"Are you sure it's a good idea to go back to your house?" Lauren stresses, wringing her hands together as I knock on the door. "What if your dad yells at me or something?"
"It will be fine. He's not going to yell at you—we'll just zip past him with a quick hello, say we have to go, and he'll be fine with it." I assure her, grabbing her hand and kissing her pinky. "Promise."
Lauren just nods because before she can speak, the door opens and my dad appears in the doorframe.
"Hi, girls!" He grins when he sees us, his tone upbeat but he looks tired.
"Lauren has to pee." I blurt out, tugging Lauren by the hand upstairs.
"The bathroom is downstairs but okay." Alejandro shrugs, calling back up to us. "Don't get too crazy!"
"See?" I say to Lauren once we reach my room. I shut the door behind us. "He doesn't really care as long as we don't... you know."
Lauren's whole face flushes a bright pink. "Yeah." She squeaks, hugging herself. "He doesn't have to worry. I'm not like that. We're not even together officially. I haven't ever—"
"Hey, it's okay, Lo." I stop her, taking her hands to calm her. "Calm down. I know. Me too. Let's just take our time. Yeah?"
"Yeah." Lauren hums, nodding. I smile at the girl in front of me. Plopping down on the bed, I lay back.
"What time does Patricia and Jerry want you back?" I ask, looking up at Lauren.
"They said they didn't care as along as I texted Ally when I was walking back so she could meet me halfway." Lauren explains, sitting down beside me. "Why?"
"You look so stiff and uncomfortable in that dress. Why don't you put on some of my pajamas so we can cuddle?" I suggest.
"Yeah, okay. I'm down." Lauren nods.
I squeal and jump up from the bed. I go to dig through my dresser when I feel a hand on my wrist.
"But first..." Lauren says softly, biting her bottom lip to hide a smile.
I roll my eyes, "after I get our pajamas." Lauren seems content with this and I pull out some sweat pants and a t-shirt her for.
"Here." I toss it to her and she catches it. She leaves to go find somewhere else to change.
I grab myself some pajamas to wear and I quickly change into them in the corner. Lauren returns, dress in hand. She sets it by my clothes and sits down on the bed. Her hair is slightly tousled to one side, making her even more attractive.
Walking over to her, I cup her face in my hands.
"Hi." I hum, leaning down and kissing her lips. She immediately reciprocates, leaning back.
I put my knee down on the bed, crawling up on Lauren, our lips connected. She wraps her arms around my waist, exhaling a shaky breath into my mouth—it might as well have been her heart.
She pulls on my shirt slightly and I run my fingers through her hair. She takes a sharp intake of breath when I bite down on her bottom lip.
"Camz..." she murmurs, hooking her thumbs into my front belt loops. I slowly move my hands away from her face to wrap them around her neck.
Seconds turn into minutes but our hearts race with light-speed. One kiss after the other, each move different the last.
Soon, Lauren's on her back and I'm hovering over her. Her cheeks are flushed red and her lips are swollen—but she still looks like a masterpiece
Her chest rises and falls quickly, trying to catch her breathe. Her arms are up near her head, allowing herself to be vulnerable with me.
"You're so beautiful." I tell her, running a hand through her hair. She smiles faintly, giggling airily.
"So are you." She coos, reaching up and cupping my cheek. I lean into her hand.
"Cuddle?" I offer, recognizing the cheerful gleam in her eyes. She extends her arms out to me. I fall down onto her body, allowing her to wrap her limbs around me.
"Tell me a story." I hum against her chest, nuzzling up into her neck.
"About what?" Lauren asks, playing with my hair while looking down at me adoringly.
"Anything." I tell her, sighing out any negative emotions so I can soak in all of Lauren's affection.
"Well, once upon a time, there was a young princess who ruled a bright kingdom..." Lauren starts off, biting her bottom lip in thought. She starts to play with my fingers. "But the princess had a dark secret. She longed to marry someone she was told she couldn't but the vines of the castle grew too thick to see through her windows so she stayed quiet, as she couldn't leave."
"Is this princess you?" I yawn, poking her chin.
"Shhh," Lauren shushes me, placing her finger on my lips. I pretend to bite it to which she flinches at. "Don't ruin the magic."
I roll my eyes, sneaking my arms around her waist. She uses her free hand to run through my hair, pushing it back.
"But one day, a girl came to the castle. She was from the kingdom of... Seattleville and she had come because the greenery was dying." Lauren says softly with concern and warmth in her eyes, kissing my forehead when I frown.
"I let her into my castle walls and she came up to the highest tower—where she belonged. But the king and queen didn't like this new girl. They didn't even like their own daughter."
"But the princess liked this girl a lot. She liked how she smiled and how her eyes gleamed when she laughed. The vines stopped growing around the windows and they blossomed flowers."
I exhale slowly into Lauren's neck, shutting my eyes as I listen to her story.
"But the princess began to fear her emotions because she felt they were hopeless. She spun back into darkness as she watched the vines cover her windows. She left the girl alone in the highest towers—high enough for where the shadows couldn't get her but she could jump to them."
"Lo..." I whisper, lifting my chin to kiss her jaw. "You don't have to—"
"I want to finish the story." Lauren blinks her eyes quickly, resting her chin on my forehead.
She continues the story, "but one day, the girl's father came to the castle. He told his daughter about how all the greenery had died because the girl neglected the problem and stayed with the princess. The girl was very sad that night and the princess just wanted to comfort her and wanted to be close to her. So she kissed her."
I kiss her neck to show emphasis. She giggles and sighs contently.
"The queen and king found out and they were livid. They burned the flowers off her vines and they broke everything that she loved. They kicked her out." Lauren tells me, staring up at the ceiling. "But the girl had enough of it. She brought strength to the princess and together, they drove the queen and king out of the kingdom."
"Hell yeah, they did." I coo, making Lauren laugh. I can feel her laugh echo in her chest, making me smile.
"So the princess and the girl fell in love and ruled the kingdom for as long as they possible could as queen and queen. And they lived happily ever after." Lauren concludes, seeming happy with her retelling of our story.
Neither one of us speaks until a question leaves my lips, "do you think we will live happily ever after?"
Lauren lets out a sigh and sits up slightly so she can rest her back on the wall behind us. I scoot up so I'm between her legs with my arms loosely around her midriff. She starts to fiddle with my hair.
"We're young, Camz." Lauren admits, stringing her fingers through mine. "I don't know what our future holds. But I do hope we have a happily ever after."
"Me too." I say, kissing the green eyed girl's cheek.
"Tell me, Camz." Lauren hums after a moment, her eyes soft. I nod, letting her know that I'm listening. "Your mother? How are you feeling?"
I feel my features soften and my gaze fall. "Eh, I've been trying not to think about it. But sometimes, when it's 3 a.m. and I can't sleep, I think about her. If she is watching over or not and if she has any regrets—like sending her kids away."
"Yeah, I get that. Does it still hurt?" Lauren runs her hand through my hair.
"Yes, it does." I admit, sighing. "I miss her. I spent such a large chunk of my life with her, it feels weird to know that I can't call her up."
"Understandable. Have you talked with Alejandro about it?" Lauren asks, her eyes attentive on me as she repeating runs her fingers through my locks.
"Not really." I shrug. "He's hurt by it, too. I know the wound isn't ever going to fully heal but I definitely know that not tending to it will make it fester. I need to talk with him about it."
"Yeah, I agree." Lauren hums, kissing my forehead. She removes her hand from my head. "You're so strong and beautiful."
"Me? Strong and beautiful?" I echo incredulously, my eyes widening.
"Yes, your mother died—"
"Lo," I stop her, cupping the side of her face. "You've been hated on your life by the people you love. You were disowned and kicked out with the message of death. If anyone is strong and beautiful, it's you."
"Don't." Lauren says, shaking her head. "We're..."
She stops talking and takes both of my hands. "Follow me."
I furrow my eyebrows but stand up anyway. She leads me downstairs and pass my father who is reading on the couch. He doesn't notice us, but if he did, he doesn't say anything.
Lauren roams around until she finds the backdoor, which is in the kitchen. She takes me outside under the dark, merciless sky.
She lays on the lawn so I lay beside her. It feels right. As we're staring up at the sky, she points upwards with her index finger and her throat bared to the sky.
"That star—" She says and I trace her finger to the star she is speaking about. "—is me."
I nod, finding myself with my eyes stuck to Lauren's star.
"The one next to it is you." Lauren explains, pointing to my star. "See how they both shine very brightly?"
"Yes." I answer, nodding.
"That's because of now." Lauren says, making me furrow my eyebrows in confusion. "We're both strong, so don't you dare tell me that I'm stronger than you because once upon a time, I tried to give up. I tried to end it. Yes, that was a while ago but that memory never fades. I remember how it felt to hit the bathroom floor and the noises slowly fading away and I thought that's what I wanted. When I woke up in the hospital with Dinah crying next to me, that's not what I wanted. I wanted to be dead. But now, I can see that if I was dead, I would've of never met you and I would've never shined this bright."
"Lauren..." I murmur, sitting up to see the green eyed girl crying. "Come here."
I throw myself onto her and I hold her to my chest, kissing her head over and over again. I can feel her body trembling in my arms.
"That's in the past now." I assure her, tilting her face so we make eye contact. "I'm so proud of you for making it over that time in your life. We all give up sometimes, but sometimes it can more fatal than others. But what matters now is that you're alive here with me. Yeah?"
"Yeah." Lauren nods and I press my lips to hers.
I'm sure we've both never felt so alive and I'm sure our stars never shined so bright.
__
A/N: hallo! I know, a week. But I was planning on finishing this chapter yesterday but then my friend came over and we watched vines until late but that's fine. Also, I've started writing my other book, so there's that.
But if you liked this chapter, please star it. Thank you and have a fantastic day! I love you :)
~StrangeBlob
(P.s: this isn't edited.)