Chapter 20 #2
“Yeah, they’re alright.” Valeria settles back into her cot, closer still to Camila, and Camila’s pulse spikes, every inch of her suddenly aware of how close they are.
“What now?” Valeria asks, shifting her weight on the cots mattress.
A little awkwardness settles between them. Not the bad kind, just that middle ground where they both know they’ve stepped into something new, but neither is sure what to do next.
“Sleep, I guess,” Camila answers, a soft laugh in her voice, like she’s half-joking but not really.
Valeria nods. “Yeah. Sleep,” she echoes.
They both grab their toothbrushes and step out into the cool night air, the campsite dim and hushed, lit only by a few scattered lanterns. Somewhere nearby, one of the girls laughs softly, quickly shushed. They share a bottle of water to rinse, passing it back and forth.
Valeria slips back into her tent to change, the zipper whispering closed behind her, and Camila does the same, crouching inside her own tent, rummaging through her bag, pulling out whatever she finds first.
A light knock taps against the side of her tent.
“You can come in,” Camila says, without hesitation.
The tent flap shifts, and Valeria peeks in, wearing the sweater she took from Camila. It hangs a little loose on her, but somehow she rocks it. Camila can’t help but smile when she sees her in it.
“I like your sweater,” Camila teases.
Valeria glances down at herself, then back up, feigning innocence. “Oh, this old thing? A cute girl gave it to me.”
“Oh?” Camila arches a brow. “Did she now? How cute would you say she is?”
“The cutest.” Valeria steps closer. She leans in enough to press a quick, careful kiss to Camila’s cheek.
Camila’s breath catches. The flutter in her chest turns wild.
Valeria pulls back immediately, eyes wide, nervous smile wobbling. “Was that okay?”
Camila blinks, her brain taking a second to catch up. “Yeah,” she says, a little breathless, reaching out without thinking and catching the sleeve of Valeria’s sweater. “It was more than okay. I’m following your lead, remember?”
Valeria’s shoulders drop. She laughs quietly, rubbing her thumb along the cuff of the sweater. “Good.”
“Would it be okay if I did it?”
Valeria nods. “Absolutely. I don’t want to put hard lines on anything, I want us to go with whatever feels right in the moment, as long as we’re both okay with it.”
Camila stores the information for later.
Right now, her heart feels too full, still buzzing from the press of Valeria’s lips against her cheek, to consider returning it.
She’s pretty sure that if she tried to kiss Valeria anywhere—even somewhere as innocent as her cheek—she’d short-circuit completely. Maybe even implode on the spot.
Slow is probably best, she thinks faintly. She could fall wholly into Valeria, as if she were something to be stepped into and never stepped out of again.
Camila reaches up and turns off the lantern, the light shrinking down to nothing. She shimmies into her sleeping bag, fabric rustling as she gets comfortable.
Valeria turns onto her side to face her. Even without the light, Camila can tell. There’s a stillness to her. Even in the dark, she sees Valeria thinking.
Camila shifts enough to face her. “What is it?” she whispers.
Valeria hums softly. “Are you a cuddler?”
Camila gulps down a breath. “Very much so.”
“Big spoon or little spoon?” Valeria moves in closer to Camila.
“Mm . . . whatever the moment calls for. Sometimes I want to hold my partner; sometimes, I want to be held. You?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been a big spoon,” Valeria answers sullenly. “Brooke has never liked being a small spoon, so she wouldn’t even let me try, but I think I’d like it.”
Camila’s heart narrows into a tight ball. She hates the thought of Brooke controlling something as easy and intimate as cuddling. “Well, I am a fantastic little spoon.”
“I will keep that in mind for whenever we aren’t separated by theframe of our cots.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Camila says, regretting not bringing her double camping cot. Her heart feels like it might burst out of her chest at the thought of being in Valeria’s arms and also getting to hold her. Slow, she reminds herself. She needs to let Valeria lead.
They both lie there, staring up at the dark canvas ceiling, the night pressing in close around them. The sounds outside fade into the background. Crickets, the soft shift of fabric as someone turns over in a nearby tent.
Camila suddenly becomes acutely aware of how close Valeria is. Of the warmth along her side, the faint brush of an arm when Valeria adjusts again. They’ve sat next to each other plenty of times before. Proximity has never been a problem, but tonight every point of contact feels . . . magnified.
After a moment, Valeria clears her throat. “Hey,” she whispers, tentative.
“Yeah?” Camila turns her head enough to see her in the low light.
Valeria hesitates before reaching for Camila’s hand, holding on to her fingers. “Is this okay?”
Camila’s heart gives a little leap. “Yeah,” she says without hesitation. “It is.”
With the weight of Valeria’s hand on hers, Camila falls asleep easily.
When she wakes, Valeria is still holding on to Camila, but her arm is somehow over her stomach. Camila doesn’t move, enjoying the weight of her arm on her, watching Valeria’s eyes flutter, her mouth slightly open. She looks so peaceful when she sleeps.
Camila had wanted to do this when Valeria was staying at her house, but she never let herself. She got only glimpses of Valeria asleep when she walked into the kitchen to make coffee, and then again when she tried to wake Valeria up after she’d snoozed her fourth alarm that morning.
But now, she’s getting her fill, enjoying watching her, wondering if she’s dreaming and if she is, of what.
Camila reaches for Valeria, gently moving a strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear.
A flame sparks through Camila’s chest, a feeling like liquid gold slowly filling every crevice at having her so close.
Just then, Camila remembers the sketch she started in the car.
She gently reaches for her iPad, careful not to move Valeria’s arm too much.
Not wanting to risk her pulling it away.
When she finally tugs it close, she opens a new sketch document and begins to draw.
She wants to capture her first morning waking up beside Valeria, committing it to memory in lines and color.
She knows the feeling will never fade, but she wants to remember every detail.
Camila sketches for hours, the sounds of the forest her morning playlist—birds chirping, the light rustle of the trees, a school of fish jumping in and out of the water.
On the screen, Valeria takes shape as Camila zooms in, adjusts, softens, erases, and redraws Valeria’s full lips, the gentle slope of her nose, her ruffled bangs.
Wanting to capture everything about her perfectly.
When Valeria’s eyes flutter open, Camila is in the middle of adding a faint flush to her cheeks, blending color until it looks almost warm enough to touch.
Valeria smiles. “Good morning,” she says, voice groggy. Her hand gently squeezes Camila’s side before she pulls it back to rub the sleep off her eyes. Camila wants to reach back for it, missing the weight of it on her, but doesn’t.
“Good morning,” she says instead. “How’d you sleep?”
“Much better. I woke up once, but then I inched closer to you and didn’t wake up again.”
“Happy to be of service,” Camila laughs.
Valeria smiles groggily and stretches. “What are you drawing?”
Camila closes the case, not wanting Valeria to peek. “You’ll have to wait until it’s finished.”
“Fair enough.” Valeria laughs.
Movement outside their tents grabs their attention, and the smell of bacon lures them outside.
“Good morning!” Valeria sings as soon as she’s out of their tent.
Alejandra groans. “Too loud.”
Clara also protests from a chair, head between her hands.
Ella and Lily walk out of their tent, and Valeria all but runs to Lily, wrapping her in a massive hug.
“Happy Birthday, my love,” she says, peppering Lily’s face with kisses.
“Thank you,” Lily grumbles, her voice thick.
“Happy Birthday,” Clara echoes, head still between her hands on her chair.
“You don’t speak to me,” Lily says, pointing at Clara. “It’s your fault I am dying today.”
“Happy Birthday, Lily,” Camila says. Lily turns and hugs her. The unexpected embrace is warm, a brief pressure against Camila’s side.
“Thank you,” she says. “And thank you for coming.” After a few seconds, Lily lets go and walks toward Alejandra, who also hugs her and peppers her face with kisses.
They all have breakfast and sing “Happy Birthday” over a cupcake Valeria brought for Lily.
Thirty minutes later, once they’ve all gone through at least three cups of coffee, they start tearing down their tents and getting everything in the cars.
An hour later, they are all packed up and ready to head out.
The drive back to Camila’s house is easy, and barely fifty minutes after they hit the road, Clara is already pulling into Camila’s driveway. It feels like they just left, but maybe time slipped by with Valeria tucked against Camila’s side the entire way.
“Thanks for picking me up and dropping me off,” Camila says, leaning over the center console to pat Clara’s shoulder.
Clara nods.
“We’ll see you tonight?” Alejandra asks, as Valeria undoes her seatbelt.
“Yes,” Camila answers as she grabs her backpack from between her feet before stepping out and heading to the trunk to grab the rest of her things.
“You staying?” Clara asks from the front seat as she eyes Valeria opening the door through the rearview mirror.
“Yeah.” Valeria points to Camila’s garage. “My car is still here. I should probably get it back before work.”
Clara and Alejandra exchange a smirk. “Makes sense.”
“I’ll see you both later then,” she says before exiting the car.