All This Time

Chapter 3

The months passed, Lauren barely noticed. The snow melted away and the smell of the beginning of spring was wafting through the air. The nights were still cold but the days were getting warmer. That was all Lauren needed to know. She knew she would have to leave soon but the question weighed down on her mind of where she'd go.

Camila would ask her random questions, things Lauren chuckled at and answered to the best of her knowledge.

"Why do you eat?"

Lauren shrugged. "It's strange. I can't die from starvation but I get hungry."

"What if someone were to cut off a limb entirely...or your head?"

"I don't know, it's never happened."

"Does it work on animals?"

"I have no idea. I've never tried it."

"There's a stray cat..."

"Camz, I'm not going to experiment on a stray cat."

"It would be a perfectly legitimate..."

"No."

Camila sighed. Lauren chuckled and pulled her curious girlfriend in for a kiss.

The brunette didn't ask about the scars very often but when she did, Lauren told her the story. She told her of being on The Britannic, the fire in Chicago, and summers as a young girl running through the cotton fields before her life changed. Mostly the questions were asked when they were both coming down from the high of their afternoons and nights of passion. Camila would press a kiss to a scar and always whisper the same words and Lauren would softly recall that day's events. Camila would kiss away the inevitable tears and respond with a story of her own.

Lauren perched herself on the edge of the cliff overlooking Miami. The sun was going down, the lights of the city were twinkling in the distance. She wasn't sure how long she stayed there but it was dark and cold by the time she considered leaving. She had watched the lights go out little by little as people shut them off to sleep. She'd looked over Savannah like that a few times when Harry had convinced her to come with him beyond the edge of the forest. The glow was much dimmer but it was still there. They would watch as the candles in windows were blown out and by the light of the moon they would sneak back to her house.

"Lauren?"

The raven haired girl hadn't even heard the car pull up. She smiled at the familiar soft voice.

"How did you know I'd be here?"

"Harry...he told me you used to do this in Savannah. There's only one cliff overlooking Miami and so I thought I would find you here."

Lauren nodded. "Come sit."

She heard Camila's footsteps echo off and the car door open and shut again. The brunette appeared beside her and spread a blanket out on the ground and wrapped half of another around Lauren's shoulders. She snuggled in close to the raven haired girl and Lauren wrapped an arm around her.

"Why did you and Harry end things, Lauren?"

Lauren sighed. It was one thing Camila had never asked about. The brunette hadn't ever brought it up and Lauren was a little grateful but now that the question was asked, she gave her answer.

"We drifted apart a long time before we split up. The only reason we stayed together as long as we did was to protect the secret. It wasn't the same after Rebekah but he protected me. He was safety. After the war he wanted to go west and settle on some land and just stay there to protect the secret. I wanted to travel and see as much of the world as I could. So, quietly, we went back to Virginia and filed for divorce." Lauren tightened her grip on Camila's shoulder and choked back a sob.