Damaged (Camila Cabello)

Chapter 2: Darkened Dreams

It was the next morning and Camila began to stir under the covers as the morning sun shone in through the blinds. Lauren looked at the sleeping girl beside her, concerned by her sudden jerking movements. 

Reaching over and smoothing Camila's  hair out of her face, she sang sweetly to the smaller girl, who she thought might be having a nightmare, "Caaamz, Camz, love, wake up." Only a moment later did the dreaming girl bolt up in the bed and scream before she curled into a little ball and started sobbing. Lauren hated Camila's ex for causing her to go through this almost every time she tried to sleep. 

Pushing her thoughts of frustration with Shawn to the side, Lauren scooted closer to the distraught and crying girl and wrapped her arms around her, rocking her gently. "Hey... what did you dream about, hun?" Camila shook her head, memories cycling in her mind at warp speed, but at the same time feeling like they were going in slow motion and it was taking forever to end. The small girl let out a desperate cry for it to stop as she clutched her hands over her eyes and started to hyperventilate. While Lauren tried to comfort her, Camila broke free of her gentle hold and soon began desperately rummaging through her nightstand drawers for a bar or two. 

"Hey hey hey, slow down. What are you looking for?" Lauren asked positioning herself next to the panicked girl. When Camila stood up with two rectangular bars in her hand and started crushing them up on the table, Lauren wrapped her arms around her securely and pulled her away. 

"You don't need to do this to yourself, Camz," she begged with her upset friend. Lauren bent down a little bit, blowing the powder off of the nightstand table because Camila was still trying to get to it. "Camz, sweetheart, no," Lauren told her sweetly, but sternly. The smaller of the two soon game up, collapsing to the floor in hysterics. Lauren let out a sympathetic sigh for her friend and scooped her up in her arms, carrying her out of the room and downstairs to the living room. She sat down on the couch with Camila in her lap and held her close to her. 

"Shhh, breathe with me," she told her panicked friend. Camila had given up. She clung onto Lauren as if her life depended on it as she let sobs shake her body and upset her breathing. "Shhh," Lauren continued, smoothing Camila's hair and rocking her gently. It took a few minutes, but it started to seem like it was helping. When Camila had stopped hyperventilating and was just hiccuping through her cries, Lauren began to softly sing Lana Del Ray to her. This helped Camila calm down the rest of the way and relax into Lauren's embrace. 

"See, Camz; you can do it," Lauren said with a sweet smile, wiping away Camila's tear tracks from her cheeks. Camila returned a small smile before resting her head back on her best friend's shoulder, sighing. 

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Lauren asked. Camila hesitated, but she nodded, allowing her friend to be there for her. "Okay..." Lauren started as she traced her fingers along Camila's back to comfort her while they talked about the difficult subject matter. 

"What was your dream about?" "It was um... it was about t the last time he he hurt me and touched m me," Camila then broke down crying again. She was calmer this time, but Lauren could tell this was really hard for her. "Hey... he got what he deserved, yeah? He's in there for life. He can never hurt you ever again, okay?" Camila sniffled before nodding, "I I know... but the memories... I'll never be the same." 

"You're right, you won't, but one day you'll be stronger for having gone through that. Believe me, when I say this, you are stronger than your trauma."

A/N I don't know who all needed to hear that last bit, but I put that in there for those of you battling your own wars. <3