Where love leads us (Sequel of BWYDT)

Chapter 26

A/N: Here is the next chapter. Longest yet. Vacations are happening soon as well as some development with Normani. This chapter has a bit of everything in it.

As always, thank you for reading and reviewing and messaging. They are great motivators to keep things going even during busy times.

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"Oh my god. Is it really that late?" Camila asked looking at her phone. It was 1 am and the banter had carried the group through their meal and out into the back yard with no signs of slowing down.

"Oh shit." Nikki gasped as she looked at her own phone and panicked. She couldn't believe so much time had passed by. She had actually been enjoying it more than hanging out with her own friends, unsure if it was because she felt comfortable with the older women and knew she could be open and honest and out, or if it was just because the married couple was so calm and relaxed and welcoming.

Michelle smiled up at her from her place on the lounger, comfortably using the barista's lap as a pillow. "Did your parents finally find a way to enforce a curfew on you despite your protests?"

The brunette scoffed. "Not hardly. Some lines I won't ever cave on. But I do need to call them at least." Michelle understood that and sat up so Nikki could excuse herself to make the phone call.

"Just don't run away." The younger raven-haired called after her with an adoring smile. The evening had turned into more than Michelle was expecting as well. She thought they would have dinner, some small talk, and then it would wind down causally and with as little awkwardness as possible. But instead, the evening just kept going and enjoyably so. "So... what do you guys think?"

Lauren and Camila smiled at each other knowingly. The two girls were cute together and they bantered like people who had known each other for years. Lauren still had reservations after learning that not only was Nikki not out yet but that she came from a close and conservative family. She worried that if there had to be a choice made, it may not end up being Michelle. That or Nikki would just never come out, asking Michelle to stay her secret for longer than healthy. "I like her." The photographer finally answered, taking a drink of her wine. "She seems intelligent and yet still playful. Two things that match you. Especially since you've lost some of that..." She paused and looked to Camila for help.

"Slightly uptight nature?"

Lauren tilted her glass to her wife before moving her arm over the back of their seat to wrap around the brunette's shoulders. "Yes. That. Since you've been here."

Michelle pulled her head back in shock. "Me? Uptight?"

"You've settled into your skin more since you've been with us." Camila reworded. "You've gone from having this very specific motive and attitude and being sort of... defensive, to just enjoying things as they come."

The teenager pondered the comment but didn't argue against it. She could see it and clearly, both of the older women did too. She decided quickly that the concept was a nice one, proof that she was starting to find herself and maybe her path in life and that this change she was feeling wasn't due to influence. But part of her held her breath, wondering if Ariana would pick up on this new change as easily and if it would help or hinder her attempts to close the gap between them.

"So... good news or bad news?" Nikki asked as she approached, placing her phone back in her pocket.

The two older women looked to Michelle and waited as she visibly but playfully debated her answer. "Bad news first. Please don't tell me you have to go."

"No." Nikki quickly waved her hand and took her seat again, indicating she was there for the duration. "But with all the time I've spent with you... Mom wants to know why it is she hasn't met you yet. She knows all my other friends, but not you." Both Lauren and Camila scrunched their face at the awkwardness but kept their silence. They knew what was coming. "She has decided that she needs to be able to put a face to the name and meet you. Especially because I am at your house with your parents... even though that's a loose-fitting title." She waved her hand back and forth, motioning the fluidity if the older women's relationship with her girlfriend. "And also the fact I have been here for nearly seven hours."