Yours Truly, Camila (Camren Fanfic)

January 1, 2015 (II)

"We're here," I nudged Lauren who had fallen asleep from the hour car ride. "Baby, wake up," I cupped her cheek, kissing her forehead.

"Huh?" Lauren asked, her voice raspier than usual.

"We're here loser," Dinah reiterated as Ally drove up the pathway of a hill. The sound of music and people talking becoming more audible as we made our way to the front of the driveway.

"Oh my god. How many people are here?" Normani asked, lowering the window to her right.

"I don't remember it ever being these many people here," Lauren, finally waking up and getting a sense of her surroundings.

"Holy shit. Is that?" Normani asked, her jaw dropping at the sight of what she saw.

"Lucy," Lauren answered.

"Wait, a minute," Ally interrupted, finally pulling into a parking spot. "Is that Lucy? As in your ex-girlfriend Lucy?"

I glanced out the window to search the sight of what the other girls had been looking at. There she was, the girl who had broken my girlfriend's heart. She wore a white top and blue jeans. Her brunette hair which was slightly wavy reached down below her shoulders. I could see what had drawn Lauren into her; she looked beautiful and even though I haven't met her, I could sense that she was outgoing by the way she was interacting with the people in front of her.

"Lo," I said to Lauren, squeezing her hand. "Do you still want to go to this party?" I asked her the question which I should have been asking myself.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I? I don't care if Lucy is here. She's not about to ruin New Years. Lauren continued, "Plus, what happened with me and her is long in the past. I'm happy now... With you."

"Oh god. Would you two get a room?" Dinah interrupted while creating a vomiting expression with her mouth.

"Well, can a car be considered a room?" Lauren replied half-jokingly.

"Girls, I think this is our cue to leave," Normani said giggling, exchanging looks with Dinah and Ally who made their way out of the car.

"You two enjoy. Lock the doors when you're done," Ally acknowledged as she tossed her keys to Lauren. The three made their way to the group of people who were standing on the right side of the house.

"I was only kidding," Lauren said, breaking the silence between us.

"Lauren, can we go for a walk?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Right now?"

"Yes. I want to talk to you about something."

"What? You're not breaking up with me, are you?" Lauren asked worriedly.

"No, of course not. Come on." We made our way out the car, making sure to lock it. I held Lauren's hand, leading her to a grassy area near a tree where the loud noise from the party was almost inaudible. "I want to give you something," I said to Lauren as I gave her the item from my back pocket.

"A rock?" Lauren asked, confused.

"Yes, it's a rock," I replied, looking at what I had given her.

"Why do you want to give me a rock?" she asked, still confused.

"Well, I read this thing where a male penguin gives a female penguin the smoothest and most perfect rock he could find. Basically, if the female penguin accepts the rock, then they'll be companions forever." I paused before continuing, a smile now forming on Lauren's face, "So the other day, I went to the beach to look for the smoothest and most perfect rock I could find so I could give it to you. I want you to know that I'm giving you this rock because I love you, Lauren. I'm in love with your green eyes, your perfect smile, your intelligent mind, your kind heart. I love the way you scrunch your eyebrows when you're concentrating hard on something, the way you talk with so much passion and emotion when it comes to food, and when you replace the words in a song because you don't know the lyrics. My point is, I love everything about you, Lauren. I'm in love you."

"Camila," Lauren started. "You're literally the only person I know that could make a simple rock mean so much more than it is." She smiled before cupping my face with her free hand and planting a gentle kiss on my lips. "I love you too, Camila."

Lauren and I sat down on the grassy patch to look at the stars. She told me her experiences in Pennsylvania and how she had also felt lost not being able to have any interaction with me. I expressed to her how nervous I was to say that I was in love with her because I didn't want it to make our relationship awkward in case she didn't feel the same way.

"It's really not that hard to fall in love with you when you say and do things like this," Lauren said, holding up and examining the rock. "How long did it even take you to find this rock?"

"Well, Dinah and I went to the beach two days after you left to look for a rock. She said I was insane for trying to find the "perfect" rock," I said putting air quotations with my fingers when saying the word perfect. "But after like 5 hours, I found that rock which is kind of shaped like a heart and I thought it was the perfect one to give you."

"You spent 5 hours at the beach to find a rock for me?" Lauren asked, surprise written all over her face.

"I mean, I was also conversating with Dinah whiles looking for it so all in all maybe like 4 and a half hours."

"You're a dork, you know that?" Lauren asked as she planted another kiss on my lips. "I love you, though"

"I love you-," I was cut off when suddenly, the loud sound of what seemed to be a gunfire was heard.

"What the hell was that?" Lauren asked worriedly, grabbing a hold of my hand as we both stood up. Another loud bang was heard. Now, the sound of people screaming became more prominent. "Camila, stay here. I'm gonna go see what's going on."

"What? Are you serious Lauren? That was definitely a gunshot. You're not going anywhere!"

"Camila, it might just be fireworks. I don't know," Lauren's voice filled with confusion and freight. "We need to get the others and I have Ally's keys. If that were gunshots, we need to get out of here, but we can't leave without Ally, Dinah, and Normani."

"Okay then let's go together," I told her, tears making its way down the corners of my eyes.

"No," Lauren disagreed, wiping the tears from my eyes. "Listen, stay here. I'm gonna get find the others and get the car and we can leave. It's gonna be okay."

"Lauren," I replied, disagreeing with her compromise, but before I could utter any words, Lauren kissed me on the forehead.

She made her way back to the site of where the gunshot was heard. "I love you. I'll be fine, I promise"

I stayed hiding behind the tree for what felt like hours, even though in reality it might have just been thirty seconds. I was nervous for the others, for Lauren. Suddenly, another sound of a gunshot was heard. This time, I couldn't keep my composure. I thought about my friends and Lauren being possibly struck by the bullet of a gun. I sprinted my way to the site of the party where I was met with a crowd of people running in the opposite direction that I was.

For a second, I thought about asking a person in the pool of people if they had seen Lauren or the other girls, but it hit me that the question would probably be pointless as not everyone may know who I'm talking about. I searched the driveway and right side of the house, but no sight of the others was to be found.

Finally, I made my way to the backyard. The three girls, Dinah, Ally, and Normani, standing before me. Their faces filled with a mixture of shock and freight.

"Someone, call for fucking help!" Lauren declared loudly, who was side-sitting on the ground, holding a girl in her arms. The girl, blood all over the right side of her shoulder. Lauren, stopping further bleeding by placing her hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's gonna be okay," Lauren said in a low voice, tears falling down on her face. I made my way closer to the position where Lauren was to examine the other girl.

Lucy.

Yours Truly,
Camila