HMU

one hundred thirty three

Camila glances out the window as Lauren pulls up. "Guys!" She grabs everyone's attention, tapping her nose twice and motioning out of the room.

"What the hell does that mean?" Dinah says, clueless.

"Oh my god, just.. go hide in the kitchen for a few minutes." Camila rolls her eyes as the girls make their way into the next room. Camila rushes to the couch and sits down, grabbing a book off the coffee table and leaning back, acting as casual as possible.

Lauren opens the door with a sigh, tossing her bag down and leaning back against it with her eyes closed. "Hey, babe." Camila greets, earning her attention. "How was your day?"

"My supervisor got on my ass more than once. She showed no mercy, even though it's my birthday." Lauren grumbles, pouting as she walks over to Camila. She leans over the back of the couch, puckering her lips for a kiss as Camila turns her head to meet Lauren. "Halsey made it better though, she gave me half of her sandwi— are you reading a book?"

"What? Uh, yeah..."

"What.. book?

Camila closes it and flips it around to look at the cover, blushing as she realizes what she'd chosen. She would've been better off taking one of the crossword books her mom had laying about. "'Being Dead is No Excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral'." Lauren giggles, picking the book from her hands and setting it down before snuggling her face into Camila's neck.

"I'm just glad I get to be home with you for the rest of the day."

"Not necessarily..." Dinah's voice interrupts them, Lauren pushing herself up as a smile breaks out on her face upon seeing her friends.

"Let's get this party started, shall we?"

---

"Dinah, stop wasting our napkins!"

"But Ally's being annoying."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"You are both. Very. Annoying."

Lauren giggles as she watches them continue to throw napkins back and forth at one another, scooting her chair closer to Camila and pulling her feet up to lay across her lap. Camila leans back, resting one arm on the back of Lauren's chair and using the other to brush strands of Lauren's hair behind her ear. "So, now how was your day?" Her hand falls to Lauren's thigh, tracing patterns with her thumb.

"It was very good, thank you. I wasn't expecting anything but cuddles and Netflix when I got home, so this was a very nice surprise." Lauren leans forward and pecks Camila's lips.

"I'm glad." Camila reaches her hand back and fiddles with her pocket, where she'd been keeping the promise rings for almost a month now. She'd been working her way up to this moment, never knowing when would be the right time. But it felt like as good a time as any. "Hey, uhm... Lolo?"

"Yeah?" Lauren lifts her feet off Camila's lap and grabs her free hand, picking up that whatever Camila had to say was going to be important. The others seemed to notice the shift in the room, quieting down and giving Camila their attention as well.

"So... We met almost a year ago. A year in one month, in fact." Camila smiles, glancing at the tattoo on Lauren's inner arm briefly. "We've been together for over seven months now, and I just want you to know how important you are to me. I was a totally different person before I met you, and you've made me so incredibly happy that words can't even describe the feeling I get when I'm with you. I love you so, so much." The smile never leaves Lauren's face, even as tears begin to build up. "Which is why for your birthday, I got you this." Camila pulls out the matching rings. "I don't know if you think this is too soon, which it's totally fine if you do, but just hear me out... I've had some pretty okay relationships in my life, but never before have I been with someone as amazing as you. The way you make me feel... I want to feel that way for as long as I can. I'm not asking you to marry me, 'cause who even knows what could happen between now and then... I just... I want us to promise to always try. I want you to promise me that you'll always be my Lolo and I'll always be your Camz, no matter what happens. I want to promise you that I'll always love you, because now that I know what it feels like, I'm not sure I ever want it to stop. So... what I'm basically trying to say is, will you accept this promise ring?"

Lauren couldn't hold back tears anymore, unable to form a coherent sentence. So instead she just nods, allowing Camila to slip the rings onto each of their fingers. Once they're on, Lauren leans forward and gently grabs Camila's face in her hands, kissing all over before stopping at her lips. Sometime into the kiss Dinah starts clapping and cheering, causing the others to join her antics as well.

When they pull away, Lauren is smiling and Camila is laughing at Dinah. She admires her girlfriend's side profile, eyes tracing her features as she soaks in this moment, deciding she never wants it to end.

***