It was the following thursday after their steamy escapade in Carmilla's studio and Carmilla still hadn't heard from Laura. Carmilla was lying in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, her phone resting on her chest, the sound of Will clanking pots and pans in the kitchen filling her ears.

"Call her, you idiot."

Will coaxes, glancing back at Carmilla. She's been in their apartment for three days walking back and forth between the couch, when Will isn't there, and her bed, when he is. Carmilla's finger shoots up, flipping Will off.

"No."

Will shakes his head, carrying a plate piled high with god knows what concoction he threw together.

"Why the fuck are you so stub-"

Carmilla throws a pillow, hitting Will in the face, cutting off his insult before her phone begins to vibrate. She runs her finger along the bottom of the screen without looking to see who it is.

"Took you long enough, was I really that bad that it took you nearly a week to-"

"Mircalla."

Carmilla's stomach drops at the sound of her mother's voice, her eyes go wide and the color drains from her cheeks. She glances at Will on the couch, he's watching her with a confused look on his face, his fork dangling from his mouth.

"M-mother, I didn't...I thought you were-"

"Enough with the stuttering, dear, I taught you better than that."

Carmilla subconsciously straightens her back, sitting up straight, her head bowing in shame.

"I'm sorry."

"Right. Now, we have something to discuss and I'd prefer it be in person. Would you meet me for dinner, say, tonight? Promptly at half past four, this evening? I will have a car there for you and William at exactly four o'clock. Wear something appropriate."

"Will-?"

Her mother hangs up the phone before she can ask the obvious question. What would she need to speak to her and Will for?

"What was that all about? You look like shit; More than you normally do."

"Get dressed, you might want to shower, too. Wear something appropriate."

Carmilla mocks her mother's tone on the last word, ignoring Will's comment. She turns toward her makeshift closet and rummages through the clothes in a pile on the floor next to the dirty laundry hamper.

"Where we going?"

"Dinner. At my mother's house. You wouldn't happen to own anything resembling a dress, would you?"

Will brings his hand to his mouth and gasps in mock surprise.

"Did I just hear you say the D word?"

Carmilla just rolls her eyes and wanders over to the closet where the washer and dryer are, pulling out an unlabeled box. She carries the box to her bed and empties the contents, dropping the box on the floor before spreading out the clothing and looking it over carefully. This was only one box of many filled with clothes her mother had purchased for her that she never wore and never had any intention of wearing before today. She groans, snatching up a dark blazer and a white blouse, her mother would have to tolerate that, it's just dinner. Carmilla's heart starts to pick up again at her mother's words. We have something to discuss and I'd prefer it be in person. She shakes her head, trying to remove her mother's voice from her thoughts.

Does she know about Laura? Does she know about the artwork? Did she find out about the fights? What would she want with Will though? They're just friends. She knows that. There's no way she could have found out about Laura already. Maybe that's why she hasn't called back. Maybe mother found out and got rid of her like she said she would. No. This has to be something else…

"If you're going to throw up can you at least go to the bathroom."

Will snaps her from her thoughts. She glances up from her bed where she had been staring at the heap of clothes for who knows how long, the blazer and blouse scrunched between her fists, now a wrinkled mess. She looks over at Will and glares.

"Fuck."

She whispers, walking to the dryer and throwing the clothes in, changing the setting to 'Wrinkle Release' before pressing the 'Start' button and grabbing a towel from the basket on the washer, her hands shaking. She needed to calm down.

Carmilla's hands still hadn't stopped shaking when the car arrived in front of her apartment at exactly four, just like her mother had said. She made Will stand outside with her 15 minutes before, just in case the car got there early. She didn't want to keep her mother waiting. The entire drive to her mother's house, her knee uncontrollably bounced up and down and her stomach twisted in knots. She clenched and unclenched her fists together in her lap, every once in awhile, shaking them out to get the blood flowing again.

"Carmilla, I swear to God if you do not quit bouncing your leg and relax, I will cut it off."

Carmilla looks over at Will in the seat next to her.

"Shut. Up."

"Seriously, relax, you wreak of anxiety, I'm surprised you haven't sweated through your shirt-"

"Will, shut. The fuck. Up."

The second they pull up in front of the massive house, Carmilla's knee stills and her eyes go wide. The last time she was here was the day her mother sent her away, the day she was forced to leave Laura. She tries to push the memories flooding back to the back of her head, when she feels a soft squeeze on her leg. She looks down to find Will's hand on her knee. She looks up and finds him watching her, his eyebrows pulled together.

"You're fine."

Carmilla just nods her head. She hasn't seen her mother, in person, in three years. Her mother always called or sent Mattie to get a hold of her. The driver was holding the door open and Will had already stepped out of the car, waiting for Carmilla before he ventured up the steps to the front door. It was 4:28, she still had two minutes until she absolutely needed to get out of the car. She clenched and unclenched her fists one last time before rearing her elbow back and hitting the headrest of the seat in front of her as hard as she could.

"Feel any better?"

Will was crouched down outside the door, one hand on the top of the car, the other on the seat where he had been sitting.

"No."

"Normally, I would suggest breathing, but I'm afraid you'd punch me next and we have to go. Your mom probably doesn't want me unconscious in her driveway, anyway."

Will checks his watch, looking at the time. Carmilla rolls her eyes, but smirks at the thought of her mother's face when she opened the door to see Will passed out in front of her beautiful, picture perfect home and blood staining the driveway from his nose. She scoots out of the car and takes a deep breath before she starts her walk up the footpath and up the steps to the front porch, Will close behind, where her mother pulls open the door before Carmilla even has a chance to knock. It was 4:30.

"Mircalla, William, please come in."

Carmilla freezes when her mother steps to the side, opening the door further so they could come in. Will gives her a small push in her back and she has to force her legs to move forward and cross over the threshold into her childhood home. Her mother walks ahead of them veering off into the study and picking something up off her desk before she continues on into the formal dining room. Carmilla glances at the stairs leading up to where her room used to be and catches a glimpse of the wall just two steps up from where she's standing. There's a small dent at the bottom of the wall. She cringes and lifts her hand to the back of her head, her fingers brushing over the spot that had once been so tender she couldn't even lie down properly. Will snaps her out of her thoughts when he grabs her by the elbow and follows after her mother, into the dining room where they find her seated at the head of the table, her hands folded in front of her, Mattie sitting to her left and three other place settings set.

"What the hell-"

Carmilla couldn't stop the words from spilling out of her mouth. Why was Mattie there? Why was there another place setting? What was in the orange legal envelope her mother had under her hands?

"Carmilla, sit down."

Mattie says, her voice low and serious.

"No, what the hell is going on?"

Will takes a seat next to Mattie on the other side of the table, keeping his head down, he doesn't look Carmilla in the eye. Her mother places the envelope on the floor beside her just as three men and two women come out of the kitchen, carrying a plate in each hand.

"Sit. Down."

Her mother was staring at her from her seat, her voice pierced Carmilla's ears, sending a shudder down her spine. She doesn't object and sits down in the seat to her mother's right and stares at her plate that one of the men place in front of her.

"First, we eat, then we will discuss why I have invited you all here this evening."

"I can't do this-"

Carmilla says, her voice shaking.

"I think it'd be in your best interest to stay. Our final guest shall be arriving shortly."

Carmilla gulps at the way she says those words and she has to bite her tongue to keep herself from saying something stupid.

"Now, eat."

Carmilla robotically picks up her fork and begins to place pieces of the perfectly cooked duck, placed in front of her, into her mouth. Mattie and Will do the same, her mother watching them all, bringing her glass of wine to her lips, a tight smile plastered on her face.

Carmilla had put up with her mother's stares all evening. She was two seconds away from telling her off when her mother calmly places the legal size envelope down next to Carmilla's empty dinner plate. Carmilla looks up from the table and gives her mother a questioning look. Her mother nods. She picks up the envelope with shaky hands and slides her finger under the lip, opening the envelope. There were two more envelopes, slightly smaller, but just as professional. She pulls out the one on top. There was nothing written on the outside of the envelope, just as the first one had been. Carmilla slowly opens the envelope in her hands, keeping her eyes down, not wanting to see her mother's face, knowing it would be filled with annoyance at how slow she was moving, but Carmilla didn't care, she didn't really want to open the envelopes in the first place. Carmilla pulls out two pieces of paper, folded in half and slightly worn. She unfolds them and her eyebrow shoots up, confused. Stapled to the piece of paper on top is a black and white picture of an ultrasound, her name, birthdate, weight, and height, printed on a sticker on the bottom right corner. She lifts up the ultrasound, not bothering to pay any attention to it, she knows it's of her. She glances down at the paper, it's her birth certificate, a couple things highlighted in yellow marker.

"What is this?"

Carmilla asks, dryly, looking up from the paper to her mother.

"Why don't you look over it again, I know all the school I put you through has certainly taught you something."

Carmilla rolls her eyes, regretting it immediately, cringing at herself, seeing her mother's jaw clench, her lips pulled tightly in a menacing smile. She glances at Mattie and Will who squirms in his seat and looks anywhere but Carmilla's face. Carmilla looks back down at the paper in her hands, her eyes searching the page for any indication as to what her mother wanted her to see. She reads the highlighted areas of the paper. 'Karnstein' and '1:23pm'. Okay? She knows her last name and her time of birth isn't exactly interesting news. She places her birth certificate on the table and looks over the second paper. It's also a birth certificate. Again, she ignores the ultrasound and quickly reads the highlighted areas. 'Karnstein' and '1:31pm'. Carmilla stares at the paper, not really looking at anything in particular, she was just as confused as she was before she read the second birth certificate. She raises an eyebrow again, this time not bothering to look up.

"Carmilla, we're twins."

The words come out of Will's mouth in a rush. Carmilla's head whips up, her eyes meeting his. He was staring at her, panic written all over his face. Carmilla felt anger deep in her stomach start to boil to the surface. She tried to force it back down, as this probably wasn't the best time to get upset, but Carmilla felt betrayed. She looked back down at the birth certificate in her hands. Next to 'Karnstein' was 'William' printed in block letters. She flips the ultrasound down. On the sticker is his name, birthdate, weight, and height. She examines the picture more closely. Her hands begin to tremble with a million different emotions. There's two very clear faces staring back at her, one clearly female, the other male. Carmilla doesn't say anything at first. She folds the birth certificates back in half and places them back into the envelope before sealing it back up and placing it back in the larger envelope, leaving the second smaller envelope on the table.

"I want you and your shit out of my apartment before tomorrow or I'm leaving your stuff on the curb."

Carmilla doesn't look up from the table, she can't meet Will's stare. She watches her mother out of the corner of her eye, she's raising her glass of wine to her lips.

"Carmilla, come on-"

"Stop. Talking."

She looks up then, she's hurt, all she wants to do is hit something, mostly Will, in the face, but then her mother puts down her glass and sits up in her chair. Carmilla sees someone walk into the dining room out of the corner of her eye. The hairs on the back of her neck stand up and her chest tightens at the voice that speaks next.

"You said she wouldn't be here."

Her voice sounds small, scared, she wouldn't walk any further into the dining room, Carmilla had to force herself to keep from looking at her.

"Please, take a seat, Laura."

Carmilla's mother gestures towards the open seat next to Carmilla just as the people from the kitchen start carrying out plates filled with something covered in chocolate. Carmilla's stomach twists at the smell and she feels like she's going to be sick. Laura takes a seat in the chair next to her.

"Carm, I didn't know-"

Laura whispers, too close for comfort.

"That second envelope, is for you, Miss Hollis. Mircalla, won't you be a dear and pass it to her?"

Carmilla hands Laura the envelope, obediently, placing it in front of Laura on the table, without taking her eyes from her lap. Carmilla watches Laura slowly open the envelope, the same look Carmilla had on her face just minutes ago. When Laura pulls out it's contents, she gasps, Carmilla's head whipping up to look at what Laura is holding in her hands, her face twists in disgust.

"What the fuck?"

Carmilla takes the pile of pictures from Laura's hands, no longer caring about what her mother will say about her behavior. They're of her and Laura, all of them. There must have been more than three dozen pictures of the two of them taken from the last month. The two of them at Carmilla's fight, Laura leaving the bathroom, Carmilla leaving the bathroom, Laura riding her bike home, Carmilla following, Laura leaving Carmilla outside her building, Carmilla waking up in the parking lot the following morning, their fight, Laura walking away, the two of them at the party, the two of them kissing, the two of them in Carmilla's apartment, the two of them at the studio…

"What the fuck is this?!"

Carmilla throws the pictures down in front of her mother, pushing herself out of her chair, sending it toppling backward. Laura jumps at the outburst, tears streaming down her face. Her mother doesn't say anything, instead she pushes her chair back and stands up, calmly. Mattie stands up too, ushering Will into the next room, whispering something in his ear.

"There's more."

Carmilla's mother says, no emotion in her tone. Laura picks up the envelope and pulls out a check, quickly placing it back on the table, as if it were on fire.

"Oh, my God."

Laura whispers. Carmilla catches a glimpse of the amount in the small box on the right side of the piece of paper.

"You are unbelievable. How could you?!"

Carmilla's hands clench into fists at her sides, before she turns to Laura.

"Get your coat, I'll take you home."

Carmilla starts to usher Laura out of the room when she feels a tight grip on her wrist and is forced to turn around.

"You blatantly disrespected and disobeyed me, Mircalla. I warned you of the consequences, yet you lied straight to my face. Did it ever occur to you that I might find out? I always find out, Mircalla-" Her mother's grip on Carmilla's wrist grew tighter, making Carmilla wince. Her mother grits her teeth. "-You are selfish and immature and look where it got you. I thought I was done having to discipline you like a child."

Her mother spits the last word, throwing Carmilla onto the ground. Laura is frozen in place, she doesn't know what to do or if she should even do anything. Carmilla looks so small, fresh tears stain her cheeks. She pushes herself off the ground, standing directly in front of her mother, her shoulders square.

"Carmilla, don't."

Laura's voice is small, pleading, but Carmilla ignores her and points a finger at her mother.

"Fuck you."

Carmilla takes a step towards her mother, her mother stands her ground.

"I am done with your bullshit, I am done with this family. You don't deserve any of this. He gave you everything: his last name, his house, his children, his money. He loved you and this is how you repay him. How dare you call yourself a mother. I wish it was you in that accident. I wish you were d-"

Carmilla's head whips to the side, a smack loud enough to be heard by the neighbors echoes through the house. A gasp escapes from Laura's mouth, her feet moving themselves forward to Carmilla's side. Carmilla's hand automatically reaches up to her cheek, soothing the sting. She doesn't look back at her mother when she takes Laura's hand and leads them through the doorway to the dining room, where they find Will and Mattie in the foyer, staring blankly at Carmilla. Carmilla catches Will's eye.

"See what you missed when you didn't live with darling Maman?"

Will winces at Carmilla's bite. Carmilla shakes her head and forces her head back down, her eyes on the ground, but is forced to stop walking when she feels a light touch on her arm. She doesn't have to turn around to know it's Mattie. The two of them don't exchange any words, but Mattie hands Carmilla a set of car keys and Laura her coat and they walk out into the cold. Carmilla shuts the door behind them just as Mattie starts yelling.

Most of the car ride is quiet. Carmilla tries to calm herself down by gripping the steering wheel tighter and tighter, her jaw clenching and unclenching. She doesn't bother to wipe away the tears that had been falling down her cheeks since they left. Laura doesn't say anything, she's witnessed what Carmilla's mother could do, but never like this, never in person. Her hands were still shaking as she gripped the seat, Carmilla taking a turn too tightly.

"Carm,-"

"Don't."

Carmilla says through gritted teeth, pushing her foot down on the gas pedal, jerking the car forward.

"I don't think you should be-"

"Laura, please!"

Laura jumps at the sound of her name and the cry that comes out of Carmilla's mouth. Laura reaches across the car to place her hand on Carmilla's arm, but Carmilla shoves her off.

"You're scaring me, relax."

"Fuck!"

Carmilla slams her palm against the steering wheel, Laura jumps again.

"Carm, pull over."

Laura says softly. Carmilla doesn't object this time. She vears the car off the road, onto the gravel shoulder and throws the car in park, gritting her teeth together to keep herself from crying anymore. Her grip on the steering wheel tightens, her breath quickens. Laura places her hand over Carmilla's white knuckles and turns to face her in her seat. Carmilla's grip on the steering wheel loosens slightly. Laura places a hand on Carmilla's cheek, Carmilla flinches at first, but then leans into Laura's touch, her eyes closing, her heart rate slows. Laura gently pulls Carmilla's chin so she can look her in the eye.

"Let me see."

Carmilla let's Laura examine her cheek, one hand still on her chin. Laura winces at the red hand print covering the side of Carmilla's face. She softly runs her fingers along the mark, Carmilla flinches, their eyes meet.

"Sorry."

Laura whispers, dropping her hand.

"It's already bruising."

Carmilla jerks her head away from Laura's touch and stares out the windshield, fresh tears forming in her eyes, her hands still gripping the steering wheel.

"Why were you there, Laura?"

Carmilla's jaw tenses. She keeps her head straight, not wanting to see Laura's face.

"Carm, it's not-"

"God dammit, Laura, why were you there!?"

Carmilla hits the steering with her palm, again, pain shooting up her arm. Laura jumps in the seat next her , her mouth open, but no words come out. Carmilla looks over to Laura, both their cheeks wet, Carmilla's eyebrows meeting together in the middle.

"Did you know she was going to try and buy you off?"

Carmilla's voice cracks. Laura shakes her head, quickly.

"No, Carm, what the hell. I would never-"

Laura's cut off by Carmilla throwing open the driver's side door. It's raining and the air has cooled down a lot, but that doesn't stop Carmilla. She needed to get out of the car, it was suffocating. She knew Laura would never do something like that, but her mother could be incredibly persuasive. She was furious her mother would even try to do something like that. She slams the car door shut behind her, leaving Laura inside and she kicks the tire. Ignoring the pain in her toes, she kicks it again, and again, and she screams until her lungs burn and her throat is scratchy. She hits the hood of the car with her fists, hoping it leaves dents in the metal. She's surprised when she feels a soft hand on her waist and another on her forearm. She feels Laura's body pressing into hers and she let's out a cry she didn't know she was holding. She turns around and buries her face in Laura's neck and Laura doesn't move when Carmilla leans into her, she wraps her arms around Carmilla's shoulders and holds her. They don't talk. Laura periodically rubs Carmilla's arms. Laura would've thought Carmilla had fallen asleep like that, if it weren't for the hold she had on Laura's arm and the uneven breaths on Laura's neck. Laura rubs a few small circles into Carmilla's back, before pulling away to look Carmilla in the eye.

"Come on, I'll take you home. Let's get out of the rain."

Laura whispers, placing a small kiss to Carmilla's forehead before leading her to the passenger side door and helping her in. Shortly after taking off, Carmilla falls asleep, her temple pressed up against the cold window, her knees pulled to her chest, dry tears staining her cheeks.

Half carrying-half dragging a barely awake Carmilla across the parking lot, up three flights of stairs and down multiple hallways that never seemed to end, proved to be a bit difficult for the tiny girl. When Laura finally reaches Carmilla's apartment she silently thanks her father for making her take Krav Maga classes when she was younger and her toned legs for not giving out on her. She places Carmilla on her feet and tries to lean her against the wall next to her apartment door, but she wouldn't loosen her grip from around Laura's neck to allow there to be any space between them. Carmilla groans in protest when Laura gently unhooks Carmilla's hands from the back of her neck and places them at her sides, holding them there so as to make sure she's paying attention and leans in closer to Carmilla's face.

"Carm, I need your keys."

Laura says slowly, enunciating every word, making sure Carmilla understands what she was saying. Carmilla mumbles something unintelligible in response and Laura sighs, accepting the fact that she's not going to get anywhere with this one-sided conversation while Carmilla's half asleep and begins to search the pockets of Carmilla's blazer and back pockets of her pants. Nothing. Carmilla mumbles again, her eyes half closed, this time Laura hears the words 'key' and 'light' in between all the gibberish. That doesn't help.

"What about a light?"

She asks, placing her hand on Carmilla's shoulder. Carmilla raises her arm and points to the light above her head before reaching behind the base and pulling the key out from between two bricks where the concrete had chipped away. She hands the key to Laura who is slightly amused. Laura takes the key and places it in the lock, turning it and the handle and pushing open the door.

"That's smart."

She shakes the key at Carmilla, who smirks and grabs the key back, tapping it against her temple before placing it back in her hiding spot. Laura shakes her jacket off and hangs it up on the back of one of the chairs circling the small table in Carmilla's kitchen. Carmilla freezes in the entryway, her hand still on the light switch she just turned on.

"You're staying?"

Laura pauses, turning around, Carmilla's words hitting her like ice water coming in contact with her bare skin.

"Oh, I mean...I don't have to, I just thought-" Laura looks to the ground. "-I didn't think you should be alone, so I figured-"

"Laura, I'm fine. You don't have to stay. I've been through worse."

Carmilla takes off her blazer and slips her shoes off, carrying them over to the closet and throwing them on the floor, making her way to her bed. Laura doesn't move from her spot in the kitchen, instead she plays with her hands in front of her.

"I know, but is it okay if I want to stay? Can I...stay?"

"Uh...yeah, of course, I just...didn't think you'd want to."

Carmilla's voice is soft. She sits down on the edge of her bed and slides her pants off before picking up a pair of Nike shorts off her floor and putting them on.

"Carm, of course I want to."

Laura takes a step closer to where Carmilla is sitting on her bed.

"You didn't call, so I just assumed-"

Carmilla changes her shirt to a black v neck and scoots back in her bed, sitting up against the headboard, her eyes fixed on Laura who looks like she's about to be sick.

"Oh, shit, I am so sorry. I had to get a new phone, I completely forgot I was supposed to call you. Carm, I am so sorry. Here let me-"

Laura starts to fish her phone out of her back pocket to give Carmilla her new number, but stops when Carmilla begins talking again.

"Laura, it's fine. I'm just going to go to bed, I have a headache. You can do whatever you want."

Carmilla scoots down and under the covers, in the middle of the bed, gently placing her head on the pillow, wincing at the contact of the fabric and her cheek. She turns over to lie on her other side and closes her eyes. Laura stands still in the middle of the room and nods her head.

"Okay."

She whispers before taking her shoes off, leaving them by the door.

"Carm?"

Carmilla hums in response, keeping her eyes closed. She can feel Laura watching her.

"Do you have something I could change into?"

"The clothes in the white basket are clean."

Laura quietly walks over to the closet where Carmilla had just thrown her dirty clothes and found the white laundry basket on the dryer filled with a heap of unfolded shirts and towels. She finds a plain white tshirt and makes her way to the bathroom. Once inside she slides out of her light, flower print dress, replacing it with the tshirt she found before checking her reflection in the mirror above the sink. She looks exhausted, sleep weighing down her eyes, despite the fact that it's barely passed seven. She sighs and opens the cabinet under the sink, looking for something to tie her hair up with, but ends up finding a bottle of Aspirin, in which she grabs, along with her discarded clothes, before making her way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. She places her clothes on the chair with her coat and makes her way towards Carmilla's bed before stopping herself. She glances back at the couch, then back at Carmilla whose eyes are closed.

"Carm?"

Laura whispers. Carmilla opens one of her eyes.

"Yeah, Laura?"

Laura shifts on her feet contemplating if she should just sleep on the couch, but decides against it before climbing into Carmilla's bed. Carmilla doesn't object so she presents the water and painkillers.

"Here."

She holds out the glass of water. Carmilla leans up on her elbows and takes it in her hand while Laura unscrews the pill bottle and pours two capsules into her palm before handing them to Carmilla and screwing the lid back on.

"Thanks."

Carmilla tosses her head back with the pills and drinks a few sips of water before handing the glass back to Laura who places it, along with the pill bottle, on Carmilla's nightstand. Laura turns around to find Carmilla holding back the duvet so she could climb underneath. Laura pauses, staring at Carmilla's hand on the blanket.

"You sure?"

"Laura, come on."

Carmilla nods her head once, Laura doesn't hesitate again. She lets Carmilla pull the blanket over the both of them and they both lie their heads on Carmilla's pillow. Laura pauses for a split second before turning around to face Carmilla, draping her arm over Carmilla's waist.

"Is this okay?"

Carmilla's eyes are closed again. She places her hand on Laura's hip and pulls her closer, humming in response. Laura closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, her nose filling with the scent of Carmilla's sheets and vanilla and the only thing she can feel is the touch of Carmilla's hand on her bare skin.

The light drizzle that lulled them to sleep quickly escalated to a storm. A loud boom of thunder rattles the windows just as a flash of lightning breaks across the sky lighting up the apartment. Carmilla's body jerks in her sleep at the sound, causing Laura to shift under Carmilla's arm, but she quickly drifts back into a deep sleep. What feels like seconds later, Laura is forced awake by thrashing and screaming coming from beside her. At first she thinks she's stuck in a dream and tries to ignore it and go back to sleep, the screaming is muffled and her body is still asleep, but as she slowly regained consciousness, she realizes the screams are, in fact, real and not in her head. In fact they were close and the thrashing even closer, her shin meeting with a stiff foot. Her eyes shoot open and her body jolts upright in bed. Her eyes search the room around her, landing on Carmilla's writhing body in the bed next to her. There are tears streaking down the sides of her face, staining the pillow underneath her head. Carmilla's eyes are still closed, but her feet are kicking and her hands are wrapped up in the sheets. Another round of thunder booms through the apartment and lightning lights up Carmilla's face. Her eyes shoot open and all at once her screaming is cut off and replaced by the sounds of her gasping for air. Laura is frozen, she knew Carmilla had night terrors, but the most she had to deal with was Carmilla's muffled cries and shaking, never anything this bad. She was scared and her terror only grew as Carmilla's eyes seemed to bulge out of her head and her lips started to turn light blue. Laura tries several times to yell Carmilla's name, but she doesn't know if she can even hear her and with every breath Carmilla didn't take, the terror Laura felt, continuously grew.

"Carm! Breathe!"

Nothing. Laura draws in a deep breath and hopes Carmilla's neighbors are already up.

"Carmilla!"

She yells as loud as she can. She balls her hand into a fist and hits Carmilla, once, in the middle of her chest. Almost immediately, Carmilla begins to cough and sputter, gasping for air, the color returning to her face and lips. Laura didn't realize she was crying until a tear dripped from her chin onto her clenched fist on Carmilla's chest. She quickly wipes at her cheeks, removing any other stray tears before returning her attention to Carmilla. Carmilla was startled, her body shaking uncontrollably, she quickly sat upright in bed, scooting to the edge before getting up and backing into the wall, her hand on her chest, her breaths coming in short gasps, on the verge of having a panic attack. As if her legs couldn't support her anymore, she falls down the wall and a sob escapes her throat. Laura is frozen on the bed, on her knees, hovering over the spot where Carmilla had just been, her features full of worry. Carmilla is staring at Laura with complete horror, her eyes glazed over.

"Carm...?"

Laura slowly rises from the bed, untangling the sheets from her legs and kneels down a couple feet in front of Carmilla on the wood floor.

"No, please."

Carmilla cries.

"Carm, it's me."

Laura whispers, reaching her hand out in front of her, her eyebrows creasing in the middle. She slowly scoots closer to Carmilla, her arm still outstretched. Carmilla flinches.

"Baby, relax. It's okay, it was just a dream. Breathe, Carmilla."

Laura reaches out and begins to gently rub Carmilla's arm in an attempt to calm her down. She freezes, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"Shhh, you're okay. Carmilla, it's me."

Laura places her hand on Carmilla's cheek, at first she shies away, but when their eyes meet Carmilla visibly relaxes, although her breathing isn't quite back to normal. Her eyebrows furrow.

"Laura?"

Laura nods her head, Carmilla leans into her touch, closing her eyes.

"It's me, you're okay."

Laura whispers, cautiously scooting closer to Carmilla. She sits against the wall next to her and pulls Carmilla into her lap, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. Another round of thunder rolls through the apartment causing Carmilla to jump. Laura tightens her grip on Carmilla and runs her fingers through Carmilla's dark hair, occasionally placing soft kisses to the top of her head, ignoring the numbness in her legs. They sit like this until the storm dies down and the sun begins to rise over the rooftops of the neighboring buildings.