Vengeance Of Love (Camren) (G!P)

Chapter 16.

Camila's POV

I had come to realize that the more I waited to give her this note, the more it was eating me inside out. I wanted to trust the letter so badly, but I was also afraid that this could be one of Brad's schemes to lure Lauren in and hurt her. What if the lady was some weirdo out to get Lauren while she's in her most vulnerable state? I can't risk peeking her interest when this note could mean trouble.

At the same time, I didn't want to deprive Lauren of her own business. The lady looked quite familiar and part of me wanted to push away the lingering thoughts of how similar she looked to Lauren. And it just didn't make sense. Lauren had no biological family left, unfortunately. I was reaching too far out.

"You keep reading that grocery list," Lauren's warm breath tickles my neck when she walks past me, looking down at the note just when I'm tucking it in back in my pocket. "Are you hungry?"

I ignore the smirk on her face and shake my head, offering a small smile. "I just don't want any trouble with my mom. She's a pain in the ass if I don't do something."

"Hispanic mothers will make your life shit over left over water bottles in your room. Over anything, really." Lauren chuckles, shaking her head. I nod softly, still trying to keep a not so suspicious smile on my face. I can tell that her own comment made her think for a few seconds before she looks down at her lap with a small sigh. "I still remember..."

"Yeah..."I swallow away the moisture in my mouth, nervously playing with the tips of my fingers.

The room goes quiet for a few seconds and I look back into the house where Dinah and Lucy were trying to make their own Ouija Board out of copy paper and markers. I take a deep breath and rehearse what I could say to keep things from getting too awkward. It was more quiet than usual around us and I despised silence.

"What does it say?" Lauren whispers, looking into my eyes with a smile so sad that it worries me.  I reach for it again and shrug, shaking my head with a stuttering response.

"Just a few uh...just eggs, milk, some pastries Sofi wanted." I lie smoothly. Or so I hoped.

"What does the note say?" Lauren repeats with a tiny sigh. I look up at her in shock and the smile on her face reads "Gotcha", as if she had already known my lie was just some stupid cover up. I shake my head, feigning confusion.

"That note is way too long to be some grocery list. Did your mom leave the Bakery's number, too?" Lauren chuckles, reaching in to grab the note in my pocket. I can see she's frustrated with my silence but she doesn't open it until I explain myself, wanting to give me enough privacy to trust her. The sarcasm in her statement makes me realize that she was quite upset that I wasn't sharing anything with her giving the current circumstances.

"I don't want you getting your hopes up," I tell her softly, swallowing away the shame with a quick chuckle. "It can mean many things. I just don't want you getting hurt because of Brad or Quinn making some stupid things up."

"May I?"

I nod, wanting to get rid of the constant secrecy of the note. It had more to do with doing the right thing instead of constantly thinking that everyone wanted to hurt us. Maybe this note was the light of our darkness and I was too afraid to admit it. I wanted badly to tell the woman with those familiar green eyes to come in and to explain everything thats happened because I felt so vulnerable and worthless.

I felt like I needed some form of help for Lauren because I wasn't doing a very good job myself. I felt alone.

Lauren opens the note carefully and her eyes skim through each and every word with this look on her face that worries me more than it  frightens me. Her lips tremble just slightly and her fingers tighten around the edges of the paper, fluttering eyes trying their best to keep from shedding angry tears. I can see that she's holding back on yelling at me and asking me why I had this in my pocket but I can only look down at my fingers with a shameful frown.