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2p-hetalia-universe · 7 years ago

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If the 2ps were Doctors

Warning : Here are what would the 2ps be if they pratice Medicine and what sort of it. It’s only based on what I think fit with their personalities. It was fun to find what would fit with what character.

2p!America : Specialist of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (Physician who covers the care of disabled people or victims of lesions after an accident or an illness, but also in case of chronic pains.)

Even if it’s not his main passion, Allan is a great sportsman and a healthy man, so naturally he found his way towards the Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine with the aim of helping is patients to forge again their muscles after various accidents. He’s a very good coach so he really can help his patients to reach the end of their physical rehabilitation.

2p!England : Pediatrician (Pediatric specialist, medicine which study the physiological and psychomotor development of a child.)

Oliver has always loved children, they give him a lot of joy and love. He’s the nice doctor of children whom they adored because he always brings candies and kind words. Oliver feels more comfortable with children who love him rather than adults who treat him badly. For him, these sick children are a real source of happiness.

2p!France : Pulmonologist (Specialist in Respiratory Medicine, which is the discipline that studies and treats diseases of the lungs and the respiratory system.)

It’s quite odd to see a chronic smoker like François as a lung doctor, since he himself does not take good care of his. Also, he does not seem very credible in front of his patients. However, who better than a smoker knows the risks of smoking and the diseases that the lungs can have. So, he knows everything a doctor needs to know about the lungs and the best way to treat them.

2p!Canada : Veterinarian (Specialist in Animals’ Medicine and Surgery)

Matt hates people and their behavior towards animals often annoy him, but the need to save animals is stronger for him. One could say that as they have always been his closest friends, he makes it one’s duty to treating them. Since he works in close collaboration with animal associations, he does not hesitate to call them if he sees that a master is mistreating hi animal and he himself does prevention towards ignorant masters.

2p!Russia : Dental Surgeon (Medical health professional qualified to practice Odontology, therefore dentistry.)

Viktor is a bit of the cliché of the dentist with a big Russian accent and the face of a nasty movie dentist who will make his patients suffer for pleasure and tear their teeth out without anesthesia. But in truth, he’s particularly talented in the ways and means of using the drill without hurting. Despite his big hands, he’s very delicate when it comes to taking care of his patients’ teeth. However, he has some satisfaction when he pulls teeth, but always under anesthesia.

2p!China : Radiotherapist (Specialist in Radiotherapy, that is to say the treatment method based on the biological action of ionizing radiation and especially X-rays.)

Xiao has always been fascinated by the big machines of medicines and imaging methods, such as X-rays, MRIs, ultrasounds and optical methods that give an insight of the inside of the human body. He’s mostly fascinated by the dangerous products and processes he has to manipulate, such as magnetic fields, radioactivity, ultrasounds and others. He loves to touch anything that is dangerous.

2p!North Italy : Neurologist (Specialist who is dedicated to study and treatment of diseases affecting the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord) or peripheral (roots and nerves).)

His own brain’s problems, especially push him to take an interest in anything that is around this part of the body in order to try to understand himself better, even if he does not realize it. What really interests him are the neurodegenerative diseases and neuromuscular pathologies which he tries to understand the functioning for fear of having to suffer from it himself.

2p!Germany : Occupational Health Physician (The role of the occupational health Physician is purely preventive and consists in avoiding any health damage to workers while carrying out their duties. He’s responsible for monitoring occupational hygiene conditions and employee health while detecting the risk of contagions.)

Lutz could not be a doctor without working in a company; be alone in his cabinet would have made him depressed. As an occupational Physician, he is in contact with people, which he prefers, and his role is mainly to see the working conditions of companies and avoid contagion, which for him, is, therefore, a quite a simple job, but likes it a lot.

2p!Japan : Gynecologist (Specialist who is dedicated to the study of the organism of the woman and her reproductive system, from both physiological and pathological point of view.)

What more can we expect from Kuro. It must be said that this job is especially a good excuse for him to see female genitals all day. But as far as he likes to see beautiful young girls and women, he really hates to examine women he does not find pretty or old women; he finds it frankly disgusted. But this is the hazards of the job, so he takes it upon himself to remember only the best of the day.

2p!South Italy : Aesthetic, plastic and reconstructive Surgeon (Surgery Specialist grouping all the interventions consisting in improving the physical appearance of an individual.)

For Flavio, there is nothing more important than the beauty of the human body, so it is quite naturally that he helps all his patients to be as beautiful as they wish. He makes a point of honor to fulfill all the desires of his patients and to make them as beautiful as possible, but especially from his point of view. If he considers that a person is about to make them ugly by a bad choice of surgery, he makes them change their minds so that it corresponds to what he calls true beauty.

2p!Prussia : Palliative Physician (Specialist in care that aims only at the comfort of the patient, often at the end-of-life phase. The goal of palliative care is to prevent and ease physical pain, uncomfortable symptoms (nausea, constipation, anxiety…) or psychological suffering.)

Gilen wanted a medicine that would be soft to fit with his sensitive nature, but he did not realize that palliative care is by far one of the most difficult branches because of the weight and the psychological impact it has on oneself. Accompanying people before the death is far from easy. But somewhere, rather than being a burden to Gilen whose relationship with death is already pretty close, it allows him to clear his mind from his own problems by focusing on those of others.

2p!Spain : Psychiatrist (Specialist in mental health, practicing psychiatry. He diagnoses, treats and tries to prevent the psychic suffering and mental illness.)

Andres is a pretty sane man. Also, mental illnesses are a mystery for him so he tries to understand them. He has also suffered a lot from mental illnesses because people around him have always suffered from them, so he considered himself obliged to find and diagnose them so that his patients and their loved ones do not have to suffer as he had suffer in the past and still suffered today.

2p!Austria : Hematologist (Specialist in hematology (study of blood, organs where blood cells are formed and their illnesses).)

Roland is a vampire in the clinical sense of the word, that is to say that he’s a human that drinks blood (so different from vampires like in the myths). That’s the reason he went to the hematology section, in order to study it for his own interest, but also to steal it if necessary. He suffers from a mental disorder that causes him to make blood his passion, both for drinking and for using it for his satanic rituals.

2p!Finland : Cardiologist (Doctor specializes in cardiology, that is to say in the part of medicine that studies the heart and treats illnesses related to it.)

Thurston became cardiologist, especially to put into practice the methods that came from his country, including saunas and cryotherapy. So, he greatly recommends these two methods for cardiovascular diseases because he’s convinced of their benefit. He applies these methods himself on his patients, either by passing them in a sauna then confronts them with the cold, or by using cryotherapy showers in which he puts his patients for two or three minutes. Thus, he wants to show all his colleagues that these methods work.

2p!Sweden : Otorhinolaryngologist (Specialist in Otorhinolaryngology therefore the medical specialty which studies the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the ear, nose and sinus cavities, pharyngo-larynx and surrounding areas (facial and cervical).)

Let’s say that of all the medical specialties, this one was the single one that attracted the most Bernard. He would not have liked to practice a more intrusive specialty. At least with this one, he only has to look slightly deeper than on the surface and he only has to make a diagnosis. He has no operation to do, just to receive people and make assumptions. He does not like to rack his brain too much.

2p!Norway : Dermatologist (Specialist of Dermatology, that is to say who studies and treats diseases of the skin, skin appendages (hair, nails) and mucous membranes.)

Loki is a badly burnt man, much as in the hands he hides under his gloves, the body under his blouse and part of his face he cannot hide. Also, he knows a lot about skin that his studied after his burns ton understand its regeneration and its diseases. For him, the skin is a very interesting subject of study and understanding his problems have become a vocation since his own has changed.

2p!Iceland : Ophthalmologist (Specialist in Ophthalmology so the science and medical specialty that deal with the structure and function of the eyes and diseases that reach them.)

That’s pretty ironic from a boy who lost an eye to do ophthalmology, but that’s the vocation he takes up after understanding the importance of the eyes in a person’s life. His own acuity has developed around one eye with which he has learned to live, so he studies the adaptability of the eyes after an accident or illness.

2p!Denmark : Preventive Physician (Branch of medicine consisting of giving hygiene advice in a broad sense: cleanliness, but also dietetics, encouragement to a sport or physical activity, ergonomics and a way of making efforts, prevention of risk and disease screening.)

This medicine allows him not to think too much, he gives only hygiene advice and makes injections in search of screening. What he is told to do, he does. This branch allows him not to have to operate his patients, which he would not support, but it just allows him to help people, although he does not feel great joy, however, to find or stop at advance of potential disease.

#2ptalia #2p hetalia #medicine

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5hfanfiction · 7 years ago

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love made in the lab

A/N:

*DJ Khaled voice* another one.

Hit me up on wattpad or ao3 at jaureguicabello5eva

–

Camila has never really appreciated why windows in tall buildings are always sealed. Like, maybe she just wants to crack a window open every once in a while, get some fresh air or something.

Well, she never appreciated sealed windows until now that is. Right now, she’s two seconds away from jumping out of their seventh floor research lab and she honestly, probably would have, had the windows not been sealed. So she has whoever invented sealed windows to thank for saving her life.

It’s almost nine at night and she’s still at the lab running this stupid experiment. She’s been working since eight in the morning and she’s exhausted. Camila is spending her gap year between graduating college and matriculating into medical school working in a research laboratory in Columbia University. She’d already gotten accepted to a few schools, but her heart is pretty much set on Columbia. It’s where she went to college and has spent the last three years getting involved in their neurology department’s research on neurodegenerative diseases, so she really can’t think of anywhere else she’d rather go.

Camila has also fallen in love with New York so that all but seals the deal. Right now, however, she’s anything but pleased about working in this lab. Their lab is getting ready to submit a grant proposal and so everyone is working hard to generate as much clear and concrete data for their preliminary results. This means late nights and early mornings in the lab and Camila just misses her bed and her cat and now the centrifuge machine isn’t working.

She was on her last run on this dumb centrifuge when it just stopped working. She’s called some people that work in the same lab and they advised that she turn it off and wait another 30 minutes?! and just try again, so that’s what she’s doing: waiting and contemplating about jumping out the window.

–

Lauren is mopping the floor on the seventh floor of Columbia’s Center for Neurological Research lab while trying to read her notes for her Torts class the next morning. She took a full-time job as a custodian in the building because it’s the only full-time job she could secure while still attending law school. As a first year J.D. student at Columbia, there isn’t much flexibility in her schedule. Her parents cut her off right before she started undergrad when she came out to them, so she’s been fending for herself for a while. A full ride to Columbia for pre-law meant she was able to work and save money to be able to continue living in New York and attend law school. Student loans is covering the rest of her tuition.

Lauren doesn’t care much about spending the rest of her life paying off student loans if she can have her dream career. She’d wanted to be a lawyer since she can remember hanging out in her dad’s office at the age of six, marveling at how her dad worked tirelessly for other people. She’s sad that her hero won’t see her achieve her dreams, but she likes to imagine her dad is somewhat still proud of her. So now, she’s taking classes during the day, and working as a custodian from 5 pm to about 1 in the morning. She doesn’t get much sleep or rest in between school and work and studying, but her eyes are on the prize so she makes it work. Unfortunately, however, that doesn’t give her much time to build real relationships, so casual, no-strings attached hook-ups will have to do. Her many one-night stands and lack of commitment may also have everything to do with abandonment issues she’s brushed to the back of her mind.

She’s looking at the different examples of non-contractual wrongs most frequently covered in tort cases when she hears a very frustrated “Ughh!” coming from one of the labs on the floor. She immediately goes over to the source and figures it’s the brunette that she always sees working late as of recently.

Lauren and the girl has this sort of implicit acquaintance kind of relationship where they don’t really know each other’s names, but they’ve seen each other so much the last few weeks that they’re on a wave-and-smile-at-each-other basis now. The brunette works on both the sixth and seventh floors and uses multiple lab rooms for her experiments, depending on what equipment she needs.

This doesn’t usually pose a problem because during the day, all the labs are unlocked. As people leave, however, and they lock their respective lab rooms, Camila has to deal with going up to the seventh floor, only to go back down to her main lab and retrieve her keys because she never has them with her.

Lauren has picked up on the girl’s tendency to leave her keys as she’s seen the brunette stomping through the floor, muttering profanities and stupid keys under her breath as she tries to walk quickly without spilling the samples in her hands on multiple occasions.

As amused as Lauren is watching the girl, however, she does feel bad for her. So, she got in the habit of unlocking all the lab doors in both floors when she first comes in for her shift. Camila doesn’t really know about it but it always makes Lauren smile when she sees the other girl whisper-yell Bless! when she finds out the doors are unlocked.

Up until this moment, they haven’t really said a word to one another. Lauren rushes into the lab where she figures the other girl is and cautiously steps in,

“Um, is everything okay in here? Are you all right?” Lauren asks.

Camila turns around and blushes in embarrassment at attracting attention to her meltdown. She forgot Green Eyes works on this floor too. “Oh yeah, um –,” Camila responds. “Everything is fine,” she says hurriedly, then pauses to think. “Actually, I’m contemplating about the possible the consequences of breaking the window and jumping through it, but other than that, everything is absolutely fine,” she says with a pained smile.

Lauren rubs the back of her neck unsurely and says, “Is there any way I can help?” she asks. “Coz I mean, I’d probably have to clean up the shards of glass if you do that and I still have this floor and a few floors to get through,” she says with a smile.

Camila, for the first time that night, cracks a small smile, “Well I don’t know if you know much about equipment stuff, but this centrifuge,” she gestures as she sends the machine a cold glare, “just stopped working for no reason.”

“Did you try turning it off and on again?” Lauren asks with a hint of a smile.

“As a matter of fact, I did,” Camila says seriously, “it’s still not working.”

Lauren takes a look at the machine and says, “Well, I’ve seen this machine in a few other floors. There’s one on the tenth floor, I think?” she says as she scratches her head. “I can get you access to one of the rooms if you want. Just make sure you don’t break that too,” Lauren offers.

Camila’s eyes brighten at that, “Can you really do that?” she says with excitement. “I promise I’ll be quick, I just want to go home,” she pouts.

“For sure,” Lauren says, “Come on, I’ll show you there. I’m Lauren, by the way,” she introduces herself as they get into the elevator.

“Camila,” the brunette responds. “Thanks for saving my experiment.”

“No big deal,” Lauren says. “Just gotta give me credit now when you guys get published,” she says with a smirk.

Camila laughs and thinks the night’s not so bad after all.

��

After the centrifuge incident, Camila and Lauren’s relationship has progressed to short, friendly conversations, asking each other about things like Camila’s project and Lauren’s Legal Procedures class and Camila’s cat and so on. One Friday night, Camila doesn’t come into the lab until around five. She’s spent the day attending meetings after meetings and conferences about upcoming conferences and afterwards, she had to meet with her mentor about revisions to her grant, so, long story short, it’s been a long day. And she still has to come in the lab because the experiment she started yesterday had a two-day time course. Despite her exhaustion, she doesn’t really dread coming into lab like she would have before meeting the green-eyed girl, however. In the few times she’d been able to talk to the other girl, she’d found out how Lauren was juggling school and work and she can’t help but admire her. Camila knows she herself works hard, it’s no small feat to get into Columbia Med, but she had also lived a very privileged life. Both her parents are doctors and they attended Ivy League schools for both undergrad and med school. Camila never had to worry about working for tuition or running out of resources when studying for standardized tests. Lauren, on the other hand, is pursuing her dreams without any support from her family. Camila discovered that Lauren is very intelligent, but can be very silly too. She puts out this bad girl image but is an actual puppy once you get to know her. It also doesn’t hurt that she’s hot as fuck. Lauren has midnight black hair that plunges down her shoulders in semi-short, wavy locks. The way the strands flows through Lauren’s fingers when she flips her hair to achieve a careless-but-gorgeous messy hair look sends Camila’s heart racing and mouth watering. Her lips are almost always chapped but they still look like they could be softer than lilac and Camila sometimes wonders how those lips would feel against her own, or her neck, or other places. Camila’s not even going to get into details about Lauren’s eyes. They’re vibrant and tantalizing and lets Camila know every emotion Lauren might be trying to hide otherwise in her attempt to have a mysterious girl persona. Thick eyebrows provide a perfect complement to the way her velvety lashes fall over her forest green eyes. Her body looks soft and toned at the same time and Camila imagines the many different ways she could worship her silky, creamy skin that envelopes her voluptuous curves [A/N: Can you tell I’m a Lauren girl or what].

So, yeah, she’s tired but excited to see the other girl. She also brought some Pad Thai for them to share over dinner. She noticed Lauren rarely had more than a mere sandwich for dinner and she figures meals take a back seat when she goes to school all day and works all night. “Hi Lauren,” she greets happily. “Hi Camila,” Lauren says as she’s pulling her cart out of the supplies closet. She can’t help but feel lighter at the other girl’s presence. Camila, she found out early on, is a very cheerful person. She might a have a mental breakdown or two every once in a while, but Lauren figures that’s probably normal for aspiring doctors. She’s also very smart, and nothing turns Lauren on like a sexy mind. Lauren really appreciates her company. The older girl can be very closed off and that’s mostly because she’s been alone for a long time, and although that’s mainly her choice, she hasn’t realized how much she missed genuine companionship until Camila. At around half past seven, Camila calls Lauren over to the lounge. “What’s up,” Lauren says, walking into the lounge and finding Camila pulling out two Styrofoam boxes. “Eat dinner with me,” she says with a wide smile. That smile is really going to cause problems for Lauren in the long run. “And don’t even try to say you’ve eaten already as an excuse, I know you don’t usually eat till like eight,” she says as she continues to unpack their utensils and napkin. Lauren walks in and sits across from Camila, “Well since I’m being coerced, I guess so,” she says with fake annoyance. Camila smiles so widely Lauren’s scared she might split her face in half. “Ooh, my favorite,” Lauren says excitedly as she opens the box. “Yeah, I remember you mentioned it once,” Camila says as she stuffs her mouth with a forkful of noodles. Lauren watches with something in her eyes but Camila is too busy trying to poke her shrimp with her chopstick to notice. Lauren just shakes her head fondly and is glad to eat a real meal for once. Camila doesn’t finish her experiment until around midnight and it’s not until she’s locking up that she realizes the city circulator only runs until midnight and now she’s either gonna have to pay the outrageous Friday night prices for Uber or take an equally pricey cab home or risk New York subway at this time of night.

“Fuck,” Camila whispers as she takes her phone out to check Uber.

“What’s wrong?” Lauren asks as she slings her backpack over her shoulder, approaching Camila with her keys in her hand, ready to lock the building up. Camila looks up and briefly wonders how someone can look good in a blue and white striped button-up polo shirt and gray pants (their lab’s custodian uniform).

“I missed the last run of the circulator,” Camila sighs. “I’m gonna have to get Uber with this crazy price surge or risk the subway,” she pouts and proceeds to take her bottom lip between her teeth, a nervous tick Lauren has learned to recognize. A very tempting and distracting nervous tick, might she add.

“Well I can give you a ride,” Lauren offers. “I’m clocking out early anyway since I finished the floors quicker than I thought I would,” she says with a shrug.

Camila lets out a sigh of relief and with an exaggerated bat of her eyelashes coupled with her hands clasped tightly in front of her, “Please, if you would be so kind. That would be much appreciated,” she pleads comically.

“You sure you don’t want to be an actress instead?” she quips while lightly shoving her. Lightly is a relative word however and with Camila’s (lack of) coordination, she nearly takes a fall face-first and sees her life flash before her eyes before she feels strong arms wrap around her and the rush of sweet-smelling vanilla invade her senses. “Whoa, Camila,” Lauren says still holding onto the other girl. “I didn’t even push you that hard,” she ends up laughing at the other girl as she steadies her and finally lets go.

Camila just pouts and crosses her arms, “I could have died, Lauren! My coordination is like that of a baby deer, you can’t just mess with me like that.”

“Okay, princess,” Lauren says holding the door open for Camila, “Noted: Camila Cabello is fragile. Please handle with care,” she chuckles as Camila wills the blush that creeps up her cheeks at Lauren’s words away.

–

Camila knows she’s a pretty smart girl. Again, Columbia Med is the real deal. She can be very forgetful about things that doesn’t concern cells and biological pathways, however. Things like remembering to bring her house keys before she leaves the house. She shares a town house with her roommate, Dinah, who just so happens to be out of town and won’t be coming back until that Saturday evening.

So now, she’s standing in front of her door, with her forehead leaning against it, praying to the heavens above that it could magically open for her. It’s nearing one in the morning and she’s been up since seven yesterday and she just wants to lay her overworked body down.

Lauren is sitting in her car watching Camila as she bangs her head against her front door. She gets out of the car when she figures Camila has probably done enough damage to her head and walks up to the brunette, “I don’t think that’s how doors work.”

“Shit,” Camila turns around with her hand on her heart. “You scared me, what the hell, Lauren. I thought you left.”

“Well I wanted to make sure you got in your house safely first,” she explains and Camila’s gaze softens. Lauren makes it obvious that she looks at the locked door and then back to Camila’s defeated expression and says, “And it looks like that was a good decision on my part. Did you lock yourself out?”

Camila just bows her head and mutters a low, “yes.”

Lauren’s mouth curves into a small smile and says, “Would you like to stay over at my place for the night? We can work this out tomorrow morning, when we’re both not running on six hours of sleep combined.”

Camila thinks about it and well, she discovers there’s not much she’d say no to when it comes to Lauren.

–

Lauren’s place is a single-person loft that has an open floor plan so the bedroom/living room is basically in the same area as the kitchen. It’s essentially an only-slightly bigger room than a bedroom in a normal-sized house with its own bathroom. She lives in New York so to have her own place like this feels like she’s living in a mansion. She just hopes Camila doesn’t mind the tight space.

“So um-,” Lauren starts. “I live by myself and I only really use this place to sleep so I don’t have like a separate couch or anything, but if you feel uncomfortable sharing a bed, you can stay in mine and I can lay down a few blankets on the floo-” she starts to ramble self-consciously once Camila has gotten a good look around the place.

“Don’t be silly, Laur” Camila says while still admiring the place. It’s very small but it’s also very cozy and she noticed that the little decorations and posters are very Lauren and she can’t help but think she’s been given a rare chance to see another side to Lauren. “Of course I’ll share a bed with you. You’ve already helped me out so much this evening, I’m not really in a position to be demanding,” she chuckles.

“Okay,” Lauren says relieved, she really didn’t want to sleep on the floor. “Well, the bathroom is that way,” she gestures to the far side of the room “And I have some clothes you can borrow in the bottom drawer of my dresser.”

“Sweet,” Camila says as she heads to the dresser.

–

Lauren finds out the painful way that she might have been better off on the floor. She wakes up a few times during the night only to find one of Camila’s limbs haphazardly strewn across her face, or her stomach, and every once in a while, she wakes up with half of Camila’s body on top of her. Lauren, in her tired and sleepy state, goes only short of throwing Camila’s body off of her own and she learns that the brunette is a very heavy sleeper.

When she wakes up thirty minutes before her alarm with Camila wrapped around her like a koala, she decides it’s not worth trying to go back to sleep. She carefully pries Camila’s arms and legs from her and moves on to the bathroom to get ready for her day. When she gets out of the bathroom, she’s met with the smell of brewing coffee and a sleepy Camila sat on one of her dining chairs, rubbing her eyes with her hands.

“Good morning,” Lauren says walking to sit across from Camila. “I didn’t think you’d be up for a while. You’re the heaviest sleeper I’ve ever seen, I had to make sure you were still alive before I got up,” she laughs lightly while pouring herself a cup of coffee.

Camila frowns a little and furrows her brow, scrunching up her nose when she says, “It got cold,” she rasps, voice still thick with sleep. Lauren smiles at how sleepy and confused Camila looks. After a few minutes of eating some light breakfast in comfortable silence, Camila finally notices that Lauren is dressed like she’s going somewhere. It’s only seven-thirty in the morning. And it’s a Saturday.

“Do you go to work on the weekends too or…” Camila trails.

Lauren cleans up their dishes and says, “Um no, I go to this thing on Saturday mornings. You can stay here and sleep or rest or whatever, I know you’ve had many long nights these last few weeks. We’ll sort out your key situation when I get back around noon.” Lauren wipes her hands on a kitchen towel and is getting her stuff ready to go when Camila says,

“Wait, ‘this thing,” Camila says, making air quotes with her fingers. “That’s suspiciously vague, Lo” she smiles teasingly.

Lauren is caught off guard with the warm feeling that spreads through her with the nickname. She feels the words leave Camila’s mouth and permeate her being like an all-encompassing fog that muddles her brain. She shakes her thoughts away and says, “Yeah, it’s no big deal. It’s just this place I help out with when I can.”

“Okay, if you secretly run a drug cartel, I won’t judge you. I promise, I know times are hard,” Camila says with a smirk putting her hands up as if to say she’s surrendering in probing about this thing that Lauren does on Saturdays.

“Not a drug cartel, just a small prostitution business thing to help out with the bills, you know” Lauren says with a straight face.

After a few seconds of looking at each other seriously, they both burst out laughing. “Okay, seriously,” Camila manages to get out when her laughter subsides, “Is it like personal, because if it is, I totally get it. I won’t ask any more. But if it’s nothing like that, I’m just curious” she shrugs.

“Okay, um-” Lauren shuffles in her place a little, running her hand through her hair and flipping it to one side as a sign that she’s getting a little nervous. “I volunteer at this homeless shelter,” she finishes in a quiet voice as if she just confessed to being a serial killer.

Of course she volunteers at a homeless shelter. Because she doesn’t have enough going for her. So apparently, she’s not only incredibly smart and hot as fuck and pretty and adorable, she also part-times as Mother Theresa on the weekends, because why the fuck not. Camila is really close to doing something reckless, like kissing Lauren, or burying her hands in her hair - or somewhere else.

“Oookay,” Camila drags out. “Well, I don’t have anything else to do, so if you don’t mind, can I come with you?”

Lauren looks up surprised, “Yeah, sure. They’re always looking for volunteers,” she says with a wide smile.

–

Lauren walks in the shelter and is immediately brought into an elderly Hispanic woman’s arms, “Lauren, mija, I’m so glad you could stop by,” she says. The woman looks to be in her fifties and she has a full head of powder-white hair neatly contained in a bun. The jaded crow lines around her eyes lets Camila know she’d lived a life not without worries but filled with laughter nonetheless. She has an amiable smile and her bright hazel eyes twinkle with years of wisdom.

They pull apart and Camila approaches Lauren, standing to the older girl’s side while fiddling with her fingers, not really sure how to act. “Mima, this is my friend, Camila,” Lauren says with a slight Cuban accent and wow it’s suddenly hot in the room Camila thinks.

Camila goes in for a handshake but gets taken in for a hug instead. She sees Lauren looking at her with a soft smile over the woman’s shoulders and she feels inexplicable affection course through her veins. Lauren’s gaze is unwavering and gentle and just so soft that Camila feels like she’s suffocating in the best way.

The woman finally lets her go and coos, “Oh, mija, you’re absolutely beautiful.” Camila blushes and Lauren just looks at the pair completely endeared. The woman looks back at Lauren and winks, “You did a good job with this one.”

Camila blushes even more, she’s sure everyone in the room can feel the heat radiating off her face by now. “Mima,” Lauren says exasperatedly, “I just said she’s a friend.”

“Right, friend’” the woman says, “Is that what the kids call it these days?” She pretends to think and snaps her fingers, trying to remember something, “It’s like a – oh what did that show call it – friends with strings? Or strings benefits?” she says with a confused face.

“Oh my gosh, Mima,” Lauren says, now blushing herself, “Can we not do this today, please?”

“Oh I’m just messing with you, Lauren,” the woman says with a light laugh. “Anyway, you can call me Ms. Maria, or if you’re comfortable enough, call me Mima,” she addresses Camila with a squeeze of her shoulder.

–

Camila and Lauren are working side by side preparing the food that is about to be served for breakfast when Camila nudges Lauren, “So what else do you do on your day off,” she asks the green-eyed girl with a hint of teasing in her voice.

“Save kittens? Secretly work on the cure for cancer?” the brunette asks as she cracks some hard-boiled eggs.

Lauren shakes her head and flicks some water on Camila. “Hey!” Camila says and retaliates by flicking some of the bread crumbs by the table at Lauren. “Camz!” Lauren says while laughing and holding her hands up, catching Camila’s wrists when she tries to smear some on the dark-haired girl’s face.

“Alright lovebirds, save the foreplay for when you’re alone please,” Ms. Maria casually says as she walks past them to set a tray of food by the far end of the table. Both girls flush red and immediately go back to work.

Lauren clears her throat and says, “This place is really important to me.” Camila’s attention is immediately taken by Lauren when she hears the seriousness in her voice.

“I made the mistake of thinking my parents were going to be accepting of me and came out to them in the beginning of the summer before college. They immediately kicked me out and essentially ostracized me from our community and the rest of our family friends so I was practically homeless for a period of time, basically from the start of the summer to the beginning of the semester, during which I could live on campus because I secured a full ride” Lauren explains with a small crack in her voice.

Camila looks at her with a mix of rage and sympathy bubbling inside her, but most of all, she feels her heart clench at hearing about what Lauren has gone through.

“I didn’t have anywhere else to go so I used some of my savings for a trip to New York and thought I’d make it work here and just wait it out until I could start school. Mima took me in the shelter and basically helped me survive those couple months. So now, I try to do my best to help out here,” she looks up at Camila with a shrug and a weak smile.

Without even thinking about it, Camila takes off the plastic gloves on her hands and reaches one hand up to delicately wipe a tear that has escaped Lauren’s watery green eyes with her thumb and whispers so only Lauren can hear, “I’m so sorry about your parents,” she says sincerely. “I want you to know that you’re not alone, fuck them, alright? I’m here for you.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Lauren assures her, wiping some of Camila’s tears that she hadn’t even realized were falling too. “I’m okay now and I’m happy. Thank you for being…” Lauren trails off and swallows hard. Her smile is full of tenderness when she finishes, “Thank you for being you.”

–

They’re cleaning up the place after breakfast when Camila looks up at the sound of booming laughter. Lauren is surrounded by some of the patrons that are yet to leave and laughing at something she’s saying. She’s gesticulating wildly with her arms and has got everyone’s attention on her. There’s a diversity to her audience in that there are men who are dressed with tattered clothing while holding onto trash bags that hold whatever belongings they may have, while others are dressed with slightly better clothes and have tattoos on their arms and faces, a few of which Camila notices, are sporting teardrop tattoos by their eyes.

As tough as these men look, they’re all looking at Lauren like kindergarteners during story time.

Lauren’s skin is bright and glowing under the harsh fluorescent lights and Camila can hear faint police sirens in the background, a subtle reminder to Camila that despite the warm and comforting environment Lauren has made with her presence and her smile and her stories, they are still in the dangerous part of the neighborhood.

Camila watches them and can’t help but smile.

“She’s a keeper, no?” Ms. Maria sneaks up on Camila and it’s like the brunette has to forcibly turn her attention away from Lauren before she’s able to answer,

“Huh?”

Ms. Maria just shakes her head and says, “Lauren can be very closed off, I’m glad she has you.” Camila is about to respond when the older woman says, “As a friend, of course,” she adds with a wink. Camila looks down with a hint of a smile and says,

“I’m glad I have her too.”

“As you probably know, she’s had a pretty rough time since getting disowned by her parents. She’s gone through so much and still loves like she’s never going to get hurt,” Ms. Maria says while fondly watching Lauren.

“She cares so much about the people around her that I worry who is there to take care of her, you know?” Ms. Maria continues while turning to Camila, “She might be hard to crack at first, but once you’re in, she loves with all of her heart.” She takes a pause before saying,

“Take care of her, okay mija?” the older woman asks Camila with nothing but genuine sincerity in her eyes.

Camila wants to say, of course, she’ll take care of her. She’s her friend. That’s what friends do. She wants to clarify that despite the insinuations throughout the morning and the subtle flirting between them, they’re just friends. Instead, her thoughts come out as,

“I’ll take care of her with all of my being, Ms. Maria. I know she deserves so much more,” she says sincerely. There’s a glint to Ms. Maria’s eyes like she had gotten what she wanted from Camila and they continue to work to get the shelter ready for new group of people coming in for the lunch hour.

–

Ever since their time at the shelter, there has been a noticeable amount of increased tension between Lauren and Camila. It’s making the air thick around Camila and the heat between her thighs uncomfortable.

It’s like this constant heavy wave of sexual tension that rises and ebbs within Camila whenever she’s around Lauren. The older girl’s eyes pull her into a trance that seems to keep the rest of her body’s fibers anchored towards the green-eyed girl. The taut atmosphere is pulling at Camila’s nerves in every direction and she wonders how much longer her body can take being strained without snapping.

She’s being suffocated and she doesn’t think she minds, especially if it’s going to be by Lauren’s thighs. Lauren, for her part, is either a fantastic actress or is completely oblivious to the smothering air.

It doesn’t help that Lauren makes the most mundane things look so sensual. Camila finds herself staring at Lauren’s mouth when the other girl’s talking and the way her pink tongue glides along her luscious lips when she’s trying to keep them moist completely captivates the brunette. Sometimes, they’ll hang out in the lounge during Lauren’s break and the green-eyed girl will play with Camila’s pens and the brunette finds herself entranced in the way Lauren’s long, slender fingers will slide along the pen, back and forth. Camila learns Lauren can get really restless with her fingers. She thinks of a few ways she can help Lauren with that.

So, yeah, Camila is feeling taut and frustrated and she’s not a hundred percent sure she’s not going to jump Lauren anytime soon.

She figures some completely platonic time with Lauren in a setting where she’s not alone with the dark-haired girl can help dampen down her frustration a bit. She decides to invite Lauren to a small symposium event where she has a brief presentation about her research. While they’re walking out of the event, with Camila holding her poster tube in one hand and a box of take out Lauren had ordered for them to eat back in the younger girl’s place, they run into someone.

“Lauren, hey!” the girl says as she engulfs Lauren in a hug that’s a little too long and a little too tight for Camila’s liking. “It’s so good to see you,” the girl, who’s keeping both hands on Lauren’s arms, says with a megawatt smile.

“Hey, Tanya,” Lauren greets with a wide smile of her own. “How’ve you been,” she asks. And, okay, is Camila like chopped liver or what?

“I’ve been good,” girl with the perfect teeth says. She’s got beautiful, flawless ebony skin and her body is banging, Camila notes. “Though, I have missed you,” she says with a flirty smile and a brush of her slim fingers down Lauren arms and Camila finds herself imagining swinging the tube in her hand and hitting this girl who is shamelessly touching her Lauren. Not really her Lauren, but who cares about semantics?

Camila clears her throat and Lauren startles, as if she’d just remembered she wasn’t alone. “Oh yeah, Tanya, this is my friend, Camila,” the green-eyed girl gestures to the brunette, whose quiet seething seems to be unnoticed. Tanya subtly rakes her eyes up and down Camila’s body with a kinked eyebrow and says with a tight-lipped smile, “Hey.”

“Hi, it’s nice to mee-,” Camila tries to say.

“So, who’s keeping you busy these days, huh?” Tanya interrupts, turning her attention to Lauren once again.

Lauren rubs the back of her neck and throws a subtle glance in Camila’s direction that goes unseen by the brunette because she’s too busy staring holes into Tanya’s head. “Um, no one really,” Lauren finally says.

Tanya’s phone rings and she looks at it briefly before she sighs out, “Ugh, gotta take this. But keep in touch, Laur. You know where to find me if you ever wanna relive the good times,” she winks and finally walks away.

Camila stays quiet on their way to her place and Lauren breaks the silence hesitantly, “So um- are you still good for Saturday this week?” Lauren asks unsurely, her eyes trying to gauge Camila’s reaction.

“Um, you know what, I actually don’t think I can come this week, something came up,” Camila says, her tone cold and too aloof for Lauren’s taste.

“Oh, that sucks. The boys were kind of looking for-” Lauren tries to say, but Camila’s bad mood is getting to her and she snaps,

“It’s one time, Laur. I said I was busy. Why do you have to make me feel guilty?”

“I- I’m sorry,” Lauren says with her head down. “I wasn’t trying to make you-”

“Why don’t you ask Tanya? I’m sure she’d love to go” Camila says, her voice dripping with irritation. “You guys are close, right?”

“I wouldn’t say close,” Lauren says weakly. She looks at the other girl’s demeanor and furrows her brows. “We had this thing, but it was never serious.”

“Of course,” Camila scoffs.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Lauren asks with a flash of hurt in her voice.

“Oh come on, Lo,” Camila insists, still unaware that she’s touching on a sensitive topic for Lauren. “You’ve told me stories about these girls, they practically come in and out of your place and you go through them like a merry-go-round, right?” she says, finally looking at Lauren and seeing that she’s stopped walking. Instead, she’s standing with her fists closed and her jaw clenched.

Camila quickly tries to backtrack and says, “I didn’t mean it like-“

“No, you’re right,” Lauren says with a curt tone. “You know what, I don’t think I can come to your place today after all, I just remembered something.”

“Lo” Camila says dejectedly, her actions and words finally catching up to her.

“No it’s fine,” Lauren says with a derisive laugh. “I forgot I had an appointment with one of the hundreds of girls I sleep with on a daily basis. It’s cool, maybe I can pencil you in some time when you’re free,” she says with a quiet but steady tone that send shivers down Camila’s back.

Lauren walks away before Camila can say anything and the brunette’s heart aches at seeing Lauren’s retreating figure.

The next day, when Camila has to stay late in the lab again, she notices Lauren making an extra effort to avoid her throughout her shift, only cleaning the labs she’s using when the green-eyed girl knows she’s done with the room. Camila also doesn’t appreciate how every lab room she needed to use that day was locked.

So now, she’s standing in front of Lauren’s apartment door on Saturday night, holding a bag of take-out Pad Thai. She’d contemplated on surprising Lauren at the shelter, but she figured Lauren wouldn’t appreciate her showing up when she knows the other girl is pissed at her and she didn’t want Lauren to talk to her only because she felt pressured.

She’s been standing for about ten minutes, trying to gather her words and rehearsing her apology when the door swings open and Lauren comes out, nearly bumping into Camila.

“Camila,” she says confusedly. “What are you doing here?”

Camila looks down and fiddles with the bag in her hands while biting her bottom lip. After a few seconds, she finally looks up and Lauren is looking at her with an expectant look and arms crossed against her chest.

The brunette takes a deep breath and starts with, “I’m sorry. I hope you believe me when I say I don’t think any less of you because of – of you know, how many people you date, or you’ve been with, or whatever - I – just, um,” Camila lets out a frustrated breath, running her hand through her hair while shutting her eyes closed.

“I’m just sorry. I didn’t mean to be so insensitive. I have this bad habit of not thinking about what I’m saying and trying to hurt the other person when I’m angry, and I was just being moody and stupid, and I hope you can let me make it up you” Camila finally sighs out dejectedly.

Lauren looks at her and her gaze softens at the way Camila seems to be really beating herself up over their fight. Truth be told, she’d forgiven Camila the moment she opened the door and saw the brunette standing right outside her place. She had missed Camila so much in the last few days that they hadn’t talked that she finds herself feeling like she’d just lifted a ton of weight off her shoulders now that they’re talking again.

“It’s okay,” she finally says with a small smile. “We all says things we don’t mean every once in a while.”

“It’s actually not okay, but I’m not gonna pass up the opportunity to make this right again,” Camila says with a small smile. She looks at how Lauren is dressed to go and asks, “Were you on your way somewhere or…?”

“Yeah, I was just about to grab dinner,” Lauren responds.

“Perfect timing,” Camila says with a smile. “I brought Pad Thai. It was going to be a last ditch effort for your forgiveness if my speech hadn’t worked,” Camila says with a cheeky smile while holding up the bag like it’s a prize on The Price is Right. Lauren looks at her and shakes her head,

“Damn Cabello, you already know my weakness,” Lauren quips while re-opening her door and moving aside to let the other girl in.

“Comes in pretty handy,” Camila replies as she moves past Lauren after throwing her a wink.

–

After making up, the tension between the two picks right where it left off. Truth be told, Camila’s not really sure why she hadn’t made a move yet. She knows Lauren is bi (she got kicked out of her house for it). But for some reason, Camila is scared that she’s just reading into this whole thing completely wrong.

Then she thinks about the fact that ever since making up, Lauren seems to be clingier and generally touchier than usual. There’s always a hand on her lower back when they’re walking out of doors, lingering hugs and touches, and a lot of staring. Like, Lauren stares at her a lot and most of the time, the green-eyed girl doesn’t know that Camila knows she’s staring because Lauren’s eyes are locked on her lips. And maybe that’s what scares Camila the most. What if Lauren does like her back? She doesn’t know if she’d be able to handle all of that.

“So what are you doing for the holidays?” Camila says one night while they’re hanging out at the lounge.

��Um-,” Lauren starts, scrunching her brows and thinks about her plans. “I usually don’t have plans for the holidays. I mean, it’s not like I have family. So I just work, you know, get that holiday pay,” she says with a weak smile. “But since Christmas falls on the weekend this year, I’ll probably just catch up on some sleep.”

Camila’s heart tightens at the reminder that despite the fact that she gets to see a happy and carefree Lauren most of the time, the older girl is actually dealing with a lot more than just school and work. She clears her throat and keeps her eyes on her fingers when she asks,

“Well, this is completely up to you and you can say no, I promise it won’t hurt my feelings,” Camila starts to say nervously. “But if you want, and like I said, if you think it’s too much or too soon, or we aren’t there yet in our friendship, I just wanted you to know it’s compl-”

“Camz,” Lauren laughs a little. “Just ask me already.”

“Um, well I usually drive down to Miami for the holidays, you know, to come home,” Camila explains. “I know it’s a long drive, but I don’t really like driving anyone else’s car when I’m home so the drive doesn’t really bother me. But, if you don’t have plans and you can take a few days off for the holidays, you can come with me? I definitely won’t mind the company,” she finishes as she looks up with a smile and hopeful brown eyes. She really doesn’t want Lauren to be alone, she’d meant it more than she thought when she said she would take care of the other girl.

Lauren is looking at her with an unreadable expression. The green-eyed girl doesn’t know what she did to deserve someone that always looks out for her like Camila does and although her first instinct is to decline, she finds herself saying,

“If it truly isn’t a bother…” Lauren responds with a bashful smile that just tugs at Camila’s heart strings.

“No of course it’s not,” Camila says happily. “Oh my gosh, this is so exciting. I’m gonna make you listen to every boy band to ever exist in history for twenty whole hours!” Camila exclaims with a cheeky smile while raising both hands in the air.

–

Camila finds herself wide awake in her childhood bedroom while Lauren is snoring softly next to her. It had been a very long and tiring, but cheerful and exciting last few days in Miami. They arrived in Miami around midnight and got about six hours of sleep before the entire Cabello household was up and about. The Cabellos host the Christmas holidays every year and so just about every nook and cranny of their home was filled with several generations of Cuban and Mexican heritage: from bisabuelo/as to abuelo/as to papás and mamas, to tío/as, and sobrina/os, and so on and so on. It was a full house.

Camila’s family has always been welcoming and never really been hard to please. Still, seeing Lauren interact effortlessly as if she had grown up with Camila’s cousins and it was her who is Camila’s abuela’s favorite, well it clarified one thing to Camila. She is not only attracted to the older girl, she’s undoubtedly falling for her too.

“Mija! You’re finally home!” Camila drops her bags and runs straight into the arms of who Lauren assumes is her mother, as she carries both of their bags towards the front of the house. She smiles softly at the younger girl and the brunette’s mom catches her eye as she keeps Camila in her arms.

“Oh hi, you must be Lauren,” Camila’s mom says as she brings the other girl into a hug as well. Lauren returns the hug and smiles unsurely over the older woman’s shoulder while Camila just grins widely and brings her two thumbs up.

“We’ve heard so much about you. I’m glad Camila is finally bringing someone home,” the woman says with smile and a glimmer in her eye.

“Mami,” Camila stresses while her mom just waves her off. “Oh I just mean I’m glad you’re not all alone in that big ole city, mija” she quips.

“Well, I hope I’m not intruding Mrs. Cabello and you have a lovely home,” Lauren says as they walk in through the threshold, Lauren still the only one carrying their bags.

“Oh don’t be silly, call me Sinu” the woman smiles warmly.

“Kaki!” a mini Camila comes running down from upstairs, jumping from the second to the last step to wrap actual Camila into a koala hug.

“Sofi, it’s almost midnight,” Sinu tuts. “I told you to go to bed hours ago, mija,” she says sternly.

Sofi clings onto her sister and pouts dramatically, “But I miss Kaki.”

“Oh, it’s okay Sof, I missed you too,” Camila says as she hugs her tightly and then says, “I promise we’ll play all day tomorrow, okay? Go to bed,” she finishes while hugging her once more and sending her off. Before going up the stairs however, Sofi goes up to Lauren and says with a wide smile,

“You must be Ms. Pretty Green Eyes. Kaki talks about you a lot. She says-”

“Ookay, Sof, that’s enough,” Camila laughs awkwardly while clamping both her hands around Sofi’s mouth. She throws her mom a glare when she hears her snicker to the side and Lauren is just looking at her with a kinked eyebrow and an amused smile.

Throughout the last few days, Camila couldn’t help but watch Lauren and how the dark-haired girl wove her way into the hearts of the most important people in Camila’s life with absolute ease and grace. People naturally gravitated towards her and constantly surrounded her all day, listening with eager ears and bright eyes. She looked especially at home among the kids, playing with them and teaching them how to play the piano while dressed in a reindeer sweater and a bright red Santa hat and Camila knows she’s falling.

“Well you’re definitely smitten,” Camila’s abuela on her mom’s side takes a seat next to her on the couch as she sips on her tea. “I don’t blame you though, your girlfriend is very pretty.”

Camila’s eyes widen and she struggles to say, “Um, ‘buela, no,” she laughs nervously while running a hand through her hair. “We’re not, um-, she’s just, we’re like-”

“Oh Camilita,” her grandma says as she reaches out a hand to rub her back and calm her down, “I may be old but I know the look of love if I ever see one,” she smiles. “It’s how your abuelo used to look at me everyday of his life before he passed.”

Love?

She’s not – she’s falling, yes. But does she love Lauren? She can’t yet, right? They’re not even together.

Lauren impressed the mothers with her skills in the kitchen, earning several Oh you’ll make such a good wife, mija type of comments throughout the day and Camila swears she sees Lauren blush and throw her a quick look. She also managed to get into the exclusive club of Camila’s tíos, easily baiting them with her knowledge on various sports, speaking on touchdowns and batting averages and whatever it is sports people talk about. Camila can’t help but imagine coming back to Miami with Lauren under different circumstances.

She looks over to her left and smiles when she sees Lauren move closer. Lauren is on her stomach and snuggles close to Camila so her face is tucked in between Camila’s shoulder and neck while the rest of their bodies are kept mostly apart. They’re barely touching and Camila already finds it hard to breathe.

After a tearful goodbye filled with hugs and her mom begging her to Please come visit again soon, mija and Sofi sending her off with an I’m gonna miss you so much, Kaki. Can we keep Lauren forever? She’s more fun than you sometimes, they’re finally on the road again.

They’re in the middle of rural Pennsylvania when a strong storm leads them to get stranded behind a closed-off back road after several trees and telephone lines block the roadway as a result of a landslide from the surrounding hills. The severe flood warning blowing up their phones pushes them to take a detour in a side road and stop by the closest inn they come across.

“Fuck,” Camila says frantically searching her bag as Lauren pulls in to park at one of the spots in the inn’s parking lot. She notes that they have a full house and she hopes there’s room for them still.

“What’s wrong?” Lauren asks.

“Ugh,” Camila says as she leans back and hits her head in the head rest repeatedly in frustration.

“Okay, you really gotta stop abusing your head like that,” Lauren says as she reaches out and puts her hand in between Camila’s head and the head rest. “You need that for medical school, you know,” she chuckles while subconsciously wrapping her hand around the back of Camila’s neck lightly and rubbing soothing circles on the skin just above the brunette’s shirt with her thumb.

Camila relaxes immediately and looks at Lauren. The world around them sounds like it’s falling apart and Camila has never felt safer. The downpour is relentlessly thrumming against the roof, the winds are howling around them, and the rain is steadily drumming against the windows of the car, but she feels absolutely secure. She thinks it may have something to do with the way Lauren is holding her gaze and the way her touch is keeping her grounded.

Lauren’s eyes look luminous under the single light bulb pouring in through the front from the inn’s porch and the reflection of the water gliding down the windshield is casting mesmeric patterns on Lauren’s face, making her look absolutely ethereal. In Camila’s world of stressful and rainy days, Lauren is her constant source of peace, her own personal serenity in the midst of storms.

Camila smiles lightly at Lauren then looks down at her hands, “I’m like ninety-nine percent sure I left my purse at Mami’s house,” she pouts.

Lauren laughs lightly, “Oh Cabello, you and your forgetful self. It’s okay, I’ll spot you this one time,” she says easily. “You can pay me later. I know you’re good for it,” she winks and wow the tension is back full force. God damn Lauren and her stupid, beautiful self.

Lauren then grabs her jacket from the back seat and runs out of the car without putting it on, confusing Camila until the older girl runs to her side of the car and opens her door, both hands holding up her jacket where Camila can step out under it. Camila quickly grabs their stuff and gets out of the car, huddling close to Lauren as the green-eyed girl holds the jacket over both of them, most of it over Camila, if Lauren’s soaked hair and clothes are any indication.

They rush inside and see that there’s a line at the desk. Lauren grabs Camila’s hand and brings them both to the end of the line, not letting go even after they’re stood in line. Camila is smiling at how perfectly their hands fit together when Lauren mutters under her breath, “Shit.”

Camila looks at her and raises her eyebrow. “Look over there,” Lauren says as she raises their intertwined hands to gesture towards a bulletin board behind the lady in the front desk, her other hand holding the bags she’d taken from Camila the moment they were inside. “Those rates are crazy, I don’t think I have enough money.” Lauren has been cutting it close on her finances in the last week because she took a few days off and she had to recently pay for the books she’ll need for the upcoming semester.

Lauren’s eyes scan the board and comes across a note that says Discount for Newlyweds. Bingo. She looks around and realizes the décor of the inn is very homey and gives off a vibe of a getaway house and she realizes she’s surrounded by all kinds of couples.

“Next,” the old lady at the front calls out.

“Alright, follow my lead,” Lauren whispers in Camila’s ear, the proximity of Lauren’s mouth to her face distracting the brunette for a few seconds and before she realizes it, she’s being dragged to the front.

“Hello, welcome to The Lovers’ Lodge, how may I help you?” the old lady smiles.

Lauren squints at the woman’s nametag and says sweetly, “Martha, what a lovely name! Just one room, with one bed,” she adds conspiratorially, “for my new wife and I.” Camila looks at her with wide eyes. Lauren’s words fall from her lips with ease as they travel through the air and dives right into Camila’s heart, pulling at her heart strings and her lungs and literally taking her breath away. She’s brought back when Lauren squeezes her hand. The brunette takes a while to catch up, but when she does, she takes a deep breath before gently leaning over to rest her head on Lauren’s shoulder and smiling at the lady at the front.

“You guys are married?” an older man comes up behind Martha and squints his eyes at the couple. “How?”

Lauren is about to answer when Martha cuts in with “Harold, they’re lesbians” she says with an eye roll.

Harold crosses his arms and says curtly, “Well, we need proof that you guys are married for you to get the discount. Usually, matching rings are enough for us.”

“Um, well actually,” Lauren says trying to think on her feet. “We just sent our rings back to be re-sized. They sort of messed up our orders, but I can assure you, sir, I love my wife very much,” she says, looking into Camila’s eyes sincerely and placing a tender kiss on her forehead, causing Camila to close her eyes and her cheeks to blush.

��Oh Harold, they’re obviously in love,” Martha says happily, “You ladies can have the discount,” she winks at them. The comment throws Lauren off guard but she recovers quickly and smiles, “Thank you Martha. You’re such a sweetheart.”

The inn is designed to look more like a house than a hotel and since the owners are old-fashioned and very traditional, they invited the couples who are staying in the lodge for a huge home-cooked dinner. Lauren and Camila find themselves sitting around a large dining table, just talking with other couples in the inn while having dessert.

There’s a variety of different couples that range from young newlyweds to couples who have recently celebrated or are nearing their golden anniversary. Lauren’s eyes marvel at the amount of love that surrounds her and she can’t help sending Camila a fond smile.

“So, what’s everyone’s story? I mean, how did y’all meet,” a man who looks to be in his mid twenties asks the table with a Southern accent, breaking Camila and Lauren’s staring contest. Lauren listens in carefully as she hears couples talk about how they were high school sweethearts, or how another couple met while the woman was working as an army nurse and her husband was sent to their station when his troops got caught in an ambush, or how this very young couple said they defied their parents and decided to elope.

She’s enjoying the stories so much she doesn’t realize everyone is now looking at her expectantly. “Lo,” Camila nudges her arm and she realizes it’s their turn.

When she just looks at Camila helplessly, the brunette takes the lead and says, “Well, the first time I met Lo officially, aside from just seeing her in passing in the building where we work, was when she saved me. I’m basically her damsel in distress,” she says dramatically with a hand to her forehead, eliciting a round of chuckles around the table. Camila looks at her and winks. “From then on, I got the impression she’d be important to me,” she finishes genuinely.

“What about you, Lauren” Martha asks. “What was your first impression of Camila when you so-called saved her,” she chuckles.

“Actually, the first time I got an impression of Camila was way before we had spoken,” she says candidly while Camila turns to her with furrowed eyebrows. Lauren casually drapes her arm around the back of Camila’s chair and continues.

“I was walking on my way to work when I saw Camila coming out of the building to head home. My first thought was, as I assume is everyone’s first thought when they see her, is that ‘wow, that girl is really beautiful,’” Lauren says with a fond smile. “Then, I see her read something from her phone and she does this stupid little dance that looks more awkward than anything,” she says as Camila lightly pushes her face away while muttering Oh my gosh, Lo. “And I was completely smitten. From then on, and she doesn’t know this,” Lauren says with a pause while looking at Camila, “but I made sure to look out for her whenever she worked late. And when she needed my help that one night, I knew that was my chance,’” she says finally looking back out to the rest of the guests. “So I took that opportunity and the rest is history. Seeing how happy I made her while helping her out made me realize there’s not much I wouldn’t do to see that smile,” she concludes.

While everyone in the table coos at the story, Camila is looking at her, stunned and completely captivated. This is fake, she tells herself. Lauren is embellishing to cover for their whole married act. This is all for the discount. The hammering in her chest and the fiery feeling that starts in her stomach and courses through veins and blazes in her nerves tell her otherwise.

She’s jolted out of her thoughts when Scott, the man who’d started the whole story-telling thing in the first place says, “Well that’s gotta deserve a kiss,” he smiles cheekily. The request is immediately picked up by the rest of the table and they all start cheering for a kiss.

Both girls immediately flush and Lauren turns away from Camila, looking at the people around her when she says, “Oh come on, guys. Are we in fifth grade?” she rolls her eyes.

The cheers continue and Lauren thinks she has to do something to satisfy them somehow so she turns to Camila and places a lingering kiss on her cheek.

“Boooo!” the boys on the table yell out lightheartedly. “Giver her a real kiss!”

Soon, the whole table is chanting “KISS! KISS! KISS!” and Lauren feels overwhelmed and she doesn’t mind kissing Camila to keep up their act but she also doesn’t want to overstep any lin-

Her thoughts are cut off by slender fingers softly holding her jaw to face towards Camila and she isn’t prepared for the softest lips she’s ever felt move along her own. It takes her no time to reciprocate and she’s lost in Camila’s velvety lips when the brunette pulls away, looking as dazed as Lauren feels. She really didn’t have a say when her body instinctively leans forward to capture Camila’s lips again. This time, more forcefully, with more passion and Camila gasps into her mouth as Lauren’s hold on the back of her neck tightens. Lauren probes Camila’s swollen lips with her tongue and quickly swipes the inside of her mouth once she’s granted access.

The table had erupted into loud cheers and obnoxious celebrations since Camila first grabbed Lauren’s face and it’s when the laughter dies down and Martha says, “Alright, let’s save that for the bedroom, yeah?” that they finally pull apart. Lauren looks at Camila’s swollen lips and dark, dazed eyes and she feels a fire at the pit of her stomach, every nerve and particle of her body thrumming inside her to drag Camila to their room and take her all night.

–

After dinner, Lauren and Camila wordlessly go back to their room, both still a little flushed from trying to assault each other’s mouths earlier. The air is thicker than ever and Camila makes a beeline for the shower without so much as a glance to Lauren.

Lauren, on the other hand, keeps her gaze at the closed bathroom door as if it would open on her silent command if she tried hard enough. She takes a few calming breaths to slow her heart and her libido down and takes a seat on the bed. She doesn’t realize how long she’d been replaying the kiss in her head when she hears the shower getting shut off.

She immediately goes to the door and knocks hesitantly, “Hey Camz, are you done? Can I come in? I just need to do something real quick.” The door opens and she enters. And she swears she really didn’t come in with the intention of making a move or anything. She came in to – actually, she’s not sure. She just wanted to be in close proximity to the brunette. Any lingering innocent thoughts fly out the window though when she gets a proper look at the brunette.

Camila is in front of the mirror setting up everything she needs for her nightly routine with one hand while the other is haphazardly holding her towel up. She’s dressed in nothing but a very short towel that is only loosely wrapped around her lithe body because Lauren can very clearly see the way Camila’s tan back dips invitingly down her spine as the edge of the towel lies carelessly just above the brunette’s ass. She really didn’t do a good job of drying her hair at all because clear beads of water are cascading down her skin, her auburn hair flowing down her back in wet, wavy locks, making her back glisten and inviting Lauren towards her even more.

Lauren doesn’t stand a chance against her body’s reactions as she suddenly finds herself taking steps towards Camila and standing a little bit to her left but still right behind her that there’s barely any space between their bodies. She steels her gaze against Camila’s through the mirror as she trails the tips of her fingers down Camila’s arm, watching as her movement leaves a trail of goose bumps and the brunette’s breath hitches at the back of her throat and she stutters out,

“L-Laur, what are you doing?” Camila whispers and she can’t find the willpower to look away from Lauren’s gaze.

Lauren keeps her eyes on Camila’s as she continues to move her fingers along the brunette’s arm holding her towel. She grasps Camila’s hand tightly and pulls both of their hands down, stripping Camila naked as she holds her gaze while Camila gasps, but doing nothing otherwise to stop whatever is happening. The dark-haired girl rests one hand on Camila’s hip and uses the other to gently move Camila’s hair to the side and over her shoulder. Lauren turns her head and sucks on Camila’s neck as the brunette keels forward and grabs onto the counter to steady herself. Her eyes shut in pleasure as Lauren grazes her tongue over Camila’s silky skin after biting it and the older girl moans as if she’s getting off of pleasuring Camila.

“I think it’s time we address this tension, don’t you?” Lauren husks out in her ear. The younger girl forces her eyes open and manages to barely get out,

“Are you su-,” she struggles to find her words when she feels Lauren’s hands roam her body as she buries her face in Camila’s neck and continues to absolutely devour her. “Is this what you really want?”

Lauren laughs, almost disbelievingly, then she turns her head back to the mirror and transfixes Camila’s gaze on her through the mirror,

“Eres divina, Camila,” she rasps while moving her hands to the underside of Camila’s boobs, lingering there with almost feathery-light touches before she moves them up and kneads the other girl’s breasts, causing Camila to inhale sharply and close her eyes. Lauren pinches her stiffening buds and says in a low voice, “Look at me, Camila.”

Camila’s whole body is aching and yearning for more of Lauren’s touch and she forces her eyes to meet Lauren’s again,

“Te deseo como no te imaginas,” Lauren whispers as she uses her hips to press herself into Camila, pushing the girl’s bare sex onto the cold counter, setting Camila’s nerves alight. Lauren’s hot breath in her ear and the girl’s warm hands on her body and everything that has led to this moment are almost enough to send Camila over the edge and she spins around abruptly, grabbing Lauren’s face and kissing her harshly as Lauren catches up and moves her hands around the younger girl’s waist, hoisting her on the counter while their eager tongues tousle with one another. They ravage each other’s mouths as their tongues swipe and delve into one another, while they exchange hot breaths, neither one wanting to pull away.

Camila’s hold on Lauren’s hair tightens as she feels the girl trap her bottom lip between her teeth and drag it out, the dark-haired girl immediately diving into her neck once she lets Camila’s lip go. Camila’s nerves are on overdrive and she’s breathing heavily as she leans backwards on her hands and tosses her head back in pleasure as Lauren puts her mouth around her left breast and sucks hard, hollowing her mouth and proceeding to nip on her hardened nipple. Lauren pulls back and marvels at the sight in front of her.

There is something so erotic about the fact that Lauren is still fully clothed while Camila is baring her stark naked body with her legs spread wide for Lauren to ravage. Camila’s eyes are shut tight, her swollen bottom lip, which has bite marks from both Lauren and Camila, are caught in between her teeth. She’s leaning on her hands with her chest heaving heavily as she arches her back so her perky boobs are splayed out in front of Lauren as a deep blush reddens Camila’s cheeks, neck, and chest. She looks absolutely wrecked in the most delicious way.

That night, Lauren gets what she’s been craving since seeing Camila for the first time and takes Camila over and over again until they’re too spent to move and Lauren is laying on top of the brunette, head in the crook of the younger girl’s neck, while Camila is rubbing her back soothingly and holding their sweat-slicked bodies together.

“That was like the best sex I’ve had in a while,” Lauren chuckles into Camila’s neck.

“You the best I ever had,” Camila starts singing Drake’s Best I Ever Had softly and Lauren lets out an endeared light laugh.

“You’re ridiculous,” Lauren says as she props herself on her elbows and hovers over Camila. They look into each other’s eyes softly and they know this is the start of something different for the both of them.

–

After they burst the bubble of tension that seems to have taken over every moment they spent together, Lauren and Camila seamlessly move into a relationship filled with easy smiles and good times and just pure, genuine feeling of being content with finally being together.

Things don’t get weird until three months later when Camila is getting ready to leave for work.

Lauren had moved into Camila’s place a week before when her lease ended. Paying half the rent of Camila’s apartment was about the same amount of money Lauren was spending at her own single apartment and she’s essentially moved into the brunette’s place anyway, her clothes already taking up half of the other girl’s closet.

Lauren’s morning class has been cancelled so she doesn’t need to leave the apartment until later, but Camila has to come in early to start on an experiment that will take her all day (and probably into the night) to finish.

Camila stuffs her mouth with a granola bar while rushing around the apartment, picking up her coat, keys, and bag as Lauren just watches her fondly from where she’s sat at the breakfast table. Camila is almost ready to go when she realizes she doesn’t see her glasses anywhere.

“Fuck,” Camila mutters as she looks around, “Where did I put my glasses?”

“On top of your head, love,” Lauren says without even looking up from where she’d dipped her head to drink the milk from her cereal bowl.

Camila rolls her eyes and pulls hers glasses down as she approaches Lauren.

“Thanks, baby,” Camila says as she grabs Lauren’s face with both of her hands and plants a deep kiss on her lips, “I love you, bye!”

Camila pulls back with wide eyes and sees that Lauren is mirroring her expression. She’s still holding Lauren’s face when she says “Um-, I mean,” Camila stutters. This is the first time either of them had said those words, even though Camila’s known for a while now that she does love Lauren. She just isn’t sure how deep Lauren’s feelings are for her so she had been keeping it to herself. Until now that is.

Then she lets go of Lauren’s face and makes a beeline for the door but the green-eyed girl grabs her arm lightly, “What did you just say,” she asks with an unreadable expression on her face.

“Um,” Camila says in a panicked voice, her eyes anywhere but on Lauren’s. “I said, ‘thank you!” and that’s it, I didn’t say anything after that,” she chuckles nervously. “I think you’re hearing things, you should get that checked out, Lo,” Camila says while pulling her arm away gently. “Well, would you look at the time!” she exclaims while examining her arm that does not have her watch, “I really gotta go, bye!”

Lauren watches her go with a confused but amused look in her eyes. She shakes her head and continues with her breakfast.

–

When Lauren comes in the lab later that day, she sees Camila for all of two seconds before the brunette not so subtly makes an abrupt turn and takes the far stairwell instead in an attempt to avoid the other girl. Lauren smiles to herself and proceeds to get her cleaning supplies ready.

About two hours later, Lauren is patiently waiting inside the lab room she knows Camila is working in while the other girl is in the bathroom. She sees Camila quietly enter the lab while looking behind her to see if the green-eyed girl is in the vicinity.

“Hey, baby,” Lauren says with a smirk.

“Shit!” Camila turns around with her hand on her heart, “You scared me, Lo! Why do you enjoy sneaking up on me?”

Lauren smiles and raises a perfectly-shaped her eyebrow, “Did you forget we work in the same place or something?”

Camila then realizes what’s happening and hurriedly says, “Oh well you know what, I actually have to go start this thing soon um-,”

“I can see that you’ve set a timer for an hour, Camz,” Lauren says, pointing to the timer attached to the bench top that currently has about 50 minutes left on it. “You have nothing to do for another hour.”

Camila crosses her arms and gives up her efforts to avoid the other girl, “Okay, fine. What do you want?” she asks, keeping her gaze on the floor while shuffling on her feet slightly.

Lauren approaches her so she’s right in front of Camila and ducks her head to try to get Camila to look at her, “You know what I want” she says straightening up when Camila briefly meets her gaze.

Camila sighs resignedly and says,

“I’m sorry,” in the same instant Lauren lets out an “I love you too.”

“Wait, what?!” they exclaim at the same time.

“What are you sorry for?” Lauren asks hesitantly.

“Um, for saying ‘I love you?’” Camila says unsurely, scratching the back of her neck.

“Did you not mean it?” Lauren probes with a hint of sadness in her voice and her eyes scanning Camila’s face worriedly.

“NO!” Camila exclaims loudly. “I mean yes. I mean - ugh!” she says exasperatedly. “It’s not that, of course I mean it,” she says more quietly. “I just wasn’t sure if you were ready to hear that yet, but yeah, I do love you,” Camila finishes, finally meeting Lauren’s eyes with sincerity and adoration and love pouring out of her brown eyes.

Lauren further closes the distance between them and places her arms around Camila’s waist while the brunette instinctively wraps her own arms around Lauren’s neck, instantly playing with the small hairs on the nape of her neck.

“Oh baby, never apologize for letting me know you love me ever again,” Lauren whispers against the other girl’s mouth.

Camila smiles widely, her eyes crinkling and her tongue barely poking out between her teeth, “Sooo, you love me too, huh?” she says, eyes expectant and heart hammering against her chest. She’s pretty sure she can feel Lauren’s own heart trying to jump out of her chest, letting her know that despite Lauren’s ever calm and collected façade, she has the same effect on the green-eyed girl.

“Well if you hadn’t run like your life depended on it this morning and then proceeded to avoid me all night, you would have known much earlier,” Lauren teases her.

“I love you,” Camila says while keeping her gaze on Lauren’s eyes.

“I love you too, baby,” Lauren returns with a smile. She leans her head forward and captures Camila’s bottom lip in between her own and their kiss turns heated in no time.

Lauren pulls back with dark eyes and swollen lips and looks behind Camila at the bench top before she brings her gaze back to Camila’s lips and rasps out, “There’s about 40 minutes left on your timer. What do you suppose we could do to fill that time?”

There’s a glimmer in Camila’s eye when she leans forward and whispers, her breath hot against Lauren’s ear, “I can think of a few things.”

–

The End.

–

A/N:

Hey everyone,

Hope you guys liked this one.

As always, leave a vote/comment/etc. and have a great day!

-Maddox

#UPDATE #one shot #AU #slash #camren #angst drama #humour #romance fluff #submission #love made in the lab

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