Just because some of you need the reminder: this is a work of FICTION.
Anyway Camila killed it in London and tbh I was so fucking overwhelmed with how proud I am of the Tiny Brunette™ she's truly so talented and the concert was damn amazing even tho there were some annoying ass locals there calling her camiLLa
THE NBTS HOODIES ARE SO SOFT AND COMFY AHHHHH AND SHE DANCED TO INTO IT WITH A PRIDE FLAG OMG MY HEART FUCKING BURST
okay onto the story now bye
-
February 4th, 2017
"We shouldn't do this."
"I don't see you trying to stop it," Lauren gets out between kisses to Camila's neck. "I know you want this, Camz."
Camila kisses her back, but then pulls away, uncertain. "It's just... we've never gone beyond kissing, and that's never- you're dating someone. Did you forget about that?"
"What, Keaton?" Lauren rolls her eyes. "We went on one date. I only said yes because it would've made things awkward if I hadn't. We're on a reality show with him for the next month or so, and then he'll be out of my life. You, on the other hand..."
Lauren goes to kiss her again, but Camila turns her head away. "You've been drinking."
Again, Lauren rolls her eyes. "I had three beers. That's all."
"No, no, I'm not-" Camila shuffles off her and shakes her head, and Lauren frowns up at her from the bed in Lauren's hotel room. "I'm not ready. And you- if you're kissing me, does that... does that mean we're dating?"
"Camila, we're not together and we never will be," Lauren points out, shaking her head, "and it's not like we have feelings for each other. I'm straight."
Camila opens her mouth, as if to say something, and Lauren hopes that she hadn't been caught out in her lie. She knows she feels something for Camila, but that's never going to go anywhere, because she's not into girls. She's straight, and this is just confusion.
"I'm just... not okay with that," Camila mumbles, "I can't... I have to go."
"Come on, Camz," Lauren sighs, rolling her eyes, "you've never had a problem with kissing me before."
"I just..." Camila bites down on her bottom lip and fumbles with the door handle, "I have to go."
When Camila leaves, the room seems to fade away, and the next thing she hears is fallingforyou by The 1975. Lauren feels like a passenger in her own body as she looks over to Camila, and is overwhelmed by how beautiful she is. With teary eyes, feeling like maybe she's finally ready, she leans in and pulls Camila in for a kiss, forgetting about everything, about her fears, about management, about Fifth Harmony, because the only thing that seems to matter is Camila.
But the next day, when she sees everyone on Twitter, talking about the Camren date, she freaks. She pushes all of the feelings she'd had last night deep inside of her, completely terrified. She sees tweets, people announcing how they'd known all along that Lauren was gay, or bisexual, and she doesn't understand how people can see that or why they're pinning a label on her.
It makes her hate herself. So, when Camila comes over to her at catering, all bubbly and bright, asking to hang out, Lauren does what she knows best. She pushes her away.
"What the fuck, Lauren?"
She sighs, looking around at a distraught Camila. This time, she's older, probably eighteen or nineteen, and looks more tired and depressed than ever. "What do you want, Camila?"
"You're dating Lucy? After everything that's happened between us?" Camila glares at her. "You know how I feel about you. How I've always felt. And now that you're finally figured out, you don't even talk to me about it?"
"Why would I talk to you?" Lauren answers. "We're not even friends anymore. You made sure of that when you listened to management. We haven't done anything for months. I don't know what you expect from me."
"You don't get to act like you didn't fuck me over," Camila snaps, "you can't just pretend that you didn't sneak into my bunk whenever you got lonely and kiss me, but not talk to me about it the next day. You've used me for a warm body ever since I was fifteen, and that's not okay. You can't just play with someone like that for four years."
"Sneaking around behind our backs and doing a song with Shawn isn't okay either," Lauren argues before she can think about it. "And look, I'm not saying I never had feelings for you, because I did. But I was scared, and you can't blame me for that. You were scared too."
"Which is why you should've talked to me," Camila points out, sighing, "the second you figured yourself out, you should've-"
"Lucy was there for me and helped me. I can't help that I'm in love with her and not you." Lauren interrupts. "Just leave me alone, Camila. We're not friends anymore and we haven't been for months. The only thing we have in common anymore is Fifth Harmony."
"Fine," Camila replies, and Lauren can see the tears shining in her eyes, "but don't push all of the blame onto me. You pulled away too."
Lauren blinks in surprise, rubbing at her eyes in shock. Had she dozed off? She looks at the TV, and the end credits of the movie she'd picked are rolling, and she sighs. Typical. That's what happens when she works on weekends and decides not to nap as soon as she gets in.
Her mind drifts back to the dream she'd had. She frowns in thought, wondering how and why the dream was so vivid. It almost felt real, and she didn't entirely feel like herself. It was like she was a spectator behind her own eyes, watching someone else do all of these things.
If she thinks about it, it was scarily real for a dream. It was like she'd dipped into another universe.
She tries to brush the dream out of her head. It's just a dream, not real, Lauren assures herself, nothing to worry about. You're acting crazy, Jauregui.
There was that name, though, something in her head reminds her, Fifth Harmony. The one you swore you'd heard before.
Lauren frowns to herself. Camila had mentioned that name, when she was drunk on New Year's Eve. She'd talked about how she'd been on tour with Fifth Harmony, and Lauren knew the name was somewhere in her subconscious. But it's dumb, it's just something Camila had made up when she was drunk. Obviously.
Even after she tries her best to ignore it all, it still bothers her. So, she picks up her phone and sends a text to Camila.
Laur (2:23PM): Hey, Camz. I don't know if you'll remember this, but on New Year's Eve, you mentioned going on tour? With someone called Fifth Harmony?
Lauren stares at her phone screen, and she sees her message switch from delivered to read. Camila starts typing back, but then stops, then starts again. When the typing stops a second time, Lauren expects a response, but nothing comes through.
She frowns down at her screen. Why would Camila act so weird about something like that?
A few seconds later, her phone screen changes. Camila's contact picture pops up, along with the words incoming call. She answers it immediately.
Before she can talk, Camila greets her. "Hi, Laur. What's with the sudden question about New Year's?"
Lauren worries on her bottom lip with her teeth, trying to think up a reasonable answer. "I don't know. I fell asleep, but it was kind of like I was in another life. The dream was scarily vivid. I was with you, and the first time we were kissing, but then you said you couldn't do it and left after I was talking about being straight. And saying stuff about how we were on The X Factor. And then we were at a concert, and I kissed you, but the next day I was scared and blew you off? And the last part... was like a fight. I guess I'd told you I was dating Lucy? Something like that. We were arguing and saying stuff like how management pushed us apart and how we weren't friends and the only thing we had in common was something called Fifth Harmony. And I just... remembered you saying that name on New Year's."
Camila is silent on the line, and Lauren figures she's just taking everything in. When she finally speaks, she sounds weirdly chipper. "Well, you're kind of crazy for getting so freaked out about a vivid dream, but then again, it's happened to me before. Maybe you were thinking about how things could've been if you'd actually gone on The X Factor. And the Fifth Harmony thing was like, you using a random band name I mentioned. Maybe your subconscious picked it."
"But there was something else," Lauren insists, "it was like, I was blowing you off. Making out with you and then telling you that I was straight, and you said stuff like I'd fucked you over and had been using you as a warm body since you were fifteen."
Again, Camila pauses, as if she's trying to take in that information. After a few moments, she lets out a sigh. "Sounds a lot like my almost-ex. That girl. Maybe... it's because I told you about that. Maybe you're worried that you'll hurt me like she did."
Lauren takes in Camila's explanation, and she smiles a little. That makes a lot of sense to her; when Camila had told her about that girl, the one who had hurt her, once she'd passed the feelings of being out for the girl's blood, she started worrying that she might fuck up and hurt Camila, albeit not in the same way.
After mulling it over, it makes sense that her subconscious fears would come to the surface in a dream. Clearly, she'd worried for nothing. In fact, now that she thinks about it, it's almost funny how freaked out she'd gotten. "Yeah, that makes sense. Admittedly, I was a little worried about hurting you, but you know I'd never do that, especially not intentionally. I don't even know why I was freaking out in the first place. I guess the dream was just really vivid."
"Exactly," Camila replies, "look, I've got to go. But... I'll see you tonight? I'm still sleeping over, right?"
"Yeah," Lauren says, smiling to herself, "for our unofficial second date."
"You've got the house to yourself?" Camila asks, sounding alarmed. "You said you'd give me notice."
"I don't have the house to myself, that's why I said unofficial," Lauren points out, smiling to herself. "It's nothing big or extravagant, just takeout and some wine to share, but I figured since we're dating, and we'll be hanging out alone... it's a date."
Camila laughs. "But it's the second time we'll be on a date, therefore it's the second date."
"The unofficial second date," Lauren corrects her, "because I'm not cooking your dinner and my mom could barge in at any moment and ask if you want any snacks or a drink or something."
Camila laughs on the other line. "You guys need anything? Some snacks, a condom? Let me know! God love ya."
Lauren pictures the scene perfectly in her head. "A condom, Camz? Is there something you're not telling me?"
"Oh, shut up, you know it's a Mean Girls quote." Camila says, and Lauren can imagine her rolling her eyes right about now. "Anyway, we should totally watch that when I come over. And thanks for distracting me, but I've really got to go."
"Okay," Lauren responds, "I'll see you tonight?"
"Yeah," Camila answers, "Bye, Lauren."
When she says her goodbyes and hangs up, Lauren smiles to herself, and grabs the TV remote, her dream completely forgotten in her excitement for her unofficial date tonight.
-
"She's fucking remembering stuff."
"It was a dream," Lucy reasons with her, looking at the phone in Camila's tight grip. "You did pretty well convincing her it was a dream, and the way she was talking once you'd bullshitted an excuse, she'd clearly already forgotten it, or at least brushed it off."
Camila shakes her head and puts her phone down, dropping her head in her hands. "This has happened before, though. She had a dream that she was on The X Factor and got put in a group with me and the other girls. She brushed it off then, but if it keeps happening, maybe we'll have to tell her the truth."
"Maybe we won't have to tell her," Lucy says, "maybe this is what happens. The version of us from here starts to dream about that, and then eventually we show up."
Camila's heart stops. That does nothing to quell her fears. If anything, it makes her feel worse. "No. No, she can't come here. She can't. I finally have her, and she- that Lauren, she doesn't want me like that. She'll never want me like that."
"You don't know that," Lucy points out, "I used to be so jealous of you because Lauren would look at you like you were the whole world to her. She ran because of the pressure of fame, and how confused she was in herself. Not because of you."
"Why are you defending her?" Camila frowns. "She broke your heart by cheating on you, and then said it was your fault that she cheated in the first place. You're the last person who should be defending her."
"I'm not defending that," Lucy responds, scowling a little at the memory. "We're taking about you and Lauren, not me and Lauren. And if she comes here-"
"She can't. I wouldn't be able to handle that," Camila interrupts, shaking her head. "This Lauren- this Lauren wants me and she's not confusing and this feels like the only place I'll ever be able to have her. I'll never have the other one, but this one... this Lauren could be mine."
Lucy watches her carefully. "She's not real, though-"
"Oh, fuck off with that," Camila argues, "if she's not real, then neither are we. If she isn't real, none of this is real. Maybe we're just dead. Ever think about that? Maybe I got in a car crash or something, and I'm dead. That'd be fucking ironic, right? All the fanfic authors have predicted my tragic end."
"Don't talk like that," Lucy shakes her head, "we're just- stuck somewhere. And we need to figure out how to get back. You're getting way too sucked into this and it's not real. Not for us."
"So, Nicole isn't real?" When Lucy doesn't respond, Camila rolls her eyes. "Exactly. Like you said, we're stuck somewhere. But it's not some fucking dream. And we're stuck. We might always be stuck. What's the point in trying anymore? It's been over a month since the eighteenth, when I thought I'd go back. If I didn't go back then, then when the fuck am I going to go back, if ever? I might be getting sucked into this, but at least I'm trying to be happy."
"You're just... you're choosing this other Lauren over our Lauren, the one we've both spent years with." Lucy points out. "And if you wake up back home, I feel like... maybe since you've picked this Lauren, you won't be satisfied."
"Don't call her our Lauren. She's never been mine." Camila mumbles, shaking her head. "Besides, can you blame me for picking this one? All that Lauren ever did was fuck me over and use me as a warm body. This one remembered that, and you heard her say so yourself. And you also heard her say how she'd never hurt me."
"But you're not from here," Lucy insists, "this Lauren isn't ours. This Dinah, Ally, Normani, even Sofi, they aren't ours. They aren't the ones we know. Doesn't it hurt you to think you've left your actual little sister, and your actual family? Oh, and that solo career you cared so much about that you fucked over your best friends to get it?"
Camila sends her a glare. "I didn't fuck them over and they weren't my best friends. Not anymore. They all fucking turned on me, except for Dinah, and you can't blame me for doing something that'd be in my own best interest. And you know nothing about that anyway. Besides, at least I have a career. How's that Instagram modelling working out for you?"
When the words come out, she instantly regrets them. She knows it's a low blow, but Lucy had hit her with one too, and it'd made her so angry. Lucy stares at her for a moment, before she shakes her head and grabs her jacket, standing up.
Camila tries to stop her. "No, wait, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"Save it." Lucy shakes her head. "I'm done trying to work through this together. I'll figure this out on my own, since you clearly love it here so much."
"Lucy," Camila calls after her, but the older girl ignores her and stalks out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
She sighs and flops down on her bed, burying her head in the pillow to muffle her frustrated scream.
-
"Hey, Camz, I-" Lauren cuts herself off when she sees the downcast expression on Camila's face. "Are you okay?"
She moves aside to let Camila in, and the younger Latina kicks off her shoes and sits down on the stairs with a sigh. "Could you maybe talk to Lucy for me?"
"Lucy..." Lauren trails off with a frown. "Why? What's wrong?"
"We had an argument earlier and both said some things that were out of line. I tried apologising straight away, but she just ignored me, and I thought maybe you could message on my behalf?" Camila asks, looking up at her desperately. "Just tell her that I'm sorry for what I said, but she said some pretty bitchy things too, and we need to talk. When she's ready."
Lauren frowns in thought. "I mean, telling her she's bitchy isn't exactly the best apology..."
"It's not an apology," Camila is quick to say, but then she considers it and sighs. "Okay, fine, it is. But it's like, a half apology. She needs to apologise too."
Lauren sits down next to Camila and takes her hand, squeezing it comfortingly. "What'd she say?"
"Just... brought up a sore subject," Camila sighs, resting her head on Lauren's shoulder. "Fine, cut out the 'you said bitchy stuff too' and just say I'm sorry, we need to talk when you're ready."
"Why is it so important?" Lauren asks, sending the text anyway, prefacing it with Camila told me to send this. "I wasn't under the impression that you guys were super close."
"I'm just going through some stuff right now. She's kind of the only one who can fully understand." Camila vaguely explains. "Did you send it?"
"Yeah," Lauren confirms, "and because of that, you're going to stop moping and stop thinking about your fight all together. It's our unofficial second date, so perk up."
That makes Camila smile a little. "Okay. What's the plan?"
"First, we get takeout. Your choice." Lauren says, "Then, we get in our PJs, because we've got to be extra comfy. And finally, we pick something to watch. Could be a movie, but could also be trashy reality TV. Depends on how we're feeling. Oh, and let's not forget the importance of cuddles, here."
Camila lets out a little laugh. "Really? I'm guessing the minute I sit down, you'll be snuggled right up to me."
"I was thinking more the other way around. You know, since you're upset and all." Lauren shrugs. "This is a one night only offer. Then I'm back to being your little spoon. Not because I like it, but because I have to be, since someone needs to cuddle Nala and be her big spoon, and it's certainly not going to be some stranger that she's not comfortable with."
Camila pauses for a moment, trying to hold back her smile. "That's officially the cutest and dorkiest thing you've ever said."
"Mhm, and you have absolutely no proof of it, unless you're secretly recording right now," Lauren flashes her a grin. "Suck on that, Cabello."
Camila just laughs. "Alright, alright, just bring me your takeout menus. You said it's my choice."
"Anything but pizza, I had that last night with Mani," Lauren instructs, and Camila nods, following her into the kitchen. Lauren pulls open a drawer with a grin and grabs out a few takeout menus. "Welcome to the drawer of miscellaneous crap."
Camila notices random loose screws, electrical tape, an old iPod and more as Lauren gets the remaining few menus out. "I feel like every house has a drawer like that. Just like everyone has a plastic bag filled with more plastic bags."
Lauren laughs. "Don't forget the old cookie tin filled with either medicine, your mom's sewing supplies or something way less appealing than actual cookies."
"True," Camila answers with a grin, flicking through a menu for some Thai place. "I'm torn between this and the classic Chinese takeout."
Lauren shrugs. "Flip a coin?"
"Sure," Camila nods, and Lauren digs into her back pocket, pulling out a random quarter, "can you actually flip coins? For some reason, I can't figure out how to do it. I guess it's just because I can never catch them."
Lauren smiles a little at Camila's confession. "Yeah, I can do it. I've got to be careful this this, though. Mani gave it to me and I still haven't looked it up to figure out it's worth."
Camila frowns, taking the quarter from Lauren and looking it over. "I'd say it's worth about a quarter."
"Not what I meant," Lauren rolls her eyes, taking the coin back. "It's double stamped. A lot of the time, they're worth a lot, which is perfect for my coin collection."
Camila looks over at Lauren with a grin. She knows that Fifth Harmony Lauren was a coin collector, and she'd found it endlessly adorable then, too. "How was I ever intimidated by you?"
"Because I'm a badass, that's how," Lauren flashes her a toothy grin, "anyway, heads or tails?"
"Tails," Camila answers, and as Lauren is about to flip the coin, she grabs her by the wrist, "Wait, what does tails represent? Chinese or Thai food?"
"Tails is Thai, because they both start with a T," Lauren decides, and flips the coin before Camila can bother arguing. She turns it over and smiles. "Tails it is."
"Nice," Camila smiles. "You'll call and order, right? I hate phone calls."
"Sure," Lauren replies, squeezing her hand. "What do you want to eat?"
Once they've decided on their food, and Lauren calls to order, the older Latina takes her by the hand again and pulls her upstairs. Camila raises her eyebrows when Lauren pulls her into her bedroom and shuts the door behind them.
"Well, that's a little forward," Camila jokes as Lauren takes her shirt off and drops it on her desk chair. "Can't say I don't appreciate your eagerness, Lo."
"What?" Lauren frowns, but Camila's joke registers and she laughs. "Oh, no, we need to get in our PJs, and we can't hang out in the lounge since my parents are in and they're already watching TV. Unless you'd rather hang out with my parents than with me, then we're stuck in my room for the night."
Camila nods across the hall. "What about your games room?"
"My siblings are in, and when my parents hog the lounge, they hog that room," Lauren shrugs, "Taylor has friends over, so unless you want to chill with her and her annoying middle school pals, then, again, we're in here."
"Okay," Camila answers, shrugging her backpack from her back and getting her pyjamas out. She quickly changes, and Lauren just stays in her underwear, flopping down on her bed. "I don't get how you sleep in your bra. I thought you hated bras."
"Sports bras are fine," Lauren shrugs, "and most of the time I sleep completely shirtless, but I can't do that with friends over."
"Wow, we're literally on a date and you're friendzoning me," Camila jokes and Lauren rolls her eyes, mumbling something about how the friendzone is a sexist construct and not real. "If you hate bras so much, then just put a t-shirt on and take your bra off."
"Like I said, sports bras are fine, and I get too hot in t-shirts on a night," Lauren shrugs, "It's like someone wants me to just hang out with my titties flopping everywhere."
Camila bursts out laughing, and Lauren joins in too. She sits down on the bed next to Lauren and rolls her eyes. "I was just curious. No need to mock me."
Lauren smirks at her. "Oh, little Camz, you and I both know you want to see the twins."
"The twins?" Camila frowns, trying to play dumb. "Those Frey people from Game of Thrones? I don't think I want to see them, they don't seem very nice."
Lauren laughs. "They're not, but don't act like you don't know what I was talking about."
"I don't know," Camila insists, shrugging carelessly, "I'm quite oblivious when I want to be. Just like you."
"Like me?" Lauren frowns, the teasing expression gone, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean, you were insanely oblivious to my feelings. I thought I was being obvious at times and I'd freak out, thinking you'd caught on, but somehow, you never did," Camila laughs to herself. "It's cute, actually. I could've waved a huge sign in front of your face, announcing that I liked you, and you would've been like but does she really?"
Lauren gives her a playful shove. "Oh, shut up. You said you had feelings for someone else right in front of me."
"Yeah, someone else as in not the girl who fucked me over," Camila clarifies. "You saw how nervous I used to get around you. And how I got upset and avoided you all day when you told me you had a coffee date with a wild fuckboy. I was so obvious, Lo."
Lauren just rolls her eyes. "Alright, my apparent obliviousness aside, what do you want to watch?"
As Lauren reaches over to grab her laptop, Camila's gaze flicks down and she spends a small window of time appreciating the twins Lauren was actually talking about. When the older Latina sits down next to her and places her laptop in front of them, Camila thinks of something good to watch.
"Wife Swap," Camila announces with a grin, "it's hilarious, we have to."
Lauren hums in thought. "Okay. I've never seen it, so..."
"You've never seen Wife Swap?" Camila asks, staring at Lauren like she'd just killed her firstborn child. "That's- that's like, a crime."
Lauren laughs. "A crime? Well, alright. Introduce me to your weird show."
"Okay," Camila grabs the laptop and shuffles up against Lauren. Lauren's arms wrap around her waist and Camila relaxes into her hold, wishing she could stay here forever. "I love this. Please never stop cuddling me."
Lauren makes a nuh-uh noise and shakes her head. "One night only, Camz. Then you're back to holding me, because Nala needs her cuddle buddy. But I guess..."
When Lauren trails off and reaches behind her for something, Camila frowns. "You guess what?"
After a few moments, Lauren is pressing Nala into Camila's arms. "I guess you can look after her for one evening."
"Aw, you're so cute, Lo." Camila beams and uses one arm to cuddle the toy as she searches through YouTube for a good episode of Wife Swap. "Okay, this one's a good one. One family is this weird, sports obsessed one, and the other is a goth family who regularly have picnics in graveyards. It's like, if you and I were on this show."
"Well, I'm guessing since you resent any physical activity, I'm the sporty people?" Lauren asks, and Camila nods in response. "Really? So, when's the last time you had a picnic in a graveyard, Camz?"
Camila laughs. "Oh, a few days ago. I really needed a good picnic to help fuel my emo lyrics."
"So," Lauren says as Camila presses play, "how does this show work, exactly?"
"Well, the sporty mom in the family will go to the goth family, and vice versa," Camila explains, "the first week, the wife has to live by the new family's rules, and the second week, she makes her own rules and the family has to live by them. I was torn between this one and the iconic King Curtis one. We'll watch that next."
Not five minutes into the episode, Mike pushes open Lauren's bedroom door and holds out their takeout, frowning at the weird position he finds them in. Then again, Camila thinks she'd be a little weirded out if she walked in to her teenage daughter in her underwear, cuddling another girl.
Lauren shifts off the bed to grab the takeout, smiling. "Thanks, dad. Sorry, we didn't hear the door, otherwise we would've answered."
"That's fine," Mike replies, before his gaze falls on Camila. "And who's this one?"
"Dad," Lauren rolls her eyes, "this is Camila. She's a friend of mine from school. Camz, this is my dad."
"It's nice to meet you," Camila awkwardly replies as Lauren digs through the containers in the bags of takeout.
Mike seems to eye her warily, clearly having caught onto the romantic undertones between Lauren and Camila. "You too. Lauren, is your... friend staying over?"
"Mhm," Lauren nods, clearly more concerned with the takeout than the thick tension in the room. "So, tell Taylor and her friends to keep it down since they're staying over too."
Mike looks over at Camila warily, and she avoids eye contact, looking down at her feet. "Alright. Next time, organise your sleepover on another night, so the pull-out bed in the games room is free."
After one last look between Camila and Lauren, Mike turns, heading out of the bedroom door. He starts to close it, but seems to rethink his decision, and leaves it open halfway, heading out of the room again.
Camila lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding and looks at Lauren. It's weird to her, having Mike being so unwelcoming, since he was always the talkative one between him and Clara. "Why do I feel like he doesn't like me at all?"
Lauren laughs and passes Camila a container of food. "It's not that he doesn't like you. He's just protective of me, and he clearly figured out that we don't exactly have a platonic thing going on here. He suddenly didn't like Lucy once I told him I was dating her, but he got over that quickly. Once he saw how happy I was."
Camila frowns a little. "I want your family to like me now though."
"My mom likes you," Lauren shrugs, "and even when I tell her we're seeing each other, she'll still like you. My dad has always been of the opinion that I shouldn't date ever. At least until I'm like, forty or something. Weird, since he's fine with Chris dating."
Camila laughs a little, and watches as Lauren kicks the bedroom door shut again, before she sits down next to Camila and digs into her food. Camila pouts. "Hey, come cuddle with me."
Lauren shakes her head. "I'm eating."
"But I want cuddles," Camila points out, "I'm sad, Lo. Come and make me feel better."
"After my food," Lauren reasons, "and after yours. I don't want you spilling anything on my bed, because I'll have to clean it up, and fuck doing that."
"Fine," Camila sighs dramatically. "But you've got to cuddle me extra afterwards."
Lauren smiles at her. "Deal."
Once they finish their food, and Lauren takes all their garbage and leftovers downstairs, she stays true to her word and holds her as Camila decides to put on the iconic King Curtis episode of Wife Swap.
"Chicken nuggets is like my family."
Lauren bursts out laughing at the kid on the screen, and Camila grins. She loves the sound of Lauren's laugh.
"Okay, that's-" Lauren gets out between laughs, "that's actually you."
"This isn't even the thick of the drama," Camila laughs, "when the healthy eating lady imposes her rules, he dramatically runs away from home."
If anything, Lauren laughs even more. "Actually you if your parents suddenly banned pizza."
"I'd move in here," Camila tells her, "you'd give me all the pizza I want. I'd just flirt with you."
Lauren opens her mouth to reply, but pauses when the kid comes on the screen again and announces, "bacon is good for me!" She laughs and squeezes Camila around the middle. "This kid really is you in another life. And honestly? He's secretly me too."
"Chicken nuggets are your family as well?" Camila sends Lauren a weirded-out look. "Lo, I don't think I can keep going on dates with you. Unlike republican white families from the deep south, I'm not a fan of dating my cousin."
Lauren bursts out laughing again. "I know people tell you that you aren't funny, but you kill me, Camz."
"You're literally the only person that finds me even slightly funny," Camila laughs, "but I guess that just proves we have a connection, right?"
Lauren smiles and kisses Camila's cheek. "Yeah."
Camila pouts, craning her neck around to look at Lauren. "Hey, no, kiss me properly."
"Nope, we've got to go on an official date for that." Lauren retorts, smirking a little. "And since this one is unofficial..."
"So... us babysitting my sister was a date, huh?" Camila lists off, "and New Year's? And that one time when you were completely hammered and not ten minutes before had been rubbing up on some creepy thirty year old? Wow, you're so romantic, those were great dates."
Lauren rolls her eyes, but smiles a little. "Fine, I guess you've got me there."
She pulls Camila in for a kiss, and the younger Latina lets out a content sigh, her hands cupping Lauren's jaw. When they part, Lauren smiles a little, and Camila just shakes her head. "I'm not done."
Lauren laughs against Camila's lips, and the younger girl pushes the laptop away from them and moves around so she's straddling Lauren. Camila dots kisses across her jaw and down to her neck, and Lauren's breath catches in her throat. She tries to ignore that ache between her legs as Camila kisses her, and focuses on tangling her fingers in Camila's hair and pulling her closer.
"There," Camila says as she pulls away and smiles, "now I'm done."
Camila settles up against her again, and Lauren lets out a small breath. "Of course you'd get me all worked up and then go back to TV."
Camila smirks. "Maybe that was my plan. Maybe I wanted to get you all hot and bothered so you know who's boss."
"Really," Lauren looks down and carefully threads her fingers with Camila, "you know, for someone who acts so innocent and virginal, you really know how to get me all worked up."
"Oh, Lauren," Camila sighs dramatically, "I'm a lot less innocent than you think."
As Camila turns back to the computer to watch the show, Lauren bites down on her lip and sighs, resting her head against the headboard of her bed. She looks at the girl in front of her with a small smile, and even though she had to go through heartbreak to get here, she wouldn't change a thing.
-
Valentine's Day is next bitches c u then
:)