The Wedding Date

Chapter 14.

She heard Camila let out a small gasp just before their lips crashed together. Lauren couldn't help but smile into the kiss, stroking with her thumb over Camila's face. Camila, who seemed rather surprised at the sudden turn of events, finally seemed to catch on what was happening and deepened the kiss, softly slipping her tongue inside of Lauren's mouth. Their tongues swirling around fighting for dominance, forgetting the fact that probably the whole café was staring at them, including the two guys in the corner and the small bartender. Camila, who pulled away first, flushed and looked away from Lauren's gaze.

"Wow, Camila. You were absolutely amazing. I forgot how good of singer you were." Ally said.

Everybody applauded, but Camila seemed out of her comfort zone. It was probably because there were still some tears in her eyes from her emotional song. Lauren was proud. That was the only thing that was on her mind now. It felt like they were finally making progress. But Lauren knew that Camila still wasn't there. She understood the meaning of the song. Camila wanted to give her all of the love in the world, but she was scared. Scared because that bitch called Jenna had used her in such an awful way. Lauren grabbed Camila's hand in hers and gave it a small squeeze. To let the brunette know that she understood and that she was proud. And mostly that she was willing to wait. Wait and fight for Camila, to help her get over those fears and to come out stronger, together. She glanced over at Camila, who was already staring back at her. The brunette simply nodded, but it was enough. Lauren now knew that she understood. She got what Lauren was trying to say by that simple squeeze of a hand.

"Thank you." Camila uttered at Ally's compliment.

Ashlee stepped on the podium and she grabbed the microphone.

"I think we can all agree that that was an exquisite performance, Camila. It was beautiful. Now, onto the more important part of this sing-off, the voting. I want to repeat that you should vote for the performance you liked the most, not the person you like the best. Now raise your hand with the performance that you liked the best. Who votes for my, if I can say so myself, flawless rendition of New York State of mind?"

Lauren glanced around the room to see who voted for Ashlee, whose performance was indeed very good. Alexa, Dinah, Keana, Luis and Ashlee herself voted for her. Not long enough to get enough votes to win.

"Okay, Camila won. Can we now get the fuck out of here? I'm done with this café." Troy stated annoyed.

Ashlee looked disappointed to say at least. She gave everyone who hadn't voted for here a death-glare to then stare at Camila. Lauren expected the small brunette to scream at Camila that she didn't deserve to win, but it was the opposite. She rose up her hand for a handshake.

"Congratulations, Camila. You were amazing. I'm truly impressed. You deserved the win."

"Thank you, Juno. You were pretty great yourself." Ashlee nodded and then turned around and walked away.

"That was probably the hardest thing for her to do. Admit that someone might sing better or at least the same level must be hard for the famous Juno." Camila said to Lauren.

"Yeah. I never really knew someone who could sing better than her. You were amazing, Camila." Lauren said. They were only standing with the two of them. The rest of the group was paying their drinks at the bar or they were already outside waiting to leave.

"Thanks, Lauren. I really meant it. I sang that song for you up there. I hope you understood." Camila squeezed Lauren's hand. She had forgotten that their hands were still intertwined.

"I guess."

"Let's just talk later okay?" Camila said and she gave Latina a small smile. Lauren grinned back. Did Camila just proposed herself that she wanted to have a real talk about the both of them? Camila pulled at her hand for them to go outside.