The Stage Door (Camren/Norminah)

I Just Wanted To Tell You I Love You

Lauren POV

I felt Camila's arms around me and smiled into her embrace. Clara and Mike were here, I saw them only for a second and refused to look on their direction for the rest of the time the girls and I were on stage. I sang the best I could and even though we got a standing ovation for Who Are You, I knew I could have done better if I hadn't been internally collapsing. The smile on my face, my professional look of gratitude for the crowd fell as soon as I got back into the safety of the wings backstage and I knew the girls could tell something was wrong, that my mind was melting down but they didn't say anything, they just looked at me as of to tell me they were there and I was grateful no one pushed me to talk.

"Here," Camila said to me, handing me her iPod when we walked back into our dressing room. I loved that she knew I needed to shut down, she knew I needed to be distracted by something other than conversation, so I took the iPod and let the music from her headphones drown out the thoughts and the worries that were starting to overwhelm me. I got changed into different clothes, fixed my makeup and my hair while the girls whispered to one another and I continued to drown out their voices with one of Camila's many playlists. I thumbed through the different selections when she first handed it to me, my eyes falling to the playlist that was titled with my name and a heart, I clicked on it immediately, letting Camila's love take me over through songs that reminded her of me. I felt calmer by the third song. The five of us waited out the other performers and the breaks between them and when Dinah and Normani were called on I pulled out one ear bud and told them to go kill and they both looked at one another before running over to give me a hug I didn't realize I needed.

Once they were gone I closed my eyes and let myself drift back into Camila's playlist, only opening them when I felt a light tap on my shoulder. "Ready?" Ally asked and I just looked around to see that Normani and Dinah had returned and pulled the other ear bud from my ear and handed Camila back the iPod without saying a word. She got up slowly and when I turned to follow Ally to the stage she stopped me and kissed me and told me she loved me and the look in her eyes told me she didn't need me to say it back because she already knew.

"They're still here," I mumbled, somewhat surprised as I stood in the wings and peaked around the edge of the curtain and Ally looked at me cautiously. I was freaking out again and she knew it.

"You know who's also still here?" She asked me. "Me, I'm right here. Ignore everyone else and focus on me." I nodded my head and fought back my tears as Ally pulled me into a hug. "This is a good thing, them still being here," she whispered and I just nodded into her hair.

Our duet was a blur. People clapped and at one point I looked at Ally and when our eyes met I smiled because she was there, looking right back at me silently telling me I wasn't alone. The rest I don't remember.

"Hey," Camila said when I walked back into the room, my arm around Ally's shoulder. She had changed out of her ripped jeans and red sweater and put on a tan coloured sundress with flowered print and the red bow that had been in her hair was now replaced with a black one. She looked stunning, but then again she always did. I didn't say anything I just took a few running steps towards her and wrapped my arms around her and she stood there hugging me until I finally pulled back.

"I'm heading back to the dorm, my Mom and my sisters wanna see my room," Normani announced, picking up her bag. "Did you want me to bring your stuff to your room too?" She asked looking between Camila and I.

"If you wouldn't mind, yeah," Camila said as she pulled out her room key from her purse and handed it to Normani who was moving to collect our bags that I noticed Camila had repacked for us while I was on stage. "Text us later? My parents want to know if your parents want to go for breakfast in the morning before they all head home," Camila told the girls who all looked excited for the meeting of our creators.