Shipping Camren From The Grave (G!P)

What?!

Lauren woke up to Emily bouncing on top of her. Her eyes shot open and saw beautiful brown eyes that reminded her so much of her old friend she could have cried. But she didn't want to scare the child, so she put on a genuine smile and said, "Good morning Emily."

"Hey! It's breakfast time!" exclaimed Emily.

Lauren chuckled at the little girls genuine excitement for food. It reminded her of when Dinah and Camila would eat, wile they were on tour.

"So it is. What do you want this morning?" Lauren  asked smiling. It had been a long time since she cooked for more than her self. Sam rarely would come over for dinner, but she had never stayed the night. Their friendship didn't work that way. They had boundaries.

"Pancakes!" Emily said squealing with excitement.

Lauren nodded sagely and said, "Good choice."

"I know, I'm flawless." Emily said flipping her hair as she giggled.

Laurens heart clutched at the memory of Dinah doing that same thing, it had never failed to make her laugh.

"Yes you are. Come on, you can help me. When we're done you can wake up Camila." Lauren said thickly, willing her tears not to fall.

Emily scrambled off the bed, and dashed out of the room with an emotional Lauren trailing behind her. They spent a half hour laughing as they made pancakes and set the table. Just when Lauren was going to ask Emily to wake Camila up, she entered the Kitchen.

"Aw you guys made pancakes without me." whined Camila pouting.

Lauren was at a loss at what to say, she was in a daze stuck in the past at the familiar scene in front of her. Fortunately Emily was quick enough in distracting Camila, allowing Lauren to collect herself, but it didn't go unnoticed by the Cuban.

"Sorry Mila you were sleeping, but we were gonna wake you up when we were done." Emily stated quickly sitting in a chair she deemed hers next to Lauren.

"Well as long as you made me some I guess I can forgive you." Camila said playfully.

Breakfast was lively between Camila and Emily, while Lauren struggled to stay in the conversation. Her past and present was mixing more than ever, and she was having a hard time separating the two time periods. When they finished, they told Emily to play in her room while they cleaned up.

Lauren was quietly scrubbing and rinsing their plates to load in the dishwasher, when she tensed at Camila's close proximity to her. She knew they were going to have to talk, and if she was being honest she was dreading it.

"Lo can we talk? Please?" asked Camila softly.

Lauren stopped and slowly nodded. She rinsed her hands and went to sit at the table, Camila followed her taking the seat next to her.

"I missed you. So did the other girls, we thought you didn't want anything to do with us. But looking at this town, and what you've accomplished has proven other wise. We're sorry we lost faith in you Lo, please believe we never wanted to lose you." Camila whispered as tears pooled her eyes.

Lauren was quiet. She wasn't sure what to say, so she chose her words carefully. "I'm not angry with you guys, if that's what you think. I don't feel anything, I haven't for years. Don't punish yourself for things you wouldn't have been able to change. Things happen the way they were supposed to. It was a hard lesson to learn, but I eventually did. I didn't make an effort for a reason. For the first few months I took comfort in watching you all without you knowing. At first I just went away, but a few weeks later I missed you all so much. So I went and visited each of you. I was going to approach you, when someone made me realize I had nothing to offer any of you. No laughs, not stories of family, nothing. I had stopped feeling when they all died, and I wasn't going to force myself on anyone. Depression hurts the ones around you, not just yourself. I knew you all would be angry at first, but I knew you would eventually move on. Every one has to, and what I did was best for everyone." Lauren said sadly looking down at her hands.