We Found Love

TWENTY FIVE

(⚠️ for implied violence on the last part of this chapter)

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"Are you busy this weekend?"

It was a bit of a childish antic to run off and hide from her friends. But as soon as she heard them hooting, yodeling, screeching, or whatever inhuman noise they were making as they caught her and Camila kissing, she pulled the girl and navigated her towards a thick and tall bushes and around some trees until they're out of her friends' immediate sight.

She doesn't really know what came to her to pull Camila and run for their lives like that. Perhaps she just doesn't know how to deal with her friends when they're teasing the shit out of her even after all this time she has known them.

They both sat on a grassy side of the pathway, conveniently obscured by the bushes and trees from annoying friends and tried to catch their breaths. A comfortable silence that makes her feel more than just at ease dawned upon the both of them. Until Camila broke it of course.

"Not really. Why?"

"Uhm . . . There's this retirement home in West Street, the building is a little bit run down and needs a bit of color in it. I'm joining a group of volunteers to clean up and paint the place, and I wonder if you would be interested in going with me. I mean, I saw a few of your artworks and it's so beautiful, I'm very sure you can do so much to make the retirement home more . . . Homey, I guess. My painting is pretty basic, less than mediocre actually, yours is like real life in full color. There's gonna be free food, barbecue and -"

"Sold. I'm going," she cut her off, fondly smiling at the nervous way Camila was talking.

"Why do I have a feeling you're only going because of the free food?"

"Well . . . It's free food, nobody passes up on free food, Camz. And it's barbecue!" she eyed her teasingly, "But here's the thing though . . . Why do I have a feeling that this is your own unique way of asking me out?"

Camila snorted, "What?? No . . . A girl as precious as you deserves to be wined and dined at the most luxurious restaurant in the city. Not some volunteer free grub at some retirement home,"

Lauren just raised an eyebrow at Camila, looking at her unwaveringly. She really doesn't care where Camila takes her as long as they're together, cheesy and cliche as it sounds. But truly, she likes the simplicity of talking to her much better, the comfort of sharing silence with her is more appealing than any overrated fancy dinners.

And Camila just couldn't bullshit Lauren with the way her emerald eyes challenged her own russet colored ones.

"Fine . . . You might be right. I mean, I just thought that you have a thing with art, and I could take you to an art show or some gallery or museum for a date but I just think that you've probably been to a thousand of those and it wouldn't be as fun, you know. So I thought why not take you somewhere you can do your own art and at the same time be able to help a small community of elderly people . . . I, I mean . . . If that isn't your thing, I can so totally book the Guggenheim museum for us exclusively, have dinner date right there in the middle of the building, just the two of us, I know a guy, well technically my dad knows a guy but I know him as well, and it will all be arranged, so yeah I can make that happen and we can talk about Monet and Picasso over a chef-prepared filet mignon -"

"The retirement home at West Street will do, Camz," she giggled and kissed Camila's cheek, "That's really sweet of you to think of the things I like. Art and helping people,"

"And me . . . You said you like me, so," Camila looked at her with a cute little grin on her face. She can't help but mirror it as well.

"Yeah . . . Just a little,"