a reason to love

chapter 8

A/N: To those of you who got nervous when I was talking about "drama" in this chapter: I would ask you to remember that obstacles are a good way to make a relationship stronger. Tension is what propels the characters forward to look for resolution. I'm going to take care of them, I promise, so just sit back, trust me, and enjoy the ride :) Also, this is the longest chapter I've written so far (I know it's still not extremely long, but bear with me, I'm trying!!) and I feel as if I should receive some sort of medal!

Lauren made her way downstairs after getting dressed. She had opted for a simple dress since it was a warm day. It wasn't too fancy, but she knew Camila liked how she looked in it. Her heart dropped a little when she thought about Camila. She had always been such a huge part of her life but she couldn't help but feel like something still wasn't right in their relationship. She desperately wanted to turn back time and return to the place where they felt completely comfortable around one another.

At the bottom of the stairs were Camila and Brooklyn, all dressed up and ready to go. Camila was wearing her usual top and high-waisted shorts combination and Brooklyn looked as adorable as ever in one of her new dresses. When Lauren got closer, she could see that the little girl was hiding something behind her back.

Camila noticed that Lauren could sense that something was going on so she tapped Brooklyn on the shoulder and nodded her head towards Lauren, giving her the ok to follow through with the plan. Brooklyn hesitated at first, but stepped closer to Lauren and cleared her throat.

"Law-ren, I think you are really pretty," she recited, holding the rose out for the woman to take. Lauren bent down so that she was eye-level with Brooklyn. She put her arms around the tiny girl, somehow forgetting every ounce of tiredness that she had from chasing her around all day. Brooklyn leaned into Lauren's embrace and didn't seem to want to let go, so Lauren stood and carried the girl, her head finding it's way to lie on her shoulder.

She locked eyes with her wife and mouthed the words "thank you". She knew that this was her wife's way of telling her that she loved her without using the words that neither of them had been able to sincerely say in months. Camila gave her a wink and opened the door, placing her hand on the small of Lauren's back to usher them outside.

*****

"How about a taco? Or chicken nuggets?" Camila looked at the children's menu at the restaurant and waited for an answer from the little one sitting beside her.

Brooklyn held out her fingers as if each option had been assigned one and studied them for a moment. Camila watched patiently but had no idea what she was doing. After a minute, she looked up at the woman and said, "I want to eat the chicken nuggets because they are little, like me."

Camila and Lauren shot each other a look that said, "What in the world have we gotten ourselves into? This kid is weird." Both chuckled before they decided on their own entrees and ordered.

"So, tell me about today. What did you do while I was at work?" She looked at Lauren, waiting for an answer, but her wife was looking right past her.

"Shit," she cursed, under her breath but loud enough for Camila to hear it.

"Wow, Laur. That's really profound," Camila joked, covering up Brooklyn's ears. When Lauren didn't say anything further, she followed her gaze to the source of the curse.

Julie.

There she sat, at a table with a blonde woman. Lauren could hardly contain the anger that overwhelmed her body, trying to claw it's way out. "Laur, don't bother. Just forget she's even here. That's what I'm going to do." The brown-eyed girl reached over to place a hand on top of Lauren's but her wife quickly pulled it out of reach.