10 - White Dress

Lauren had been very hesitant about restarting the operation. She hadn't spoken to Camila for a month, pretty much having gone fully off radar in order to make her forget about the whole thing. It felt horrible. She missed the girl she'd spend almost four full months with. The girl who only knew half of her, but also knew her better than anyone in the word did.

"Convince me." The green eyed woman in the room said as she was sitting at a round table with the team. Zayn looked at her, seemingly understanding her struggle, or at least pretending to do so. "Okay so Jesy here came up with a new plan. This might be our last chance to catch Perez and his wife." Tom said, his round glasses perched up neatly on his nose. The man annoyed the shit out of Lauren and so she decided to look in Jesy's direction.

The woman, who had painted her hair a bright color of blue, nodded. "Yes. So we know that Armando and Camila are living in Cuba now. We're unable to catch them there, since it's not American ground. But I came up with a plan to lure them back here, for at least a short while."

"Jesus Christ what a build up." Lauren blurted out, annoyed by how entertained all of these people seemed to be with the situation. "Spill" "You two are getting married." Jesy said.

Zayn's eyes widened and Lauren scoffed loudly. "Married?" Zayn choked out, quickly taking a sip of water after.

"You two will get married next Friday. You'll ask your two neighbours, good friends and.. whatevers, to come as well. You'll also tell Armando that a 'buddy' of yours is coming to make a deal with him. A deal will be taking place at the time of the wedding and the police will infiltrate and arrest Armando and the whole drug family."

A laugh escaped from Lauren's mouth. "Jesus.." She muttered.

"You think this will work?" Zayn asked. "And the boss approved of this?"

"Yes. It's our last chance." Carter, another member of the team, said.

Lauren remained quiet, she looked at how a whole plan was being pulled out by Tom, who looked utterly pleased with the situation. Some time passed and she just sat there at the table, sipping her coffee while the others talked. "So.. are you in?"

Tom was looking at her with questioning eyes, probably because she hadn't spoken much yet. Suddenly all eyes were on her as she sat there, styrofoam coffeecup in her hand.

"I have one condition."

Tom sighed deeply. "And what might that be?" Lauren had a short moment of eye-contact with Zayn. "Camila Cabello stays out of it." A stressed chuckle escaped from Tom's mouth. "W-What do you mean?" "Camila Cabello has never admitted to being a part of Armando's drug family." Zayn spoke up, much to Lauren's surprise. "There's no evidence against her."

"She's his wife." Tom said, smiling frantically.

"Cam- Mrs Cabello isn't a part of any of the drug deals. Never has been. I'll only join the plan if she won't be arrested."

Tom sighed and shoved his glasses further up onto his nose. "I- I don't know if I can-" "Then there's no deal. No plan." Lauren said, placing both of her hands onto the table as she was about to get up.

"W-Wait." Tom said then. "I'm- I'm sure I can manage to.. work around Mrs. Cabello." He said, looking Lauren straight into her eyes. "But if there turns out to be any evidence against her anyway. If it turns out she's been dealing as well, she's being arrested anyway. And you two will be in big trouble." He said in one breath.  "Are you sure about this?" Lauren swallowed and looked over to Zayn shortly. Was she sure of Camila's innocence? No. Was she ready to take her own career down for her? Yes. She nodded her head yes and Zayn did the same.

"Good. Now let's get this party started."

———

It was Friday morning 10 A.M and Lauren was sat in the car, next to her fake fiancé. They were driving down the highway, on their way to the location their fake wedding would be held. A bunch of colleagues would be playing their friends and family and a special team of agents would be ready to bust Armando while the deal would be taking place. "Nervous?" Zayn asked, a little grin on his face. Lauren looked in his direction. He himself looked more nervous that he would probably want to admit. "You are." She said, leaning her head against the window on her right hand side. Zayn was driving and she was in the passenger seat, thinking of all the choices she'd made to end up in this situation.

"I have to admit that buying a million XTC pills from the biggest drug dealer of the US is pretty damn nerve wrecking." He admitted, letting out a nervous chuckle while his knuckles had turned white as he had a strong grip on the sterring wheel. "Let alone us getting married." He added, chuckling. "I'm shitting myself."

Lauren couldn't help but chuckle too. "We're so fucked." She mumbled, shaking her head. Zayn laid his hand on her knee. "But this will all be over after today. We're the good guys here, you gotta remember that." His eyes remained on the road as Lauren just sighed and looked at the black SUV they were following. Armando and Camila would be arriving around lunchtime, together with other 'guests'. The deal would take place at 2, right before the wedding, which was planned to be at 3. It would never actually happen though. Armando and his men would be arrested right when coming back to the location, from the deal, around 2:30. Lauren would have to distract the brunette in the meantime, so that she wouldn't be a part of the drug-deal in any way and so she wouldn't be arrested together with her husband.

They arrived at the location and Lauren smiled. She'd always dreamed of marrying at a place like this when she was younger. It was a beautiful white lake house with loads of windows. Several people were walking around the place, some decorating it and others securing it. "Gosh, they're really taking this thing seriously huh?" Zayn commented as he and Lauren stepped out of the Tesla.

"Of course we are." Tom said, smiling widely while he looked at the couple.

"You're here too. Great." Lauren commented, staring the man down momentarily. He wore a dark blue suit and a smile that was way too happy looking in Lauren's opinion. "Wouldn't want to miss out on the great finale."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "It's not a fucking game, Tom."

The man practically ignored her and pointed to a little cabin. It was next to the big lake-house, where the ceremony would be held. At least that's what Armando, his men and Camila were supposed to believe. "That'll be your spot for the day. Your dress and everything you need is in there. Camila will arrive at 12 o'clock if you wish to exclude her from the whole deal, you will need to distract her and-" "Yeah, yeah. I know." Lauren said, grabbing her backpack from the backseat of the black Tesla before swinging it over her shoulder. "The deal will be taking place over there." Tom said, pointing in the other direction, across the lake. A large, dark green truck was parked there, which would probably be filled with Armando's pills later. "Your Italian friend who's pretending to buy the pills, is preparing in the big hall. I'll bring you to him." Tom said, looking pointedly at Zayn, who gave him a nervous nod before turning around and following him.

Zayn closed the Tesla from a distance, the car beeped a few times and Lauren was left alone. She stared at the beautiful lake house, wishing she would be here for any other wedding than her own fake one. A few men were carrying fully automatic ACR guns from one place to the other and others were hanging up several strings of white balloons. What the fuck had she gotten herself into? Was this what actual insanity looked like?

———

Almost two full hours had passed and Lauren had practically locked herself into the cabin she had been ordered to get into. She'd laid on the couch for a while, reading some random news articles on her phone in an attempt to distract herself from the fact that her very own fake wedding was about to take place in a few hours, including fake friends, fake family members and a whole arsenal of very real guns underneath everyones neat clothing.

Rays of sunlight made their way into the cabin through the semi-closed curtains. She was standing in front of a large mirror right then, staring at her own reflection. The white dress she was wearing, fit perfectly. She was applying the last bits of make-up to her face delicately, a soft playlist on the background. Even the calm acoustic tunes she'd put on, couldn't slow her heartbeat down. "Come on, you got this." She scolded herself in the mirror. Three soft knocks sounded on the door. She'd almost missed them, thinking it was her heart ringing in her ears. "Come in!" She called out, her shaky voice unfamiliar to herself. The door opened, a stream of sunlight made it's way into the cabin, together with the beautiful Camila Cabello, who's face she hadn't seen in over a month.

"Fuck." Lauren said out loud when seeing the gorgeous latina walk in, wearing a beautiful old-pink coloured dress. She'd put curls into her long brown hair and her skin was more tanned than she remembered it to be, probably caused by the sunshine Cuba offered. "Hello to you too." She smiled shyly, looking down at the ground momentarily before closing the door behind her.

"H-Hi." Lauren replied softly, not really knowing how to act around the other woman, since she hadn't even said goodbye to her before she'd left. She hadn't expected to ever see her again and here she was, standing in the same room, breathing in the same air as she was.

Camila looked up again. "Gosh, you look gorgeous, Lauren.." She mumbled, honestly in her voice as she spoke. A tiny smile crept onto Lauren's face, together with a blush.

"Thank you." She said. It came out as more of a whisper.

Camila looked down again, running a hand through her hair. Lauren smiled, recognising it as  Camila's nervous trait. "It's good to see you Camila." She told her. "Really good to see you."

Camila looked up, biting her lip. "It's good to see you too, Lo." She said. Lauren felt guilt creeping back into her body right away, when hearing the familiar nickname. The sound of the woman's high heels clicked against the wooden floor and before she knew it, Camila had swung her arms around her, embracing her tightly. Her own hands found the small of her back and she held her tightly, taking the moment in, together with her intoxicating scent. "I've missed you." The brunette whispered into her ear. The butterflies in her stomach, that had already awoken by seeing her, now started flapping their wings wildly. She shivered and the blush that had been on her cheeks already, grew a shade darker. "I've missed you too." She replied, taking a step back to look into the brown eyes she'd dreamed about every night. "More than you know." She smiled, letting out a nervous chuckle.

They smiled at each-other's faces for a few seconds before Camila giggled. "So, getting married huh?"

Lauren didn't know how to respond. She figured 'yeah it's all part of the big undercover operation' wouldn't go that well, so she decided not to go for that approach. She did know though, that Camila would find out about her real identity in a few hours anyway. Two to be exact. "Yeah.." She sighed. "Long story."

Camila furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms, a small smile still on her face. "I'd expected to find a much happier Lauren in here. You are sure about this, right?" She asked the green eyed girl, who quickly looked down, fidgeting with the soft silk on her dress.

"Yes." She lied. "Of course."

"So you and Zayn are good again?" Camila pressed. Lauren avoided her eyes by all means and turned around towards the mirror again. "No doubts? No worries?" Camila pushed, a curious look on her face. Lauren noticed her staring at her in the mirror. "Cause you know, last time I saw you-" "I- I asked him." Lauren interrupted her. "I really want to marry him." She could barely believe herself but knew she was a good liar and so she was surprised to see the questioning look on Camila's face when she looked up in the mirror.

"Can you- z-zip me up properly?" She asked, looking at Camila expectingly. The brunette's narrowed eyes turned to normal then and she stepped forward, her hands reaching out to push Lauren's hair to the side. "Of course." She said calmly, taking her time to place several strands of Lauren's dark hair over her shoulder so that she could reach the zipper on the back of the dress. The green eyed woman felt the Camila's fingertips trace over her the skin of her back softly as she went down to grasp the zipper. Goosebumps rose on her skin. She hoped the other woman wouldn't notice them and was glad when Camila had zipped her up correctly. She noticed how the brunette then looked over her shoulder and into her eyes, through the reflection of the mirror.

"I got you something." She announced, her hands shortly placed on Lauren's sides before she walked over to the door, where she'd apparently put her small, white purse. She dug in the small thing for a little while before making her way back to Lauren, a small paper wrapping in her hands. "I saw it in this little shop in Havana and I knew it would- well it would look beautiful on you. Especially today."

Her eyes found Lauren's shortly before the raven haired woman took the small present from her hands and unwrapped it, revealing a beautiful, silver hair-pin. "It's shaped like a-"

"A dragonfly." Lauren said, her free hand immediately reaching for the tattoo that was placed on the back of her neck. "I didn't know you- you knew that-" "Of course I do, dummy." Camila giggled. "I'm not stupida, Lo."

Lauren smiled at the brunette before looking down at the pin in her hands again. "It's beautiful." She told her. "Did you know dragonflies symbolise change?"

An even bigger smile crept onto Lauren's face. She'd missed these little random facts Camila always seemed to dream up, this one however, she already knew.

"I do." She said. "It's why I took it." Camila smiled at her before reaching for the pin again. "Let me put it in your hair?"

Lauren nodded and turned around to face the mirror once more. Camila stared at her at first, making her blush again before she stood up on her tippy toes, sticking her tongue out in this cute way that Lauren had only been able to dream of. She then let out a content sigh. 

"Camz.." Lauren said softly. "Thank you so much."

Camila swallowed and nodded, taking in Lauren in her beautiful wedding dress. 

"You look so beautiful, by the way." Lauren said, her voice softer and less confident than she would have liked.

Camila was the one blushing then. "Thank you."

They stood awkwardly, Camila's eyes skimming down to Lauren's lips a few times before Lauren cleared her throat and looked over at the clock. 12:47 P.M. She would still have some time to pass before she'd be allowed to get out of the cabin. "I could use a drink. What about you?" She was already on her way to the small kitchenette area the cabin provided them with when Camila replied with a soft 'yes'. She felt her brown eyes burn in her back when opening up the backpack she'd put in her most wanted possession in. The thing she'd definitely need today. Whiskey. Her favourite bottle.

She opened up a cabinet above her head and got out two glasses before filling them up about one third, with the pure stuff. She did realise that Camila had never seen her drink this kind of beverage and that the woman probably wouldn't even like the strong drink, but she decided that yes, now of all times, was time to reveal yet a little bit more of herself. "Whiskey?" Camila asked, furrowed eyebrows as she was now sat on the couch. "Pure?"

"I figured I'd confess this about myself to you today." Lauren smiled as she sat down beside the brunette and handed her a glass of her own. "I'm a whiskey enthusiast."

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Camila wondered out loud. "Scared you wouldn't fit in my Mojito culture?" "I mean.." Lauren chuckled. "You do love a nice,  sweet Mojito and this is something else." Camila let out a loud laugh as she looked how Lauren casually took a big gulp from her drink. "This is exactly what I mean with you being a mystery, Lauren Green."

Lauren swallowed while shaking her head. "Please don't call me th-" Her eyes widened slightly when realising she'd fucked up. Camila's questioning eyes were boring into her skull. "I- I mean It'll be Lauren Price in a few hours huh?" Camila took a small sip from her drink and cringed a little. "Ah." She nodded. "Not keeping your own last name huh?"

"Never liked it." Lauren replied before taking another sip as well. She enjoyed the warm feeling that spread through her body when looking at Camila, and feeling the whiskey at the same time. "Hey how have you been? How's Cuba?" Camila scoffed. "Do you want the real answer? Or the one I give to Armando's fake friends?"

Lauren frowned. "That bad?" An eye-roll and a few deep sighs later, Camila replied with a shrug. "I'm just- I- I'm- fine. It's, never mind." She said, waving her hand dismissively.

Lauren knew she was lying but she didn't want to get into it too deep. She couldn't let things escalate again. It would all go to shit in a few hours anyway, no need to start early. "At least you got a nice tan." She smiled. She noticed how Camila tried to smile back but failed to convince her of the realness of her emotion. "Are you guys planning on staying in the US?" "No. Armando wants to fly back tomorrow."

"Oh."

Silence filled the cabin and Lauren took a few big gulps of her drink, not really knowing what to say. Camila beat her to it though, she reached forward and started tracing random patterns onto the wedding dress with her fingertips. "Lo.." She breathed out softly. Lauren could immediately sense where this was going. "Camila.." She tried interjecting, to no use though. Camila looked up with those brown eyes of her and had her shut up immediately. "Should we talk about.. you know? The- the stuff that went on between us before I left?"

The question was on the table, but Lauren didn't know how to respond and so she finished her drink and put the glass onto the small wooden table next to the couch. She watched how Camila took a few sips from her drink as well, seemingly waiting for her to reply.

"I don't know Camz.." She breathed out. Her own fingers started tracing random patterns onto her dress as well. "I'm getting married." She said softly. There was a short silence. "And I- It's not that I don't want to talk about it. It's just- I- I'm scared I'll do something stupid."

Camila's brown eyes stared at Lauren's face curiously. Lauren noticed how she bit down on her bottom lip while she looked at her. "I don't think anything you have in mind is stupid.." Camila said softly.

Lauren sighed deeply, tearing her eyes away from the beautiful girl's face. Camila's fingers traced over her hand then and goosebumps rose on her skin once again. "I wish we could do stupid things together." She replied, a soft smile playing on her lips. She listened to how Camila let out a deep breath.

"Lo.." Camila sighed, reaching out to take Lauren's hand in hers. Their eyes met again. "Please don't get married?"Lauren's face fell. "Camila I can't- I-" She stuttered, taking in a deep breath and shaking her head. "I can't." She stated. Silence filled the room again. 

Camila suddenly downed her drink then and got up from the couch, startling Lauren. "I need another one." The brunette announced. "And you probably do too."

She took the two empty glasses and made her way over to the kitchenette. Lauren felt like she could finally take a few deep breaths then and so she tried calming herself down that way, until a loud gasp sounded from the other side of the cabin. "Lauren.." Camila's voice called out. She sounded confused, and maybe a little shocked as well. A small wall was separating them and so Lauren got up from the couch and took a few steps towards the kitchenette, wanting to know what was up. "W-why are you carrying a gun in you- your bag?"