The Way to Love (Camren)

Chapter 16: 2269

XVI. 

"The easiest way to ruin something beautiful, is to fall in love with it."

Trigger Warning - Heavy alcohol use

For Normani, Dinah and Ally, spring break was a plane ride off for a week of relaxation, somewhere far away from New York, and the prospect of studying. For Lauren and Camila, the seven days were used to cram their asses off with midterms looming only days away. On top of that, Camila was busy scattering her resume across the city, while Lauren was being called in to work for at least twice the number of hours she had originally agreed to. While she was happy to be receiving the extra money, working the bar with no prospect of moving to becoming a waitress was becoming rather tedious.

The upside however, was that Lauren and the rest of the staff were welcome to any of the leftover mixes, or chilled drinks that hadn't been consumed over the course of the night. Midway through the week, she had called Camila at around three in the morning, and the brunette had driven Normani's car over to take chilled Bailey's Irish Cream shots while Lauren did the cleanup.

Lauren paced back and forth along the floor of her bedroom. She had the enveloped wedged in her back pocket, her hands threading through her hair nervously as she moved. I'm going to do it. Now. Today. She needs this. We've already come so far, everything is going to be alright.

The front door opened and closed, the sound alone making her jump. She gripped the handrail to the upstairs, beginning her ascent. "Hey Camz." Lauren appeared in the doorway, heading into the kitchen where Camila was draping her jacket over one of the dining room chairs. The day had flown by, and it was nearly dark out. "Did you have any luck?"

"I'm just waiting for calls." Camila turned around, planting a long kiss on Lauren's lips, before moving to pull open the fridge. "I swear I must have handed out my resume to at least a million different places." She turned back with a bottle of water in her hand. "I'm so desperate that I feel like I'll be willing to take anything at this point. Maybe I should try to apply for a job at that strip club."

"Don't say that." Lauren assured the girl. "You'll find something you like, I promise. It's hard to find anyone who might be hiring students right now, maybe you should just wait until next year? I mean school is such a pain in the ass, and I know that you're going to overwork yourself."

"Lauren." Camila leaned against the kitchen counter. "I don't know if you've noticed, but not all of us have work show up on a silver platter like you did." She said as she lifted the cold water to her lips and took a long sip. "And besides, I need money. My mom barely paid for half of my tuition, and starting next year, there's a good chance she's going to stop paying for rent. My bill is really starting to pile up here."

Lauren looked down sheepishly. It was only moments later when she felt Camila's hands on her forearms, and she looked up into Camila's warm brown eyes. "I love that you care so much." She said with a smile. "Don't worry, I'll find something soon. I mean if all else fails, I'll work my ass off this summer. I've been at that pet microchip place for so long now I could probably manage the fucking company."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you've been working at that place since high school." Lauren knew Camila had a labor ethic that spanned from many years of self-driven work. "But it'll suck not seeing you all summer."

Camila raised an eyebrow. It was mid-March, and she hadn't even begun to think about how their relationship was going to fare over three months of being apart. "I don't want to think about that." She murmured, clutching Lauren's arms. "I'm not ready to be away from you for so long— actually I quite enjoy having the house to ourselves. It's peaceful."