i'm only given clues

Interlude 3

Characters: Camila Cabello, Quincy Brown, Ryan Destiny, Normani Hamilton, with Normani/Dinah, Ryan/Quincy, Cordell/Camila, Austin/Camila
Trigger warning: virginity loss

next chapter and this one are really long so like,,,, take your time. Also next chapter is the last.
Enjoyyy

don't skip 😌
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Camila

It's in the moments after Normani's parents leave that Camila realizes how small her problems really are.

Her boyfriend pressuring her, her best friend refusing to give her advice, her parents' worried phone calls and what she thinks is a burgeoning crush on someone, who's already turned her down once, are really nothing when she sees Normani—and all the bravado and strength that comes with her—come crashing down to earth.

Her eyes go wide and her lips tremble with the strength of the words she doesn't have anymore. Camila feels like she's intruding when Quincy catches her falling and pulls her into his lap, only moves to hold her because it's what everyone else does. To her, it doesn't feel right holding Normani Hamilton. It doesn't feel right that she should have to be one of five people that are physically having to hold Normani together. It doesn't feel like something that anyone's had to do before now.

It makes her feel sick with guilt that a mere month ago, she probably would have appreciated witnessing such a thing if only to make herself feel better. She probably would have called it karma, except, now, she's never been more sure that one person deserves something so little.

She's glad when Normani pushes through them, glad when she stumbles away from them and in the opposite direction to her parents. It feels like what should be happening: Normani refusing everyone else and doing it herself. She feels a momentary rush of relief until she hears Normani's feeble admittance that she can't breathe, that they need to get off her because the air won't get into her lungs with their arms holding her so tightly.

Camila freezes, if only from the utter disbelief of what's happening.

She feels like she should be doing something but she just can't. She can't quite compute what's happening.

"Fucking... SHIT!" Frank shouts as Normani heads towards the yard. Quincy gives him a worried look before pivoting on his wheels and following her.

Camila stands beside Ryan and watches as Frank climbs to his feet, his fist beating into a nearby wall as he watches Normani leave. He looks torn.

"Fucking..." he mutters, shaking his head, torn, as he looks from the door to the kitchen to the front door. "...goddamn."

"Frank..." Ryan says timidly and Camila looks at her, not sure why she hasn't followed Normani too. "Frank, what..."

"I don't know, Ryan," he says, his voice raising as he punches the wall again. He folds suddenly, hands pressed to his knees as he tries to control himself. "God dammit, Derrick. God-fucking-damn, you."

It's Libby that cuts the tension. This woman who Camila barely knows is suddenly the only thing she wants to cling to as she climbs back to her feet and shuffles until she's sat on the stairs again.

"Everything will be fine," she says. She's so calm it's like the past hour didn't just happen, that Camila's ears aren't ringing from the harshness of unfamiliar, desperate voices. It's almost like whiplash. Camila narrows her eyes a little, waiting for the "if" or "but" that will follow. It never does and Libby just shakes her head. "Everything will be fine," she says once more. "We'll figure something out."

Strangely, it's Ryan that speaks up. "We have to follow after them," she says softly. "We've got to stop them. They can't do this. They can't. Not to her. Not for this."