Lily + Camille

Our Story

*Spoiler alert*

They get married at the end!

Pumpkin Seeds

In late fall of 2013, Lily is drawn to the shared kitchen in their dorm room by the smell of pumpkin seeds from three girls who would become Lily’s best friends. For the remainder of their Freshman year at Goucher, Lily lives down the hall from Siena, Becca, and Camel who share a triple. Camel and Lily have the same shoe size. They decide to share a dorm room together for their Sophomore year, doubling their respective wardrobes. For Junior year they get Siena back in the mix and share a big room before setting off to study abroad. Senior year is a whirlwind but Camille manages to have a cool apartment downtown while Lily keeps a room on campus. They share both and really have it all.

Heartbreak No. 1

Camille and Lily graduate! Oh what fun! They travel to San Diego together. They help Siena get married in Nashville. They are living on opposite coasts for the first time in four years. Lily can’t sleep. Camille sleeps too much. They aren’t hungry. The sun doesn’t shine anymore. Siena tells Lily to call Camille. When she does, they find out that they are both experiencing something terrible, horrible, and painful: heartbreak. Camel tells Lily she doesn’t care where she lives as long as it’s with Lily. Lily is looking into mortuary school and finds one in NYC. They’re off to the big apple together.

Heartbreak No. 2

Camille meets Lily to live in a tiny 4th floor walkup in Chinatown, Manhattan. Camille works with art and pencils. She cooks the best meals every day. Lily goes to school and works in Central Park. She bakes bread every week. It isn’t easy but it’s lots of hard earned fun. When their lease is up, Camille decides she needs to spend some time on the West Coast to work through some big life questions. Lily has goats in Philly and splits her time between PA and NYC. They both feel broken and sad, but decide that they would rather keep their friendship than risk hurting each others hearts.

Time heals some things

Camille lives with her sister, Claire and has a really cool architecture job. Lily starts her residency as a funeral director in Harlem. They keep tabs on each other but try to leave space to grow apart. Covid hits. Lily is in the thick of it. Every Monday night, she has a phone call with Camille, Siena, and Sophie from college. This keeps them all sane. Camille sews masks for Lily and sends them in packages to the funeral home in Harlem. Lily cherishes them and shows them off to everyone. The pandemic makes dating difficult but they both try hard to find new people to love.

Thanksgiving

It’s been almost 3 years since Camille and Lily had Thanksgiving together. Lily’s birthday is always near the holiday, so Camille asks Lily what she wants for a present. Lily thinks about it hard, and says she just wants Camille to come visit. She misses their Thanksgivings together and Camille is the best cook. Camille is scared to come back to NYC because she worries she will love it too much. She is brave and visits Lily for her birthday. Lily usually hates her birthday but something feels different this year. She is brave, and kisses Camille. When she drives her back to the airport, Camille is the most brave. She tells Lily she is madly in love with her.

Coast 2 Coast

Expecting rejection, Camille has steeled her heart for what she imagines will hurt. Lily fills with butterflies. She never fell out of love with Camille. They decide to start dating; long distance, but out in the open. They visit each other at least every month. Being in love feels so good there ought to be a law against driving while under it’s influence. There isn’t, so they are both careful. Camille is happy in San Diego, but says she misses NYC. Lily thinks paying for rent twice would be ridiculous, so they stop being careful and drive full speed ahead; back together in that big old apple.

As PeeWee Says…

Lily’s one and only other true love, Pee Wee Herman has said “well if you love it so much, why don’t you marry it!?”. He usually says this about silly things, but Lily thinks this is canon, this is wisdom, this is the word she will abide. And so, she invites all her friends to a party to play Show and Tell. Lily goes last and sings a song she wrote for Camille. Then she gets her lucky goose shaped cookie jar and pulls out a ring. She asks if Camille will marry her and she says “yes!”