Never Let Me Go (Camren/Norminah)

Chapter 30: Reflection (Final)

"I hope you can start building up the kind of person who makes you grin when you look in the mirror, not only because you like what you see, but because you feel good about what's truly on the inside. That's my way to love."

***

(Five years later)

"Chris, you really don't need to be doing this." Lauren stood underneath the broken garage door, arms folded and head tilted back so she could watch her brother work. "I can just call the Russian guy who came in to fix our dryer last month. He did a great job, I probably still have his number somewhere."

"You're not calling a guy." Chris muttered, going up on his toes and taking a blue-handled screwdriver to a series of small bolts on the side of the door. "You have a guy. I can fix this, you just need to stop nagging me."

"You said that three hours ago, and have officially sweated through two tank tops." Lauren rolled her eyes. "Trust me, I'm the last person you need to prove to that you're a man. I know very well you aren't."

"I'm more of a man than you are." Chris muttered back, glancing at her with an annoyed nose twitch.

"So when we arm wrestled at the bar a few weeks ago and I won, that was just another mark of manhood?"

"I told you, the table was slippery and I was drunk!" Chris gritted, glaring at her. "Now if you could do less yapping and more encouraging, I would really appreciate it."

"You got this baby brother." Lauren grinned, pulling out her phone. "I totally believe in you."

"Lauren, don't you dare call anyone!" Chris warned. "I swear to god if you start dialling that phone I'm gonna—"

He was cut off as the door suddenly lost all suspension and came crashing down. Lauren felt herself get yanked out of the way by her brother, his arms tucking around her protectively.

"So." She looked up, lifting a perfectly trimmed eyebrow. "What were you saying about calling the guy?"

"Oh my god we almost just died." Chris breathed. "Okay, I can fix this too."

"Chris." Lauren rolled her eyes, patting him on the chest. "You did your best, we gave it a good shot, let's just call the guy."

"But..." Chris looked at the door sadly. "I can do it Lauren, I swear."

The entrance to the garage swung open, and Camila jogged down the two steps with concern flickering in her eyes. "I was headed downstairs to get some alcohol for tonight and I hear the world's most terrifying sound come from the garage. Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine." Lauren nodded, stepping back. "But Chris has officially failed at fixing this thing yet again. We're just going to call the guy. On the upside, we've officially discovered that he loves me enough to move me away from certain death."

"Oh save it." The man rolled his eyes. "You can't expect me to stand there and watch one of my sisters get skewered in half by a door that clearly doesn't work. No matter how much she ticks me off. Besides, I already got a tattoo for you Lauren, so I already win the award for world's best brother." He then knelt down and yanked it back up, needing to actively support the door to keep it from collapsing closed again. Lauren slapped a cute smile on her face, not moving as much as a muscle to help. "Why do you guys even need a garage anyway? You don't even use it."

"We don't use it, but we paid for the whole automatic thing, so it's a shame that it doesn't work." Camila sighed. "I think broken garage doors run in my blood. You know I've lived in three—"

"Yes Camz, you've broken three garage doors, we know." Lauren grinned. "Chris, just give up. You've probably got better things to do than stay here and sweat through your wardrobe trying to get this done."