like a forest fire | camren (au)

3

They arrive at the Kingston Theatre twenty minutes late.

Camila's hair is much messier than before, her cheeks are slightly flushed and Lauren has completely given up on trying to keep her thoughts straight, no longer tipsy on the wine but rather on the feeling of Camila's mouth hot against her own. It takes a while, but eventually they make it out of the bookstore and into the theatre.

"Can we still go in?" Lauren asks the man at the ticket office, unable to keep the smile from curling around her lips.

"Hm..." he says, frowning deeply. "We don't really want to disturb the performances - but perhaps, if you walk up to the first balcony and keep quiet, it's all right."

"Thank you," Lauren says, quickly holding the door open for Camila before the man changes his mind.

They make their way up the half-lit staircase, but right before Lauren reaches out to open the door, Camila's grabs her wrist and pulls her back, making her spin around - and then they're kissing again.

Lauren can't help but fall back against the wall, pulling Camila closer against her, all tension and sparks and oh my God she's kissing me again - and then Camila breaks away, smiling a little smugly. It lasts long enough to leave Lauren completely breathless and short enough that the only thing she wants to do is switch their positions and pin Camila against the wall with her body, kissing her again and again and again until-

"Sorry," Camila breathes out with a smile, and Lauren has to bite down on her lip hard to snap herself back into reality. "I really wanted to do that."

Lauren swallows, before stammering out, "N-no problem - I mean, n-not a problem... like, at all."

The corner of Camila's mouth curls even further upwards and Lauren curses herself internally for being so ridiculous the whole time.

(She curses Camila a little bit too for making her entire body forget how to function.)

"Good to know," Camila grins, flirtatious edge to her voice. "Thanks for that assessment."

Lauren can feel herself flush, but the way Camila is looking at her makes her heart race, and the tension softens so she laughs as well, before letting her fingers fall to the back of Camila's neck and abruptly pulling her in to kiss her again.

When she breaks away, she catches the shy glint in Camila's eyes and the way her exhale is suddenly a little stuttered, and Lauren can't help but smile and feel her confidence spike.

"Let's go, beautiful," she says, relishing in the way Camila's eyes widen at the bold term of affection. "We're here for a poetry slam event, remember?" Camila rolls her eyes jokingly, like that's the last thing on her mind, and Lauren grins. "I thought you said you were serious about being a writer, but you seem a bit unfocused..."

Camila bites her lip, leaning into Lauren a little more, before winking at her and abruptly reaching for the door. There are only a couple of other people sitting on the balcony, because most of the spectators are on the ground level, so there is still more than enough space on the first row. They quietly make their way to the seats. On stage, two guys are in the middle of a double performance, their voices low and deep, reaching far into the theatre with their explosive poem. After they've taken their seats, Lauren takes one more glance at Camila whose eyes are already glued to the stage, and then she leans back in her chair and lets her mind be carried away by the steady beats and well-constructed sentences.

God - she loves this kind of stuff so much.

Every single time someone is brave enough to step onto the stage and share something they've created, Lauren can feel her heart swell up. She's so easily touched by all the stories and impressed by people's willingness to show emotion, making her laugh or hold her breath or fall back into her chair thinking damn that was beautiful - and she can tell that Camila is feeling exactly the same way.