Framed

The End - Part Two.

Niall's family move out of the house next door less than a week after Dinah's funeral. The afternoon after they leave, someone in a white truck pulls up to the driveway, and puts up a realtor's sign, saying, in big red lettering "FOR SALE".

Camila only notices when she looks out the window from the kitchen. She taped black paper over her window that overlooks Niall's house, closing the blinds for an extra touch, so whenever she looks at the window, she thinks it's night time. It gives her an excuse for all the extra hours she lays in bed, trying to sleep, but never succeeding.

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The group becomes very well acquainted with the 24-hour diner by their school, a place called Rutherford's. They meet up there during the days that they're too exhausted to face it all, and during the nights where someone wakes up with nightmares or hasn't slept due to the fear of them. Inevitably, at least one of them texts in the group chat each night, and the others talk them till they sleep, or till morning comes. Whichever comes first.

The melatonin supplements don't work. Camila tries them first, and while she sleeps, the pills trap her into nightmares she wants to leap out of, and the sleep becomes useless. She trades the extra hours of sleep to save her from seeing the bodies in front of her, over and over again, like the numbers on a watch. Austin - Brad - Ari - Cameron - Dua - Dinah - Ally - Mani - Zayn - Harry & Louis - Lauren.

So Rutherford's becomes a more frequent rendezvous than school is. They skip days and skip classes, meeting one another at the same group booth in the corner of the restaurant, where there are no windows, where they refuse drinks from the waitress and bring their own bottles of water to the meal. They don't want to risk anything, anything at all, being in the drink. Call it paranoia, call it over-cautiousness, but they've lost too many people to take any more risks. The waitresses call them regulars and give them discounts, their story being spread around the papers already. The only reason the news hadn't spread sooner was because nearly everyone involved was a minor, so there weren't enough names to cite in articles, and pictures couldn't be taken. Ally gives a statement in a news conference on behalf of the entire group, asking for privacy for all of them at this time before breaking down offstage. Liam, who was her ride, drives her to Rutherford's, and the waitresses, who saw her statement on the televisions in the bar area, give them all a meal on the house. It's a silent type of pity, one of the few that the group accepts, although begrudgingly.

-

Camila and Lauren realize that they had forgotten how to be friends, too. They spend the time they have together trying to get to know one another better, finding pieces of each other that had been hidden from them before, mostly memories. Things they recall from childhood, of easier times, where life was just a little bit easier, when they smiled more. Lauren learns that bananas aren't Camila's only favorite food. Camila gets to hear Lauren play some old songs she wrote throughout high school, Zayn providing backup vocals. She gets to see how much Lauren loves music, so much farther beyond than the initial mentions she had made in conversations after school. They kick back and watch movies, ignoring the stash of horror movies that Lauren hasn't watched since school started. They watch Pixar movies like Wreck It Ralph, they imagine a world full of sugar and laugh, pretending to be normal for a while.

The time they spend together is full of touching. A brush of Camila's hand through Lauren's hair, Lauren holding Camila in her arms when Mufasa dies in the Lion King. Camila sitting in Lauren's lap contentedly as Lauren sings, resting her head on the pale girl's chest. And despite the words that were said in the place that they first kissed, they're not uncomfortable with the touching. In fact, they welcome it, each other's presence, just the simple indicator that they're with one another, that maybe they're not as alone as they thought they were. They aren't evergreen yet, but Lauren thinks that maybe she's already seeing Camila blossoming into herself again.