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ainsleyrice​:

"Is that right? I'd love to hear about these wild days. Maybe we can recreate them soon. And often." She winked and tugged Cami a little closer to her. "If you don't believe in it then I don't think it needs to happen. I can't see things getting stale between us, though. No I haven't! Name one corny thing I've said to you in the last two weeks."

"Ooh you had better calm down, I'm trying to have a serious conversation, I won't be able to keep my hands off of you in a second." A sense of excitement sprang up in Cami as she kissed Luna and sealed the deal. It was all new to her, but she wouldn't have proposed it if she didn't actually want to commit. "Do I think I'm ready for you? Baby I've been doing more than okay for a while now, unless being your girlfriend unlocks some special hidden features I don't know about."

"Maybe I don't want your hands off of me, you ever think of that?" She challenged her with one eye brow raised. "We'll find out about those features together, I've never been a girlfriend before. You haven't either, right? What do you think girlfriend life is like? Cornier than before? Definitely more romance, right?"

"It is very sexy that you're committing to finding help by the way. It's a very green flag waving right above your head." The way Luna looked at her alone as she approached closer gave Cami a sense of a relief before she even touched her, "I think that it's official then." Cami leaned in an laid a kiss on Luna's lips to seal the deal, one the sweeter kisses exchanged between them, the whole while Cami's inner monologue in a state of disbelief that she just entered into a committed relationship and would possibly be entering into another - she never thought she'd see the day. "So many women in Rosewood are going to be devastated knowing you're no longer a single woman. I hope they find the comfort they need."

"Is it? What else would put a sexy green flag over my head? I'll start getting annual physicals. I'll put together a budget." Luna wiggled her eyebrows at Cami, slowly breaking into a sly smile. Luna kissed her back slowly, leaning into her with her confidence all but fully restored. This would be her first ever relationship and a poly one, at that. She was a little scared but she was so invested in Cami, invested in the life she was creating in Rosewood, that she'd figure it out. "I don't have a thought to spare for them, to tell you the truth. They're gonna be just fine with me off the streets. I'm more concerned about you with me on your hands officially. You think you're ready for that?"

“I am solely calling it as I see it.” Louise let the guy know, the smile on her features only growing as they made their way into the lobby. “But isn’t that something that someone who is a spy would say and do?” Louise brought up, narrowing her eyes in his direction. “But I’m going to choose to believe you, given you did just help me.” She said, jokingly. “Well, that doesn’t shock me. We happen to be one of the best labels in the industry, I would have been a lot more shocked had you not.” Louise pressed the button to the elevator. “In that case, I’m Louise.” She told him, leaving out the whole last name part as she didn’t want to intimidate him. “And you are?” She asked, as the elevator doors opened, leading the way inside.

Niko thought about that for a moment. He nodded and tapped at his temple. "You're absolutely right. Damn. Well I'm gonna thank you in advance for trusting me and I promise you won't be disappointed." He took the binders she gave him without glancing down at them. He wasn't that interested in the secrets of any fashion label so there was no temptation. "Nice to meet you, Louise. I'm glad to meet you is what I am. Name's Niko, though. What's with all the binders? Do you have some kind of presentation today?"

niko.

"Saved your life? That feels like giving me way too much credit. I'm just holding the door." Despite downplaying the compliment Niko grinned. "Major asshole vibes, yeah!" His brow furrowed slightly and then he laughed, shaking his head. "Not even close. Look at me. Am I dressed like someone who could be a fashion spy?" Once inside, Niko opened his arms to take on some of the binders. "Okay, in the interest of full transparency, I have heard of that name. I don't live under a rock but I swear I'm also not a threat."

“Hi, do you mind—” Louise had began to say before the person she’d been asking just so happened to breeze by her without so much as a second glance. “thanks for your help, asshole.” The woman had her hands full with binders, binders which so happened to be filled with pictures of archival De La Renta looks she believed would work as great as inspiration for this years collection. The brunette attempted open the door once– failing at doing do, but luckily for her, someone else was coming around. “Hey, if you could find it in your heart to open this door for me, I’d forever grateful.” 

Niko caught sight of the woman struggling and rushed forward to hold open the door. "Here, I got it." Admittedly not the most impactful opening line, but he smiled and looked up at her to make up for it. He internally glitched when he saw how beautiful she was. He was sure his eyebrows rose slightly with surprise and everything. "That guy was an asshole." It wasn't getting much better. "Do you need help taking those somewhere?"

"I would love for you to be in awe of me without implying not great things about yourself though. Honestly, it's not feeling as easy as it usually does if I'm being honest." Luna returning Cami's sentiment made her smile too, bigger than Luna was, but she was still very nervous wanting to be very clear. "Are you sure? You don't have to answer right away, I mean I'd still have to figure out how to ask Rufus and I have no idea if he'd be interested in it. I've never asked 2 people to date me exclusively before. If you want to think about it for a while I can wait."

"I guess that's what the therapy's for, huh? I think that's because I was making it harder for us both, honestly. I didn't even realize my fight or flight was kicking in, let alone how badly I don't want to do either." Luna, already gaining some of her confidence back with the knowledge that she wanted to be her girlfriend, stepped closer to Cami. She cupped the side of her face with one hand and gave the other a squeeze. "I'm sure. I knew who you were from the moment we met. I'm sure whoever Rufus is did, too. If you're ready to be my girlfriend, I'm ready to be yours."

Camila nodded while she drew in a breath and listened to Luna. She wanted to really hear her, even more now the more she elected to be vulnerable. "I think that you do. And I could help you find one." She offered, a small gesture to let Luna know that she wasn't leaving her high and dry even before she'd formulated her own thoughts. She had her own insecurities to fight past, Luna exposing herself to her the way she was only made her more resolute, even though she was terrified that once she said something definitive she'd have to deal with consequences she very much didn't want. "I want you to see you the way that I do so you'd know that someone like me and someone like you are both fucking amazing. You're not beneath me, Luna. I like you…so much." She gravitated towards the girl and took both of her hands, threading their fingers, "Luna, I'm not monogamous, I don't know if that mold will ever be one that I could fit in, but that doesn't equate to not committing. I've been thinking about that too, committing to you and someone else, Rufus. I don't need to be open, I came to that conclusion and it's been an insane amount of time since I've been anyone's girlfriend but thinking about being yours makes me feel…lighter. How would it make you feel?"

Luna's insides twisted at the offer. Part of her wanted to reject it but part of her thought it was a sign of something good. "I don't know if I think I'm beneath you, exactly. I think I'm just in awe of you sometimes. How vulnerable you are and how easy you make it look." She held onto Cami's hands, grateful for the contact that helped ground her to the moment. She wouldn't have dared to hope for what she was hearing Cami say to her now but she let herself take it all in. "For the record, I don't know whether I'm monogamous, either. I never have been before. But the idea of committing to you? It's the first time commitment hasn't scared me at all." She let herself break into the smallest of smiles. "I think it might make me feel a lot lighter, too. If you're sure that's what you want."

"I don't understand why suddenly your mind is on losing me. Why would that cross your mind?" Cami was grateful that Luna was opening up to her, being honest with her which was obviously really hard for her at the moment, but it almost felt like she missed a major detail that would tie everything together, "Luna…does it bother you that you're not the only person in my orbit? If it didn't before and it does now then that's okay you have to tell me and then we have to figure out some kind of resolution."

"Probably something from my childhood," Ainsley shrugged. "I think I've always had this thing that, when I have something good, I'm positive it can't last. So I leave before I can lose whatever that is. "I didn't think it would but, yeah. I think it might. But I would never ask you to stop seeing anyone for my benefit. It's a me thing, I guess. Some part of me thinks there's no way someone like you could want me for long when you have other options." She cringed as she heard the words in her voice. "And I hate that. I had no idea I had this kind of insecurity. I never felt like this when I didn't care that much about who I was with. Fuck, I think I need to start seeing a therapist."

Even at their most unfamiliar, the dynamic between Cami and Luna had never felt this uneasy. "Okay…I can see how you arrived at that conclusion, however it wasn't really the right conclusion. You basically said that you're more into me than I am into you and I need to figure out what I've done to make you feel that way. That's not what I want you to get out of this, Luna. That doesn't sound like it feels good at all. Why would I want that for you? For anyone, but especially someone I've been seeing for over a year."

"Yeah... That was unfair of me to say. I don't know why--" She stopped herself before she could tell a lie. "No, I actually do know why. I'm afraid of this. Of us. Fear makes my insecurities really loud and then always makes me cut and run. You don't make me feel like I'm more into you than you are into me. When we're together I feel like the only person in your orbit and that feels incredible. But the scared part of me knows that's not really true. And there's nothing wrong with that. This was part of us from the beginning. I just don't think the stakes have ever been this high for me. I've never felt about anyone the way I feel about you. It makes me really fucking scared of losing you, Cami."

Cami made a considerable effort to see most issues and problems in the bigger picture of the universe sense, and it usually served to not make them seem as frustrating, so imagine how frustrating it was to find out that mindset didn't mean shit in this particular instance when she was all at once concerned for, upset with, and longing to see Luna. The girl had often told her in the beginning how she was always a one foot out kind of person and would leave with little provocation, but Cami had never seen that until the night before.

“Yeah, of course.” Luna was just relived that Cami shill wanted to hear what she had to say for herself. Running was her old M.O. She thought staying in Rosewood for over a year meant she’d grown out of her old ways but clearly they were still strong within her. Just because she wasn’t moving cities didn’t mean she couldn’t run away from her problems.