Surviving Through Hell || Camren Fanfic

Chapter 12: Normalcy?

"Make yourselves at home." Arin's older brother said. "Again, sorry for the scare. I just wanted to get you guys in safely."

"Why didn't you just ask us or tell us?" Arin said, still confused as to why it was necessary to do that. His brother smiled and leaned back on his chair. "Let's just say, this place has a reputation to live up to." there was a certain tone to his voice, but only Lauren picked on it. "But anyway. Mitch will escort you to your house. See you later little brother." he moved on to turn his attention to the piles and piles of papers on his desk. Shortly after they exited the main house, they were greeted by a jolly little lady. Little because she's short. She's like the same height as Ally.

"The name's Mitch and I'll be escorting you to the house you're gonna be staying in." She greeted happily. They headed to their right and walked down another row of houses. People were inhabitting some of the houses. Shawn saw a girl hanging their underwear on the yard and he immediately looked away. This didn't go unnoticed by Maggie and she giggled at his reaction. Lauren pulled Camila closer and sneakily intertwined their fingers. The girl looks up and sees that smile she loves.

While Mitch was telling everyone how nice the people are here, Dinah seems to zone out. Normani takes notice of this. "Hey D." No response. She had to slap her on the cheeks to get her attention. Dinah whined at the pain she felt and looked at Normani incredulously. "What the hell Mani?!" the dark-skinned beauty just shrugged. They're lagging behind the group now, but they didn't seem to notice.

"What are you thinking about?" Normani asks. Dinah scoffed. "Me? Thinking? Those words clearly don't belong together." she joked around, but Normani just gave her the 'seriously?' look. "Fine. Just.. not right now." Normani decides that would be good enough for now. They jogged to catch up with the group who reached their destination already.

It was a nice average-sized town house. It seems to be really clean and maintained for being in a zombie apocalypse. They stepped into the house and plopped on the couches. Mitch was about to bid them goodbye when she forgot one thing.

"By the way, your RV is in the garage. Enjoy your stay!" she waved and closed the door, leaving everyone to their thoughts.

"What the hell just happened?" Camila asked, more to herself. "I don't know too babe. But this place is amazing. It's like there's no apocalypse whatsoever." Lauren gushed out as she intertwined her hands with Camila's. "We could actually live here."

"Yeah.. well let's not get our hopes up too much." Dinah mumbled from her seat. Arin squinted his eyes at him but kept his mouth shut. Everyone's tired and probably better if they'll retire to bed.

"You guys better rest up. We've had a long day." Arin commanded as he stood up and went to the front door. "Where are you going?" Normani asked as he opened the front door. "I'm gonna check the place out." He closed the door behind him.

"I get dibs on Lauren!" Camila said as she koala-hugged Lauren, slightly making the green eyed beauty out of balance. Dinah rolled her eyes at them while Ally giggled. "You two dorks better not do it. That's gross." Dinah said as she made a face of disgust. Normani eyed her carefully. She seems to be back to her normal self but Normani can see it in her eyes that she's still not okay about something.

"Well I have to *grunt* get this koala to bed." Lauren said as Camila yawned on her chest. She kissed her adorably on the forehead. She then disappeared up the stairs. The girls gasped when they heard a thud and a groan upstairs. "We're fine!" they heard Lauren scream from upstair. "Wow Camz, you're heavy."

"They're such a cute couple!" Ally squealed as she gushed over the unofficial couple. Dinah stood up and went down a hallway. "I'm going to see if they have anything in the fridge. You guys coming?" Normani and Ally complied.

Arin settled to looking around the neighborhood and asking some folks some questions. He saw a couple a few blocks down. The guy was checking the car engine while the lady was hanging their freshly washed clothes. Arin approached the couple and greeted them with a wave and smile.

"Hey, how you guys doing?" Arin greeted the girl. "Oh we're fine! The name's Natalie, nice to meet you." They were about to shake hands when the guy from earlier protectively hugged her. "Hey buddy. You better not be hitting on my wife here." He squinted his eyes on him. "Honey stop. He's just the new guy a couple blocks down. He came to ask us how we're doing."

"Oh! You guys are married, that's good for you." Arin complimented. "The name is Arin. I came here with my friends." Natalie's eyes lit up. "Oooh you should've brought them! We're having dinner in a few. My daughter's cooking is amazing!" Natalie said as she invited Arin inside. The house was warm and inviting. At the living room, he saw a boy, about 13 years old, sitting on the couch writing something on a notebook. "That's Jonathan, he's 13. Jon say hi to our guest!" The boy jumped from his seat and immediately stood up. "Hi." he greeted shyly. Arin reached out and patted his head. "Nice to meet ya kiddo."

The dinner was amazing, to say the least. As Natalie was cleaning up the table, Arin bid them goodbye. He had to go back to his friends now. He wondered what they had for dinner. I'm sure Ally cooked them something. He was about to leave when he felt someone hold their wrist. He turned around and saw Val with a plastic bag with something inside. "Give this to your friends. I'm sure their hungry." She said shyly. Arin took it and their hands brushed slightly. He gave her a smile. "Thanks! I'm sure they'll love your cooking." She looked up, flustered. "T-Thanks." He went out the door and bid her farewell and walked a few blocks to their house.

He opened the door and went to the kitchen. Everyone was preparing to have dinner. "Here, I have something for you guys. It's from a friend." Everyone, including Ally, marvelled at how amazing the dish is. Arin just laughed at his friends who were practically drowning themselves in food as he went upstairs and searched for a spare room to stay in.