Chapter 24: Lesson

Opening her eyes to be greeted by an astonishing rainbow coming across the sky was what Lauren has wanted when she was a child. The way the books her mom used to read to her told wonders about it. It made the phenomenon magical.

With her shivering body wrapped in a towel, she stood by the glass door and kept watch of the insanely energetic kids she had to watch over.

Dinah and Normani just jumped off the roof of the house and into the deep end of the pool, the splash causing Ally to screech. Camila was currently treading the waters while Ally just dried herself off only to be wet again. She eyed daggers at the two giggling girls.

The rain from a couple of minutes ago has passed and out came the beautiful sun, bringing along a magical rainbow with it. Lauren took the last bite of her sandwich and opened the door for Ally who looked grumpy.

"I swear to god I'm gonna strangle one of them." Ally mumbled as she dried her hair with a towel. Lauren couldn't help but laugh.

"I highly doubt that Allyson. You couldn't hurt a damn fly!" Lauren exclaimed causing Ally to shiver out of her playful mask.

"You're right. Anyway, I'm heading up the rooftop to get a good read of my book away from those kids," she pointed at the trio behind her. "You better keep an eye on them or god knows where they'll jump off next." Lauren rolled her eyes and groaned. "But Ally—" the smaller girl immediately cut her off, running up the stairs with a book in hand. "Good luck Laur! Have fun!"

Lauren rolled her eyes and let out a huge huff. "Have fun she said.." she mumbled sarcastically as she stepped out of the glass door and into the pool yard overviewing the beautiful Miami ocean. Just as she was about to sit down on one of the stretchers, she felt someone wet hug her from behind. She shivered at the cold water as a result from the rain earlier. She immediately knew the slender hands that wrapped around her.

"Camiiiiiiiiiiiila!" Lauren whined, causing the girl to giggle. She spun around and faced her girlfriend with a cute pout.

"Why'd you do that Camzi? Now Im cold and wet." She complained while crossing her arms over her chest and still playing that pout. Camila giggled and leaned over to kiss that adorable pout off her face.

"Oh come on Lo! Its our vacation! We can't just eat sandwiches and watch television all day when we are in a tropical paradise!"

Lauren rolled her eyes. She kinked a brow and eyed Camila, challenging the sexy brunette.

"You want excitement? You want fun? You want to feel that rush of adrenaline?" Camila nodded excitingly. "Well then.."

Lauren stepped closer, pressing the front of their bodies together. She heard Camila whimper and hold in a moan, boosting her confidence more. Her hands traveled from Camila's cheeks to her collar bone. Then continuing down her bust, waist, and hips. They ultimately landed on her rich backside. Lauren swiftly cupped and squeezed the heavenly cheeks, eliciting a moan from Camila. She smirked as she began placing open-mouthed kisses along her jawline, all the while squeezing her backside occasionally.

Right as Camila was about to return the favor with a heated makeout, she saw Lauren smirk evilly right before she was being pushed into the pool. Taken by surprise, she didn't have enough time to react to it. She resurfaced from the water to be greeted by a laughing Lauren hunched over, clutching her stomach from laughing too much.

"Oh my god! You should've seen the look on your face!"

Dinah got out the water and sat on the edge of the pool. "Damn Chancho she got you hard! You're whipped as fuck!" Dinah gave Lauren a high five while Normani swam over to Camila.

"Hey are you okay?" She asked. Camila huffed out a huge breath. "Of course I'm fine."

"Then why the long face?" Normani asked.

"Well.. its just that.. nothing." Camila turned to her dark-skinned friend who tilted her head on confusion. "Ohh come on, tell me.." Normani pried. "I wanna spend some alone time with her, you know?" Normani perked up at the answer and smirked. "Oh I see." Camila immediately cut her before she could say anything else. "But.."

"Remember how I told you at the hospital?"

"Hey Mani can I talk to you for a second?" Camila said as she approached the smiling dark-skinned girl. They made a short walk out towards the hallway outside Lauren's room. "So what's up?"

Camila ducked her head down and shyly scratched her nape. "Well you see, I want Lauren to recover." She started but Normani cut her off, "We all want her to Mila."

"Yeah, but I want to make things up to her and make her forget all the shitty stuff that happened to her.. to us." Camila ducked her head, feeling guilty that all the bad things that happened to them were all because of her. Normani knew what she was thinking and immediately comforted her.

"Hey I know you're blaming yourself but please don't. It's not your fault and you shouldn't beat yourself up for it."

"I just can't help myself. Ever since the thing with Austin happened, everything just went downhill and its affecting not only me but most especially her." Camila looked over her shoulder when she heard Lauren laugh at one of Dalton's jokes. She couldn't help but smile.

"You're doing it again." Normani said, making her look up at her in confusion. "Doing what again?" she asked.

"You're blaming yourself for something that isn't your fault."

Camila looked down and thought to herself. But it really is my fault. Because of me, she's suffering. I'm not worthy of her. It should've just been me, she said to herself.

"Camila, stop." Normani said firmly. "Rather than beating yourself up, you should treat yourself too." she suggested, patting her on the back. "What do you want to do right now?"

"I don't know." Camila said. Normani chuckled and patted her back again. "Come on, think."

Camila thinks deeply. She remembers one of the best days of her life, when Lauren asked her to be her girlfriend. They were on vacation that time, to get away from the problems for a little while. The idea then hit her. They should go on a vacation again, but this time no parents, no one to disturb them; just the two of them in a blissful wonderland. But then it got her thinking.

Could Lauren really recover with just her being her support system?

She peaked through the little door window and saw Lauren with a wide smile on her face while laughing along with the people around her; the people that cared for her and loved her as much as Camila does. She can't keep the girl to herself. She's not an object to be kept. She's Lauren, and that itself says a lot. If she wants her to recover, she's gonna need as much help as she can. She realizes that she can't do this alone, and these people are here to willingly help her.

She's not alone in this battle, and she's very happy for that.

She closed the door again and faced her friend, her worried face being dominated by the widest and most genuine smile Normani has ever seen.

"Let's go on a vacation!"

"What about it?" Normani asked as she and Camila made their way to one of the pool noodles and held on it, their legs getting tired from treading the water.

"I can't be selfish." Camila said straightforward. Normani furrowed her brows, really confused of the whole ordeal. "What do you mean? I don't remember you telling me anything about being selfish."

"I wanted Lauren for myself on this vacation. But the more I dwell on it, the more wrong it appeals to me. Then I see how Lauren was more happy when she was surrounded by the people that loved her and not just me. She needs her friends. She needs people like you, Dinah, Ally, Dalton, heck anyone that truly cares and loves her!"

"Whoah, calm down hot stuff." Normani rubbed Camila's shoulders with a sense of comfort, slowly helping Camila calm down. "You good?"

"Yeah thanks." Camila took a deep breath in. Silence overtakes the two but was cut off by Camila.

"Am I doing things right? Coz it seems like my judgment is very clouded recently. I think I'm not thinking straight." she confessed. Normani rolled her eyes. "Well you clearly aren't." This made Camila role her eyes. "Wow, thanks for the support, Mani." Normani grinned widely and bowed her head playfully. "You're welcome."

Her facial expression quickly changed, now very serious and concerned. "I hate it when people try and own everything up. You have to once in a while, but always doing it will destroy you. If you can't take it anymore then stop and look around you. Don't be afraid to ask help from the people that care and love you. Don't fake being as strong as you claim to be. It's okay to break down, you're free to do so because you have the right."

"I don't know how to stress this even further coz it might take me a whole day, but Camila I really want you to-"

"I get it Mani." Camila cut off her friend's speech, together with a genuine smile. "Thank you, so much. That really helped a lot." Both of them hugged it out and they pulled out of their embrace with contented smiles. It was cut short when they heard yells coming from behind them.

"CANNONBALL!" 

Lauren and Dinah jumped off the rooftop and engaged themselves in a cannonball position., landing close to Normani and Camila which splashed them straight to the face. Normani and Camila looked at each other when they felt their legs being pulled down. Camila let out a shriek of terror just in time as she was being pulled down. As she got her bearings, she looked around underwater and saw Dinah and Lauren giggling and high-fiving each other, even doing a fist pump. She swam over to Normani and gave her a look, discretely pointing her fingers over towards their girlfriends. She understood and did a tight-lip smirk. Dinah and Lauren swam up and still kept celebrating their victory while little did they know Normani and Camila swam underneath them. They looked at each other, then Camila counted down from three. At one, they untangled the knots of their girlfriends' swimsuits, the laces flowing freely on the water. They swam a good five meters away, knowing what their consequences will be. They waited for their oblivious girlfriends to realize, but it took the top of the bikini to float a few centimeters from their bust to realize that it wasn't tied. Both girls let out a loud scream, making Camila and Normani laugh out loud. They were met by sharp glaring eyes. 

"Camila.."

"Lauren.." 

"Mani.."

"Dinah.."

It was like a very heated staring contest, with one side serious while the other was playful. They tied their bikinis back and waited for a while before swimming after their girlfriends. Normani and Camila screeched as they paddled hurriedly in the water, desperately trying to run away from these hungry sharks.

Meanwhile, Ally's peaceful reading was disturbed by these loud shrieks. She groaned and decided to check on her friends; kids is actually the most appropriate term. Whenever she's with them it feels like she's running a daycare center, but only for abnormally active and horny teenage girls. She peeked over the railing and saw Camila and Normani being tickled by Dinah and Lauren. She shook her head in amusement and laughed, finding it hard not to. She went back to her recliner and took a sip of her Mai Tai, refreshing her system; a perfect balance of alcohol gracing her body. She glanced over to her book and decided to take a break for a while. She put on her sunglasses and closed her eyes.

"Lauren! Please.. STOP!" Camila pleaded as Lauren continues to tickle her to her doom. "What's the magic word?" Lauren playfully asked. Camila was still laughing and tossing and turning around the water. "PLEASE!" Camila screamed out, but Lauren shook her head. "Nope, try again."

"What?.. But-but that's.. that's the.. m-magic w-word!" Camila managed to say in between laughs. Lauren shook her head again. "Not for me, it isn't. Now what's the magic word?"

"Lauser, you're gonna kill her! You said you're still gonna marry her, make sure she's still alive during your wedding day." Dinah casually said, making Lauren stop and point daggers at her friend. This made Camila smile, butterflies fluttering like crazy inside her.

"Dinah!" Lauren said. Dinah just laughed and smacked the water. "But you have to admit, it's true."

Camila swam over to Lauren and wrapped her arms around her neck lovingly before kissing her on the cheeks. "Is that true?" she asked. "You want to marry me?" this sent shivers down Lauren's spine, but the good kind of shiver; the ones that bring happiness to her life. 

"Yes, with all my heart." Lauren said sincerely, kissing Camila's interlocked hands and turning around facing her. She placed a kiss on her cute button nose, then on her lips.

Their moment stopped when they heard gagging noises from their right. Normani was capturing their moment which was rudely interrupted by taking a video of them on her phone, while Dinah was beside her trying to make herself puke. But after a while she stopped and she wiped her eyes and sniffed. "I love Camren so much. God bless Camren." Dinah said. 

"Camren is love, Camren is life." she finalized.

Lauren and Camila made disgusted faces as images of the horrid 'Shrek is love, Shrek is life' video made its way to their heads. "Urgh Dinah that's gross. Please don't make any reference to that video ever again!" Lauren pleaded, totally disgusted. Before Dinah could deny, she cut off "You know what video I'm talking about."

Dinah wiped her last tear, "Way to ruin the mood Lauser." Normani set her phone safely back on one of the recliners and went back to the pool. "But seriously though, what are your plans now?"

Lauren faced Camila lovingly, a smile creeping its way on her lips, one that she couldn't contain. She placed a chaste kiss on those plump lips she love so much. "I'm deeply in love with someone who I know I want to marry someday. And I hope she feels the same way too."

Camila didn't notice but tears were starting to flow down her cheeks, her eyes starting to turn red. She doesn't know why she's crying, especially coz even the proposal hasn't happened yet. But hearing it from the person she loves so much that she wants to marry her just makes her so happy. Even if it's still a possibility, she's happy to hear that. She'll gladly accept that, and she's going to make sure they'll both get to that; hand in hand, happy.

"Camz why are you crying?" Lauren asked cautiously, wiping just below Camila's eyes. "Don't you want to be with me forever? Don't you want to be my beautiful wife?" 

Camila smiled. "Of course I do, you dork!" She pecked her on the lips. "I love you so much." Lauren smiled, "I love you too."

All four heads turned to the direction of the sliding glass door. There stood Ally, motioning for them to come inside. "Hey girls, I've just finished making a fresh batch of cookies. It might not be the ideal food to eat right now, but I also made pizza-"

"PIZZA! COME ON GUYS LETS GO!" Camila said as she dragged Lauren out of the pool and into the beach house, whizzing past Ally who just shook her head clearly amused at the two.

"Wait Camz! I'm going to slip-" THUD. The three remaining girls heard at the distance. Normani and Dinah wiped themselves, before wrapping their towels around their waist. 

"Good thing they landed on the carpet." Dinah said. Normani nodded. "Yeah. The last thing we want is one of them to get a concussion and ruin the vacation."

"OWW CAMZ YOU'RE SITTING ON MY LEG!" They heard from the distance, making them laugh.

"They're definitely meant to be together." Ally said, Normani and Dinah nodded. "You got that right."

*~~END~~*