green ➸ camren

twenty five

"It's later."

Lauren and Camila lay on their bed, the dull moonlight from the window serving as their only source of light. Lauren had an arm around the smaller girl, holding her protectively against her side.

Camila had calmed down considerably since Jeremiah had left. Lauren wasn't sure what had happened, but she was grateful that it did. Camila was actually talking to her.

"Huh?" Camila lifted her head upon hearing her wife's words. She blew a loose strand of hair out of her face, prodding Lauren to reach out and tuck it behind her ear.

"You said you'd tell me later," Lauren said softly. She didn't want to push anything on the girl, but she was also painstakingly curious about what had changed.

Shifting slightly, Camila turned so she could face the older girl. The entire energy in the room was different now. A nervous tension had fallen over both of them. Lauren held her breath.

"I remember," Camila whispered. She felt comforted by those words, signifying that the murkiness of her memories had now faded away, replaced with a somewhat comforting clarity.

"You do..." Lauren repeated. "Is it bad?"

Camila quickly shook her head.

"I am the good guy," Camila bit her lip. "Jeremiah said so. And then I remembered."

"Care to share?" Lauren laughed nervously. She'd made it a habit of studying Camila's hands. Whenever the girl was nervous, she'd wring out her fingers, or twiddle her thumbs back and forth. For Lauren, it was a tell tale sign not to push her much. But now, the smaller girl had one of her hands laced with Lauren's, and the other was aimlessly tracing the shape of her flower tattoo.

"You will not be mad?" Camila looked up. She met Lauren's eyes, finding nothing but comfort in them.

"Of course not," Lauren practically scoffed in disbelief. Camila nodded quietly.

"Okay..." the smaller girl whispered. She took a deep breath, preparing her words. Lauren waited patiently, well aware that Camila needed time. She was more than willing to give her that.

"It was Jeremiah's birthday," Camila nodded softly. "And we made the cupcakes, remember?"

Lauren nodded softly. Camila sat up, causing the older girl to shift her weight slightly so the smaller girl could lean partway against her and partway against the headboard.

"And we did not have napkins, so we had to go get paper towels," Camila nodded softly, almost as if she was confirming it to herself as well.

"But Jeremiah wanted to get them himself, and he could not reach the machine thingy in the first bathroom, so we went to a different one," Camila explained. She kept an eye on Lauren's face as she spoke, not wanting to upset the girl.

"Go on," Lauren nodded.

"Can you reach?" Camila asked, tilting her head to the side. Jeremiah nodded furiously, grabbing one of the small footstools and scrambling atop the counter to collect a handful of paper towels.

"Is this enough?" the small boy turned back around to show Camila the tall stack of napkins he'd managed to gather. Just as Camila opened her mouth to speak, a deafening noise echoed from down the hallway.

It's funny how things can change in the span of a second.

When the noise rang in Camila's ears, her mind immediately threw her back to a few years prior, where the sound had been all too familiar.

But, one thing stopped her from completely retreating into the past. And that was the small boy standing in front of her with wide eyes.

Acting upon instinct, Camila grabbed the boy from the countertop just as another shot rang out, now closer to them.