also known as "I need to be stopped" and/or "the calm before the storm"
Laura had received a new Ravenclaw uniform (which Carmilla noted was a pleated skirt, high socks, a white dress shirt, and a tie) from LaFontaine and a new TARDIS mug from Perry. Danny gave her a t-shirt with Silas University Vampires on the front. Apparently it was a limited addition t-shirt that you could only get if you were in some sorority at the university. The ginger shot Carmilla a sly victorious smirk when Laura grinned brightly up at her. She also got a shit ton of tea shipped from Britain from Kirsch and SJ.
Carmilla hesitated in handing over the jewelry box. She was almost afraid the blonde wouldn't like it. But, a gift's a gift, right? After she had bought it, Carmilla placed pictures of both her and Laura inside the locket. She hoped Laura would like it. She really, really hoped.
When Laura pulled the top off the box, her eyes widened and a soft gasp escaped her lips.
"C-Carm," she pulled the necklace out and all eyes were on the two girls. "Carm, it's- God, it's beautiful."
Carmilla shrugged silently, her cheeks feeling warm – and it wasn't because of the wine.
Laura opened the locket and smiled at the pictures inside.
She pulled the brunette into a tight hug. "Thank you," she whispered before kissing Carmilla's cheek and pulling away. Yup, that warmth definitely wasn't from the wine. "Put it on me?" Laura requested, turning so her back faced Carmilla.
Carmilla swiftly attached the hook to the loop thing and Laura turned back around, her gaze soft and welcoming.
Honestly, Carmilla was having a hard time remembering why she was so afraid to let Laura in. Sure, her mother was a horrible person, but Laura seemed rather intent on sticking with the brunette for the long-run. Her mother had driven away the only other person she cared about, she couldn't let that happen again. But... this was Laura. And she was worth the risk. Maybe it was the wine talking.
Laura gave her a small, prettily decorated box.
"I- they didn't have a 'C', so... I, uh, got this one." Laura muttered as the brunette cautiously opened the box.
Inside was a charm bracelet with a heart, some sort of coffee cup, a sandwich, an ice skate, what looked like a ball of some sort, a cat, and the letter L.
"It's all of our happy moments." Laura explained. "When I spilled coffee on you, when we ate lunch that one time, when we went to the boardwalk..." Laura trailed off with a shy smile.
Carmilla pulled the blonde into a tight hug, pulling the bracelet on. "I love it." She murmured.
Laura blushed deeply and looked at Carmilla's dark gaze.
God, she was beautiful.
A moment passed and an envelope was placed in Carmilla's lap, and the spell was broken.
"We all chipped in a little money," Perry explained. "LaF, Danny, Kirsch, SJ and I, of course."
Carmilla opened it hesitantly, not really knowing what to expect.
Gift cards to a dinner for two at a few local restaurants, a movie for two at the cinema, some dress shop, and amazon fell out. She quirked her eyebrow up at them.
"I have a feeling there's some sort of underlying hint, here?" She observed, noting the giftcards for the dinner and movie.
"Yeah, well, we figured you'd need it," LaFontaine shrugged indifferently, looking pointedly at Laura for a moment.
Perry gently nudged her fiance (god, she was going to love saying that) and smiled gently. "Someone like you should have plenty of dates."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Carmilla scoffed.
"I- nothing, it's just- you're pretty, so I assumed-"
"She's right," Laura piped in (Perry shot her a grateful glance). "You're gorgeous. I'm sure it won't be too much trouble to find you a hot date." She winked.
Carmilla rolled her eyes and murmured, more to herself than Laura, "Maybe I have one in mind."
After presents were exchanged and hugs were given, Kirsch suggested getting even more drunk while playing a good ole game of Truth Or Dare.
"The rules," he said as he sat down, "are this: You skip out on a dare, you drink. You skip out on a truth, you do a dare. You skip out on that dare, you finish your drink. Good?"
The group nodded.
"God, what are we, children?" Carmilla snorted. She hadn't played this since she was twelve. Well, minus the drinking.
"It'll be fun," Laura grinned, her words kind of slow as alcohol began buzzing in her system. "Do you not remember that? Fun?"
"I always have fun with you, cupcake." Carmilla smirked.
"I'll play!" Danny interjected.
Carmilla sighed. "Alright, alright, fine. I'm in."
LaF had already managed to convince Perry to play (mostly with the promise of helping clean up later without testing out a few homemade cleaning solutions) and was sitting eagerly next to her on the couch. On the L-shaped part, Kirsch, Danny, and SJ all squeezed together, Kirsch in the middle. That left the only armchair to both Carmilla and Laura.
"My lap's all yours, cutie," Carmilla grunted as she turned the chair so it faced the others (it had been facing the TV). She plopped down and patted her thighs.
Laura blushed, gulped, and settled down rather nervously.
"Don't be shy, Laura," LaFontaine teased.
"Shut up," the blonde grumbled.
"Alright! I'll start!" Kirsch declared. "SJ, truth or dare?"
"Truth." The brunette smiled.
"Who's the hottest guy in this room?" Kirsch smirked.
"Kirsch, you're the only guy." Perry pointed out.
He rolled his eyes, his grin still wide.
"You," SJ replied with a kiss to his cheek. Danny side-glanced the couple awkwardly. "Perry, truth or dare?"
It went on like that for about ten minutes before it was LaF's turn to pick.
"Laura – truth or dare?" Their smile was wide and Laura already felt a little dizzy from the alcohol and the possibility of what was to come didn't help with the stirring in her stomach.
She took a long swig of her beer. Liquid courage, right? Truth or dare? More like do-you-like-Carm or kiss-Carm, she thought to herself.
"D-truth." She sputtered.
"Who do you think is the most attractive person in this game?"
Laura bit her lip. "Erm..."
"Just point to them." LaF instructed. Perry elbowed them in the side. "What? It's a good question."
Laura awkwardly motioned at the brunette she was still sitting on, who watched with a half-amused half-shocked expression.
"Sorry, couldn't hear that, cupcake?" Carmilla teased.
Laura rolled her eyes and laughed. "You, dear Carmilla, are the most attractive person at this party – besides me of course. I mean," she motioned to her body, "look at me."
The rest of the group laughed. Carmilla just winked (oh god, Laura really liked drunk Carmilla).
"Carm, truth or dare?" Laura sipped her drink again.
"Oh, dare, of course." Carmilla answered playfully.
Laura decided she liked drunk Carmilla. Drunk Carmilla was cute. And hot. So hot.
"I dare you to-" Laura was stopped by LaFontaine, who had miraculously ran over to her, whispered something Carmilla couldn't quite make out, then sat back down. "No!"
"Why not?" LaF whined.
Laura rolled her eyes. "I dare you to give Danny a sincere compliment."
The brunette's grin turned into a grimace and she glared at the redhead. "I admire your tallness. It must be so nice to see over the tops of buildings."
"Carm!" Laura scolded.
Danny narrowed her eyes, shrugged, and sipped her wine.
"Kirsch, truth or dare?" Carmilla asked.
Eventually the game turned a bit more "daring" as the group drank more and more. Only Laura and SJwere sober at this point (designated drivers, of course), along with Perry, who was the unspoken adultier-adult who would watch the group.
"I's in my lab, trying to make a tree that'd light up without Christmas lights – eco-friendly, amiright?" LaF was in an animated explanation of why the tree was purple. "The chlorophyll in one of the pines 'sploded. It just like BOOM-" they gestured wildly with their hands to mimic an explosion, almost falling over, but Perry saved them. "So, yeah."
Perry sighed and shook her head. "I'm cutting you off, sweetie."
"Lame," LaFontaine pouted. "Carmilla, truth or dare?"
"Dare," Carmilla could hold her liquor. But she was getting kind of... careless. She should know better than to drink that much, but on a night like this, how can you not?
"I dare you to... kiss Laura. Sixty seconds. Timer doesn't start 'til tongue touches tongue." LaFontaine pulled out a timer from their pocket (who the hell has a timer in their pocket?!) and grinned.
She realized, then, that she was getting too careless. Normal Carmilla would argue against the dare. But this Carmilla? This Carmilla was about to jump the poor blonde in her lap.
Laura was blushing deeply, sputtering incoherent words when Carmilla put a hand on the back of her neck and forced their lips together.
At first, Laura didn't know how to react because holy Hogwarts Carmilla was kissing her. Her soft lips were pressed against Laura's and oh god how is she supposed to think clearly when-
Fingers squeezing at her hips brought her out of her daze, and Laura slid her tongue along Carmilla's bottom lip. The brunette smirked and opened her mouth, meeting Laura's tongue with her own and, yep, she's getting too careless. Because she doesn't care how careless this is. And she really should.
Laura shuddered and lost herself into the feeling of Carmilla. She tasted like wine and strawberries. Laura tasted like gingerbread and sugar cookies.
Fingers tangled in Carmilla's hair as Laura pressed herself as close as possible to the brunette. Carmilla's hands squeezed her waist tighter and wow this was great.
"Time. Time. Guys. GUYS!" LaF clapped their hands loudly, and both girls jumped apart.
Several pairs of eyes stared at the girls in shock. They really didn't expect them to actually do it. They kind of thought one of them would chicken out. But, nope. Laura didn't expect it to happen, either. But she kind of got carried away, and she was pretty sure Carmilla did, too.
"I-I think... I think it's time to go." Laura sputtered. "Carm, gimme the keys."
Laura helped a very drunk Carmilla into the elevator, hitting the 5th floor button. The brunette swayed when the elevator jolted to life, then she turned to face Laura, who was holding her up.
"S'getting harder," Carmilla commented.
"Uh, what?" Laura tilted her head to the side. The other girl's posture changed a bit. She was leaning into Laura more, which caused the blonde to press against the wall a little. She was also facing Laura dead-on, which was... distracting considering that damn corset was still on.
"To not do this." Carmilla (clumsily) pushed Laura against the wall, the railing pushing into her lower back. The blonde gasped as soft lips laid sloppy kisses along Laura's neck.
Laura shuddered and whimpered. "I- oh," She squeaked when Carmilla found a particularly sensitive spot beneath her ear. This was nice, she decided.
Carmilla scraped her teeth along Laura's smooth skin.
Really nice.
But, the brunette was drunk. It had to sop.
"C-Carm," Laura moaned. "W-we – uh – have to-" she sputtered.
Carmilla pulled away. "You don't want to?"
"No! No, I mean, I do – I really, really do – but you're drunk."
"Right." Carmilla took a shaky breath. "Yeah, I understand."
Laura helped Carmilla to her apartment and they were instantly greeted with very hyper kittens.
They both stumped passed the tiny creatures to Carmilla's room, where the drunk girl tore off her clothes, right down to her lace thong, and threw on a large t-shirt.
Laura turned to leave, but Carmilla took her wrist.
"Stay?" She requested quietly.
Laura nodded wordlessly and Carmilla settled under the fluffy red covers. She was lost in black pillows for a moment before Laura saw her signature smirk through the faint light pooling in from the hallway that Carmilla seemed intent to keep on.
The blonde took off her jeans, sweater, and dress shirt so she was in her tank top and underwear. She hurried over to the large mattress and quickly slipped under the blanket. Which was kind of foolish, since the brunette saw her half-naked before.
At first, they were silent. Laura thought Carmilla had gone to sleep when soft sobs shook the bed beside her.
"Carmilla?" She whispered. No answer. "Carm?"
Arms wrapped around her stomach and Carmilla nuzzled into her shoulder.
"I-I'm s-sorry," the brunette whimpered. "I'm s-so sorry."
"For what, sweetie?" Laura hated sad Carmilla. Well, not hate. She could never dislike any kind of Carmilla because it's Carmilla. The most perfect person in the world. No, she disliked sadness for making Carmilla cry. She disliked the unhappy tears that were dripping down her beautiful, beautiful face.
"It's b-been a year," Carmilla curled her whole body against Laura's, almost like a giant black cat searching for warmth. "My fault..."
Laura decided not to press. She just wanted to cheer Carmilla up. If she wanted to share, she'd do so in the morning.
"It's okay, baby, it's okay," she cooed softly. "I'm here."
"P-please..." Carmilla sniffled. "Don't leave me, too."
"I won't," Laura vowed. "I promise. Now go to sleep, Carm. We'll talk in the morning."
Carmilla placed a gentle kiss to Laura's shoulder before snuggling impossibly further into the tiny girl. Soon her breathing became even. Laura's followed shortly after.
-snickers bc next chapter- mwahaha