You wake up with the sun in your eyes. You squeeze them shut, rolling over with a groan.
"Mornin', sleepyhead."
The voice makes you smile. You peak an eye open to see a Laura Hollis in an oversized hoodie and shorts that are nothing more than glorified underwear. You feel your ears go hot at the sight, though your face remains relaxed, grogginess still clouding your thoughts.
"Good morning." You say, slowly opening your eyes. "What time is it?"
Laura glances at the phone in her hoodie pocket.
"9:54. Brody's flight lands in about four hours. Danny and I are going to pick him up from the airport. Do you want to come? LaF and Perry are going to cook if you want to help them out.
You think about both offers. Go and pick up someone you've never met before from the airport. Or take the chance of burning down the entire apartment complex. You decide on the former option
"I'll go with you." You mumble, voice raspy, filled with sleep.
Laura lights up at this, walking closer towards you. She leans over you in the bed and you can feel your heartrate pick up significantly, incredibly quickly making you go lightheaded, dizzy.
She's rolling on top of you until she's on the bed, behind you. You roll over to see her laying on her stomach, facing away from you.
"Uh, cupcake, what're you doing?" You ask.
"Sleeping. I've been up since 5am and I need a little more sleep. And my room is all the way over there." She throws her arm towards the door, letting it fall, draping over your waist. You take this time to take her in. her hoodie has slid up, showing off her back. You see her toned legs, long and tan. Her hair is in a messy bun, strands going down her neck.
You're in awe by this girl. This girl that you met just over a day ago. She's beautiful, and easily the most kindhearted person you've ever met. She's such a dork, though it comes out so charming. You doubt there's one person in this world that wouldn't like her.
You allow yourself to feel at ease with her arm draped across you, your legs wrapped in warm sheets, and the sun shining through your window. You feel sleep start to take you, but not before Laura rolls over and buries her face in the crook of your neck, arm tightening around you.
You fall asleep with a smile on your face.
You feel like you'd only slept for another two minutes, when your eyes open. You try sitting up but there's a dead weight on your shoulder. Turning your head, you see the tiny woman on top of you. During your nap, she has intertwined her legs. She's more on top of you than she is next to you.
You know you guys probably need to get up soon, so you ease her from her sleep.
"Hey, cupcake." You rub the arm draped across you.
She groans. You try again.
"Laura, hey wake up."
"No."
"Come on, we have to go pick up your friend, remember."
With that, her eyes pop open, though she doesn't move. She lets out a sigh, breath tickling your neck.
Finally, she moves away from you, pulling her phone out.
"It's 11:30. We should get ready." She looks at you. You look at her.
She looks like she's thinking, trying to work something out. But before you can ask her what's up, she rolls on top of you and your heart jumps to your throat. But within the same second she was on you, she rolls off of you, walking towards the door.
She turns back towards you, a questioning look etched in her features
"You need some clothes, don't you?"
You lower your gaze, becoming flooded with embarrassment and shame. Laura is immediately beside you, finger sliding under your chin, lifting your gaze back towards her.
"Hey, no worries. Don't feel bad about this. It's okay. After we pick up Brody, we can go shopping." She gives you an enthusiastic grin that you can't help but reciprocate.
"Sounds good."
"Cool. Now come pick out an outfit from my closet. We're roughly the same size." She gives you a look up and down, making you feel mildly self-conscious.
You both walk into her room, and you can tell a journalism major lives in it. She has a bulletin board filled with newspaper articles cut out and journals scattered across her dresser and her desk. She also has a lot of Polaroid photos littering her walls, mostly of her friends and herself. Some of places or of the sky on a particularly beautiful day or night. Her room is cozy, filled with her past and her future. You admire it.
Laura is searching through her wardrobe, pulling out some clothes. She hands you a pair of dark blue jeans with holes in the knees and a sweatshirt of The Music Man, which she explains is the musical her old high school did once when she was there.
She tells you to put them on, as she searches for her old outfit. You head for her door when she asks where you're going. You turn towards her before saying you were going to go to your room to change. She smiles at this, a large grin, and it confuses you, though she just nods and turns to leave.
The pants are a perfect size, hugging your legs comfortably all the way down to your ankles. The sweatshirt is loose, but comfortably so.
You walk back to Laura's room to find her clad in a pair of jeans and a bra. She glance's over towards you before going back to looking through her closet for a shirt.
You act nonchalant about the situation, but every time she moves, you see her muscles shift, sending shivers down your spine. The dimples on the small of her back are distinct. She turns towards you and your eyes are greeted with her stomach, abs visible. What the fuck does this girl do in her free time?
"Does this shirt look okay?" She holds it up.
"Yeah." You say, distracted from the previous view.
"I'm going to go fix my hair." You gesture to your bedhead. She nods.
You go into the bathroom and throw your hair up in a ponytail after running your fingers through it.
Walking into the living room, you see LaFontaine sitting on the couch, controller in hand.
"What are you playing?" You look at the screen, only to be greeted with a bunch of zombies.
"The Last of Us, a game that takes place about twenty years after an infection that turns people into zombies. It's a pretty good game. It's got a great storyline."
You nod at them, genuinely interested. You sit down and watch them play.
About five minutes later, Laura emerges wearing a pair of black jeans and a denim button up. She gives you a smile as she makes her way to the door, signaling you to follow.
You get to her side as she starts telling you about how you're going to Danny's apartment first, then heading to the airport.
pWalking into Danny's apartment, you see her rushing around frantically, red hair disheveled. You stand awkwardly in the doorway as Laura falls into the sequence, watching them move in sync. A moment later Laura notices your arched eyebrow.
"We've been through this a few times." She gives you a lopsided grin.
After ten minutes of them rushing around, they are ready. Danny is bouncing in anticipation and joy. Laura's hand slips into yours as you stand in the elevator, though a moment later she notices and apologizes, ducking a strand of hair behind her ear. You tell her it's fine, missing the contact already.
Danny is trying to get a cab, nearly getting hit every now and then. Finally a cab stops and you all load in, squeezing into the backseat. Danny's leg is shaking rhythmically and Laura is drumming her fingers against her thigh. You twirl your thumbs awkwardly.
After forty five minutes you arrive at the airport and Danny jumps out before the cab even slows down, Laura closely following behind. You catch up just as they pass through the baggage claim area near the gate.
"Have they landed yet?" You lean towards Laura.
She nods her head enthusiastically, a smile on her lips.
Soon, the doors open and men and women emerge, embracing the people there for them. You don't even have time to blink before Danny is shoving through the crowd. She makes it to a man and jumps on him, legs wrapping around his waist.
"I'm assuming that's Kirsch." You look at Laura, who is literally jumping with joy.
The couple finally break away from their embrace. Kirsch comes over and gets pulled into a hug by Laura. Letting go, he looks at you.
"And who's this? Your girlfriend? Good job, Laura." You feel your cheeks flush. Laura becomes flustered, sputtering out negatives.
"She, me, no, definitely, I mean she's, but we don't – "
"I'm just a roommate." You say, calmly.
"Hello, just a roommate. I'm Kirsch." He reaches a hand out. You take it, shaking it slightly.
"Carmilla."
Everyone is currently sitting at the dining room table, listening to Kirsch tell stories about his time in Iraq.
"And these guys, probably been here for a month, were put up to breach all seven doors. These two poor guys. They had no clue it was just a drill. They thought we were actually rushing the enemy."
Danny is seated on his lap, arms wrapped around his neck. She kisses him every few minutes, may it be his cheek, his head or his lips. Laura is seated next to you, squeezed up against you due to the lack of room in the small dining room.
Her leg is bouncing, jostling you every few moments. She doesn't seem to notice. After a few more minutes of her leg hitting yours, you reach across her, gently placing your hand on her leg, causing her to still. Her hand finds yours, intertwining your fingers.
"Sorry, I'm just really excited. It makes me anxious. And when I'm anxious, I shake my leg." She explains.
"Don't worry, it's fine." You say quietly, not wanting to interrupt the story being told. "You're anxious a lot, though. You sure you're okay?"
You're finding it difficult to remember seeing Laura when she wasn't fidgeting or shaking in some way, now that you think about it.
She looks at you. "Yeah, no worries. I'm good." She squeezes your hand. You drag your thumb across her knuckles.
"I'm going to bed." She tells you. "Today was a long day.
You know it really sort of wasn't, but you don't question it. She releases your hand and slides out of the kitchen, telling everyone goodnight. Her eyes linger on yours for a moment before disappearing down the hall.
You like her. You know you like her. You think she likes you back. But its only been three days. You want to go slow. You need to let this build into more than just lust.
After ten more minutes, you excuse yourself to go to bed.
You're mind wanders to Laura, and she fills your thoughts as you fall asleep.