From Outer Space

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Camila nods at her screen, muttering a goodbye to Rory before breaking the connection and turning the communication system off. She takes a deep breath and turns herself around to look at the corner of the space station.

There is a chair next to the main oxygen system that's mostly used to be able to work on the system without floating around, but now it's occupied by her ex-girlfriend. She has fastened the belt around her legs so she can sit in the chair and is reading a book.

Camila scans her face and looks at her tired features. Lauren had cried in her arms for a long time, and at one point Camila wasn't even sure if she would ever stop. It seemed like everything she felt just came out at once, hitting the poor woman with full force, without mercy.

She isn't sure what Lauren was crying about exactly, but she can imagine it probably had a lot to do with leaving Kyano behind. She hasn't asked her about it yet though, because it didn't seem like it was a good time. Lauren was exhausted when she calmed down and Camila didn't want her emotions to flare back up again by making her talk about her feelings.

So she kept quiet, only offering Lauren tight and supportive hugs, consoling words and sweet and understanding smiles. She knows her ex well enough to know that Lauren will tell her sooner or later, but right now, she just wants to give her some time to get herself together again, and get accustomed to her surroundings.

''Laur?'' she asks softly after a few moments of silently looking at her ex. She knows Lauren is just trying to keep herself busy, and she's pretty sure that she's just staring at her book, lost in her thoughts instead of actually reading.

''Yeah?'' Lauren asks back, her eyes snapping up to Camila's when she pulled her out of her thoughts.

''They landed.'' Camila shares with her, and a deep sigh and a tired smile is Lauren's reaction.

''Alright.'' She nods. ''How are they?'' she asks, and watches Camila pull herself towards her, which makes her nervous for two very different reasons. She still doesn't know whether she wants her ex close to her, or far away from her.

''The landing went well. They're going to pick them up now and then take Brody to the hospital.'' Camila informs her, grabbing the handle close to Lauren on the ground, and hooking her foot under it to keep herself in that place while she tries to kneel in front of the green-eyed woman.

Lauren just gulps and looks down at Camila's hand that softly lands on her knee.

''It's gonna take a while before we will get news about Brody. Maybe you should try to get some sleep.'' Camila says softly, gently letting her thumb rub over her ex's knee. Lauren had wanted to stay awake until she knew Jesse and Brody had landed safely, but since her crying session the girl had been exhausted.

Lauren looks down, her eyes burning into Camila's hand that feels so soothing and so frightening at the same time. She gulps again and slowly lifts her gaze to meet Camila's.

''Can I...'' she mutters, toying with whether or not she should ask her question, hoping that Camila won't laugh at her request. ''Can I sleep in your bed?'' she asks carefully.

Camila's eyes grow wider at that question and for a split second she feels the urge to smirk playfully at her ex, but her serious expression makes her change her mind instantly.

''Why?'' she asks, trying to hide her excitement to show her genuine interest.

''Because I'm supposed to take Brody's bed, but.. there's a window right next to the pillow. And... I don't want to look outside.'' Lauren admits slowly, her cheeks warming up while her eyes fall down again until Camila squeezes her knee.