Really Are Better Together

Chapter Thirty

a/n wow, it's been a while. I'm so sorry guys! But, I will say, in the time I've been gone, my writing and my understanding of things has gotten so much better, or at least I think so. :) I was going through my story earlier and wrote it so long ago that I didn't even remember writing. That's sad. Now, on with the story. If you remember correctly, today's the one year anniversary of Camila losing her dad. And that's where we'll begin. 

It's the next morning and Camila still hasn't slept. She laid in the bed next to Lauren just staring at the wall while her mind ran wild. She was thinking and overthinking. She thought about Sofi, her mother, Lauren, how she felt. If she was honest, she didn't know how she was feeling. She couldn't believe that he'd been gone for a year. A year and it still hurts. Maybe less than right after it happened, but, it hurt. Sometimes she didn't know how to live without him. She thought she couldn't go on, couldn't survive without him. Camila couldn't imagine her life without her father. And now that he was gone, she didn't know how to react, how to respond. Of course, Lauren helped. Lauren helped more than she ever believed she did. 

As per usual, Lauren's alarm went off at 8 am. And with a groan, she smacked her phone successfully shutting off the sleep-interrupting noise. With a yawn and a stretch, Lauren was awake. "Good morning, baby," she spoke, putting her arm across Camila and snuggling into her side. 

"Good morning," Camila answered.

"How long have you been up for?" Lauren questioned seeing that Camila looked like she hadn't slept for long or even at all. "Did you ever go back to sleep?"

"Uhm... no. I couldn't sleep. My mind has been running wild all night."

"'Cause of today?" Lauren asked and Camila just nodded her head, tears already threatening to fall. Lauren pulled Camila closer into her trying to provide some comfort, not really knowing what to do in this situation. Amidst her thinking, however, Camila mumbled something into her chest. "What's that, Camz?" Lauren spoke in a low voice pulling away from Camila a small amount to be able to hear her. 

"I miss him so much," Camila said clearer this time. And Lauren really didn't know what to do then. That's when she felt tears start to threaten to fall from her eyes. The love of her life lost the first man she ever learned to love. She was crying and there was nothing and that hurt her more than she could admit. 

Getting out of bed that morning would have been the hardest task to accomplish. Lauren didn't force Camila to do anything that she wasn't ready to do or didn't want to do. If she wanted to sit in bed all day, she could, if she wanted to go to a theme park and do the tallest roller coaster and have the craziest day ever, she could, whatever she wanted, today was her day. It wasn't until about eleven though that Camila did actually get out of bed, she figured she should eat something. Slowly she stood up and almost fell, thankfully Lauren was on her way up to surprise her with breakfast in bed that she was able to put the food down and catch her and slowly help her back into a seated position on the bed. "Where were you trying to go?" Lauren questioned playfully. 

"I was going to get food, I'm a little hungry. But it seems like you have that covered," Camila responded meekly. 

"I made you breakfast because today is for you, if you need anything, I am right here for you. Anything at all. I love you." Lauren stated kinder than ever, ending her sentence with a kiss to Camila's forehead. "I made you bacon, eggs, and two pancakes. Oh and toast! There's also a banana there for you. I freshly squeezed the oranges your mom brought last week and made you orange juice."

"Oh my, how long did this take, Laur?"

"Oh don't worry about it, I did it all for you. I love you to the moon and back." Lauren stated as she started to walk away to go start to clean up her mess in the kitchen. She quickly turned back around however and spoke matter-of-factly, "no no no, the moon's much too close. I love you to Pluto and back and through every other galaxy existing. Also, why is Pluto treated so badly, it's so cute."