Perfect Pair: Opposites Attract

Work It Out

It was a couple weeks after Thanksgiving and nothing had been solved between Lauren and Camila. The tension was still ever-present, but the only difference was that their families knew about what was going on.

Both Sinu and Clara had been pushing their daughters to speak to one another and work out the problems, insisting that the stress would not be good for the baby.

Lauren was sitting in her room studying for her last exam before winter break. She had been nose deep in her books since she arrived home from school, only coming up to break for dinner. She was about to turn the page when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in." Lauren said as she looked up. She smiled softly when she saw her mom walk in. "Hola mami."

"Mija." Clara said with a pointed look, not bothering for the usual pleasantries. She was here to try and get through to her daughter. "You need to talk to Camila and fix this." The woman said as she sat on the edge of Lauren's bed.

Lauren sighed as she sat up and looked at her mom, "Is that all you came up here for?" She asked as she rolled her eyes, "If so, you can leave now. I'm not talking to her until she decides to actually listen to what I have to say."

Clara looked at her eldest child and took a deep breath, "I understand why you're upset, mija. You have every right to feel the way you do, but you need to let Camila express her side without getting upset and being stubborn."

"I'm not being stubborn." Lauren said as she sighed.

"Mija, you are. I know how you are. I know you will make the best decision for all of you, but you need to talk to her. Sinu and I do not want to spend another holiday with hostility between you and Camila." Clara said as she stood up, "Talk to her, Lauren."

Clara walked out of the room and Lauren sighed. She leaned back against her headboard and ran her fingers through her hair. She hated that her and Camila were fighting, but in this instance she truly believed she was justified and had nothing to apologize for.

Lauren sat in silence for a few minutes. She really didn't want to cave first, but she decided that her mom was right. They needed to try and talk it out. She pulled out her cellphone to text Camila.

Lauren: Hey. Are you busy?

She knew that Camila had nothing to do because all she did was work. She finished studying for her GED and passed it a couple months back, and since they weren't really hanging out much, Camila just stayed in.

Her phone chimed signaling she had a text.

Camila: no im not. why?

Lauren typed out a quick response before throwing her phone on her bed and beginning to tidy her room.

Lauren: We need to talk. Come over. Front door is open and so is my room. I'll see you soon.

Lauren quickly put away her laundry that her mom had brought up earlier. She was organizing her desk when she heard her bedroom door open. She turned around to see her girlfriend standing there with a timid look on her face.

"Hi," Lauren said as she finished up putting her study materials away. "How have you been?" She asked as she faced her girlfriend.

"Good," Camila said as she stood there awkwardly, unsure of how to approach this situation. She was shocked that Lauren had contacted her to talk. Her mind was running wild with the 'we need to talk' statement...her mind instantly going to worst case scenario: an inevitable breakup.

"So why did you want me to come over?" Camila asked as she looked up in to the green pools that she missed so much.

Lauren bit her lip as she looked back at Camila, "I, um. Well, we need to sort this out. We can't keep going on being mad at each other. We need to try and sort this out." She said as she reached out for Camila's hand.

She lead her girlfriend over to her bed and sat her down gently. She took her place beside Camila as she looked at the girl.

"I don't want you to go away," Camila confessed, her eyes pleading with Lauren to say something, "and I don't want you to break up with me. If you're just going to do it, please do it now." She said, fighting off tears.

Lauren was shocked by Camila's last statement. Breaking up with the younger girl was the furthest thing from her mind, "No, no. Camz, I'm not breaking up with you." She said softly. "I really do just want to talk and try to sort this out."

The two girls both sat there for a minute, letting their thoughts take over. Lauren looked down at her lap while Camila stared out the window of Lauren's room.

The older girl was the one to break the silence, "I'm sorry that you don't feel included in this decision." She took a moment before speaking again, "I don't want to lose you, but you also hurt me a lot, Camila."

Camila looked up at Lauren with confusion in her eyes, "How did I hurt you?"

"You made it seem like I wasn't worth it." Lauren confessed, "What you said to me on Thanksgiving really hurt. You told me that you gave up everything for me, and it seemed like you were regretting choosing me."

The younger latina shook her head as she reached out for Lauren's hand, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." Camila said honestly, "I understand how that hurt you, but I promise you, baby. I didn't mean it like that."

Lauren just nodded as Camila continued, "I did give up a lot for you, but it's a decision I would make over and over again."

"Thank you." Lauren said as she looked at her girlfriend, "I also wanted to talk to you about the college thing. I, uh. Well, um, I made a decision on where I'm going."

Camila looked up at Lauren, complete shock in her eyes, pleading for Lauren to continue and just spit it out.

"I'm going to UIC in Chicago," She said. "I'll be staying here. I know you really didn't want me to leave, and to be honest I didn't either. I was just trying to make things better for the both of us and for the baby. I will have to take out loans to go there, but we will figure it out. I can't just leave you and the baby knowing that you might end up hating me."

The younger girl let out a huge sigh of relief. She didn't say anything, just reached over and wrapped her arms around Lauren's neck, hugging the girl closely.

"I love you, Camila. I would never do anything to hurt you. I hope you know that." Lauren said as she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist.

"I'm sorry, too." Camila said. "I shouldn't have overreacted. I should have talked to you calmly about my worries and we could have worked this out together instead of spending the better part of the last month fighting."

Both girls were happy that they had finally reach a point of understanding with one another. They were happy that they didn't have to feel awkward around each other any longer. 

Camila looked up at her girlfriend as she leaned in to kiss her softly, "What were you doing before I got here?"

"Studying," Lauren replied, "What else do you think I do?" She chuckled softly.

The two girls sat there holding one another in a comfortable silence. Lauren was glad they were able to put things behind them. She hoped from here on out they would use this as a learning experience.

"Can you stay for a while?" The older girl asked her girlfriend. "I think we've spent too much time apart this last month. I've missed you." She confessed softly.

Camila nodded her head as she separated herself from Lauren. "Can we just lay together for a while? I've missed you holding me." She said as she made herself comfortable on Lauren's bed.

The older girl smiled and instantly moved herself next to Camila. She held her girlfriend as close as she could, swearing to herself that she would never let things get this bad between them again.

AN: Double update because I love you all. I will probably/maybe be updating this weekend sometime, depends what I have going on with family obligations.

Hope you all enjoy! -Amanda