Our Deepest Scars

Chapter 33

Camila woke up late the next morning, having slept badly. Her chocolate eyes were puffy and red from crying as she padded slowly towards the lounge, seeking out her girlfriend.

"Camila?" A quiet voice emitted from inside the room, and the brunette jumped. Eagerly, she pushed open the door, hoping to find the emerald eyed girl inside. All she wanted was an explanation from Lauren. But when she entered, she wasn't met with the sight that she was craving.

Dinah, Ally and Normani were sitting together on the couch, fully dressed. This was contrasting to the smaller girl, who was still wearing her sleeping things. Lauren was noticeably absent.

"W-where is she?" Camila asked tentatively, her raspy voice cracking slightly as she spoke. Searchingly, she peered around the small room, as if hoping that her girlfriend was hiding behind the door or under the pile of blankets on top of the couch.

Dinah sighed, bracing herself to tell the smaller girl the truth. "She left earlier," the Polynesian admitted softly, "I don't know where she went. But she said she had to do something." Seeing the crumpled, broken look on her best friend's face, Dinah outstretched her arms for Camila to crawl into. However, the Latina didn't accept the offer. Instead, she felt her knees buckle beneath her and simply sunk down to the floor.

"Mila?" Ally whispered concernedly, climbing hurriedly off the couch to rub the younger girl's back soothingly. "It's okay," she said gently, observing the tears that were pooling in Camila's eyes.

"What did I do to her?" Camila cried despairingly, allowing the moisture to spill out of her brown orbs and choking down a lump in her throat. She didn't understand why her girlfriend had become a different person overnight. Even on the phone she had still been the old Lauren, if slightly tired and sluggish. What could possibly have turned her into an unrecognisable girl in the space of a few hours? "I just want to understand what I did wrong..." she whispered, forcing herself not to let out the sob that she was holding down in her chest.

Normani and Dinah exchanged distraught glances, scooting down to sit on the floor beside the other two girls. "None of this is your fault, Mila. You didn't do anything wrong," Normani promised, taking the brunette's hand and squeezing it gently.

"Yeah, it's Lauren who's acting like an idiot," Dinah said bluntly, making Camila smile weakly through her tears. "Come on," she encouraged, helping the smaller girl up and leading her into the kitchen to sit down again. The other two girls followed, passing glances of both relief that Camila had stopped crying and sadness at the unexplainable situation.

The Polynesian pulled Camila onto the couch closest to the kitchen. While Normani sat down and began to talk quietly to the smaller girl, Dinah discreetly instructed Ally to make Camila some breakfast. All of them had already eaten and knew that the Latina would avoid food at all costs, considering her outburst the previous night.

"Here you are, Mila," the eldest girl said a moment later, turning around to face the other three girls sat on the comfortable couch with a pink bowl in her hands.

"What's that?" Camila asked suspiciously, with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She couldn't face the thought of eating this morning; not when Lauren had completely abandoned her. Everything in her life was spiralling out of control, just like her girlfriend seemed to have spiralled out of it.

Ally gave her a quick smile and the other two girls looked at Camila nervously but reassuringly. "Your favorite cereal. We just...we wanted you to know that just because Lauren's been acting a little...strange, it doesn't mean everything else in your life has to fall apart too." She handed the bowl and a spoon to the brunette, who was staring down at the cereal like it was an approaching enemy on her own personal battlefield.