weak ➸ camren

chapter 10 ➸ all or nothing

Lauren woke up to a shivering body pressed against hers, and she quickly turned over, realizing Camila was still asleep. Even in her sleep, her face was drained of color and she looked so… lifeless. It made Lauren feel sick to her stomach.

“Camz,” she whispered. Smoothing out the girl’s hair, she couldn’t help but be relieved when the small girl let out a sleepy sigh and her eyes fluttered open. She didn’t even try to be beautiful. She just was.

Camila mumbled something inaudible and buried her head in her hands. She’d always been difficult to get out of bed, but as soon as her feet would hit the floor, she became an energizer bunny until the moment her head hit the pillow. That’s how Camila was. It was all or nothing for her. Lauren wondered if that was how she ended up in her current situation.

“The girls are coming to see you today,” Lauren said softly after checking her phone, finding a message from Ally to confirm what time they’d been there. “They insisted they see us one last time before they fly home.” She heard Camila groan and could tell the small girl was growing nervous.

Lauren sat up, pushing herself up to her feet. Seconds later Camila attempted to do the same, not wanting to be left alone. But when she sat up, she became increasingly dizzy and had to grab a handful of the blanket with one hand while pressing the other one to her forehead.

Instantly, Lauren grabbed Camila’s shoulder to steady her. “You okay?”

“Fine,” Camila mumbled. She shook Lauren’s hand off of her and pushed herself up to her feet, wobbling a bit when her knees locked. Lauren had to stop herself from scooping her up into her arms and just carrying her wherever she needed to go.

“Do you think you’ll be able to eat something before the girls come over?”

Camila just shrugged and squeezed her eyes shut. Seconds later, she was already out of the bedroom door and Lauren had to hurry to follow her. When Lauren turned the corner into the kitchen, Camila was peering down into the small crate. She let out a sigh of relief when the small bird made a peeping noise and stared up at her intently.

“He’s alive!” Camila turned to Lauren, who was leaning on the counter next to him. “He actually survived through the night.”

Lauren bit her lip. She realized the way Camila talked about Elvis was the way she felt about Camila. It was scary for her, feeling so much responsibility for the younger girl. She didn’t know if she was cut out for the job.

Flashback

Camila had just gotten out of the hospital a week ago. It’d been seven days since she was discharged. Seven days since she left her second visit at the rehab center. Seven days since she’d had a full meal.

The small girl was curled up in a blanket, her body nestled in a whirlwind of sheets to try and keep herself as warm as possible on the tour bus. She hated how the girls insisted on keeping it freezing cold. It was practically the North Pole in there, at least for Camila.

She’d been scrolling through her phone for the past hour or so. She’d slipped out after rehearsal, trying to best to remain unnoticed. No one made a habit of checking where she was, luckily, so she’d spent her free time on twitter, scrolling aimlessly through her tweets.

“Camila?”

The small girl’s head shot up and she held her breath. She recognized Lauren’s voice coming from the front of the bus. Maybe if she just stayed quiet enough, the girl would assume she wasn’t there. She thought wrong.

Seconds later the curtain to her bunk was thrown open and there stood Lauren. Camila thought Lauren looked a lot like her mom did when she did something she wasn’t supposed to. The green-eyed girl had her arms crossed and was looking suspiciously at her. Camila didn’t like where this was going.