Three Is A Crowd

Chapter 31: Consequences

Merry Christmas, guys! Consider this my holiday present for all of you 😘😘

• • •

"There she is!"

Dinah's loud voice floats around the vicinity of the airport, and while Normani and Ally quickly crane their necks excitedly to get a glimpse of Lauren, Camila, on the other hand, can't seem to muster the courage to look up. It feels like there's a whole tribe of cannibals inside her thumping on bongos and performing some pre-dinner ritual before they eat their victims. At this point, Camila wouldn't mind being eaten alive, because Lauren is approaching them, and she couldn't even look at her for more than one second without feeling nervous.

So she choose to stare at the floor as if willing it to open up and swallow her anytime.

"Hallo!"

Fuck. Her voice sounds so near she couldn't help but look up, and, sure enough, there she is, smiling and giggling and Camila could feel that sense of warmth she always feels whenever she hears Lauren's carefree laughter.

"Lo, oh my god! We missed you! You look so good!" Normani is the first one to hug her, which she managed to do by elbowing Dinah out of the way. "That tan, girl!"

Their moment doesn't last though, because Dinah is stomping her foot and then threatens to pull Normani's weave if she doesn't stop hogging Lauren, so she lets go, and Dinah squeals happily and wraps Lauren in a big bear hug as they both laugh.

"Lauser! I miss your stupid face!"

"I miss your stupid face, too, DJ!" Lauren grins. "Not your musty breath, though, get off me!"

"Not before you say you love me." Dinah teases. She takes a step back and fusses about Lauren's messy hair and inspects it like she's a hair stylist. "I know you do."

"I don't wanna lie to you... So I won't." Lauren shrugs, then flipping Dinah off when she hit her on the shoulder.

"I like the new hair color, by the way. Glad to see you grow out of your Wednesday Addams look. This," she gestures at Lauren's dark brown hair, "makes you seem... less angry. It lightens up your aura."

Ally then inserts herself in between Dinah and Lauren, looking like a little girl asking for a treat, "Uh, excuse me, there's a line here, missy. I want some Lauren hugs, too!"

"Little Ally!" Lauren giggles as she bends down to hug her, while Ally wraps her arms around Lauren's waist.

Meanwhile, Camila feels so out of place. It's not like they were purposely isolating her, but since she feels guilty, she couldn't act like herself. Normally, she would have already flung herself towards Lauren and give her her best koala hug, but, now, considering that Lauren hasn't replied to any of her messages, she doesn't know where they stand. She doesn't know how to act around her because she doesn't know how Lauren would react to her.

So, when she sees Ally let go, she steps forward, torn between opening her arms for a hug or settling for a casual wave.

It turns out, she doesn't need to make a decision because Lauren apparently decided for herself. When Camila tentatively steps forward, her movement causes Lauren's eyes to briefly flick towards her direction (at least Camila now knows that she isn't invisible), and as Camila walks towards her for her semi-hug semi-wave, and before she could even form a full smile, Lauren looks down without acknowledging Camila in any way and pretends to act busy with her bag.