Stronger (Camren)

Chapter 12

I woke up first, mid afternoon.  I gently shook Camila. She blinked her eyes a few times. "Good morning, beautiful. I am gonna go get breakfast. Be right back." She hummed in response. I walked into the living room. Normani saw me first and started laughing." Morning, Sleepyhead." She said. I went into the kitchen and got some cereal. When I came back through the living room, she was still laughing." Brush your hair!" She yelled. I flipped her off and went to my room. "I know you didn't fall back asleep on me." I said walking back into the room. "I put the bowl on the stand and jumped on the bed. "Lauren!" She yelled while slapping my arm. "What?" I asked innocently. She shook her head and grabbed the bowl. "You're lucky you're pretty." She said as she began eating. Uncle Gordon came home around 3. "Girls, I have a present for you." He said coming into our room. "It's already programmed and set up." He said. He handed us each a phone. "Thank you!" We yelled after him. He yelled back a "you're welcome." I looked through the phone. It already had everybody's number contained in it. We went out into the living room. As we sat down together, Aunt Milika came over and stood in front of us. "Smile." She said as she took a picture." What was that for?" I asked. "Surprise." Is all she said before walking away. Camz gave me a confusing look. I just shrugged my shoulders. Dinah came in and sat on the chair. "So my fiance's, god I love saying that, anyway her parents decided they are okay with having the wedding in their backyard. They have already bought the dresses for the bridesmaids. I guess they're white and purple. We already got the tuxes and called a priest." She said. "So everything's ready?" Camila asked. "Pretty much." Dinah replied. When Uncle Gordon came home, he and Dinah went somewhere and the twins fell asleep on the couch with Camz. Normani left awhile go. Aunt Milika and I were in the kitchen." What're you thinking about?" She asked. "The future. What if I can't love her like someone else could? What if I can't give her everything she deserves?" I said voicing my thoughts. "Lauren, you love her and everybody knows you love her. The thing is everyone knows she loves you too. I believe in this red string of fate. It's an old Chinese legend. When two people are meant to be together, they are bound together by the metaphorical string. The can string can be tangled and stretched but never broken. You two are soulmates." She said. I blushed. "Here. I was going to give this to one of the girls but I've decided to give it to you. It was my best friends. She died while we were in college. She told me to give it to my newest best friend. Now, I'm giving it to you to give to your best friend." Aunt Milika said, sliding me a small box. I opened it to find a beautiful diamond ring. "Aunt Milika, I can't take this." I said. "Nope. I want you to have it. There's no return engagements. It's yours and I want you to give it to Camila." She said firmly. I knew at that point she wasn't taking it back. "Okay. Thank you." I said. She hugged me in response. Whenever I went to go to bed, I couldn't fall asleep. I grabbed a pillow and slept in the living room. The next morning, Tuesday morning, we got up and went to school. I couldn't focus all day because of what I planned to do. You see, I have the ring in my pocket. "Princess?" I said during lunch. She looked at me. "Can I take you on a walk after school?" She nodded and went back to her food. After school, I took Camila to the playground by our house. I sat on a bench as she swung on the swing. After a few minutes, I decided this is it. I put my hand in my pocket and grabbed the ring. I got up and walked over to the swingset. I leaned against the pole as my breath became jagged. She already said yes, why am I so nervous? "Can you push me?" Camz asked pulling me out of my thoughts. I shook my head. She pouted at me. "You can't swing too high or you'll fly all the way back to heaven, my angel." I said. Her pout turned into a big, goofy grin. As the swing slowed to a stop, I knelt down in front of her. "Meeting you was fate. Becoming your friend was a choice but falling in love with you was beyond my control. I love you more than I ever thought possible. You're so amazing and loving. We haven't been together long but when you know you've found the one, you know." I paused and pulled out the ring. "Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao, will you marry me? Again?" I asked. She was in tears and I was on the verge myself. She jumped up. "Yes! Again!" She yelled. I put the ring on her finger and she jumped into my arms. I didn't have to propose to her again but when you're with someone like her, you do everything and anything you can to make them smile and feel like they're the only person in the world. The next few days went by pretty fast, however Friday, did not. It just dragged on. At four, it was time to go to my mom's. I have already  forgiven her, with the encouragement of my father, and I planned on making it right. Well, to the best of my ability. It is going to be awkward and take some time but we'll get back to normal. Well as close to normal as we can get. Aunt Milika drove me to her apartment. "Thanks." I said getting out of the car. "You're welcome and be nice." I nodded and she drove away when I went into the building. I knocked on her door. When it opened, I was shocked. My best friend, Keaton, was standing there. I haven't seen him in a really long time. "Don't just stand there, hug me." He said. I hugged him and he spun me around. "I've heard everything that happened. How are you?" He asked dropping me on the couch. I laughed. "Honestly, I'm good. How are you?" He leaned in. "I'll be good after this." He slightly whispered before kissing me. I instantly pushed him away. "I have a fiance." I said. He sat back. "I never thought I'd hear that. Congratulations. Tell me about the lucky girl." He said. "Have you ever met someone and they're just so perfect? And maybe they're not perfect to everybody else but to you they're just so imperfectly perfect. The way they laugh and smile and talk and think and look and just everything about them and everything they do is just so amazing. That's Camila. She is literally my everything. I have had girlfriends before but she takes the cake. She makes me laugh and literally my heart skips a beat at the thought of her. Everyone else is a mere shade of amber where she is a shade of gold. I love her so much. She has these beautiful, big, loving, and just amazing eyes. Her smile is brighter than all the stars in the sky. Her laugh is the world's music. I literally have never felt way about anybody. Even you." I said. He put his hand over his chest in mock offense. "Well my love for you was bulletproof but you just shot me." He said, laughing. Keaton was my first love. I was his as well but there's nothing left between us romantically. My mom came home as we continued to talk. I got up and met her in the kitchen. "I hope nothing happened while I was gone." She said looking at Keaton. He raised his hand in defense as he came in behind me. My mom's lawyer came through the door. "Actually, I don't need these visits to be supervised any longer." I told her. "You'd have to tell the judge." She said through a fake smile. So I called the judge and she was gone in a few minutes. We were sitting in the living room, shortly after her departure, when my mom turned to me. "I know I've said this before but I am sorry. Now that I can say this, I need to. I've ruined most of your life. I can't change it nor can I take it back. I love you and I'm never going to hurt you again." I got up and hugged her. "I love you too." I said. For the remainder of my time, we just talked and watched movies. Aunt Milika picked me up. "So how was it?" She asked. I told her how everything was and about how it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. When I got home, Camila and I cuddled in our room.  Not gonna lie, I was staring at her. She is just so perfect. Every piece of her puzzle goes together. There are many pieces to the puzzle and I don't plan on getting bored while putting it together. "Stop staring." Camz said pulling me out of my thoughts. "I can't stare at my beautiful fiance?" I asked teasingly. She buried her now tomato red face in my neck. I was about to comment but Lacey came into the room. "What's up buttercup?" I asked. "Mommy said to come get you because it's time for food." She said before walking back out. At dinner we talked about Dinah's wedding and my birthday. Afterwards, we went to sleep.