Like I Do - Camren

Chapter 11

She stood there, mouth open wide with a hand covering it. Tears started to stream down her face. "You..... t-this...... Camz?" She dropped her hand. I looked down. Before I knew it she was by my side, holding around my waist for dear life. After a minute she let go and examined my forearms. "Let's get this cleaned up. I'm gonna call Dinah." she said, turning the sink on before grabbing her phone out. "No, please don't!" I wiped my eyes. She looked at me hopefully, then set her phone down. She helped me rinse my arm, and her eyes widened in horror. "You have stitches?" She questioned, looking into my eyes. With the amount of tears falling I'm sure her vision was disoriented. I quickly looked away. "This is what you guys have been hiding from me?" She asked. I couldn't make myself meet her gaze. She dried my arm and got a bag from her suitcase. She must've seen the worried look on my face when I saw it, cause she said "Don't worry, it's a first-aid kit." I let her wrap both of my arms after putting some sort of ointment on them.

"Camz, come here." Lauren pulled me with her to her bed. I didn't fight her. She snuggled up to me, and if she got any closer she would be in my clothes. Not saying I would fight that either. I blushed at my own thought. "You should get this sweatshirt off. You are seriously burning up." She said. "Ha, you just wanna see me without a shirt." I joke. She chuckles and looks down. I take the sweater off and am left in just a sports bra. I sit up and lean back against the headboard, and Lauren copies. She grabs my hand and holds it tight. "Why do you do this to yourself?" Lauren finally broke the silence that fell between us. "I don't know." I shrug. "Yes, you do. Is it because of what the people say?" She asks. I look away and feel tears brimming my eyes. "You should never listen to the hate comments. You should only listen to the girls and I. And I say you are beautiful, and perfect. Don't ever forget that, because no matter how selfish it sounds, I couldn't live without you. I need you." She said, grabbing my chin and pulling my face to see her. "Sorry." I mumble, looking my eyes downward. "No. You shouldn't be sorry for hurting. Just know that I'm here for you, okay?" She wraps her arms around me and pulls me to her, kissing the top of my head.

In no time, Lauren has let go of me and is looking into my eyes. I can see her start to lean closer and I do too. Her eyes are an amazing shade of green that I hadn't seen on her before and they say that she had been waiting for this. Before anything happens the door opens and Dinah bursts in. Lauren goes flying away from me and almost falls off the bed. Dinah looks casual before noticing my missing piece. "Mila! Where's your sweatshirt?" She asks worriedly. I shake my head. "She knows." I mumble. "What? How?" She starts to walk closer to me and I see Lauren shift uncomfortably. " Wait, those are new bandages.... did you...?" She comes to a stop by my side. "Oh, no. Mila...." She pulls me into a hug, her chin resting on top of my head. "Lauren.... did you see?" She asks nervously. I look over and see Lauren on the verge of tears. She nods slowly. Until now I hadn't realized how much it truly affected her. I wriggle out of Dinah's grip and grab onto Lauren. At that moment she just lets tears fall.

After soothing Lauren for a bit, Dinah leaves. Lauren clears her throat. "Um, sorry about earlier. I-uh... was just worried. It didn't mean anything. I mean, I love you..... just not like that....." She says nervously. I feel my heart breaking into a million pieces. I guess eyes lie too. "Yeah... of course." My voice cracks. "I'm, uh, really tired. I think I wanna try and get some sleep, okay?" I climb off her bed and onto mine. I was so stupid to think she may actually like me. I feel tears start to fall. Just then the lamp flicks off. "Goodnight Camz." She says. As soon as I hear her breathing calm down I let myself cry until I fell asleep.

I awoke to the sound of the bathroom door closing sort of loudly. I open my eyes and see Lauren in front of the door, looking at me with apologetic eyes. "Sorry.... I didn't mean to wake you. You can go back to sleep if you want, I just gotta go talk to Dinah." She said, looking down and scurrying out the front door. What could be possibly have to talk to Dinah about at 7 am?

Lauren's POV

I leave the hotel room and turn to be met by Dinah. "Ok, you said it was urgent. Now why the hell am I awake at 7 in the morning?" She says grumpily. "I fucked up." I sigh, looking down. "Lauren, what did you do?" Dinah asks worriedly. "Can we talk somewhere else?" I ask, and she nods.

We find ourselves in a small cafe, sitting in a booth. "We almost kissed last night, before you barged in." I finally admit. "Woohoo! Way to go! Why aren't you happy?" Her eyebrows knit together. "Well, after you left I told her that it didn't mean anything and that I didn't love her like that..." I looked down to my hands. "You what? Lauren, that was the perfect chance to tell her how you feel!" Dinah scolds. "Oh, shit. That must've broken her...... no, no, no! We left her alone in the hotel!" She jumps up and runs off. I have trouble keeping up with her, confused. I burst into mine and Camila's hotel room and Dinah is rubbing Camila's back comfortingly and telling her something I couldn't hear.