The Best of Me (Camren)

chapter sixteen

A/N: Sit back and enjoy the tea ☕️

Camila's POV

*knock knock knock*

"What are you doing here?" It was the first thing I said when greeted upon Lauren's unhappy face.

"I'm here to put an end to whatever goes on behind my back between you and Bella," she pushed past me and into my home. Come on in?

"And what do you mean by that?" I shook my head.

"Don't act dumb, Camila," she squinted. "You literally had my daughter spend the night at your house without my knowing. You know how fucking scared I was until I finally get a text from you saying she was here four hours later?"

"Lauren, she sounded scared from all the shouting and fighting between you and Lilly. I know I should've asked you but you would've never let her leave," I sighed through my exhausted reasoning.

"Lilly and I aren't fighting?" she looked confused. Yeah, like I was gonna believe that. Bella was far more trustworthy than her own adult mother. I learned that the hard way. "She's making shit up just to be with you."

"Lauren, stop talking about your ten year old like that. If Bella wants to leave somewhere she doesn't feel safe in then why can't she?" I stated bravely until I realized the double meaning behind it.

"Oh, cause you're the expert at that, huh?" she remarked, sitting on one of the bar stools. I rolled my eyes. "For your information, Lilly and I are just fine. Sure, not perfect. But we love each other at the end of the day. I'm even planning on proposing to her soon." Oh.

"....You are?" For some reason, I faltered. I slumped down, crossed my arms insecurely.

She got a kick out of that with her chuckle and huge grin. "Well, now you know how it feels. Now you're the one that must feel like shit."

"Oh, grow up," I grew sick of her constant immaturity. Funny how she was two years older than me and still acting like a petty little child.

"I have grown up. I'm a lot more grown up than you, sweetheart. For one, I'm an actual mother to Bella, unlike you. I know what it's like after ten years. It's not just carrying a baby in the womb for nine months and leaving it. It's for their whole life," she groused. God, I wanted to slap her.

"So now you're just gonna get on me for that? As if I haven't been sorry ever since I met you again?" I gritted.

"You're not sorry, Camila," she scoffed. "If you were sorry, you would've come back to us a long time ago. We were the ones to find you. You weren't going to ever look again. You honestly would've gone your whole life without seeing your baby girl again. And you especially wouldn't care with a new baby on the way," she bit, causing more pain evident in eyes. "I hope you live with that guilt for the rest of your life. And I'll never know why you did it nor forgive you for it."

"Lauren, you do know the reason why. You're just too stubborn to accept it," I replied angrily at how she continued to be the victim. I knew I was wrong too but it wasn't all my fault. "You couldn't ever listen to what I had to say."

"Well... I'm listening now," she shrugged and sat back with (hopefully) open ears.

***

A/N: TRIGGER WARNING: EMOTIONAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE

"I can't believe it's gotten this bad, Mija. I knew this would happen," my mother paced nervously around the kitchen during our talk. It wasn't easy with Lauren wanting me home all the time for the baby but I still needed my own mom sometimes.