Love And War (camren)

Part 4

The sun was beginning to shine over Rome, bringing with it gradients of yellows and oranges. Camila's eyes fluttered open, heavy with memories of Lauren. She felt a warm hand on her waist, and brought it up to her face for a tender kiss. She turned around, facing the chaotic Goddess, that looked like a beautiful mess even in her sleep. Hair disheveled and forming a curtain over her face, eyes softly closed, with her eyelashes dark and long. Lips plump and alluring, and skin that is softer than anything Camila has ever touched. Camila smiled at the sight, hovering her hand over her eyebrows, to softly trace the freckles there. Goddess Astrea surely sprinkled a few of the stars of her own over Lauren's delicate features.

Camila didn't realize how long she sat there admiring Lauren, but the sun was fully hanging in the sky, and Lauren was beginning to stir awake. She refused to open her eyes. She just smiled dopely at Camila's touches. "You know, I wouldn't mind waking up to this every day. If only," Lauren spoke softly, voice a little raspy, overcome with sleep. Camila smiled sadly. She knew they couldn't stay like forever. They were Gods, and outside of this house was a life that was calling both of them, but to different sides of the universe where they could not possibly be together. Camila's silence prompted Lauren to open her eyes, looking for some kind of reaction from Camila. Lauren noticed the gloom face that the tan Goddess was trying to hide, and she was reminded of how pure she was. She could never lie, her face always betrayed her, telling Lauren exactly how she was feeling. Lauren inched closer and locked their lips in a sweet kiss. They both had nothing to say. Both trying to kiss away memories of a life outside this room.

After hours of lazy kisses and sweet touches, Camila noticed the lonely guitar on the floor. "Do you play?" Camila spoke, hands ushering to the guitar. Lauren sat up on the bed and smiled lazily, "Sometimes I wear a disguise and play in lonely bars for lonely people. Not that anyone would notice me when they are drunk and sad. But I did that to be safe. It's nice. To feel normal, it's really nice. When strangers look at you, their eyes would be studying you, trying to figure you out. I prefer that look over the one of fear, or of arousal from the occasional sadist" Lauren chuckled and took a moment before she continued, "Wanna hear a little something?" She eyed Camila with eyebrows flailing playfully. Camila nodded excitedly and supported her off the bed, prompting a laugh from Lauren. She grabbed the guitar and repositioned herself on the bed, facing Camila. Camila could see that Lauren was feeling insecure. She toyed with the strings and tried to tune her guitar with a slight blush on her face. "This is the first time I play for only one person, so try not to make too much fun of me." Lauren said playfully, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks. Camila giggled to how adorable Lauren was being, "Darling it's impossible to make fun of you when you look as cute as you do with that guitar". A small giggle fit from both Lauren and Camila echoed through the draped room, until Lauren started plucking her guitar, and singing softly.

You could be my silver springs

Blue green colors flashin'

I would be your only dream

Your shining autumn, ocean crashing

And did you say she was pretty

And did you say that she loves you

Baby, I don't wanna know

Camila was entranced with the raspness of Lauren's voice, and how her eyebrows furrowed and eyes closed occasionally. She was a Goddess, in all sense of the word.

Time casts a spell on you, but you won't forget me

I know I could have loved you, but you would not let me

I'll follow you down til' the sound of my voice will haunt you

You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you

Lauren ended the song with more beautiful strumming of her guitar, then looked at the sheets of the bed with a smile she was trying to hide, avoiding Camila's chocolate eyes. "This song never made sense until I met you, Camila." This, this was a first to Camila. She couldn't formulate words. Too many thoughts and feelings were flowing through her and she could not communicate it with the woman sitting across from her. She wanted to tell her how beautiful the song was, how beautifully she plays, how beautiful she is. She wanted to tell her that her heart was in her rough hands and she did not care what she did with it as long as she knew she had it. She wanted to feed her poetry and kisses in equal amounts to remind her of her beauty with every word, every kiss. She wanted to gift her the stars and the planets and everything in between. But she couldn't speak. So Camila crawled to her and gave her a kiss that could communicate all of that better than any combination of words ever could. She held her face in her hands desperately, and poured her heart out through her lips. And it still wasn't enough for Camila. She wanted to give her more. So, Camila stood on her knees, and took off her robe for Lauren to see. And she gave Lauren everything.

It was past midnight, Lauren was cuddled up to Camila, legs tangled and hands brushing. There was a comfortable silence, and both of them were getting sleepy. "Tell me a story" said Lauren to Camila, while tracing circles on her abdomen. Camila remembered the collection of books Lauren has, and started to think of stories she might like. "Hmm, well there is this story I heard when I was in the Middle East. It starts with a king, like most stories. This king, Shahryar, discovers his wife had been cheating on him, and has her executed. Drowning in sorrow and grief, he chooses to believe that all women are the same. So he starts this ritual of sleeping with women then killing them off the very next day, not giving them enough time to betray him. Then, he meets Scheherazade, who was a very clever, beautiful woman. On the night that they were supposed to sleep together, she starts telling him a story, knowing how much the king loved stories. But Scheherazade does not end her story that night. So the king keeps her alive, wanting to know how the story unravels. The next night, Scheherazade finishes the story, but starts a new story for the king. This goes on for a thousand and one nights. Scheherazade had told him infinite stories about historical tales, love stories, tragedies, comedies, poems, burlesques... anything she could think of. She hadn't noticed it at the time, but she had earned the king's love and affection. The king had loved her so much that when Scheherazade ran out of stories, the king could not kill her. She had mended his broken heart with tales of distant places, with creations of her own mind. He couldn't kill her. He could only love her."

There was a pause after Camila finished her story, both Goddesses lost in their own thoughts. Lauren looked up to meet Camila's eyes, "Can you tell me stories every night? We could never leave this room. We could live here forever. We could be boring mortals together." Lauren said with a playful smirk, but her eyes had hope, like she was wishing they actually could. Camila smiled widely, her mind thinking of the possibilities, "We could have a library of stories. We could live together, right here in this mansion. We can paint the walls of this house whatever color we want. We can shop for furniture together, and fight over the bathroom tiles, and the kitchen sink, then make up on the bathroom tiles, and kitchen sink," Lauren laughed at Camila's bold words and Camila's heart fluttered at the sound of her laughter. "I could bring you breakfast in bed and spoil you. We can have kids, which I'm sure you would spoil". The chaotic Goddess laughed and gave her a look as to say 'not true', but she knew she would.

They held each other for the remainder of the night, both not willing to go to sleep, knowing what was to come when the sun rose again. Lauren had fallen asleep, and Camila was still fighting the drowsiness, arms around Lauren, kissing her uncovered back softly. She began to slowly close her eyes, burying her face in the nook of Lauren's neck, only to softly whisper, partially to herself, partially to Lauren, mainly to the Gods, "If only."

A/N: yooo how are you liking this story? the song was Silver Springs by Fleetwood Mac which you should all listen to because it's amazing. btw the next chapter might be the final one so enjoy the cuteness while it lasts :)