when the stars align (camren)

Part 3 - MOONLIGHT

Camila and Lauren soon developed a routine. The hardest part was keeping their secret from everyone else.

They acted the same on screen and in front of everyone, but behind closed doors at night, they were themselves. It wasn't perfect, but to both of them, it was as good as they were gonna get. The girl who was like the sun kissed the girl who was like the moon. Lauren had loved before, but to Camila, Lauren was her first everything.

Things became complicated when they started touring.

Their manager approached Camila and told her to keep Austin company. It was all for PR and Camila knew it was part of their job. Austin was an up and coming artist like them and seeing Camila with him would be good publicity for both of them. It was a simple request, but when the person she wanted to be with wore cross necklaces and leather jackets, instead of snapbacks and gold chains, it became harder to bear.

Lauren told Camila it was fine. It was after all, all part of the business.

Austin was nice. In fact, he was starting to get real close that Camila knew something was up,

Lauren started becoming distant when she saw how close Austin was to Camila. They both knew it was just set up but it was obvious the boy was feeling something more.

Camila still met with Lauren every night, sometimes just in their bunk on the tour bus. Their moments alone together weren't the same pure innocence, but rather became something of necessity because of the new factor in their relationship, Austin. Camila knew though that Lauren was more affected than she let on.

It hurt Camila that one day she heard from Dinah that Lauren was seeing Brad. She didn't know what hurt more: the fact that Lauren was showing interest in someone else publicly or that she didn't find out from Lauren herself.

The worst part was that Camila was both jealous and frustrated at their situation, but what else was there to do? Nobody knew of their secret relationship, and nobody would. It would stay that way since none of them were ready. They only had the nights for themselves.

"Your best friend's just probably jealous that you got Austin and she's single, so she got herself a plus one too." Dinah said after noticing Camila's shocked expression.

Dinah didn't know the truth yet, but there was truth in what she said.

Ever since Brad became another factor, Camila stopped seeing each her at night. She barely even talked to her outside of their group duties. She spent more time with Austin so it wasn't to her surprise when one day in a room backstage with just the two of them, that Austin pushed her against the wall and kissed her.

It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the kiss, she did in part; she longed a sense of intimacy. It was just that as the brown haired boy kissed her, sucking out all the breath from her mouth, she imagined Lauren doing the same but more passionate, than rough. As his hands touched her sides, gripping her, she imagined Lauren touching her gently as if in fear she would crack under her delicate hands. As his body pressed against hers, almost crushing her, she imagined how she felt like she was floating when it was with Lauren.

When Camila pushed off Austin, she wasn't mad. "I'm sorry,"

He didn't take it the wrong way. They hung out some more but all that came in her mind was: You're not Lauren. You're not Lauren. You're not Lauren.

/

One night, Camila was in her bunk and was scrolling through Tumblr when everyone else was asleep when she saw a notification that said Lauren liked her post. She was awake too.