Come Back, Be Here (Camren)

Chapter 46

"I hope you had a good birthday, baby." Lauren turns to her wife as they stand in front of their apartment door.  Tonight the two brunettes celebrated Camila's 26th birthday.

"Any birthday that I get to spend with you is always going to be a good one." Camila responds as she leans in and plants a lingering kiss to her wife's slightly chapped lips.

"Did you have fun though? Like dinner and a movie wasn't too boring was it?" The green-eyed girl asks, her voice laced with insecurity.

"Tonight was perfect, Lo. I told you we didn't have to go all out for my birthday. We could've sat in our apartment and silently watched paint dry together and I would've still had a great time." Camila smiles lovingly at her wife.

"Well how about we go inside and I give you your other birthday present." The older Latina wags her eyebrows and Camila just chuckles as she unlocks the door and they both step inside the dark apartment.

"Surprise!" Both the Latinas hear a chorus of voices as soon as they turn on the light to their apartment. Neither of them had been aware that a surprise party would be thrown and after everything that's happened the past year, neither do quite well with surprises and people jumping out at them.

Before Lauren can stop herself, she quickly shoves Camila behind her and takes a swing at the person that pops out from behind the table by the door. That person just so happens to be Dinah.

"Ah fuck!" Dinah yells as she clasps both hands over her nose.

"Oh shit! Dinah I'm so sorry i-it was just a reflex of mine because we weren't expecting anyone tonight and it caught me off guard!" Lauren tries to explain herself as Normani rushes over to her wife and pulls her into the kitchen so she doesn't get blood everywhere. The green-eyed girl quickly turns to face her wife and notices that Camila's eyes are wide and her chest is rising and falling quickly. Lauren immediately pulls the smaller girl into her arms and rubs her back soothingly. "You're okay, it's just our friends. You're safe. I've got you."

Camila nods, her face buried in her wife's neck. She's embarrassed that her body reacts this way, but after everything she's been through, she just can't help it. After she feels her own breathing settle, she places a quick kiss to Lauren's neck and then pulls back to face her wide-eyed friends.

"Mila we are so sorry..." Ally steps forward, her eyes apologetic. "We just wanted to do something nice for you since it's your birthday, but we should've thought it out more or at least ran the idea by Lauren."

"It's okay, Ally." Camila steps forward and puts her hands on the shorter girl's shoulders. "It was a sweet gesture and I'm so glad that you all are here." She gives her shoulders a light squeeze before turning her attention to the tall boy standing behind Ally.

"Happy birthday, Camila." Shawn offers her a shy smile while extending a nicely wrapped present in her direction.

"I'm glad you could be here." The brunette grabs the present and places it on the couch. She then closes the distance between the two of them and wraps her arms around the boy's torso. "Thank you so much for the gift." She mumbles when she pulls away from the hug.

Camila glances over her shoulder to see that her wife is standing in the kitchen with Normani and Dinah. "If you'll both excuse me, I need to go check on Cheech." They both nod and Camila walks swiftly to the kitchen and stands by her friend, who is holding an ice-pack to her nose while sitting on top of their counter.

"Hey DJ, you okay?" Camila places her hand on Dinah's shoulder.

"Ralph has a hell of a right hook." The Polynesian chuckles as she takes the ice-pack off her nose. All three girls grimace when they see how bad it looks. Luckily, her nose doesn't look broken, but the skin around both of her eyes is already starting to blacken and there is dried blood all over her face, neck, and shirt.