Come Back, Be Here (Camren)

Chapter 52

"So you just left. Just like that?" Keana asks as she cooks her best friend some breakfast.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, Ke, but we need a break. She needs a chance to get her life together and find who she used to be. If I stayed in that apartment with Camila, well with the person she's become, I'm worried it would have only led to a divorce."

"I understand." Keana nods her head as she transfers the scrambled eggs from the pan to a plate and then sets the plate in front of Lauren. "So when are you going back to Miami?"

"I'm not." Lauren answers immediately. "I would never dream of leaving her in this city alone. I want to be here in case-"

"Something happens to her." Keana finishes her sentence.

"Yeah. I have to be here in case she needs me." Just as those words leave the brunette's mouth, her phone rings and she looks down to see Camila's picture on her screen. She sighs and sends the call to voicemail.

"That's her needing you, Laur." Keana nods her head in the direction of the phone.

"No, it's her wanting to beg for my forgiveness and apologize for things she's not willing to change about herself. If she really needed me, like emergency wise, I know she'd try to get in contact with you or Dinah, and then one of you would get in contact with me." Lauren says as she picks up her fork and transfers some eggs from the plate in front of her to her mouth.

"In that case, you know you are welcome to stay here as long as you want and I won't tell her you are here." Keana says and Lauren nods as she swallows the mouthful of eggs.

"Thanks, Ke. I'll pay rent I swear." Lauren picks up her orange juice and takes a sip of it.

"Don't bother" Keana waves her hand dismissively. "My roommate is studying abroad and she is paying half the rent. I just won't tell her you are living here."

The mention of studying abroad makes Lauren's heart sink. That's how she met Camila, the girl she thought she would never in a million years walk out on.

The girl she thought she would never in a million years catch doing drugs.

Lauren doesn't notice that Keana had taken a seat beside her until she feels an arm wrap around her shoulders.

"It's going to be okay, Lo. You two will get through this." Keana promises as she guides Lauren's head to her shoulder and places a quick kiss to the top of it.

"I hope so. I can't live without her." Lauren allows a sob to escape her lips and Keana just pulls her closer. She hates seeing her friend this broken.

Speaking of broken, Camila cannot seem to feel anything but complete and utter brokenness. When Lauren left, she laid on the floor of their apartment in a fetal position until the sun came up the next day. It was when the sunlight peaked through the blinds that she finally pulled herself up off the floor. However, she just moved to her bed and she didn't leave it for a solid week. This past week has been the worst one of her life. She has not heard from Lauren and every single time she tries to call, she is sent straight to voicemail. She hasn't eaten and she's pretty sure her body is dehydrated from crying as much as she has.

Currently, it's Friday, exactly a week since Lauren left her, and Camila is scouring through her purse in search of the drugs that caused Lauren to leave her in the first place. When her hands find the small vial of white powder, she immediately pulls it from her bag and empties all the contents into the toilet. Once the toilet is flushed, she keeps digging until her hands find the orange bottle containing a dozen or so blue Adderall pills. Deciding that she may need them in the future sometime to help her focus, she puts them up in her medicine cabinet instead of getting rid of them.