Faking It | Wattys 2022

Chapter 20

"Abuelo! You're not supposed to be carrying anything!" Lauren scolded him, trying to take her luggage back when Camila swoops in from behind her and carries it inside.

"She's a dream come true," Jorge beamed upon seeing Camila hoist their bags upstairs into Lauren's old room. "Who knew you had such good taste?"

"She's a pain in the ass right now," Lauren grumbled under her breath. After their quickie in her office, they had spent the majority of the plane ride down to Miami in complete silence, the silence between them speaking much louder than words.

Nevertheless, when her family eagerly crushed her with a welcome home hug, Camila put on a brave face and fell into the role of the perfect domestic girlfriend, all of the tension between them left behind in the past.

"Come on, she doesn't seem that bad," Taylor slung her arm around her older sister's neck. "It's good to have you back, Laur. Men are too suffocating to be around all the time."

"Is this your way of coming out to me?" Lauren said amusedly, walking into the house with Taylor attached to her side.

"Ugh, never mind. You can go back to Boston, I forgot how annoying you are too. Your girlfriend looks even hotter in person. I bet Chris is drooling over her as we speak."

"Why would you ever put that image in my head?" Lauren groaned loudly. "I think she's upstairs. Don't ask her any weird questions, got it?"

"No fun," Taylor said before darting up the stairs and back into her bedroom.

"The two of them will kill me before old age does, mija," Jorge sat himself down at the dining table. "The tamales are all done if you're hungry. I can have Chris set the table. Chris!"

Her younger brother comes tumbling down the stairs, dressed in a soccer jersey and some shorts. "Yeah?"

"Can you set the table for me, mijo?" Jorge pointed to the stack of plates sitting on the kitchen island. "I'm sure Lauren and her girlfriend are hungry,"

"Hey, Laur," Chris grinned cheekily at her as he began placing the plates around the table. "I saw your girlfriend carrying in a big bag of gifts... Any chance there's something for us?"

Lauren narrowed her eyes at her younger brother. "What'd you get me for Christmas?"

"Now, where's the Christmas surprise in that?"

Jorge rummaged through the cabinets, sucking his teeth when he realizes they're out of cinnamon sticks. "Lauren, could you run to the grocery store and grabs some more cinnamon sticks? I wanted to make you some Arroz con Leche."

"Sure, let me just ask Camila for the keys," Lauren headed upstairs, snorting in amusement when she finds Camila laid out on her queen-sized bed like a starfish. "Are you tired?"

The dark-haired woman pried one eye open. "Maybe. Just a little."

"Why don't you take a nap?" Lauren gets comfortable next to her on the bed. "I'll wake you up when I get back from the store and we can eat,"

"Store?" Camila sat upright. "Planning to leave me alone with the in-laws already? You're a crazy woman, Lauren Jauregui."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "If you don't want to stay here, then you're more than welcome to come. I just figured you'd want to get some sleep, that's all. You were too busy typing away on that stupid laptop earlier on the plane."

"Flying makes me anxious," Camila confessed. "It was a good distraction! One of us had to be awake to make sure the flight crew doesn't hold us hostage and try to sell us off to the black market."