reasons to go, reasons to stay ➸ camren

chapter eighteen ➸ homecoming

The next few days dragged by awfully slow. Both girls were eager to get out of the hospital and have a chance to start over. It was all just a waiting game now, until Camila was deemed fit enough to be discharged.

When Lauren wasn’t spending time with Camila, she was back at the hotel working out their living situation. The pair had been involved in the choice of where they would end up next, and ended up settling on California. They claimed it was because with such a large population, they would blend in easier. But both of them knew it was only because living by the beach had been a dream of theirs since childhood. 

Currently, Camila was fast asleep in the hospital bed while Lauren, Ally, and Rowan were boarding a small plane headed for California. Lauren had wanted to have everything settled before Camila was discharged, so the transition into a new home would be easier on both of them. Ally had accompanied them to watch Rowan, as Lauren needed to fly back to North Carolina the next day to finish the last of the paperwork by Camila’s side.

After some prodding, Lauren had convinced Camila’s social worker to pull a few strings and allow for them to stay in contact with Ally. After meeting the small girl, Kara had quickly realized that the only person Ally posed a threat to was herself, and agreed. The girl was just as excited as Lauren was to get to the new house.

Lauren made a move for her phone as soon as Ally pulled into the driveway of the house. The youngest Jauregui may or may not have splurged when purchasing the home where they would spend the next years of their lives together.

It was discovered that Lauren’s grandmother had left her a fairly large sum of money when she passed away, which was something Lauren never knew about. Lauren had already been emancipated, something she had worked on as soon as she came in contact with Camila again. Now, a few weeks later, she had been granted access to the money and set aside some of it to acquire the decent-sized house that had a beach, instead of a backyard.

She called Camila’s FaceTime, and it connected almost immediately. Her girlfriend’s face appeared on the screen, and Lauren giggled.

“Did you just wake up?”

"Psh, no,” Camila scoffed, an embarrassed grin creeping onto her face.

“We’re here,” Lauren chimed, just as Rowan and Ally climbed out of the car. Both Camila and Rowan squealed excitedly at the same time, and Lauren turned her phone’s camera so Camila could see the house.

“It’s a mansion!” Rowan gasped, letting go of Ally’s hand and running up to the front porch of the house. Camila’s eyes grew wide and Lauren could tell she was holding the phone closer to her face to get a better look.

“I wouldn’t go as far to say it’s a mansion…” Lauren laughed, following Rowan and Ally up to the front door and grabbing her key from her back pocket with her free hand.

“Holy shit, Lauren,” Camila finally said after studying her phone intently. “How did you afford that?”

“I told you, silly.”

“I just didn’t know your grandmother was the queen of England.”

Lauren rolled her eyes and laughed. “Hush. It isn’t even that big.”

“It’s bigger than the old apartment,” Camila rebutted. And Lauren couldn’t argue with that.

“I could’ve gotten a bigger house, but I chose this one for a certain reason,” Lauren smirked, handing Ally the phone for a second so she could unlock the door.

“Hey, Mila. How you feeling?” the girl holding the phone asked, giggling as Rowan eagerly waited for Lauren to open the door, hopping from one foot to the other.