Reversal (Camren/Norminah)

Chapter 36: Where There is Thunder

XXXVI.

Trigger Warning - Implication of self harm

Jealousy really sucked.

"Camila!" Lauren rushed forward and took my arm in her hand, gripping it tight. " I asked you if you wanted me to stay with you, and you told me to go!"

"I told you to go because I didn't want to be the thing that stood in between you and your friend!" I protested, my frustration building with the lightning that was dangerously close to hitting both of us. "I didn't want you to stay that night because I wanted you to, I wanted you to stay because you wanted to!"

"Okay." Lauren took a deep breath. "Stop, that's enough."

"If you're going to tell me more of what you've already tried, then I don't want to hear it." I let the cluster of light grow larger, the sound of the electricity crackling through the air like a hoard of angry birds. "I'm not staying here if all you're going to do is ignore me!"

"Stop." Lauren cupped her hand underneath mine and dug her nails hard against my skin. The lightning began to recede, capping off and causing the room to fall once more into a low lit darkness. "You've said enough, it's my turn to talk."

"Talk." I nodded, taking my hand away from hers and rubbing at my eyes.

Stopping her movements when she was only inches away, Lauren's hands landed on my hips, gripping me tight and pulling me into her body. I had no chance to wrench away, for her movements were so fast and steady that the next thing I felt was her mouth was on mine. With a sharp inhale, I snapped my eyes closed and shivered when her tongue permitted entry on its own.

After a long moment of the girl exploring past my lips, she pulled away, eyes glazed over with emotion.

"Camila... if I've done anything to make you feel jealous, then I've failed miserably at the one job I've given myself." Lauren spoke, brushing her lips to mine multiple times as she did so. Running her hands from my hips up the sides of my body, I closed my eyes, letting her ghost the areas of my face that were still wet with tears.

"So... Normani is..."

"My friend, nothing more." Lauren trailing her hands down my arms and gripping my wrists. The moment she made contact with the markings, they began to heat up with familiarity. "You're the only woman I'm ever going to see Camila, no matter how many cross my path. I've committed everything I've got to you. Only you."

"So why have you spent the last two nights with her?"

"I got caught up." Lauren pressed her forehead to mine, locking our lips again and letting the kiss unfold. "Camila, you have to understand that I've been alone for so many years now, and all of a sudden I have friends again. I have Normani, I have the others back in Miami... and I have you. It's hard for me to process all this at once, it's a lot to handle."

I bit my lip, already missing the feeling of her mouth on mine.

"I'm sorry." I murmured. "I might have overreacted... I just, I've been in a lot of pain recently, and ever since I met you, you were the thing that made all that go away."

"You didn't overreact." Lauren kissed me again, and I actively craned my neck with the hopes of keeping her mouth pressed to my own for as long as possible. "Camila, if what you need is for me to be by your side every second of the day then that's what you'll get."

I furrowed my brow. "But I don't want to keep you from seeing your friends." I protested softly. "You never stopped me from seeing Shawn and Dinah back when we were in Miami."