HMU

fifty

Mila has added Lauren*

Mila: lern jerky

Lauren: yes? where r u ive been looking for u

Lauren: well i w a s looking for u but i gave up cause i like sleep

Mila: how romantic

Mila: anyway, i was in the girls' room

Lauren: i didnt go in there cause i was afraid of being blinded

Mila: come outside to the backyard

Lauren: 👀👀👀👀

Mila: i have a surprise for u

Lauren: yay ill be down in 5

---

Camila set her phone down, turning to Ally. "Thanks for helping me with this."

"No problem. As long as I get to film the big reveal." Ally opened her camera and started a video.

Camila glared playfully at the camera, holding the nicely wrapped (due to Ally's wrapping abilities — Camila can't wrap for shit) frame in her hands. Anxiously, she looked up at Ally, still pointing the camera at her face. "Do you think she'll like it?"

"It came from you, Camila. Of course she'll like it."

"Like what?"

They both turned quickly, their eyes landing on Lauren walking gracefully down the stairs to join them on the stone patio by the fire pit. Camila thought that maybe Lauren did everything gracefully, even in uncomfortable foot braces.

Camila could feel herself getting more nervous by the second — she'd never been this anxious giving someone a gift before. She decided she wasn't scared of Lauren not liking it, she was afraid she'd think it was too much. They'd only had their first date the night before — what if Lauren thought this was creepy and overwhelming for two people who'd just started dating? Camila's panic got worse as she realized they weren't even together yet.

"Camz?"

"Huh?"

"What's the surprise?" Lauren snapped her out of her thoughts, somehow calming her down just by standing there.

"Oh..." Camila looked down in her lap, at the present. "Yes. The surprise." She'd had something she'd wanted to say, but now her mind couldn't seem to form the words as she silently handed it up to a smiling Lauren. She clapped her hands like a child, accepting the present happily and taking a seat beside Camila. She smiled up at Lauren, ignoring Ally's small squeal of excitement from her spot across from them.

She carefully unwrapped the frame, setting the wrapping paper on the bench and staring down at the picture with an unreadable expression. Camila's smile wavered and she couldn't help the rambling she fell into as she felt the need to explain herself.

"I know how much you love art, and nature, and all that stuff. So I found pictures of flowers and famous works of art and a bunch of other things to make, well... A picture of you. If you look closely you can see the thousands of pictures I used. It really didn't take that long, just a lot of color coordination and artistic ability I had to conjure up from second grade. If you don't like it, that's okay. I know it kind of doesn't resemble you in some places, but it's the best I could do. And, if this is too much I can take it back and-"

"Camila." Camila tore her eyes off the picture she'd made, her eyes landing on Lauren's side profile as she continued to smile down at the picture in admiration. "I love it."

"R-Really?"

Lauren turned to face her, setting the frame aside and pulling her into a hug. "Of course I do, dork. C'mere." Lauren cupped her cheek, pulling her in for a kiss.

They forgot about Ally's presence.