Chapter 3: Roommates? Oh HELL no.

Laura power-walked down the hallway, whipping her head from left to right as she looked for the right apartment door. "814, 814, 814, god dammit, where is 814?!" She cried in frustration.

"Oh, creampuff," a coy voice said from behind her. Carmilla leant on a door, and jerked her head at the address plate right next to it. "You walked right past it."

Whipping her head around, Laura realized she had, indeed, walked straight past the door. She let out a groan at her blindness.

This was all Carmilla's fault. Laura had been having a perfectly good, uninterrupted day, and now stupid, sarcastic, too gorgeous to be human Carmilla Karnstein had to waltz into her life. Laura shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs from it. She needed this apartment, and she wasn't going to let some drunken stranger ruin her chances.

"Listen up," she hissed, jabbing her finger at Carmilla's face. "You are not going to ruin this interview for me. You are going to stand out here, and I will stay as close to this door as possible so you and your freaky connection with me don't break into this apartment. If you wreck my interview, so help me, you will never see daylight again."

Much to Laura's chagrin, Carmilla did not appear the least bit threatened. "Oh no!" she held up her hands in mock-fright, "please don't let the four foot eleven murderer get me! I'm so scared!"

Drawing herself up to her full height, Laura exclaimed, "I happen to be five foot five. Which is taller than you!"

Instead of replying, Carmilla pressed a finger to her lips, and pointed at the door. "Do you hear that?" she whispered. Sure enough, Laura could catch bits of murmured conversation from just inside the apartment.

"Shit! Stay right there until I'm let in. Don't let them see you!" She shoved Carmilla next to the door, praying that the apartment owners hadn't heard their conversation.

Laura hastily patted down her hair and took a deep breath, then knocked on the door in front of her. Almost immediately, it swung open, revealing a tired yet cheerful woman, with curly red hair spilling down her shoulders.

"Hi!" She chirped, "Are you Laura Hollis? I got your email about wanting to live here! I'm Lola, but I go by Perry, which is my last name. I'm the official owner of this apartment. Su- I mean LaFontaine, insists that we're co-owners, but really-" here, she lowered her voice, "I'm the one paying for all this, so they don't actually own it at all. They just live with me."

"Per!" An exasperated voice called from outside Laura's viewpoint, "Let the girl talk! You don't even know if it's the apartment applicant yet!"

Perry's easygoing smile morphed into an expression of mortification. "Oh, my god! I'm so, so, sorry. I didn't even let you introduce yourself! You are Laura Hollis, right?" Her eyes narrowed.

Extremely overwhelmed, Laura let loose the breath she realized she'd been holding in. "Yes!" She attempted a casual grin, but desperately wished instead she was back in her car, snacking on the small candy stash she had packed with her. "I'm Laura, and I'm applying for the apartment. Here- you can check my ID…" she trailed off and began rummaging through her bag, but a hand placed itself on her arm, gently prying her away from her bag.

"There's no need for that, honestly," the owner of the hand told her kindly. Laura looked up to see the owner of the hand was LaFontaine, the other roommate. Laura knew almost all there was to know about both Perry and LaFontaine, for she had stalked them endlessly on the internet, desperate to make a good impression.

"LaFontaine, right?" Laura asked, trying to calm her frazzled nerves. "It's so nice to meet you two!"

The ginger laughed and ran their hand through their short hair, making it stand on end. "You can call me Laf, if you want. Sorry if our place is a bit messy, Per and I were just-"

Lola Perry slammed her elbow into LaFontaine's side as inconspicuously as she could, and offered a warm smile to Laura. "What Laf was going to say was that they and I haven't gotten around to cleaning this week! I can make some space for you on the couch, though. Please, come sit with us!" She gestured towards the couch, and Laura took a step forward before hesitating.

"I- I'd prefer to stand, if it's alright with you!" She laughed nervously. "I've been sitting all day long, and I feel like my legs are going to lose all function if I don't stand for at little."

Laf and Perry exchanged a look between the two of them, but remained standing near Laura. "I understand that," Laf said with a chuckle. "When I'm in my lab, I sit on a stool for so long, when I stand up I fall smack into the ground!"

"That's LaFontaine for you," Perry informed Laura in a dramatic whisper, as though confiding a secret. "They're always working in their lab, never on their etiquette."

"Per, knock it off!" Laf wrapped an arm around Perry, planting a kiss on her forehead. Perry almost immediately pulled away, with a meaningful glance at Laura.

"Let's just start the interview," Perry insisted, her face almost as flaming red as her hair. "How long have you been living in this town?"

The trio coasted through the interview with relative ease, every pause accompanied with a laugh, every charming story met with oohs and ahhs.

"Let me say, Laura," LaFontaine began, "I really like you. You'd be the perfect roommate. I mean, Per and I just needed someone to split the rent with, so we weren't being all that picky. But you're perfect! I know the rent's still pretty steep, but the view and the proximity to our university is so worth it. Whaddaya say?"

Laura beamed. "I would absolutely love to move in with you guys! You even have two open rooms. I could use one for all my crafts and storage! And don't worry about the rent. I babysit for this really nice family, I'm sure I could get a raise."

"Great! It's settled then, roomie." Perry said, and opened the door. "I'll email you all the information you need to know."

"Thank you so much!" Laura exclaimed. "I can't wait to see you guys again!" With a wave, she flounced out the door, gently shutting it behind her.

A wave of satisfaction came over her as she realized the plan was finally clicking into place. It was perfect.

But something nagged at Laura. Had she forgotten something?

An ice cold hand touched her own, and Laura raised her eyes to meet the smirk scrawled onto Carmilla's face.

"Laura Hollis, you've forgotten just one thing that comes with this apartment. I physically can't leave you alone. You know what that means, right?"

A sense of dread crawled up Laura's back as Carmilla's smirk grew into a wicked grin. "We're going to be roommates."

Hey guys!

It's been absolute ages, hasn't it!

I'm not going to lie, I kinda forgot about this account, and I can't guarantee that I'm going to post again any time soon. But I hope you like this chapter for now! Things are heating up in the Carm/Laura department ;)

What do you think so far? Please feel free to leave comments/reviews/criticisms, and fav or follow my story if you like it (which I sure hope you do!)

Till the next time I see you :)

xx Nicki