Bets And Silent Messages (Camren)

Chapter 7: Decoded Messages

It was early when Lauren woke up the next morning and right away she realized something wasn't right.

Maybe it was the complete silence surrounding her but she knew it was the group's day off, so everybody was probably still sleeping. Lauren yawned and stretched her arms and it was then that she realized what was wrong. Camila wasn't in her arms like she had been the night before.

Lauren frowned. Had Camila gone to her bunk in the middle of the night? And if she had done that, why hadn't she woken Lauren up? Had she said or done something wrong? Lauren stood up from the L-shaped couch and opened the door to the bunk area. All curtains were closed and the bunk lights were off, except two. Lauren's curtain was open and so was Camila's, but the younger girl wasn't there.

Lauren continued walking to the kitchen area, feeling strangely anxious. There was no point in denying that being away from the brown-eyed girl was becoming a really stressful situation for Lauren.

Just when she was walking by the bathroom, the door opened and Lauren jumped, her back hitting the opposite side of the hallway.

"Holy shit, Camila." Lauren sighed at the sight of the younger girl in front of her. "Thanks for that morning scare."

Camila opened her mouth to reply but her right hand immediately flew to her mouth, remembering she wasn't supposed to say anything. Lauren smiled a little when she saw Camila raising her other hand and waving hello.

"I-eh-Camz," Lauren hesitated for a moment, "Can we, like, talk? I need to tell you something."

She had tried to sound casual but she had clearly failed since Camila furrowed her eyebrows, pointed at Lauren and gave her a thumbs up. "Are you ok?"

"I'm okay," replied Lauren quickly, "It's just, well, I've been thinking about something."

Camila nodded and smiled. She gave Lauren a kiss on the cheek and pointed at the lounge, letting her know she would wait for her there. Once she was gone, Lauren locked herself in the bathroom and took a deep breath.

"Relax, Lauren," She told her reflection in the mirror, "You can do this."

She brushed her teeth and washed her face four times, because the truth was, she was terrified to go to the lounge and open her heart to the brown-eyed girl who already owned it. Lauren knew her heart belonged to Camila and that made her completely vulnerable. But she didn't want it back, she was, for once, willing to let someone in, and that someone was Camila.

"This is it."

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About 10 minutes later and a few pep talks in front of the mirror, Lauren walked into the lounge and closed the door behind her. Camila was sleeping in a very uncomfortable position, half sitting, half lying on the L-shaped couch, and a smile crept across Lauren's face, despite how nervous she was.

"Camz, wake up," Lauren whispered after she sat next to the younger girl, "Camila."

Camila opened her eyes slowly and when they met green ones, she slowly moved to a sitting position, crossing her legs indian style. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked at Lauren, waiting for her to say something.

"I-I-I," Lauren looked at her lap and started playing with her fingers nervously as she confessed with a soft voice, "I don't know how to start."

Camila stared at her bandmate, completely confused. She took Lauren's hands in hers and uncrossed her legs to move them over the older girl's lap, sliding a bit closer to the green-eyed girl who was clearly distressed about something.

Lauren looked up and saw Camila's encouraging smile. "It's now or never," she thought.

"Well, I've been reading the book Dinah gave me," Lauren began and Camila nodded, "It is a book that tells you how to understand people's body language and I've been using it to analyze myself and everybody around me," the older girl stopped to find the best words she could to explain everything, "I have also analyzed you, Camz, and I have noticed some things."