Godparents (Camren)

5.

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C

It was much harder than we thought.

Skylar woke up not long after Lauren and I had entered her apartment. She ran from her bedroom and into the kitchen yelling something about how hungry she was when she saw me. She eyed me with suspicion and caution but wasted no time in interrogating me.

"Who are you?" She had demanded, pointing up at me, "Why are you here? Where did you come from? Did you know my parents?"

Lauren intervened before I could reply. She explained to Skylar that I would be picking her up from school because she worked late during the week. Skylar had eyed me some more but eventually decided to let it go in search of some food.

Now, she is sitting cross legged on the floor in front of Lauren's TV, a grilled cheese in her hand, and watching some sort of weird cartoon. If I'm being honest, I wish that Lauren would make me a grilled cheese too.

Lauren is currently washing some dishes in the sink, humming a song I vaguely recognize as Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. I watch her for a minute or two as her hips sway gently to the soft music in her head. I find myself mesmerized by the fluidity of her movements, my eyes following the motions of her body. She is an understated kind of beautiful. The kind that deserves to make an unbelievably big deal about itself, but is far too modest to do so.

Realizing that I'm being a creep, I hop up from my seat at the bar and grab the small towel that was resting on a shelf above the sink, holding out my hand so that Lauren can hand me the dish she just finished cleaning off.

"So you like Fleetwood Mac?" I try to start a conversation, wanting to hear her smooth, raspy voice.

She sends me a smile as she hands me the plate so I can dry it, "Yeah, they're my favorite band. I'm surprised you've heard of them, not many people have."

I return her smile with ease, "They're amazing, my friend showed me some of their music last year and I've been hooked ever since."

We take our time finishing the dishes, an easy conversation flowing between us. I try my best not to stare at her, but her green eyes have someone taken on a new and more vibrant color in the waning sunlight of her kitchen.

As soon as we've finished, Skylar is up and moving, "I'm so bored," she exaggerates her words.

"How about we watch a movie?" Lauren suggests, looking at both Skylar and I for approval. I nod my head and figure that I can leave after the movie ends.

Skylar bounces up and down at the idea, "Can we watch Toy Story? No wait! Finding Nemo?"

Lauren laughs at the young girl, "Sure, you know where the movies are, go pick one out."

We watch Skylar as she runs back into the living room area and Lauren turns to me, "You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

I shake my head, "It's not a big deal, I haven't seen a Disney movie in years."

She smiles, "Well I'll make the popcorn, go ahead and make yourself comfortable."

Ten minutes later, the opening scene is playing on Lauren's TV with the smell of almost burnt but not quite popcorn surrounding the open space. A wide eyed Skylar is sat on the floor in front of the screen, a small bowl of popcorn resting in her lap. Lauren and I are on our respective ends of the couch with the raven haired girl curled up and leaning against the armrest while i'm sitting upright and somewhat uncomfortably due to not wanting to make myself too at home in someone else's house. A large bowl of popcorn rests on the cushion between us.

At first, Lauren and I took unspoken turns at grabbing small handfuls of popcorn. As the movie progressed, we were both reaching in at unpredictable intervals.

In a lot of crappy and predictable movies about teenagers falling in love, there's the moment where they both reach for something and their hands brush just slightly. They timidly look at each other and blush and lean in for their first magical kiss and they end up happy forever and ever.

I never believed in anything like that, how weird and crazy and coincidental would it be if something like that were to happen?

Well, Lauren and I reached for more popcorn at the same time, her hand getting there a split second after mine and sort of trapping it in the bowl. I froze at the contact while her eyes remained on the movie, her fingers mindlessly searching for the popcorn but unsuccessfully rubbing up against the palm of my hand, sending tingles up my arm and back down again.

That moment was all it took.

Sure, when I had first met her after nearly running her down at the hospital, I had thought that her deep green eyes were undeniably attractive. Sure, her husky voice and the way she walked with a confident strut had attracted me to her more. Yeah, the scene in the hallway with my hand in the back pocket of her jeans was unbearably hot. But, it was this moment, that I realized that initial attraction could easily become much more.

After a few moments that felt like a lifetime with her hand on mine, she looked down at the bowl, confused as to why she hadn't reached any popcorn. As she realized what was happening, she quickly retracted her hand, looking over at me with a deep red blush tinting her cheeks, "Sorry about that," she mumbled and shifted further away from me.

I kept my eyes on her, missing her touch dearly, "It's okay." I told myself that the next time she reached for popcorn, I'd reach too, just to have contact with her again. She didn't move her arm toward the bowl for the remainder of the movie.

As the credits rolled, Lauren and I looked down at Skylar to realize that she had fallen asleep at some point during the film. Lauren laughed softly at the small girl. I had only heard Lauren's laugh a few times, but it was suddenly becoming my favorite sound.

She stood up and stretched her arms over her head, revealing a small part of her stomach. I didn't stand a chance as my eyes took in her toned abs and my mouth dropped open just slightly. Feeling her eyes on me, I looked away quickly, jumping up from my position on the couch, nearly bumping into her in the process.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm, uh, good, yeah. Thanks. I should probably get going, it's kind of late," I gestured to the dark sky outside the window and kept my eyes on the floor.

"Okay.." she spoke to me like I was a real weird and I cursed myself for the awkwardness I had created. "I'll give you my phone number and we can talk about the details of you getting Skylar after school next week?" she spoke it as more of a question than a statement as if she wasn't sure I still wanted to pick Skylar up.

"Yeah that sounds great," I fished my phone out of my pocket, nearly dropping it in the process, but eventually handing it over to her with shaking hands.

She laughed at my nervousness, "Uh I need you to unlock it so I can put my number in," she spoke while looking at my lock screen, "is this your friend?" she asked, referring to the picture that lit up the screen.

I swallowed at the mention of Alex, "Uh, we used to be..close."

Noticing my change in demeanor, she quickly typed her number in my phone after I handed it back to her, unlocked, and looked at me with worried eyes.

Not wanting to talk about it further, I slid the phone back into my pocket and backed up toward the door, nearly tripping over a rug in the process, "So thanks for the movie, I'll text you." I looked at her one last time as I spoke and then quickly turned to face the door and closed it behind me a little too loudly as I left the apartment. Peeking my head back in around the door, I see an amused expression on Lauren's face and mumble a "Sorry" before closing it once again.

Releasing a sigh, I make my way out of the building and shake my head at myself. What an idiot.

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A/N

I can't wait for school to be over, anyone else? It's been such a long year.

I hope all of you from England are safe, the bombing was such a terrible thing.

Thank you for reading,
X