Death of Me • Camren

Nine

It's been exactly 90 days since Lauren entered rehab so she will officially be home today, and Camila, even with half a bottle of wine down, knew she was the more nervous of the two.

The apartment was as clean as she could manage and there was so much food in the fridge she knew some of it would spoil soon, yet she was more nervous about seeing Lauren again than anything else.

For the past 3 months she spent her days trying to get rid of any memory of Julia or anything that could cause Lauren to relapse. she basically replaced everything and scrubbed the entire apartment from top to bottom.

Her head is spinning from the alcohol so she does not even notice when Lauren walks into the apartment, smiling and with a bouquet of flowers in her hands. "Hey." Lauren breathes, looking from the bottle of wine to Camila. "Are you drunk?"

"Uhhh. Kind of tipsy," Camila responds, not looking up from the glass in her hands. She shakes her head and apologizes for the liquor. Lauren giggles and hands her the bouquet. "These are for you."

"Thanks, but really it should have been me who got you something. I just didn't  know what would be appropriate for..." She waves her hands around the room with an awkward chuckles, "...this."

Lauren smiles brightly and nods. It seemed as if both of them had no idea how to deal with this type of situation, but why would they? The first time Lauren went to rehab it was unwillingly and Camila had no idea what had even happened. They both lived completely separate lives during that time so it only made sense.

It's quiet for a few seconds until Camila offers Lauren a glass of wine. She quickly retrieves the glass given the situation but Lauren takes it anyway. "I never really had a problem with drinking," Lauren laughs. "That was all you." It was quiet but not awkward. Not that it ever really was. Lauren always made silences comfortable but Camila was not used to that so she always felt like filling it. Whether with singing, or sighing, or even arguing. It was never an option for her to just sit and enjoy a silence.

Not even now.

"I've been binge watching a lot of Netflix. There are actually a lot of shows that came out while you were away that I waited to watch in case you wanted to,"

"You didn't have to do that, but it's very nice."

It's quiet again, only filled with instances of sipping. Until Camila remembers the bouque, when she excuses herself to put the flowers in some water.

"Do you want some food? I could make you something."

"Actually I'm kind of in the mood for some Chinese food. Do you wanna order some?"

Camila nods and reaches for her phone. " I know the perfect place."

By the time the food gets there, Camila and Lauren have consumed almost two bottles of wine. Camila most of it, so Lauren is the one who has to open the door. She waves the dilvey-man away and sets the food on the coffee table, where Camila has opened another bottle of wine and poured Lauren yet another glass. "Are you trying to send me back to rehab?" Lauren laughs, and Camila almost spits out the mouthful of alcohol in her mouth. "Yes! I enjoyed the peacefulness!"

They both laugh uncontrollably, mouthfuls of food and wine. It's like nothing had changed. Lauren always had a way of making Camila feel comfortable, even if Lauren was the one that needed comfort. If anything, it was the main thing Camila realized during those three months. That it was her duty to make Lauren feel better, especially in times like these, when she was at her worst. So she joked most of time. Made sure Lauren felt comfortable in her own home, and didn't mention her boyfriend even though he had called ten times and left five voicemails.