Come Back, Be Here (Camren)

Chapter 32

Camila sits down at a booth in the coffee shop by her hotel. She pulls out To Kill a Mockingbird and opens it up to the page where she left off last.

Currently, it's Thursday afternoon, her last day here in LA. She leaves tomorrow at noon to go to the airport and her stomach is in knots because she will be seeing Lauren in two days. As she sits in the cafe, she finds that reading is nearly an impossible task because she keeps getting lost in her thoughts. Thoughts about one green-eyed Latina. 

"Miss." She hears someone speak to her, but before she can answer or see who it is, she finds herself remembering a more painful time in her past.

Flashback

"Miss!" Camila hears a man yell and both her and Lauren turn around. "Your boarding pass didn't scan properly. Can you please come back out here so I can re-scan it?" Camila sees that he is addressing her wife and the younger Latina absentmindedly tightens her grip on Lauren's hand.

Lauren turns to her with a reassuring smile. "I'll be right back, okay?" She offers the handle of the suitcase to Camila. "Go ahead and get situated and everything. I'll see you soon."

Camila can't shake the sick feeling that's in the pit of her stomach, but she just pushes it aside for the moment and smiles tenderly at her wife. "Hurry back, Lo. I'm tired and I need a shoulder to sleep on." Camila stands on her tippy toes and places a gentle kiss on the green-eyed girl's lips. She feels Lauren tilt her head so she can deepen the kiss, but the man behind them clears his throat and Camila pulls away before Lauren can protest.

Camila smiles when Lauren momentarily intertwines their hands and leans in to place a quick kiss on her nose. "Love you, baby."

Camila giggles as butterflies invade her stomach. She immediately returns the gesture. "Back atcha, green eyes."

Lauren reluctantly retracts her hand and Camila frowns slightly at the loss of contact. She watches as her wife follows the man back up the ramp and when she makes it to the front, Camila turns and starts making her way on the plane. Of course it couldn't be easy for her and she sighs when the wheel of the suitcase decides to conveniently get hung in the crack where the boarding ramp meets the plane. After struggling with it and cursing at it for a few seconds, the suitcase finally decides to cooperate and allows her to pull it over the threshold from the ramp to the plane.

Once on, she navigates to her seat and puts her suitcase and banana printed bag in the overhead bin. She frowns when she realizes the two seats next to her are filled up.

Maybe Lauren just couldn't get two seats together since it was last minute, Camila thinks as she scoots past the two people on her row and settles down at the window seat.

She anxiously peeks over the seats, waiting for her wife to board the plane. Her right leg bounces up and down in anticipation and after 10 minutes have passed, panic starts to set in. As soon as she goes to unbuckle, she sees the flight attendant pull the plane door closed.

"No, wait!" Camila shouts as she hastily rips off the seat belt and scurries back out to the aisle. The two flight attendants that are on board look at her with matching sympathetic expressions. "My wife, she was right behind me, she just had to re-scan her boarding pass." Camila tries to reason with the two ladies, but they just sigh.

"Ma'am, can you please take a seat for us? The plane is about to start moving." One of them touches Camila's arm in attempt to guide her back to her seat, but Camila just shrugs her off.

"No, please you have to stop the plane! My wife she was supposed to be on here with me!" Camila feels tears start pouring down her face when they make no move to do what she is asking of them.