Your Love Is My Drug (Camren)

22. Perigee

Finally the final chapter!!

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Chapter 22: Final chapter

Following ninety-six hours' worth of homework, of discovering daily habits and regular times that he had company, Francis Dawley was taken care of. He'd been crumbled on the ground and coughing up blood when the police arrived and discovered the amount of illegal substances on his person and property. There was nothing he could have done.

A couple of weeks after Camila entered rehab, her friends began to drop unsubtle hints that they had to get back home soon. They had lives and homes to get back to, and several had regular jobs that wouldn't stay open if they were gone for much longer. They were all concerned and supportive to both Lauren and Camila but didn't feel any guilt for leaving, and nor did Lauren act in any way other than thankful that they all stuck around for an extra week than they were going to.

It was the right thing to do; they all had to figure out their careers, what they wanted their next move to be after the incredible yet surreal journey from the past few months, and lives had to regain some sort of normality even after tragedy. And although what had happened with Camila was harrowing, it could have been much worse.

Lauren found it easy to keep herself busy.

A couple of days into Camila's rehabilitation, Lauren happened to be on her way to the bedroom to get changed for a night out when she spotted an old book wedged between two of her newer ones on the bookcase. Upon closer inspection she saw that it was Camila's-now hers- copy of Little Women.

There was an inscription inside which read "Karla Camila Cabello, age 9" underneath the single line streaked through it, now reading "Lauren Jauregui" below it. The sight produced a warm sensation in her chest and she took the book to her room so that she wouldn't forget to start reading it before bed.

She had missed travelling for pleasure rather than business and took a three-week trip to Europe with some friends she had admittedly neglected since she'd begun work on the album. Sightseeing and nights out aside, she found that she didn't need to keep herself distracted every hour of the day in order to stay sane.

She thought of Camila regularly and didn't fold into herself with worry. A private smile would pull at her mouth sometimes during her musings, and if she happened to get a phone call from one of her friends -her family- and they mentioned Camila or retold an anecdote involving her, Lauren would smile then too. But it was easier to laugh.

Lauren took to songwriting again on her well-earned break. It begun in Italy during the first stop of her trip and still hadn't ended. Lyrics came easier to her than they once had in high school, and with everything that had happened it felt like the most natural thing in the world to pick up a notebook and begin writing. She didn't even have to be in the bathroom to write. It was a success all around.

She was going strong on the treadmill the time where Troy, Alfie and Johnny informed her of their single and album chart-placement. It didn't hurt when she flew off the machine and crashed to the floor; in fact, Lauren barely felt it at all. There was a photo floating around on social media sites of a paramedic holding an ice-pack to her head while she grinned ecstatically.

Lauren visited Justin and Ally for a weekend, making sure that the three of them grabbed lunch with Dinah and Normani while she was there. It was good to see them all after a month. Lauren grew used to them being around physically even after such a short weekend trip and didn't appreciate the sinking sensation when it was time to leave. She made sure that she kept in contact with all of her friends who were back to their own lives; regularly texting, e-mailing and calling them to keep up to date with anything going on, and of course overshare everything going on in her own life.