~It doesn't make the rain fall down
It doesn't make the world go 'round
It doesn't make the loudest sound
It doesn't mean I'm sorrow bound~
***Cabello Photography Inc., Downtown, Los Angeles, CA - 48 Hours Before the Wedding***
Normani pulled up in front of a sky rise hoping to catch Camila off guard and speak with her. It's been a few weeks and the younger brunette hasn't returned any of her best friend's phone calls, her concern growing. She walked into the building, her eyes observing the inside, it was more than grand, not really Camila's style, Normani thought to herself, she's a bit more subtle than this. She looked over the directory and found the floor that Camila's company was located on.
She made her way up the elevator to the 70th floor and as the doors opened, she stepped out and was greeted by the front desk receptionist, "hello there Ms." She said in a welcoming manner. "How can I help you today?"
"I'm looking for Camila Cabello." Normani said leaning against the desk, counter area.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Cabello is strictly under do not disturb."
Normani's eyebrows furrowed as she looked to the left at fogged glass double doors; it was fancy. "Is that her office?" She pointed.
"Yes but," Normani began walking towards the double doors, "excuse me Ms.! She doesn't want to be disturbed!" Normani kept waking anyways, pushing the heavy doors open.
Her eyes making it's way around a half sphere shaped office, all windows floor to ceiling with the entire view of Los Angeles. It was stunning and Normani knew why Camila had chosen that building, this floor and this office. She finally caught glimpse of her best friend, sitting on a recliner that faced the window.
She knew it was her, she didn't have to be facing Normani; she knew. "Camila!" She said with her arms crossed, waiting for the younger girl to turn around.
"I'm so sorry Ms. Cabello, I tried to stop her." The receptionist said apologetically as Camila swiveled her chair around.
"It's fine, this is my best friend; she's always welcome here." The reception closed the door behind her and left.
Camila swiveled her chair back towards the floor to ceiling windows, "what are you doing here Mani?" Her voice defeated.
Normani made her way towards the younger girl, standing next to her, eyes staring out the window, "I was worried about you. You haven't returned any of my phone calls." She turned to face the younger girl.
"I know and I'm sorry," Camila said as she stood up, standing closer to the window. "I've just been so out of it," She choked out the words, holding tears back, "I've been in love with Lauren ever since I could remember," she turned to her best friend with a half smile, "I just always hoped we'd find our way back to each other."
"I know Mila, I know." She placed a hand on her shoulder as they both stared out the window. "Look Mila, maybe you should tell Laur-"
"NO! No, she's happy, she's about to be married Mani." Exhausted brown eyes finally looked at her best friend, "I just want her to be happy, I don't want her to hurt her anymore."
"What are you gonna do Mila?"
"Nothing. Wait out this storm that feels like a hurricane I guess." She let out a hurt chuckle, "throw myself in my work." She paused, "everything happens for a reason, right Mani?" Her watery brown orbs staring at her best friend, "why isn't that enough for me? Why am I left standing alone in the dark?" Tears slowly streaming down her face as she collapsed to her knees, "I always thought nothing could ever touch us," tears blurred her vision, "nothing ever shook my faith in us and now everything is broken." She sobbed as Normani wrapped her arms around the crying brunette, kneeling beside her, "now I'm caught in this shit and it's all my fault!" Her flooded brown eyes meeting her best friend's "I feel like I'm watching the hours, I'm trying to find a reason WHY, WHY she's NOT with me and I'm waiting, I'm counting the stars and I'm counting because when I count all of them, she'll be there at the end...or at least she's supposed to be," She sobbed clutching onto Normani's arms, "but the stars, they're endless, and it doesn't matter how fast I count, they're endless and all I can do is miss every beat of her heart and all I can do is wait and keep counting the stars." She let out as Normani held her.
~It doesn't make the wrong things right
It doesn't keep you warm at night
It doesn't help you learn how to fight
It doesn't show the dark from the light~
Normani didn't know what to say; she couldn't really say anything comforting. She stayed with her best friend, held her until the sobbing subsided.
***MountainGate Country Club, Los Angeles, CA - 2 Hours Before the Wedding***
Lauren looked herself over in her wedding dress, a million thoughts and feelings going through her heart and her head. She knew she loved Dana, but there's a void in her, a void that makes her feel sick to her stomach every time she looks at her reflection. She took in a deep breath and with that breath came a whirlwind of emotions. The green-eyed girl could feel the nervousness grow with every passing second, she was beyond anxious and was so overwhelmed that she began tearing up. She was so angry, angry with Camila for coming back, angry for not coming back sooner, angry for saying that she loved her, angry for leaving in the first place and so on. Lauren began to whimper as one thought hit her, and it hit her hard.
It's my wedding and all I can think about is HER. WHY?
~KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK~
"Laur," a voice she was accustomed to said behind the closed door.
"Yeah?" Lauren yelled back, trying to sound normal as possible.
"Can I come in?"
"Of course." Lauren knew it was her maid of honor.
Normani closed the door behind her, her eyes meeting the porcelain skin girl's glossy green eyes. "Lauren," She took her hand, guiding her to the couch where they both sat. "Are you okay?"
She let out a whimper, "yes…no, I don't know." She confessed shaking her head.
"Lauren, I'm going to ask you one last time, do you want to talk about it?" Normani said, squeezing her hands.
The green-eyed girl stood up as she shook her head, tears streaking down, "she left Mani! She left and now she comes back and she tells me she loves me, but it's too late." Lauren let out, "it's too late. What did she expect huh?" She looked at her best friend, "that I'd wait for her forever?" she sat back down, staring at the ground, "Not once, not once did Camz look back, she left and she never looked back." She said wiping her tears away.
Normani took a deep breath as she placed her hand on her best friend's shoulder, "Lauren…I need to tell you something."
Green eyes quickly snapped towards her, "what is it Mani?"
"Camila made me promise not to tell you," Normani swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Made you promise not to tell me what?" Her eyebrows scrunched as her green gaze narrowed.
"Three years ago, Camila came back for you Laur."
Lauren stood up, not understanding what she just heard, "three years ago," her voice uncontained as the tears flowed form her eyes, "wh-wha-what are you talking about Mani? Three years ago?"
"At the time I had no idea she was even in town, I accidentally ran into her," Normani began to say, "she had just flown back from Dubai after her shoot, she came back for you, to tell you that she loved you and that she wanted you to go with her. She SAW you Laur," Lauren knew what Normani was implying, she didn't have to hear the words, "she saw you with Dana, that was around the time you two met and Camila saw that you were happy. You had been so unhappy; she didn't want to ruin that. I know she's impulsive and she hurt you because she left, but Mila has always wanted nothing more than for you to be happy. Maybe I should've told you sooner Lauren, but I've never betrayed either of your trust, but you needed to know."
~It doesn't take a sign to see
The best things never come for free
And even if it's made to bleed
You know that you can count on me~
Lauren sat back down, her facial expression completely distraught over what she had just heard. The floodgates opened and all she could do was cry. It was as if her chest had been ripped open, a clear shot to her heart and now she could feel everything and she knew why she'd been feeling the way she had for the past few weeks and she knew deep down where her heart belongs.
"I-I, I have to find her. I can't get married Mani, I can't." She said in between sniffles. "Mani, do you think you can-"
"I'll let them know, just go."
Lauren grabbed the doorknob, "Mani, do you have any idea where Camz would be?"
"Try her office." With that, Lauren was out the door.
The receptionist stared at Lauren like she was a crazy person; she was still in a wedding dress. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'm looking for Camila Cabello," her head turning every which way in hopes she would catch a glimpse of the younger brunette, "is she here?"
"I'm sorry Ms., you just missed her." The girl answered before looking back down at her computer.
"Did she say where she was going? Please it's really important."
The receptionist looked Lauren over, still confused by the wedding dress, "I wish I could help you," she said flipping through some papers in front of her, "for some reason Ms. Cabello didn't leave her photo-shoot location."
Lauren could feel the ache in her heart, "she didn't leave anything?" her voice pleaded.
"I'm sorry Ms., all that's written on her schedule today is that she's shooting scenic views at an undisclosed beach location."
"Thank you!" Lauren said with hope, "thank you so much!" she said running for the elevator.
"But I didn't even tell you anything!" the girl yelled, her face confused.
"I know where she's at," the green-eyed girl smiled, "thank you!"
~It doesn't make your plans fall through
It doesn't make your dreams come true
It doesn't make your old ways new
It only means I love you~
Lauren parked the car in an all too familiar residential area. She stepped out of her car and made her way down some steps leading to the beach. It had been yeas since she had been here, but she knew exactly how to get here by heart. She could feel her heart pounding with every step she took, she thought about all the seasons they could've had together and quickly shook it off. All that didn't matter, the only thing that matter was RIGHT NOW. She stopped at the last step, scanning the beach when her green eyes halted at the sight of the younger brunette, taking her back to when they were just a couple of teenagers. Her lips pulled to her eyes at the vision in front of her, Camila was on one knee, her camera to her eyes as she snapped pictures of the ocean. Lauren slowly made her way towards the younger brunette, her heart swelling in her chest. She's always admired how passionate Camila was with her photos, how passionate she was with HER. The younger brunette was so focused, as always when it came to her photos, she almost didn't want to interrupt, ALMOST.
Lauren settled on clearing her throat to get the younger girl's attention, "Camz." She watched her stand up, still with her back towards the green-eyed girl, her frame frigid as she slowly turned around.
She tilted her head, bright brown eyes observing the girl in the wedding dress in front of her, she was a little shocked to be honest, "you're a little overdressed for the beach." She said as she let go of her camera, letting it hang around her neck.
"Well I was going for casual." Lauren said sarcastically causing the younger brunette to chuckle.
"You're not at your wedding." Camila closed the gap between them.
They were just inches apart, "No, I'm not."
"Why?" the younger girl's voice trembling, her heart was pumping rapidly, her breathing swift.
Lauren dipped her head, just a little bit, her smoldering green eyes looking intensely into hopeful, lustrous, brown ones. "You came back for me," she shook her head, "three years ago, you came back, how could you not say anything to me?" Her green eyes softened.
~It doesn't make the river flow
It doesn't make your flowers grow
It doesn't make you feel alone
It doesn't tell you where to go~
The younger brunette turned her gaze towards the ocean, "you looked so happy," she took in a breath, the smell of salt water invaded her senses, "I just wanted you to be happ-"
"YOU MAKE ME HAPPY." She cut the younger girl off, her tone unequivocal, "you stole my heart back when I was fifteen, you've had it ever since." Her eyes glossy as the tears started to come through, "I know there's still a lot of things I don't know," she continued as Camila's half smile came through, "I don't know where the ocean meets the sky, I don't know why the world keeps spinning," she intertwined their fingers, "I don't know why the hours move so slow, but when I'm with you, I don't have to know," her voice gentle, but assertive, "everything could end right here, right now," her green eyes, loving, exuding passion, "I know it would be alright, because I'm with you, where I belong." Tears began flowing freely from brown orbs as Lauren's lips pulled to her watery eyes, "some things I do know…I know that you were made for me." She breathed out.
Camila threw her arms around the taller brunette, tugging her down, crashing their lips together. Lauren's arms wrapped around her waist as their lips continued to mesh together, the slight taste of salt on each other's lips from the tears they'd cried. They continued to kiss each other, letting out the feelings they had for one other, the kiss was tender, and loving, affections seeping through to each other; it was fervor. "
They slowly parted as Camila's ardent brown eyes locked with devoted green ones, "I love you Lauren; it's always been you." She breathed onto Lauren's lips.
"I know," she smiled from ear to ear before giving the younger girl a lingering kiss, "I love you too Camz."
~And it doesn't make a blind man see
It doesn't make a lost man free
It doesn't fix your broken wings
It means that you were made for me...~