Carmilla checked her reflection in the mirror, turning this way and that to make sure everything was fine. She had decided on a simple outfit – black jeans and a nice top paired with a leather jacket – since they were going to be outdoors for most of the night, which meant she would be bundled up in her coat anyway. As Carmilla was putting the final touches on her makeup, she heard a knock at the door. She checked her phone and saw that it was 6pm, smiling at the fact that Laura had arrived exactly on time. She walked over and opened the door.

"Hey," Laura beamed.

"Hey," Carmilla replied, a soft smile on her lips.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me grab my coat," Carmilla said, turning and walking further back into her room to retrieve it. She pulled the coat on and joined Laura in the hallway, locking the door. "You look really nice, by the way."

Laura dipped her head slightly, smiling. "Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself."

"So where are we going?" Carmilla asked as they stepped outside, the cold air causing her to shiver. It was nearing the end of November and the temperature was dropping quite consistently as it headed deeper into winter.

"I thought we could go to Friends Sushi. Have you ever tried it?"

Carmilla shook her head. "Are we talking the bus in?"

"I actually called us a cab. It should be here any minute…" Laura drifted off, looking around as they neared the road. "Oh! There it is."

Carmilla followed Laura over to the taxi and quickened her pace just before they reached the door, opening it for Laura. Laura rolled her eyes at the gesture but Carmilla could see her biting her lip to hide her smile as she got into the car.

Laura leaned back in her seat after giving the address to the driver. "The restaurant isn't that far from the pavilion so I thought we could just walk there afterwards," she said, turning towards Carmilla.

Carmilla nodded in response and they settled into a comfortable silence, watching the lights and buildings pass by.

"Are you nervous?" Laura asked after a few minutes of silence, her voice soft to match the quiet of the car.

Carmilla turned away from the window and looked at Laura. "No," she answered honestly. "Are you?"

"A little," Laura admitted. "But, like a happy nervous. I just want this to go well."

"What makes you think that it won't?"

Laura looked at Carmilla for a long moment before answering, thinking through the past two weeks and coming up empty. "Nothing, actually."

Carmilla held Laura's gaze, tilting her head to lean on the headrest. "Exactly. So don't worry, ok? It's like any other time we've hung out."

"Well, I hope it's not exactly like every other time we've hung out," Laura quipped.

"What do you mean?"

"The other times, we were just friends."

"I thought that went without saying," Carmilla smiled, raising her eyebrow. "But seriously, everything will be fine."

"Got a lot of confidence in yourself there?" Laura joked.

"No, not in myself," Carmilla replied, any hint of teasing having left her voice. "I just have a feeling."

"Ok," Laura said, feeling calmer. "I'll trust you."


Carmilla exited the restaurant, with Laura following closely behind.

"Ok, you need to lead the way to the park because I think I might get us lost," Laura confessed.

Carmilla laughed lightly. "Of course you would."

"At least I can admit when I'm wrong," Laura jibed as they started walking.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Well, someone was pretty insistent about Ottawa being the capital of Ontario and wouldn't let up until I googled it."

"Firstly, that would be difficult for anyone who wasn't from Canada and secondly, I don't know what you're talking about."

"I think I've proven my point," Laura smirked.

"I don't think you've proven anything," Carmilla brushed off. "What band are we seeing anyway?"

"It's actually not a band; it's just one guy. I think you might know him. His name's Andrew Belle?" Laura asked innocently.

Carmilla looked over at Laura, her eyebrows raised. "Wait, Andrew Belle is playing at the pavilion?"

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. I checked online for events a couple of days ago and his name was there."

"How'd you get tickets that late?"

Laura shrugged. "I might have called in a favor or two."

"Must've been some pretty big favors," Carmilla commented.

"It was nothing. It's actually surprisingly easy when you're part of so many clubs," Laura mused.

"Regardless of whether it was easy or not, thank you," Carmilla said sincerely, looking into Laura's eyes before glancing down briefly and intertwining their hands together.

Laura's eyes darted down to their interlocked hands, her lips curling into a small smile. "You're very welcome."

They continued making their way to Millennium Park, with Laura occasionally stopping to look inside the window of a store or at holiday decorations that were hanging up around the city. Carmilla rolled her eyes every time but truthfully, she enjoyed watching Laura's face light up at the sight of things that Carmilla would normally overlook, as well as the feel of Laura's hand slightly tightening around her own as Laura pulled her towards something else that caught her eye.

It was after the 11th stop that Carmilla decided to speak up. "Canada, I'm pretty sure we're going to miss the whole concert if you keep stopping like this," she joked.

Laura gave a sheepish smile. "I know, I'm sorry! It's just that I haven't really walked through this part of the city before and everything's just so pretty… But no, you're right. We really do need to get going," Laura concluded, quickening her pace and pulling Carmilla with her.

Carmilla shook her head and smiled amusedly at the look of determination that had come over Laura's features. Carmilla sped up slightly to match Laura's stride and they walked in silence due to the quickened speed, focused on getting to the concert. As they neared the pavilion, they could hear the strum of a guitar through the speakers.

Laura checked her phone with her free hand. "We're only 10 minutes late and it sounds like it's just starting so that's good."

Carmilla tugged on Laura's hand to slow her down a little. "We're practically almost here so I don't think we need to sprint anymore."

"Come on, we can rest when we're at our seats. See? They're right there," Laura gestured to the chairs that were a few hundred feet away.

They reached the ticket checker and Laura handed their tickets over. Laura led Carmilla to a couple of seats that were a few rows back from the front of the stage but fairly center.

"These are our seats? How many favors did you call in exactly?" Carmilla asked as they sat down.

"I was serious when I told you it was surprisingly easy, so don't think I put a lot of work into this," Laura smirked.

"I guess I'll just have to trust you on that," Carmilla replied, sitting back and turning her attention towards the stage.

Carmilla felt Laura loop her arm through her own as the previous song came to an end and the opening notes of 'Want What It Wants' came through the speakers. Carmilla leaned into Laura, her eyes still on the stage.

"This was never one of my favorite songs from him but I think it's growing on me," Carmilla whispered after the song was well into its second verse.

"Any reason?" Laura asked, her eyes flicking to Carmilla briefly.

Carmilla simply shrugged, falling silent and letting the music encompass them again.

They enjoyed the rest of the concert like this, occasionally punctuating the music with a whispered thought or question but mostly staying quiet to take it in. Carmilla would glance over at Laura intermittently and over the course of the night, Laura nestled in closer, eventually resting her head on Carmilla's shoulder.

As the last notes of the final song echoed, Laura lifted her head and turned to Carmilla. "So that was pretty amazing, huh?"

"Yeah, he's really good live," Carmilla agreed. "Thank you for this."

"You already thanked me," Laura pointed out.

"Yeah, I just wanted to say it again."

Laura smiled softly at Carmilla before looking around and seeing that the pavilion was emptying rather quickly. "We should probably get going."

Carmilla stood up and held her hand out for Laura, pulling her up when she took it. They started to head towards the exit but Carmilla felt Laura stop suddenly.

"Wait, let's take a photo," Laura said, pulling out her phone.

Carmilla hesitated slightly, not very enthused by the idea. "Do we have to?"

"Oh, come on! Think of it as a first date memorabilia," Laura reasoned, removing her hand from Carmilla's to wrap her arm around Carmilla's waist, her other hand holding out her phone in front of them. "Ok, smile!"

Carmilla rolled her eyes but obliged, gently leaning her head on Laura's and posing for the photo. She watched as Laura opened up the photo to check it, tilting the phone towards Carmilla to show her. Along with them, the photo had captured the stage as well as some of the city lights beyond the pavilion.

"See, it's a nice photo," Laura smiled before sliding her phone back into her bag and reaching for Carmilla's hand again. "Now we can go."

They continued heading for the exit and kept walking until they were out of Millennium Park entirely before stopping, with Carmilla turning towards Laura.

"Do you want to head back to campus yet?" Carmilla asked, holding Laura's hand between both of her own to help keep Laura warm.

"I don't really want to go back yet. Can we just go to a café and sit for a bit? Unless you want to head back."

"I don't want to go back yet either," Carmilla said. "I really could use something to warm me up so a café sounds good. Trust you to pick an outdoor concert in November."

Laura feigned offense. "Well, someone wasn't complaining and seemed to enjoy the concert."

Carmilla simply smirked and pulled Laura along, heading in the direction of a café she knew was nearby. As they entered, the warm air hit them immediately and it was a relief after spending most of the night outside.

"Do you want to grab us a table? I'll order for us," Carmilla suggested.

Laura nodded and looked around, spotting a table near the back that seemed to be a bit quieter. She made her way towards it, taking off her coat and sitting down. After a minute or two, Laura saw Carmilla walking towards her with an order number in hand.

"What'd you get?" Laura asked, looking up at Carmilla.

"I just got us two hot chocolates," Carmilla replied, removing her coat and taking a seat opposite Laura.

"Wow, Carmilla Karnstein drinking hot chocolate. Who would've thought?" Laura teased.

"I may enjoy it from time to time," Carmilla shrugged. "This has to stay between us, though. I can't lose my street cred, you know?"

"I can't believe you just said 'street cred'. But don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Carmilla dramatically breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God for that."

"So, be honest- how do you think this date's going?" Laura asked.

Carmilla smiled amusedly. "I thought people talked about that after the date was over, not during."

"It's us so I think it's fine to bring it up," Laura smiled sweetly.

"Well, I don't know about you but I'm having a good time," Carmilla answered, tilting her head slightly.

Laura mirrored Carmilla subconsciously, tilting her head as well. "Yeah, I'm having a great time, too," she replied softly.

"Ok, two hot chocolates," the waitress announced as she brought over their drinks, breaking the moment and prompting Carmilla and Laura to look away from each other. The waitress was about to walk away when something stopped her. "Carmilla?"

Carmilla looked up to see the waitress staring at her and it took a moment before recognition crossed her features. "Oh, hi! Uh… Melissa! Melissa, hi. I didn't know you worked here."

"I've only been here for a couple of months," Melissa explained.

"Oh, I see. That's nice," Carmilla nodded.

Laura could feel the air getting a little thick. "Hi, I'm Laura," she interjected, giving Melissa a little wave, hoping to dispel some of the awkwardness.

Melissa simply smiled, looking between them. "I should get back," she gestured to the counter. "I'll leave you guys to it."

"What was that?" Laura asked once Melissa was out of earshot, a smirk on her face.

"We went on a date once. I didn't call her back," Carmilla explained, a guilty expression on her face.

"Recently?"

"No, no," Carmilla quickly reassured. "It was over 6 months ago."

Laura chuckled. "Such a heartbreaker."

"Hardly," Carmilla scoffed lightly. "That was the only time I didn't call someone back."

Laura considered it for a moment. "Now I'm curious."

Carmilla furrowed her brows. "About why I didn't call her back?"

"Your dating history," Laura corrected, grinning.

"First date and we're talking relationship histories already?" Carmilla joked, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"We don't have to talk about it if you really don't want to," Laura said, her grin softening.

Carmilla shook her head. "No, I'm fine with it. Where do you want to start?"

"Let's go with high school. Before that barely even counts, right?"

"Ok, let's see," Carmilla mused, sifting through her memories. "I dated a few girls during my freshman and sophomore years but there was never really anything serious. I've only had one serious girlfriend and we were together for two years."

"That's a pretty long time," Laura remarked. "Why'd you guys break up?"

"For college – she went to California and I came here. We didn't want to do long-distance."

Laura nodded. "What about ever since moving here? Anyone besides poor Melissa over there?"

Carmilla smiled. "A few casual dates here and there but nothing ever came of them."

"You're quite the casual dater," Laura quipped.

"It seems that way but I'm actually not," Carmilla laughed. "It's mostly been set-ups in college and I tried to get out of them but you win some and you lose some, I guess."

"I find it hard to believe someone like you needs to be set up."

"I never asked to be and I wasn't really looking for anything at the time but I guess people thought they were being helpful."

"Helpful?"

"It was just after Elle – my ex-girlfriend – and I split up."

"Oh," Laura responded, not knowing what answer she had expected.

"Ok, your turn now," Carmilla said, perking up slightly as she turned the tables.

"I didn't really take this part into consideration when I started this topic," Laura admitted, scrunching her nose slightly.

"It's only fair," Carmilla shrugged, smirking.

"Yeah, that's true," Laura sighed. "Well, I had a boyfriend for a time in high school. We started dating about halfway through my sophomore year and were together for most of my junior year as well."

Carmilla raised eyebrows. "It sounds like you guys were serious."

Laura hesitated. "I mean, yes and no. We were together for a while but I felt like it was nice to have someone, rather than it was nice to be with him specifically. I eventually broke up with him because something just felt off and I needed to figure myself out."

"And I'm guessing you did?"

"Well, yeah, I realized the reason it didn't feel right was because I'm not into guys," Laura laughed.

"So what about afterwards then? Any girlfriends?"

"I dated two girls in high school after I came out, one for about a month and the other for two months," Laura said. "I can't say I was looking too hard for a girlfriend, though, since not everyone was exactly accepting." Laura's gaze drifted to the hem of her skirt, her fingers picking at a stray thread.

"Is that what you meant when you said people talked?" Carmilla asked softly.

"You remember that, huh?" Laura responded, smiling sadly. "I came out near the beginning of senior year and it kind of spread like wildfire around the town. A lot of people were fine with it – the ones who mattered, anyway – or at least came to terms with it but there were some people who tried to make life a bit harder for me."

Carmilla blew out a breath. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"It's in the past now," Laura said, giving a light shrug. "But it's part of the reason I wanted to get away for college; I just needed somewhere entirely new."

Carmilla nodded in understanding. She felt like Laura might have been holding something back, maybe for Carmilla's benefit, but she knew that it wasn't her place to push. "Thank you for sharing all that with me. I know it must not be easy to talk about."

"It's easy to talk to you," Laura simply replied, giving a small smile.

Carmilla returned the smile, lowering her eyes to her lap before looking back at Laura. "I feel like this conversation has been kind of lopsided."

Laura furrowed her brows in confusion, questioning.

"I just mean that you shared so much more than I did," Carmilla explained.

"It's not like we're keeping score or anything," Laura retorted. "I'm the one who wanted to talk about dating histories and me coming out just happened to a part of mine. But you're more than welcome to share something else if you really want to. I'll accept an embarrassing story."

Carmilla chuckled. "I think I'll save embarrassing stories for next time. I'll give you a confession of something I did when I was younger, though."

Laura leaned forward. "I'm intrigued."

"When I was 12, we were at a neighborhood party at my neighbor's place that was a few houses down from ours. Will and I-"

"Your best friend," Laura recalled, as if to solidify the information in her mind.

"Yeah. Well, we were playing with their bulldog, Skippy, and we were a bit bored so we thought it would be fun to give the dog a little bit of beer."

"You gave beer to a dog? How'd you even get it?"

"The adults were a little buzzed so it was easy to sneak a bottle from the table," Carmilla answered offhandedly. "Anyway, that's not even the worse part."

"Oh, God," Laura laughed, slightly dreading what was to come.

"We gave Skippy about a capful, so not very much at all, and he lapped it up. We waited a few minutes and he seemed totally fine, which we were a little disappointed about, so we left him alone to find something else to do. Next thing we know, he's humping my neighbor's other dog, Gypsy, and a few weeks later, we found out Gypsy was pregnant."

Laura opened her mouth in shock, unsure whether to find the story hilarious or horrifying. "I can't believe you guys did that! Did anyone ever find out it was you guys?"

"Well, I didn't tell my parents until years later and they just laughed about it. At the time, though, I was so terrified. Will wanted to tell our parents but I swore him to secrecy, which made him very nervous for the next few weeks," Carmilla recalled, shaking her head at memory. "He's just so open and hates keeping anything from anyone."

"So you were the bad influence then?" Laura teased.

"It's not very difficult to be a bad influence when the person you're influencing is Will," Carmilla remarked. "He'd probably get heart palpitations if he jaywalked."

"I'll take your word for it," Laura smiled, finishing off her drink.

"You ready to go back? We can still catch the last bus if we leave now."

"Yeah, let's go."


"Where are you going?" Laura asked as they got off at their stop, Carmilla walking in the opposite direction to where Breckinridge was.

"To I-House," Carmilla replied, as if it were obvious.

Carmilla tugged on Laura's hand and started walking again but Laura stopped her. "But your room is closer. I'll walk with you to yours first."

"No, it's fine. Come on."

Laura gave in and followed Carmilla. "You always do that," she observed.

"Do what?"

"Drop me off at my room, or pick me up from it. I think I've only walked to your room or back to mine alone twice."

"It's not like a conscious thing or anything, like 'I have to pick up and drop off Laura'," Carmilla defended. "I just like doing it."

Laura elbowed Carmilla gently. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing."

"Well, good. Because I'm going to keep doing it," Carmilla mumbled, a little embarrassed by her admission.

They reached Laura's hall and stopped outside the door, with Laura turning to face Carmilla. Laura looked down at their hands and started playing with Carmilla's fingers, a little disappointed that the night was over.

"I had a really great time tonight, Canada."

"Yeah, me too," Laura responded as she swayed back and forth lightly, her attention still focused their hands.

Carmilla smiled at the girl in front of her and used her free hand to tilt Laura's chin up, her eyes flicking to Laura's lips briefly. Carmilla leaned in and softly pressed her lips to Laura's before pulling back. Laura's hand went to rest on Carmilla's waist as she pulled Carmilla in, kissing her more firmly, this time longer than the first.

"Well, that was…" Carmilla began, breaking away.

"Yeah," Laura agreed, slightly breathless.

"I should let you get inside now. Don't want you getting hypothermia or anything," Carmilla joked lamely.

"I don't think that would be a problem right now," Laura grinned. "But you're right; I should probably go." She gave Carmilla another quick peck before letting go of her hand and walking to the door. "See you on Monday?"

Carmilla nodded. "Yeah, I'll text you."

"Goodnight, Carm."

"Goodnight, Laura," Carmilla replied, waiting until Laura was inside before she turned and headed towards her own room.


As Carmilla was putting her key in the lock, she couldn't help but smile as she thought back over the night's events. It was like any other time she had spent with Laura – easy and effortless – but she enjoyed the different kind of closeness that they had shared tonight. She pushed open the door, her mind still preoccupied with Laura as she flicked on the lights.

"Back from your date?"

"Holy shit!" Carmilla exclaimed, jumping slightly. "Lawrence, you scared the crap out of me! I thought you were staying the night at Kirsch's?"

Danny was lounging on her bed, her computer on her lap. "Yeah, I had planned to but his friends dragged him out to the bar last minute so I just told him I'd head back here," she shrugged.

"A warning would've been nice. Or even just having the lights on," Carmilla said pointedly, her heartbeat attempting to come back down to a normal pace.

"I'll take note for next time," Danny replied sarcastically. "So, how was your date?"

"It was good," Carmilla answered, taking off her coat and throwing it over her desk chair.

"That's it? 'It was good'?"

"What else do you want me to say?"

"Would it kill you give me some details? I tell you about my dates with Kirsch," Danny argued.

"Which I don't ask for and would prefer not to hear sometimes," Carmilla threw back.

Danny rolled her eyes, settling back onto her bed. "You are such an ass, Karnstein."

Carmilla sighed. "We went to dinner, the concert and then hung out at a café afterwards. I walked her back to her room and kissed her. Happy?"

Danny smirked, satisfied with the answer. "See, that's all you had to say. Now I'll leave you alone."

Carmilla shook her head but had a slight smile on her lips. She didn't actually mind Danny asking about it too much but Carmilla was naturally a private person and she wasn't used to talking openly about a lot of aspects of her life, something that she was adjusting to since rooming with Danny and meeting Laura.

Carmilla saw her phone light up on her desk and went to pick it up, smiling when she saw that it was a text from Laura with an attachment.

Laura: Told you it was a good photo.

Carmilla: Yeah, I suppose it's not too bad.


A/N: Writing was not my friend during this chapter but I pushed on and got this out for you guys. I just want to note that the dog story is based on something that my friend told me, so go figure.

I have a playlist that I listen to while writing for this fic and I don't know if you guys would be interested if I shared a song from it every time I updated? I don't know, I just thought it could be a fun thing to do – let me know in your review (if you choose to leave one) or feel free to PM me/hit me up on Tumblr. The songs on the playlist are more about the mood they evoke rather than the lyrics, though, so some of the lyrics might not apply to Hollstein. The first song I'll share, and one of my favorite songs ever, is Medicine by The 1975. If you guys have any song recommendations for the playlist, please do send them my way – I love discovering new music.

As always, thanks for reading. You guys are on par with Hollstein kisses, which is pretty up there.