Camila paces nervously, it had been almost a month and Lauren came over every Thursday night.
She was hoping to ask Lauren on a date, even though they'd really just be at her house.
The doorbell rang and Camila ran to the door eagerly. She opened the door and Lauren smiled, waving shyly.
"Hi, I almost didn't think you were coming." Camila says nervously.
Lauren bit her lip and looked down. "S-sorry. I got kept b-behind in s-school." She said nervously.
"It's okay, come inside, are you thirsty?" The older girl asks, tilting her head to the side.
Lauren stepped into the house and shook her head.
Smiling, Camila grabs Lauren's hand and leads her upstairs to her room. "Sorry that we can only meet on Thursdays."
Lauren shook her head. "It's okay."
"How was school today?" The brown eyed girl asks, sitting down on her bed.
Lauren shrugged. "I'm f-failing math."
"Oh, Mani or Dinah can help you with math." Camila says immediately.
Lauren titled her head to the side, frowning slightly.
"What's wrong?" The older girl asks softly.
"They do math?" Lauren asked.
"Yeah, they finished school, I never did." Camila says with a shrug.
"Why not?" Lauren titled her head to the side.
Biting her lip, Camila looks down sadly. "Four years ago, my mom and little sister were murdered and so was a cop and now my dad won't let me leave the house."
"Oh. I'm sorry." Lauren said quietly.
Shrugging, Camila looks up and forces a smile. "Things happen."
"Things like that shouldn't happen." She said sadly.
"Yeah, so um. I've never seen your dad, is he around?" Camila asks without thinking.
Lauren bit her lip and shook her head, staying quiet.
"Oh, what happened to him? If you don't mind me asking." Camila says softly.
Lauren sniffed. "He w-was... m-murdered."
Frowning, Camila moves closer to Lauren and hugs her gently. "I'm sorry."
Lauren sniffed again, biting her lip to keep herself from crying.
Rubbing her back, Camila tries to stop thinking about the feeling she had about her dad.
Lauren covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry."
Leaning back, Camila looks into Lauren's eyes and smiles softly. "Why are you sorry?"
"For getting upset." Lauren mumbled, looking down at her feet.
"Don't be sorry." The older girl responds, kissing Lauren's forehead.
Lauren closed her eyes. "I miss him." She whispered.
"That's understandable." Camila says softly, holding Lauren close. "I miss my mom and sister."
Lauren curled into Camila and wiped her eyes.
"I'm going to make dinner, are you hungry?" The brown eyed girl asks.
Lauren shook her head. "No thank you."
"Do you want to help me?" Camila asks instead.
"Okay," Lauren nodded.
Grabbing her hand, Camila leads Lauren downstairs and into the kitchen.
Lauren smiled shyly as she watched Camila get the ingredients for her meal.
Shifting, Camila smiles at Lauren and tilts her head to the side adorably. "Babe, can you hand me the salt?"
"Babe?" Lauren repeated with a frown.
"What?" Camila asks, stirring the green beans.
"You said babe." Lauren said quietly, she looked down shyly.
Biting her lip, Camila stops what she's doing and turns to look at Lauren. "Oh, um, I'm sorry."
Lauren shook her head. "Doesn't matter." She moved quickly to get Camila the salt.
Grabbing the salt, Camila begins finishing up the food. "So, I actually have a question for you."
"A question?" Lauren asked, raising her right brow.
Taking a deep breath, Camila turns to look at Lauren. "What would you say if I asked you on a date?"
"Um... I... um..." Lauren stuttered.
Swallowing thickly, the older girl looks down.
"I've n-never been asked o-out before." Lauren mumbled, looking down at her feet shamefully. "Maybe I should g-go home."
Lifting her head, Camila quickly reaches forward and grabs Lauren's hand. "Do go."
"Do go?" Lauren repeated.
"I meant don't go, you make me nervous." Camila says immediately, clearing her throat.
"O-okay," Lauren looked down.
Stepping closer, Camila takes a deep breath and lifts Lauren's head before leaning in and kissing her gently.
Lauren froze. She didn't know what to do. This was her first kiss.
Stepping closer, Camila caresses Lauren's cheek and applies a little more pressure against Lauren's lips.
Slowly Lauren worked up the courage to kiss Camila back but before she could get her chance Normani and Dinah came into the house
"Something smells good." Dinah said loudly.
Lauren jumped away, becoming shy and pushing her glasses up her face. She looked down at her feet.
Biting her lip, Camila turns back to finishing up the dinner, quickly plating it for all of them.
"What we eatin', Mila?" Dinah asked coming into the kitchen.
"Arroz con pollo." Camila responds with a smile. "And green beans on the side."
"Ooh!" Dinah clapped her hands. "Sounds great."
Nodding, Camila passes Dinah and Normani their plates before offering one to Lauren.
Lauren shook her head. "I'm not, um, hungry."
"Okay, will you join me in my room then?" Camila asks, grabbing two waters.
"Okay." Lauren said cautiously.
****
As Camila eats her dinner, she tries to think of how to bring up the kiss.
Lauren sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at her feet.
Finishing her food, Camila puts her plate down on the floor and turns to face Lauren. "Hi."
Lauren lifted her head slightly. "Hi." She pushed her glasses up her nose.
Biting her lip, Camila moves closer and leans forward, kissing her gently.
Lauren froze again.
Reaching up, Camila cups Lauren's cheeks and slowly adds more pressure against the younger girl's lips.
Lauren slowly got up the courage to kiss Camila back.
Smiling into the kiss, Camila slowly pulls away and leans her forehead against Lauren's. "Can I tell you something?"
Lauren's heart was racing in her chest. She couldn't speak. She nodded.
"I've been watching you since I moved into this house." Camila pauses and takes a deep breath. "That sounded creepy."
Lauren nodded in agreement. A soft small giggle left her mouth and it made Camila's heart flutter in her chest.
Giggling, Camila tilts her head to the side. "I just meant that, well, since I could never leave the house. I usually looked out my window and well I always saw you."
Lauren blushed and looked down shyly.
Shifting, Camila moves closer and kisses Lauren quickly.
Lauren's phone beeped and she jumped in surprise, falling off the bed and landing on the floor with a thud. Her glasses landed beside her but she couldn't find them, everything was a blur without them.
Biting her lip, Camila bends down and grabs Lauren's glasses, helping her put them on. "What was that sound?" She asks in confusion.
"My, um, phone." Lauren said. She pulled her phone from her hoodie pocket. "It's my mom."
Confusion fills Camila's eyes. "What's a phone?"
Lauren frowned, tilting her head to the side.
"Did I say something wrong?" Camila asks in confusion.
Lauren shook her head. "No."
"Then why'd you frown?" The older girl asks.
Lauren shrugged. "I have to go." She said, reading her mom's text. "I have to babysit."
"Oh, okay." Camila bites her lip and looks down. "I'll see you next Thursday?"
Lauren nodded with a small smile.
"I'll walk you to the door." Camila says with a soft smile.
Lauren nodded again, she fixed her glasses on her face. "Thanks for having me."
"Anytime." Camila says, leading Lauren down the stairs.
****
Normani shifts nervously and knocks on Lauren's door, she had to tell the younger girl not to come over.
Lauren's mom opened the door. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, is Lauren here?" Normani asks with a soft smile.
"She's studying just now, can it wait?" Lauren's mom said. She was really worried about her daughter's grades.
"It will just take a minute or two." The dark-skinned girl responds quickly.
Lauren's mom was reluctant at first but sighed. "Fine, two minutes." She went to the bottom of the stairs. "Lauren! There's someone at the door for you!"
Lauren hadn't told her mother about her friends across the street yet. She didn't have any friends at school so Lauren's mom was surprised that someone came to the door for her.
"Who is it?" Lauren asks, making her way down the stairs.
"A girl." Lauren's mom said. "She's standing outside."
"Okay." Lauren says, making her way to the door and seeing Normani.
Normani smiles softly upon seeing Lauren. "Hey."
"Hi." Lauren said slowly. "What's w-wrong?"
"Um, you can't come over today, her dad's home." The dark-skinned girl says calmly.
"Oh." Lauren seemed kind of upset. She nodded and looked down, sadly. "Okay."
"But, tomorrow he's leaving for an entire week." Normani tells her, she hated when Lauren was upset.
"A w-whole week? He's leaving her a-alone for a w-whole week? W-what kind of f-father is he?" Lauren mumbled, not looking up.
Normani sighs, glancing across the street. "Not the best. But I'll text you tomorrow after he leaves."
"I have to stay in school late." Lauren mumbled. "I've got an exam in math."
"That's fine, he won't be leaving until around five or six anyways." Normani says softly.
Lauren nodded. She didn't look up. She knew she'd fail math and probably have to repeat a year of high school.
"Anyways, I can help you study for a bit if you want." The older girl offers.
Lauren looked up slightly. "Camila said you were g-good at m-math."
"Yeah, I took all honors courses in school." Normani says with a shrug.
"Wow." Lauren breathed out. "I couldn't. I'm not smart."
"I'm sure you are." Normani responds, smiling softly.
"Lauren, I have to go into work, can you take care of Tay and Chris?" Clara asks.
Lauren turned slightly. She nodded quietly. "Sure mom." She mumbled. She turned to Normani. "I make some g-good cakes. My u-uncle Buddy t-taught me."
"Thanks baby girl, I'll see you when I get off." Clara says, kissing Lauren's forehead and leaving.
Normani smiles reassuringly at Lauren. "That's cool,"
Lauren nodded. "Taylor likes making cakes."
"Lolo!" Taylor yells from her room, she had been taking a nap and Clara always put a gate up because she was worried the little girl would somehow injure herself.
Lauren sighed. "I'll never get to s-study now."
"Let me help you." Normani says with a shrug.
Lauren hesitated. "Mom's gone."
"I know, but you want to pass your math class don't you?" The older girl asks.
Lauren nodded sheepishly. "Y-yeah."
"Then let me help you study." Normani responds with a shrug.
"O-okay." Lauren let Normani into the house.
****
Camila sighed as she laid in bed, she was really upset that Lauren couldn't come over yesterday, and now she didn't think the younger girl would come over today.
"Mila, don't worry, she's got a math exam. She'll be over soon." Normani said softly.
"How do you know? Maybe she decided not to come over." The younger girl responds, curling into Normani's side.
Dinah was at work once again and Normani always found herself cuddling with Camila just like Dinah did if Normani was at work.
"Mila, don't doubt her, she'll come." Normani said.
Nodding her head, Camila closes her eyes and tries to push the negative thoughts away.
"Maybe one of her magic cakes will help?" Normani said. She and Lauren had made cakes with Taylor once Lauren got bored of studying.
Camila doesn't respond, half-asleep already.
Normani sighed. "Well, I want one." She wriggled out of Camila's grip and went to get a cake.
By the time Lauren arrived, Camila was still sound asleep.
Normani opened the door for Lauren to come in, one of Lauren's cakes hanging from her mouth. They were so good, Normani had found herself eating most of them.
"Hey, Mila's asleep if you want to go wake her up. I'm making dinner." The dark-skinned girl says after swallowing a bite of the cake.
Lauren giggled. "While you e-eat my cakes?"
"They're so good." Normani responds, taking another bite.
Lauren giggled. "You should taste my uncle's c-cakes. Mine are n-nothing compared to h-his."
"Maybe, but right now, I prefer yours." Normani responds. "You can go on up to Camila's room, she didn't think you were coming."
"She d-didn't think I was coming?" Lauren mumbled, looking at her feet. Her smile faded.
Normani sighed and stepped closer, lifting Lauren's head and looking into her eyes. "Mila has trouble understanding things sometimes, but you're here. Show her that."
Lauren bit her lower lip. "O-okay."
"She's up in her bed." Normani says before walking back into the kitchen.
Lauren swallowed, taking a deep breath. She slowly made her way up the stairs and knocked on Camila's door. "Camila?"
Camila shifts in her sleep, releasing a tired yawn.
Cautiously pushing the door open, Lauren stepped in, staying quiet.
The older girl slowly opens her eyes and looks at Lauren tiredly. "Hi."
Lauren gave a small wave and a half smile. She didn't feel like talking.
Shifting on the bed, Camila releases another yawn and holds her arms open for Lauren.
Lauren bit her lower lip, she didn't make a move.
"I promise I won't bite." Camila says tiredly.
"Dinner." Lauren squeaked, taking a few small steps to sit on the edge of the bed.
Sitting up slightly, Camila smiles and caresses Lauren's cheek. "I'm glad you came."
Lauren forced a shy smile and nodded. "I c-came."
Smiling, Camila leans up and captures Lauren's lips in a slow and passionate kiss.
Lauren sat for a moment, not moving before slowly kissing Camila back.
They stayed that way for a few minutes before Camila pulls away and looks into Lauren's eyes. "You're so beautiful."
Lauren blushed and looked away shyly, shaking her head and pushing her glasses up her nose.
"Yes, you are." Camila responds, caressing Lauren's cheek.
Lauren shook her head again. "N-no."
"Yes." The older girl responds, leaning in and kissing her gently once more.
Lauren released a slow breath through her nose and kissed Camila back.
Smiling into the kiss, Camila pulls Lauren closer before slowly pulling away.
"D-dinner." Lauren said slowly.
Nodding, Camila gets up and holds her hand out to Lauren.
Lauren shyly took Camila's hand and stood up.
****
Normani was making dinner, jumping when a pair of arms wrap around her waist.
"Relax it's me." Dinah said. "I'm home early."
A wide smile grows on Normani's lips and she leans back against Dinah. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Dinah kissed Normani's cheek.
Turning in Dinah's arms, Normani wraps her arms around the younger girl's neck and kisses her passionately.
Dinah smiled against Normani's lips.
After a few minutes, Normani pulls away and looks into Dinah's eyes. "I love you."
"I love you too." Dinah smiled.
"Mmm, dinner's done." The older girl mumbles tiredly.
"Good, because working made me hungry." Dinah smiled.
Camila came into the room leading Lauren behind her.
"Hey, Laur, how was the exam?" Dinah asked.
Lauren simply shrugged.
Normani begins plating their food and passing it to each girl.
Lauren shook her head, turning down the meal. "I already h-had dinner."
Camila frowns and sits down at the table. "When?"
"Home." Lauren shrugged.
"Okay, just wanted to check." Camila says with a soft smile.
Lauren tilted her head to the side, frowning slightly before shaking her head and shrugging.
Biting her lip, Camila looks down and begins eating.
Lauren stood looking at her feet while the three girls ate their food.
Finishing her food, Camila stands up and puts the plate in the sink.
Dinah copied Camila. "Why don't we watch a movie?"
"Okay." Camila mumbles, walking into the living room, she was having a bad day.
Lauren looked up and nodded in agreement.
Sitting on the couch, Camila looks at the blank tv.
Normani and Dinah came into the room followed by Lauren, who sat down on the couch beside Camila
Shifting, Camila wraps her arm around Lauren.
Lauren curled up in Camila's arms and rested her head on Camila's shoulder.
Halfway through the movie, Camila and Lauren fell asleep.
"Look at those two." Dinah said, nodding towards Lauren and Camila.
Smiling, Normani stands up and grabs a blanket, draping it over them.
Lauren shivered as the blanket touched her.
Shifting, Camila pulls Lauren closer.
"They are adorable." Dinah whispered.
Nodding, Normani grabs Dinah's hands and leads her up the stairs. "I want to show you how much I've missed you."
"What?" Dinah pulled her hand out of Normani's and stopped.
Frowning, Normani bites her lip. "What's wrong?"
"I don't feel up to it." Dinah shook her head.
"Oh, okay." Normani responds with a frown, turning and heading up to their shared room.
Dinah sighed, she ran her fingers through her hair.
Normani changed into her pajamas and laid down on their bed.
Dinah went back down the stairs to wash the dishes.
****
"So, I was thinking, let's get Mila out of the house and go to that party." Dinah says randomly.
"A party? Don't you think that'll be too much for her all at once." Normani said. "Maybe we should take her to Lauren's."
"We can do that too." The younger girl responds.
"We don't want to overwhelm her, remember. She hasn't been out of the house in over four years." Normani said.
Pouting, Dinah nods her head. "Fine."
"We can go to the party and leave Camila with Lauren." Normani said.
Perking up, Dinah wraps her arms around Normani. "Let's do this."
"Tonight?" Normani asked.
"Mhmm." Dinah responds with a slight nod of the head.
"Seriously?" Normani nodded. "I'll go get Camila then."
"Okay, I'm going to change." The younger girl responds with a shrug.
"Okay." Normani nodded, she left the room to go tell Camila.
Camila was laying on her bed, a small frown on her lips as she stares at her window. She was really missing Lauren, she hadn't seen Lauren in almost three days now.
Normani knocked on Camila's door and pushed the door open. "Mila."
"Hmm?" The younger girl hums, slowly looking toward Normani.
"You ready to go outside?" Normani asked, stepping into the door.
"I've always wanted to go, but I can't." Camila responds with a small frown.
"You can, your dad isn't home. And it's just across the street to Lauren's house." Normani said softly.
Sitting up immediately, Camila looks at Normani. "Are you sure? Does she know?"
"She doesn't know yet." Normani said.
"Shouldn't you check with her first?" The younger girl asks.
"I'm sure it'll be okay." Normani said softly.
Nodding, Camila grabs a change of clothes and heads to the bathroom.
****
Camila shifts nervously as they stand in front of Lauren's house.
Lauren's younger brother opened the door. "Mom!" He yelled.
Flinching, Camila steps behind Normani and Dinah, her heart racing in her chest.
Lauren's mom came to the door. "Can I help you girls?" She asked, sending Chris to his room to study for his science test.
"Hey Mrs. Jauregui, is Lauren home?" Normani asks with a soft smile.
"Yeah, she's in the kitchen making cakes with Taylor." Mrs. Jauregui said.
Camila curls into Dinah, she was extremely nervous. "I can't do this." She breathes out.
"Yes you can." Dinah whispered in Camila's ear.
Shaking her head, Camila fights back tears, her body shaking.
"Would you like to come in?" Mrs. Jauregui offered.
"May we?" Normani asks sweetly.
Mrs. Jauregui stepped back and let them into the house.
"Mommy! Uncle Buddy's on TV!" Taylor ran into the room but when her eyes landed on Camila, Dinah, and Normani, she became shy.
Camila flinches and buries her face in Dinah's neck.
Mrs. Jauregui picked Taylor up. "Come into the kitchen." She nodded her head towards the kitchen.
Dinah and Normani slowly lead Camila to the kitchen.
Lauren was sitting down at the kitchen table, biting her lip and decorating a cupcake.
Shifting nervously, Camila looks at Lauren and then back at Dinah. "I want to go home." She mumbles nervously.
"Why?" Dinah asked softly.
"This feels weird, I've never been anywhere but home." Camila responds softly.
"I know but you have the chance to be outside your house." Dinah said.
Nodding, Camila shifts nervously. "I've never been around this many people."
"Normani and I are about to leave." Dinah said. "We thought you'd like to spend time with Lauren."
Lauren still hadn't noticed then. She had a pair of earphones in, playing her favorite singer, so she couldn't hear them.
Swallowing thickly, Camila nods her head. "But I'm scared."
"She doesn't bite." Dinah said. "Look at her. She couldn't hurt a fly, literally."
"But what if things change because we're at her house instead?" Camila asks nervously.
Normani moves over to Lauren and tries to get her attention.
"I doubt it." Dinah said softly. "She's the same person no matter where she is."
Nodding her head, Camila relaxes against Dinah's side.
"Laur." Normani waved her hand in Lauren's face.
Flinching, Lauren lifted her head, making a mess of the cupcake she was decorating.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Normani says softly.
Lauren shook her head and looked down at the cake, frowning.
"Camila's here." Normani says softly, knowing that would cheer her up.
Lauren looked up again and held the cupcake out for one of them to take.
Dinah immediately reached forward, taking it. "Thanks."
Normani pouts and moves over to Dinah. "Share."
Dinah looked at Normani and ripped the cupcake in half.
Grinning, Normani grabs her half and kisses Dinah quickly.
Dinah smiled before breaking her half of the cupcake in half again and offering it to Camila.
Biting her lip, Camila takes it and forces a smile. She was still really nervous.
Dinah smiled back before shoving the quarter of her cupcake into her mouth.
"Mm, we should go." Normani says, grabbing Dinah's hand.
Camila tenses and looks at them nervously. "Don't leave me..."
"Camila, we are going on a date." Normani said softly.
"C-Camila, come help." Lauren said, holding her hand out to Camila. She pushed the chair across from her out from underneath the table with her foot for Camila to sit in.
Swallowing thickly, Camila grabs Lauren's hand and sits down slowly. "W-what d-do y-you want m-me to do?"
Lauren offered Camila a small smile. "W-watch." She instructed. She gently picked up a fresh cupcake and began icing it with the same pattern she had done a thousand times before. When she was done, she looked up at Camila and raised her right eyebrow in question. "Understand?"
The older girl slowly nods her head, taking a cupcake and trying to copy how Lauren had iced it.
Lauren nodded in return and moved her cupcake onto a tray of completed cakes.
After ten minutes, Camila flinches upon hearing the doorbell.
"W-what was that?" The brown eyed girl asks nervously.
"D-doorbell." Lauren said, looking up. She then realised she hadn't removed her earphones from her ears. She pulled them out.
Swallowing thickly, Camila looks down at her hands.
"Laur, Uncle Buddy is here!" Chris yells.
Jumping up in surprise, Lauren bit her lip and looked at the cupcakes. "Not d-done." She mumbled to herself.
"I-I'll f-finish them." Camila mumbles nervously.
Lauren shook her head and took her seat again. "T-together."
Nodding her head, Camila splits the cupcakes so they each only have ten left.
They iced the cupcakes and put them with the others. Lauren smiled slightly at the completed picture of all one-hundred-and-fifty cupcakes. "T-thanks."
"Where's my oldest niece?" Lauren heard her uncle Buddy say.
Camila flinches and looks down, tears filling her eyes, she wasn't ready to meet more people.
Lauren moved to pick up a tray. "H-help?" She asked quietly as she pointed to a tray.
Forcing herself to look up, Camila fights back her tears.
Lauren tilted her head to the side before shaking it. "I'll get C-Chris."
Nodding her head, Camila immediately looks back down and fiddles with her hands nervously. "S-sorry."
Lauren shook her head. "D-don't a-apologize."
Clearing her throat, Camila stands up. "I-I should g-go h-home." She breathes out.
Lauren shook her head. "N-no."
Shifting nervously, Camila tries to hide her tears. "I-I'm s-scared."
"T-they don't bite." Lauren said softly.
"I-I've n-never been a-around m-multiple p-people. N-not for f-four y-years." Camila breathes out.
Lauren swallowed, she didn't know what to say. "Um...."
"I-I'm s-sorry." Camila grabs her jacket and begins heading toward the door, only for multiple people to appear and cause her to tense up.
Lauren slowly walked over to Camila after putting the cupcakes down. She took her hand and led her to the front door.
The older girl was shaking as she let Lauren lead her to the front door, she felt like she was going to puke.
Opening the door, Lauren led Camila over to her house.
"T-thanks, I-I'm s-sorry." The brown eyed girl breathes out, burying her face in Lauren's neck.
Lauren stood for a moment in shock before slowly wrapping her arms loosely around Camila.
After a few minutes, Camila pulls away and wipes her eyes. "Please don't tell Mani and Dinah."
"O-okay." Lauren said, confused.
Biting her lip, Camila debates on kissing Lauren.
Lauren glanced back at her house. "I s-should get b-back."
"Okay," Camila mumbles, looking down.
"I'm not l-leaving until you g-go inside." Lauren said. She didn't want to leave until she knew Camila was safely inside her own house.
Swallowing thickly, Camila nods her head and turns to open the door, only to frown when the door doesn't open.
"L-locked." Lauren said. "Key." She pointed to the keyhole.
"K-key?" Camila asks in confusion.
Lauren nodded. "Key." She repeated. "Y-you can't get in b-because it's l-locked."
"I don't have a key." The older girl mumbles.
"Oh." Lauren looked around for a moment. She bent down and lifted a plant-pot and under it she found a key.
"How'd you know it would be there?" Camila asks in confusion.
Lauren shrugged. "It's w-where I'd p-put it."
Nodding, Camila looks at the key. "What do I do?"
Lauren put the key in the lock and turned it. The lock clicked and she pushed the door open.
"Oh, um thank you." The older girl says softly, shifting nervously.
Lauren smiled shyly.
Stepping closer, Camila gently leans in and kisses her.
Lauren slowly kissed Camila back.
Smiling softly, Camila pulls away and looks into Lauren's eyes. "Thank you."
Lauren smiled in response. "I h-have to go." She nodded towards her house.
"O-okay, I'll see you around." The older girl says, kissing Lauren quickly before walking into her house and locking the door.
Lauren looked at the door for a long moment before sighing and making her way back to her house.
****
Two days later
Camila was sitting in her room reading a book when her bedroom door opened.
"Mila?" Dinah came into the room. "You've been really quiet, what happened?"
"Hmm?" Camila hums, looking up from her book.
"You've been really quiet since you came home from Lauren's. What happened?" Dinah asked, sitting on the edge of Camila's bed.
Shrugging, Camila sits up and looks at Dinah. "What do you want me to say?"
"I want you to tell me what's wrong." Dinah said.
"I couldn't do it." Camila mumbles looking down.
"You couldn't do it? You came home?" Dinah asked. "If you can't stay in Lauren's house for a few hours how do you expect to be able to go outside?"
Tears immediately fill Camila's eyes and she releases a soft sob. "Just forget it."
Dinah sighed. "Normani and I were just trying to help, we thought you going to Lauren's house would help since you're so madly in love with her."
"I tried Dinah, but her uncle and his family showed up." Camila breathes out, looking up at Dinah. "I'm a failure."
Dinah shook her head. "You aren't a failure. Normani and I should have asked Lauren if she had any plans, that was our fault."
"I couldn't even be around three extra people, let alone her uncle and his family." The older girl responds.
"Camila, it was our fault. We failed you." Dinah said.
Shaking her head, Camila wipes her eyes. "I don't know if I'll ever be ready."
Dinah sighed. "Come here." She held her arms open for Camila to come into.
The Cuban girl immediately curls into Dinah, burying her face in the Polynesian's neck.
Dinah rubbed Camila's back. "Shh." She cooed.
After a few minutes, Camila cried herself to sleep, curled around Dinah.
Dinah sighed, she ran her fingers through her hair and looked out of the window.
"Hey, is she okay?" Normani asks from the doorway, she had Lauren with her.
Dinah turned to look at them. "She fell asleep."
Lauren shifts nervously, she felt like it was her fault.
"Did she cry herself to sleep?" Normani asks with a frown.
Dinah nodded honestly.
Lauren looked down at her feel. "I h-have to go." She whispered, turning to leave.
"It wasn't because of you." Dinah says softly.
Normani reached out and gently wrapped her hand around Lauren's arm.
Lauren flinched, turning to look at Normani with fear in her eyes.
Releasing the younger girl's arm, Normani said: "It wasn't your fault."
"B-but s-she cried herself t-to sleep." Lauren says, glancing toward Camila.
Camila shifts in her sleep and slides her hand under Dinah's shirt to rest on her stomach.
"It wasn't your fault." Normani said softly.
Groaning, Camila shifts again and curls into Dinah more.
Lauren looked over Normani's shoulder at Camila and shook her head. "I s-should go." She mumbled.
"Don't go." Camila mumbles as she wakes up.
Lauren stopped in her tracks. She looked down at her feet, biting her lower lip.
Sitting up, Camila holds her arms open for Lauren. "Come here."
Playing with the loose bandage on her hand, Lauren slowly turned on her heels and sheepishly looked up at Camila.
"Come here," Camila says softly.
Hesitating, Lauren continued to play with the bandaid on her hand before making her way over to Camila slowly
Pulling the younger girl into her arms, Camila kisses her cheek. "I wasn't crying because of you."
"Why w-were you c-crying?" Lauren mumbled.
"Because I felt stupid, it's stupid that I can't meet new people without freaking out." The older girl responds softly.
"You didn't f-freak w-when you met m-me." Lauren said slowly.
Nodding, Camila leans their foreheads together, not noticing Normani and Dinah leaving the room. "I don't know why."
Lauren closed her eyes and released a slow breath.
Leaning in, Camila gently kisses Lauren, she didn't know what they were, but she knew she liked Lauren.
Lauren relaxed as Camila kissed her, she slowly began to kiss her back.
Slowly, the kiss grew more and more passionate, Camila burying one hand in Lauren's hair.
Lauren pulled away, needing air.
Taking a deep breath, Camila smiles at Lauren.
Lauren smiled shyly.
"Do you remember my question about a date?" Camila asks nervously.
"A date?" Lauren echoed, she looked down at her hands.
Nodding, Camila moves closer to Lauren and lifts her head. "Only if you want to."
"I've never b-been on a d-date." Lauren mumbled shyly.
"I haven't either." The older girl says in response.
"W-where would w-we go?" Lauren bit her lower lip.
Tilting her head to the side, Camila tries to think of something. "Oh, um there's a fair coming up next week."
Lauren shook her head. "You couldn't even handle being in my house."
Biting her lip, Camila looks down, embarrassed.
Lauren swallowed. "Maybe... I could m-make dinner.... maybe."
"Okay." Camila whispers, shifting closer to Lauren and laying down.
Lauren swallowed, nodding once.
"Lay with me?" Camila asks softly.
Lauren looked up slightly.
"I just want to lay down and talk." The brown eyed girl says softly.
Lauren nodded and lay down.