Harmony Rediscovered: A Melody of Secrets and Second Chances (Camren)

Chapter 1: The Call

Guess who's back, back again🎶

Lmao It's been years since I last posted a fanfic, but there was just something about this fic that I couldn't stop reading, and I knew I had to share it with everyone else. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I do.

**************************************

Harmony Rediscovered: A Melody of Secrets and Second Chances

---

Bands like Fifth Harmony have an expiration date; they all knew this going into it, whether they thought about it or not. They didn’t know when, but Camila doesn’t believe she was the first person to think about it. She didn’t devote any effort to wondering about an after until Zayn left One Direction, and then she made some decisions.

Camila’s crime, as she sees it, was to be the first member of the band to plan for the after. To recognize its inevitability and be proactive about what it meant for her.

It wasn’t an easy choice.

She doesn’t get enough credit for that. She feels guilt wilting her at the edges, accusations turning to heavy stones in her stomach, making it hard to eat and sleep. Balls of anxiety keep her awake at night, revealing themselves in the thinness of her bones and the bags underneath her eyes that makeup artists desperately try to hide.

The other girls distance themselves.

Camila feels alone within the band, and it almost echoes the feeling she had at school. Except here, she's not invisible; she's just blamed. No one calls her a traitor, but they don't have to. She can feel her name on their blacklist, see it in the coldness in their eyes when they deign to look at her.

It hurts.

They were supposed to be family.

She thought they’d understand, or at least give her a chance to explain her side of the story. The hows and the whys. Camila thought they’d try. Family is supposed to try. They don’t always have to like your choices, but they’re supposed to love you anyway.

Well, Camila's not entirely being fair. There are conversations, many with Dinah–some bad, some okay, and some better. They shared a bus that tour, and Dinah is her best friend. She tries to be kind and understanding. Sometimes she does, letting Camila wrap her legs around her and lick a stripe along her cheek. Other times, she doesn't. Those are the worst days when Camila can't even find it in herself to cry. She feels empty on those days.

The one conversation she has with Normani devolves into a screaming match.

Normani wants her to apologize and take it back, to do something different. But, Camila's made plans, and she wants to sign on the dotted line. She likes the possibility, the opportunity, and the closest thing to reassurance that she won't go back to being the weird, sad, invisible Camila. She wants this for herself, and she has worked so hard. She thinks it's unfair of Normani and the girls to expect her not to take it.

Camila goes solo.

-

Camila turns 27 at some club in Vegas. She throws back a shot of something green that burns her tongue and down the back of her throat. Her fingers immediately itch for the lemonade she’s using as a chaser, but it turns out to be a disgusting combination, and she sticks her tongue out, sputtering.

“Ew,” she says to nobody in particular.

This is technically her party. She knows about a quarter of the people milling around, sipping cocktails, and grinding on the dance floor. The other guests are here because they’re part of her management team or label, or simply because their presence will result in headlines. They tried to get Taylor Swift, but she’s busy working on new music, or so they say.