Ink ➳ Camren

Chapter Thirty Two

All rights go to original author.

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It was funny, really. All those days spent in the dark, speculating on the events of that lost night, the night Camila Cabello met Lauren Jauregui, and now the brunette was running scared from just a fragment of a memory. So Lauren had commented on their destiny. So what? She was probably just making a joke. It wasn't as if Camila believed in all that crap anyway and she certainly didn't believe for one moment that Lauren meant anything by it. It was just a silly thing to say, nothing to get worked up about. If only Camila's racing heart conveyed the same opinion.

So she found herself once again hiding in the alley along the side of the club. It was a pretty night, calm and cool, but not cold. The nicotine felt amazing once the smoke from her newly lit cigarette hit her lungs. She exhaled and closed her eyes, letting her shoulders relax. She needed to relax; she kept telling herself to relax. Why can't you just fucking relax? The back of Camila's head made contact with the brick wall she was leaning against a bit more forcefully than she intended. Luckily, the alcohol coursing through her blood stream was doing wonders and she felt altogether numb and a bit blurry.

Camila stared into the glowing ember at the end of her cigarette; it was a bit mesmerizing and helped to quiet the deafening sirens that were sounding between her ears with warnings that this was all just a big mistake and she shouldn't even be there. These types of things don't happen; they shouldn't happen, because they don't exist and she's just fooling herself if she believes for even one minute that it's real.

Camila scoffs at her own stupidity and with a slightly drunken grin, flicks the still lit butt of her fag towards the wall on the other side of the alley.

"Under the circumstances..."

Camila's head jerked up with a start at the sound of the deep, raspy voice coming from the direction of her just discarded cigarette.

"...I'm going to choose to believe that you did that on purpose." Lily lazily brushed the ash off the front of her shirt from where Camila's cigarette butt had hit her, while the heel of her black boot crushed out the burning ember against the cold ground.

A day ago, maybe even a few hours ago, Camila would have fallen all over herself trying to apologize and explain that she truly hadn't seen her there and it was an accident and she was such a tit. But now, as she looked up at the brunette with the mysterious eyes and mischievous smirk, she had no desire to tip her hand and instead decided to play it close to the vest on this one. "Just be glad I chose not to aim for your head."

Lily must have been surprised by Camila's retort, because the smirk was wiped off her face and replaced with a genuine grin. Camila silently congratulated herself for catching the unshakable Lily Collins off guard.

"As if your aim could ever be that good." Lily narrowed her eyes at the brunette and reached for her pack of cigarettes that she kept tucked just inside her shirt, held in place by her bra strap.

Against her better judgment, Camila wondered what it would be like to be as effortlessly cool as Lily for just a moment, just long enough to experience how it must feel for everyone to want her. She shook the thought away almost as quickly as it had entered her mind.

Lily lit up and took a long, deep drag, as Camila got to her feet and dusted off her backside.

"You did alright, actually."

Camila glanced over at Lily and tried to make it seem like she wasn't interested in what the brunette was talking about, but she betrayed herself by immediately shoving her hands down into the pockets of her jeans and holding her breath while she begged for Lily to continue her thought.