The Voice (Camren)

17. Back Home

A/N: Please, please, please comment! Because you guys are so funny and your comments make my day :)

"Wanna come to the afterparty with me?" Lauren asked, out of breath. Wow, she hadn't see that kiss coming and, she had to admit, it had been absurdly mind-blowing.

"Have you invited the other contestants?"

"No."

"Then, I shouldn't go. It'll look like as I'm having a kind of special treatment."

"Aren't you?" Laurean said, as her lips displayed her signature smirk.

"That's not the point."

"Are you sure you don't wanna come?"

"Yes. Besides I promised my mom I'd be home as soon as the VMAs had finished."

"But here you are."

"It's not my fault you looked so damn fine in those black overalls. I had to make sure you knew it," Camila complimented Lauren shamelessly. Uhm, wait a second! Was she really flirting with Lauren? Had she really had the guts to enter her dressing room and kiss her like there'd be no tomorrow? The truth was Camila didn't really know what she was doing. The adrenalin released during the performance had taken control over her body and mind and made her act recklessly, which she knew she'd probably regret. But, right now, everything felt so right and was running so smoothly, she didn't wanna stop. It's not like she could either.

"Wow, Camila. What happened to that shy girl that would't look me in the eye the first time we met?"

"You don't wanna know," Camila stated misteriously. "Now, I'm going back home."

"Let me take you."

"Don be silly, you have a party to attend. I'll catch an Uber."

"It's no big deal. And, besides, your house is on my way to the party."

"All right. Let's go," Camila gave in.

***

Louis, Camila and Lauren were seated in the back of the black van the VMAs had assigned Lauren to get to the afterparty. The two women had run into Louis at the exit and, since he didn't have a ride, Lauren offered to take him home. Otherwise, he might get suspicious about Camila and her. Needless to say, Louis was already well aware of the whole situation. He could definitely notice traces of Lauren's lipstick smeared on Camila's mouth and, as if that wasn't enough, their clothes were a bit messy. But he decided to play the naive card. After all, Lauren was his coach and, with the battles round the corner, he didn't wanna risk her kicking him out of The Voice.

Louis was seated behind the driver and next to Camila, who was in the middle, the remaining seat occupied by the one and only Lauren Jauregui. The 1975 was softly playing through the speakers but that didn't seem to entertain the green-eyed girl at all, who had had a different idea of what their ride would be like, before they had run into Louis. Fuck it, she thought. She'd do exactly what she wanted to do. She'd just be as subtle as she could be. Her left hand soon left her lap to discreetly move over the leather seat towards Camila's thigh. The movement didn't go unnoticed by the younger girl, who tensed up in her seat as a response. Louis also saw it, and decided it was time to have a little fun.

"So... That performance was awesome," he stated loudly, making both Lauren and Camila jump in their seats in surprise. Lauren's hand quickly went back to its original position, while she turned slightly her body into Louis direction. The boy was widely smiling, pleased with the girls' hilarious reaction.

"Thank you, Louis. I'm glad you liked it."

"Seriously, my jaw dropped when I saw those fluor outfits. And those dance moves of Camila, were pretty fucking dope, don't you think?" he addressed Lauren.

"She's a quite good dancer, yes, " Lauren admitted, looking at her.

"Thanks but I think you're both exaggerating a bit," Camila softly spoke.

"Oh shut up. You were amazing," Louis replied. "But you know what I loved most about the show?"

"What?" Camila asked suspiciously, sort of aware of the path Louis wanted the conversation to take.

"The kiss. It left me speechless because I knew Britney did it, but didn't think you would include it. Also, I didn't know you were gay," he boldly told Lauren. He was lying obviously, since his gaydar had gone off the day he had met her, but he wanted to see her reaction to his words.

There you go, Camila thought. She'd seen it coming from the moment she had gotten into the car. Of course Louis had to tell Lauren, as he had done with Camila herself the day they met, what her sexuality was. She wondered whether he did that with every person he encountered and if he did, whether he had ever gotten punched. However, her major worry right then was Lauren's response to the boy's implication.

"Oh please, don't make assumptions," Lauren replied sharply, as though she had had that same conversation more times earlier in her life.

"I'm just saying. The way you kissed that dancer, I could see you were totally into it."

"Good for you. But that doesn't mean you have the right to put a label on me straight away."

"Ok. Maybe I overstepped some boundaries. What I wanted to know, and I'm sorry for assuming instead of asking, is whether you're gay or not?" Louis quickly apologized to continue pushing the subject futher.

"I consider myself as bixesual," Lauren replied straightforward.

"See? You enjoyed kissing that girl," Louis stated triumphantly. Laured rolled her eyes but she wasn't really annoyed at Louis, because she had in fact liked it very much.

"What about you? It's only fair I know your sexuality too."

"Oh. I'm full blown gay," Louis laughed.

A weird silence invaded the van as both Louis and Lauren turned their heads to look at Camila, who had been conviniently quiet during the whole conversation.

"And Camila you are..." Louis trailed off, expecting the girl to finish off his sentence, as his lips displayed a wide, playful grin.

Camila's cheeks turned bright red the second she'd felt Lauren stare intently at her. Now, she had to give an answer to a question she had been trying and failed to work out for quite a while. She had no idea how she had gotten herself trapped into that dead end street, but they were still far away from home, and there was no way she could somehow deflect the question. Consequently, she inhaled deeply, before replying.

"I'm-"

A/N: I get frequently asked if there's gonna be smut in this book. The answer is yes.