Goodnight, Lo,” Camila whispered, r

Goodnight, Lo,” Camila whispered, rubbing her eyes and curling up in the older girl’s side. As always, she snaked her hands up Lauren’s sleeves. It was just a natural part of their sleeping position now.

“Night, Camz,” Lauren yawned and gazed at Camila as she melted into her. The smaller girl was always the first to fall asleep. Not that Lauren minded. She always slept easier with Camila by her side.

But for some reason, tonight was different. Just as she would start to fall asleep, her body would jerk itself awake again. When this happened multiple times, Lauren groaned and rolled onto her back.

She gazed up at the ceiling, trying to will herself to fall asleep. Unfortunately, she was wide awake, and nothing she seemed to tell herself could help her fix this.

Sighing, Lauren carefully peeled herself from Camila’s sleeping figure and adjusted the blankets back over the smaller girl. She made sure to be quiet as she slipped out of the room and down to the guest bedroom.

Flipping on the lights in the art studio, Lauren plugged in her phone and turned on her painting playlist. Camila had helped her put it together one afternoon when the smaller girl decided they needed music for when Lauren painted.

‘Team’ by Lorde came on first, and Lauren hummed along softly as she gathered her paintbrushes together. She kept the lights dim, enjoying the blue moonlight that came in through the windows.

Just as she started thinking of things to paint, a small meow distracted her. She groaned, hurrying over to the door to make sure Wolf didn’t get in. But when she turned around, she realized the white cat had made himself at home atop the stool where Camila had previously sat. Rolling her eyes, she raised a finger in warning at him before returning to her easel.

In her nighttime delirium, Lauren absentmindedly dipped her brush into purple and swirled it around on the canvas. She wasn’t quite sure what she was doing, but it kept her occupied for quite a while. She got so lost in her painting that she didn’t even notice when the playlist ended.

What she did notice, though, was the clap of thunder that sent Wolf flying down the hallway. Furrowing her eyebrows, Lauren lifted her head and glanced out the window, where rain was pouring down relentlessly. A flash of lightning lit up the room for a split second.

Biting her lip, Lauren set her paintbrush down and made her way back down the hallway. She was surprised when she opened the door to the bedroom slightly and found Camila still fast asleep, with Wolf now curled up in her side.

Maybe she just hadn’t heard the thunder. Lauren knew how badly Camila hated storms. She remembered the days back at the apartment when Camila would practically hide at the sign of a storm.

Another large boom of thunder disproved her theory, though. Both Lauren and Wolf jumped when the house practically shook, but the smaller girl just shifted slightly in her sleep, hair sprawled across her pillow.

Lauren raised an eyebrow, unsure of how to feel about this. Glancing at Wolf one last time, she closed the door quietly and headed back down the hallway, flinching when another clap of thunder echoed throughout the house unexpectedly.

The green eyed girl put on music once more, turning it up louder to try and drown out the storm raging on outside. She turned back to her painting, trying to concentrate as best as she could, but failing. She was too bothered by the thoughts circling through her head.

What if Camila didn’t need her anymore?

Lauren thought it was crazy, at first. But as she pondered the subject even more, she found herself setting down her brush and leaning against the table for a moment, deep in thought.

What if Camila only was with her because she needed her? What happened when Camila was perfectly fine on her own? Would she realize that she didn’t need Lauren anymore?

Another clap of thunder sent Lauren stumbling backwards, nearly falling over. Being snapped out of her thoughts, she grabbed her paintbrush, turned her music up even louder, and forced herself to continue painting.

A few minutes later, Lauren found herself gripping the paintbrush so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. Just as she leaned into work on the smaller details, a loud crash behind her sent her reeling backwards.

“Oh my g-,” she breathed, cutting herself off when she saw the small girl standing in the doorway. Camila shook her head, quickly kneeling down to try and pick up the jar of paintbrushes she had knocked over.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Lauren shook her head, sliding down on her knees beside the girl and helping her gather up the brushes. “What are you doing up?” she asked, glancing up at the smaller girl.

“I-I woke up and it was storming, and you were gone, and then I came to try and find you and you were painting, and… and… I just like to watch you paint,” Camila let her words spill out of her mouth in one giant breath, causing her to gasp for air when she was done. Another clap of thunde