Dawn in Vancouver

Chapter 33: "To Be With You"

"So here I am, staring at the moon tonight wondering how you look in this light. Maybe you're somewhere thinking 'bout me too. To be with you"

"To be With You" New Album de Lauren Jauregui

Dinah's face was growing paler and paler as Normani talked to her about what was going on with Lauren, and her eyes widened with surprise and a little pain to know that none of her friends from years ago had trusted her enough to tell her the whole truth. Especially Lauren who had known her long before Normani. And the worst part was that she already knew but hadn't commented out of respect for Lauren and because she hoped her friend would trust her.

Normani tried to give her as much detail as she could, how briefly she had understood between Lauren's sobs.

"Lauren's thing with women is nothing new to me, Mani," Dinah said as she finished, "she's my friend and I know her well. When she still had the drug problem she did it at my house. Many times I saw her kissing or talking to women while I tried to minimize the damage with the help of my manager."

"You know?" -Normani said in surprise.

"I was just waiting for her to tell me," Dinah said sadly. "But it didn't happen."

"Lauren has always been afraid of that part of her life," Normani sighed. "It's hard for her, Dinah. It's not easy to talk about your sexuality openly if you're afraid of being judged."

"But I would never judge Lauren on something like that," Dinah said, looking at Normani. "Who you fall in love with doesn't define you as a person. Much less does it define your talent. The only thing that worries me about all this is that Lauren doesn't know how to handle something like that. Lauren has never been in a serious relationship. Her only relationship has been Ryan and she's not an experienced woman."

"I feel like she's very excited about this woman," Normani said softly and Dinah sighed. "I'm afraid she's going to get hurt."

"I don't think we should judge before we know the whole situation," Dinah said leaving her clothes and going to her closet where she began to pack quickly.

"I think I'll go pack," Normani said.

"Have my driver take you, Mani," Dinah said, smiling. "Leave your car here. And we'll go to the airport together."

"I won't be long," she smiled and Dinah nodded as she watched Mani leave the room and sighed.

"Maybe I understand you better than you think, Lauren," Dinah whispered to the empty room while the scent of Normani's perfume still hung in the air.

It was almost four in the morning and Lauren was still in the den looking out the window hugging the teddy bear and with tears in her eyes. Little sobs escaped her throat as she buried her face in the teddy bear she had given Camila. Between her sobs Lauren didn't hear the door open until she felt two tender arms wrap around her neck and someone cling to her. Lauren closed her eyes as she felt the soft body trembling and hugging her tightly. It was Camila. Her Camz.

The tears continued to flow as they just stayed like that. Embraced. Lauren lying on the couch and Camila holding her tenderly. The minutes went by while only the sobs of the two could be heard. Until little by little they stopped and Camila's voice broke the silence.

"Is it too late to ask for forgiveness? -Camila whispered in her ear and Lauren sighed, lost in her caresses. "To tell you that I was wrong?"

"Oh, Camz," was all Lauren said before she turned around and Camila came around to sit next to her and look into her eyes.

"I'm not going to Miami," Camila said tearfully and Lauren just hugged her tightly against her chest. "I don't ever want to go back to Miami if it means I'm going to lose you."