A World Where Roses Bloom || Camren

Chapter XIV, Real or Fake.

Mixed emotions run through Lauren's body after she sings the last word but one of them is prominent over the others. Empty, that is how she feels. She closes her eyes as the music fades, hangs her head low and with a sharp breath, she gets up from the stool she was sitting on, determined to leave the stage as fast as she can.

Lauren is not sure why but she can't make herself look back to where Camila is supposed to be. She doesn't want to see if Camila is finally looking at her now or if she is still gazing at Emily like she is the most wonderful thing she's even seen.

The thing is that this situation kind of sucks because a week ago, Lauren would have sworn that Camila only looked at her that way.

Apparently, she was wrong all along.

As she gets off the stage, Lauren makes sure to follow Normani's feet as she pushes through the crowd towards their table. She barely remembers the distinct sound of the crowd cheering loudly for her; or the approving smiles that some people give her when she passes by as she is walking back to her table. She misses the way they say nice things to her about her voice or how much emotion she put into that song that made them feel chills when she was singing. Her heart is still pounding in her chest and there is still adrenaline in her veins for being on stage. But apart from that, Lauren misses everything else in between because all she's thinking about is that Camila never looked back at her and now all she wants to do is go home and sleep until she doesn't feel anything anymore.

"I want to go home," she says with a small voice while she sits down beside Dinah in the booth. Her hands are still shaking and her bottom lip trembles which mean that she wants to cry.

But Lauren is too proud to cry now.

Dinah receives her with open arms and wraps her in a protective hug. "Let's get out of here," her best friend whispers in her ear, voice soft but clear.

Lauren barely remembers Tori saying that she would take care of Camila and the hug that Ally gives her as she is saying goodbye. She only recognizes Vanessa's voice saying a quiet apology before the British kisses her temple and lets her go with sad and apologetic eyes.

Lauren doesn't know what her friends are thinking but she is pretty sure, just from the look on their faces, that all of them feel the same way.

Now Kelly's, the magical place where she met and once kissed Camila, is completely ruined to her thanks to the younger girl.

Lauren gets home shortly after, still holding Dinah's hand on the way there and with Normani on her other side, placing a protective and supportive hand over her shoulder.

Her best friend puts her into bed, whispering that everything will be okay and that maybe nothing it is what it looks like. Dinah is trying to be optimistic about all of this, telling her that maybe they are seeing things where there is nothing to see, but Lauren is not an idiot and even though she appreciates the effort that Dinah is doing, it doesn't help her heart to feel like it is cracking.

If this is what heartbreak feels like, Lauren is done with love for the rest of her life.

She can't remember what time it is when she falls asleep but she does remember that she didn't sleep alone and Dinah was there, by her side, the whole time. And Lauren also remembers that she fell asleep waiting for Camila to get home.

But like before, she never did.

The sunlight dances across her bedroom when Lauren wakes up the next day with a hazy mind and a headache. There is a celestial glow that makes her smile for a second, mind momentarily forgetting what happened the night before, but once she does remember, her smile slowly falters and her calm expression changes drastically.