Chapter 6: She Keeps Me Warm

"Bye Camz. I love you."

Lauren pecked her girlfriend's lips before seeing her disappear through the elevator. Camila gave her a wave and blew a kiss. Lauren checked her phone, plopping down on the couch. In about three minutes, Zayn should be here.

With nothing left to do, she tried to think of something to add to their unfinished song. She kept on thinking. Phrases would pop up here and there but she didn't feel..attached to them. Aren't you supposed to feel attached to the song you're writing.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. She made her way over to the door and opened it just to be greeted by her partner. She made enough space for Zayn to pass through. "Hey, come in."

Zayn timidly looked around. He took in how clean the living room and dining area was. His gaze landed on the kitchen isle where he saw a random banana peel hanging off the edge. Lauren followed his gaze and saw the mess. She laughed remembering how her girlfriend hurried her ass because she won't wake up. She almost choked on her banana.

"You know.. Camila and her bananas," Lauren said as she lead Zayn to the study upstairs where she already had a pen and paper ready. Zayn made his way over a shelf, eyeing every book carefully.

"Nice books you have here." Zayn pulled out a copy of 'The Fault In Our Stars'. He opens it to a bookmarked page. There were obvious tear stains on the page. He chuckled, imagining either Lauren or Camila reading this book and crying somewhere near the end where the pages are now stained. Lauren noticed it and laughed as well.

"Camila read that book. She cried straight for like ten minutes." She smiles, recollecting the day where Camila was reading the book. Her head on Lauren's lap while the girl was listening to the 1975. You wouldn't believe how confused she was when she saw Camila cry, hysterically. Then she started asking her if she had cancer or some sort of sickness. After catching up to the girl, she sought her distress as cute. She just let Camila babble on and on and she just watches her in awe, of how a single story really touched her. Her mind trains back to their story.

"We should get started." Zayn's voice brought her out of her thoughts. They continued to trade ideas and potential lyrics for the song. They don't even have a title yet, sheesh. This endless cycle continued for another hour, which made Lauren's head hurt. She absentmindedly reached up to her temple and massaged it to try and ease the pain. Zayn noticed this and sets down his sheet of paper, sighing.

"We have made no progress, at all." he surrendered and slouched on the chair. Lauren sighed and sets down her paper. She ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "I honestly thought it was gonna be easy."

They remained quiet. Lauren and Zayn were both thinking. Where did they go wrong? Was there something missing? Maybe a lack of inspiration or something?

Zayn stood up abruptly and took all of their progress. He looked over the words written on it, Lauren watching him carefully. He crumpled it and threw it to a nearby bin.

"We should start again." he sighed. "That was already a flop." Lauren couldn't even deny that. It really was a flop. Zayn sat back on the chair, his shoulders propped up on his lap, his hands clutched together, his head set on thinking mode. He started to think of ways how actual artists might write their songs. And that all starts with inspiration.

"Who or what inspires you?" Zayn blurted out of the blue. Lauren was looking at him curiously, but her mind finally caught up. She began to think of multiple people she draws inspiration from. She began to think of multiple things she draws inspiration from. She thought of Michelle Obama, Khaleesi, Malala. She then thought of mango, banana, pizza, bows. Camz.

Zayn held in his laugh. Lauren really does speak her mind out. Literally. But she really doesn't notice. Zayn took a spare sheet of paper and pen. He wrote at the top 'Camz'. He crossed his legs and made his facial expressions stern. Lauren felt like she was interrogated by a psychiatrist.

"What do you love about her?"

Okay. She's being interrogated. Wow. Okay, calm down. You are not interrogated by the FBI. Jesus fucking christ Jauregui. Calm the fuck down.

She starts thinking back to when she first saw Camila. "She was so naive, so innocent. Her innocence was something she admired about her. Her beautiful, intelligent mind. Her honest opinions. Her deep conversations. Her use of words. Her loving nature. Her cute flustered state. Her long-gone double chin. Her less defined jawline. Her chubby cheeks. Her goofy smile. Her abnoxiously cute laugh. Her cute mole. Her soft hands. Just everything."

"But now. She grew up. Her features are more mature. Her jaw more defined. Her cheekbones popping out. Her doe eyes richer and fuller. Her body embracing its full potential, curved at the right places."

"Those are the things people saw with her and they pinpoint those physical attributes. But what captures me is her inner self. She has a richer mind. She has gained the confidence to be a strong figure for her opinions. Her caring personality only enriched and grew. She's honestly just so beautiful on the outside and inside. I don't think my words could do justice to how perfect Camila is. I can't express it well with words."

"Why don't we write it in a song, yeah?" Zayn tossed a pad of paper and pen to her direction. Lauren caught it easily. Zayn stood up from his comfortable seat and sat on the cold floor beside Lauren. The girl looked at him, then to the blank lifeless paper in front of her. She bit the tip of the pen and thought. She brought herself back to the good old days, their banters, their trials.. She smiled when she remembered how far the've gone. Her mind flooded with inspiration that she had to write it immediately on paper. Zayn stood up carefully and smiled. He carefully went down the stairs, careful not to disturb the girl who was maniacally scribbling words down.

He treated himself with a slice of pizza from the fridge and a can of soda. He peeked from the staircase and Lauren was still scribbling tons of things down. The look of concentration on Lauren's face was scary yet endearing. He didn't want to disturb the girl so he welcomed himself on the living room. He made himself comfortable on the sofa, casually eating the pizza on his hands. He couldn't turn on the tv because that'll disturb the girl upstairs. He just sat there looking around the room. He noticed a guitar placed neatly on the corner of the room, just  behind a tree pot. Yeah, there's a tree inside their house. He finished his food and threw the bottle of soda in a bin in the kitchen. He approached the guitar and observed it. It was shiny, but he notices a scratch on the body. It must be used already. He retracts it from the stand and looks at the note behind the guitar. It was also signed on the front.

"Zayn?" Lauren's voice called out for him. He went upstairs with the guitar. "Where were you?" Lauren asked. "Just gave myself a snack while you did your thing." he said nonchalantly. Lauren's face lightened up at the thought of her work. "I'm done with the song." 

Zayn sat down at his previous place, situating the guitar comfortably on his lap. "Now all we need are the chords to the song. Lucky for you, I play the guitar." Zayn strummed a bunch of chords, including bar chords. Lauren gave him a challenging look. "Well, I play the guitar and the keyboard so I win." she did a little victory dance while Zayn just shook his head and raised his hands in surrender. "Okay okay you win."

"Did you think of a tune for the song? Since you wrote the lyrics so.." 

"Actually yeah. Since you're the king of chords, maybe you could supply the instrumentals." 

~~~~~~~

"Okay, how 'bout we play it, yeah?" Zayn readied himself with the guitar on his lap, Lauren seated in front of the keyboard. Lauren nodded and readied herself as well. Lauren played the first note.

She says I smell like safety and home

I named both of her eyes "Forever" and "Please don't go"

I could be a morning sunrise all the time, all the time yeah

This could be good, this could be good

And I can't change, even if I tried

Even if I wanted to

And I can't change, even if I tried

Even if I wanted to

My love, my love, my love, my love

She keeps me warm, she keeps me warm

What's your middle name?

Do you hate your job?

Do you fall in love too easily?

What's your favorite word?

You like kissing girls?

Can I call you baby?

Yeah, yeah

She says that people stare 'cuz we look so good together

Yeah, yeah, yeah

And I can't change, even if I tried

Even if I wanted to

And I can't change, even if I tried

Even if I wanted to

My love, my love, my love, my love

She keeps me warm, she keeps me warm [x2]

I'm not crying on Sundays, I'm not crying on Sundays [x2]

Love is patient, love is kind [x4]

My love, my love, my love, my love

She keeps me warm, she keeps me warm  

Lauren couldn't wipe off the wide smile on her face. She felt giddy all of a sudden. The thought of Camila always made her feel weird but positive things. Lauren sat there laughing while Zayn hysterically clapped his hands.

"That was awesome!" a smile appeared on his face and he was genuinely proud of what Lauren wrote herself. All he did was add on the instrumentals. "Lauren, your voice was fucking heavenly!" Zayn complimented. She didn't really like singing in front of people so getting compliments like this from others really warmed her. "Shut up, you were great too. We wouldn't have a song if you didn't add the instrumentals." Lauren attempted to compliment Zayn but the guy stopped him. "You deserve almost all the credit, you know? You literally wrote the entire fucking song while I just did the instrumentals. You should congratulate yourself, not me." Lauren smiled. She wrote all of that on her own. "Wow. I guess I doubted myself. Thanks." They hugged each other. They decided to treat themselves with pizza. Lauren asked if she could bring Camz with them, which was perfectly fine with him. Lauren texted Camila to wait outside the campus for an impromptu pizza party. Camila happily accepted the offer because duhh it's pizza and Camila could never say no to pizza.

Zayn and Lauren drove over to the university parking lot only to be greeted by a grinning Camila who was waving them over. Zayn laughed at her silliness while Lauren felt warmth rush up her cheeks. Butterflies quickly invaded her stomach, fireworks accompanying them. She felt giddy again. Camila did things to Lauren without even noticing. Lauren smiled widely when she remembers what she wrote a while ago about Camila.

She keeps me warm

She keeps me warm...

A/N:

Guys i fucking won a cd of 7/27 but it wont ship here so i got really upset. i just traded it with the other winner who got a digital copy. might as well trade it than risk it getting lost. i was really upset but on the bright side, i got the album without paying for anything and this is actually the first album i own. i was hyperventilating when i saw the tweet and i was just so fking happy today that i had the inspiration to write this!

ps. the song is called 'She Keeps Me Warm' by Mary Lambert and omfg its so good.