Lightning (Camren)

Chapter Forty-Nine

Camila's first performance was even better than Lauren had even imagined. She had decided to sing 'One Last Time' by Ariana Grande, putting boat loads of emotion into every word she sang. The performance was so pure, so genuine, that it left Lauren in tears by the time the song had come to an end. There was literally no reason Lauren could see that Camila could be voted off for.

"What did you think of it?" Camila asked when the show had finally concluded. The smaller girl looked nervous to hear what her fiance thought of how she presented herself during her first performance. "I think I did alright."

Lauren smiled. "You did great! I'm confident that you'll be voted into next week and all of the weeks to come."

Camila smiled back at her fiance, feeling very lucky to have someone like her in her own life. "I've been thinking about what we talked about prior to the show, Lauren."

Lauren froze up at the sound of those words. She didn't really want to discuss anything more about the subject as it was far too painful to think about at the moment. However, she wouldn't ignore Camila's request, since she loved her far too much to ignore anything that she had to say. 

"What about it?" Lauren questioned, terrified of the answer that she was about to receive.

"Well, I just want to know a few things." Camila began. "Why do you have your heart set on moving out here, Lauren? Is there something that appeals to you? You used to be the type of person that wished to stay in Miami at all costs, but now it is completely flipped. Like, you could find classes for what you want to do in our home city, right?"

"Actually, well... no." Lauren began to explain everything. "Since this operation is so new to medical sciences, you can only find the classes here in Los Angeles. That doctor that gave you the ability to see is actually an alumni of the school that I'll be attending. Not only that, the offer that I received only will pay for classes from this certain school. I tried to explain this earlier, but we ran low on time."

Camila was silent for a while. She appeared to be in deep thought, most likely thinking about the whole idea of moving out to Los Angeles. It didn't take long before the silence was finally broken. "There's more to it, isn't there?"

Lauren hadn't realized what Camila meant, but she started to think about the possibilities. "I made a promise, Camz."

"Promise?" Camila questioned, raising an eyebrow with interest. "What promise?"

"I made a promise to Annabelle." Lauren simply answered, then clarified what the promise had been. "I promised that I would always stay in her life, no matter what. I know that I can do that all the way from Miami, but it's just easier if I stay with her for a while. She thinks of me as a big sister, Camz. I would feel guilty leaving her, even if I were to call her every day from the opposite side of the country. I'll move back to Miami with you, if that's really what you want me to do. Because frankly, you are the most important person in my life, and you know that I'd do anything in the world just to make you happy and with me."

Camila glanced down at her feet, then fiddled with the wireless microphone that she still clutched in her right hand. "It all makes sense." She finally spoke. "All of the reasons you have for wanting to move out here are truly genuine. I never doubted that to begin with, but now I know for a fact that you seem to be tied down here. All of your hopes and dreams are here, Lauren. I can't rip that from you. But... I want you to know why I truly don't want to leave Miami behind."

Lauren frowned. She hadn't even bothered to ask Camila why she was so hung up on staying in her home city. Instead, she just assumed that her fiance was just trying to stay in the home that they had resided in before. Lauren never decided to think about whether or not Camila had actual reasons for not wanting to leave.

"It's for my sister, Sofia." Camila stated. "I don't want her to have to finish growing up without an older sister to guide her along the way. Sure, she has my mother and father, but I feel like she really needs me there with her. I grew up without an older sibling, and I was completely lost. I had to fend for myself in the messed up world that we live in, and it was hard to do it on my own. When Sofia was brought into this world, I swore to myself that I'd help her to become the best that she could be. I know this all may sound silly, but it's kind of something that I've kept to myself for a while. The only reason I promised myself this was because I thought that Sofia deserved the chance that I never got."

"That's not silly at all, Camz. But let me make a point out to you. I'm not saying what I'm about to say to change your mind, as I'm only saying it to give you a better perspective on the whole thought process." Lauren started. "Look at the two of us. You are a strong, beautiful woman who defeated the odds. You've stood up to your mother, graduated high school, and you have even earned a spot for yourself on 'The Voice'. But out of all of the things you've accomplished since you were first introduced to this world, I'd say that the most important thing of all was finding love. All of these things were done without the help of an older sibling. Also keep in mind, you will never be out of Sofia's life for real. It's not like you'll never see her again, or talk to her even. If she's anything like us, she'll become just as successful as we are."

Camila stared at Lauren with eyes full of thought. The pair of girls stood like this for a few moments, with only the sound of each other's breathing to keep the room from being entirely silent. It was almost as if something changed in each other. For the first time, the two girls seemed to think that they were standing before a stranger. They had always learned more about each other, but now they were finally finding out the type of person that they other girl was. 

"Lauren..." Camila finally spoke. "You're right. I've gone my whole life believing what I've told you, but now I'm starting to realize that it was just me. You made me understand that not having an older sibling around every day only made me stronger. To need to rely on someone every day makes you dependent. For me to actually help Sofia, I need to teach her how to be independent. And on that note, I think I've actually decided to move here with you."

"Really?" Lauren asked for confirmation from her fiance.

Camila nodded. "I think it's about time that I stopped looking at my past responsibilities, and start looking at my current ones. This show, Laurie, Cameron, and our marriage. These are the things that I need to focus on now. My mind has been so stuck thinking about the things that I was responsible for before I met you, but now I can finally understand what I'm supposed to be doing. My life has changed so dramatically and so quickly, that I hadn't been able to keep up with it all. I hope that you'll forgive me for trying to hold you back from moving out here. I've just been confused about all of the new responsibilities that I've gained."

"Of course I can. I'll admit, the changes that have happened recently are a lot to take in. It was difficult, no, terrifying to move all the way out here. But I knew that I had to come out here if I really wanted to fulfill my purpose in the world." Lauren stated. 

"Good." Camila simply said. "Now that we know what we're going to do, I think it's time for us to start discussing when this wedding is going to happen."