Laura's attention leaves you immediately, turning to Danny.
"What about him?" She asks, fear lacing her voice.
You can recall hearing about Kirsch in passing. He's in the military; in combat.
You look at Danny, looking for any sort of negative emotion, but her face is expressionless. Empty.
"He, uh," Danny's eyes well up with tears. "He's coming home," She breaks into a large grin.
Laura squeals with delight, enveloping Danny into a hug. She pulls away after a moment, slapping Danny on the arm.
"Don't ever do that again! You scared the muffins out of me." Her face scrunching up, feigning anger for a short moment before exploding with joy.
Her happiness is contagious you infer, feeling yourself smile.
"I thought he wasn't due home for another eight months. What happened?" Laura asks after she settles down.
"Well the idiot," Danny begins. "He decided it would be smart to play basketball with his buddies, and he ended up getting too competitive and broke his leg." She tells you, annoyance in her voice, but she has a large grin.
"This is so great! When will he be here?" Laura asks, buzzing with excitement.
You feel your heart beat faster as your mind processes how cute this girl is.
"He should be here by tomorrow."
The excitement fizzles after about an hour. They told LaFontaine and Perry, who both had pretty much the exact same reaction as Laura. LaF makes their special Spaghetti, meatballs and all. Everyone sat at the table, making their plates as they spoke of their day.
"So, Carmilla," Danny begins. "I heard you were moving in." she tells you, eying you eerily.
You can understand her hesitance. A strange girl comes out of nowhere and moves in with your three best friends could bring that out in a person.
"Yeah." You say, simply.
LaFontaine stills, they look at everyone. "Yeah, she needed a place to stay. Closer to the city and all, and since we had an extra room, we decided it would be a good fit." They finish with a smile.
You're very grateful for them. You don't know exactly how Danny would take the news of her best friends taking in a bum without a second thought and allowing her to move in with you, all of this within 24 hours. You don't think she'd have a positive reaction. You look at them and they give you a reassuring smile.
"Okay." The tall redhead says, though she doesn't seem pleased with the answer.
Laura looks confused, you noticed. You don't think she understands why you feel the need to lie. She doesn't say anything though, and she seems let it go. Danny doesn't say anything else about it,
Conversation flows easily between you and everyone else. You all migrated to the living room after a while and LaFontaine is telling one of their crazy alchemy stories. Something about mushrooms.
Your focus is settled on Laura. The way she laughs, her whole body shaking with laughter. The way she bites her lip, trying to hold back a smile as she gets teased for something she did once. The way her eyes light up whenever she gets into a story.
She glances at you, catching your eyes, and you can feel a blush creep up your neck as she gives you a small smile.
Danny leaves around 9:00pm, and LaF and Perry retire to bed at 11:00pm.
You walk to your room. Your room. It's yours, you think. Your bed, your desk. You linger in the doorway
"Scared to go in?"
You turn to see Laura with the same smile from earlier.
"Yes." You tell her, honestly. "It doesn't feel real. I feel like I'm doing something I shouldn't. Like I'm about to get busted for trespassing or something. I don't know." You look into the room before your eyes go back to the shorter girl.
"Well, I could always join you." She grins. You can feel your ears go hot.
"I, well, I mean," You stutter, scratching the back of your neck as you avoid eye contact.
She lets out a laugh. "Relax, I mean just to help you settle in, you know. Get comfortable, and realize this is your room, now." She pokes your side.
You smile, head dropping as a smile creeps across your face for the thousandth time today.
"Sure, creampuff." You gesture towards the room, signaling her to go first.
She walks in as you continue to hover in the doorway. She turns to you, rolling her eyes.
"C'mon scaredy-cat." She grabs your hands, which your sure are sweaty. Nervous habit. She pull you to the bed, both of you sitting on the edge.
"I just realized we haven't gone clothes shopping. You don't have any pajamas. Hang on, don't move." She gets up and exits the room. A minute later, she reappears with a large hoodie and some shorts, while she changed into a tank top and sweatpants. You quickly change into them, very aware of Laura's eyes raking over you when you shimmied out of your jeans.
You take in how oversized the hoodie is and how short the shorts are. Laura seems to notice because she comments on it, saying the hoodie is actually Danny's and the shorts are hers, that she's had since she was probably 15.
You're both sitting in a comfortable silence, leaning against the wall in your bed.
"Thank you." You say, breaking the silence.
"For what?"
"All of this. I know I've said this before, but it's borderline psychotic that you took me in. I mean, you caught me stealing from you last night, and now, a day later, I'm in my own fucking bed, in my own room that has heat and no leaky ceiling, and I have a full stomach. I was happy before, but now? Now I'm so much more than happy." You finish, turning to face Laura.
Laura has tears in her eyes. Which makes you a little nervous. She looks like she's deep in thought and incredibly attentive.
"Can I ask you a question?" She speaks after a minute. You nod.
"What did your mom do? Why were you unhappy with her?"
You think about not talking about it, in fear she won't understand, won't deem in a good enough reason to feel the need to leave.
"Well, she was abusive." You see her face melt with sympathy. "Not physically. Nothing that left visible marks. But emotionally. Psychologically. She was very manipulative. Up until I was 17, I had always believed everything we argued about was my fault. She would yell at me for every little thing like not finishing my chores within a certain amount of time, or having my grades go below an A+, or who my friends were, ore what I was wearing, or what I was reading. She would pick out all of my flaws and put them under a magnifying glass. When she found out I was gay, I never heard the end of her telling me how much I have failed her. How she was so disappointed in me. After a while, it broke me. I was just a sad person for so long." Then one day, I decided I wanted to be happy, and the only way that would happen would be to leave. So that's what I did." You finish, taking a deep breath.
Laura takes it all in. "Well she sounds lovely." Sarcasm flooding her tone. You smile at this.
"But in all seriousness, that's terrible. Emotional abuse is just as bad as physical abuse. She sounds like a monster. And for what it's worth, I haven't found a flaw about you so far, and I highly doubt I will. First of all, you're incredibly gorgeous, and you're really sweet, and trusting. I'm really glad you're here." She tells you, grabbing your hand, intertwining your fingers.
Your heart skips a beat. How silly of you to develop a crush on a girl you met last night, who is currently providing you a place to stay. How silly and how dangerous.
"Yeah, well, uh, same." You say, dumbly. You have both been looking into each other's eyes for far too long, and you are becoming aware of your sudden proximity. You pull away quickly, unlinking your fingers.
"Well, cutie. I'm going to crash now." You feign a yawn.
Laura looks at you and smiles. "Okay. I'll see you in the morning." She leans in, and you close your eyes, unsure of what to do, when you feel her lips press firmly against your cheek, lingering for a moment longer than necessary. "Goodnight, Carm."
She walks out of your room, leaving you dumbfounded.
"Goodnight, Laura."