16 Months

Rain

"You can still know peace without knowing what comes next."

- Morgan Harper Nichols

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"This is terrifying...I feel like I'm meeting the parents," Shawn said as they stepped into the small café.

"Relax," Camila laughed. "She's my best friend—as long as I'm happy, she's happy."

"Are you happy?" Shawn asked, genuinely curious. Camila smiled and turned around to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck and connecting their lips in a tender kiss.

"So happy," she cooed.

"Oh god," a familiar voice groaned from a nearby table. "I haven't even gotten a proper introduction yet and I already feel like a total third wheel." Camila laughed and intertwined her hand with her boyfriend's before guiding him over to the table where Natalia sat.

"Shawn, this is my best friend Natalia. Natalia, this is Shawn." Natalia hopped out of her seat and immediately pushed past Camila to envelop Shawn in a hug.

"It's about time!" she squealed. "I've been dying to finally meet you, especially since you seem to be literally the only thing Camila can talk about these days." Camila rolled her eyes, though she couldn't necessarily get defensive—she knew the blonde was right.

"Ha," Shawn chuckled. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure my friends were already sick of me talking about Camila after just one date." Camila looked back and forth between the two and smiled.

"I'll go get us some drinks," she said to her boyfriend, noticing that Natalia had already gotten a drink for herself. "You guys try not to talk too much about how great I am," she joked.

"So...not to get all grim already, but Mila told me you took the news surprisingly well," Natalia said quietly. "I know this isn't easy to deal with, but you have no idea how grateful I am that you're willing to stick this out with her. I try to be there for her as much as I can, but I could tell she needed something more. She needed you." Shawn gave the blonde a sad smile and nodded.

"She tried to break things off after she told me but I wouldn't let her. Sure, it would've been easier for me to put our relationship behind me if we went our separate ways then—but that's not what I wanted. I don't care if it hurts like hell when...well, you know." Natalia nodded in understanding. "I'd rather have all of the beautiful memories with her than none at all, even if it means a tragic ending."

"I like you already," she said plainly. Shawn noticed Camila walking back towards them out of the corner of her eye and smiled.

"Already?" Camila asked, clearly having heard Natalia's remark. "Damn, good job babe!" Camila lifted her hand and held it out to her boyfriend for a high five, which he happily reciprocated. The three sat and chatted, enjoying their drinks and exchanging stories and laughs.

"I'm going to hit the bathroom real quick," Shawn said as he stood up and kissed Camila's cheek quickly before walking towards the restroom in the back of the café. Natalia shot her best friend a look once she was sure he couldn't see them, the kind that her best friend had seen multiple times throughout their friendship.

"Don't give me that look, Nat," Camila said as she rolled her eyes playfully.

"What? I'm impressed. I don't think I've ever seen anyone that pussy-whipped before," she brought her mug up to her lips. "I didn't know you had it in you, Cabello."

"Oh shut up," Camila said. She tried to play it cool but the blush rising to her cheeks gave her away. "Nat...I really love him a lot."

"I can tell. And I can tell he loves you, too." The blonde reached across the table and comfortingly held Camila's hand.

"I'm worried about him," Camila admitted. "I mean...I'm worried that once I'm gone he's gonna be...I don't know. I don't want him to be in pain." Natalia sighed and squeezed Camila's hand gently before letting go.

"He's going to be in pain, Camila. That's inevitable."

"No, I know," Camila sighed. "I just don't want him to feel like he can't continue on with his life after I'm gone. I want him to find love again, I want him to get married and have kids and have the normal and fulfilling future that he deserves. And as much as it sucks that I can't be the one to give it to him...somebody should." Camila quickly swallowed down the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. "Can you just...just promise me you'll check up on him? Make sure he's okay?" Natalia nodded.

The trio sat and chatted at the café for what ended up being a few hours before finally deciding to head home for the night. Camila looked down at her and her boyfriend's intertwined hands as they drove home.

"I like your hands," she said quietly. Shawn glanced at her suggestively from the corner of his eye and wiggled his eyebrows. "Not like that! Well...I mean, kinda like that..." she said with a smirk as he chuckled. Rain began to gently fall against the car window as "Magic" by Coldplay echoed through the car.

Call it magic, call it true
I call it magic when I'm with you
And I just got broken, broken into two
Still I call it magic when I'm next to you

Shawn suddenly pulled over to the side of the desolate road and got out of the car. Camila sat in the passenger seat, completely confused. He came around to her side and opened the door, holding his hand out for her and helping her out of the car.

"Babe, what are you do—" before she could even get her sentence out he had grabbed her face and crashed his lips against hers. The rain drenched them both as their lips moved in sync, his tongue gently sliding it's way into her mouth. When they finally pulled away from each other, they were breathless.

"Um, h-hopefully that was kinda what you had imagined..." Shawn stuttered nervously. Camila smiled and wrapped her arms around his torso.

"That was better than I could've ever imagined," she said honestly. They got back in the car and continued on their journey home. Both were eager to get home and get out of their clothes—partially because the rain had made their clothes soaking wet and freezing, and partially because both of them were desperate to be intimate with each other. Since her diagnosis, everything about Camila's life had felt rushed. Every aspect of her being revolved around the idea that any moment could be her last—but that night, that night they made love as if they had all the time in the world. And for a moment, they believed they just might.