We're A Secret (Camren)

Chapter 23

"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings."

Lauren's P.O.V.

"Lauren!" A familiar raspy voice called from downstairs and I instantly pulled away from Normani, who stared down at me in confusion. She pushed off of me and straightened her clothes, exiting the room and going down the stairs. I chased after my girlfriend and tried to stop her from talking to the girl downstairs first, but Normani placed a hand on my chest and said she just wanted to explain something to Camila.

I heard quiet, inaudible voices come from downstairs as the two talked and I tried my best not to eavesdrop on the conversation. I heard bits and pieces here and there and Normani wasn't saying anything over the line. She was merely talking to Camila about what she'd been doing over the past few weeks. I remained at the top of the stairs in wait until my girlfriend came back up to get me, pulling on my hand excitedly and leading me towards Camila.

"Hi Lauren! How are you?" The brown eyed girl asked and I struggled to come up with an answer, too shocked by her unhealthy appearance and pallor. I wanted to reach out and wrap my arms around her and comfort her, but I simply couldn't do that.

"I'm great Camila, you on the other hand-"

"Great! I just wanted to see how you were doing. You know, with the new relationship and all. Depression and stuff." She said, rocking awkwardly back and forth on her heels.

"Well, depression isn't really a big issue for me anymore, not since said new relationship." I explained and Camila nodded, obviously uncomfortable.

"What are you doing here Camz? I thought your mother didn't want you to come back to Miami." I said quizzically and Camila gave me an impish smile, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I wanted to see you. To make sure you were alright." She said and a blush spread across her cheeks as she said it.

I tried not to kiss the stupidly adorable look off her face because I knew she was trying to charm me. Camila doesn't have the same viewpoint about faithfulness that I do. She's asked me to leave Normani several times over the past few weeks and I've always rejected the idea because Normani is so much more stable than Camila.

"Well, as you can see, I am just fine and dandy and I'm kind of busy with Normani. I don't mean to be rude, but now is not really a great time for a visit." I said and I instantly regretted my harsh tone when I saw tears well up in the youngest girls eyes.

Normani glared at me and placed a comforting hand on Camila's shoulder, forcing the latter to look her in the eyes. Camila surprisingly obliged, weakly smiling up at the dark girl. Normani started to quietly talk to Camila, telling her that everything is going to be ok. My ex-girlfriend shook her head and clenched her fists and anger washed over her features, dissolving her adorable facade. Camila tried to punch Normani several times, screaming about how it's not fair, but I restrained the inconstant girl, tightly squeezing her to try and calm her down. Normani wiped off the little bit of blood Camila's initial attack caused and glowered at the 15 year old before turning and heading upstairs, slamming my bedroom door behind her.

I finally released the distressed teenager and she sprang out of my arms. Her eyes were full of rage and I could see the resentment radiating off of her. She balled a lock of hair in her hand and gritted her teeth together, pacing around the floor.

"Camz, you can't just try to attack my girlfriend because you think it's unfair that I've moved on. You are not who I want, get over it." I said with a disapproving tone and those seemingly innocent eyes stared up at me, pleading for forgiveness.

"I don't know why I did that. I was just so mad and I wanted to hurt her but I know that I shouldn't. Hurting people is wrong and I know that, I just....she's taken you away from me."

"I wasn't yours. You're insane. Get out of my house!" I shouted and she cringed away from the outburst, but stayed relatively put.

I groaned and grabbed her arm, tugging her toward the front door, opening it for her and shoving her out, but she turned around and crashed her lips against mine hungrily. I instantly pushed her away and wiped off my upper lip, feeling utterly disgusted by Camila's display of affection.

"I don't feel that way about you anymore Camila. We can be friends but this needs to stop. You need to stay away from me and never, ever, do that again. I can't believe you'd force yourself on me. I thought you had more self respect than that." I said with a scoff and moved to close the door, but Camila stuck her foot in the way, begging me to reconsider my decision.

"No! I'm not going to come back to you. You're a fucking mess and that's not my damn fault! I'm not going to pick up all the pieces and put you back together because that's not my job anymore. We are merely acquaintances. Do you understand?" I asked and Camila shook her head vigorously, asking me what she did wrong.

I didn't reply to her question, instead gently moving her out of the way of the door and shutting it, returning upstairs to consul my girlfriend. She was trying to stop her bloody nose and I could tell that she was in a lot of pain from the punches that Camila threw at her. I placed a hand in between her shoulder blades and pulled her into me. She gasped at the sudden contact but allowed me to hold her. I talked out loud about how her and I are going to move past this ridiculous ex-girlfriend drama and how we're going to be so happy in the future.

"She's always going to be around. She loves you." Normani commented and I shrugged.

"Well, love fades. She'll give up eventually." I said confidently but Normani seemed unconvinced, moving away from me and looking down at her hands, remaining silent for a few minutes before she muttering something about leaving and rushed out of my house, giving me barely a hug for a goodbye.

I was left alone and confused in my small, empty room. I looked around and cringed at the amount of things I had that are directly correlated to Camila. An Ed Sheeran poster was hanging right above my lamp and several of her favorite albums were surrounding my cd player. The jean jacket that she loved so much was hanging in my closet, reeking of her oddly fruity smell. There were teen novels and Anäis Nin poems strewn all over my desk that Camila had recommended months ago. You could take one look in my room and see that Camila had an influence on me. If I want to forget about her I have to get rid of all of these stupid things.

I don't know if forgetting is the best option, but it's what I want to do. I've moved on, she should to. If I don't acknowledge her, maybe she'll finally leave me alone because God knows I still love her to death. I have someone else to think about though and I don't need Camila interfering in my love life again. I don't want to keep feeling this way about an unstable, over-emotional mess of a person because there's a perfectly normal person who is just as interested in me. I never thought I'd grow to resent Camila, but yet, here I am, wishing I'd never bumped into that girl on her first day in high school.