Archive of Our Own

Lauren narrows her eyes at the label in front of her. The problem with so many of her ingredients is that they’re old and the labels have faded, but their age is precisely what makes them so strong.

She sighs deeply, regretting it when the fumes make her dizzy. She needs to complete this batch of the headache relief potion for Ally before she can leave.

The door to the back room flies open but Lauren barely glances up to greet Normani.

“You’ve been back here a while,” Normani says, looking concerned. “Usually you’re busting out of this room as often as you can. Is everything okay?”

Lauren drops a few lavender petals into the brew, watching the entire thing flush pink from it.

“I’m fine,” she lies.

Something weird has been happening to Lauren. Every night this week she’s woken up in a terrible fright, her heart racing and her body soaked with sweat. She’s tried every spell and potion she can think of to try and get a good night of rest, but nothing has worked. The worst part of it all is that she can’t even remember the dreams.

“Ally sent me back to check on you,” Normani continues, studying Lauren carefully. Lauren fights back her annoyance at the action; she knows her friend is just concerned.

“I’m fine,” she insists again, waving her hand lazily to stir the potion. Several of the ingredients she’s been using fly neatly back on the shelves as she digs her knuckles into her temple, letting her eyes slide shut. The bright glow her eyes give off when she uses magic reflects on the back of her eyelids, making it even worse.

“Yeah, you’re sure acting like it,” Normani scoffs disbelievingly.

“Mani, you’re really not helping my headache,” Lauren groans, finally turning off the heat. Her potion is done and she can’t wait to lie down and sleep, even though she knows it’ll be fruitless.

“What’s not helping your headache is you sitting back in the Lair with all these fumes. Come sweep the front or something.”

Lauren sighs because she knows Normani is right. “I thought we agreed not to call it the Lair,” she says instead.

“You said we shouldn’t call it the Lair,” Normani counters. “Everyone else still calls it that.”

“You’d think with all my witchy powers, my friends wouldn’t be so mean to me,” Lauren complains as she lets the other girl drag her out to the front of the store and shove a broom in her hands.

“Get to work,” Normani orders, gesturing dramatically to the floor.

“You don’t even work here,” Lauren grumbles, but she does as she’s told.

“I don’t have to work here when my girlfriend owns the place,” Normani grins triumphantly.

“Speaking of,” Lauren looks around the empty store, “where is your girlfriend?”

“Here!” Ally’s voice comes from beneath the counter. She pops up with various colorful soaps in hand, looking for all the world like a child with candy on Halloween. Which is just a few weeks away Lauren notes faintly to herself.

“I’m trying to figure out which ones to display,” Ally says, frowning down at the collection in her hands.

“Why don’t you ask Dinah?” Lauren suggests, because Dinah has the best eye out of all of them for this sort of thing.

“Great idea!” Ally perks up and Lauren can feel the waves of positivity flowing off the tiny girl.

Ally is actually distantly related to a witch. She can’t do magic like Lauren can, but she can broadcast her emotions to other witches and she makes amazing soaps like Lauren can potions. She told Lauren about it the night Lauren had shattered a plate with her magic, exposing herself to Normani and Ally.

Ally had reassured Lauren, who was very distinctly panicking, that they would never hurt her. A year later and that promise still holds true. Lauren doesn’t know where she’d be without Ally and Normani.

“Yo!” Dinah barks as she bursts into the store. “Where’s my favorite witch?”

Lauren’s scalp tingles and her stomach turns as Dinah speaks so casually and loudly. Her body stiffens and it doesn’t go unnoticed.

“You know Lauren doesn’t like when you say it,” Normani shakes her head at Dinah.

“Sorry, Lauser,” Dinah says, actually looking sorry. “Just tryna get you used to the word.”

“I’m quite used to it,” Lauren mutters, keeping her eyes on the ground. “That’s what happens when you grow up in a family of witches.”

Dinah hums and clicks her tongue at that. The others know better than to push Lauren about her past. Dinah moves to the back and throws her apron on, immediately chattering about her first day of classes at the college just down the road.

“There’s a girl in my music theory class,” Dinah says, hopping up on the counter. “Real cute ‘n shit. She was pretty funny, too, in a weird way.”

“So you made a new friend?” Ally asks excitedly.

“Yes, Mom,” Dinah sasses, rolling her eyes.

“Must be a miracle,” Lauren mutters quietly to herself. Obviously not quietly enough, based on the way Normani laughs and Dinah glares at both of them.

“Whatever, Ralph, just because you stay huddled up in the Lair all the time doesn’t mean we all have to be antisocial,” Dinah snaps.

“It’s not called the Lair,” Lauren argues weakly, even though she knows she’s lost the battle. The tension behind her eyes suddenly spikes into pain and she drops the broom to press her hands to her eyes. It’s an odd feeling, if faintly familiar, and Lauren staggers back against the counter.

“Lauren?” Ally’s voice is concerned and right by Lauren, but Lauren feels the pain thunder and crash in her head.

She hasn’t had a pain so severe since she was sixteen. She very rarely got visions, and they were often painful, unhelpful, and confusing. There was nothing good about them in Lauren’s opinion.

The pain subsides for a brief second and Lauren takes the opportunity to lie herself down. She was going to pass out in a few seconds anyway, and she remembers the time she was twelve and how she busted her head open on a coffee table as she fell during a vision.

She opens her eyes to take in her friends one last time and they all reel back as her eyes glow brightly. Dinah grabs at her shirt like she’s going to haul Lauren back up, but then everything fades.

She’s in a field. It looks familiar, like something she’s seen in a dream, or a memory from when she was young.

There are little wildflowers all around her, just starting to fade like summer is ending and the fall is just beginning. The world moves like it’s fast forwarding around Lauren, slowing as it reaches the middle of autumn.

“Hi.”

Lauren whips around, spinning in a circle to identify the voice. No one else is there.

“I’m looking for… something. Someone, I mean.”

The voice is female, definitely. It’s gentle and alluring in an odd way. Lauren could listen to it forever.

But the voice doesn’t speak again.

The weather gets colder and she shivers. The grass around her wilts and the snow falls around her, leaving her untouched. She rubs her arms, watching her breath cloud in front of her. Something starts to peek out from under the snow.

She watches with astonishment as a pink lilac blooms beautifully right in front of her, surrounded by the white powder.

The world moves quickly around her again, the snow melting even as Lauren can’t tear her eyes from the flower. The grass turns green around her and the air grows pleasantly warm. A few wildflowers pop up and Lauren finally looks up and around. Spring was kind and warm and comforting.

So why did Lauren feel so uneasy?

She turns and spots a figure in the distance. She can’t tell who it is from so far, but she thinks it might be a man, given how tall and broad he looks. She opens her mouth to call to him, but he raises one hand in the air above his head.

Lauren frowns, squinting to see what he’s doing. She can feel the energy around her being manipulated and pulling towards the man. An orb of red forms in his hand and Lauren’s eyes widen as she realizes what he’s doing.

The energy explodes outwards like a wave in all directions. Lauren barely has time to pull a weak shield in front of her before she’s violently blown off her feet. She crashes onto her back and jerks back upright with a gasp, her hands pressing to her chest as though she’d been punched.

A hand falls on her shoulder and she flinches away from it, but the air smells like jasmine and vanilla and she’s not surrounded by grass anymore. Her heart is still racing, though, and her body aches like she’s really been tossed a few feet. Her head still throbs painfully and she knows it’ll only stop after she sleeps for a day or two.

“’M okay,” she mumbles, letting her eyes drift up to meet Ally’s. She feels guilt curl in her gut when she takes in just how distressed her friend looks. “I’m okay,” she says again.

“What the hell was that?” Dinah keeps her voice mercifully low and Lauren tries to haul herself to her feet. Dinah and Normani help her up, holding her when she rocks unsteadily.

“Fucking hell,” Lauren groans while the world spins around her. “Oh god, those are the worst. I hate visions. Hate them.”

“Visions,” Normani repeats slowly. “Like… of the future.”

“Kind of,” Lauren answers. She shifts her weight, regretting it when her body protests. She lifts the hem of her shirt to inspect where the wave of energy in her vision had caught her, raising a brow as she takes in the inflamed skin. It’s a painful looking red and Lauren has no doubt it will bruise badly.

Ally gasps as she takes in the damage. “How did this happen?”

“Visions are powerful,” Lauren shrugs. “They’re meant to serve as a warning. I’m not surprised it marked my body to make sure I understand how serious it is.”

“How serious what is?” Normani asks.

“Fuck if I know,” Lauren mumbles, pinching at the bridge of her nose in an attempt to alleviate her headache. “I’ve always been awful at interpreting visions.”

“You’ve had them before?” Dinah asks, ever the curious one about magic.

“A few,” Lauren nods. Her head pounds painfully at the movement. “They’re really rare. I haven’t had one in years.”

“What was your vision of?” Dinah shuffles closer, an excited gleam in her eyes.

“It’s hard to explain,” Lauren says, because it is. She’s going to be researching this one for who knows how long.

“You have to interpret it, right?” Normani asks, looking curious as well.

“I would love to explain the whole process to you,” Lauren says, feeling her body growing heavy as exhaustion presses down on her. “But I need to lay down before I fall down.”

“Go upstairs,” Ally demands at once.

Lauren takes a few shaky steps before her knee buckles and she almost faceplants in the middle of the store. Normani snags her around the waist and keeps her upright.

“I’ll put her to bed,” Normani says and Lauren doesn’t argue because if she can’t walk across the floor, there’s no way in hell she’s going to make it up the stairs.

She weakly bids Dinah a farewell and Ally promises to come check on her once the store closes.

Normani practically carries Lauren up the stairs; she’s never been so grateful for Normani’s regular visits to the gym. After being deposited on her bed, Lauren reaches out and grabs Normani’s wrist.

“I’m gonna be asleep for a while,” Lauren tells her.

“Okay,” Normani says, not understanding.

“Just don’t freak out if I don’t wake up, okay?”

“Okay,” Normani nods, looking more worried already.

Lauren lets her go and her eyes fall shut immediately. She pries them back open and calls out to Normani as the girl reaches to shut the door behind her.

“Yeah, Lo?”

“Thank you,” Lauren breathes. It’s what she says every time her friends have to deal with some shitty part of her witch powers, but they always say the same thing back.

“It’s alright, Lauren. We’re just glad you’re okay.”

 Lauren is asleep seconds after Normani shuts the door.

Lauren wakes up and smacks her lips. She hadn’t dreamed, which wasn’t surprising given how exhausted she’d been, and she has no idea how long she’s been asleep. It’s dark outside, but that means almost nothing.

There’s something pressing on her stomach. She looks down to find a lithe, black cat curled up on her body, staring back at her with eyes as green as Lauren’s own. She reaches up and rubs at his ears, knowing he’s been as worried as any of her friends. He meows at her softly, purring at her attentive affection.

“C’mon, Ami,” Lauren mutters, pulling herself to her feet. “Let’s go see how long I was out.”

Ami quickly scampers up her back and perches on her shoulders in the clingy way he’s prone to. He’s been her familiar ever since she found him as a kitten on the side of the road when she was eight. When Lauren brought him to her mother, she told Lauren that their matching eyes meant they were to be bound for life.

Lauren had been thrilled to find her familiar so early in life. Usually she’d have to wait almost ten more years until she was eighteen to find hers, but she’d been bonded quickly. He would live as long as she would, unlike common cats, and he would always be there for her.

Lauren pries the door open, revealing Normani and Ally making food in the kitchen. Neither of them are talking, but that’s always been something Lauren loves about them – they don’t feel like they have to talk to fill the silence.

“Good morning, I guess,” Lauren croaks, her voice still rough from her unknown time asleep.

Ally drops the spoon she’s using as she spins around. “Lauren!” she cries, sprinting across the tiny distance to throw her body against Lauren’s. Lauren grunts (she was right about the bruising) and Ami digs his claws into her shoulders to stay on. Lauren’s flooded with affection for Ally and she tightens her grip.

Even if it takes a full minute for Ally to finally release her.

Normani hugs her just tightly for a good while (not as long as Ally), and she leans back to stand with her girlfriend, the two of them looking like concerned parents as they study Lauren.

“Do you feel better?” Ally asks.

Lauren nods, because she does feel better, apart from her lingering bruises. She feels well rested (which is rare) and in a good mood (even rarer).

“When did you let Ami in?” Lauren asks, the cat leaning up against her head lazily.

“I didn’t,” Normani says, eyeing the cat fondly. “First time we went to check up on you he was already there. Refused to leave your side.”

“He is a stubborn one,” Lauren murmurs, moving into the kitchen to see the pizza they were making from scratch.

“Just like his mama,” Ally teases, laughing when Lauren scowls at her.

“How long was I out?”

“Well,” Ally begins, her brow furrowing thoughtfully and Lauren knows that’s not a good sign. “You passed out Wednesday afternoon… and tonight is Friday, so a little over two days.”

Lauren winces. “Sorry.”

“Not your fault,” Ally and Normani reply at the same time. They’ve said it to Lauren so often they don’t even bat an eyelash at their synchronized reply.

“And you did warn me you’d be out for a while,” Normani adds.

Lauren tries to cram down her guilt because she did warn them but she knows how fretful the two can be.

Lauren’s stomach decides to make itself known then, rumbling loudly. She blushes when Normani laughs and Ally giggles.

“We’ll finish this pizza, Miss I-was-in-a-coma,” Normani teases, always the one to ease the possible tension of a subject.

“Comas are three days or more,” Lauren grumbles, shuffling to the bathroom. Apparently, she hasn’t gone in days and her bladder is not happy.

“Whatever,” Normani waves the comment off, sliding the pizza into the oven.

When Lauren sits down on one of the barstools lining the counter, Ally turns to her.

“So…”

“So?” Lauren repeats, shifting her weight instinctively as Ami switches shoulders.

“You vision,” Ally says like it should be obvious (and to be fair, it probably is). “What happened?”

And so Lauren tells them in exquisite detail everything she recalls from the unpleasant experience days ago.

“Wait,” Ally interrupts at one point, looking confused. “Just one pink lilac? All by itself?”

“Yeah,” Lauren nods, exchanging a shrug with Normani that Ami hardly notices. “Why?”

“Lilacs don’t grow one at a time. They grow in shrubs. Bushes, like roses,” Ally says.

“Well it also grew in a field of snow,” Lauren deadpans. “So I’m thinking scientific accuracy wasn’t really the point of it all.” An idea occurs to Lauren as she speaks and she leans forward excitedly. “Flowers have meanings, right?”

Ally nods slowly, seeming to follow Lauren’s thought process.

“What do pink lilacs mean, then?”

Lauren watches Ally expectantly, and the tiny girl huffs.

“I’m a soap maker, not a florist. Let me google it.”

And so she does.

All three girls (and Ami) huddle around Ally’s phone. They go to several websites to make sure they’re getting the right information.

“Not a lot of these even talk about pink lilacs,” Normani hums thoughtfully.

“But when they do, they’re linked to youth and acceptance,” Ally adds helpfully.

Lauren slumps against the counter, deep in thought. Acceptance? Acceptance of what? Or youth? It all makes no sense to Lauren, and she shakes her head a little in frustration.

“I’ll worry about it later,” she decides. “Besides, the vision didn’t end there.”

She goes on to tell them about the man that had blown her off her feet, resulting in the bruising that followed her to reality. The image makes her falter again as she recalls a faint memory she hadn’t had access to in her trance-like consciousness during her vision.

“What’s wrong?” Ally asks softly, always attuned to Lauren’s emotions in a way that Lauren could never figure out.

“It’s just,” Lauren shakes her head, her gaze falling to her hands. “That man… what he did. I haven’t seen it in years, not since…” she trails off, trying to beat back the memory threatening to surface. She doesn’t want to remember.

Ami thumps on to counter in front of her, purring loudly and pressing his head to the underside of Lauren’s chin, prying a smile from her. She doesn’t look at Normani or Ally, knowing they’re probably watching her with worried eyes.

The oven beeps to signal that the pizza is done and Lauren waves her hand to pull it out and set it on the cooling rack. Ally watches her face carefully, still awed by the green glow of her eyes as she uses her magic.

“What I’m most interested in,” Normani begins loudly, obviously changing the subject, “is this voice you heard. You said it was a girl, huh?”

Lauren tries not to flush red at Normani’s suggestive tone. “Yes,” she answers shortly.

“Was it a nice voice?” Ally joins in and Lauren kind of wishes they could just go back to silence.

With some trepidation, Lauren sighs, “Yes.”

“Maybe she’s you future lover and the flower is talking about her acceptance of you,” Ally squeals, clapping her hands together as she stares dreamily into the distance.

“First of all, please don’t ever use the term lover again,” Lauren says with a shudder, grinning as Normani laughs at the pout on Ally’s face. “And second of all, I think that’s a little too romantically fanciful.”

“Lauren, you’re literally a witch,” Ally argues. “I think you can suspend your disbelief long enough to consider that a girl might want to date you.”

“No one wants to date the weird, quiet girl who works in the soap shop,” Lauren states calmly, not upset by the words, but rather stating them as facts.

“You’re more than that,” Normani argues as the pizza begins to slice and serve itself on plates.

“You’re right,” Lauren agrees. “I’m also a witch hiding my powers from the public because I quite like not being burned at the stake.”

“There haven’t been reported burnings in years,” Ally says, trying to sooth the fear that had crept into Lauren’s voice.

Lauren exchanges a look with Ami, who looks just as unconvinced as she does. At least someone agrees with her.

She takes a bite of her pizza instead of replying, letting out an embarrassing moan at how good it tastes.

“Damn, you really need a girl,” Normani mutters, eliciting a glare from Lauren.

“So tell me what I’ve missed,” the witch says, redirecting the conversation to talk about something other than herself.

Ally immediately launches into a story about the young man who’d wandered into the shop and bought almost a hundred dollars’ worth of soap while Dinah flirted with him.

“She’s definitely good for business,” Lauren laughs.

“You should text her,” Ally says suddenly. “She’s been worried like crazy.”

Lauren obediently retrieves her cell phone from where one of the girls had plugged it in at some point. She doesn’t have any notifications, which isn’t surprising considering her only contacts are Ally, Normani, and Dinah, all of them obviously aware of her unconscious state.

She shoots a text to Dinah, stuffing her phone into her back pocket and sliding on her leather jacket. Fall is setting in and the temperatures are already dropping pretty low at night. She tugs on her boots and walks back to the kitchen.

Normani notices the change in her attire instantly. “Going for a walk?”

Lauren nods, stuffing the last bit of her pizza into her mouth. “Been laying down for two days. Gotta get my blood flowing.”

Ally looks up from where she was petting Ami. “Be safe,” she orders.

Lauren nods and Ami runs to perch on the end of the counter to stare at her.

“You don’t have to come with me,” she tells him.

He yowls lowly in protest and she sighs.

“I’m serious. I know you feel guilty for not being there when I got the vision, but you don’t have to cling to me twenty-four/seven.”

He stares up at Lauren with their identical eyes and Lauren feels her resistance wavering. He meows again and Lauren sighs deeply.

“Fine,” she relents, offering her arm for Ami to perch on her shoulders once more. He’s purring, rubbing his head against Lauren’s and she rolls her eyes. “You don’t have to be so damn smug about it.”

She strolls past Ally and Normani, who are very poorly concealing their amusement. She’s tried to get them understand her relationship with her familiar to them, and they’ve seen just how intelligent he is first hand, but they’re often taken aback by just how connected Ami and Lauren are.

“Shut up,” she tosses over her shoulder when she hears a snicker escape one of them. They burst into laughter that Lauren can hear through the door as she goes down the stairs and exits out the back of the shop.

The air is chilly and prickles at Lauren’s lungs as she sucks in a deep breath. Ami springs from her shoulder to land lightly on the ground, content to lurk after her in the shadows.

It’s a Friday night, Lauren remembers, and she makes sure to steer clear of the area where she knows the students from the college are gathering in the bars. She passes a few houses that home several of the older people who live in the town that she’s gotten to know through working at Ally’s shop. They’re fond of Lauren, which Lauren finds rather amusing considering she’s a witch, and a gay one at that.

Not that they knew that.

They’re nice to her though, and they’re regulars to the shop, so she’ll smile when they talk about their grandson and how perfect he is for her.

She wanders into the park where she often sees children running about. It’s always had a peaceful feeling to it, especially because the trees are old, very old, and they like to whisper between each other.

Lauren approaches one of the oldest and largest trees in the park, pressing her hands to it and smiling when it hums softly beneath her. She climbs it easily, months of practice on her side as she effortlessly puts her hands and feet in the proper places to haul herself almost to the top. She stops at a fork in the branches, draping herself lazily across it like it’s a throne.

Ami clambers into her lap seconds later and promptly curls up and goes to sleep. She pets him absentmindedly as the stars shine brightly. She picks out constellations that she knows, her mother’s voice in her ears telling her the stories behind them. Her chest clenches and she swallows around the knot in her throat.

The tree groans quietly around her, sympathetic and caring. The tree is the only one that knows Lauren’s whole story (besides Ami), as she’d told it all about her life a few months before. Something about the night sky and the comforting atmosphere made this tree one of Lauren’s closest confidants as she’d spilled her guts. It’s often slow to respond, as trees always are, but she’s patient while she listens to it reassure her.

A rowdy group of students enter the park. Lauren watches them from where she’s perched above their heads and even Ami cracks an eye at their noise. They’re harmless, Lauren knows, staggering around and laughing and enjoying the start of their weekend. They don’t have a care in the world and Lauren envies it, though she wishes she didn’t.

One member of the group, a young man, peels off and stops at the tree next to the one Lauren’s in. He unzips his pants and Lauren wrinkles her nose. She knows the boy has no way of sensing the disgust the tree is emitting like she can, but it irks her nonetheless. The trees are kind to Lauren, and Lauren loves them.

When he zips his pants back up and jogs to catch back up to the group, Lauren jabs a finger at him while murmuring an incantation, locking one of his legs and sending him tumbling into his friends. They all go down, groaning and complaining and the tree rumbles around Lauren with laughter.

Lauren grins as the sensation, pleased to have elicited such a response from the normally calm tree. She’s glad she’s high up, far enough that if anyone sees her eyes, they’ll think she’s a cat or an owl. She can feel Ami’s amusement as well while he stares after the group, watching them exit the park and disappear down the street.

Lauren slides her phone out of her pocket, realizing she’s been gone for hours. Dinah’s responded to her text with several of her own, most of them comprised almost entirely of emojis. Lauren grins and sends a text of all jack-o-lantern emojis because she knows it’ll make Dinah laugh. She has a text from Ally asking when she was coming home twenty minutes earlier with several concerned emojis. Lauren rolls her eyes as she replies, thinking that she and her friends were entirely too obsessed with using the little characters.

She says goodbye to the tree, which hums fondly in response. Ami drapes himself across Lauren’s shoulders, obviously content to be carried the whole way home.

“Brat,” she murmurs, wincing when Ami’s claws dig in a little tighter.

She gets back to the apartment feeling oddly tired, like she hadn’t spent the past two days deeply unconscious. She bids Ally and Normani goodnight and flops onto her bed, Ami curling onto the small of her back immediately. She falls asleep thinking about lilacs and pretty voices.

The weeks drag on and the leaves begin to fall from the trees. The nightmares that had been plaguing Lauren before her vision still return once a week or so, and she’s starting to grow incredibly frustrated with them.

But the shop is always a soothing place, even when Dinah breaks a display while she’s dancing to the Beyoncé Normani often plays. The only reason Dinah gets away with it so often it because she usually gets Lauren to fix whatever she broke.

Autumn has always been Lauren’s favorite season. She likes the weather and the whole atmosphere of it. Children get excited for Halloween and Thanksgiving and everything feels warm and cozy. Ami gets a kick out of wandering around and making the more superstitious people think they’ve been struck with bad luck.

“You’re a menace,” Lauren tells him one afternoon after an older man nearly keels over upon spotting Ami. Ami is unperturbed by the comment, trotting across the street for a group of kids to pet him.

As the weeks wear on, Lauren becomes acutely aware of her vision. She’d heard the voice of a girl during the middle of fall, and she knows that time is approaching. It makes her a little edgy, and she knows Ally picks up on it even if she doesn’t say anything.

Lauren’s walking to Dinah’s place one afternoon, Ami hidden in her coat as it’s particularly windy out.

“Don’t put any holes in my sweater,” Lauren orders. “I love this one.”

As she gets closer to the tiny apartment where Dinah lives, she watches a girl exit the building and cross the street. Something about the girl halts Lauren in her tracks, and she stares after her, feeling the strangest urge to run over and approach her. Ami pops his head out of her coat, staring after the girl as well. She disappears around the corner and Lauren forces herself into motion again.

“Did you feel that?” she asks Ami.

Ami burrows back into the jacket, letting out an affirmative noise. Lauren tries to clear her head as she enters Dinah’s building, climbing the stairs and letting herself in.

“Ralph!” Dinah grins. “Perfect timing, Mila just left.”

“Mila?” Lauren tilts her head, unzipping her jacket to let Ami thump onto the floor.

Dinah looks unfazed by the sudden appearance of the cat. “Yeah, my friend from my music theory class. Camila.”

Lauren nods in recognition. Dinah’s been talking about the girl for weeks, and Ally insists that Dinah bring her by the shop sometime so they can meet her. Lauren wonders if Camila was the girl she saw exiting the building that had her entranced.

She shakes her head and laughs when Dinah trips over Ami, both of them loudly making their displeasure known.

Lauren can’t help but smile while she watches Ally bop around the store, humming and straightening everything out. The girl was an angel, Lauren was sure of it, and Normani probably agreed, based on the way she was watching her girlfriend with adoration.

Lauren turns to the register, cleaning the keys and scraping off soap residue that’s been building up. The door chimes to signal someone entering the store. Lauren frowns, exchanging a glance with Normani. Their regular customers are all older folks who come in in the mornings, and tourists and students usually don’t stagger in until the late afternoon. It’s just past lunchtime.

Lauren looks to the guest who entered the store and her heart stops beating for a second. It’s the girl she saw leaving Dinah’s place the week before. She has long, flowing brown hair and big brown eyes that remind Lauren of a puppy. She’s incredibly pretty and Lauren could probably look at her for hours without getting bored.

“Hi,” she says and it’s the voice. The voice.

“Hello,” Normani greets politely. “What can I help you with today?”

“I’m looking for… something. Someone, I mean,” the girl stammers over her words, looking nervous.

Something about her fidgeting pushes Lauren to speak. “Well which is it? Are you looking for something or someone?” Her voice comes out a little more challengingly than she intended, but her lips twitch into a smile when the girl’s spine stiffens.

“Someone,” she answers, sounding surer of herself. “My friend Dinah, actually.”

“What did she do?” Normani sighs, sounding resigned.

The girl actually giggles a little and it’s like music to Lauren’s ears.

“Nothing,” she assures. “Well, I mean, she left her phone in class, so I wanted to return it.”

“Music theory class,” Lauren probes. The girl nods and Lauren guesses, “Camila?”

“Yeah!” she grins. “How’d you know?”

“Dinah talks about you. We’re all very proud of her for making friends,” Normani jokes. “I’m Normani,” she introduces herself, shaking Camila’s hand.

“I’m Camila,” Camila says, flushing red as she lets go of Normani’s hand. “But you already knew that.”

She turns and grabs Lauren’s hand, smiling at her. “Lauren,” the green eyed girl finally manages to remember her name. She carefully releases Camila’s hand, not wanting to cling to her for too long (even though deep down, she did want to keep holding her hand).

“Ally!” Normani calls across the store. “Come meet Dinah’s friend.”

Ally appears in an instant, warm and beaming like a ray of sunshine. “You must be Camila,” she says excitedly. “I’m Ally.”

“Nice to meet you,” Camila offers her hand, but Ally tugs her straight into a hug. “Oh, okay.”

Lauren glances at the clock. Dinah’s not supposed to get in until three, which is an hour away. She checks to make sure Ally is still occupying Camila before she leans into Normani.

“She’s the voice.”

“What?” Normani keeps her voice as low as Lauren’s.

“You know, the voice. From my vision a few weeks ago,” Lauren explains.

Normani squeaks excitedly, drawing the attention of the other two.

“So you’re here to return Dinah’s phone,” Lauren says quickly, shooting Normani a look.

“Yeah,” Camila nods. “I can just leave it here, if-”

“Stay!” Ally insists and Lauren’s glad Ally managed to beat her to it. She has a feeling she would’ve sounded a little more desperate. Something about Camila just draws Lauren in and she finds herself wanting to stay in Camila’s company.

“Okay,” Camila agrees readily. “I’ve wanted to come in here for weeks actually. I hear your soaps are miracle workers.”

“Yeah, they’re magical,” Normani agrees and Lauren kind of wants to throttle her after Normani sends a smug look her way.

“So what’re you studying,” Lauren abruptly changes the subject, glaring at Normani when Camila isn’t looking.

The next hour is filled with Camila telling the three girls all about studying and moving to the town and how different it is from Miami.

“Lauren’s from Miami!” Ally says cheerfully. Lauren struggles not to frown because her last memories of Miami aren’t exactly the brightest time in her life. “Funny that you’d meet up here.”

“Yeah,” Lauren murmurs, her vision lingering in the back of her mind. Camila is going to play a huge role in her life, she knows that without a doubt. But whether it’s going to be good or bad, Lauren doesn’t know. “Funny.”

The door to the shop is knocked open violently and Lauren barely has time to look over before Dinah’s screaming, “Guys, I fucked up!”

“Can you relax?” the words fly out of Lauren’s mouth instinctively. It’s what she always says when Dinah raises her voice.

“No!” Dinah cries, unaffected by the words like she always is. She storms over to the counter, dropping her bag onto it with a huff. “I can’t find my phone anywhere – oh, hey Walz – and I’ve been looking for, like, an hour!”

Lauren struggles to contain her laughter while she shares a look with Camila.

“Where’d you last see it?” Ally asks, looking perfectly innocent.

“Mila and I were in music theory and I had to pee real bad so I took off as soon as class ended,” Dinah says, nodding to Camila as if to confirm.

“That’s right,” Camila nods, grinning fiercely.

Dinah stops, turning to really take in Camila. “Do you have my phone?”

“That’s right,” Camila says again.

“And that’s why you’re in the shop. To bring me my phone. Which I left. So now you’re returning it,” Dinah brings a hand up to cover her face. “Don’t look at me.”

“It’s alright, Dinah,” Ally comforts through her giggles. “At least we got to meet your friend.”

“Ally’s been trying to get DJ to bring you by for weeks,” Normani tells Camila.

“She’s told me a lot about you guys,” Camila admits. “I’ve been kind of nervous to meet you all.”

“I told you they’re all nice,” Dinah says, accepting her phone from the smaller girl. “Except Normani.”

“I’m just the one who doesn’t take your bullshit lying down,” Normani says. “Ally’s too nice and you know better than to mess with Lauren.”

Lauren sees the curiosity flicker in Camila’s eyes and nerves spark in her. Before she can try to change the subject, Dinah’s speaking again.

“Whatever, I could totally take Ralph,” Dinah says, winking at Lauren to show she’s kidding.

“Wait,” Camila interrupts. “You’re Ralph?” she points at Lauren, her mouth open.

“Um,” Lauren exchanges a look with Dinah, who shrugs unhelpfully. “Yes?”

“I thought…” Camila trails off, cheeks flushing red.

“Thought what?” Lauren asks, completely confused.

“I’ve seen so many texts between Dinah and someone named Ralph in her phone and…” She turns to Dinah almost accusingly. “I thought Ralph was your boyfriend!”

The other girls burst into laughter. Dinah reaches across the counter to grab Lauren and smack a bunch of kisses on her cheek. Lauren pulls back and wipes at her face, grinning despite herself.

“Ralph is my boyfriend, Chancho,” Dinah jokes while Lauren tries to get the lipstick stains off her cheek.

“Dinah likes to flirt with anything that breathes,” Ally says. “She even flirts with me and Normani.”

“I’ve definitely flirted with you at some point, Walz,” Dinah shakes her head.

Camila’s face is still pink. “I’m not really good at picking up on that kind of stuff.”

“Neither is Lauser,” Dinah raises her eyebrows at Lauren.

Lauren scoffs. “Just because I don’t flirt back with gross boys doesn’t mean I can’t tell when I’m being flirted with.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Lo,” Dinah says.

“You’re the worst,” Lauren groans, throwing a crumpled receipt at Dinah.

“Hey, Lauren, your phone alarm’s been going off for like, five minutes,” Normani says, staring down at the device.

Lauren’s face falls immediately. “What?” her voice comes out panicked.

“Your alarm,” Normani says, her own eyes widening as she takes in Lauren’s paling face. “Are you… making something?”

“Shit,” Lauren swears, running to the back room (lair, Dinah’s voice insists in her head) to the potion she’s been simmering for hours. It hasn’t overflowed yet, so she can still salvage it, but this particular potion is known to be very temperamental. It might all blow up in her face if she’s not careful. She spends the next ten minutes frantically adding what’s needed and stirring until it calms to a happy looking aqua.

“For a pepper-up potion, you sure cause a lot of stress,” Lauren complains, carefully stowing the potion in a jar for Ally to add with her soaps later. She enters the shop again, still feeling a little frazzled.

“We good?” Normani asks immediately and fuck, Lauren completely forgot Camila was there in all her panic. The girl is watching her with worried eyes and it gives Lauren an oddly fuzzy feeling.

“I got it,” Lauren nods, watching the three who know her secret deflate with relief.

“What were you making?” Camila asks, tilting her head curiously.

Dinah mouths a silent shit! behind Camila’s head that almost makes Lauren laugh.

“A lot of the chemicals used for making soap can be dangerous,” Lauren says instead. “I have to make sure nothing accidentally poisons and kills us.”

Camila nods slowly, seeming to accept what Lauren said even if it didn’t answer her question.

“I should head out,” Camila says reluctantly. “I’ve got a ton of math homework to do. I’m an arts major, this is ridiculous.”

“I’ll walk with you,” Lauren volunteers, pulling her apron off and her jacket on. “I need some fresh air anyway.”

Camila smiles and something about it sends butterflies fluttering in Lauren’s stomach. The two exit the shop, Lauren flipping Normani off when the girl sends a wink her way.

The air nips at Lauren’s nose and she smiles.

“Fall’s your favorite season?” Camila asks, and it’s only then Lauren realized Camila’s been staring at her.

“Yeah,” she admits, struggling not to blush. “How’d you know?”

Camila shrugs, looking shy. “Lucky guess.”

Lauren hums, a smile gracing her face as they travel down the sidewalk. They turn the corner and Ami is perched right in the middle of the sidewalk, staring up at Lauren.

Camila stops and gasps. Lauren comes to a stop as well, putting her hands on her hips to stare Ami down.

“That cat has the exact same eyes as you,” Camila marvels. “I guess you could call it a…” she pauses for dramatic effect and Lauren can sense the punchline is going to be awful. “Copy-cat,” Camila finishes proudly.

Lauren can’t stop the giggles that escape her while Camila grins, looking pleased with herself. Lauren turns back to Ami, who still hasn’t moved.

“You’re just sitting in the middle of the sidewalk,” she tells him. “You’re being an asshole.”

“Lauren,” Camila gasps, looking amused and concerned all at once.

“He is!” Lauren insists. “What do you want?”

Ami meows loudly, his eyes flickering between the two and Lauren knows he wants to tag along.

“You’re intolerable,” Lauren says. “The absolute worst.” She pulls her hair to one side and scoops him up, draping him across her shoulders. He leans against her head, purring loudly enough that she knows Camila can hear.

Camila, whose jaw has dropped open. Lauren realizes then how odd the whole exchange must have looked. She’s so used to talking to Ami like normal she’s forgotten how strange it is to people who aren’t used to it.

“Is this your cat?” Camila says finally, staring at the familiar with wide eyes.

Lauren doesn’t really like to say that Ami is hers. They’re partners first and foremost. “This is Ami,” she says instead. “Short for Amicum. It’s Latin for friend.”

“Ami,” Camila repeats, reaching up to scratch under his chin and smiling as he purrs. “He’s very handsome.”

“Don’t inflate his ego,” Lauren snorts. Ami bats at her nose for that and she swats back. “Knock it off, I’m steering us both, here.”

“And smart, too,” Camila compliments.

“I’m starting to think you like this cat more than me,” Lauren complains jokingly.

“Maybe I do,” Camila replies with a wicked grin.

“After all the time we’ve known each other,” Lauren sighs theatrically. “I can’t believe it.”

“I’m kidding,” Camila says, staring up at Lauren with warm eyes. “I wouldn’t choose anyone over you.”

The sincerity in her words sends warmth coiling in Lauren’s body and Ami seems every bit as pleased as her. As she drops Camila off at her dorm, she takes a minute to hope that Camila is something good in her life.

The next time Lauren sees Camila, she’s propped up in her tree with a book in her lap. The tree groans around her to signal that someone’s walking by (because it knows Lauren likes to people watch) and Lauren nearly drops her book when she sees Camila strolling down the path.

She looks down a few feet to where Ami is draped across a branch, silently asking if she should call out. Ami takes the decision out of her hands, scampering down the tree and winding between Camila’s legs.

“Hello, Ami,” Camila greets, reaching down to pet him. She straightens and glances around the park. “Where is your owner?”

Ami meows unhappily at that and Lauren decides to call out before the cat does something impulsive.

“Up here.”

Camila jumps and tilts her head back, her mouth falling open as she takes in just how high up Lauren is. Lauren climbs down quickly and turns to Camila.

“Hi,” Lauren says breathlessly, a grin creeping across her face. Ami quickly settles himself on her shoulder facing away from Camila, probably still miffed about the ‘owner’ comment.

“Hi,” Camila says, matching the smile in full. “What were you doing in a tree?”

“Reading,” Lauren lifts the novel she’s been clutching. “It’s peaceful in the park. I like it here.”

“You couldn’t have settled for a bench?” Camila asks playfully.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

They both stare at each other, smiles on their faces as they look into each other’s eyes.

“So,” Lauren says after a beat of silence. “What brings you to the park?”

“It’s peaceful,” Camila deepens her voice in a poor imitation of Lauren’s.

“Now hold on,” Lauren laughs. “I’m not a chain smoker.”

“Do you want to get coffee?” Camila says abruptly.

Lauren pauses for a second. Was Camila asking her out?

“Coffee?”

“Yeah,” Camila nods, her cheeks flushing pink. “Coffee. With me. I mean you totally don’t have to.”

“I’d love to,” Lauren says, cutting Camila’s rambling off.

“Okay,” Camila says, her face splitting into a huge grin. “Shall we go then?” she tilts her head to gesture down the path.

“We shall,” Lauren agrees, and the two set off down the path.

Camila launches into a rant about something her psychology professor had said that day in class. Lauren listens attentively, admiration filling her as Camila speaks passionately.

“He was just so pessimistic!” Camila complains. “I don’t buy into the whole ‘half of marriages end in divorce thing’. It just seems so unlikely. He’s probably a bitter divorcee.”

Lauren laughs at that. “Probably,” she agrees.

“My parents are still happily married,” Camila points out. “He just made it sound so impossible. What about your parents, are they still together?”

“Um,” Lauren says, scrambling to find an answer. “I mean, they were.”

“Were?” Camila frowns and Lauren sighs as she realizes she’s probably going to have to spell it out to the smaller girl. Ami purrs and jumps off of her shoulder, trotting off to give the girls some privacy.

“They were right up until they died.”

“Oh,” Camila says, stopping just in front of the coffee shop, looking as though Lauren has just slapped her in the face. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Lauren says even though it’s kind of not fine and the thought of her parents makes her chest ache. Ami is watching her with concern from across the street. “They were really happy together,” she adds, opening to the door to the shop and walking in. “I hope I find someone to love as much as my parents loved each other.”

The lump swells in Lauren’s throat despite her best efforts and she swallows hard to force it back. She orders her tea while Camila gets coffee and they find a table near the back. Camila still has a vaguely guilty look on her face and Lauren impulsively covers Camila’s hand with her own on the table.

“Hey, really, it’s okay.”

“I’m still sorry,” Camila mumbles. “I didn’t mean to screw up our date.”

Lauren’s heart swells in her chest and a smile overtakes her face. “This is a date?”

“I mean,” Camila’s head shoots up and she looks terribly nervous all of a sudden. “If you want it to be. I don’t even know if you’re into girls or anything – oh my god you’re straight, aren’t you?”

“Camila.”

“I really hope we can still be friends because I really like you, Lauren, and I want to get to know you better and – this still sounds like I want to date you, I’m sorry.”

“Camz.”

That finally seems to catch Camila’s attention and she stops talking, staring at Lauren with wide eyes.

“I am into girls,” she confirms, smiling when Camila brightens. “I really like you, too, and I would love for this to be a date.”

“Really?” Camila still looks nervous.

“Really,” Lauren insists.

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

The two watch each other silently before giggling. Lauren hears their drink order and springs to her feet to get them. She and Camila spend hours sitting and laughing and talking and Lauren’s so happy that the potted flowers in the windowsill crane towards her. She has to flick at them when Camila’s not looking to get them to settle down.

When Camila sadly says she has to get to her last class of the day, Lauren can’t help the disappointment that fills her. She and Camila exchange phone numbers (Camila kindly not commenting on Lauren’s meager amount of contacts) and they leave the shop together.

They pull each other into a warm hug and Lauren gathers all of her courage to press a kiss to Camila’s cheek.

“See ya, Camz,” she says, hustling to turn and walk back down the path. Ami falls in line next to her, staring up at her with happy eyes. When Lauren goes to turn the corner, she can’t help but look back. Camila is still standing where Lauren left her, her hand pressed to her cheek where Lauren kissed her.

Lauren lets her fingertips drag along the wall, leaving splashes of color in her wake. She hasn’t been so happy in years and she wonders how just one afternoon with Camila can make her feel so good.

When she makes it back to Ally’s shop, she’s still got a dopey smile on her face. She leans up against the counter with a happy sigh. Ami jumps up next to her, sitting and looking pleased.

“What’s got you all happy?” Ally smiles. She glances at Ami but she knows better than to try and shoo him off the counters.

“I think…” Lauren lowers her voice. “I think I really, really like Camila.”

“Is that why you flirted with her the other day?” Normani says from across the store, but she looks as happy as Ally does.

Lauren doesn’t even bother trying to deny it. “Yeah. I think we just had our first date.”

Ally squeals and demands to know all the details. Normani calls Dinah and puts her on speaker and Lauren’s really grateful for this little family she has.

“I’m having a crisis,” Lauren says as she bursts into the living room the next morning.

Normani doesn’t look up from her phone, but Ally sends her a concerned look from the kitchen.

“About?” Normani asks, sounding bored.

“I can’t date Camila.”

That certainly gets Normani’s attention. She drops her phone on the couch and follows Lauren to the counter, where the witch buries her head in her arms.

“What do you mean you can’t date Camila? Yesterday you were practically ready to declare your undying love for her,” Normani says, sounding more confused than anything.

Lauren doesn’t really want to tell them about the nightmare she had the night before where Camila found out she was a witch and called an angry mob to tie her to a pyre and burn her alive. She’d woken up in a panic only ten minutes before and waited for her breathing to calm and her nausea to fade, but she can still see the disgust in Camila’s eyes every time she blinks.

“I’m a witch,” she says, like that’s all the explanation needed. Because it is.

“That’s not illegal,” Ally says, flipping a pancake. “It’s not like she’ll have you arrested.”

“More like lynched,” Lauren snaps, fear creeping into her bones. “It’s a small town. Even if the police tried to intercede, which I doubt they would, there’s very little I could do should the whole town decide to get rid of me.”

“Laur,” Ally looks more sympathetic then, turning off the stove and moving to face her. “You know we won’t let anything like that happen. I didn’t know you still worried about stuff like that.”

“It’s kind of hard not to,” Lauren says, feeling drained.

“Camila wouldn’t do anything like that anyway,” Normani says. “She looks like she couldn’t even hurt a fly.”

“It’s a bad idea,” Lauren shakes her head, her heart sinking. “There’s too many things that could go wrong.”

“Look,” Ally slaps her spatula down, making the other two jump. “You like her, right?”

Lauren frowns. “Of course.”

“And she makes you happy, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Then date her.” Ally sounds more firm than Lauren can remember hearing her. “Don’t deny yourself this one shred of happiness, okay?”

“But –”

“No buts! I’m serious. Just spend some more time with her. Enjoy it,” Ally grew a little gentler towards the end.

“Ally’s right,” Normani chimed in. “You can’t deny yourself a chance at happiness just because something might go wrong. That’s not living. Don’t you want to live?”

Lauren scowls and hunches her shoulders inwards.

The thing she’s never told the girls, never told anyone, not even Ami, is that sometimes she thinks she should’ve died with the rest of her family. It made no sense that she was the one to survive out of them, not when her father was so brave or her mother so smart or her siblings so young and full of potential.

For a long time, she wondered if the world was punishing her. She didn’t know what for, but obviously something terrible.

“Lauren?” Normani’s voice was softer then. “Don’t you want to live?”

“I’m scared, okay?” Lauren raises her voice unintentionally, turning away to avoid Ally and Normani’s worried stares. “I don’t know what’s going to happen because I really like Camila but I promised my mom I’d stay safe.”

“Your mom?” Ally asked tentatively.

“She made me,” Lauren’s voice faltered and she stared down at her hands. “She made me promise I would be safe. Then she held my hand and told me she loved me. And then she…” Lauren swipes angrily at the tear that slides down her cheek. She doesn’t know how to say it. The words get caught in her throat. She didn’t ‘pass away’, she was killed. She was attacked, murdered, and she died and Lauren can’t say it.

But she doesn’t think she needs to, because Ally’s eyes widen with understanding.

“I don’t know anything about Camila,” Lauren breathes. “I don’t know how she’ll react if she finds out about me. And that’s scary.”

“It is,” Ally agrees, placing her hand over Lauren’s. “It’s scary. But you can just spend time with her. We’ll worry about everything else as it comes. Just have fun, Lauren. You deserve to have fun and be young and happy.”

“That’s a little reckless,” Lauren says, hope slowly filling her. “Waiting until the last minute to solve your problems.”

“We’re gonna cross that bridge when we come to it,” Normani says decisively.

Lauren’s phone vibrates at that moment and it’s a text from Camila.

“She wants to hang out today,” Lauren mumbles.

“Go!” Normani and Ally cry at the same time.

“You’re fired for the day,” Ally adds. “Go spend time with her.”

“Fine,” Lauren sighs. “Just for the record, if this all goes up in smoke, I’m blaming you two.”

“That’s fair,” Normani accepts. “Now go.”

Lauren can’t help but grumble to herself the whole time she walks to the coffee shop. Ami trots up as she approaches the shop and she glares at him.

“And where the hell have you been?”

He just stares back at her.

“You’re useless,” she complains.

“That’s not a very nice thing to say, Lauren.”

Lauren’s head snaps up. Camila’s standing in front of the coffee shop and Ami eagerly winds between her legs before taking off down the street.

“You can’t take his side,” Lauren protests. “You don’t know the whole story.”

“I’m sure you’ll tell me all about it,” Camila chirps, walking into the shop and leaving Lauren staring after her for a moment.

Lauren follows Camila, watching the twinkle in the other girl’s eye and she wonders how she was ever worried about dating her in the first place.

“I mean it, Camz!” Lauren insists. The cold rips at her coat but she pays it no mind as she walks down the sidewalk.

“Let’s say I buy into it,” Camila says challengingly. “Let’s say, hypothetically, that The Vampire Diaries is a good show.”

“It is!”

“If I watched an episode,” Camila continues as though Lauren never spoke. “Would you leave me alone?”

“You can’t watch just one episode to get the feel for a show, especially when pilots are all about the set up,” Lauren argues.

“Fine,” Camila concedes. “I’ll watch three episodes. And if I like it, I’ll keep watching.”

“That’s all I ask,” Lauren says solemnly, cracking a smile with Camila a few seconds later.

It’s been two weeks since Lauren’s sorta-breakdown at the apartment and she’s been spending a lot of time with Camila. The girl is smart, definitely, and wickedly clever at times, but she’s also just as much of a goofball. She makes Lauren laugh and fills her stomach with butterflies. Occasionally, Lauren catches her fingertips tingling with magic out of pure glee and she has to squash her powers back, but otherwise, things are going well.

They finally get into the diner and seat themselves. They both order strawberry milkshakes, knowing they’ll be eating plenty of junk food at the movie night they’re having with the other girls later.

Lauren accidentally knocks over the saltshaker at one point and Camila gasps.

“Quick, throw some over your shoulder!”

Lauren shoots her an incredulous look. “Seriously?”

“Yes!”

Lauren does as she’s told, a little surprised.

“I never took you for a superstitious person,” Lauren admits.

“We live in a world where witches are real,” Camila says, not noticing how Lauren subtly stiffens. “I think it’s perfectly reasonable to be superstitious.”

“That’s fair,” Lauren nods, scrambling for a way to change the subject without being obvious. “So you think Ami is a bad omen, then? He’d be pretty hurt to hear that, Camz.”

“No way,” Camila dismissed, trying to fight off the smile Lauren can see tugging at her mouth. “Ami is a beautiful ray of sunshine.”

“Yeah, until you try to move while he sleeps on you,” Lauren snorts.

Camila laughs while Lauren pays for their milkshakes and they set out into the cold again. They link arms and stroll down the street, not minding the cold as they burrow close together.

Camila pulls Lauren to a stop outside a flower shop that has colorful flowers blooming despite the dropping temperatures. Camila gushes over how pretty the flowers are but Lauren can’t tear her eyes from Camila’s face.

She studies it carefully, humming in agreement when Camila pauses to breathe in between her sentences.

“Lauren, you’re not even,” Camila stops when she catches Lauren staring at her. “…listening.”

“I’m listening,” Lauren says, slowly leaning closer.

“Are you sure?” Camila’s voice grows a little shaky as she tilts her head back to look at Lauren.

“Positive,” Lauren’s face is so close to Camila’s she can feel the younger girl’s breath on her lips. She waits for a moment to give Camila time to pull back, but Camila’s eyes slide closed and Lauren closes the gap.

Camila’s lips are warm and a little chapped and absolutely wonderful. The kiss is slow and makes Lauren’s toes curl in her boots as she lets her hands slide around Camila’s waist. Camila’s hands grip at the front of Lauren’s coat and they pull apart achingly slow.

Lauren doesn’t open her eyes for a few seconds, even as a grin threatens to split her face in half. When she finally does open her eyes, Camila’s staring back at her, beaming.

“That was nice,” Lauren says breathlessly.

“It was,” Camila nods. “Really nice.”

“Can I do it again?”

“Yes,” Camila agrees in a heartbeat, yanking Lauren back in by the lapels of her coat.

For the first few seconds, Lauren’s laughing too hard to properly kiss Camila back, but they settle into a rhythm that warms Lauren from the inside out. She pulls away again, knowing the other girls are expecting them soon.

“We should probably stop making out in front of this store,” Lauren whispers.

“Probably,” Camila says. “Can I maybe ask you to be my girlfriend first?”

“Yeah,” Lauren beams. “You can.”

“So will you? Be my girlfriend?”

“Yeah,” Lauren says again, kissing Camila despite what she said moments before.

They pull apart, laughing softly.

“Okay, seriously,” Lauren says, trying to look stern. “We should go.”

“Alright,” Camila says before she leans in and presses another peck to Lauren’s mouth, starting down the sidewalk again.

Lauren stares after her for a moment, feeling mystified and completely bewitched. She hustles after the girl, linking their arms again as they cut through the park to get back to Lauren’s apartment.

There are lots of other people walking about, for as cold as it is, it’s also a beautiful evening, the sunset painting the sky every shade of pink and purple. Camila’s so busy looking up that her foot catches on a crack in the path and Lauren only just manages to keep her from plummeting to the ground.

“Careful, Cabello,” Lauren laughs as they straighten. “Wouldn’t want to have to get a new girlfriend because you break yourself.

Camila pouts. “Very funny, Jauregui.”

“Jauregui?”

The voice belongs to a young man Lauren’s never seen before, but his eyes flash with recognition and Lauren has a bad feeling about this.

“As in the Jaureguis from Miami?”

Lauren feels the blood leave her face and her breathing shudders to a halt. No one’s ever recognized her before (she chose a small town so far north for a reason) and she knows her hesitation is answer enough.

“Holy shit!” the guy laughs. “Everyone thinks there are no Jaureguis left. Not after –”

“Shut up,” Lauren’s voice comes out low and threatening as she takes a step forward and clamps his jaw shut with magic. His eyes fill with fear and she slowly releases her hold on him. “Wait here,” she orders, and he nods frantically.

Lauren grabs Camila and pulls her down the path a few feet, just far enough to be out of his range of hearing.

“Who is he?” Camila whispers, looking a little scared. “There’re no more Jaureguis after what?”

“Camila, I need you to go ahead to the shop. I’ll be right behind you,” Lauren says, keeping her voice as low and comforting as she can while she’s struggling not to panic.

“What? No!” Camila protests.

“Please,” Lauren’s voice grows a little desperate and she can see Camila faltering. “I promise Camz, I won’t be more than five minutes.”

Camila studies Lauren’s face worriedly for a few seconds. Finally, she sighs and Lauren knows she’s won.

“Okay,” Camila mutters. She leans forward and presses a quick pack to Lauren’s lips. “Be safe.”

The words make a lump swell in Lauren’s throat. “I will.”

Camila eyes her disbelievingly for a moment. Then she turns and continues down the path. Lauren waits for her the trees to block her view of the girl before she turns back to the boy still waiting dutifully in the middle of the path.

“Who the hell are you?” she snaps.

He doesn’t look too taken aback by her tone. “I’m Jeremy. Jeremy Whitefield. I grew up in Miami. I’m going to school here.”

“That’s nice,” Lauren drawls, her voice thick with sarcasm. “But who the hell are you?”

He sighs and leans in a little closer. Lauren frowns, but she knows he’s only going for discretion. “My family has a few witches in it. Not me, personally, but a lot of my aunts and uncles and cousins.”

Lauren can sense Ami approaching her and shifts to let him balance on her shoulder. He was probably worried when Camila showed up without Lauren. Jeremy eyes the two, seeming to understand the sudden appearance of the cat.

“We heard about the Jaureguis. Hell, everyone did,” he says, actually sounding sympathetic. “That really sucks.”

“Yeah,” Lauren frowns. “It does. Look, you can’t tell anyone I’m here.”

“I know,” Jeremy says, looking a little grim. “He’s still after you, right?”

“I hope he’s not,” Lauren admits. “But better safe than sorry.”

“I heard he’s been moving north.”

Lauren’s heart falls to her stomach.

“For what it’s worth,” he says backing away slowly. “I hope he never finds you. You seem happy with your girl, and after all the shit that happened to your family, I think you deserve to be left in peace.”

Lauren can hardly breathe as she watches him stroll down the path. Her vision from weeks before comes to mind, the man who blew her off her feet with ease, and Lauren’s got a terrible, terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach that tells her she’s not going to be left alone at all.

Ami nudges at her legs forcefully and she can see his mouth open like he’s meowing at her but she can only hear ringing in her ears. Terror has seized her completely, and she dumbly follows after Ami, barely noticing the concerned looks he’s giving her while she staggers along.

Somehow she’s climbing the stairs to the apartment and she realizes her hands are shaking when she goes to grab the doorknob. She shoves the door open and her arms are full of Camila in an instant.

Camila pulls back and her mouth is moving quickly but Lauren’s entirely too dazed to understand anything the girl is saying. Another set of hands pulls on her gently and it takes Lauren several seconds to register that it’s Ally tugging her to the couch.

Lauren drops onto the couch heavily and Ally takes Lauren’s hand and presses them to her chest. Ally breathes slowly and deeply and it makes Lauren realize how choppy and unsteady her own breathing is. She struggles to imitate Ally for what feels like an eternity until her lungs stop aching and the ringing in her ears subsides.

She gently takes her hands back from Ally and covers her face with them, feeling exhausted and overwhelmed.

“You good?” Normani’s voice is low and soothing and makes Lauren’s shoulders lower from where she had them hiked up to her ears.

“Yeah,” Lauren croaks, the lie sounding weak to her own ears.

When she looks up, Ally is still perched in front of her with Normani next to her on the couch. Dinah’s across the room with Camila, who has tears in her eyes as she looks at Lauren.

“What happened?” Ally coaxes softly, but Lauren shakes her head.

“I can’t,” she says immediately. “I can’t talk about it. It’s… I’ll worry about it when I come to it.”

“You can’t use my words against me,” Ally protests weakly, but Lauren knows she won’t push. Ally never does.

“It’s gonna be fine,” Lauren says, trying to believe her own words. She tugs at the collar of her coat, realizing just how warm she was. She rises on unsteady legs and goes to her room while the others shuffle around to the kitchen. Lauren drops her coat onto her bed and interlocks her fingers behind her head, closing her eyes to breathe deeply.

“Are you really okay?” Camila’s voice startles Lauren into turning around. The girl was hovering in the doorway, obviously unsure if she was allowed to enter. Lauren waves her in, glad she cleaned her room a few days before.

“Maybe not,” Lauren admits. “But I will be.”

Camila slides her arms around Lauren’s waist and rests her head against the taller girl’s chest. Lauren doesn’t waste any time wrapping her arms around Camila, the hug tight and comforting.

“Sorry I ruined our date,” Lauren apologizes quietly.

Camila shakes her head against Lauren’s collarbone. “You didn’t. We can still cuddle and watch the movie.”

“I’d really like that,” Lauren smiles, squeezing Camila one more time before they walk out to the living room.

All of the girls manage to pile onto the big couch in front of the TV, loud and obnoxious, talking through the entirety of Titanic. None of them cry, for once, because they’re too busy yelling and making stupid jokes. Lauren catches all of them watching her with concern at some point or another, and she kindly ignores it, well aware of how fussy they could get over her.

Lauren falls asleep with her head resting against Camila’s and, despite everything, it’s one of the best nights she’s ever had.

Halloween is a whole affair between the five girls. Lauren spends the earlier part of the night handing out candy while she’s dressed as a vampire and the later part trying to keep Dinah from breaking their table as she dances wildly on in, clutching the ‘punch’ Normani made. At one point, Lauren instinctively uses magic to catch a vase that Dinah decides to toss, but Camila was (thankfully) in the bathroom.

Lauren carefully refrains from drinking too much, well aware that she might just use magic if she cuts loose like Dinah. Normani dances and sings loudly with the Dinah while Ally claps and cheers from the sidelines, all of them drunk and happy.

Camila doesn’t drink as heavily as the others do, content to laugh with Lauren at their friends’ antics with a happy buzz. Ami’s been gone the whole night because he hates when they all get rowdy, the fussy little brat.

Several times, the girls make pretty obvious references to Lauren’s status as a witch, but they all manage to catch themselves, ever aware of Camila’s presence even as wasted as they are. Lauren’s grateful that Camila’s not really listening to any of their slurred jokes.

When Ally inevitably passes out first (as she always does), Lauren carries her to her and Normani’s bedroom, ignoring Normani’s demands to, “Get your hands off my woman!” Normani always follows after Ally, the two terribly codependent even with one drunk and one asleep. Dinah passes out on the couch and Lauren carefully covers her with a blanket, prying her phone out of her hand so she doesn’t send any stupid texts.

Camila watches the whole thing with an amused smile.

“That seemed practiced,” she teases while she follows Lauren into her bedroom.

“It is,” Lauren chuckles. “Let me grab you some pajamas to wear.” She beds over and rifles through her drawers before turning back to Camila. She freezes when she realizes that Camila’s shirtless.

“Um,” Lauren says.

Camila approaches her and Lauren feels a little like a deer frozen in the headlights, helpless and unable to move.

“I could put this very nice shirt on,” Camila says. “Or…”

“Or?” Lauren repeats, her mouth going dry.

“Or maybe you could just take your shirt off and then we’re even.”

“Oh,” Lauren says, feeling kind of dumb and inarticulate but it’s kind of hard to focus when her girlfriend is standing shirtless in from of her. The clothes she’d been holding for Camila drop to the floor and she slowly pulls her own shirt over her head, heat pooling in her stomach when she takes in how Camila’s eyes darken.

Camila’s fingers reach out and slide along Lauren’s stomach. Lauren shivers as Camila presses their bodies together.

“It’s kinda chilly,” Camila says.

“Yeah.”

“Maybe we should lay down.”

“Maybe.”

Lauren’s not sure who leans in first, but they’re kissing then, heated and passionate and tipping onto the bed. Camila somehow clunks their foreheads together when they fall back, and they both laugh and continue to kiss, running their hands over each other.

Lauren’s never really thought much of Halloween, but it’s suddenly her favorite holiday.

Lauren wakes up the next morning slowly, her hand pressed up against warm skin that’s not her own. She opens her eyes and takes in the tanned expanse of Camila’s back. It’s smooth and comfortable and Lauren smiles as she remembers the events of the night before. She runs her fingers along Camila’s spine, feeling each little divot.

“Feels nice,” Camila mumbles, her face still pressed into the pillow.

Lauren leans over and presses a kiss to her bare shoulder. “Good morning. Happy November.”

“I’m pretty sure it was November before we fell asleep,” Camila says sleepily, turning her face to Lauren. Her hair is all mussed around her and she’s squinting against the light filtering through the window and Lauren’s never seen anything so beautiful.

“We were a little busy then,” Lauren smirks.

Camila scoots closer, burying her face in the crook of Lauren’s neck. “Can we stay here forever?”

“Don’t you have class today?”

Camila snorts, the sound vibrating against Lauren’s collarbones. “Bet you anything my professors cancelled.”

“Bet you pancakes,” Lauren decides.

“Okay,” Camila grins. She fumbles around for her phone blindly until Lauren hands it to her. “Thanks, babe.”

Lauren’s cheeks flush at the pet name and she’s glad Camila’s not looking at her face. She knows the younger girl likes to tease Lauren when she gets flustered.

“Two new emails,” Camila announces. “I have two classes today,” she says like Lauren doesn’t know her schedule by now. “And both of them are cancelled,” she announces smugly, looking up at Lauren with a stupid grin that Lauren covers with her lips.

“Looks like I owe you pancakes,” Lauren says. She pulls herself out of bed and digs through her drawers for something to wear. Camila’s blatantly staring at her naked body and Lauren throws some underwear and a t-shirt at her. “Stop ogling me and put some clothes on, you sex fiend.”

“I’m only admiring art,” Camila says, all sincere with wide eyes and damn it if it doesn’t make Lauren blush. She tosses a pair of shorts directly at Camila’s face in retaliation.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” Lauren announces. “I want you fully clothed before I come back.”

“I like it when you’re bossy,” Camila teases and Lauren groans.

“You’re insufferable,” she complains, but she’s smiling as she walks out the door. Dinah’s still knocked out on the couch, but Lauren’s sure that Ally will be up soon, always the earliest riser.

When she comes back with an empty bladder and brushed teeth, she finds Camila perched on her bed, methodically braiding her hair while she reads something on her phone. Lauren pauses in the doorway for a moment. She studies the profile of Camila’s face and how her lips move silently with whatever she’s reading.

Camila glances up and catches her staring. Her cheeks flush pink when Lauren doesn’t look away. “Now who’s ogling?” she accuses, a smile pulling at her lips.

Lauren just shakes her head. “C’mon. I owe you pancakes.”

Pancakes for Camila becomes pancakes for Camila and Dinah as soon as the scent of food hits the air. Camila and Dinah are loud, cracking jokes and snapping playfully at each other and it’s not long before Ally and Normani join the group. Ami joins them, too, lazily draped on the counter as they all dutifully move around him.

Lauren’s made probably two dozen pancakes, but her friends (especially her girlfriend) seem to be bottomless pits. Ally eventually takes over so that Lauren has a chance to eat.

She sits back and watches Camila talk with Dinah, both of them getting louder and more boisterous in an attempt to outdo each other. She grins at the sight, her heart swelling.

“You really like her, huh?” Normani asks quietly.

“Yeah,” Lauren says. “I really do.”

“When are you going to tell her?”

That sucks some of the joy Lauren’s feeling away, but she knows Normani is being practical. She and Camila are getting more serious by the day, and Lauren’s going to have to tell her girlfriend at some point. She knows Camila now, and she knows she’s got a kind heart and loving soul, but none of that really gets rid of the fear that resides low in Lauren’s gut.

“I don’t know,” she murmurs.

Normani shoots her a look that’s half sympathy, half disappointment and Lauren doesn’t know what to do about it so she throws a bit of pancake at Dinah and laughs when she squawks.

“My mom’s coming up here for Thanksgiving,” Camila tells her three nights before that very day.

Lauren chokes on the cracker she was chewing, spraying crumbs all over the coffee table. Ami sits up from where he’s draped across the arm of the sofa on Camila’s side to give Lauren an unimpressed look before laying his head back down.

“What?” Lauren coughs, scrabbling for the water bottle in front of her. She finally catches her breath and Camila looks entirely too amused by it all.

“My mom’s coming up. My dad’s working, so he can’t make it, but my mom’s bringing Sofi up,” Camila says, wiggling excitedly on the couch.

“That’s great,” Lauren smiles genuinely, even if half her brain is still in panic mode. “I know you’ve been missing her.”

“She’s really excited to meet you,” Camila says. “My mom, too.”

“You told your family about me?” Lauren asks, an odd emotion tugging at her chest.

“Should I have asked you first?” Camila suddenly looks scared. “I should have, shouldn’t I? I’m sorry, I’m just really happy and I wanted to tell my family.”

“Yeah, no,” Lauren clears her throat, fighting back the tears that burned at the back of her eyes. “It’s okay, I’m glad they know.”

“Lauren,” Camila’s voice is hesitant and Lauren’s not looking at her. “Are you crying?”

“No.” Lauren’s voice cracks on the one word and Camila pulls her into an embrace.

“Babe,” Camila draws the word out soothingly. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just…” Lauren struggles to arrange her emotions and her thoughts. “I’m just really happy that you wanted to tell your parents about me.”

“But you wish you could tell your parents about me,” Camila guesses and Lauren’s not sure how Camila read her mind like that but she looks away. “Oh, Laur.”

“Sorry,” Lauren laughs tearfully. “I’m being dumb.”

“It’s not dumb,” Camila says firmly. They stay curled up together on the couch quietly for a few minutes. When Camila speaks again, her voice is tiny and insecure.

“Would your parents have liked me?”

“Yes,” Lauren answers without hesitation. “My dad would have laughed at all of your corny jokes and my mom would be thrilled I’m dating another Cuban.”

Camila giggles lightly at that. “Glad to meet her expectations.”

“They mostly would’ve liked you because you make me happy,” Lauren goes on, her voice getting softer. “All my mom ever told me was to find someone who makes me happy. Someone who makes me feel like I’m on top of the world. She really would’ve liked you.” The tears build up in Lauren’s eyes again and she blinks them back.

“I think I’d have liked them, too,” Camila says. “Because they raised you to be as wonderful as you are.”

Lauren sniffles and presses a kiss to the underside of Camila’s jaw. “You’re the best girlfriend ever.”

She closes her eyes and feels Camila’s lips brush her temple. “I think you’re the best girlfriend ever.”

When Camila’s mother and little sister fly in two days later, Lauren, being helpful and desperate to please the family of her girlfriend, offers to pick them up at the airport.

(Actually, she borrows Ally’s car, but Ally’s pretty eager to hand the keys over when Lauren asks.)

As Lauren drives to the airport, she wonders who’s more nervous: her or Camila?

Lauren thought she’d be the more anxious one, but Camila’s practically vibrating in the passenger’s seat.

“Camz, seriously,” Lauren lets her hand fall onto Camila’s leg, which was thumping loudly enough to be heard over the radio. “If either of us should be freaking out, it should be me.”

“I haven’t seen them in months,” Camila cries, throwing her hands up. “I’ve just really missed them.”

Lauren smiles sympathetically. “I’m sure they’re just as excited to see you.”

And Lauren’s right, based on the way a tiny girl practically knocks Camila over with a hug. Camila’s mother, who Lauren recognizes from pictures, smiles and joins in on the hug and Lauren suddenly feels like a fish out of water.

“Mom,” Camila says turning to Lauren and Lauren straightens her spine. “This is my girlfriend, Lauren.”

“It’s really nice to meet you, Mrs. Cabello,” Lauren offers her hand, but the woman tugs her straight into a hug. It’s a tight, warm hug that only a mom can give and it knocks the breath out of Lauren for a few seconds.

“I’m Sofia and I’m eight and a half,” the smaller Cabello girl introduces herself proudly.

“Eight and a half?” Lauren gasps. “No way!”

Sofi giggles and shakes her head, pleased with the comment. Lauren catches Camila watching the exchange with her hands pressed to her chest and a happy smile on her face.

“You’re dating Kaki, right?” Sofi asks as Lauren picks up Mrs. Cabello’s luggage (despite the woman’s protests).

“I am,” Lauren nods. “Is that okay?”

“You’re very pretty,” Sofi says, like that’s an answer in and of itself. “You make her smile a lot. I like you.”

“I like you, too,” Lauren says, feeling oddly flattered. “And I like to make your sister smile. She’s very pretty when she smiles, because it makes her look like you.”

Sofi gives a delighted laugh at that and Lauren can practically feel the adoration coming off of Camila in waves.

The car ride was filled with Sofi telling Camila everything that happened at her school while Camila listened with rapt attention.

Eventually Sofi turns her attention to Lauren.

“Where’re you from, Lolo?” she asks, seeming genuinely interested.

Lauren doesn’t question where the nickname came from. “Miami.”

Sofi gasps. “That’s where we’re from!”

“It’s a small world,” Mrs. Cabello says kindly.

“So your mommy and daddy are still down in Miami?” Sofi cocks her head to the side in Lauren’s rearview mirror and Lauren blanks for a few seconds.

“Um,” she says, tossing Camila a look that blatantly read help me. She’s not sure if Sofia has much experience with death and she doesn’t want to say the wrong thing.

“Lauren’s parents passed away,” Camila says quietly and Lauren watches Sofi’s face fall in the mirror.

“I’m sorry your parents are gone,” she says, looking serious and incredibly like Camila.

“Me too,” Lauren murmurs, sending a tight smile to Camila.

“You can be a part of our family now!” Sofi suggests cheerfully and Lauren’s knuckles whiten on the steering wheel.

“That’s right,” Mrs. Cabello chimes in, and Lauren can’t see her face but she bets the woman is smiling.

“That would be lovely,” Lauren says sincerely, her eyes cutting to Camila. Her heart swells when Camila beams back at her.

Thanksgiving itself is hectic and a mess and wonderful in every way.

They have it at the apartment, and Sinu (as Mrs. Cabello insists on being called) works with Ally to make some incredible food in the tiny kitchen. Sofi is absolutely delighted with Ami, and Ami seems equally as enthralled with the little girl.

“I’ve been beat out by a cat,” Camila complains at one point, watching Sofi and Ami play.

“Don’t feel too bad, mija,” Sinu comforts. “He’s a lot cuter than you are.”

Camila only pouts further at that and it makes Lauren and Dinah laugh.

Lauren’s been spending so much time with Camila nonstop that she has to lock herself into the bathroom to let some of her magic out before it overflows and comes out of her by force. Camila raises an eyebrow when Lauren emerges from the bathroom after ten minutes, but Lauren ignores her girlfriend’s curious gaze. She’s going to have to tell her soon, she knows, but she wants to enjoy the holiday without stress or worrying about what Camila might think about her being a witch.

Camila eventually cuts into Sofi and Ami’s playtime, tickling Sofi fiercely and making her squeal. Sofi squirms free and dashes over to Lauren, hiding behind her.

“Help me, Lolo, don’t let her get me!”

Camila charges over anyway and Lauren impulsively scoops Camila up and tosses her over her shoulder.

“Lauren!” Camila laughs, her hands fisting at the back of Lauren’s shirt. “Let me down!”

“Sorry,” Lauren chuckles while everyone watches with amusement. “I’ve got orders from the princess herself.” She twirls around, careful to keep her balance while Camila protests.

“Yes!” Sofi jumps up and down victoriously. Lauren stops spinning to grin at the girl. “You’re the best big sister ever, Lauren!”

For a moment, a split second in time, Sofia looks just like Taylor Jauregui and weight presses down on Lauren’s chest that has nothing to do with her girlfriend slung over her shoulder. She sets Camila down and clears her throat, but she knows she’s going to cry.

“Um,” Lauren averts her eyes from all the worried looks sent her way. “Excuse me, please.”

She barely remembers to snag her coat on the way out the door and Ami just manages to slip through before she shuts in behind her. She quickly makes her way down the stairs, her breathing growing ragged as she sets off for the park down the street.

She makes it to the tree she loves the most, but she can’t bring herself to climb, her whole body heavy with her memories. She sits at the base of it instead, pulling her legs to her chest and burying her face in her knees. It hums against her, sad and comforting and gentle. Ami pops onto her shoulders and Lauren knows he’s there to watch out for her while she tries to pull herself together.

It just hits her so suddenly sometimes, how much she misses her family. Usually, it’s when she’s curled up in her bed alone, or perched in the very tree she’s pressed up against. She’s reminded when she hears Ally or Normani talking on the phone with their families, or Dinah talking about her millions of cousins and it makes Lauren’s heart ache. It aches with jealousy and longing and loneliness but she pushes it all back because it’s not her friends’ fault someone decided to off her whole family.

Ami meows quietly and Lauren knows he’s warning her that someone’s approaching. Lauren tilts her head up and it’s Camila, of course, looking worried. Lauren feels guilty for how quickly she swept out of the apartment but she needed to gather herself. To shove the memories back under lock and key where she could control them.

“Hey,” Camila breathes, coming to a stop in front of Lauren.

“Hey,” Lauren says quietly.

Camila sits next to Lauren, her hands brushing against the flowers that must have popped up when Lauren’s emotions were at their peak. It’s strange how Lauren felt melancholic, and her magic responded by blooming flowers.

Camila doesn’t say anything and Lauren’s sure she’s not going to pry, but Lauren feels like she owes Camila an explanation.

“Sofi’s amazing,” she begins quietly. “I really like her, despite my dramatic exit a few minutes ago.”

“Lauren,” Camila frowns.

“She’s really cute and sweet,” Lauren presses on. “She just caught me off guard. No one’s called me their sister in a while.”

Camila’s eyes go wide at that. Lauren looks back out over the park as Ami nudges his way into her lap, purring comfortingly.

“Seeing you with your little sister just made me remember how much I miss my little sister.”

“You have a sister?” Camila’s voice is hushed.

“I did,” Lauren nods. “I had a brother, too.”

“I didn’t know that,” Camila says, and Lauren can tell it’s because she doesn’t know what else to say (not that Lauren can blame her).

“Only Ally knows I had siblings,” Lauren says. “It’s still hard to think about them. I lost them the same night I lost my parents.” Lauren lets out a humorless laugh and makes a sweeping gesture with her hand. “The whole Jauregui clan, wiped out in one fell swoop.”

“Lauren,” Camila’s eyes fill with tears.

“Except me,” Lauren adds, unable to help the bitterness that creeps into her tone.

“I had no idea,” Camila says.

“I didn’t want you to,” Lauren admits quietly, averting her eyes shamefully. “Didn’t want you to think of me as some sad, pitiful thing with no family.”

“You’re not,” Camila’s voice was firm and it startles Lauren into looking at her. “You’re not some pitiful thing. You’re the strongest person I know.” Lauren watched Camila pull herself to her feet. “You’ve got people who care about you in an apartment up the street. You’ve got a family there. Ally loves you, Normani loves you, Dinah loves you, and I know for a fact Sofi isn’t letting you go anytime soon.”

A tiny smile spreads on Lauren’s face and she lets Camila pull her to her feet. Lauren kisses Camila girl softly and tenderly, letting her know how she feels at the moment.

“Thank you,” Lauren says when they pull apart.

“Of course,” Camila says like it’s obvious. “You’re my girlfriend.”

No one mentions Lauren’s emotional episode for the rest of the evening and Lauren’s grateful for all of them. As they go around before they eat and share what they’re thankful for, Lauren tells them all as much. They all laugh and Sinu tells her it’s not a real holiday until someone cries.

Camila holds her hand on the table throughout the meal (despite Dinah and Sofi’s disgusted noises) and Lauren’s pretty sure this is the best Thanksgiving she’s had in years.

The snow is falling in huge flakes and it covers the branches of Lauren’s tree. She climbs it anyway, muttering an incantation to keep herself dry. Ami, stubborn brat that he is, insisted on coming along with her, and is now burrowed in her coat.

He stays quiet though, and the tree groans with sympathy around her.

It’s exactly two weeks until Christmas and it’s the anniversary of the day she lost her entire family.

She left her phone back at the apartment because she kind of just wants to sit and rot in this tree. Maybe it’s not super healthy for Lauren to isolate herself on such an emotionally stressful day, but she really doesn’t give a shit at this point. It’s her one day where she just wants to be alone.

It’s not until she’s been in the tree for nearly two hours that Lauren realizes she didn’t tell Camila about today. Ally, Normani, and Dinah know, and Lauren’s sure they’ll tell Camila, but she kind of feels like a giant asshole for not telling her girlfriend herself. She mostly shoves the thought of this day out of her head, content to ignore it until it overwhelms her at the right time.

It’s been working for two years, so why stop now?

She stays up in the tree all day, the frigid air stinging her lungs while she thinks about her family and the man that took them from her. Lauren wonders if she should feel some kind of need for vengeance or something like that, but more than anything she just wants to be left alone. She doesn’t want to be hunted or persecuted by a man with more power and skill than her, and she doesn’t want to incite unnecessary violence. She’s had enough of that to last a lifetime.

When the sun sets and Lauren knows her warming spells won’t hold up against the cold, she slowly, stiffly makes her way down the tree. It shudders one last time, offering Lauren a few happy feelings to flood her senses.

Lauren smiles weakly and thanks the tree, slowly making her way up the street. Ami is still warm and secure within her coat and he’s rumbling comfortingly.

When she opens the door to the apartment with numb hands, all four of the girls are sitting on the sofa. They stop speaking when Lauren enters the room and she’s too tired to care that they’re definitely talking about her.

She unbuttons her coat to let Ami fall onto his feet. He trots over to Camila (his favorite person besides Lauren) and rubs his head against her hands until she pets him. Lauren turns to hang up her coat and a familiar, awful pain sparks in her head. She drops her coat and clutches at her head, gasping from it.

“Lauren?” all of her friends seem to speak at once.

“Not now,” Lauren grumbles. She’s only had a handful of visions her entire life, and now she has two within weeks of each other? On the shittiest day of the year? All while her girlfriend, unaware of her witchy status, is watching her? “Not right now.”

She turns to the couch desperately, hoping to make it before she’s sucked into the vision. Unfortunately, she only makes it about two steps before the world fades around her, Camila’s terrified face being the last thing she sees.

She’s in the field. The field from her last vision. Her mind feels a lot less hazy than it did last time and she frowns as she squints into the distance, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary.

“Hello, Lauren.”

Lauren’s breath freezes in her throat. She hasn’t heard this voice in years and she’s terrified that if she turns around, the one person she wants to see more than anything won’t be standing there.

But Lauren is not a coward. She takes a deep breath and turns slowly to face the woman standing a few feet away.

Her mother looks just as radiant as Lauren always remembers her to be. She’s staring at Lauren with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

“Mom,” Lauren breathes. “Are you really…?”

“I’m here,” her mother nods and opens her arms. That’s all the invitation Lauren needs, and she throws herself into her mother’s arms, clinging to her fiercely.

“I miss you,” Lauren sobs, pressing her face into her mother’s shoulder. She’s taller than she was when her mother died and that just makes her heart hurt even more. “I miss you so much.”

“I miss you, too,” her mother’s voice is thick with emotion. “We all do.”

They stand in the field, wrapped up in each other for several minutes without a word between them.

Her mother pulls back and holds Lauren’s face in her hands. “You’ve grown into a beautiful young woman. I’m so proud of you.”

Lauren tries for a shaky smile that her mother returns in full. Her mother’s face grows serious after a moment.

“Lauren, I haven’t got much time. There’s something important you need to know.”

Lauren frowns. “What’s wrong?”

“The man,” her mother says urgently. “The man who tore our family apart. He’s coming for you.”

Fear grips Lauren, icy and paralyzing. She’s been ignoring the clues for months now, but she can’t ignore this one, not from her mother.

“I don’t know what to do,” Lauren confesses. “I can’t fight back against him. He brought our house down without breaking a sweat.”

“The universe is on your side,” her mother says. “The Jaureguis weren’t supposed to be wiped out that night two years ago. The universe wants you to live, to continue the Jauregui line.”

“I never thought I’d face so much pressure just to stay alive,” Lauren says weakly.

“You’re so strong, Lauren,” her mother goes on. “You’ve found a new family to love. And they love you just as much. Especially your girlfriend. Your very cute girlfriend.”

Lauren’s cheeks flushed with heat. “I can’t believe I’m communicating with my dead mother and she still manages to embarrass me about my girlfriend.”

Her mother laughs and it makes Lauren’s chest ache with familiarity. The woman pulls out a photograph, the obnoxious Christmas photo they’d taken only days before it all fell apart. It’s the last picture they took as a whole family. She tucks it into Lauren’s pocket and pats it gently.

“I’m sure you didn’t have much time to grab family photos on you way out of the house,” her mother says. “I always liked this one.”

It’s the beginning of a goodbye and Lauren doesn’t want her mom to go.

“Your father and I are so proud of you,” the woman says. “Chris and Taylor miss you.”

“I miss them,” Lauren says, a lump swelling in her throat again. “Tell them how much I love them.”

“They know, of course. We’re always with you, Lauren. No matter what.”

Her mom presses a kiss to her forehead and backs away a few steps. “This is probably going to hurt,” she says apologetically.

Lauren furrows her brow. “What?”

Lightening cracks in the sky and strikes Lauren headfirst. She jolts upright and her veins are too hot and heavy and she needs to let it out so sparks fly from her fingertips, orbs of light appear and flash out of existence, and the very air around her crackles with power.

When Lauren opens her eyes, Ally and Dinah are perched next to her with concern.

“Ow,” Lauren croaks, because that did hurt quite a bit. “Help me up.”

Rather than feel drained, like visions normally make her feel, she feels like she’s been juiced up. Ally and Dinah reluctantly pull her to her feet and that’s when Lauren spots Camila across the room with Normani. Her girlfriend’s eyes are wide and terrified and Lauren’s brain stops working for a few seconds.

“Camz,” she takes a step forward, halting when Camila shuffles back a step and Lauren’s sure she’s never hated herself as much as she does right now.

“You’re a witch,” Camila says, her voice faint.

“I am,” Lauren answers, even if it wasn’t a question.

“My girlfriend is a witch,” Camila says and Lauren hopes it’s a good sign that Camila didn’t say ex-girlfriend.

“Do you want to sit down?” Normani asks carefully.

“I think I… have to go,” Camila says, looking all out of sorts and Lauren’s heart falls to her stomach.

“Camila,” Lauren takes another step forward, flinching back when Camila thrusts out her hand.

“I’m gonna go,” Camila says more decisively. And she does, sweeping out the door with her coat in hand, leaving a silent apartment behind her.

Lauren’s speechless, but when Dinah says, “Well, fuck,” she can’t help but agree.

Lauren’s initial panic tells her to pack her bags and disappear and never come back, but it only takes a few words from Normani to calm her down.

Ally insists that Camila will come around, but it’s been a week with no contact from the girl. Dinah says Camila’s been avoiding her on campus and in class, but Lauren kind of expected that. She was the only one out of the loop and Lauren’s sure that has to sting.

The picture her mother gave her was in her pocket where she placed it and Lauren’s been staring at it constantly. It’s been so long since she’s seen her family’s faces, and she’s opened up more to the other girls, telling them about her sister and brother and the trouble they’d get in together.

Lauren just misses Camila, like, a lot. She knows Camila is hurt and probably a little scared, but Lauren just wants to let her girlfriend know how much she means to her.

If they’re still girlfriends at all.

Lauren sighs and looks over at Ami, who looks as downtrodden as she feels. He gives her a miserable look, his green eyes reflecting what Lauren’s feeling back at her.

The door to the apartment crashes open and Lauren jumps. Camila’s standing there, panting like she’s just run a marathon and a determined look on her face.

“Look, you’re a witch,” she snaps.

“Um,” Lauren says. “Yeah?”

“And I’ve spent an entire week with no contact between us,” Camila continues, kicking the door shut behind her loudly. Lauren’s glad Ally and Normani are out on a date, or they’d surely hear everything happening.

“Do you know why I did that?” Camila demands.

“You were mad at me?” Lauren tries. “I didn’t tell you about this big part of my life and it hurt you?”

“No.” Camila frowns. “Yes. But mostly, I stayed away to see if my feelings were the same whether I was around you or not.”

Lauren feels a little like she’s been slapped. “You… thought I cast a spell on you?” She feels pretty hurt by the accusation, but she knows it’s probably deserved.

“I don’t know!” Camila averts her eyes guiltily. “I just – I’ve heard a lot of stuff about witches, you know?”

“Yeah,” Lauren mutters, a bad taste in her mouth. “I know.”

“I mean this is a huge deal!” Camila cries. “And you kept it from me.”

Defensiveness rises in Lauren and she gets to her feet. Camila doesn’t back down, and Lauren’s not sure if that makes her happy or more angry.

“It is a huge deal,” she says. “I don’t know if you know, but people are still being murdered over this, so forgive me if I wanted to be a little cautious.”

“We’ve been dating for months, Lauren!” Camila shouts. “You’re telling me you didn’t think about letting me know at any time during our relationship?”

“Of course I thought about it, it’s all I thought about!” Lauren’s hands fly up. “But it’s not that easy, Camila, I had to be sure.”

“Be sure of what?”

“That you wouldn’t hate me!”

Camila looks stunned by that answer.

Lauren sighs deeply and rubs at her eyes for a few seconds. “Camila, I’ve lost a lot of people I care about. And the more time went on the more scared I got.”

“Scared of what?”

“Scared of losing you,” Lauren says bluntly, honestly, and she can see the words hit Camila. “I can’t lose you, Camila.”

“You won’t lose me,” Camila says, her voice small.

“You’re upset,” Lauren shakes her head. “You’re mad at me for not telling you. And I’d understand if you didn’t want to be with me anymore. It would kill me. But I’d understand.”

“Lauren, I was mad because I thought you didn’t trust me. I thought maybe I was under some spell and I didn’t really like you nearly as much as I thought I did. I learned something really important this last week.”

Lauren lowers her eyes and waits for the words that will break her heart.

“I’m in love with you.”

Lauren’s head snaps back up in an instant. Camila’s standing with her shoulders back and her chin high like she’s proud of her words.

“You…” Lauren can’t speak suddenly.

“This whole week I spent away from you, I waited for myself to – I don’t know – snap out of something, but all I did was miss you more and more with each passing day. I love you,” Camila says again, closing the gap between them. “Witchy powers and all.”

Lauren stares at her in silence for so long that Camila’s confidence fades to nervousness as she fidgets with her fingers. And then Lauren’s laughing for some reason, laughing with joy and giddiness and a touch of hysteria and she grabs Camila’s shoulders to keep herself upright.

“You’re freaking me out,” Camila says.

“I love you, too,” Lauren says, tears from her laughter still in her eyes. “I love you,” she says, leaning in and kissing Camila deeply. Camila squeals in surprise when Lauren lifts her by the waist, but Lauren reclaims her lips as Camila wraps her legs around Lauren’s waist.

Lauren fumbles for her bedroom door and Camila laughs loudly. They fall into bed together and everything is bliss.

“What else can you do?” Camila asks excitedly, bouncing on the mattress. She’s wearing one of Lauren’s old t-shirts and she has bad sex hair and Lauren adores her, she really does.

“Plenty of stuff,” Lauren says easily. “Within reason. I can do a few things without using an incantation, but the more difficult stuff is easier if you use a spell.”

Camila’s been very curious about Lauren’s magic, and she’s been asking questions nonstop for hours. Lauren doesn’t mind, still mostly relieved that Camila didn’t leave her over it.

“So do love spells even exist?” Camila asks curiously.

“You mean to tell me you avoided me for a week and you didn’t even know for sure if love spells even existed?”

“Maybe,” Camila draws the word out, a sheepish grin on her face.

Lauren rolls her eyes. “They do exist,” she says, “but they can’t make real love. They can make you feel lust or infatuation, but you can’t manufacture love.”

“That’s sweet,” Camila says thoughtfully. “True love and all that. It’s like a fairytale. Nothing beats true love.”

Lauren hums and smiles, focusing on her hands in front of her. The streams of light slide out of her fingertips slowly and carefully, and after a minute of concentration, Lauren’s holding a very small Milky Way galaxy in the palm of her hand. It takes a little concentration to get it to spin slowly, but Camila’s staring at it with awe. Her eyes flicker up to meet with Lauren’s and she smiles.

“Your eyes glow when you use magic,” Camila notes.

Lauren nods and presses her other hand on top of the little galaxy, squeezing her hands together and tossing it up. It breaks down and showers the two girls in sparkles in all shades of color.

“Beautiful,” Camila murmurs.

Lauren smiles. “For my next trick,” she jokes, pulling a smile from Camila. Lauren mutters an incantation under her breath while she spins one finger above the palm of her other hand. Slowly, a flower grows from nothing, a red rose in full bloom that Lauren offers to Camila. Camila takes it with wide eyes and smells it.

“It’s real!” she says delightedly.

“Of course it is,” Lauren says, feigning offense.

“It’s so cool how you can just make one flower bloom,” Camila marvels. “You don’t need the whole bush or anything.”

Camila’s words stir a memory and Lauren from months before. When she had her vision, her vision where she first heard Camila’s voice, she’d seen a pink lilac and Ally had gushed about romantic connections and acceptance. Lauren had snorted and dismissed Ally, but she chuckles as she realizes that Ally’s prediction was spot on.

“What?” Camila tilts her head, looking almost like a puppy.

Lauren, relieved she can talk about her magic freely, tells Camila the whole story.

“So you heard me before you ever met me?”

Lauren nods, lazily releasing tiny orbs of light that fizzle away after a few seconds.

“Oh, how romantic,” Camila bats her eyelashes and clasps her hands together in front of her.

Lauren laughs and shoves her shoulder. “Shut up.”

“So what was your vision last week about?”

Lauren’s grin fades to a tiny smile. “It wasn’t really a vision. I mean, kind of. I talked to my mom.”

“You…” Camila looks dumbfounded. “Your mom?”

“Yeah,” Lauren says, still taken aback by it herself. “She told me that she loved me and that she was proud of me. She thinks you’re cute by the way.”

Camila blinks and Lauren thinks that’s a pretty fair response to hearing your girlfriend’s dead mother say you’re cute.

“But,” Lauren frowned. “The man who killed my family. He’s coming after me.”

“What?” Camila gasps. “Does everyone else know this but me?”

“No,” Lauren averts her eyes. “You’re the only one I’ve told.”

“Honestly, I don’t know if that’s better or worse.”

Lauren snorts at that.

“What are you going to do?” Camila asks, her face pinched with concern.

Lauren shrugs. “I have until spring,” she says and the look on Camila’s face tells her that’s the wrong answer. “I mean, I’m working on it.”

“There’s man coming to kill you and all you have to say is ‘I’m working on it’?”

“I am,” Lauren says defensively.

“You’re gonna have to do better than that,” Camila says firmly. “I’m not having my girlfriend die because you didn’t want to plan ahead about a man coming to kill you.” She frowns, a confused look coming over her face. “Why exactly does he want to kill you?”

“Can you stop saying ‘kill’, it’s kind of freaking me out.”

“Lauren.”

“I don’t know,” Lauren sighs. “I mean it’s probably some kind of power play. We’ve got rivalries with lots of families.”

“How many rival families do you have if you can’t narrow down which one?” Camila asks.

Lauren shrugs and Camila shoots her a frustrated look.

“I really don’t know!” Lauren cries. “The Jauregui line spans back for centuries, we’ve made plenty of enemies in that time.”

“After hundreds of years of grudges, did it never occur to you all to let it go?” Camila scowls.

“The rivalries were bloody in the past,” Lauren concedes. “But for the past hundred years or so, the fighting settled and it’s mostly rivalries like you might find between non-magical families. ‘My kid’s more powerful than your kid, my potions sell faster than yours do,’ stuff like that. No one’s really been violent in a long time – we get enough of that from regular humans.”

“So this man suddenly attacking your family…” Camila prompts.

“It was sudden,” Lauren tells her. “I don’t know who he is, but he attacked our house in the middle of the night. His intent to wipe out the whole family was pretty clear. I only got out because of my mom and sheer luck. And now he’s coming after me to finish the job.”

Camila winces at that and Lauren feels a little bad about her harsh phrasing.

“So what are you going to do?” Camila asks again.

Lauren huffs. “Why are you pushing this?”

“One of us needs to be concerned about the homicidal maniac hunting you down,” Camila snaps. “And you don’t seem too worried.”

“I have until spring,” Lauren says again. “I’ll figure something out by then.”

Camila doesn’t look so sure and Lauren tries not to look doubtful herself.

Christmas is a cheerful affair.

Ally, Normani, and Dinah are thrilled that Lauren and Camila made up.

“Camren sails again!” Dinah proclaims and Lauren rolls her eyes while Camila giggles.

Camila decides to stay up north for holidays, but her mother makes her promise to bring Lauren the next time she comes home (but that’s for Lauren to freak out about at a later date).

Neither Lauren nor Camila are exactly rolling in money, but they get each other gifts anyway. Lauren gives Camila a necklace with a stone she infused with her own magic so that anytime Camila needed Lauren, she would know. Camila gives Lauren a few first edition poetry books that she confesses she found at the back of the old bookstore in town.

They drink eggnog and laugh as they all sing Christmas carols as loud as they can. Ally makes so many cookies that Lauren can’t keep count, but they all plow through them. Camila falls asleep with her head tucked up under Lauren’s chin on the couch and Normani takes several pictures of it.

The weeks pass slowly as Dinah and Camila go back to school. Lauren spends a lot of time in the park in her favorite tree. Sometimes she reads, sometimes Ami joins her and sometimes he doesn’t. When Ally or Camila ask Lauren what she does spending all that time in the park, Lauren just shrugs her shoulders.

At Camila’s insistence, Lauren tells the other three girls about the man after her. They respond about as well as Lauren always thought they would.

That is to say, Ally bursts into tears in an instant, Normani frantically tries to calm her girlfriend while prying more information out of Lauren, and Dinah offers to fistfight a very powerful witch.

Lauren manages to calm them all down (with no help from Camila, who watches it all in silence), promising that she’s got everything under control.

“I have a plan, I swear,” she tells them. None of them look like they believe her and she’s a little offended by their complete lack of faith. “I’m serious.”

They all seems more concerned about the danger in the distant future than Lauren does. Lauren carries on through the rest of winter, spending time either in her tree or with the girls. Only Ami seems as calm as her, and the two have been sharing exasperated looks for weeks.

It’s not until the snow starts to melt on the ground that anxiety creeps up Lauren’s spine. She has a plan, she really does, but she has no idea if the plan is going to work. She doesn’t tell Camila that, though, and certainly not Ally, who looks like she might burst at the slightest provocation.

“You could hide,” Ally suggests one night. The snow’s been gone for a week and Lauren knows it’s not coming back. “Just stay out of his way.”

“He’s hunting me down, Ally,” Lauren reminds as gently as she can. “He’s zeroing in on me and I don’t want to spend my life on the run.”

“Yeah, kick his ass, Lauser,” Dinah encourages.

“I don’t think hand to hand combat is the go-to for witches fighting, DJ,” Normani says wryly.

“You’d be surprised,” Lauren mutters to herself. Only Camila hears her and she snorts into her glass of water.

As the world begins to bloom back into life, Lauren knows that the man will be arriving any day now. She takes Camila with her as she and Ami walk around the border of the town, Lauren stopping every now and then to mutter an incantation.

“What’re you doing?” Camila asks curiously. “Is this to keep him out of the town?”

Lauren snorts a little. “I’m not powerful enough to put a defensive border around this whole town by myself. These are little triggers. Alarms to let me know when a powerful presence passes them. Wouldn’t want him to catch me unawares.”

“That would be bad,” Camila agrees, her face drawn and worried.

“Hey,” Lauren says softly, sliding her thumb across Camila’s cheek and cupping her jaw. “It’s going to be okay. We’re gonna get through this.”

“Do you really think so?” Camila’s voice is soft and a little desperate.

“Absolutely,” Lauren says firmly. She kisses Camila and hopes the younger girl can’t taste the lie on her tongue.

It happens, of course, in the middle of the night. Lauren had a feeling it would; after all, his first attack had been in the middle of the night.

The alarms that she’s set up all around the border of town trigger and she gasps awake. Camila (who spends more nights in Lauren’s bed than her dorm) jolts awake next to her, startled by Lauren’s sudden loud breathing.

“He’s here,” Lauren slurs, staggering to her feet and pulling on a pair of jeans (what are the best pants to wear to some fucked up magic battle?). She yanks on her boots after that and turns back to Camila, who looks tiny and lovely in Lauren’s bed. Lauren leans forward and presses a searing kiss to her lips.

“Don’t come outside,” she orders, and then she’s out the door, passing Dinah who’s knocked out on their couch.

She runs to the park as fast as her legs can carry her and she skids to a stop when she spots him from a distance through the trees.

He’s dressed in dark clothing, looking every bit as frightening and intimidating as Lauren remembers him. He’s standing in between Lauren and her tree.

She needs to get to that tree.

She walks forward cautiously, and he slowly does the same. She stops a few feet away from him and gets a good look at him in the lamplight.

He’s young, she notes, faintly surprised. Probably only a few years older than Lauren herself. He’s got a nasty scar that runs from below his ear and along his collarbone until it disappears under his shirt. He’s handsome, she can admit, but there’s something unsettling in his eyes. Something cold and just the slightest bit… off.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” he says, voice as low and as smooth as silk. He sounds genuinely eager and it sends a shiver up Lauren’s spine. “To finally claim the last Jauregui.”

“Claim?” Lauren’s anger overtakes her fear. “You murdered my family, you sick son of a bitch.”

“But not all of them,” he says regretfully. “I missed one. This time, though, I will not fail.”

It strikes Lauren as a little odd that she can so calmly stand and speak with the man that murdered her family and blatantly admits to wanting to kill her as well. It’s like her heart is beating so fast that the rest of the world seems slow, almost lazy in comparison.

“I disagree,” Lauren narrows her eyes, shifting herself into a defensive stance.

He moves so quickly, she can barely see him. A burst of energy knocks her off her feet and sends her flying backwards. She lands heavily, all of the breath in her lungs leaving her in an instant. She scrambles to her feet and he hasn’t moved.

“Unfortunately,” he says calmly, as though he didn’t just blow Lauren back a dozen feet, “only one of us will be correct. And I do so hate to be wrong.”

“That makes two of us,” Lauren snarls, diving behind a tree to avoid the next wave of energy. It hits the tree, which groans irritably, not really hurt, but more put out. “I’m glad one of us can take a hit,” she grumbles to it.

The back of her neck tingles and her head ducks almost of its own accord. A sword, an honest to fucking god sword, hacks into the tree where her head just was. Lauren staggers away from the man, where he cackles (seriously?) and takes his time pulling his sword out of the tree.

“A sword?” Lauren can’t help but gasp.

“It’s traditional,” he says, his eyes going wide with sincerity.

“Tradition didn’t mean much when you brought a house on my sleeping family.”

The man shrugs, the movement somehow nonchalant and incredibly deliberate at the same time. “You gotta do what you gotta do.”

He takes a step forward and Lauren flicks her wrist up. His foot catches on the root she lifted and he falls onto his hands and knees. Lauren takes off running for her tree and she can hear his laughter behind her, echoing and hollow in a way. She kind of feels like she’s in a ridiculous horror movie for a moment.

The back of her neck tingles again and her body jerks to the side. The sword he throws (Lauren really can’t get over the fucking sword) almost misses her, but it slices open her side, blood soaking her shirt immediately. Lauren curses and presses her hand to the wound, trying to staunch the blood. She leans up against another tree out of the man’s line of sight.

“Lauren,” the man drags her name out slowly. “Lauren,” he sings her name then and Lauren realizes he’s just toying with her. He could kill her in a heartbeat if that’s what he wanted, but he’s enjoying himself too much. Lauren knows that if she wants to survive, she’s going to have to play along with him.

“Hey,” she pants, starting to feel lightheaded from either adrenaline or blood loss (or both). “You know my name but I don’t know yours. Seems a shame to die without knowing the man who wipes out the entire Jauregui clan.”

“That would be a shame, wouldn’t it?” he says. He still sounds far away and Lauren struggles to catch her breath. “I’m Eric. Do you know what the name Eric means?”

“No,” Lauren peaks out from around the tree. He’s picked up the sword and he’s carefully cleaning her blood off of it. “Why don’t you tell me?”

“It’s Scandinavian. It means ‘honorable ruler’. And that’s exactly what I want to be.”

“A ruler?” Lauren repeats. “Ruler of what?”

“Why, of the witches of course. Have to get the old families out of the way, first and foremost. You just so luckily happen to be a part of one of the oldest and most powerful.”

“Lucky me,” Lauren grunts, making a dash for the next tree big enough to hide behind. The back of her neck tingles and she ducks, moving below the blast of energy he sent her way and sending a wave right back at him.

She hears it hit Eric and he grunts from it as it knocks him to the ground. He laughs, the sound deeply unpleasant. “You’re very good at dodging, Lauren. I’m very impressed.”

Lauren’s not sure how her body is responding to these attacks that she can barely keep up with. Then she remembers what her mother told her weeks earlier.

“The universe is on your side, Lauren.”

Lauren thought those were just encouraging words, but they’re feeling pretty literal right now.

Lauren’s tree is so close at this point. She can practically hear it beckoning to her. The tree she’s leaned up against now rumbles encouragingly and Lauren braces herself to make a break for her tree. She’s losing a lot of blood and she can’t keep it up.

With one more deep breath to steady her, she sprints through across the grass, her body screaming in protest. Another wave of energy approaches her and she tries her best to get her unresponsive body to move out of its way and partially succeeds.

The bad news is, the wave slams into part of her body and sends her flying, letting her crash painfully to the ground.

The good news is, she crashes to the ground only a few feet from the tree she needs.

The more bad news is, Eric’s suddenly on top of her pinning her down and Lauren’s much too weak from the beating she’s taken to buck him off.

“You put up a good fight,” he grins, making Lauren’s stomach flip unpleasantly. “You’re very powerful. It’s a real shame I have to kill you,” he says, actually sounding regretful.

Lauren’s hand flails out to stretch for the root of her tree. It’s mere inches from her hand and Eric chuckles.

“The trees here like you,” he notes. “But they can’t help you much now.”

Lauren spits in his face and wriggles harder. He wipes her bloody saliva away, looking amused.

“I’ve wondered,” he tells her as he sits on her chest. Her side is still bleeding and it’s getting harder for Lauren to breathe. “For a long time, how I would kill you when the time came. Now, looking at your face, I’ve decided I want to watch the light fade from your eyes. To truly extinguish the last life in the Jauregui clan. I’ve killed several other families, but to finally conquer the Jaureguis…” his eyes gleam at the thought and Lauren thinks she might be sick. “That would be a real treat.”

“You’re a monster,” she wheezes.

“Oh, Lauren,” Eric sighs, reaching up to brush a few strands of hair out of her face. She doesn’t flinch, staring back at him hard. “Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to get what you want. Might as well enjoy it.”

His hands clamp around her throat, cutting off her already weak air supply. Her hands clamp onto his and she digs her nails into his flesh in a desperate attempt to get him off of her.

The world starts to tint grey at the edges and Eric’s grinning down at her. The nightmares that she’s been having since the end of the summer suddenly flood her mind and it’s this, she’s been dreaming about Eric strangling her for months. Her ears start to ring and Lauren realizes then that she’s going to die.

Something dark and fast latches onto Eric’s head. He lets go of her throat and she gasps for air. It’s Ami, clawing and biting and hissing, disorienting Eric and letting Lauren breathe.

Eric finally grabs Ami and throws him aside with a shout just as Lauren can move her limbs again.

“Lauren!”

It’s Camila’s voice, and Eric’s head snaps up, not expecting the sudden cry.

It’s the window of opportunity that Lauren needs. She clasps her hands together and crashes them into the side of Eric’s face. He tumbles of off her and Lauren scrambles to the base of her tree, flattening her hands on it and hoarsely reciting the incantation that will trigger the spell she’s been building for weeks.

Massive tree roots explode from the ground, wrapping around Eric in a vice grip and slowly dragging him back under the ground.

“No!” he cries, blood flying from his mouth from where Lauren hit him. “I’m the ruler. I am the ruler! You can’t kill me, please! Please Lauren, save me!”

Lauren watches him grimly, slumped up against the tree and clutching at the wound in her side.

“Lauren!” he begs. “Save me, please, Lauren!”

Lauren looks him dead in the eye.

“Fuck you,” she spits.

And then Eric’s gone and it’s silent again.

The tree rumbles happily beneath her, glad to be rid of the man.

Lauren looks down at her side. She’s drenched in her own blood and, call her a bit of a downer, but she really doesn’t think she’s going to be conscious much longer.

Or alive.

Ami limps over to her, meowing pitifully.

“I think I came out a little worse on this one, dude,” she tells him. “You’re not getting any pity from me.”

He curls up against her uninjured side silently and Lauren’s eyes fill with tears. “Thank you,” she says. “For being the best familiar a girl could ask for.”

He looks up at her with glowing green eyes and she smiles at him.

“Lauren!” Camila’s voice is close, very close.

“Here,” she calls weakly.

Camila appears suddenly and drops to her knees in front of Lauren, her face going white at the amount of blood she sees. Her hands flutter over the wound for a few seconds helplessly until she presses down on it. Lauren groans at the pain that flares up and Camila winces.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” she apologizes, but she doesn’t let up on the pressure, which is good because Lauren’s not too keen on losing any more blood.

“I’m calling nine-one-one,” Camila decides pulling one blood soaked hand away and wiping it on her t-shirt that’s actually Lauren’s t-shirt because Camila’s a bit of a thief, Lauren notes blearily. Camila pulls out her phone and Lauren’s vision goes blurry.

“Camz,” she says.

“You’re going to be fine, Lauren,” Camila says fiercely, tears starting to slide down her face. She rattles off their location to the emergency dispatch and Lauren’s really about to pass out.

“Camz,” she says again. She reaches for the front of Camila’s (Lauren’s) shirt and tugs on it weakly. Camila leans in closer and Lauren kisses her softly. “I love you.”

“Lauren,” Camila sobs. “You’re going to be okay.”

“I really love you, Camila,” Lauren says, her eyes sliding closed and her body slumping forward. “Really love you.”

It’s all dark after that.

Lauren’s return to consciousness is slow and painful. Her whole body aches like she’s been hit with a truck, and her mouth tastes like death. There’s something in her nose and it’s bothering her, and there’s a really annoying beeping sound that won’t shut up.

“Shh,” she tells the noise.

“Lauren?”

“Shh,” she shushes again. “Tell the beeps to shh.”

“Lauren, can you open your eyes for me?”

Lauren scoffs in her mind. Of course she can open her eyes, don’t be ridiculous. She pries them open, annoyed with how they crust together. There’s a man in front of her wearing scrubs and a white coat and even Lauren’s scattered brain can detect that he’s a doctor.

“You had us worried for a while there,” he smiles. His teeth are perfectly straight and Lauren can’t stop staring at them. They’re, like, perfectly white. “You’re probably feeling a little out of sorts right now, you’re on some pretty strong painkillers. Do you want us to dial it back?”

It takes Lauren a few seconds to process everything he said. Her mind feels like it’s made of cotton, and she just wants to see her girlfriend.

“Camz,” she says.

“I’m sorry?”

“Camila, my girlfriend. Where is she?”

“In the waiting room,” he tells her kindly. “She was quite shaken up when we brought you in. Said a real nasty guy with a knife jumped you in the park. Do you remember any of that?”

“Yeah,” Lauren says slowly. She remembers the blade being a little larger than a knife, though. “Can I see her?”

“Visiting hours don’t start for another few hours,” he says apologetically. “I suggest you use this time to rest. You’re going to be doing a lot of that in order to recover.”

“Can I see Camila then?” Lauren asks, aware of how whiny she sounded. She doesn’t really care, though, she just wants to see her Camz.

“Of course,” the doctor nodded patiently. “Rest up, now.”

Lauren let her eyes drift close again. She’s asleep in seconds.

“Jesus, Dinah, could you be any fucking louder?”

“Someone is being loud, Mani, and right now, it’s not me.”

“Don’t fight, she’s asleep.”

“Sorry, Ally.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Can you guys, like, shut the fuck up?” Lauren groans.

She cracks her eyes open and takes in four girls standing there. Ally lunges forward somehow manages to gently hug Lauren on the bed.

“We’ve been so worried! How are you feeling?”

“Um,” Lauren says. “Not great.”

“Well you look like shit,” Dinah tells her cheerfully.

“Thank you, Dinah. It means a lot.”

“Sure,” she chirps, bringing up her phone to snap a picture of Lauren in the bed. “My mom’s been mad worried since she heard about you getting hurt. She’ll be glad to see you’re awake.”

Lauren frowns. “How did your mom find out? How long have I been asleep?”

“My mom finds out everything,” Dinah says, waving her hand dismissively.

“You’ve been out for thirty-two hours,” Camila adds helpfully. It’s the first thing she’s said since entering the room and, judging by the bags under her eyes, Lauren’s sure that Camila’s been awake for as long as Lauren’s been asleep.

“So the man,” Normani lowers her voice. “He’s gone, right? I mean, you’re still here, but they didn’t find anyone else at the park.”

“Eric’s gone,” Lauren says, her voice flat.

“Eric?” Normani repeats.

“That was his name. It means ‘honorable ruler’. He murdered my family for some crackpot dream of ruling over all of the witches in the… country, world, I’m not sure. He wasn’t very specific while he tried to kill me.”

“But he’s gone?” Dinah asks, her eyes wide.

“He’s gone,” Lauren says again, her hands fisting in the sheets.

“Good fuckin’ riddance,” Dinah says.

“Yeah,” Normani agrees. “He got what was coming to him.”

“I always thought that knowing he was dead would bring me some kind of peace,” Lauren says quietly. “You know, in movies, when the hero avenges their family, they always seem so… I don’t know, fulfilled. I just kind of feel sick.”

“It’s okay,” Camila says, her hands covering Lauren’s and unclenching them to interlock their fingers.

“I killed him,” Lauren’s breathing hitches into an almost-sob. “Just like he killed my family.”

“No,” Ally’s voice is firm. She waits for Lauren to look at her before she goes on. “What that man did to your family was despicable. He hunted after you like you were some kind of animal and he tried to murder you. You defended yourself. What were you supposed to do, lay down and let him kill you?”

Ally’s words make sense, but that doesn’t stop the guilt that festers in Lauren’s stomach. She nods anyway.

Ally looks satisfied and she sits back for a moment. “You can be discharged today as long as you promise to take it easy. I’ll go fill out the paperwork.” She leans in and presses a kiss to Lauren’s forehead before she leaves the room.

“I’m gonna get something from the vending machine,” Dinah rises. “Mani, you coming?”

“Yeah,” Normani says, following after Dinah.

Lauren snorts softly. “They really think they’re subtle.”

Camila doesn’t say anything and Lauren looks over to her. She’s just staring at Lauren, drinking in her features like they’re never going to see each other again.

Which Camila probably believed about thirty-two hours before.

“That shirt looks familiar,” Lauren says. It’s another one of her shirts, one Camila probably changed into after the other one was covered in Lauren’s blood.

“I thought you were going to die,” Camila says, her voice strained with emotion. “There was so much blood and you wouldn’t stop saying you loved me and you just slumped over and –” she cuts off with a sob.

“I’m sorry,” Lauren says, because what else can she say?

“It’s not your fault,” Camila shakes her head. “God, I know none of it is your fault. But I was so scared when I saw you leaned up against that tree.”

Lauren’s memory of the night before is still hazy in some parts, but she remembers Camila kneeling in front of her. She remembers earlier, when Camila called her name and Eric had looked away, giving Lauren the chance to escape.

“You saved me,” Lauren says with awe.

Camila sniffles. “What?”

“When you called my name across the park,” Lauren says, watching Camila’s eyes flash with the memory. “Eric looked up and it gave me the chance to get away from him. You saved me.”

Camila looks completely dumbfounded. “What?”

“Without you, I wouldn’t be here,” Lauren says, reaching up to caress Camila’s face despite the burn in her side. “So I guess you’re like my hero or whatever.”

Camila’s mouth clamps shut and she’s silent for a few seconds before she cracks a smile. “That’s romantic.”

“I love you,” Lauren says, her voice quiet and sincere.

“I love you, too, Lauren. So much.”

Lauren wonders how many people in the world would be thrilled to be in her position. Four beautiful girls catering to her every need seems like a nice idea, but Lauren’s always been a very independent person. She’s feeling kind of stifled by the attention, and she’s taken to locking herself in her room with just Ami and sometimes Camila.

“Why does she get to go in with you?” Dinah pouts as Lauren tugs Camila behind her to her room.

“Because Camila lets me do this.” Lauren pins Camila to the wall next to her door and kisses her senseless. She pulls back and Camila looks pretty frazzled, so Lauren sends a smug look Dinah’s way.

Dinah rolls her eyes. “Well damn, I could do that too if you asked nicely.”

Mostly, though, Lauren and Camila lay together in bed, reading or talking quietly while Ami naps on the windowsill.

“How’d the other girls learn about your magic?” Camila asks one afternoon.

“I didn’t actually tell any of them,” Lauren says. “I was pretty much wandering around after my family died. I hitchhiked all the way up the east coast until I came across this town. I went into the soap shop because I was cold and it was warm and I knew if I went into a diner without any money, I’d order food I couldn’t pay for.

“Ally pretty much took me in and didn’t take no for an answer. She let me work in the shop in exchange for the spare bedroom and she’d give me a little cash for food, too. I didn’t want them to know I was a witch, so I tried to suppress my powers. Which was a stupid idea.”

“Suppress your magic?” Camila asks.

“So, like, imagine my body as an empty tank. Magic automatically fills up and when I use it, and I deplete some of the magic until it replenishes itself. But if the tank gets full and I don’t get rid of some of my magic, it overflows and comes out of me whether I want it to or not,” Lauren explains.

“Okay,” Camila nods slowly. “I get it. Continue.”

“I broke a plate one night. Which wouldn’t have been a big deal, but Ally was watching me and my hands were nowhere near it. She saw my eyes glow, too, which is an easy giveaway. I backed away really quickly and asked her very politely not to kill me.”

“It’s good to be polite about it,” Camila snorts and Lauren laughs.

“I thought so. So Normani comes charging in and Ally says that it’s okay that I’m a witch because her grandfather had been a witch, too.”

“No way,” Camila says.

“Yeah. So Normani pretty much rolled with it and here I am, a year and a half later.”

“What about Dinah?”

“Dinah,” Lauren laughs. “Ally hired Dinah a few months after me and forbade her to enter the storage room where I make all the potions.”

“So she went in, right?”

“Oh totally. She walked in right when I was levitating boxes onto shelves. She didn’t really give me any time to freak out, because she immediately started yelling at me for making her lift heavy things when I could just magic them everywhere.”

“That sounds very Dinah,” Camila says.

“It was,” Lauren agrees.

“Because Dinah’s the worst!” Camila raises her voice to be heard through the door.

In return, they get a muffled, “Ay, fuck y’all.”

It takes Lauren a month until she’s declared fully healed. The raised, pink line across her stomach should fade, the doctor says. It’ll eventually turn white and flatten a little.

It takes Lauren two months after that before she can return to the park. As soon as she walks through the gates with Camila’s hand in hers, the trees great her pleasantly.

Her tree looks just as old and magnificent as always, and the grass has regrown over the spot where Eric had been dragged under the earth. There’s no evidence that anything violent had happened.

Lauren releases Camila’s hand to press both of her palms against her tree. It groans happily, glad to see her.

“I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you,” she tells it. “I missed you.”

The tree shudders and several leaves drop off and swirl around her playfully. She laughs and bats them away.

“Thank you for helping me,” she says sincerely. “Sorry I bled all over you.”

She hears Camila snort behind her, but she focuses her attention on the tree. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before pushing a flood of magic into it. The whole thing rumbles and leaves swirl around her and the ground somehow vibrates and she can hear something ancient say, “Laur-en.”

She laughs delightedly, grinning back at Camila who’s standing with a stunned look on her face.

“The tree talked!” Camila says, her face splitting into a smile.

“Did you think I was talking to a tree for fun?”

“I mean you’re a witch, you can do stuff like talk to cats and trees but,” she shakes her head, her eyes still wide. “I just heard a tree talk.”

Lauren smiles and her gaze falls to where she last saw Eric. She moves towards it slowly, kneeling onto the grass and running her fingers through it.

“Here you are, Eric. In all your glory,” she says to him. “Dying in battle. That’s pretty honorable, I think. You would’ve won, too, but I had an advantage you didn’t even know about. The universe was on my side.”

She lets her head fall back as she looks up at the blue sky. She knows Camila is behind her, listening to every word, but the more she talks, the less guilty she feels.

“You were a really shitty person, Eric. I mean, wow. Talk about a Class A scumbag. You killed my family. You killed other families. You tried to kill me. You hurt my cat. That’s a lot of shitty things. Maybe it wasn’t my place to lay you to rest, and sometimes I regret it. And that’s the real difference between me and you. You killed so many people and you enjoyed it. I didn’t. It made me feel horrible, despicable. And somehow, those feelings make me a better person than you.”

Lauren hauls herself to her feet, suddenly feeling ten pounds lighter.

“Bye Eric. Maybe we’ll be friends in the next life.”

Camila has tears in her eyes when the witch turns around. She pulls Lauren into a tight hug that they stay in for a while.

“I love you,” Lauren mumbles against Camila’s temple.

“I love you, too, Lauren.”

When they finally pull apart, they walk hand in hand to the diner.

“I want a strawberry milkshake,” Lauren announces.

“Sure thing, tree-whisperer.”

“You’re annoying.”

“You’re the one who talks to trees.”

“Camila, I swear to god.”