A Simple Folded Paper

62

Lauren left school as soon as the bell rang and drove home as fast as she could. Camila had stopped answering her texts a few hours prior and Lauren didn't think that she could get this much worried. She knew that Camila was sick and alone at home, and only that caused Lauren to be a nervous wreck and a worried mess. She couldn't believe how much she actually cared for Camila, it was so much that she surpassed the speed limit, and Lauren never did that.

Once she was home, she almost ran to the front door and, after stumbling with her keys for a few seconds due to having shaky hands with all the anxiety and worry, she stepped into the house and called for her girlfriend. "Camila?".

She heard a faint "In the living room" and it was to there that she went. She found Camila curled up in a ball on the couch watching TV and it was when she saw her puffy and red cheeks and eyes that she could almost hear her heart breaking. 

She kneeled in front of Camila and cupped her cheeks with her hands. "What happened?".

Camila shook her head slightly and Lauren saw a new set of tears coming in the girl's eyes. Lauren involved Camila's body in a warm hug as best as she could due to their position, but the purpose was there. She felt Camila grab a fistful of her shirt and soon enough she heard little whimpers and sobs. 

"What happened, baby? Talk to me.", Lauren asked, almost pleadingly. She was genuinely worried about Camila and the thought that Camila had needed her and she was not present, was enough guilt to make her want to cry as well.

Camila tried to steady her breathing so she could talk but every time she tried to utter a word, she felt herself choke on her own sobs. 

Lauren felt herself getting more and more anxious about what had led Camila to be in this state. Lareun was almost sure that it was related to why she was sick or maybe her mother had died or something along those lines, but Camila wouldn't talk and Lauren couldn't guess. She decided to do what she wanted Camila to do for her if the roles were reversed, which was letting her cry. 

Carefully and slowly, Lauren got up from the floor and laid next to Camila on the couch. As soon as her head hit the armrest, Camila instantly cuddled to her side and buried her head in the crook of Lauren's neck. Camila could spend an hour there and Lauren never knew how, she loved to do the same but after 5 minutes she couldn't breathe. Camila was madly sobbing and, perhaps, being in a place where she couldn't breathe properly wasn't the best idea so Lauren pulled Camila's head out of its hideout and placed it on her chest instead.

"Babe, can you listen to me?", Lauren asked softly, stroking Camila's cheeks while she tried to wipe some of the tears away, but they were so many that Lauren couldn't handle them all. Camila nodded in response and Lauren proceeded. "Do you know why stadiums are so cold?".

Camila turned her head to the side and up slightly and gave Lauren a confused look, "What?".

"Do you know why stadiums are so cold?", Lauren repeated, wiping more tears away now that she could see them better and giving Camila a soft smile.

Camila was still confused as hell, she just couldn't understand where Lauren was coming from. "No.", she said.

"Well, it's because there are a lot of fans inside.", Lauren said with a playful smirk on her face.

Camila rolled her eyes but chuckled and smiled, "That was horrible."

Lauren furrowed her eyebrows and placed a hand on her heart, feigning offense. "Excuse me, but that was awesome.". Camila shook her head and Lauren continued, "Alright, tell me, what did Barack Obama say to Michelle when he proposed?"

"I don't know."

"I don't want to be Obama self."

Camila actually laughed out loud this time, it was a typical Camila-joke and she found it so sweet coming from Lauren. "That was good, it seems that you are spending way too much time with me."