American Soldier

Chapter 14

"Laur, dinners ready." Camila found Lauren in the barn cleaning out one of the stables. The green-eyed girl was muddy, there were lines of mud on her cheeks from where she had wiped her face with the backs of her hands, and she had straw in her hair.

The cat and dog sat beside the stable door watching Lauren throw piles of dirty hay into a wheelbarrow.

"Laur?" Camila calls out again, trying to get her attention.

Lauren was silent, throwing more hay into the wheelbarrow.

"Babe?" Camila steps closer and wraps her arms around Lauren's waist.

Lauren jumped, turning her head. She pulled her earphone out of her ear. "Hi."

"Dinner." the soldier says softly

"Oh." Lauren looked at Camila and then down at herself. "I'll eat later. I have to finish this."

Camila shakes her head. "Come eat."

"I'll eat later." Lauren responded.

"No, you need to come eat now." Camila tells her calmly.

"Why?" Lauren asked.

Sighing, Camila leans their foreheads together. "Please."

Lauren tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Why?" She repeated.

"Because you worry me when you don't eat." the soldier says softly.

"I worry you? How? Why?" Lauren asked, confused.

"Because you had a problem with starving yourself." Camila responds.

"When?" Lauren asked, narrowing her eyes at Camila.

"When I was gone." the brown eyed girl responds.

"I wasn't starving myself. I just wasn't hungry." Lauren responded.

Sighing, Camila runs a hand through her hair. "You need to eat."

"I'm not hungry and I'm all muddy." Lauren said.

"So take a shower." Camila responds calmly.

"But I'm not hungry, I'll eat later." Lauren said. "And this stable won't clean itself."

"Dammit Lauren, I'll clean it. Go shower and eat." the soldier snaps out.

Lauren flinched and took a step back. Her eyes blurred with tears but she blinked them away.

"I'm sorry, I just, I don't want you to go back to not eating." Camila breathes out, running a hand through her hair.

Lauren looked down. "I can't help it." She whispered.

"Please go eat." Camila says softly.

Lauren swallowed. "I'm not hungry." She said bravely.

Closing her eyes, Camila takes a deep breath. "Then go take a fucking shower."

Lauren stepped back again. "Why are you mad at me?" She asked sheepishly, not looking Camila in the eyes.

"I'm not, I'm just tired of fighting you." Camila responds, beginning to clean up.

"How are you fighting me?" Lauren asked confused.

The soldier looks up and frowns. "Everytime I turn around you're fighting me over something."

"Like what?" Lauren asked, frowning.

"Eating, cleaning, the kids, and me going back into the army." Camila says softly.