Put You First (Camcy)

"We've all come such a long way." (Epilogue)

Lauren became an observer but what she observed wasn't something she ever thought would happen.

Lucy and Camila were the two people she would have never seen coming. She was almost sure that she would have ended up with Lucy way before she'd ever believe Camila would.

But there she sat, in the girls' apartment living room, surrounded by all their friends as they drank away, laughing filling the ambience. So Lauren was wrong. And she was so happy to be wrong.

She remembered the very first time she ever saw Lucy.

The girl had braces and glasses and kind of cowered away from everyone and Lauren dismissed her because she didn't care.

They were both eight years old at the time and neither really cared for the other. Or more so, Lauren didn't notice Lucy. Lucy always noticed Lauren.

But Lauren was noticing Lucy now.

She recalled the scared girl who never talked to anyone, the one who didn't think her voice was powerful enough to be heard and then she compared it to the girl with her arm draped careless over her girlfriend's shoulder.

Lucy carried scars more visible than any of them. Her scars showed in her smile and laugh, they were reminders of what she lacked as a child. She lacked the innocence and warmth provided by a family.

Lauren saw that as she clung so tightly to Camila and Lauren didn't blame Lucy. After all they'd been through...she understood why the comfort was needed.

See, Lauren didn't have the best upbringing either. But she had her brother for a long time, she knew what love was because Chris loved her and so did Taylor for a while. Her mother showed affection every now and then and her father did care...to some extent, just not enough.

Lucy, however, knew none of that. Her mother only gave her what she needed to survive, nothing more. Her father was dismissive of her very existence and Lauren hated Lucy's parents for dismissing the amazing person their daughter came to be.

But she also wondered if Lucy would be the great person she was if they'd showed her and inkling of love. She wondered if Lucy would grow up with the resilience and loyalty she now had in her heart or if she would be just another head in a crowd of people.

Lauren liked to believe that this was Lucy's reward for growing up the way she did. She liked to believe that Camila was Lucy's reward; that this new, comfortable life was the life that was always waiting for Lucy at the end of the road.

Lauren had a sister. She had Taylor and despite everything they'd gone through, she still loved the girl and would do anything for her. She has done everything for her. But Taylor was only a sister by blood, nothing more.

Lucy...Lucy was Lauren's sister in every sense of the word minus blood. She has seen Lauren at her absolute worst, she had always had Lauren's back and always sacrificed her own happiness for the sake of the green-eyed girl and Lauren never quite felt like she deserved it, but Lucy wouldn't take it back for the world.

Lucy was everything Lauren wanted in a sibling and more.

She felt a nudge on her arm and found a soft smile gracing Dinah's face as their eyes met. "Having a moment?" The blonde arched a brow and Lauren just smiled, her eyes drifting over to the comical brunette waving her arms around as she was telling another ridiculous story. "Me too," Dinah's eyes were trained on Camila as Lucy rambled on about something stupid she'd done. "Never would have guessed it'd be them, huh?"

"No," Lauren shook her head, feeling Dinah's fingers curl through her own and giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "But I never would've guessed I would be calling you my best friend either, Dinah."