Laura jumped as the door slammed unexpectedly behind her; a small amount of cocoa sloshed out of her favourite TARDIS mug and onto her desk, burning her hand in the process. She swivelled round in her chair, a disapproving expression already apparent as she faced her roommate. However her annoyed demeanour dissipated as soon as she set eyes on Carmilla. Her hair was dishevelled, her clothes subpar to their usual level of punk badassery and although her head rested on her tucked up knees, Laura could see she had been crying. "Hey." She asked quietly "You okay?" The vampire shuffled closer to the wall, turning so that her back faced Laura.

"Go away, Creampuff." Carmilla replied gruffly, anger was evident in her tone but there was something else…something empty about her voice. Laura stood up from her desk chair and instead sat down gently on the foot of Carmilla's bed.

"I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me what's wrong, Carm." The other girl visibly stiffened at the nickname but said nothing; the silence stretched between them, spreading throughout the room like a suffocating cloud until Carmilla breathed out a sigh of resignation, blowing away the fog. "Fine." The dark brunette turned to face the younger girl; her eyes dropped to the floor as she mumbled something unintelligible.

"What was that?" Laura asked, her face a mask of confusion- Carmilla looked up and couldn't help but smirk at Laura's furrowed brows and cocked head.

"Today is my birthday." She said sadly, with a small duck of her head. The younger girl jumped up and gasped, she began running around the room in a similar fashion to that of a headless chicken babbling about how she felt awful for not knowing. The brunette's actions would have normally brought a small smile to Carmilla's pale face however today was not one of those occasions. "Laura." She tried to gather the small girl's attention but to no avail "Laura." She tried again and still she ran around the room, looking for something she evidently could not find. "Laura!" The vampire practically yelled, effectively grabbing Laura's attention as she silently stopped, dropping the pen she was holding. "I don't care about presents- after 317 birthdays you kind of just want to forget about it." The brunette crossed her legs loosely and gestured for Laura to come and sit beside her. The younger girl complied and returned to her previous seat on the bed. "Thank you." Carmilla sighed resolutely, fully aware of the fact that Laura would now expect her to tell her the entire story. Her roommate looked at her with barley contained curiosity. "I told you about how I was murdered at a ball when I was 18." It wasn't a question but Laura nodded anyway. "It wasn't just any old ball…it was for my 18th birthday."

"You were murdered on your 18th birthday!?" Laura exclaimed, unable to contain herself

"Yes, Cutie, I was. So today is not only my 318th birthday but the anniversary of my death." She turned away slightly "So forgive me for not feeling like celebrating." Laura mulled this over for a while before she chose her words carefully.

"So what you mean to tell me is that you never actually got to celebrate your 18th birthday?"

"Yes, weren't you listening?" Carmilla rolled her eyes in distaste. The two girls sat for a while longer before Laura sprung up, turning to the vampire.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, don't torch anything okay?" She dashed out the door, grabbing her coat off the hook before slamming it behind her, deaf ears fell upon Carmilla's outcry of:

"It was one time!"

Around ten minutes later Laura returned from wherever she had been carrying a ludicrous amount of food, soda and alcohol in her small arms. Carmilla's eyebrows almost shot off her head in surprise. "Whaaaaat are you doing?" The vampire asked as Laura dumped the contents of her arms onto her bed and whizzed round with a wide grin gracing her features.

"We." She gestured to both of them "Are going to celebrate your 18th birthday and this time no one is going to be murdered." She seemed delighted with her idea, Carmilla on the other hand, was not so thrilled with the concept.

"Sweet Cheeks, I just told you I don't want to celebrate not 15 minutes ago."

"Come on Carm, live it a little! I swear you'll have fun. It may not be a huge ball with flouncy dresses, a live orchestra and wine that costs more than our tuition fees but it will be good; I promise." Carmilla debated over this for a small time before realising this would not doubt be a battle she wouldn't win, and what did she say about surviving to be centuries old? Choose your battles.

"Fine… but this never happened okay? I have a reputation here you know." Laura's face split into a wide grin and she jumped onto Carmilla's bed, handing her a coke and some chocolate.

"Let's do this!" The brunette grinned again and used the remote Carmilla had not realised she had been holding to turn on the stereo.

Around an hour later Carmilla was increasingly happy that she had agreed to go through this because Laura had gotten slightly tipsy and was currently dancing around the room with her once pristinely tied back hair flowing over her shoulders in slightly tousled golden waves. "Come on Carm, dance with me!" The younger girl tried to pull Carmilla up from her bed but she was no match for the vampire.

"I'm perfectly happy watching you, Sweetie." She replied, still firmly seated on the plush mattress.

"Come on." Laura tried again but the vampire still shook her head, an amused smirk playing on her lips. Laura tried to stare Carmilla down but the darker brunette has a far more intimidating glare than the slightly tipsy human; they were snapped out of their gaze however when a knock sounded on their door. Laura stumbled over to answer it, Carmilla tried not to laugh- the girl wasn't even drunk! But after many trips and almost face-plants Laura managed to answer the incessant knocking; the young girl opened the large wooden door to find an annoyed looking Perry and a grinning LaFontaine.

"Sounds to me like you guys are having a party in here!" LaFontaine grinned even wider, taking in Laura's dishevelled appearance, the empty bottles and snacks dotted around the room. Perry still seemed to be annoyed however.

"Indeed, and we are trying to study."

"Oh yeah, it's C's birthday so I'm giving her a party to remember." The smaller ginger, gave Carmilla a highly suggestive look- she had been trying to get those two together for God knows how long now. The vampire simply feigned innocence with a small smile.

"And you didn't invite us! Dude, I'm hurt." LaF put a hand to her heart and faked hurt.

"No, no, no, no you can totally come in. Right Carm?" Laura turned to the dark brunette with a pleading smile and puppy dog eyes- they struck the vampire right in her unbeating heart so she agreed with minimal resistance. Perry on the other hand was having none of it; she grabbed LaFontaine's arm as she stepped over the threshold.

"Susan. We are supposed to be studying- we need to set an example." However LaF was sick of studying and determined to have some fun.

"Come on Perr, when was the last time we just let go and had fun?" The floor Don retained her unimpressed expression but Carmilla could see she was considering the proposal. After another minute of awkward silence she finally relented.

"Fine- but it better not get too loud."

"Yes!" LaF whooped and dragged the girl in by the hand while Laura shut it behind them they helped themselves to some drinks. "So how old are you then?" The short haired ginger asked, bouncing onto Carmilla's bed in her usual manner.

"Don't you know it's impolite to ask a lady? This generation- no manners." She replied coolly, the ginger looked slightly shaken but Carmilla held her gaze a while longer before smirking "318." LaFontaine realised she'd been punked but her smile did not last long as it was replaced with a look of wonder.

"318! I knew you were old but I didn't think you were that old." Laura laughed and handed Perry some chips. Around an hour later Perry and LaFontaine were hammered and stumbling around attempting to dance to the ever growing louder music. The vampire had to admit that she was having fun, simply watching Laura trying to dance with the others brought a genuine smile to her face.

"Carm, come and dance!" The small girl tried to pull her up off the bed- the touch of her hand on the vampire's arm made her tingle all over luckily LaFontaine interrupted them.

"I'm going to go and get some more drinks- I will be back!" She called, throwing up her arm and spinning out the door. Shortly after Perry collapsed onto Laura's bed and fell asleep. The two girls laughed in unison and Laura came to sit on Carmilla's bed with her.

The two sat in silence for a while before Laura wrapped her arm through Camilla's and rested her head on the taller girl's shoulder.

"What was it like?" She asked, Carmilla rested her cheek on top of Laura's head as she replied

"What was what like?"

"The parties back when you were young, the dancing, and the music- how did it feel?" She thought about this for a while and then replied.

"It was all…quite regal and organised. There was a code of how to act and which dances to do- they weren't nearly as fun as tonight." She admitted, Laura looked up and Carmilla smiled down at the girl; Laura grinned back and said:

"I've always wanted to dance. Properly you know?" She buried her head further into Carmilla's neck "I've never been able to, two left feet me." The vampire bit her lip as she considered the next step to take 'Screw it' she thought. Surprising Laura, Carmilla stood up and grabbed Laura's arm, spinning her so that they both faced each other. "Carm…what are you doing?" Laura asked as she steadied herself, suddenly very sober.

"I am gonna teach you how to dance, Cutie." The vampire took Laura's left hand and laced their fingers together. The younger girl's mouth went dry and goose bumps rose all across her skin. Carmilla wrapped her arm around Laura's waist and pulled their bodies so close that their chests touched; a small smile made its way across Laura's lips and Carmilla smirked. This had gone far better than she had expected. "So we're gonna go for a simple waltz, all you have to do is move your feet in a box shape; like this." She demonstrated the steps to Laura who was looking rather confused. "Just count to three in your head, two counts and you should have completed the box." Carmilla demonstrated again, counting out loud so Laura could hear her- the brunette nodded with a small smile, still shocked by how close Carmilla was holding her.

She tried to dance in the formation Carmilla told her but to no avail, she stumbled and if it wasn't for Carmilla's vampire speed she would have clattered to the floor- instead she was caught in the vampire's strong yet slender arms. "Thanks." She breathed out with an embarrassed smile.

"Not a problem, Sweetie." She hoisted her up and repositioned their arms. "Come on, try again- I know you can do it." Carmilla has never talked to Laura in such a patient and kind way before…it was surprisingly nice. Laura once again tried the steps and this time didn't fall over, she tried again and completed the steps, then Carmilla joined in. The sudden addition of two more feet confused her for a while but after another few turns they both started to move in unison, they danced across to the larger area of the room where Carmilla twirled Laura and then dipped her, easily holding up her small frame. A wide smile, a genuine, unsarcastic smile graced Carmilla's lips as she gazed down at Laura, who clung to her- not in fear but with kindness. Laura was suddenly struck by her beauty, it wasn't like she hadn't noticed Carmilla before but now the full force of her attractiveness hit Laura like a crashing wave; she was glad the vampire was holding her otherwise she was afraid her legs may give way. If Carmilla's heart could beat she was sure it would be going a mile a minute- the way Laura was looking at her, there was no distrust, no loathing, nothing of any unkindness just…care. "You okay there Laura?" The darker brunette asked, suddenly realising it was the first time she had used her real name. It surprised the both of them but had the most effect on Laura. She wrapped her arms more tightly around Carmilla's neck and began to pull herself upwards but Carmilla met her half way, crashing their lips together in a passionate kiss.

Nothing could have prepared them for the feeling of kissing each other, it was a hundred sunrises all breaking over the horizon at once that gave Carmilla no discomfort. It was a thousand nights of freedom that Laura never had from her father. It was a million days wasted that you suddenly got to relive. The kiss seemed to last for hours, it was so cliché but so true, however it only lasted a minute. The two girls broke apart, Laura gasping for air, Carmilla not needing to but still panting with exhaustion.

"Wow." Laura breathed, a look of utter contentment and joy plastered on her face "That was…"

"I know." The vampire interrupted. "I can't tell you how long I've wanted to do that." They held on for a little longer before the door banged upon to reveal LaFontaine carrying an armful of drinks, she paused however upon noticing the two girls who were still loosely holding each other's hands. She furrowed her brows as her lips twitched up into a smirk.

"Am I interrupting something?"