Talk Me Down (Camren)

Chapter Thirteen

Trigger warning for body dysmorphia.

- 

"I really love the beach." Lauren tells her as she collapses onto the towel she's laid out. She pats the spot next to her. "Come and cuddle me. Maybe I'll love the beach even more after that."

Not able to deny her anything, Camila lays down next to Lauren and rests her head on the other girl's chest. "Cuddling you always makes me happy."

Lauren laughs. "What can I say? I'm a pro cuddler. Nala has given me a lot of practice."

Camila frowns in confusion. Nala? Who the hell was that? "Um... who's Nala? Is she- um, is she like, an ex or something?"

Lauren is silent for a moment as the words hit her, and then she bursts out laughing. She's laughing so hard that most of the people walking past them are sending her funny looks. "Oh my god, Camz, no- I can't believe you fucking thought- oh my god."

"What?" Camila asks her, genuinely confused and kind of worried about the older Latina, because it's really not normal to laugh as much as she is without an obvious reason. "I don't get what's so funny."

"Camz, Nala isn't a person," Lauren manages to get out between giggles. "She's my teddy. My stuffed lion. As in, Nala from the Lion King."

"Oh." Camila's eyes widen and she lets out an awkward laugh. "Right. Sorry for being momentarily jealous of your stuffed animal, then."

Lauren keeps laughing. "Your face, oh my god, Camz-"

"Okay, that's enough," Camila gives Lauren a playful shove and rolls her eyes. "It's not like you look like the type to still have a stuffed animal, okay?"

Lauren raises her eyebrows. "Since when do only certain types of people have stuffed animals and why am I not in that category?"

"Well, I don't know, you just have this sort of vibe." Camila tries to explain. "It's like, you have this intimidating aura. Plus, the piercings and tattoos only add to that. Even back in middle school you just seemed so... adult. I don't know."

Lauren snorts. "Hardly. I'd never give up Nala. She's my cuddle buddy."

Camila just smiles. "You're such a puppy, Lo. How was I ever intimidated by you?"

"Because of my aura." Lauren quotes her and leans in to kiss Camila's temple. "Clearly you're really great at reading those."

"Obviously." Camila smiles and weaves her fingers through Lauren's, deciding that it's time for her to voice her thoughts. She'd spoken to Dinah a few times about what she's planning on saying, and she's pretty sure that it's a fourth date confession, but she still doesn't know for sure, because she's never done this kind of thing before. But whatever. She's going for it. "Lauren? Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything." Lauren's thumb starts tracing patterns over Camila's knuckles. "What's up, Camz?"

"Well, um- what exactly are we?" Camila asks. "That sounds kind of dumb, but we haven't really addressed what you'd call our relationship. Obviously we're not friends, because friends don't go out on dates and have really awesome make out sessions, but I don't know if we're... if you're my... if we're anything other than that. If you get me."

Lauren blinks, taking all of the information in. "Are you asking me if I'm your girlfriend?"

"That's, um..." Camila bites down on her lip and nods, preparing herself for the disappointment. She gets ready for Lauren to laugh in her face, for the other girl to roll her eyes and tell her that they'd just been messing around this whole time, that all she wants is a friends with benefits kind of thing.