Hey guys! Thanks for stopping by! This story was inspired directly by Camille Gage herself. I think she's such a great character and I really, really wished that the writers of Step Up had used her a bit more; there are literally so many things you could do with her. So after studying her a little bit this story is what came out of it.
To my lovely readers this is your daily reminder that if Camille started from having close to nothing and ended up living in LA with the love of her life you can also get a happy ending! You go Glenn Coco!
As a disclaimer, I don't own anything Step Up related. Happy reading!
Potted Plants and Scented Candles
It's 11:53 pm and Camille is crying over potted plants and scented candles and he feels so completely out of his element- which he shouldn't, because come on, he's been dating this woman for the last five-ish years and has been friends with her for the past nine and at this point he's sure he has a PhD in everything that is Camille Gage but he still feels completely useless.
Let's rewind a little, shall we.
It all starts on a Wednesday morning a few days after they fly to California and they're on the gardening section of their local homeware store.
"Which one do you think looks better?" Asks Camille holding two different plants, that, to be completely honestly look the same to Moose.
"Which one wont die on us immediately?" He replies while fondling with some small shovels he finds in the isle. He can hear Camille sigh in frustration and can practically feel her rolling her eyes.
"They're both easy to look after." She answers him with a pointed look. "Now, which one do you think will go better with the feel of our apartment? English Ivy or this cute little Jade Plant?" She replies while smiling at the potted plant on her left hand. Moose has to bite his lip in order to hide the smile that's forming on his lips because this woman is smiling at bloody plants and it really shouldn't be as adorable as she's making it be.
"Which one do you like better?" He asks back while giving both plants a hard look. They're plants… they're going to look like plants in their apartment. Just green leafy things really.
"I can't decide. This is where your opinion comes to matter." She's giving him her best cheeky smile. And he knows it's all play.
"So this is the only time where what I think becomes of importance? When you can't make up your mind?" He asks while smiling down at her and god does he love the fact that she's tinny and they have quite a bit of a height difference going on between them.
"Well of course. It's good that you're finally catching up to the dynamic of this relationship. Took you long enough." She answers still smiling. And it's truly ridiculous; they are both grown adults in an established relationship of five years (take that haters) and are currently flirting like middle-schoolers in between potted plants of all sorts. Honestly, he wouldn't have it any other way.
"Ouch Cam, I knew that I was useless, but you don't have to be so blunt about it." He grabs his heart, giving in to the theatrics, because even if he is starting his job as an engineer in two weeks he refuses to act like an old fart.
"You're not useless babe. Who's going to kill all the future potential bugs and spiders?" She's still holding both plants and is smiling like she won the argument, because with her next comment she just did. "Oh wait, that would be me."
And ok, so he has a crippling fear of bugs- but we don't talk about that because he's a manly man and using that bit of knowledge in what he believed was a playful back and forth is just unforeseen and plain old mean.
"Wow Camille, I didn't know you would be the type to whoop out the blackmail so casually." He says and she just gives him a small wink because they both know that she would never use his fears against him and that his secrets where hers as well. He walks behind her and wraps his arms around her smaller form to get a better look at both plants.
"I honestly think that either one would look good in our apartment." He says noticing the way she smiles at the word our.
"You're right, we're getting both." She decides while placing both plants on their cart. Moose bites his lip because he's starting to worry; she's being doing this a lot since they've been buying things for their apartment. It's so out of character because, usually, she is the one with the schedules, and budgets, and control while he's the one that's careless, so, the fact that she's been so unconcerned with purchases is starting to freak him out because this should be the other way around.
He doesn't say anything because she's smiling again at the plants and it's common knowledge that he's as whipped as they can get; in his book: what Camille wants, Camille gets.
It's two nights later when he comes home late from a meeting with his boss to find their little apartment packed with even more house plants and tons of purchases. He almost panics because, for a second, he thinks he accidentally walked into someone else's apartment because the place looks different to put it lightly.
All of their joint belongings are unpacked and stored, there are pictures of them that he doesn't even remember taking hanging all over the walls or in frames, and the furniture that they where expecting is already assembled and functional. He jumps a little when he feels a pair of arms wrap around him from behind.
"You like?" She asks looking completely worn out but also incredibly content.
"How did you even manage to arrange all the furniture by yourself?" He asks, and to be honest he's freaking out a little.
"What can I say? I'm talented like that." She replies going back to unpack more things.
"Cam, where did all of this stuff come from?" He asks while looking at a box containing a set of cannoli molds; it's not that he's not happy that she's thinking about making cannolis but they've been in LA for a hot minute and he just doesn't think that they need to be buying so many things. God, this situation is starting to make him feel like an adult and it's an entire new feeling to him.
"Oh you know; just went shopping this morning to get some extra stuff for the apartment."
She's setting some candles on the table. "See, I got us candles for each room in the house. I got a lemon scented one for the kitchen, because, I think fresh scents are better suited for kitchens. And a lavender and vanilla scented one for our living room because it gives a cozy vibe. Also a floral one our patio-" She stops talking when she notices the look on his face.
"Cam" He's trying to think of the best words to say because he knows that she's very excited about moving in and he's always been a man more of actions than of words so this situation is potentially tricky.
"You think it's too much don't you?" She asks him and dammit best friend telepathy is both a blessing and a curse because she's starting to come down from her high and he's starting to get that nasty feeling that creeps up in his tummy when he knows that they're about to have an argument.
"Camille, it's just that… well, we haven't officially started to work you know. And I know that we have a joint bank account and I trust you completely with our savings, but it would be nice to make decisions together when it comes to our budgets." He says trying to keep his tone casual even though the disappointed look in her eyes is telling him that this conversation is not going to a place where either of them wanted it to go.
"I just wanted to surprise you." She answers looking at the fourth candle she is holding in her hand and she's suddenly feeling very very embarrassed.
"It's not a bad surprise babe." He smiles at her while holding several cookbooks in one hand. "I just want to make sure we're being smart with our money." And wow, when did he become the mature one? Oh how the tables have turned.
"Yea I guess you're right." She says placing the candle down with a dejected look in her eyes. She starts playing with the ends of her braid and by now he knows that this is a key sign of when she's not telling him something.
He lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and sits down on their blue chair while patting his lap. When she doesn't move from her position, he looks at her with a pointed look and pats his lap again. She signs in defeat and sits on his lap while he wraps both arms around her waist
"There's more to this isn't there?" He asks, gently moving some hair from her eyes while she just plays with the fabric of his shirt. The way she bites her lip lets him know that she's having a hard time looking for what to say.
After a few more seconds of tense silence he maneuvers her so that she's resting her face on the crook of his neck while he runs his left hand over her back.
"We don't have to talk about it though." He's learned over the years that if Camille's not ready to talk about something, the best thing to do is to be patient and not push her; something that if he had learned earlier in their relationship would have saved him many, many, many sleepless nights.
"This is my first home." Comes out her muffled voice from his neck and then suddenly he understands the situation completely and mentally kicks himself for not thinking about this possibility earlier on. Of course.
For how well put together she is, he sometimes forgets that Camille's childhood was unpredictable at best. She moved in between three different foster homes before she was finally settled in with Lena and Bill at the age of eleven. He holds her tighter until she let's go.
"When I was moving from house to house the only thing that I had that was actually mine was a bag with some of my old belongings." She smiles sadly. "I remember many times going to bed dreaming about owning a house with my future husband. It was all I wanted really."
She starts playing with his hair before continuing. "I guess that as I grew older I realized that having a cute husband wasn't really going to cut it, so I switched that mentality and started going by the mentality that hard work and determination would get me where I wanted." She was still twirling some of his curls around his fingers.
He smiles at her because Camille is truly incredible; she managed to get into MSA and NYU without anyone helping her. As an after thought, his mind drifts to the fact that this woman also got inside his heart and has been residing in there for years now. However, if we're being honest here, there was no hard work or determination involved for that; loving Camille is effortless.
"What I'm trying to get across is that, this, is a childhood dream that I stopped believing in, and somehow you're making it a reality now." If his eyes start to water after she finishes talking, well no one can prove that.
Without a second thought he pulls her over and he's kissing her. He's kissing her because he's trying to put into actions the words that he can't say out loud. The words that he can only admit to himself; the words that he's sometimes too afraid to even think about. Words like "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but even that is not enough time", or words that cross his mind when he can't sleep when it's four in the morning like "You're too good for me and you'll realize that someday and leave."
They pull away reluctantly, and she's breathing hard. She smiles at him and gently wipes some tears that fell from his eyes.
"God, I love you so much." He whispers for only her to hear and pulls her back for another kiss, this one much softer and calmer than the one they previously shared.
"I love you too." She's smiling at him and even after years of hearing those words they still have the power to make his heart feel like it's getting pulled.
"For the record, I wasn't crying." He tells her and she's instantly laughing and the atmosphere feels lighter and easier.
"Of course you weren't. It was just your allergies." She leans back and looks at their apartment with a smile on her face.
"Yup, I'm allergic to you." He answers her cheekily and she gently smacks him upside the head and they're laughing again and everything's going back to how it usually is between them.
"Moose what are we going to do with all this stuff?" She asks looking at everything she bought throughout the past few days.
"We're going to keep it all and eat instant noodles and cereal for the next month." He smiles at her and she starts laughing again.
"Is that your adult contribution to this whole mess? " She asks, but he knows that she's incredibly happy.
"Yup. Me and you are kinda like half adults. Together we can make an almost functional full adult." And he's smiling because he knows that there will never be a better person to grow old with than her.
"I take offense to that. I'm way more adult than you are." He just answers her by pointing his head towards a football shaped baking pan that he spots over on the corner of the room.
"Fine, I've had a few slip ups. I'm still adulting better than you." She answers and he's laughing out loud and yup, everything is back to normal.
He was joking about the instant noodles, but in reality, that's how they spend their first few weeks in LA; but hey, they have cookbooks and cannoli molds and scented candles and all the love in the world. His life's turning out perfect because of the beautiful woman sitting on his lap in this little apartment that they get to call ours.
Thank you so so much for reading! I'm also so happy for all the love that my first story got. Reading your comments has been lovely and has made me want to write more. If you enjoyed this please leave a comment below; it honestly makes my day.