Paper Scars || camren

Chapter Twelve

"Dinah, wake up." Normani shook the Polynesian girl furiously. "If you don't get up, I swear to god." She whispered, careful to not wake anyone. "Dinah!" She lightly slapped the girl.

Dinah shot up and glared at Normani. "Want to try that again?"

Normani rolled her eyes. "Shh!" She pointed to Camila and Lauren. "Look." She watched Dinah intently as her expression changed from annoyance to confusion.

"What is she doing in here?" Dinah whispered loudly. "Ally!" She smacked the short girl lightly on the butt.

Ally got up quickly. "Is Lauren okay?" She looked around the room and sighed in relief. "What the hell, Dinah?"

Normani narrowed her eyes. "Why is Camila in here? When did she get in here?" She watched Ally shift uncomfortably.

"You two aren't stupid. You know they're seeing each other again." Ally replied.

"That's something we want to avoid!" Normani exclaimed a little louder than she intended.

"Believe me, I know. But I felt bad. Camila had been texting and calling her all night and then Lauren woke up so I told her and I guess she brought Camila in here." Ally looked down. "It's kind of nice, actually. Seeing all five of us together in the same room."

Dinah nodded her head. "I miss us. Camila belongs with us." Dinah glanced at the two sleeping girls. "Plus, they're so cute. Look at them." Ally agreed.

"Look, I miss us, too. You think I don't? I do! But you know what I don't miss?" Dinah and Ally remained silent. "Hearing Lauren cry every night, watching her spiral out of control, hospital beds, doctors, mental health facilities..." Normani trailed off. "This shit is toxic and we all know it."

"It isn't our business."

"You know she was talking to Austin." Normani scoffed. "What are we supposed to do if Lauren finds that out? Huh? What are we supposed to do?"

"Mani, you're only going to make Lauren resent us. They look fine right now. Very innocent." Ally replied.

"For now. I swear to God if something happens to her again..." She looked away from the girls. "I will never forgive myself."

"It's going to be okay, Mani. What time is it? Around seven? Breakfast will make us feel better. Let's go get some food." Dinah got up quietly.

"You always want food." Ally giggled.

"Uh, yeah. I do. So let's go."

Dinah and Ally laughed before leaving the room as quietly as possible. Normani was the last to leave, taking one last glance at the two girls cuddled up together on the couch. She looked at Camila, who was entangled in Lauren completely, almost as if she was afraid to let her go. She let out a sigh, knowing this was the calm before the storm.

-

Normani didn't hate Camila, in fact she loved her. Camila was one of her best friends and, despite all of the recent events, she knew she had no reason to be personally upset with the girl. But she was. She was so mad at Camila for ruining everything. Normani knew that sometimes she was overprotective, but what was she supposed to do? She was the one who found Lauren that dreadful night, she was the one who held her screaming for help, and she was the one who never left the many hospitals they transferred Lauren to. She did all this while Camila did God knows what. Normani knew that if Lauren would have let Camila know the situation, that Camila would have been there in a millisecond. But that wasn't the case. Lauren was in there because of Camila. So Normani was pretty glad Lauren didn't want her to know. She didn't want to have to spend her time in the hospital with the girl that put her best friend in it. She didn't want to have to spend her time in the hospital with anyone, actually. So she suffered through it alone. Waiting. In hospitals, there's not much to do but think. And that's what Normani did. She thought about her life without Lauren, she thought about how she had turned a blind eye to Lauren's suffering, and about the group she had devoted her life to. She wasn't going to allow that to happen again. She spent many nights alone, sleeping in waiting rooms, brushing aside the pleads of her family for her to just come home for a second. Normani barely left Lauren's side during the break, only to go home to shower. She couldn't bring herself to leave. The only thing Normani felt for months was guilt. She barely spoke to anyone. If only she had just stayed with Lauren, she wouldn't be there. They wouldn't be there. She spent days just staring at the same white wall in the same waiting room she now called her home. The only time she ever looked up was if a doctor walked in there, hoping for good news. The good news seldom came though, as her condition stayed the same for what felt like forever. So she stayed. She stayed and stared at the same white wall. She had so much guilt about letting all of these things happen to her best friend and about staying quiet when she should've spoken up. She should've asked Lauren how she was doing, should've taken an interest in her life, should've done anything but witness her downfall. She was reminded everyday about how much of a shitty friend she was back then. Who doesn't see warning signs like that? Why didn't she do anything about it? Were there warning signs she was missing right now? If so, what are they? These questions haunted her to no end. All she wanted was for Lauren to be okay. She needed her to be okay. They couldn't go back to that night. The night that changed everything.