lauren's face. "You know I don't like it when you guys leave this late...or early," she adds with a confused tilt of her head.
Camila grunts from the floor, trying to get up and Lauren looks at her fondly before she makes up her mind.
"Alright," Lauren accepts right before Dinah shoves her inside Camila's bedroom and closes the door before Lauren can blink.
"Just stay with Mila!" Dinah shouts behind the closed door, making Lauren furrow her thick eyebrows. "Goodnight!"
"Fucking bish," Lauren whispers and shakes her head, turning around to help Camila up.
Ten minutes later, Lauren is dressed in her underwear and in one of Camila's old baggy t-shirts as she washes her teeth with the toothbrush she decided to leave in the girl's apartment. She comes back from the bathroom a minute later and watches Camila untie her hair before their eyes met.
"Hey," Camila says with half a smile, silently inviting Lauren to her bed by patting the spot beside her in the mattress.
Lauren doesn't need to be told twice and she swiftly makes her way towards her friend, who is waiting patiently for her.
"I can go to sleep in Dinah's room if you want," the green-eyed Latina offers Camila, facing her and resting her head on the pillow.
Camila only shakes her head smiling and kisses Lauren's cheek before she turns around and makes Lauren wrap her arms around her waist.
And if that is Camila's way of telling her that she is okay with it, Lauren will take it gladly.
She pulls Camila closer, breathes in her perfume as she closes her eyes, intertwines their legs and soon enough, she is fast asleep.
•
"Are you leaving?" Camila asks Lauren, who is already taking her backpack in order to leave.
"Well, it's late and I have to go to work tomorrow," Lauren shrugs her shoulders, flicking her hair to the side as she faces Camila.
"But it's like, late," Camila tells her, sounding a bit silly. "You should stay again," the brown-eyed girl says, taking a step closer to Lauren.
Lauren watches the people dancing in the living room and shakes her head because she can't believe Dinah and Camila (mostly Dinah, though) are throwing another party in the middle of the week.
"I have to work tomorrow," Lauren says again, letting Camila wrap her arms around her waist.
"But I had the best sleep with you the other night," Camila whines childishly, nuzzling her face in the crook of Lauren's neck.
And even though Lauren is not drunk at all tonight, she still feels her body reacting to Camila's touch.
Or maybe she is just horny, who knows.
"Babe, I have to go," Lauren giggles shyly, feeling Camila's lips on her jaw. "Camz," Lauren tells her softly, closing her eyes against her will when Camila kisses her skin again. "Camz, stop," she adds with a lower tone, which tells Camila that she is causing all kind of things in the girl's body. "Stop, okay?" Lauren asks her, pulling away and locking her eyes with Camila's, feeling her heartbeat in her throat.
When their eyes met, they both smile at the same time and Lauren's cheeks turn bright red when Camila kisses her cheek before she finally pulls away.
"Let me walk you to the bus stop then," Camila says in a tone that doesn't let room for disagreement.
"Okay."
Camila quickly tells Dinah that Lauren is leaving and the girl frowns in protest but gives them a thumbs up and blows Lauren a kiss before they are on their way.
"So..." Camila trails off as they leave her building and start to walk to the bus stop. "What happened to that girl you were seeing?" she asks with a soft tone, crossing her arms over her chest as they walk. "I mean, I— Are you still seeing her?" she mutters, not looking at Lauren's way.
It is kind of endearing, really. Lauren loves when Camila gets all flustered and shy.
"Who? Ashley?" Lauren inquiries, raising an eyebrow as she looks at Camila. Camila barely meets her eyes and nods before she looks forward again. "I guess I just wasn't feeling it with her, I don't know," Lauren replies vaguely, watching Camila attentively as they walk. "We were never really that serious."
"Oh," Camila replies letting out a cute giggle as she uncrosses her arms and gives Lauren a sweet smile once she clears her throat. "And do you...do you like someone or..." she trails off, brushing Lauren's hand every now and then as they walk, "I don't know," she shrugs, scratching nervously the back of her neck.
Lauren has to fight back another stupid smile before she responds in a flirty tone. "Do you want me to like someone?" she asks, stopping at the bus stop to face Camila, who just shakes her head smiling at the ground.
"Oh, stop it," Camila says, softly pushing Lauren away from her before she decides to sit on the sidewalk, ignoring the seats at the bus stop behind her.
"Stop what? I'm being serious," Lauren replies, sitting as close to Camila as she can. "Do you like someone?" she inquiries, pulling her legs to her chest, placing her hands on her knees and resting her chin on her hands to look at Camila.
Camila bites her bottom lip and looks at Lauren right in the eyes, waiting a couple of seconds before she raises her eyebrow and gets closer to Lauren.
"Do you want me to like someone?" Camila repeats with a lower tone and just as flirty as Lauren spoke before.
Lauren licks her bottom lip looking down at Camila's mouth and a smile dances in her lips when Camila lets out a breathy laugh. So she just looks away, trying to tame that smile before she can look at Camila again.
"Stop flirting, god," Lauren chuckles, feeling her heart racing in her chest when Camila kisses her cheek.
(This time really close to her mouth, but hey, Lauren is not going to complain.)
"You started it...you're gross," Camila tells her, standing up when she sees the bus getting closer to the bus stop. "Text me when you get home, okay?" she asks Lauren gently, softly squeezing the green-eyed girl's hand.
Lauren nods and pulls Camila closer to give her a brief hug before the bus reaches the stop. "Same," she says, kissing Camila's forehead as the bus finally stops in front of her. "Love you, Camz."
"Love you too, Laur."
•
Dinah has been looking at Lauren and Camila for a while now.
Normani and Ally are beside her sitting on the couch and Camila and Lauren are sharing the love seat as they all watch a movie.
Lauren is actually sitting properly but Camila is leaning against the girl's chest and she made Lauren wrap an arm around her shoulder so they are sort of cuddling —which is not rare at all considering the fact that they are Lauren and Camila and they always find a reason to cuddle.
But something has been different lately and Dinah just doesn't understand why they are not telling her. And hell, that is pissing her off.
They are halfway through the movie when Lauren excuses herself to go to the bathroom and Dinah swears she has never seen Camila look so sad in her life.
It is really comical for Dinah to see Camila pouting like she is and she can't help the snort that leaves her nose when Camila whines miserably at Lauren's absence.
"Your girlfriend will come back, calm down, Walz," Dinah says when she notices three pairs of brown eyes looking at her questioningly.
(Certainly, she picked the worst part of the movie to make fun of Camila.)
"Shut up," Camila tells her, turning around with bright red cheeks.
Normani and Ally just keep watching the movie, but Dinah narrows her eyes and plays it cool when Lauren comes back and sits beside Camila, who quickly cuddles up to her side and returns to her happy self.
Dinah tries to watch the rest of the movie, but sooner than later, she gets distracted when Lauren whispers something in Camila's ear that makes her laugh out loud. The green-eyed girl quickly tries to shush her by covering Camila's mouth with her hand but Camila just keeps laughing, much to Dinah's annoyance.
(Camila even bites Lauren's hand, causing the green-eyed girl to whine loudly and Dinah is like, done with them.)
What annoys Dinah the most, though, is the fact that Normani and Ally don't even react at the girls' banter. They just keep their eyes on the screen and don't pay attention to Lauren and Camila and seriously, Dinah just wants to scream at them that hey, hello, but the signs are right in front of them and they are everywhere.
When the movie finally ends, Lauren and Camila stand up and go to the kitchen to get some snacks and they leave the other three by themselves to discuss the film.
"Guys," Dinah says in a whisper, turning in her seat to look at Ally and Normani. "Listen to me," she demands, taking Normani and Ally's hands.
"Is something wrong, DJ?" Ally inquiries in a concerned tone, immediately turning her body to face Dinah.
"I think Lauren and Mila have something," Dinah tells them, briefly looking at the kitchen door to see if the girls are returning or not.
"Like, in common?" Ally questions, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
If Dinah could have rolled her eyes any harder, she would have, but to be honest, time is running out and she has to check if she is the only one who has noticed the evidence or not.
"No, like...I think they're into each other," Dinah tells them in a whisper that definitely gains Normani's attention.
"Lo and Mila?" Normani asks her with her brows furrowed and Dinah nods. "Mila and Lo?" she inquiries again, just to check if she heard correctly. "Lauren and Ca—"
"You guys are hella slow," Dinah complains as Camila and Lauren come back. She shuts her mouth right away and gives Lauren a fake smile when Lauren looks at her suspiciously.
•
"You, fucking liar!" Camila tells Lauren, hitting her with a pillow. "There is no way in hell you've only kissed four girls in your life," she adds, hitting Lauren repetitively as she speaks.
Lauren giggles amused when Camila finally stops her attacks and holds her hands up in the air, just in case Camila calls her a liar again when she responds. "It's true though, why would I lie to you?"
Camila narrows her eyes trying to figure out if Lauren is lying or not before she lets the pillow fall from her hands in order to lie down in her bed again. "Just four girls?" she asks, looking at the girl beside her.
"Just four," Lauren confirms with a nod and looking at Camila in the eyes. "Um...what about you?"
"Me?" Camila questions with a high-pitched voice, avoiding Lauren's eyes immediately. "Like...um, sober?" she tries to joke, letting out an embarrassed giggle.
Lauren sighs in relief upon hearing those words coming from Camila's mouth because that confirms that she didn't imagine the kiss that happened a few weeks ago.
It means that it was real.
"Are you telling me you have kissed girls while being drunk?" the green-eyed girl teases, wiggling her eyebrows at Camila, who just blushes softly in response.
"Probably," Camila admits in a shrug, completely unashamed.
"How many?" Lauren asks with a smile pulling at her lips.
"I don't know," Camila recognizes, covering her eyes shyly.
"So you definitely have," Lauren teases, watching Camila closely. She licks her lips and lets a second or two go by before she decides to ask the question that has been on her mind for weeks now. "Does this mean you actually are into girls?"
Camila looks at Lauren in the eyes, and then her brown eyes travel to her lips until they find Lauren's green eyes again. Lauren's tone was soft, almost like a whisper and she tried the best she could to not make Camila feel uncomfortable.
Camila lets a couple of seconds pass before she notices the kind and gentle look in Lauren's eyes, and swallows the lump in her throat before she replies. "I think I am," she says in a weak tone and letting out a shaky sigh. "Is that okay?" she asks when Lauren doesn't say anything back.
"Are you fucking serious?" Lauren laughs, throwing an arm around Camila's shoulders to hug her. "I can finally talk to someone about how hot girls are," she says with a giggle, kissing Camila on the cheek.
Lauren is literally so happy that she starts bombarding Camila with questions and she is completely unaware of the endeared look that Camila gives her every time she smiles at her.
•
Usually, Normani is not the person that goes sniffing around other people's business. She just keeps living her life as lightly as she can and that is just it.
Now, although she doesn't like minding other people's life, she does get curious from time to time, so when Dinah first said something about Camila and Lauren being 'into each other', Normani could not help but pay more attention to them.
The thought never really crossed her mind.
To Normani, Lauren and Camila are just a couple of friends that get along well, laugh about things she doesn't understand, share the same sense of humor and are basically on the same wavelength. They do have a bunch of things in common, though, and they happen to understand each other with just one look, which is really impressive since they don't know each other that long but still, Normani never really thought that something could happen between them, especially since Camila only shows interest in girls when she is a bit drunk, though the more she thinks about it, the more it makes sense.
Especially when she starts to notice the lingering touches, the stolen glances, the secretive smiles and the complicity; things that are becoming undeniable for Normani.
However, she says nothing because again, it is none of her business.
•
Camila is a recurrent thought in Lauren's mind.
Sometimes Camila is the first thing Lauren thinks when she wakes up and other times she is the last person in Lauren's mind before she falls asleep. The two of them never happen in the same day, though; it is either one or the other.
So after Lauren notices that one time they do happen on the same day, she has to finally accept that she has a crush on the girl.
She was a bit in denial but only because well, as silly as it sounds, Camila is Camila and Lauren wouldn't like to potentially ruin what she has with the girl, and by 'ruin' she means 'make things awkward'.
But now she has finally accepted it, and Lauren is okay with it.
•
"Um, Lauren?"
Lauren looks up from her seat at the dinner table and fixes her eyes on Camila, who is seating across from her. "Yeah?" she replies, turning her gaze to the Sudoku game she is already playing.
"Can I ask you something?" Camila asks her quietly, leaning over to talk to Lauren as quietly as she could.
Lauren furrows her eyebrows as she nods and forgets momentarily the Sudoku game to pay attention to the girl in front of her.
"Do you get weird looks from Dinah as well or it's just me?" Camila inquiries, sending a look to Dinah over Lauren's shoulder.
Lauren narrows her eyes in thought and shakes her head after a few seconds, not recalling catching Dinah throwing her 'weird looks'.
"Okay, it's just me then," Camila says with a solemn nod that makes Lauren's heart flutter.
•
"Camz," Lauren calls knocking on Camila's bedroom door.
She waits for the reply and once she hears Camila's voice, Lauren turns the knob and enters hurriedly the room, closing the door behind her once she is inside.
Camila gives her a confused smile but doesn't say anything and waits patiently for Lauren to tell her what she has to say.
Lauren fumbles with her hands before she sits at the foot of the bed and looks at Camila with a spark of anxiety in her eyes.
"What? What is it?" Camila asks her worriedly, moving to sit next to Lauren. She holds one of Lauren's hands and runs her fingertips soothingly in her skin as she waits for Lauren to speak.
Frankly, it is not a big deal. Like, it could literally mean nothing, but Lauren has to come here and tell Camila what she has been feeling lately and she is sure she is about to pass out but she can't just not tell her.
"Dinah's been looking at me weird too."
See? It is a stupid confession that falls from her mouth but still, she just had to tell Camila because she is sure that something is going on with their friend.
Camila takes a gulp of air, drops her gaze to her lap as she furrows her eyebrows and bites down on her bottom lip before she looks up again to meet Lauren's eyes.
"Do you think she's going to die?" Camila asks her seriously, causing a massive fit of giggles to fall from Lauren's mouth.
Lauren stops giggling when Camila doesn't understand why she is laughing and pats Camila's thigh happily before she shakes her head. "Camz, you're crazy," she tells her fondly, keeping her bright green eyes on Camila's face.
Crimson spread across Camila's cheeks and a betraying smile manages to curve her lips before she looks up and finds Lauren's eyes on her lips.
(Lauren swears this just became her favorite memory with Camila.)
"But what if she is?"
"Camz, Dinah is not dying," Lauren denies again, managing to fight back another laugh. "Maybe she is jealous or something, I don't know," the green-eyed girl shrugs, trying to tell Camila what she has been thinking since she noticed Dinah's behavior.
"Jealous of what? Dinah's not gay...right?" Camila asks her, confusedly tilting her head to the side as a scowl adorns her features.
"Jealous of us," Lauren clarifies, unable to stop her heart from fluttering when Camila intertwines their fingers.
"Of us?" Camila asks, maintaining the confused look on her face.
Lauren tries really hard to not pull Camila in for a kiss because her friend is acting extremely cute right now and for a moment she is afraid that she won't be able to handle her attitude for much longer without doing something stupid.
"We've been spending lots of time together lately," Lauren says, slightly pulling away from Camila. "I think I've seen you more in two weeks that I've seen Dinah in my entire life," she exaggerates nonchalantly.
Camila giggles cutely and looks at Lauren with a glint in her eyes that wasn't there before. It makes Lauren's heart beat harder in her chest and before she knows it, her cheeks are turning pink and she is trying to avoid Camila's eyes.
"Okay, so, um...Dinah's not dying," Camila confirms, nodding to herself. "She's just jealous of us because let's face it, we're better than her..."
"Mila!" Dinah's voice rumble in the apartment and Lauren swears she has never seen Camila looking as frightened as she looks in that moment.
•
"I can't believe you thought Dinah was dying," Normani laughs, making Lauren and Camila glare at her from across the table of the warm coffee house they are hanging out at.
"She kept looking at us weird, what else I was supposed to think?" Camila defends herself, folding her arms across her chest.
"You could've just asked, Mila," Ally says, letting out an amused giggle when Camila scowls.
"Yeah, Mila, you could have just asked," Normani says with a different tone, not looking at Camila because her eyes are fixed on someone behind her.
Lauren furrows her eyebrows after noticing Normani's subtle smirk, and she follows her friend's gaze, finding another girl a couple of tables behind them watching her dark-skinned friend intently.
"Normani, are you fucking flirti— you're unbelievable," Lauren comments, turning around as Normani shrugs her shoulders carelessly.
"She's reading this book I read in high school that I really liked it, that's all," Normani responds, although Lauren knows that her excuse is bullshit.
"What book? The Bible?" Camila asks and it shouldn't make Lauren laugh but soon enough her laughter is heard and she just can't help it.
(Camila's proud grin is totally worth the looks she is getting, though.)
"Shut up, Mila," Normani demands, finally tearing her eyes away from the other girl to glance at Camila.
"I won't shut up because sometimes I wonder if I know any straight people at all..."
"I'm straight," Ally chimes in before she eats the rest of her blueberry muffin. "I'm pretty sure Dinah's also straight but that's her thing to tell, not mine, so," she shrugs, cleaning the corner of her lips with a napkin.
"I don't mean to be rude, but I got places to be," Normani announces, taking her cup of coffee with her and making her way to the unknown girl's table.
Camila follows Normani as she walks and her mouth hangs open for a bit before she turns around and looks at Ally in the eyes.
"Remind me to ask Mani to borrow some confidence from her, yeah?"
Lauren smiles and reaches out her hand to hold Camila's, giving her a gentle squeeze before she speaks. "You're perfect just the way you are, Camz," she tells her sincerely, letting her gaze linger on Camila's lips for a moment before she looks away and takes a sip of her warm coffee.
As Camila blushes and starts to fumble with Lauren's fingers, a small smile trace Ally's lips and she nods to herself because Dinah is right, and Lauren and Camila are so into each other that she will probably puke rainbows by the end of the day if she keeps watching them.
•
"So, are you guys together or what?" Dinah asks, entering the living room of Lauren's apartment.
Lauren and Camila pull apart as soon as Dinah spoke. Wide green eyes are avoiding Dinah's gaze and brown ones are watching Lauren as they wait.
"Who are you talking about?" Lauren finds herself asking, taking a moment to realize that it was her the one who let those words out.
"Mila and you," Dinah clarifies, even though she knows that Lauren knows who she is talking about.
"Um, why would you ask that?"
"Yeah, why?" Camila chimes in, keeping her eyes on Lauren's face.
"Come on," Dinah draws out, losing easily her patience. "You guys are together," she stresses out, running a hand through her hair exasperatedly.
"No, we..."
"I don't feel anything for Lauren," Camila states, tearing her eyes away from the paler girl to lock her eyes on Dinah, who looks just as surprised as Lauren looks in that moment.
"You don't?" Dinah voices out her confusion, furrowing her eyebrows lightly as she watches Camila intently.
Camila is quick to deny. "Lauren? Pfft, no."
Lauren wishes she wasn't so bad at concealing her feelings, but she knows that Dinah catches the hurt expression in her green eyes the moment she feels her heart sinking further into her chest.
She just clenches her jaw, tries to forget Camila's words and puts on a fake smile. "Yeah, I mean, it's not like I'm worthy of her or something..."
"What? No, Lauren, I didn't mean..."
"Well, it sounded a lot like that, Camila," Lauren interrupts her harshly, unable to stop the crimson to rise to her cheeks.
"Well, I didn't—I swear I wasn't..."
"You know what? It's fine," Lauren says, keeping the fake smile on her lips. "It's fine," she repeats, this time more to herself than for the other to hear.
And even though they are hanging out at her apartment, is Lauren the one that leaves.
•
Lauren ignores the dozen of texts Camila sends her through the night.
Her phone only lights up with incoming texts minute after minute and Lauren tries not to think about the notifications she is receiving as she takes a drag of her joint and lets the smoke fill her lungs.
Even when she watches Camila leave with Dinah by her side from the roof of her building, Lauren doesn't look at her phone and she is really tempted to throw it away.
(If it weren't for the fact that the thing is expensive as shit and she needs it, Lauren probably would have thrown it away, to be honest.)
So she deletes Camila's chat and turns off her phone, lighting up another joint when she read that the last message Camila's sent her said 'lauren pls, say something'.
She deletes that one and without knowing deletes the one that says: 'i just really fucking like you'.
•
When Lauren sees Camila again it is almost a week after.
They had been so close in the last few months that Lauren pretty much knows Camila's whole schedule so she purposefully avoids all the places Camila could be wandering around.
When she sees Camila again, it is because she literally runs into her in the library, where Camila was not supposed to be in that moment.
"Lauren, hey," Camila greets her, making Lauren's heart flutter because even if she doesn't want to admit it, she has missed the girl a lot, and apparently her heart too.
"Hi, Camila," Lauren greets her, holding the books in her arms close to her chest. "Well, um, I gotta go, so..." she trails off awkwardly, already walking around the brown-eyed girl to walk away from her.
"Wait, did you read my texts?" Camila inquiries, grabbing Lauren's forearm to stop her from walking.
Lauren turns around and blinks away the guilty expression in her eyes before she looks at Camila. "What texts?" she asks her, maintaining eye contact with the girl.
Camila seems taken aback with the information, so she lets go of Lauren's arm as a frown takes over her features. "The thousands of texts I sent you a week ago," Camila tells her, flushing red, though Lauren thinks that the color in her cheeks is because she is getting upset and not because she is feeling embarrassed.
"Oh, my phone died that night and I lost everything," Lauren lies, shrugging her shoulders carelessly. "I didn't get anything from you."
"Oh, really?" Camila tells her, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her head to the side with an incredulous expression on her face.
"Yup," Lauren nods, keeping her green eyes on Camila's brown ones.
Camila lets out a fake chuckle as she shakes her head, and takes a step closer to Lauren. "Bullshit," she murmurs, clenching her jaw as her nostrils flare up.
"I don't care if you don't believe me," Lauren shrugs with a careless expression that Camila buys right away.
Because now Camila is not looking upset. She seems to be confused for a moment and after a couple of seconds pass, she just looks disappointed and hopeless. "Well, fuck you then," she tells her, and it kind of hurts Lauren because it sounds a lot like Camila means it.
"Fuck you right back, Camila," Lauren replies, sending the girl a glare before she turns around to finally walk away from her.
•
"Okay, we need to do something," Dinah tells Ally, furrowing her eyebrows as she watches Lauren dance with a girl at one of her parties.
"What are we going to do?" Ally murmurs back, covering her mouth for effect as if they are sharing some mega plan that no one should know about.
"Ally, no one is listening, you, dumbass," Dinah laughs, momentarily forgetting why she came to talk to the smaller girl in the first place.
"Shut up, DJ," Ally rolls her eyes right before they widen when Camila comes to the room with a red cup in her hand and catches Lauren making out with the girl she was dancing with. "Mila's here, we need to figure out something soon," the small Latina whispers to Dinah, bringing the attention of the Polynesian girl back to her.
"We need Mani," Dinah decides, covering her own mouth with her fist as Camila starts to make her way towards them. "Hey, Chancho, have you seen Mani?" she asks Camila innocently, giving her a small smile.
Camila lets herself fall between Ally and Dinah and nods her head silently, watching Lauren giggling at something that her party partner is saying.
"She's in the kitchen, with Coffee-house girl," Camila replies after a moment, tearing her eyes away from the green-eyed girl.
"Seriously?" Dinah asks surprised.
Ally just smiles and nods her head, locking her brown eyes with Dinah's big ones. "Mani is really into her, apparently," Ally shares excitedly. "This is the longest she has been with anybody," she explains after Camila looks at her confusedly.
"Yeah, her flings usually last like two weeks," Dinah remembers, slightly nodding her head in approval. "Well, anyway, I'm gonna make sure they're not having sex in my kitchen," Dinah tells them, standing up from her couch and flipping her hair.
"They haven't even kissed yet," Camila tells her after she takes a big gulp of her drink when she sees Lauren kissing the girl she is dancing with again.
"Okay, peace," Dinah says, walking away from Camila and Ally to come up with a plan.
•
Three days later Dinah throws another party.
Camila has no idea what exactly Dinah wants to celebrate, but she goes along with it because alcohol has become a really good friend lately and if Lauren is going to attend, she kind of needs it.
Lauren arrives a couple of hours later by herself.
She greets her friends and the couple of people she recognizes from other parties and makes her way directly to the kitchen to find something to eat and drink.
The green-eyed girl finds Normani, Coffee-house girl and Camila in the same room as soon as she opens the door.
"All I'm saying is, if you like someone, you should kiss them," Normani shares, watching Coffee-house girl as she is making her a drink.
"So, would you only kiss them if you know that they're into you too? Or would you just take a leap of faith and go with it?" Coffee-house girl asks as Lauren finally enters the kitchen.
"That's a good question," Normani confesses, scratching her neck as Coffee-house girl offers her the drink she just prepared for her. "What would you do, Lo?"
"About what?" Lauren asks, making her way towards the counter to sit on it. Camila just ignores her presence and keeps munching on her apple.
"Would you kiss the person you like to let them know that you like them?" Normani asks, wrapping her arms around Coffee-house girl's waist to pull her close to her.
"As if, 'oh, hey' —kiss— 'what was that for?', 'oh, nothing I just really fucking like you'?" Lauren asks, pouring herself a drink.
Normani giggles and nods. "Yeah, like that."
"Probably, but depends on lots of things, so I'm not sure," Lauren replies honestly before she sips on her drink.
"What about you, Mila?"
"If I knew she likes me back I'd kiss the fuck out of her," Camila replies with a nod.
Lauren doesn't know if Camila is aware of the fact that she just used female pronouns, but if she is, Lauren is really fucking proud of her.
Camila's words make Lauren's heart flip in her chest and she keeps her eyes on Camila before her attention is stolen by Coffee-house girl again.
"Well, I like you, Normani," the girl says, and it is just then when Lauren notices the thick British accent the girl has.
"What?" Normani says with a giggle that sounds a lot like the ones that high school girls have when they are in front of their crush.
"I like you, so, um, if you happen to like me back —which would be brilliant, by the way—, I'd let you...you know, kiss me," Coffee-house girl says, rubbing the back of her neck nervously as Normani looks at her with starry eyes.
"You like me?" Normani asks, still not believing what she just heard.
Lauren rolls her eyes but a smile pulls at her lips.
"You're fun to be around and you're easy going, and you make me laugh and even though your smile blinds me sometimes because it's really fucking bright, I like making you laugh too because your laugh is really nice and I, um, I like your eyes a lot..."
"My eyes? They're just brown..."
"They're beautiful," Coffee-house girl assures her, holding Normani's hand with a genuine smile painted on her lips.
"They are," Lauren finds herself muttering, watching Camila instead.
"And I'm going to kiss you now. Is that alright with you?"
"Yes," Normani answers as soon as the words leave Coffee-house girl's mouth.
As they lean in, Lauren and Camila lock eyes and Lauren hops off the counter before she calls Camila over. "Come on, Camz, let's leave these two alone for a moment," she tells Camila, waits for her to join her before she starts to walk towards the kitchen door.
When Normani gets gently pushed against the counter of the kitchen, Camila calls weakly behind her to say, "please don't have sex in my kitchen!"
Lauren has to fight back a giggle at Camila's tone.
•
"I need your help, Ralph," Dinah says urgently, trying to pull Lauren away from the couch.
Lauren leaves her almost full glass on the coffee table and follows Dinah to the utility closet, where apparently Dinah needs to go.
"I'm pretty sure Ally is vomiting every organ in her body now, so try to look for anything that could help her and bring it back to the bathroom as soon as you can, okay?" Dinah says as Lauren enters the dimly lighted room.
Dinah literally shoves her inside before she closes the door behind the green-eyed girl.
"What are you doing here?"
Lauren flinches as she collides softly with Camila and she pulls back immediately, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
"Dinah told me to look for something to help Ally with..." Lauren trails off, watching as Camila rummages through the first aid kit looking for something.
Lauren turns around, tries to turn the doorknob and lets out a small sigh when she hears Dinah's voice from the other side.
"Work your shit out, we're not letting you out until you talk! You have seven minutes!"
That catches Camila's attention. Her eyes widen in fear and Lauren lets a second pass by before she gets closer to Camila with a calm expression on her face.
"Wait, Camz, it's just me," Lauren says as Camila tries to open the door to no avail. The door is locked, they both know it, but Camila's claustrophobia is getting the best of her and Lauren tries to keep her cool as the girl let out desperate whines. "Camz, listen to me," Lauren tries again, resting her hands on Camila's waist to pull her away from the door.
"No, no, no," Camila says, shutting her eyes and shaking her head. "Please, Lauren, make Dinah open the door, please...."
"Baby, we'll be fine," Lauren tells her softly, finally making Camila look at her. "Dinah just wants to mess with us, we'll be out in no time, okay? Just seven minutes, I promise," Lauren says, pulling Camila into her arms so she can rub her back soothingly to calm her down.
Camila doesn't speak for a solid minute and Lauren has just forgotten why they are distanced in the first place when Camila speaks again. "Did you really not read my texts?"
Lauren's heart thuds in her chest and she clenches her jaw before she licks her lips and looks down at Camila.
She is with her eyes closed and is listening intently the way Lauren's heart beats between her ribs. That is the only sound that really calms her in this situation.
"I didn't, Camz," Lauren replies truthfully because even though she did read one, the other ones got lost when she decided to delete the whole chat.
"You're stupid," Camila tells her seriously, pulling away to look at Lauren.
Lauren is stunned for a moment and then takes a step back from Camila to scowl at her.
"What is that about?"
"You, stupid idiot, you know I have fear of rejection," Camila tells her, scowling back at Lauren as she crosses her arms over her chest.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lauren raises her voice, giving Camila a glare.
"Oh my god, Lauren! Are you fucking serious now? You know what, like you said, it's fine," Camila dismisses, waving her hand and turning her back to Lauren.
"No! Talk to me!" Lauren demands, taking a step closer to the girl.
"Oh, now you wanna talk?" Camila almost shouts, turning back around to face the green-eyed girl. "Now you wanna talk, but when I wanted to talk you did nothing but ignore every single text I sent you telling you how sorry I was. But now you wanna talk, right?"
"Camila..."
"No! You wanna talk? Let's talk then," Camila decides with a huff. "You know how miserable I've been since you stopped talking to me?"
"I wasn't the one who told Dinah 'Camila? Pfft, no', when she asked if we had feelings for each other, was I?" Lauren fights back with a scowl. "So don't come here playing the innocent card when you started it because I've been pretty miserable too," the green-eyed girl tells her sassily.
"I told you I panicked! I told you how sorry I was in all of those texts I sent you! I tried looking for you and I couldn't find you and then you avoided me and I told you that I fucking lik— god, Lauren, you're so...ugh," Camila rambles, walking from one side to the other of the closet. At the last part, she faces Lauren and looks at her with a fiery expression.
Lauren drops her gaze, cheeks slightly blushing in embarrassment because well, it is not entirely Camila's fault that they are falling apart. It is her fault too.
"Lauren," Camila whispers, expression softening when they lock eyes again. "Can we just go back to what we were before?" she asks with a small voice, any trace of annoyance completely gone from her face. She momentarily forgets her claustrophobia and pulls Lauren closer by the waist, holding her tightly as she waits for Lauren's response.
But Lauren looks down at Camila's eyes and shakes her head. "No."
Camila closes her eyes defeated and rest of head on Lauren's shoulder before she feels Lauren's hands softly squeezing her hips.
When she looks up there is a mischievous glint in Lauren's green eyes and Camila's heart beats faster. "I wanted you to tell Dinah that you had feelings for me," Lauren confesses as a nervous smile plays on her lips.
Camila can't help the grin that takes over her features and makes her eyes crinkle when she hears those words.
"I knew that would've meant that you had to be out to her but, Camz, it's Dinah we're talking about," Lauren says with a chuckle, pulling Camila even closer. "She wanted us to be together more than I did...if that's possible," she adds with a confused tilt of her head that makes Camila bite her bottom lip. "She wouldn't have told you anything, Camz," Lauren tells her, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "You know the girls will accept you."
But Camila only looks at Lauren as if she just discovered the eighth wonder of the world and Lauren's stomach turns into butterflies at the sight.
"I don't want us to go back to what we were before," Lauren whispers, locking her bright green eyes on Camila's expectant brown ones. "I want you to be mine."
And then Camila kisses her.
Camila kisses Lauren gently, pressing lightly her lips against the green-eyed girl's. The touch is longing, full of affection and Lauren melts into the kiss feeling her heart beating wildly as if its trying to escape her chest to collide with Camila's, whose beating just the same.
"What was that for?" Lauren asks after they pull apart, eyes still closed as she faces Camila.
"I just really fucking like you, Lauren," Camila confesses, cheeks blushing slightly when Lauren opens her eyes and beams at her. "Normani said I should kiss the person I like, so that's what I did," Camila tells her, just as the door opens again.
"Are you guys alive?" Dinah's voice comes through the open door, cautious and a bit nervous.
When Dinah peeks her head inside the utility closet, Lauren pushes her out of it and closes the door on Dinah's face before she pushes Camila against the same door to kiss her again.
It only takes Lauren seven minutes to realize that she doesn't want Camila to be out of her life ever again.
•••
a/n: massive thanks to my friend Grazi for suggesting me this. i hope you liked it😊
ami, x.