Ink ➳ Camren

Chapter Twenty One

All rights go to original author.

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"Jesus Christ!" Camila ducked under an awning to get out of the rain, which had decided to make an appearance as she turned the corner onto Lauren's street. Of course! It's been lovely all fucking week, but it just has to pour down rain tonight! She shook off the droplets of water that had managed to stick to her beige jacket and checked her reflection in the store's window. She had left her hair in a loose braid that was hung over her shoulder with a small bow to tie it together so there was no harm done, thankfully.

Camila turned to look out onto the street; no one seemed to care that it had started raining, but then again, no one had a date with Lauren Jauregui that night either...besides her. Camila glanced at her phone; she was fifteen minutes early. Lauren's flat was only a few more buildings over, but as luck would have it, none of those buildings in between had awnings, so she decided to stay put.

Camila leaned against the storefront and lit a cigarette; her lips turned up into a ghost of a smile as she exhaled and imagined Lauren getting ready for their date. She wondered what the raven haired girl would be wearing and if it was going to be anything like the dress she had on for Jauregui Family Dinner. Camila thought that Lauren would look good in anything, really. The image of a shirtless Lauren entered her mind suddenly as a full-on smile lit up her face. ...or nothing at all.

The sky opened up fully then and the noise of passing cars was drowned out by the sound of rain hitting the canvas above her head. She shook the thoughts of Lauren away quickly before the next one could appear, the one that always followed and made her stomach tense. The one that she saw every time she thought back to that night in Lauren's bedroom when their kissing had turned into something much more serious, something Camila wasn't yet ready to experience.

Camila took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Don't start. You'll be fine. Lauren said yes to this date. She wants to spend time with you. Stop worrying about it. Camila's pep talks to herself were rarely this reassuring, but tonight was special and she wasn't going to let anything stand in her way, not even the fucking rain.

Camila knew that it was still a bit early, but she needed to keep moving. She took a final drag off her cigarette and flicked it into the gutter, popped a mint into her mouth, and took off her jacket. You should have thought to bring an umbrella. Camila rolled her eyes and told her internal monologue to pipe down as she held her coat over her head and made a dash for Lauren's front door.

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Lauren carefully put the needle on the record that she had selected for Camila's arrival. She couldn't really believe that she had even thought about what music should be playing when her date came to pick her up, but then again, Camila Cabello had never picked her up for a date before either.

As Dreaming with a Broken Heart began playing through Lauren's Hi-Fi, she heard a knock on the door. She practically skipped over to it and opened it with a giant smile on her face. "Hi!"

Camila was smiling back at her, jacket slung over her arm. "Bonsoir."

Lauren stepped to the side to let Camila in; Camila glanced around the room to make sure that they were the only ones present and then turned to watch Lauren as she closed the door behind her. They stood there for what seemed like just a bit too long, staring at each other with silly grins on their faces.

Camila spoke first. "You look really good." She then tried to say something a bit more polite and first date-like. "I mean, you look very nice." Both statements were true, but as Camila let her eyes trail up and down Lauren's body once more, she let Harry's influence take over for a second and the words fucking hot came to mind. The dress Lauren wore was emerald green with sequins and it looked like it was made of silk or satin or something like that, Camila wasn't sure, but it looked like it would feel amazing against her skin.