The latest of Laura's videos went up, reporting on their recent victory over the Dean and her cabal of vampires and that was it. Radio silence; no town halls, no Dean bursting through the door and no sarcastic comment from Carmilla about the futility of it all. Nothing. Everyone had left the room by now and Laura was left sat in her desk chair a trickle of blood still dripping down her cheek with her TARDIS mug on her right but no Carmilla on her left.
She turned in the chair and looked at her empty bed, sheets slightly rumpled from where Perry, Elsie and Natalie had sat not half an hour before. Laura rose. The dorm room was silent now that the others had left and it seemed all too empty without the presence of her beloved vampire. Laura curled up atop the sheets of Carmilla's bed and was instantly hit with her familiar smell; incense and chocolate. The brunette smiled before reality hit her.
Carmilla was gone.
She wasn't coming back.
It hit her like a freight train, ripping the breath from her lungs and drying her mouth. Laura was falling and standing still, drowning and burning, being ripped apart and put back together again all at once. Laura was alone.
When did Carmilla start meaning so much to her? When did the terrible habits and glares become something she adored? When had she fallen for her? So many questions Laura had no conception of answering swirled round and around in her head making her dizzy. Her chest heaved. Her heart pounded. Her eyes stung.
The pillow was wet with tears as she turned over, when did she start crying again? Had she actually stopped? Sobs wracked her small frame; the pain matching that of her mother's death. Except Laura hadn't had to watch her mother die. Hadn't had to watch her charge into the blinding light consuming all in its path, wielding a sword. Hadn't had to watch her be ripped apart as she sacrifice herself for the good of others.
Laura had told her mother goodbye before she died.
Laura had told Carmilla to go away.
More tears scorched tracks down her cheeks, burning far greater than the light of Laphilformes. She buried her face in Carmilla's pillow- the T-shirt covering it was Laura's but it still smelled of the vampire. She breathed it in, memorised it. Carmilla's hair had just crept over her shoulders, or had it reached down much further? Laura was horrified to realise she couldn't remember. The brunette set about memorising every single detail of Carmilla's face; her dark eyes, flowing hair and thin, pale lips. The bed seemed so much colder than usual.
She remained there for the rest of the night.
Perry and LaFontaine came by every day and stayed with Laura for an hour or too. Perry cleaned and made her meals even if Laura didn't eat them while LaFontaine tried to make her smile; on occasion they would succeed in a small whisper of a smile but nothing like the grins they used to elicit from the girl. They often left disheartened by their failures but never gave up returning day after day with more jokes and more brownies until one day, three weeks after their victory and Carmilla's demise Perry snapped. "Okay, Laura, we get that you're sad- Carmilla's dead and despite my reservations about the girl…I miss her too. But she's dead and we have to move on from this. You have to move on." Perry stood over Laura's motionless form on her bed. There was no response from the curl who remained staring at the small crack in the paint on the wall. "Laura!"
"How can I move on?" Laura cried, leaping up from the bed and staring Perry down, surprising both of her friends. Her voice was hoarse from lack of use but she carried on "She's dead, Perry, Carmilla's dead and I…I never got to tell her and she's never coming back for me to, how can I move on from that? Huh? How?" LaFontaine stepped forward, ready to stop her from hitting Perry if needs be but instead Laura lurched forward and wrapped them up in a tight embrace, sobbing into their shoulder. "She's never coming back!" the small girl cried out, wailing and screaming as LaFontaine rubbed soothing circles into the girl's back in an attempt to comfort her. Perry stood back awkwardly, not entirely sure of what to do to ease the situation. However she was given no time to do so and a knock on the open door surprised all of them. Laura expected it to be one of the other girls in the hall coming to complain about the noise and she was about to tell them to promptly piss off when a familiar voice caused the words to stick in her throat.
"Did you miss me, Creampuff?" LaFontaine and Laura broke apart and all three girls gawped at the doorway.
There was Carmilla, leaning leisurely against the doorframe in her leather pants and red tartan shirt which was, in fact, Laura's. All four girl remained silent for a minute longer and Carmilla's cocky smile faltered "Listen if you're still-" she was cut off by Laura tackling her with a rub crushing hug and a frantic kiss. Their lips melded together perfectly and Carmilla felt herself lean into the kiss wrapping up her stupid little human tightly in her arms, the kiss suddenly became salty as both of their shared tears dripped into their mouths. It took a minute but they pulled apart and Laura smiled, tears still cascading across her features. The vampire wiped them away with her thumb and Laura did the same to her.
"I thought you said vampires don't cry?"
"Shut up." And Carmilla did just that, silencing Laura with another heartfelt kiss.