blue ➸ camren

fourteen

"Come, Lo," Camila whined, holding out her hand and trying to pull Lauren into the bathroom. The dark haired girl just bit her lip and stood her ground.

"You need to shower," Lauren pulled her hand back and shook her head. "I'll be across the hall when you're done."

Camila stuck out her bottom lip and shook her head, which caused small tufts of flour to fall to the floor around her feet. Lauren looked down at her own hands, which were practically ghost white from the white powder.

"You are messy too," Camila said softly, reaching out and grabbing Lauren's hand once more. "Please?" she looked up hopefully, meeting Lauren's eyes.

"Camila, I-," Lauren began, but lost her words when Camila stepped forwards and tugged at the hem of her shirt.

"It is just a shower," Camila shook her head and curled the ends of Lauren's shirt around her fingers. "You need to be clean," she said quietly. Looking up at the older girl for approval, Camila slowly began to lift Lauren's shirt upwards. "I love you. Do not be scared."

Feeling her breath catch in her throat, Lauren found herself growing nervous. Nervous? Nervous for what? She internally cursed herself. It was Camila. She shouldn't be this scared to be so... exposed.

With a deep breath, she took a sidestep into the bathroom and closed the door behind them. Camila took this as a sign to continue, and she lifted up Lauren's shirt. The dark haired girl brought her arms above her head and allowed Camila to remove the material from her torso.

It was silent for a few moments as Camila traced her eyes over Lauren's figure, familiarizing herself with the newly exposed skin. Lauren held her breath.

"Pretty," Camila mumbled, giving Lauren a shy smile before reaching up to run her fingers through the girl's hair.

Lauren exhaled slowly, beginning to calm down. This was Camila. She had already exposed herself to the girl emotionally. This was just the next step, as innocent as it could get.

"Here," Lauren whispered, gently rolling up the bottom of Camila's hoodie. "Is this okay?" she asked nervously before biting her lip. Looking up at the smaller girl, she tugged gently on the material.

"Yes," Camila giggled softly, sensing Lauren's anxiety. She lifted her arms as Lauren pulled the heavy material over her head and let it fall to the floor. Once her torso was exposed, Camila turned to the mirror and ran her hands over her collarbone.

"I am clean," Camila said softly, studying herself in the mirror. She trailed her fingers over her own shoulder, almost as if she were in awe by her own skin. Lauren grew confused.

"I thought the point of taking a shower was to get clean," Lauren laughed nervously, unsure of what Camila meant. The smaller girl just shook her head, grabbing Lauren's hand and placing it where her shoulder met her collarbone.

"Not like that," Camila shook her head softly. "My skin. There are no bruises. I am not hurt," she slowly moved Lauren's hand over to her shoulder.

The green eyed girl studied Camila's skin for a moment before nodding softly. She was filled with a mix of adoration and anger. Anger that someone would have ever hurt Camila in the first place.

"And I intend on making sure you stay this way," Lauren said softly after a few minutes of silence. She brought both of her hands up and ran them down Camila's arms, lacing their fingers together. "You're safe now. No one's gonna lay a hand on you."

Camila's lips pursed together slowly, as if she were deep in thought. Lauren ran her thumb over the back of the smaller girl's hand in an attempt to comfort her.