Through Her Eyes (Camren)

Chapter 15: Here and Gone

All of Camila’s possessions had taken up residence in Lauren’s room until it could only be considered their shared space. Camila’s most precious things, the trunk of shiny treasures, had been the first to move over, pressed up against the bed just like it had been in Camila’s abandoned building.

This was home now.

Lauren’s car key was sitting innocently in that trunk.

Lauren felt like she was doing something terrible by taking it, stealing something treasured that belonged to Camila as she slept.

Camila was curled up in the dip in the middle of the mattress, her forehead wrinkled unhappily and her fingers grasping for something that wasn’t there. Lauren would have liked to be there, she would have liked to give Camila the company she craved even in her sleep, but if Lauren did, she’d probably never go back to work.

Lauren would have liked to never go back to work.

Camila huffed, her eyelids flickering as she rolled further onto the side of the bed where Lauren had been sleeping, her hands still searching.

Lauren shifted anxiously above, watching Camila’s long eyelashes flutter, holding her breath when she thought Camila might wake, but Camila only nuzzled their shared pillow. Even asleep, Lauren thought Camila looked confused and distressed at being left alone in the bed.

It wasn’t that Lauren was abandoning Camila; she just had to go to work. People worked, it was a thing. Not a thing that Lauren really understood or supported, but a thing anyway. Camila was no more a morning person than Lauren was. Camila didn’t need to be awake just because Lauren was leaving.

Camila didn’t need to be awake because if she were Lauren wouldn’t leave. Camila would frown and offer her something sugary in enticement. She’d start talking about planting a tree or going to see Sparkles in obvious hope of distracting Lauren. And Lauren would let her, Lauren would get distracted.

Then her boss would call, threatening to fire her again.

This was better, Lauren told herself, watching Camila’s fingers tighten and release around nothing and feeling her heart clench simultaneously.

“You’ll be fine,” Lauren said helplessly, her voice low. Camila whined as if she did not agree at all, her fingers twitching, and Lauren took pity on the searching hand and covered Camila’s fingers with hers.

Camila clutched Lauren’s hand with an unexpected strength, her fingers hooked desperately around Lauren’s. She didn’t wake, only sighed softly into the pillow, curling her body around their entwined hands. Her skin was warm with sleep, her palm fit perfectly against Lauren’s.

Lauren swallowed and stepped away from the bed abruptly, trying to pull her hand inconspicuously away. Camila mumbled a displeased sound, holding on possessively and scrunching her face up with obvious irritation.

“I have to leave for a little while…” Lauren said uselessly, pulling at her hand. Camila only clutched harder, no more ready to let Lauren leave while asleep than she would have been awake.

Lauren looked around the room helplessly. “Oh.” Her teddy bear was sitting flopped over on the corner of the bed. It was soft and worn from clutching, the stuffing overused so the bear slumped over when it sat, a loved childhood toy.

Lauren pressed the bear gently into Camila’s fingers now, pulling her own hand away so Camila was shifting, clutching the bear to her chest and not frowning quite as hard.

“You keep that for awhile,” Lauren encouraged, edging slowly away from the bed, turning the stolen car key over and over in her hand until the metal was warm from her skin. Camila still whined into the pillow like she knew she was being abandoned even in her sleep.