chapter thirteen

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Camila is walking past the front door at just the right time, because there's a loud knock, and she sees Lauren's familiar outline through the glass. Her stomach flips; she loves that they have impromptu hangouts again, it reminds her so much of when they were younger and all they had was each other.

(Technically right now, that's kind of the case. They're back in Miami for Christmas, and Lauren is Camila's only friend back here.)

She tucks the present she'd forgotten to give her into her back pocket and pulls the door open with a smile. "Hey there. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go for lunch." Lauren says, rocking on her heels and running her hand through her hair, two nervous ticks. "It's okay if you're busy, I'll just go entertain myself."

Camila is grateful she'd bothered to get dressed that day, and she nods, slipping on her shoes and grabbing her keys and wallet. "Of course, let's go."

Lauren hums, and walks her to her car, opening up the passenger side door to let her in. "I know a cute little café we can go to. I was in the mood to get out of the house and there's a couple of things I needed to talk to you about."

"Oh, okay," Camila nods, getting in the car and trying to act like she's not nervous for whatever Lauren needs to talk to her about. "Did you see how well our video did? It's actually turning into one of my most viewed, I think. My coming out video is like, literally thirty seconds long and it's the most viewed video on my channel, so I'm glad something with a little more substance is getting up there too."

"That's actually one of the things I need to talk to you about," Lauren tells her, and Camila frowns. Did Lauren need her to take the video down or something? "Don't worry, it's not really to do with the video itself... I'd just rather wait until we're sat down to talk about it."

"Okay," Camila is more than a little confused, but lets Lauren keep whatever she needs to keep a secret as they drive. They end up parking outside a little café that Camila has never been to, and she gets out of the car, following Lauren in. "I don't think I've ever been here before."

"I didn't think you would've," Lauren says, pulling her over to a table by the window. She pulls the chair out for her, and Camila wonders if the talk they're going to have is about the shipping. "Um, anyway-"

"Lauren!" Camila doesn't know whether to be relieved when a girl around their age walks over, pulling Lauren in for a hug. As Lauren sits down, the girl shoots Camila a look, and for a moment, the younger Latina is a little defensive. Who the hell is this girl? And why doesn't she know her?

"Hey, Vero," Lauren smiles as she sits down, and the girl passes Camila a menu. "You know what I'll have, but Camz will need a few minutes to decide, I think."

"Cool. Lucy told me you'd be coming down today," Vero says, and she sends Lauren a look Camila can't decipher, "she didn't say you'd have company."

"Oh, yeah, sorry, manners," Lauren seems to scold herself, "Camila, this is Vero, she's Lucy's girlfriend. Vero, this is Camila, my..."

Lauren seems to taper off, trying to think of a decent descriptor for Camila, and while Camila is still a little socially awkward, she forces herself out of that headspace and smiles, finishing Lauren's sentence for her. "Best friend and ten-year fiancée, at your service."

Lauren blushes at the joke, and at Vero's raised eyebrows, she announces, "I, um... I proposed to her when we were nine..."

Vero laughs. "Well, I admire your commitment. I'll be right back, give you a few minutes to decide."

As she walks away, Camila looks to Lauren inquisitively, "Lucy has good taste. How long have they been together?"

"Almost a year. Vero goes to Stanford, so there's a little bit of distance throughout the school year, but they're both from Miami, so..." Lauren trails off with a shrug, "anyway, pick something on the menu. I highly recommend the chicken club sandwich."

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