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A delicate, brown-haired girl popped out of the passenger side door of her car. She hurriedly made her way to the trunk while pulling her hood up in an attempt to protect her long locks from the falling rain. She yanked the trunk open and reached her arms around the girth of a large, orange pumpkin. She used her elbow to knock the trunk back down and waddled her way back to the passenger door. Her mother, Sinuhe, laughed at her from the safety of the driver seat and rolled the passenger window down a few inches.
“I told you to bring an umbrella, Camila.” The girl squinted her eyes in a glare, “I feel like I’m taking a shower,” she groaned. Sinuhe laughed again and shook her head. “Go in the house, Mila. I’ll see you later.”
Camila told her mother goodbye and moved as fast she could up to the house. She felt her knees buckle a little as she shifted the pumpkin to her left side and used her right arm to ring the doorbell. Thunder grumbled across the sky and the girl felt a shiver run through her body. She usually found rain quite relaxing and pleasant, but she had never been particularly fond of thunder or lightning.
Camila muttered under her breath at her stupidity for not having called ahead. Her sweatshirt had already been soaked through and she could feel her t-shirt underneath grow damp. Finally, the door in front her was yanked opened. A green-eyed girl stood in the doorway and waved to Sinuhe, who beeped in response and drove away.
“Hey, Camz.” the green-eyed girl greeted with a grin, her arms crossed and body leaning against the doorframe.
“Lauren, if you don’t take this pumpkin and let me in…” Camila started with a grimace. Lauren quickly grabbed the pumpkin and let out a small laugh while moving her body to the side to let Camila in. Camila dripped her way into the foyer and shook the soreness out of her arms.
“Stop! You’re soaking everything!” Lauren squealed as water droplets hit her face. A smile crept onto Camila’s face, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Lo.” Camila proceeded to shake the top half of her body in front of Lauren. Lauren groaned out in frustration as the water splashed across her head and chest. She attempted to glare at the smaller girl, but the corners of her mouth soon tugged up into a smile. Camila shrugged her shoulders and gave her a cheeky grin and began to peel off her soaked sweatshirt.
“Oh no, you’re not taking that thing off in here,” Lauren called over her shoulder while she made her way towards the kitchen, “Go borrow some of my clothes.” Camila had reached the fourth step when Lauren yelled; “Leave yours in the bathroom!”
Camila squished her way up the familiar staircase not bothering to remain quiet, as Lauren’s family had gone out for the night. They had been invited to a Halloween party thrown by the parents of one of Taylor’s friends. Lauren and Chris had been given the option not to go and, given the opportunity, they both took it. Chris was sleeping over his friend’s house and Lauren had invited Camila over to carve pumpkins.
Camila pushed her way into Lauren’s room and flipped the light switch. She pulled open a drawer at random and felt heat rise to her cheeks as her eyes took in the many different colored thongs and bras. She hastily shut the drawer and opened one towards the bottom of the dresser, grabbing a pair of sweatpants. Her feet padded against the carpeted floors as she plucked a lime green t-shirt off the back of Lauren’s chair and made her way into the bathroom. In the bathroom, she stripped, with some difficulty, out of her wet clothing and left it in a pile on the floor. Camila pushed her nose against the t-shirt, smiling at Lauren’s scent. Feeling a little embarrassed, she quickly made her way back down the stairs towards the kitchen.
Lauren had laid out a bunch of different carving tools and knives on the kitchen table and had placed Camila’s pumpkin next to her own. She had already started carving when Camila took a seat next to her.
“What are you making?” Camila said propping her head in the palm of her hand and facing Lauren.
“You.” Lauren replied with a grin. Camila furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the pumpkin. It had two ghoulish eyes and a big mouth with long fangs.
“You’re a jerk.” Camila mumbled and pinched Lauren’s arm.
“Yeah, but you love me.” Camila rolled her eyes, but let a small smile grace her lips as she turned to face the array of tools in front of her. She cut a hole into the top of the pumpkin and began to haphazardly scoop out the inside.
“Ugh, you got pumpkin guts on me.” Lauren grumbled while flicking pumpkin off of her lap.
“No, I didn’t.” Camila replied indignantly. She ran her fingers along the inside of the pumpkin and turned, smearing them across Lauren’s cheek. “But I did do that.”
“You’re dead.” The girl replied, her green eyes narrowing. “But not until later because I really want to finish this.” Camila let out an exaggerated sigh of relief and feigned wiping sweat from her brow, while Lauren rolled her eyes in response. When she had finally finished scooping the insides out, or as Lauren had referred to them, pumpkin guts, she was at a loss of what to make. She scanned the room for inspiration, when the growl in her stomach interrupted her thoughts. A grin spread across Camila’s face and she quickly started working on her idea.
---
Camila was adding the last pepperoni to her pumpkin-pizza (she had created an outline of the pizza by scraping away the top of the skin, without completely breaking through) when the knife slipped away from the pumpkin and dug into the top of her left hand.
“Fuck!” she screamed out in pain, clutching her injured hand. Lauren turned, a laugh bubbling in her throat at the unexpected expletive, when she noticed the blood dripping down Camila’s hand. Lauren’s eyes grew wide at the simultaneous streaming of blood and tears and jumped up, chair scraping against the hardwood floor as she rushed into the bathroom adjacent to the kitchen. Lauren quickly procured a box of Band-Aids and moved back into the kitchen, grabbing a dishcloth as she passed the sink.
Camila was huddled over in the chair, her chocolate hair draping itself across her face. Lauren gingerly moved Camila’s right hand away and dabbed the dishcloth across the still bleeding cut. She pressed down with her right hand and used her other to push Camila’s hair away from her face and tuck it behind her ear.
“It’s okay, Camz. Don’t cry.” The girl murmured in a soft voice, her eyes searching for Camila’s, which were still trained on her injured hand. Lauren’s hand lingered on Camila’s face, cupping her cheek.
“It doesn’t look like it’d hurt, but it really fucking does.” Camila mumbled with a frown, pain lacing her words. A small smile formed itself on Lauren’s lips at the slip of yet another expletive from the girl’s mouth. She placed the dirtied dishcloth to the side, satisfied at the minimal amount of blood escaping from the cut.
“What can I say? I have a weak spot for the Ninja Turtles.” Lauren grinned, delicately smoothing the Band-Aid across Camila’s hand.
“Will you kiss it better?” Camila asked, her lip jutting out into her signature pout as she used her right hand to wipe away her tears. Lauren rolled her eyes, but felt her temperature slightly rise as she grasped Camila’s fingers and pressed her lips against the Band-Aid. Lauren’s lips dared to linger for a second too long, but Camila’s giggle brought her back, “Ah, my knight in shining armor.” Lauren found herself rolling her eyes for a second time, but smiled widely in return, “It seems like pumpkin carving is quite the dangerous activity.” Camila stuck her tongue out and nudged Lauren’s shin with the toe of her socked foot.
“I’m going to clean up and make some hot chocolate, why don’t you go pick out a movie?” the green-eyed girl suggested, making her way to the kitchen counter.
“Hell yeah, Halloweentown here we come!” Camila proclaimed, fist pumping wildly, her pain now forgotten.
“Oh no, make it something scary!”
“Mmm, we’ll see!” she hummed in response, skipping into the other room.
---
“Camz, Hocus Pocus isn’t a scary movie.” Lauren raised an eyebrow, carrying two steamy, whipped cream filled mugs into the family room.
“Yeah, it is! I mean, have you seen the witches in this?” Camila fake shuddered, “They’re pretty scary.”
“Yeah, whatever you say.” Lauren responded, handing a mug to Camila and sitting down next to her. Camila graciously accepted the hot chocolate and immediately took a sip, successfully gaining a whipped cream moustache in the process.
Lauren laughed, “You’re such a little dork.” while Camila scrunched up her nose and smiled in answer.
“Yeah, but I’m your dork.” She jested wiggling her eyebrows and bringing her tongue up to lick away the whipped cream.
Lauren gulped as she felt the familiar heat rising to her cheeks, but Camila simply placed her mug on the coffee table and scooted towards the other end of the couch.
“Oh no, you’re not playing that game with me tonight.”
“What game?” Camila asked, tilting her head to the side.
“The game where you sit far away and pretend that you don’t want to cuddle. Only you really, really do, you just don’t want to be the one to initiate it, so you complain about being cold or lonely and wait until I make my way over. Well, that isn’t happening tonight.” Lauren finished, patting the seat cushion next to her. Camila grinned sheepishly and mumbled something like “only you would notice” and sat against the side of the couch, draping her legs over Lauren’s lap. Lauren grinned and let her hands rest on the tops of the other girl’s knees, her fingers splayed across the skin.
They continued through the entirety of the movie like this, their posture only changing when they reached for their hot chocolate or when Camila brought her hand up to lightly tug on the ends of Lauren’s hair at moments in the movie that she found particularly endearing.
“I think it’s time for a real scary movie, Camz.” Lauren stated at the end of Hocus Pocus, waggling her eyebrows.
“Oh no, not again.” Camila eyes widened as she started moving her legs off of Lauren’s lap.
“You’re not getting away this time.” Lauren grinned, referencing the last time she had attempted to watch a scary movie with Camila, and she had locked herself in the bathroom until Lauren promised her that they wouldn’t. Camila swallowed heavily as she discreetly tried to look for an escape route. She had apparently been too obvious because Lauren began to mercilessly tickle her sides while screaming, “There’s no escape!” Lauren ended her attack as Camila began to slip off the side of the couch. Her fingers gripped into Camila’s hips, her nails sending shivers down the girl’s spine.
“Fine, but on two conditions…” Camila began as Lauren remained slightly hovering over her with her hair tickling Camila’s face, “One, get me a nice, big blanket to hide under and two, get me some more of that hot chocolate.” she finished with a smirk.
“Done.” Lauren agreed, tapping Camila on the nose. She released her other hand’s grip on Camila’s side and pushed herself up from the couch. She made her way towards the kitchen but paused to throw a glance back to Camila, “But don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” she smiled with a wink. Lauren continued into the kitchen and Camila would have blushed more, but she was far too preoccupied by the fear she could feel pitting itself in the bottom of her stomach.
---
“I think someone is breaking into the house.” Camila whispered with wide eyes, the top of her face just barely peeking out from under the plaid blanket. Her back was still pressed against the side of the couch, but her lower half had crept into Lauren’s lap. The green-eyed girl had placed her left hand on Camila’s thigh when trying to comfort her during a rather frightening scene in the movie, but hadn’t felt the need to move it since.
“I think it’s just the thunder, Camz.” Lauren said, running her right hand over Camila’s head soothingly.
“Yeah, well, I don’t like it,” Camila whimpered, “Make it go away, Lo.”
“I thought you loved the rain?” Lauren questioned, her nails scratching Camila’s head.
“I love rain. But I’m actually a bit… scared of thunder and lightning.” she answered in a small voice. Immediately after the admission left her lips, a strike of lightning lit up the family room, a resounding crack of thunder following.
“Oh, hell no. Come closer, Camz.” Lauren implored, her own fear evident as a tremor ran down the length of her spine, causing her to visibly shake. Camila sat up from her position against the couch’s side and wrapped her arms around Lauren’s waist, burying her face into her chest. Lauren brought her left hand up to Camila’s arm and began rubbing soft circles against her smooth skin. Camila purred against her touch and Lauren’s lips parted in a large smile, mentally laughing at how kitten-like Camila sounded. Camila removed her head from Lauren’s chest and looked up with a goofy smile, bringing her tongue out to wet her lips. Lauren felt her heartbeat quicken at the small action, but pushed away any thoughts of it.
“You smell really good.” Lauren told Camila, a smirk playing on her face.
“Do I?” Camila asked with a mixture of curiosity and confusion. She didn’t think she smelled like anything in particular, but she was a little anxious about the devilish look Lauren was giving her. Lauren only hummed in response.
“What?” Camila whined, lifting the collar of the shirt up to her nose, “Oh god, you’re right, I smell fantastic.” she beamed, giving Lauren a little wink. “I smell like vanilla and sunshine and-“
“You smell like me, you dork.”
“What?” Camila questioned, her arrogant smile dropping almost immediately and giving way to a look of confusion.
“Unless you’re suddenly really into softball, I’d say you took my sweaty practice shirt right off the back of my chair, didn’t you?”
“You sweated in this?” Camila said with a look of horror. She jumped back a little and spread her arms out, a little disgusted at the fact that the t-shirt even touching her body.
Lauren let out her signature booming laugh, “I’m kidding, Camz. But that is the shirt I normally sleep in.”
“Oh.” Camila answered, a blush tinting her cheeks pink.
“The color looks nice on you…” Lauren trailed off, bringing her bottom lip in-between her teeth. Camila brought her hand up and tucked a piece of Lauren’s hair behind her ear. She looked like she was about to say something when the house phone started ringing, causing Lauren to let out a squeak and have Camila jump up and nearly fall off of her lap.
Lauren, lightly blushing, slid out from under Camila who was left feeling a bit like something important had just been interrupted. Camila felt her gaze lower to the other girl’s swaying hips as she moved towards the house phone, but with a small shake of her head, forced herself to look up. The green-eyed girl had answered the phone and was now standing with her left arm propped against the palm of her right hand. There was a small crease on her forehead as she furrowed her eyebrows in worry. It took all of Camila’s willpower not to move towards the other girl to smooth the line out and ease her anxiety.
Camila hadn’t realized she was staring until Lauren met her gaze with a kinked eyebrow. The smaller girl, embarrassed, cleared her throat and sat up straighter.
“Who was it?”
“My parents. They’re stuck at the party with Taylor and don’t think they’re going to be able to get back home in the storm. It looks like they’re just going to stay over there.”
“Oh. I guess that means my mom won’t be able to come get me either.” Camila mused, pulling her phone out of her back pocket in order to ask.
“Looks like you’re stuck with me all night.” Lauren sent Camila a wink before running over to tackle her.
---
“Shit, this is the worst part of the movie.” Lauren groaned, peeking out from behind her fingers. The protagonist of the film had just been knocked to the ground and was clutching their head in pain. A shadow lurked in the background as the protagonist attempted to push their body up and keep moving. The shadow moved closer and its clawed hand appeared in the frame when-
Both girls let out a blood-curdling scream and clung to each other as the screen went dark. The storm had damaged a power line and caused all of the lights to turn off. Lauren had pulled Camila close against her chest and wrapped her arms around the girl’s shoulders, shutting her eyes tightly.
“Holy shit,” Lauren mumbled into the crook of Camila’s neck. “That was terrifying.”
“…Camz?” she prompted, pulling her face out of the other girl’s neck to look down at her.
“I may have just developed a heart condition.” the younger girl deadpanned with a blank expression on her face, causing Lauren to giggle. The girls sat there in each other’s arms for another minute or two, before Lauren sighed, untangling herself.
“I’m going to go get a flashlight.”
“No!” Camila shouted, clinging tighter to Lauren. “I’m scared to be alone.” she followed in a quieter voice.
“Camziiiii,” Lauren said dragging out the last syllable. “I’ll just be gone a minute.”
Camila whined in response, but loosened her grip, allowing Lauren to stand up and blindly feel her way towards the kitchen. Right before she entered the kitchen, she turned her head back towards the girl on the couch.
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” She whispered, echoing her words from earlier in the night. The butterflies erupted in Camila and sent a happy shiver coursing through her body.
---
Camila had been sitting on the couch for a few minutes now, feeling more anxious every second Lauren didn’t return. Her mother had texted her back and gave her permission to sleep over, knowing there was no way she’d be able to get her. The fact that she’d be sleeping in a dark house alone with Lauren made her nervous, but she was more than happy to do it.
“Fuck it.” she mumbled, finally gathering her courage. She rose from the couch, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders and using the light from her phone as a guide. She cautiously made her way towards the kitchen, only tripping over the ends of the blanket twice and sighed in relief when she made it to the doorway.
“Lo? Where are you?” she called out, fear lacing her words. She called out the girl’s name a couple more times sounding a little more frantic each time. The sound of a scraping chair caused her to jump and spin around. She began to flash her phone around, desperately trying to see more than a few inches in front of her own face. A warm breath hit the back of her neck as something pinched her in the side. Camila let out a shriek, dropped her phone and blanket, running forward until her hands grabbed the edge of the kitchen counter. Her breath was heavy and ragged as she turned around, her fingers curled around the countertop and knees shaking.
A bright light shone in her face and she brought a hand up to shield her eyes. Camila heard a cackling coming from the direction of the light. It took a couple of seconds, but everything soon clicked in her mind.
“Are you kidding me right now, Lauren?” Camila glared, her nostrils flaring.
“I-I’m sorry, Ca-Camz, oh my- god.” Lauren apologized in between laughs. “I saw- I saw an opportunity and I took it! It was payback for the pumpkin guts.”
Camila only stared back at her in disbelief. She walked up to Lauren and flicked her in the center of the forehead. She then huffed over to the chair that Lauren had knocked into earlier and sat down.
“I’m so mad at you right now. You know about my heart condition!” Camila exclaimed accusatorily, referencing the fear she had felt when the television had abruptly turned off.
“Aw, Camz, it was only a joke.” Lauren pouted, sitting across from Camila, her flashlight guiding the way. Camila let out a sound of defiance and crossed her arms, turning her head away from Lauren.
“It’s Camila to you.” she said, tilting her chin high in the air.
“Ouch.” Lauren gasped in mock surprise. She stood up and crouched down in front of Camila trying to get her attention. When she refused to look at the green-eyed girl, she took matters into her own hands and wrapped her legs around her, effectively sitting in her lap. Lauren placed her hands on Camila’s cheeks and made the girl look into her eyes.
“Camila, I’m sorry. Forgive me, Camila. Don’t be mad at me, Camila” she whined, emphasizing every use of the other girl’s name.
“Cameeeelaaaaa.” She continued whining, with a pout on her face. Camila fought the smile that tugged at the corner of her lips and did her best to keep a neutral expression.
“God, you’re so needy.”
“Please!” Lauren jokingly begged, her eyelashes fluttering.
“Ugh, stop flirting with me.” Camila teased, finally allowing a small smile to grace her lips. Lauren squealed and slid her hands off of Camila’s face and threw them around her shoulders. She pulled her into a tight embrace and rocked back and forth.
“Never leave me, Camzi!” she fake sobbed.
“I don’t know why I hang out with you.” Camila smiled, softly rubbing the other girl’s back.
“I don’t know either, but you’re stuck with me all night.” she threw her head back and let out an evil laugh.
“You’re the worst.” Camila rolled her eyes but giggled anyway.
Lauren left her arms around Camila’s shoulders and pushed her face into her neck. They stayed like that for a few moments. Lauren’s breath tickled Camila’s neck and the butterflies in her stomach threatened to fly straight up and out of her throat. It was as if they were suspended in time. Neither said anything nor did they change positions. A slow rumble spread throughout the room, reminding them of the storm outside and the darkness that surrounded them.
“If you were hungry you could have said something.” Lauren pulled back to face Camila with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
“I’m surprised my tummy hasn’t been sounding like that all night.” Camila went to pat her stomach not realizing exactly how close she and Lauren really were. She ended up brushing her fingers along the other girl’s torso causing her abs to tighten and contract under Camila’s touch. They made eye contact, both seeming to grasp the intimate position in which they been in for quite some time. Lauren cleared her throat and brought her hands out from around Camila’s shoulders and pushed herself out of her lap a bit awkwardly. A chill ran through Camila at the loss of the warmth that had been emitting from the other girl.
Lauren turned the flashlight on, grabbed Camila’s phone off of the floor and slid it in into her own back pocket. Ignoring the blanket, she yanked open a drawer (that one always seemed to get stuck) and grabbed a lighter, holding it in the same hand as the flashlight. She then snatched a carton of goldfish off of the kitchen counter and turned back to Camila who was still sitting in the chair.
“You wanna head up to my room? It’s starting to feel a bit creepy down here.”
“Only if you promise not to scare me again.”
“No promises.” Lauren replied with a mischievous grin.
“I’m not letting you out of sight this time.” Camila said sticking her tongue out. She walked over to Lauren and laced the fingers of her right hand with the other girl’s.
---
The girls walked slowly up the stairs, trying to avoid the parts that still remained damp from Camila’s earlier trip. Camila’s left hand clung to the back of Lauren’s shirt as her right hand remained laced with hers. She had insisted that Lauren lead the way, declaring that she was much more likely to win in a fight against any monsters that could be lurking on the second floor. Lauren had obliged even though balancing the goldfish, lighter, and flashlight all in one arm was rather difficult.
Lauren dropped Camila in front of her door and handed her the flashlight.
“I’m going to grab some candles from the bathroom.” Lauren told Camila.
“Oh, trying to set the mood?” Camila smiled wide and wiggled her eyebrows. Lauren, blushing, slapped her in the arm and quickly turned around to fumble her way towards the bathroom. She only just missed stepping right into the pile of Camila’s wet clothes and shook her head at how messy the girl always was. She reached out to grab the candles from the bathroom’s closet, knowing exactly where they were despite the absence of light. Her hand paused for half a second, her mind mulling over what Camila had said. Did she really think that she was trying to be romantic? Lauren shook her head at herself realizing how ridiculous she was being. They always joked around like that; nothing had changed. Lauren rolled her eyes at her silly concerns and grabbed three candles. However, in the back of her mind, a small part of her realized that something was indeed changing and had been for quite some time.
When Lauren returned to her bedroom, Camila was spread out across the bed, the flashlight illuminating her face.
“Draw me like one of your French girls, Jack.” Camila dramatically threw her head back while quoting the Titanic. Lauren laughed and put the candles on the bureau next to the door.
“Where’s the lighter?”
“Oh, it’s…somewhere” Camila answered cryptically, her head still thrown back.
“Camz…” the green-eyed girl warned.
“Why don’t you look for it?” she prompted, wiggling her eyebrows. Before Lauren had a chance to reply Camila had turned the flashlight off and rolled off the bed, landing with a loud thud.
“Is this revenge for what I did in the kitchen?” Lauren asked exasperated. She was really quite tired by this point and the darkness was starting to freak her out more and more. The only response she received was the deafening sound of silence.
“I know you’re trying to be funny, Camz, but the jokes on you because I haven’t vacuumed in here for weeks.” Lauren still got no response. “I’m serious, Camz. I haven’t even looked under the bed in at least a month. I think the last time I did I found a new strain of E. Coli.”
By this point, Lauren had crept over to her bed, still knowing its location in the darkness. She thanked her father for insisting that she flip her mattress the other day, as its coils made no noise as she slid across it.
“Your floor smells even worse than you, Jauregui.” At the sound of the other girl’s voice, Lauren pounced off of her bed and directly on top of the girl below. Camila squealed at the sudden movement and Lauren’s knees found the outside of Camila’s hips, effectively trapping her under. Her hands placed themselves at the sides of the younger girl’s head, her body towering over.
“Hey, you said I smelled fantastic!”
“Oh no, I said that your shirt smells fantastic. I said nothing about you and, honestly, it probably only smells like that because I put it on.” Camila said back, secretly proud of her ability to form such a snarky response when Lauren was leering over her in such a provocative manner.
“You’re such a little brat!” Lauren huffed, her fingers fitting under Camila’s jaw and tickling the skin. Camila barked out a laugh and brought her shoulders up, attempting to stop the attack.
“St-st-stop!” she gasped out desperately trying to find her breath. When the green-eyed girl above her failed to comply, she brought her hands up and began tickling her sides. Lauren choked back a laugh and managed to stay on top, her hands never leaving the other girl’s neck. Camila quickly abandoned her attack on the other girl’s sides and instead began to viciously poke her thighs, hoping to prompt her to stop. When, once again, her attack proved feeble, she changed tactics and instead aimed to make Lauren as uncomfortable as possible.
At this point, Lauren had brought her hands down from Camila’s neck and they were now brushing against her ribs, eliciting even more laughter than the previous tickles had. Tears pricked the corners of Camila’s eyes and her labored breathing came out in tiny gasps. Tired of this game (that Lauren was clearly dominating), Camila decided to be risky and began to lightly graze her fingertips up and down the backs of Lauren’s thighs. The movement on Camila’s sides faltered for a second, but resumed at an even more sinister pace, nearly causing Camila to go blue in her laughter.
All of this, which took place in only the span of a minute, came to a screeching halt as Camila brought her palms down across Lauren’s backside.
“Camila Cabello, did you just slap my ass?” Lauren questioned, slightly aghast and possibly a bit turned on.
“Shit,” Camila whined shaking out the fingers of her left hand, “I thought I did, but it might’ve been a fucking rock instead.” Lauren looked at her perplexed, but breathed out a laugh as she realized the source of Camila’s pain. She was about to tell her, but the words became stuck in her throat as Camila’s hand slipped into her back pocket.
“Why do you have my phone? You nerd.” Camila asked, using the light of her phone to shine in Lauren’s face.
“You dropped it in the kitchen, so I grabbed it. But don’t try to change the subject, why did you grope my ass?”
“Woah there, Jauregui. I did not grope your ass. I simply did what I had to do to stop your incessant tickling.”
“Oh, incessant. Big word, huh Camz?” Lauren smirked, raising an eyebrow. Camila, feeling a little daring, squeezed the soft flesh that she had hurt her hand against only moments before.
“Now that was a grope, Lo.”
“You’re insufferable.” A blush crept across Lauren’s face. She wasn’t used to Camila being so forward and she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that she was the tiniest bit turned on by it.
“Aw, whose using big words now?” Camila smiled, pinching Lauren’s blushing cheek. Lauren gave her a blank stare in return when something dawned on her.
“I still don’t know where the lighter is, Camz”
“Honestly, I don’t even remember where I hid it anymore.” Camila laughed, “I also don’t know why you’re still on top of me.” Camila had noticed the blush on Lauren’s cheeks after her last few daring moves and decided to test it even further. She liked that, for once, she wasn’t the one that most closely resembled a tomato.
Lauren wracked her brain trying to come up with something witty to say, but decided to just avoid the subject altogether as she rolled off of Camila and onto the carpet beside her. Camila gave herself an imaginary pat on the back, proud of her ability to finally have the upper hand.
“I guess we don’t really need the lighter now. We might as well go to bed because there’s nothing to do when it’s this dark.” Lauren’s mind may have imagined a few things they could do, but she pushed them way back, deep into the crevices of her brain. Camila nodded her head in agreement even though Lauren couldn’t see it in the darkness. She picked herself off of the floor and slid in Lauren’s bed, pulling the covers tight around her shoulders.
“You’re being quite bold tonight, Camz.” Lauren laughed, referencing how Camila had simply slipped into her bed. Whenever the girls had sleepovers, they always used sleeping bags, which they normally set up in the living room.
“If you think I’m sleeping alone on a night like this, you’re crazy.” Thunder rumbled in the background, emphasizing the younger girl’s point.
“I’m only teasing, Camzi.” Lauren smiled warmly. She was about to join the other girl, when she realized that hadn’t yet changed into her pajamas. She felt her way around the bed and walked over to the bureau, reaching into the drawer with her sweatpants. She quickly pulled down her jeans and stepped into the sweatpants, letting them settle low on her hips. She removed her shirt and left it next to the jeans, deciding to deal with them later. Lauren walked over to her desk, chair careful not to trip in the darkness, and felt around for her t-shirt.
“What are you looking for, Lo?” Camila questioned, trying to squint through the darkness to see the other girl, only seeing the outline of her silhouette.
“I don’t know where my t-shirt is. I thought I left it on the back of my chair.”
“I’m wearing it, silly.” Camila giggled. The silhouette came closer and Camila still had troubled seeing the other girl, but could clearly tell that she wasn’t wearing a top. Camila felt the heat rise to her cheeks and mentally cursed the lack of light in the room. She might have felt a little dirty about wanting to see her friend shirtless, but all brain function was shut down as Lauren’s topless figure leaned over her head. Camila sucked in a small breath as Lauren reached under the pillow and pulled out another t-shirt. She quickly brought it over her head and then slipped under the covers next to Camila.
“Good thing I have an extra.” Lauren said, tapping Camila on the nose.
Camila smiled at Lauren’s touch and snuggled closer. Lauren momentarily froze; the forwardness of the other girl had been leaving her in shock all night long. She considered simply turning around and leaving her back to the girl, just so she wouldn’t have to deal with the butterflies rising in her gut. This idea was squashed as a loud crack of lightning hit the sky, briefly illuminating the bedroom. The brief amount of light was enough for Lauren to see the fear that flashed across the brown eyes of the girl next to her. Lauren ignored her own feelings and pulled Camila into her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. Camila let her head tuck into the crook of Lauren’s neck and sighed contently.
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” Lauren murmured into Camila’s hair, her fingers wandering down and dancing across the girl’s back. “Goodnight, Camz.”
Camila brought her head out from Lauren’s neck and whispered, “Goodnight, Lo.” She used the bravery that she had gained earlier in the night to fuel her next move. She moved her head closer to Lauren’s and brought her lips to the side of her face, pressing them against the girl’s cheek. Lauren’s eyelids fluttered closed at the action and reopened when the warmth moved away. The kiss was so light and airy that Lauren thought that maybe she had imagined it. It wasn’t until Camila let out a small giggle and brought her hot breath next to Lauren’s ear did she know that it really happened. “Laur, you taste like pumpkin guts.” Lauren rolled her eyes, but smiled widely as Camila tucked her head back in and tightened her grip on the green-eyed girl’s waist.
Lauren realized that maybe something was changing, but she couldn’t say that she really minded all that much.