Tempting Fate

Chapter 6

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Lauren and camila spent the rest of the evening talking on the couch. Alejandro and Lily were in the
kitchen wrapping some last-minute gifts and every few minutes they would hear camila laughing loudly and uncontrollably. During camila's sixth laughing fit, Alejandro looked over at
Lily.
"It's good to hear her laugh again. I haven't heard that in a while."
Lily nodded. "Well, I'm sure it's been hard for her adjusting to married life."
"Yeah. I still don't know about that David kid."
"Ale. He's your son-in-law. When are you going to stop calling him 'that David kid'"?
"When he starts making my daughter laugh like that," replied Alejandro as he kissed Lily on the cheek.
Grace and Eli came in through the back door, trying to wipe the snow off their clothes.
"Wow, it's really coming down out there," said Grace.
"Yeah, dad. Hypothermia's about to set in, but don't worry. Your precious light display outside is up and running."
"Well, that deserves some hot chocolate," said
Lily as she walked over to the stove.
"Oh, no thanks. I'm actually gonna go to bed. I'm exhausted," said Grace.
"Yeah. I'm pretty beat, too," said Eli. "But I think I'm gonna need an extra blanket. The garage is freezing."
"Oh, I'll get you one. Come on," said Grace as she pulled him toward the living room.
"Goodnight girls," said Eli, as they passed by camila and lauren and headed up the stairs.
"Um…Eli? Why are you going upstairs with Grace?" asked camila, teasingly.
Eli looked around. "Uh…she's…I mean, I'm… she's getting me a blanket."
"Oh, and that insurmountable amount of work requires TWO people?" Lauren decided to join in on the fun.
Grace shot them both a look and glanced back at Eli. "Don't mind them. When they're together, they have the combined age of a 10- year-old."
Lauren and camila started giggling and went back to their conversation. Meanwhile, Eli stood at
the bottom of the staircase looking at Grace.
Grace was trying to read the grin across his face. Eli looked up at the ceiling and then back at Grace. Grace looked up to see what Eli was
looking at and saw a piece of mistletoe hanging over them. She looked over and saw that camila and Lauren were deep in conversation. Eli slowly
leaned in and just as Grace was about to close her eyes, Zoe appeared at the top of the stairs.
"What are you guys doing?"
Immediately, Eli pulled away. "Um…nothing.
You know, Grace, I should be fine without an extra blanket. Thanks anyway. Have a good
night." He quickly headed towards the garage and didn't dare turn around. He didn't want anyone to see his face was bright red with embarrassment.
"Good night," said Grace, as she headed up to her room with Zoe following her.
Lauren and camila had just witnessed this entire exchange and started giggling again.
"So are those two EVER gonna hook up?" asked lauren, still laughing.
"Ew. My brother and my step-sister? Please don't ever say that again. I mean, it's obvious
there's something there, but the thought of them actually doing something about it…just…
eww," said camila.
The girls were silent for a moment, just
looking at each other. Taking in the sight of each other until camila's curiosity finally got the best of her.
"So…when do I get to open that present that you so slyly slipped back into your pocket?"
"Tomorrow," replied lauren.
"Why tomorrow?"
"Because tomorrow is Christmas. That's generally when you open presents."lauren didn't
have the nerve to tell camila that she wasn't ready to give it to her just yet. This "present" Could easily break their relationship and lauren
wanted at least one more night of happiness with camila before any real drama set in.
"Well, then I want it first thing tomorrow morning. I'm waking up at 4am just to open it."
"Well, I'm NOT waking up at 4 in the morning just to drive it over here to you, so you're just
gonna have to wait." She prodded her friend in the ribs.
Camila elbowed her friend back and as they started another one of their famous rounds of
play-fighting, Lily walked in.
"It looks like you won't be driving anywhere,
actually, lauren. I just heard that they pretty much have most of the roads closed down from the snowstorm. Looks like you're staying here
tonight. I'll get you some blankets for the couch," said Lily.
"Well, she could take my room," Camila
interjected. "And I'll just stay on the couch."
"No," protested lauren. "That's okay, camz. I'm fine with the couch. Really. I like sleeping by the fireplace. It'll really make it feel like Christmas."
As Lily went to get the blankets, camila found herself watching lauren's face as the firelight illuminated the contours of her skin. She'd
always known lauren was a striking girl. And camila had even made it known to lauren from
time to time. But now, she could see that striking girl had become an even more striking young woman. She didn't realize she had been grinning at lauren for the past few minutes. She
just allowed herself to be enthralled by this woman sitting across from her on the couch.
And she allowed this woman to stare right back at her, capturing every move she made, every blink of her eye, every shift of her legs.
Camila suddenly felt flush. She took a deep breath, which brought her back to reality.
"Are you okay?" asked lauren.
Camila nodded, still catching her breath, she kept her gaze on lauren, searching her eyes, looking for the courage to say what she was
feeling. "Yeah. It's just…sometimes I forget to breathe…when I'm around you."
Immediately, camila shyly looked away. She noticed the fire in the fireplace was getting low, so walked over to put another piece of wood in it. "So, you're gonna stay, right?"
Lauren, still smiling to herself, responded.
"Yeah, I'll just call my parents and let them know I won't be home tonight. I'm sure they'll understand."
Camila looked back at lauren. "No. I mean you're gonna stay in Evanston, right? I mean, for good
this time? Or at least for a while?"
Lauren pondered the question for a moment. "I'm not sure. I haven't really thought about it."
Once the fire rekindled, Camila turned to face lauren. The flames made the older girl appear even more beautiful than before, if that was possible. "I really think you should stay. I'd ike you to be around."
The two girls were immobile. They just stayed there, staring deeply at each other. It seemed like nothing was able to break this gaze. Camila
could feel herself getting light-headed, as she had to remind herself to breathe once again.
Lauren feel chills up and down her entire body, even though the fire warmed up the entire
room. Camila opened her mouth to say
something, but Lily interrupted the moment as she walked in with the blankets and pillows.
"Here you go, lauren. These should be enough. And I brought you some pajama's. They're
Grace's. And if you need anything at all, well… you pretty much already know where everything is, so make yourself at home.
Goodnight, girls. Don't stay up too late. It's almost midnight," said Lily as she headed up the stairs.
"Good night, mija " yelled Alejandro from upstairs.
"Good night, dad!" Camila turned back to face lauren. "I guess we
should get some sleep." Lauren nodded and smiled. "Merry Christmas,
Camz."
Camila returned the smile as the slowly made her way up the stairs. "Merry Christmas,Lo."
Two hours later, Camila was lying awake in her bed in the attic. She had tried to fall asleep, but couldn't. Thoughts kept creeping into her
mind. Thoughts of Lauren. It was always Lauren.
Even when she tried to force herself to think of other things, like David, she was unsuccessful. She couldn't sleep knowing that Lauren was downstairs, just two floors beneath
her. It had been two hours since they said goodnight and camila already missed her. She missed her face, her eyes, her smell, her laughter. Camila missed the way she felt when
she was around lauren. It was a feeling that became more and more apparent recently because when camila was apart from lauren, she
felt empty. Like the most important part of her was missing. She wanted to go downstairs. She wanted sneak her way down to the living room
and just watch lauren as she slept. She wanted to feel her skin just one more time. As camila thought about this, she pulled the covers over
her head in shame. She was beginning to sound like a stalker. And the more she thought about
this, the more awake she became. She turned to her side and closed her eyes, trying once again to force herself to fall asleep.
Meanwhile, Lauren was having just as much difficulty falling asleep. She stared at the ceiling, unable to get out of her head the fact that camila was two floors above her, probably
fast asleep. She kept thinking about that look they shared just before they said goodnight.
The way camila was looking at her, shook lauren to her core. She couldn't get those eyes out of her head. Camila's eyes, which had held lauren
captivated for the last seven years. It never failed. All camila had to do was look at her and lauren would just melt. As these thoughts kept
running through her mind, she threw the covers off of her, stood up and walked over to the stairs. She wanted to go to camila. She wanted
to walk up to the attic and climb into bed with her, but something was stopping her. She knew
better. She reminded herself that camila was married and she didn't want to get in the way of what camila wanted. So she walked back to
the couch, pulled the covers over her, and laid back down. She took a few slow, deep breaths and allowed her mind to relax until she finally
fell asleep.
Camila opened her eyes once more. It had been 20 minutes since her last attempt at falling asleep. She realized there was no way sleep
would find her tonight, so she got out of bed and began to pace the floor. She couldn't explain this yearning she was having toward lauren. All she knew is that it was growing stronger by the minute and if she didn't do
something about it soon, she'd slowly go insane. Camila was torn. Caught in an endless struggle between her head and her heart.
There's no way her head could have won this round. Her feelings for lauren were just too strong, so she followed her heart and slowly
snuck her way downstairs.
When she reached the living room, she saw lauren sleeping peacefully on the couch. The fire was slowly burning down in the fireplace, but it still brought just enough light to lauren's
face. Camila was spellbound. She slowly knelt in front of the couch, taking in the sight of lauren sleeping there. She reached her hand out
and gently touched lauren's hair, allowing her fingers to follow the strands down to the
older girl's shoulder. She slowly brought her hand to Lauren's face and began to caress her cheek. Camila felt as though she were about to
burst. Because in this moment, this one
moment, while watching lauren sleep, while caressing her skin, while breathing in her radiating beauty, camila finally came to the
realization that she was in love with Lauren.
Desperately, passionately, madly in love with her. Deep down, she had always known it, but
for some reason she had fought it. For seven years she fought these feelings and now they all came rushing through her like a freight train. She smiled faintly and her hand started
to tremble as camila slowly leaned in and joined her lips with lauren's. She slowly and gently moved her lips against lauren's, while
euphoria was quickly setting in. Camila had never felt anything like this before. She wanted this feeling to last forever.
Lauren, who was still asleep, had finally begun to stir. Her eyes were still closed, but she felt something come alive inside of her. She felt
her heart begin to pound faster as her whole body began to awaken. Something good was
happening. Something indescribable, and it felt amazing. She began to feel something very stimulating against her lips and as she opened her eyes, she thought she was dreaming. Camila
was kissing her. Deeply. Fervently. Lauren didn't care if it was a dream, she took this opportunity to kiss back. She felt camila's soft lips against hers and eagerly pulled her in closer. Both girls were now fully awake and
fully aware of what their bodies were telling them. This kiss was electric, sending a charge through both their bodies. Camila slowly pulled
away and the two girls just looked at each other. Camila was still kneeling in front of the couch as she looked intensely at lauren. Camila
was simply entranced by lauren's exoticism. At that moment, she knew that, while that one miraculous kiss was amazing, it simply was not
enough. Camila leaned over and pressed her lips
against lauren's once more. Lauren freely accepted this gesture and found herself completely overwhelmed when camila climbed on the couch and lay on top of her. At that moment, lauren's body was feeling sensations it
had never felt before with anyone. At first, she was wary about doing what she really wanted to do, but once camila was on top of her, lauren
threw all caution to the wind and started moving her hands up and down camila's body.
As the kiss intensified, lauren allowed her hands to discover every inch of camila's smooth back.
As she brought her hands up to camila's neck, pulling her in and parting her lips with her tongue, camila began to whimper with pleasure.
Their tongues moved together, heightening the sensation each girl was feeling. Camila quickly got rid of the intrusive blankets that were keeping their bodies from really touching each other as she allowed her legs to
entwine with lauren's. Camila ran her hand along lauren's shoulder and collarbone as she began to pant heavily, growing dizzy with each
movement of Lauren's hand on her back. Their bodies came to life while exchanging heat with one another. That, combined with the heat from
the fire, caused little beads of sweat to form on their foreheads, but neither girl seemed to care. They were both lost in each other. Both girls softly pulled back and their eyes fixated on each other. They were both breathing
heavily as camila's hand slowly made it's way up lauren's shirt and she began to delicately stroke her stomach. Jessie wanted to savor this
moment. For the first time in a long time, she felt whole. She felt a pair of eyes staring back
at her with so much love and passion. She felt an aching within her that had finally been soothed. Soothed by lauren. Lauren looked up at
Camila , still trying to comprehend the fact that this was really happening. That camila was in her arms, willingly and readily. Her body was
taking control over her mind. She looked up at the forbidden desire on top of her and had to have those lips on hers one more time. As their
lips collided once again and camila's hands gradually made their way down and gripped Lauren's hips, Lauren let out a moan which, in turn, drove camila wild. Both girls tried to be
quiet, so as not to wake anyone up, but may not have been as quiet as they thought. They heard someone open a door upstairs and both girls bolted up, trying to catch their breaths.
They listened intently as they heard footsteps walking to the bathroom and finally from the bathroom back to the bedroom they came out
of. Then they heard the door close.
Camila looked at lauren with half smile and a bewildered look. "I guess I should go back and get some sleep."
Lauren, who was left speechless yet again, nodded.
Camila whispered. "But we'll continue this tomorrow."
Lauren smiled. Finally able to speak, she whispered, "It IS tomorrow."
Camila smiled and leaned in for one more kiss.
"Good night."
"Good night."
Lauren watched as camila made her way up the stairs.
Then she looked out the window and could see a hint of daylight on the horizon. She lay back down, closed her eyes, and fell asleep dreaming of the moment she could kiss camila
again.