From Outer Space

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Italics are flashbacks/memories

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''Honey, I'm home!'' Lauren calls out when she finally closes the door behind her after a long day.

''Hey babe, I'm in the living room.'' Comes the response of her girlfriend. Lauren can't help but smile simply because of hearing her voice again. She quickly kicks off her shoes and hangs up her coat before walking through the hallway and into the living room. She smiles when she sees Camila laying on the couch with a book in her hands, her reading classes on her nose.

''Hey,'' Lauren greets her, walking up to her to place a sweet kiss on the brown-eyed girl's lips.

''Hi, how are you?'' Camila greets her back, putting her book down and sitting up on the couch to make space for her loved one. She pushes her glasses on top of her head and smiles warmly at her.

''I'm tired.'' Lauren breathes out, falling down on the couch and immediately feeling Camila's arm wrap around her shoulders. She feels her girlfriend press a kiss against her cheek and Lauren smiles at her because of the immediate relaxation and calmness she feels from being this close to her.

''Why? Long day?'' Camila asks her, keeping her interested eyes on her girlfriend.

Lauren nods. ''Yeah, Barry and I tried to fix the bug in the new system to be able to communicate again with Shuttle 433.'' She answers, and Camila nods.

''Oh yeah, the one on Jupiter right?'' she clarifies, and Lauren nods in confirmation.

''Did you guys fix it?'' she asks, letting her hand rub up and down Lauren's shoulder gently.

''No,'' Lauren groans, ''we worked all day, but we couldn't find anything. It really sucks to finally have a rocket on Jupiter, ready to send us more info about the planet, but not being able to receive that info because of a stupid bug. It's frustrating.'' She answers with a frown while playing with her grandma's ring on her thumb.

Camila smiles because of Lauren's passion for technology and information from outer space, and how much it gets to her that she can't fix a problem causing said information to be unavailable. She bites her lip and presses another kiss against Lauren's cheek before moving her free hand to her chin. She gently turns her girlfriend's head towards her to be able to look her in the eyes.

''Tomorrow is another day babe. I'm sure you'll fix it tomorrow, but for now... let it go, focus on something else.'' She whispers, watching Lauren's eyes flicker down to her lips and she responds to it by kissing her.

''What should I focus on?'' Lauren asks after pulling away from Camila's lips to be able to kiss her neck, letting her hand move to the astronaut's side to let her thumb rub small circles over her ribs.

''Depends..'' Camila trails off, letting her hand get lost in Lauren's hair. ''What do you want to focus on?'' she whispers, feeling Lauren suck on a sensitive spot on her neck softly and a shiver run down her spine in reaction to it.

''Hmm, I can think of something...'' Lauren mutters, leaning back to look into her girlfriend's eyes with a slight smirk.

''Me too... Like how you haven't had dinner yet, there's some cold turkey in the fridge I left for you.'' Camila answers seriously but with a playful glint in her eyes. Lauren chuckles and shakes her head with a smile.

''You know that's not what I meant right?'' she says, moving her hand up from Camila's side to caress her cheek.

''Oh I know what you meant, trust me. I just know that you can't take three round on an empty stomach.'' Camila answers, her eyes visibly darker than a couple of minutes ago. She grins at Lauren's appearing smile and leans in to kiss her again.

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''Alright and... 3, 2, 1.. all done!'' Roy calls out and presses a button to make the machine stop its movements. Camila sighs as the huge wheel finally comes to a stop and she shakes her head a little to clear her head from any dizziness.

''How are you feeling?'' Roy asks, a form in his hands, ready to write down every answer Camila will give him.

''Fine.'' She answers, unbuckling the belts around her waist and lower legs to stand up again. It takes her a few seconds to find her balance after being spun around in all directions for a few minutes, but she finds it eventually.

''What's your name?'' Roy asks, diving into his questions.

''Camila Cabello.''

''Age?''

''25''

''Job?''

''Astronaut for NASA and I will be send off to the International Space Station for an investigation to the atmosphere, to see how long we have left on earth until the sun will burn and destroy everything we know and love. Got any more questions for me, boss?'' She answers with an irritated expression, having already been asked these same questions over and over again after every test.

Roy sighs and looks at her with tired eyes before writing something down on his form and turning back to Camila.

''I know you don't like these tests, but they are necessary to determine whether or not you're able to go into space. I'm sorry but you have to do this Camila.'' He answers with a pointed look and she sighs.

''I know, sorry.'' She admits. ''So what's next then?'' she asks, trying to fake her enthusiasm for what feels like her 9999th training session.

''Gravity exercise.'' Roy answers, running a hand through his ruffled blonde curls before leading the way to another training machine.

''Great..'' Camila mutters to herself before walking after her boss for the next training.

''Okay, get ready, we're getting started in a few seconds.'' Roy says through the speaker after Camila walked in the simulator and he closed the door behind her.

''Roy, do you have any idea who my partner is going to be yet?'' Camila asks, feeling her body slowly lose its stability due to the growing lack of gravity. She crosses her arms to and looks through the window to see her boss pressing all kinds of buttons to get the test ready for her.

''Oh yeah! I've talked about it with Ryan and Marley, and we think we have a good partner for you.'' Roy answers her question, watching Camila now float through the cubicle in front of him.

''Finally! Who's it gonna be?'' she asks, her body making a turn so she's now upside down, but her curious eyes never leave his face.

''Well, he was actually our only choice, cause he's the only one that has completed the tests perfectly. Along with you of course.'' Roy answers, watching Camila move through the air effortlessly. She grabs the handles on the ceiling to push herself forward to the side of the cubicle to turn on the extra oxygen.

''You know Brody right?'' Roy asks, and Camila's head whips around quickly, her big eyes focusing back on her boss.

''Brody? Brody Cavaneigh?'' she answers, and Roy can hear the panic in her voice.

''Yeah! Why, what's wrong with him?'' he asks cluelessly and Camila face palms herself.

''That's Lauren's best friend! How could send me off to space with him! She's going to kill me! Or he is going to kill me since he knows what happened between us! Roy you've got to find me another partner!'' she half yells at her boss in panic.

If there is one person in this entire universe that she doesn't want to be sent off to space with even more so than Lauren, it's Brody. And now of all people he's going to be her partner.

''Well I'm sorry Camila, but there is nothing I can do about that. Brody is one of our best astronauts and the only one fit enough to go! What happened between you and Lauren and Brody outside of NASA isn't of much importance for me as your boss or your work here. So I suggest you'll figure this out with them, but not during work hours!'' Roy says back, looking at a grumpy Camila who has her arms crossed while hanging upside down again.

''Unbelievable..'' she mutters, an angry and mostly worried frown taking its place on her face.