Okay, so maybe their entire relationship was sort of completely backwards from the traditional view of how things were supposed to play out. The I love yous and whole living together with pets thing came before the actual rekindling of their relationship. The talk of marriage and kids and a ring came before the I love yous . The sex came before all that. It was essentially all vice versa.
But then again, they were never really on board with traditional methods of doing things, especially in terms of their relationship.
Or maybe it was the fact that they never officially ended things. Of course, they had both assumed things were over after Carmilla left unexpectedly and her mother shipped her off to France without allowing so much as a goodbye to Laura, but now, after actually talking and sorting things out ( who knew communicating actually worked?! ), it was almost as if they just took a break to find themselves and grow up and were back in sync and on the right track with each other.
And they were happy .
Being truly happy wasn't something either Carmilla nor Laura had felt in a long time. It was like their hearts knew they needed each other in order to feel complete before the message was passed on to their brains. Without each other, they simply survived, but now they were living. And they were doing it together. And it felt right . When Laura admitted she loved Carmilla, it felt like the hole that had been eating its way at her heart was finally starting to close and she hoped to whatever higher power was up there that it would continue that way. She didn't know if she could take another heartbreak.
In high school, when Carmilla first told Laura she loved her, it was the night of their senior prom and it came with the confession that she had loved her for years before that. Laura had cried, her tears happy. Carmilla cried with her when Laura admitted that she had loved her for the same amount of years, maybe even longer. Back then their relationship was new, but the love they felt for each other had been brewing for seven years before that.
Like a fine wine or bottle of scotch, it only grew better with age.
The three years they were apart only proved to show that, sure they could survive without each other, but they didn't want to and things were better when they were together. Dating other people didn't seem right. Having sex with other people wasn't the same. Loving someone else wasn't even an option.
They tried.
Carmilla had Ell for 15 months. Laura had Danny for six.
Both relationships ended in heartbreak for both parties, but for completely different reasons. For Danny and Ell, it was because they knew Laura and Carmilla could ever love them. Except while Danny and Laura opted to continue to be friends, Carmilla and Ell had rarely spoken since their breakup. For Laura and Carmilla, it was because they knew they couldn't love anyone the way they loved each other and that was the only love they wanted. Maybe even needed.
They thought they'd never get a chance to love the other again.
The rest of the showing wasn't all that eventful, in terms of unwanted guests. Carmilla sold another few pieces of work to visitors all the while with Laura stood by her side with a huge grin on her face, never moving more than a few feet away from Carmilla at a time. Carmilla would never admit it, but she was convinced Laura's bubbly personality and award winning smile were the reason for more than one sealed deal on her paintings. Laura talked up Carmilla's work without really even trying and the curators from other small town galleries loved her. Honestly though, how could someone not love Laura?
Well, besides Lilita Karnstein-Morgan, but she didn't really count.
She didn't like anyone.
No one liked her either.
By the time the last guest made their way out of the front door of the gallery, it was nearly midnight. Before Betty and Theo left, however, Betty made sure to remind Carmilla that she was in charge of the cleanup. Carmilla had rolled her eyes at that, but knew she couldn't get out of it and that she probably, a little bit, deserved it. She turned to tell Laura she didn't actually need to stay and help, but found Laura mischievously grinning up at her, causing Carmilla to raise a suspicious eyebrow. The second Betty and Theo were outside and the door was locked behind them, Laura pulled a half filled bottle of champagne and two empty glasses from behind her back.
"I found this leftover and thought we could have fun while we picked up."
How could Carmilla say no?
"I like the way you think, Cupcake."
Carmilla was already working on connecting her phone to the gallery's speakers while Laura poured the champagne into the glasses.
The first two hours, Laura wouldn't let Carmilla take a break, knowing full well that if she did, the gallery would never be ready for its usual hours on Monday and considering they were leaving again for Canada the next day, the cleanup had to be finished by the time Betty showed up the next morning. Laura ended up doing most of the work while Carmilla mostly drank champagne and lazily sang along and danced to whatever song was playing over the speakers throughout the space. Not that Laura was complaining, watching Carmilla be so carefree and happy enough to actually sing was a rare sight and more than enough motivation to keep going. Also, Laura would do anything to keep Carmilla in that mood. Her voice was melodic and just the right amount of raspy that made Laura's insides warm. Or maybe that was the champagne. Either way, Carmilla singing was nice and a good change to the tense air that they had been wading around in the past couple of days and if Laura had to make a sacrifice and clean then so be it.
By the time 3am rolled around, the girls ( mostly Laura ) had cleared the main space of the gallery of all the non resident's art from the show and packed them up neatly in the storage room in the back. Carmilla had managed to pack away her pieces, labeling and moving the ones that she sold to Betty's office and the ones she planned on keeping, she packed up and put near the front door so she could take them out to where Laura parked Laf's truck ( Good thinking on her part, honestly what would Carmilla do without her? She'd be stuck making several trips with her Jag at 4am to Laf and Perry's apartment, that's what. ). Together they moved the empty podiums back into storage and Carmilla made sure to get the bare panels back up to the loft.
Carmilla was busy placing the last of the panels against the far wall of the loft, where her easels and art supplies used to sit, when she heard the tiny padpadpad of tiny bare feet running up the stairs. She listened as the padding slowed down and the footsteps got closer. She heard the quiet snicker of Laura a few feet behind her before an ' oof ' and an ' ow ', followed by a quiet ' dammit '. Carmilla couldn't contain her amusement any longer and started laughing as she turned around. She found Laura leaning against the wall with one hand and holding her foot with the other, her face scrunched up in pain and disappointment.
"You're about as stealthy as a herd of elephants stampeding across bubble wrap, Cutie."
Laura looked up at Carmilla's voice and stuck her tongue out which only caused Carmilla's laughs to turn into a low chuckle and a small smile form on her lips at the ridiculous human in front of her.
"Jerk...face...meaniehead."
Carmilla's smile grew into a smirk at Laura's efforts to come up with a promising insult and failing miserably.
"Jerkface meaniehead, huh?"
"Shut up."
Carmilla took a step toward Laura, her face bearing an innocent smile, but the look in her eyes was anything but.
"Make me."
Carmilla had lowered her voice as she got closer. She watched as Laura's eyes grew twice their size and laughed when Laura cleared her throat, trying to compose herself. She narrowed her eyes, her voice not at all threatening and coming out shaky and weak.
"Don't tempt me, Karnstein."
Carmilla reached out her hand and grabbed a piece of Laura's hair, wrapping it around her finger. Laura watched her movements, eyes wide, and visibly gulped. Carmilla leaned forward so her mouth was just below Laura's ear, her lips ghosting the soft skin of Laura's neck.
"Oh, but that's exactly what I was doing... Hollis ."
Carmilla let out a breathy laugh when she felt Laura shiver underneath her. She placed a light kiss to Laura's pulse point and could feel goosebumps form on the girl's skin. Carmilla paid close attention as Laura's breathing started to pick up, a small smirk growing on Carmilla's face. Laura's eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted when Carmilla pressed a line of kisses down the girl's jaw, causing her breath to hitch. Before she could go any lower than Laura's collarbone, though, Laura placed a hand to her chest and gently pushed Carmilla back from her neck. Carmilla silently relished in her small victory, but it didn't take long before the sight of Laura so wound up began to affect Carmilla.
"S-slow down, Lady Killer."
Laura's voice came out as a strained whisper that caused a trail of heat to pool in the pit of Carmilla's stomach. Carmilla's voice came out as more of a low growl when she spoke next.
"I don't know if I can do slower, Cupcake, this is already killing me."
" Fuck ."
Laura bunched up Carmilla's shirt in her fist, where her hand was still on Carmilla's chest, and pulled her closer, every last bit of restraint leaving her body as their lips sloppily found each other's before Laura backed Carmilla into the wall next to them, Laura's stubbed toe forgotten. Carmilla's hands found their way to Laura's hair, her fingers tangling in the golden locks at the back of Laura's head, as Laura's lips left bruises on Carmilla's neck. She let her head fall back against the wall with a low moan when Laura's mouth landed on the soft spot of her neck and she began to suck and nip at the sensitive skin. Carmilla halted the path of destruction by trailing her hands down Laura's back to her waist and began bunching up the fabric of Laura's dress, causing the smaller girl to gasp. Carmilla grabbed the back of Laura's thighs in a swift movement, lifting her up, eliciting a small squeak. Carmilla laughed as her mouth found Laura's and she switched their positions, pushing Laura against the wall. When Laura's back hit the cool plaster, she couldn't help the involuntary moan that escaped her throat as Carmilla's tongue slipped past her lips.
Compared to the last time they had sex in the loft, this time it was almost as if time slowed down. It started heated and full of want and need and passion, similar to the last time, but as things progressed it all slowed. They took their time re exploring each other's bodies, re discovering each other's weaknesses and secret blemishes that could only be found if they looked hard enough.
And Carmilla did.
It had been entirely too long since she had the chance to map out every freckle, every mole, every birthmark and scar on Laura's body and she took advantage of the time they had. She memorized every mark on Laura's skin with her lips, her fingertips, paying extra attention to Carmilla's favorite mole on Laura's stomach and every scar that Carmilla knew Laura hated looking at. Every mark she knew of and every one that was new to her. She asked Laura about every scar, even the one's she was there for, if only as an excuse to hear to her voice. Most of the smaller scars, Laura had forgotten the story behind, but the few that stood out, she remembered the stories like she remembered her birthdate.
"What's this one?"
Carmilla was gently tracing a caterpillar-sized bump on Laura's kneecap. Laura's bare back was pressed against Carmilla's front; they couldn't have been any closer if they tried. Carmilla had the fingers of her free hand absentmindedly drawing circles on Laura's stomach, goosebumps rising in its wake, eliciting small shivers from the girl wrapped up in her arms every once in awhile.
"Was it from the accident?"
Laura let out a small laugh at the memory behind the scar and shook her head before leaning back to let her head rest on Carmilla's shoulder, turning so her lips pressed against the hollow of Carmilla's neck and resting her arms over Carmilla's on her stomach. Carmilla sighed at the gesture, her eyes closing as she listened to Laura's story and relaxed further into the wall she was leaning against.
"We were at a family reunion at the cabin in Newfoundland a couple summers ago before Noah was deployed. He and I were running around playing tag with the younger cousins while the parents were drinking by the fire. Noah was it. He was chasing me and I tripped over one of my uncle's stupid dogs and-"
Carmilla smiled, imagining Laura running around with a bunch of kids under the age of 15, that were probably all taller than her by now, and her uncle's large dogs, laughing and having a good time. At least, that's what she hoped, anyway. She couldn't bare to imagine Laura being miserable, especially because of her.
"Was it Brutus?"
Laura laughed because of course it was Brutus and it was somewhat reassuring that Carmilla knew that. Carmilla had only been near the dog a handful of times, but they had become good friends the second Carmilla paid him any attention and treats were involved.
"Duh, that dog doesn't know how big he is, he's such an oaf."
"You would think, considering he's a Great Dane, he'd have a better understanding of where his body was."
"Yeah well, he's 200 pounds of a disaster waiting to happen...and his name is Brutus. We should have all seen that coming."
"Very true." Carmilla smirked. "Not to mention you're not so coordinated yourself."
Laura feigned offense and playfully scoffed, knowing full well she was anything but coordinated.
" Hey , I would have been just fine if I didn't land on a tree root."
"A tree root did this to you? Remind me to chop the tree down at the next reunion."
Laura smiled at the thought of Carmilla actually wanting to spend time around her family. They were pretty accepting of her being queer and when she told them her and Carmilla were a couple, most of her extended family had given her a pat on the back with comments like ' It's about damn time' and ' Oh, we thought you were together already' . But that family reunion, a couple summers ago, when Carmilla wasn't there and they caught wind of what happened between the two of them, they took Laura's side for obvious reasons, not that she mentioned what had happened between them, her family just wasn't stupid and knew something was up. Especially when she would "go to bed" earlier than usual and wouldn't come down for breakfast in the mornings until after everyone else had finished so she wouldn't be badgered with questions about Carmilla.
"Oh, my dad already did, don't worry. That was the first thing he did when he woke up the next morning."
Carmilla chuckled because of course he did. It was just like Harry Hollis to eliminate any threat to his only daughter even if that threat was a tree, never mind the fact that his daughter was playing tag… in the dark.
"Typical Papa Hollis."
Laura closed her eyes, the smile on her face slowly fading as her next words slipped past her lips.
"That was the summer he told us he had cancer."
Carmilla laced her fingers with Laura's, automatically regretting her words. She still wasn't sure of how Laura was going to react to her talking about her father. Especially after the night she cried herself to sleep in Carmilla's arms in the tub at the Ginger's apartment. She knew Laura was keeping a lot of her emotions inside. When her mother died it seemed like she was a lot more of a mess, and although the fact that she was holding so much in scared the shit out of Carmilla, she didn't want to push Laura to talk about anything she didn't feel comfortable talking about. So when the words ' I'm sorry' came out of Carmilla's mouth in barely a whisper, she expected Laura to say something other than ' don't be' . Carmilla just nodded her head before she placed a kiss to Laura's knuckles and turned her attention back to where she left off with Laura's scars, choosing not to push anymore than she already managed to. She traced her fingers down the side of Laura's knee and over a rather large pink line that ran almost half the length of Laura's leg and felt Laura flinch at her touch. She knew this one was from the accident so she didn't ask, but much to her surprise, Laura told her about it anyway without any prompting.
"They had to put screws in my leg and a metal plate to hold the bones together. You should've seen me try and use crutches...I looked like an idiot."
Carmilla knew Laura was trying to hide how she really felt by playing the scar off like it was no big deal that it was etched into her skin as a constant reminder of that night so Carmilla played along. She tried to stifle her amusement from picturing Laura trying to use crutches, but ultimately failed causing a pout to form on Laura's face.
"An adorable idiot."
Laura playfully slapped Carmilla's shoulder, feigning offense.
" Asshole ."
Carmilla chuckled and accentuated each following statement with a kiss to Laura's forehead.
" My adorable idiot. That I love . With my entire being ."
Laura bit her cheek, trying to hide the smile that was slowly making it's way back onto her face and shook her head.
"Flattery will get you nowhere."
Carmilla smirked. She enjoyed the playfulness behind their words and she missed that kind of interaction between the two of them. That was how it was supposed to be. None of that closed off, "fighting", holding back feelings nonsense.
"It got me this far, hasn't it?"
"Nope, that was your impeccable jaw line and sultry demeanor. Or your seduction eyes…Definitely the seduction eyes."
Carmilla shook her head in disbelief and laughed quietly, kissing Laura on the nose causing the girl to scrunch her face up in an adorable pout. Carmilla was settling back into her previous position when she noticed an odd half circle scar on the top of Laura's left foot with the diameter of about a quarter and another, almost elongated triangle shaped, scar on the inside curve of the same foot. Carmilla bumped her foot into Laura's where the scar sat.
"What'd you do there?"
Laura smiled and wiggled her foot, rubbing it against Carmilla's in the process.
"Oh, that's just more evidence of how absolutely graceful I am."
Carmilla barked out a laugh, causing Laura to join in with quiet giggles.
"You're not allowed to laugh at me." Laura warned, waiting for Carmilla to agree. When she felt Carmilla nod against her shoulder while trying to stifle her laughter, Laura just rolled her eyes and continued anyway, knowing it was a lost cause and that Carmilla would laugh whether she wanted her to or not. "The one on the side was from when I stepped on a pair of wedges in my closet and then the other one, I tripped on a stack of 5-gallon buckets in the basement a couple weeks ago. It's still bruised."
Carmilla coughed and cleared her throat, trying to hide her laugh. She could see the hint of a smile on Laura's lips as she elbowed Carmilla in the stomach.
"It was dark, shut up."
Carmilla smirked.
"Maybe you should invest in a flashlight or we need to install floodlights everywhere you go. I'll put that on the list when we get home, after ' hot chocolate ' and before ' shower heads '. Or you know what, I could get you a headlamp with a huge light on it-"
"Jerk."
Laura elbowed Carmilla in the stomach again, she didn't even bother to hide her laughter this time.
When their laughing and teasing died down to a comfortable silence, Laura took hers and Carmilla's joint hands and brought Carmilla's hand up to her side, just under her ribs, running the pad of Carmilla's fingers across the raised skin. Carmilla had noticed the scar before, but didn't say anything about it. It looked too clerical and pristine to be anything but an incision.
"Chest tube. A few of my ribs broke and one of them punctured my lung and it filled with blood."
Carmilla felt her heartbeat pick up in her chest as Laura guided her fingers down the side of her body, to her hip where a soft scar, about four inches in length, protruded from her skin. Carmilla noticed this one too, but just as before, she didn't know if Laura was prepared to share the reason behind it, so she didn't ask.
"The impact of the car hitting the tree, caused my hip to dislocate. They had to fix it surgically."
Carmilla tried to slow her heart back to its normal rate and hoped Laura couldn't hear it beating wildly in her chest, but what Laura told her about that night kept resurfacing to the forefront of her mind and left a nasty taste in her mouth. She couldn't help but think about Laura waking up scared and confused and in pain in a hospital bed. She should've been there, in fact if she had been, Laura would have never felt the need to drive to that part of town and she never would have met that girl and she never would have been pressured into anything she didn't want to do. She never would have gotten behind the wheel. She wouldn't have crashed the car. She wouldn't have the mental and physical scars that she did to remind her everyday of what happened.
Carmilla couldn't help but blame herself. She only wanted to protect Laura when she left that night. Laura never should have seen her like that, drunk and beaten by her mother's hand. It wasn't Carmilla's plan to end up at Laura's house that night, but she didn't know where else to go. Too bad her plan backfired tremendously and too bad her mother was the bitch that she is. Carmilla never really thought about what might have happened if her mother hadn't sent her away. She had planned on keeping her distance from Laura, at least until things died down and the bruises disappeared enough to be covered with makeup, but she knew eventually she would have probably given up on that. Her mother made up the choice for her though and here they are.
"You are so brave, Laura."
Laura shook her head and laughed humorlessly. Carmilla furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
" I crashed the car. I could've seriously hurt someone, Carm. I was high , for Christ's sake."
Carmilla turned her body so that she could see Laura's face.
"Laura, that wasn't your fault-"
"It was my fault when I went back to look for her because I wanted more…"
Laura's voice shook when she spoke. She sounded exhausted. It dawned on Carmilla that maybe Laura still kept in touch with the woman she met. She hoped not, but if someone was desperate enough… She didn't want to think of Laura as one of those people.
"When was the last time-"
"I haven't had any since Laf and Per got involved."
"They know?"
Laura nodded silently. Well that was news to Carmilla. She didn't think Laura and them were that close, but then again, what did she know? She was in Paris for the past three years. Not really having the time of her life ( quite the opposite, actually ), but still, she wasn't here. Where she should have been.
"Noah knows, too. He found out in the hospital and then Laf walked in on me on my mom's- last January."
Carmilla closed her eyes. Last January wasn't that long ago. Less than five months.
"I dumped the last I had down the toilet the night of the Zeta party before you showed up. That's why I was drinking like I was."
Carmilla stayed silent. It made sense. Get over one addiction by starting another. She wasn't saying Laura was an alcoholic or even addicted to the drugs she was getting, but she saw it first hand and before she left, Laura wasn't that avid a drinker. In high school she was barely able to get down a bottle of Smirnoff before she was buzzed.
"I cut ties with the guy I got it from the day we watched Shrek on your couch in your apartment and Will showed up."
"That's why you left early."
Laura nodded before continuing.
"I got a new phone and a new number after he wouldn't leave me alone... and after I found out your mother knew my number."
Carmilla didn't know what to say, so she went with her usual snarky comment, with a touch of sarcasm.
"Maybe I should try that approach."
"It's worked so far."
They were silent for a few minutes as Carmilla took in what Laura had just told her. She wasn't actively using. That was good. But what if she started again? Carmilla didn't know how to deal with that. She didn't know what to do when someone was going through withdrawal. She didn't know what she'd do if Laura started begging her for a fix. She sure as hell didn't know what to do if she were to find some in the house.
"I still get cravings sometimes. Every time I would get one, I used to call Laf or Perry and they would come over immediately and try to distract me. Like yesterday...when you weren't answering your phone and you didn't come back…"
Carmilla's body stiffened and she knew Laura felt it. She was the cause of Laura wanting to fill herself with toxic shit . She opened her mouth to say something , but Laura stopped her with a raised hand before her mind could even come up with anything.
"Before you apologize, don't."
Carmilla nodded her head, closing her mouth. Maybe that's what she was going to do, maybe it wasn't, but she wasn't about to argue.
"I'm so proud of you Laura. You are so strong."
Carmilla wrapped her arms protectively around Laura's shoulders in a warm embrace and placed a kiss to the side of her head. Laura sighed and relaxed into Carmilla's body, her eyes closed. Carmilla tried not to pay attention to the tears hitting her forearm as she placed her chin on Laura's shoulder and started humming to whatever song was playing. There were no lyrics, just a soft, beautiful melody. As Carmilla closed her eyes, she started swaying their bodies in time with the slow rhythm, hoping Laura felt the same comfort as she did in the song.
There was music still coming from the speakers as both girls relished in the other's company. Laura was lying on the floor of the loft, Carmilla's naked body on top of hers. At some point in the early hours of the morning, Laura had decided to switch their positions. A small smile played at the corner of Carmilla's lips as she focused on the rise and fall of Laura's chest underneath her cheek and Laura's fingers running through her hair. Their breathing was slow and even and matched the rate of their heartbeats as they drifted in and out of a light sleep after their heavy conversation earlier.
The air was a lot lighter and Carmilla was close to falling into a deep sleep when Laura's hand stilled on her head. She groaned at the loss of fingers on her scalp, but couldn't help herself when Laura's stomach growled in her ear and she laughed. So much for getting any sleep. Carmilla propped herself up on her elbows over Laura and kissed her nose when she saw the slight blush on Laura's cheeks and her sheepish expression.
"Sorry."
Carmilla shook her head, smiling, and leaned down to plant her lips over Laura's, causing a satisfied sigh to escape Laura's mouth just as her stomach growled again, this time louder. Carmilla laughed into the kiss and she had to pull away because she was smiling so big she couldn't even kiss properly. She stared down at the soft brown orbs looking back up at her and spoke her next words softly, as if speaking any louder would ruin the moment.
"There's a 24-hour diner down the street. Best chocolate chip pancakes in town."
Carmilla watched as Laura's eyes lit up at the mention of food and kissed her on the nose again with a smile. She was too adorable.
"Yes, please."
Carmilla smirked and lifted herself off of Laura, but not before leaning down to press a quick kiss to her lips.
"I'll go get us a change of clothes and then we can go."
After removing herself from the warmth of Laura's body, Carmilla made her way over to the pile of her clothes and Laura's dress that they left on the floor near the back wall of the loft in their efforts to get out of them as quickly as possible. Carmilla slipped into her underwear and pulled on her pair of dark jeans before throwing on her bra and the shirt she stole from Laura's suitcase earlier that evening over her head and grabbing her keys. She glanced back at Laura, finding the girl propped up by her elbows and a shy smile on her face. Carmilla returned the smile without much resistance. Beautiful , Carmilla thought, this girl is truly beautiful . She almost didn't want to leave and just take her clothes off again and return to the girl on the floor, but the sound of Laura's stomach growling a third time, shook her from her thoughts and she made her way down the loft stairs and across the main gallery's showroom and out to the street where her car was parked.
In her trunk, Carmilla found a pair of black basketball shorts, that were probably Will's at one point, a hoodie with the Silas Devil's baseball team's logo on the front and Will's jersey number on the back under the last name, Luce , an old, ratted t shirt that she used to paint in, and an extra pair of her running shoes that she kept in her car just in case she didn't have her duffle bag with her and she needed to clear her head with a few miles and concrete under her feet. She figured Laura wouldn't want to wear her dress to a hole in the wall diner, so she grabbed everything and made her way back into the gallery and up to the loft where she found Laura exactly where she left her.
Laura immediately grabbed the basketball shorts and hoodie and found out shortly after that both practically swallowed her whole. Carmilla had laughed and shook her head at the hot mess of a girl in front of her and silently slipped out of her jeans and handed them to Laura before gently removing the shorts from around Laura's waist before stepping into them herself. Laura had thankfully worn flats to the gallery and opted to wear those, which left Carmilla with her running shoes. She didn't really want to walk around in a pair of heels and basketball shorts. If Mattie caught wind of that , she'd probably have a stroke.
After changing into the paint shirt and slipping on her jacket, Carmilla made sure to grab the rest of their clothes and after placing her hand in Laura's, the two made their way out to where Carmilla's car was parked. Carmilla made sure to lock the gallery door behind them and threw hers and Laura's clothes into the trunk while Laura made herself comfortable in the passenger seat, both girls opting to load Lafontaine's truck with Carmilla's paintings after they filled their stomachs with greasy breakfast food and coffee, or hot chocolate and pancakes, in Laura's case.
When Laura and Carmilla arrived at the small building, less than 10 minutes later. Laura was skeptical. It looked like a shack, if anything, but Carmilla swore that the pancakes were to die for and she wasn't about to pass up on the opportunity to get breakfast with Carmilla, especially now that she could without there being any emotional repercussions. Carmilla pulled up to a yellow parking curb in the gravel lot and quickly got out of the car, making her way to the passenger side so she could open the door for Laura.
"Such a gentlewoman."
Laura smiled up at her as Carmilla smirked and grabbed Laura's hand, lifting her out of the car with an exaggerated mock bow.
"Only for you, my love ."
Laura blushed and rolled her eyes before she placed a small kiss to the corner of Carmilla's mouth as she shut the door behind her. Carmilla led the way into the building, a bell going off when she opened the door and held it open for Laura to walk through. A woman about their age welcomed them at the door with a tired smile and told them to sit wherever they wanted. Carmilla took Laura's hand in hers and started leading them to one of the booths in the back of the diner, but was forced to stop and turn around when Laura halted in her tracks and her hand gripped Carmilla's bicep harshly.
Damn that woman was stronger than she looked.
"Um...you know what, Carm? I'm not that hungry anymore. We can just eat something at Laf and Perry's before we hit the road."
Laura sounded nervous. Her voice was shaky and she was talking low like she didn't want anyone else to hear their conversation or draw attention, which didn't really make sense to Carmilla because they were just talking about getting food. It's not like they were planning some huge conspiracy.
"What? What do you mean you're not hungry?"
Laura's grip on Carmilla's arm tightened and her voice continued to grow more panicked and impatient.
"I'm just not hungry anymore. Can we go?"
Carmilla was simply confused. She raised an eyebrow at the girl clinging to her. Laura was trying to keep her voice calm so she wouldn't draw attention to herself, but there were only two other people in the establishment.
"I'm starving. It won't take that long, there's hardly anyone here."
Carmilla watched as Laura's face grew impossibly more pale, her eyes darting around nervously and Carmilla could feel the sweat from Laura's palm warming her arm where it was wrapped in a vice grip.
"Could you maybe get it to-go, then? I'll wait in the car."
Laura turned to head in the opposite direction Carmilla had been leading them, but Carmilla's voice could probably be heard from the sidewalk outside when she called out to Laura and managed to grab ahold of her wrist.
"Laura, wait! What's wrong? Five minutes ago you were practically running to the door so you could get chocolate chip pancakes."
So much for trying not to draw attention.
Laura cringed at how loud her voice seemed in the tiny building and tried to get Carmilla to calm down, hoping they didn't get the attention of the familiar customer in the booth at the back of the diner, who had his back to them. She stepped in front of Carmilla, Laura's back to the booth where the man was seated. She put her hands firmly on Carmilla's stomach and gently tried to coax her back to the front door, her eyes pleading for Carmilla to understand.
"Please, can we just-"
" Hollis ?! No way."
" Shit ."
Laura's stomach dropped. Carmilla's eyes locked with the figure's in the back booth, who had since turned around, and her eyebrows furrowed as Laura stood stock still. Carmilla's eyes slowly drifted down to catch the slight panic in Laura's eyes before she slowly turned around and the man clumsily got up from the booth and made his way over to them, a sick, lopsided smile on his face. Carmilla's heart leapt into her throat. She didn't like this. She didn't like this at all.
The man was wearing a black oversized hoodie with the hood up, dark jeans, and he had on a pair of black combat boots that looked fairly new, in contrast to the rest of his outfit which looked like he had been wearing the same outfit for days. The dark circles under his eyes indicated that he probably had. Underneath the hood, shaggy, dark hair stuck out at odd angles and fell in front of his eyes. He had multiple piercings in his ears, and nose. The hint of a dark tribal-like tattoo peaked out from underneath the hoodie and snaked it's way from his chest, up the side of his neck, disappearing behind his right ear and ended just to the side of his right eye. His skin was pale, his face sporting a five o'clock shadow, and his eyes were glossy and far away. He stood over a foot above the girls' heads, when he wasn't slouched against the booths to his right. The sleeves of his hoodie were pushed up to just below his elbows, revealing a set of muscled, and heavily tattooed arms. He had a ring on the middle finger of his right hand that looked like it hurt if anyone were to make contact with it.
"Haven't heard from you in awhile, Hollis. You haven't been returning my phone calls. Find a new supplier already?"
Laura wrung her hands nervously together behind her back where only Carmilla could see and tried to make her smile as believable as she could as she locked eyes with the man who had been selling to her for almost three years. She hadn't bought anything in months and was scared what he would do. Terrified actually. She once watched him pull a knife on someone when they expected a freebie. He didn't actually stab them, but she could see it in his eyes that he would if he thought he needed to. Right now, though, she couldn't read him at all. His eyes were glossy and half lidded, his smile was too big for comfort, and he was standing just inside Laura's personal bubble.
"Fish. Hey. No, um...I actually-" Laura caught a whiff of his breath and took a step back, stumbling into Carmilla. Fish just laughed, causing the hairs on the back of Carmilla's neck to stand up. "Are you drunk?"
Carmilla instinctively brought a hand out in front of Laura, Fish's chest running into it as he took a step forward to follow Laura. Carmilla eyed the man carefully, not trusting him at all.
"Hey, man, back off."
"Who's this?"
Fish swatted Carmilla's hand away and straightened out his back, puffing out his chest. His eyes found Carmilla's and she was practically snarling at him. Laura swallowed thickly and before she could stop herself, two words escaped past her lips.
"My girlfriend."
Fish's eyes widened for just a second before he scoffed and he turned his attention back to Laura. His eyes raked over her body in a way that made Carmilla's skin crawl. She almost ripped his throat out right there. How dare he.
"You're gay ? Wow, Hollis, didn't really pick you as a carpet muncher . Fucking faggots ."
That was it. Carmilla shoved the man's chest. Hard. He had a good few inches on her, but she wasn't trashed and she was used to fighting people taller than her. He barely stumbled back though, catching his footing before he went anywhere. Like the floor, which was where Carmilla had hoped he'd end up. Carmilla's palms started to itch. It was a familiar feeling when she was in the ring. She got it when she was waiting for her opponent to punch her so she could hit back. Except now, she wasn't sure she wanted to wait that long.
"You need to leave. Now ."
Carmilla growled the last word through gritted teeth as she slowly took a step forward, putting herself between Laura and the man. He scoffed again and Carmilla's arm almost involuntarily reared back, but she stopped herself. For whatever reason, she didn't know.
" I need to leave? I believe I was here first. Why don't you take you and your dyke -"
And that was all it took for Carmilla to give up on trying to hold herself back, for Laura's sake. Laura didn't even have time to blink before Carmilla's hand connected with the man's face and there was blood pouring from his nose and down his chin and soaking into the fabric of the white t shirt under his hoodie. The man's hand went instinctively to his face and he stumbled back, knocking into a nearby booth before landing with a thud on the ground, his expression that of complete shock. Carmilla shook her hand out at her side, wincing slightly as she tested how damaged her knuckles were. She didn't bother glancing down at them to know she broke skin, she could feel the familiar pull of a split knuckle where her hand connected with the diamond stud that pierced through the man's right nostril. Carmilla took Laura's wrist in her non injured hand and started making her way to the front door.
"It's too early for this shit."
Carmilla grumbled. Laura squeezed Carmilla's hand in hers after lacing their fingers together and muttered a ' sorry ' to the blonde woman in a mustard yellow uniform and black jeans, standing wide eyed at the counter where they had come in at. Laura took the lead and dragged Carmilla out into the gravel parking lot in front of the small trailer sized establishment, only stopping when they made it to Carmilla's car parked in the middle of the lot. Carmilla leaned against the driver's side of the Jaguar and let Laura take her left hand gently in both of hers. Carmilla closed her eyes and let her head fall back, while she tried to calm her breathing down.
She was fuming. She had no idea who that man was, but he knew Laura. Obviously not very well, he didn't even know she was into women. Unless he was just insanely unobservant because Laura was not subtle at all. Ever. Especially when it came to someone she had an interest in. Laura was terrified of him. It wouldn't take a genius to notice that. But he still knew her and they had a past and Carmilla didn't know how to feel about that.
Carmilla was brought out of her short inner monologue when she felt a warm hand on her cheek. She slowly opened her eyes and found Laura looking at her intently, her eyes filled with emotion.
"He was my dealer."
Laura's voice was small as she felt more than saw, Carmilla's jaw clench. She started running her thumb along Carmilla's cheek trying to calm her down. Laura could see how pissed she was in her eyes.
"Laura, if he found out while you were still buying from him...What if he hurt you?"
Carmilla looked like she was in pain. Her eyebrows were knitted together and she was trying to hide her clenched fists from Laura.
"Carm, he didn't. I'm fine. He never laid a hand on me, and even if he did, one punch to the throat and a kick between the legs and he'd be on the ground in three seconds flat. I can take care of myself. You know that."
Carmilla let a small smile curl her lips up because she did know that. She's witnessed it first hand and the move was effective to say the least. Laura's hand was still cupping her cheek, the other resting on her shoulder. Laura's face was inches from her's, their noses nearly touching.
"I do know, you're like this ball of rage stuck in a tiny human. You even scare me sometimes. I don't know how you're not lashing out every chance you get."
Laura giggled at that, inching her face closer to Carmilla's, their lips touching slightly.
"That's what the yoga's for, Babe."
Carmilla smirked and raised an eyebrow, welcoming the suddenly light and playful mood. She placed her right hand in the back pocket of her jeans that Laura was wearing and squeezed before putting on her most innocent expression.
"You sure the yoga isn't for this?"
Laura laughed and closed the distance between them, mumbling a ' that too ' against Carmilla's lips. Their moment didn't last long, though, when the sound of the diner's bell rung out across the parking lot. Laura's body immediately stiffened and her hands dropped from Carmilla's shoulders, where they had landed during their kiss, to the space between them, her eyes doing the same. Carmilla's body automatically straightened and her features hardened, ready to continue a fight and step between Laura and the man she called Fish , if she needed to, but her face instantly relaxed again when she saw that it was just the woman that had greeted them when they first stepped foot through the door of the diner. Laura turned around as soon as Carmilla relaxed, curious as to why. The blonde from the diner was walking toward them with purpose, carrying two plastic bags in one hand and a jacket in the other. She looked pissed.
"Hey! Thank God you two are still here. I wanted to apologize for that guy. What a piece of shit." The woman scoffed and shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I heard you talking about the pancakes and thought I'd bring you some. There's syrup and some forks and stuff in the bags and I made you some coffees to go and there's some leftovers that my dad insisted on. I really am sorry. That guy won't be allowed here anymore."
The smile on Laura's face practically cracked her face in two. She didn't know what to say, she was too excited. She was expecting to be yelled at for Carmilla punching a guy out in the restaurant, not food.
"I-wow, thank you so much, you really didn't need to do that!"
The woman smiled at Laura and her eyes flicked to Carmilla's before falling to land on her already bruised and bleeding hand. Carmilla stuck her hands in the pockets of her basketball shorts and looked over at Laura at her side who was looking in one of the bags of food. The woman's eyes found Laura's again before she started talking.
"It was my pleasure, really. My dad owns the place and trust me, he'd much rather give you guys a free meal than serve that douchecanoe."
Laura's head snapped up at the word ' free ', one of her eyebrows raising to the middle of her forehead.
"Wait, free ?"
The woman nodded her head and waved her hand in the air, dismissively.
"Absolutely! Don't worry about it, honestly."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! It's a few pancakes and some coffee, really, it's our pleasure."
Laura smiled and was practically buzzing with excitement.
"Well, at least take a tip!"
Laura turned to Carmilla expectantly before the woman could refuse. Carmilla just laughed.
"Makin' me pay for the date, huh?"
Laura rolled her eyes and playfully slapped Carmilla on the shoulder, trying to hide the blush that formed on her cheeks at the word date .
"I left my wallet in Laf's truck."
"Kidding, Cupcake."
Carmilla pulled out a five dollar bill and tucked a few twenties into it before folding the bills so the woman wouldn't see them and placed them in the woman's hand with a small ' thank you '. The woman smiled and wished them a good night before she pulled on her jacket that had been previously hung over her arm and tucked the bills inside the front pocket without looking at them. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter and walked back to the building before lighting up. Laura waited until the woman was out of earshot before she squealed with delight and turned to face Carmilla, grabbing her hand.
"Come on! We don't want these to get cold!"
Carmilla rolled her eyes, but she was smiling when she took the bags from Laura and lead her over to the passenger side of the car. She unlocked the car and opened the passenger door for Laura, making sure she was all the way in the car before handing her the bags and gently shutting the door. Carmilla made her way over to the driver side and as she was settling herself into the driver's seat, she caught a glimpse of the man leaving the diner holding a blood stained tissue under his nose through her tinted windows. His shoulders were hunched and he wore a scowl on his face as he walked in the opposite direction of the woman by the front door and continued down the street toward the edge of town, away from them.
Back at the gallery, Carmilla helped Laura load the truck with her paintings before they drove back separately to Laf and Perry's, with Carmilla driving with the food in her passenger seat after leaving her spare key in Betty's desk. She didn't trust Laura not to eat all the food before they got to the apartment and she was starving. She couldn't risk it.
Lafontaine and Perry were sleeping when they eventually made it back to the apartment, but that was to be expected. The sun wasn't even up yet. Carmilla settled into a seat at the table as she placed the take out bags down and Laura immediately started removing the contents of the bags the second they touched the table's surface. She looked like a child on Christmas day, the way she was tearing into the plastic bags and Carmilla couldn't help but laugh as she took whatever Laura handed to her, arranging them accordingly so they would both be able to get to them. Laura only slowed down when she got to the coffees and made a disgusted face before handing both of them to Carmilla, causing Carmilla to laugh again.
Laura was in the middle of eating her third chocolate chip pancake, while Carmilla was finishing up her eggs when she remembered a certain word used that started this whole ordeal in the first place. She gently placed her fork down on the table and wiped her mouth with a nearby napkin before clearing her throat and smirking at the blonde across the table from her. Laura looked up when Carmilla had cleared her throat and was watching her with a mouthful of pancake as Carmilla rested her chin in her hand.
"So, girlfriend, huh?"
With a quick call to Mattie and a quick stop at her company's airfield, the rest of Carmilla's stuff from the gallery and all of her paintings were safely on their way back to the house and the only thing Carmilla brought with them in her car was stuff for the dogs and the suitcases. It was a comfortable ride home, for the most part.
With Laura in the driver's seat and Carmilla in the passenger seat with both dogs on a blanket at her feet, the only thing running through her mind was that she should not have let Laura drive them home. It didn't matter that she was exhausted and had gotten, maybe , two hours of sleep, Carmilla was ready to feed some assholes their own spleens, even if doing so used up every last bit of energy she had.
Laura was the most careful driver Carmilla had ever seen. She was practically a driving instructor's saving grace. She followed all traffic rules, including stopping completely at every stop sign and looking both ways twice . She even sat at full attention, hands at 9 and 3 and Carmilla watched her check her mirrors, excessively , every 30 seconds. Carmilla counted.
Of course there was good reason for her being the world's most cautious driver, but come on, they could only be honked at so many times for driving 5 under the speed limit and Carmilla could only flip so many people off before she wanted to just walk the rest of the way, which she might as well have done because it took the same amount of time for Laura to drive them back that it would have taken for her to walk ( that might be a slight exaggeration, but only a slight one ). Instead of walking ( or ripping out spleens ), she turned up Laura's shitty pop music to drown out the honking, reclined her seat until it touched the seats in the back, pulled her aviators over her eyes, and settled in with a book for the longest 13 hours of her life.
They still made sure to stop every few hours so the dogs could go to the bathroom, but instead of every two hours, Carmilla made Laura stop every three. They didn't stop for snacks because Perry made enough brownies and cookies to last a lifetime and packed sandwiches in a small cooler for their lunch and they had enough bottles of water to survive an apocalypse, let alone the supposed almost 10 hour drive. The dogs were kept busy with homemade biscuits as well as a bunch of new toys that Lafontaine bought them claiming the pups would be bored to death if Laura drove and they were left with Carmilla to entertain them, which was mostly true, Carmilla wouldn't deny that.
They were less than three hours away from their home and were just about to make their last dog pit stop for the trip when shit hit the fan. Or rather, racoon hit the bumper.
Both girls were exhausted and the dogs were already asleep at Carmilla's feet. Carmilla was well into her second book when she was interrupted by an ear piercing shriek followed by a thump, a shrill ' Oh my God ' and the car coming to a complete stop in the middle of a deserted back road.
"What the frilly hell are you doing?!"
"I'm sorry! I just- I think I- There was a raccoon!"
There were unshed tears in Laura's eyes as she sat ramrod straight, her eyes glued to the road in front of her and her knuckles turning white where her hands were gripping the steering wheel. Carmilla sighed and slowly put the car in park before leaning over Laura to the other side of the steering wheel to turn her brights on. She folded the corner of the page she was on in her book and placed it in the back seat before untangling herself from the blanket she had covered herself in and making sure the dogs weren't going to escape when she opened the door. They woke up with all the commotion and she didn't feel like chasing two dogs around in the dark and dealing with a possible dead raccoon.
"Open the trunk."
Laura turned to her and her eyes widened, almost comically.
"What? Why?"
Carmilla didn't really want to explain to Laura that she had a baseball bat back there and if the raccoon wasn't actually dead, but halfway there, then she'd need to- yeah, do something about that.
"Come on, the buttons on the left side."
Laura looked down and hit the button after searching for it for a few seconds. Carmilla's hand was on the door handle and she was about to open the door when she felt Laura's hand grasp her bicep.
"Carm, what if I killed it? Oh, God…What if-"
Carmilla sighed and refrained from rolling her eyes because it was just a damn raccoon and she was exhausted and not in the mood for this, but she saw the tears in Laura's eyes and she couldn't bring herself to make fun of her.
"Laur, I'm sure it's fine, raccoons have thick skulls, I'm sure it just got a little confused."
She highly doubted either of what she just said was true, but the look on Laura's face when she started nodding and released her grip on Carmilla's arm was that of hope and Carmilla didn't have the heart to tell her the raccoon was probably dead and she'd need to push it to the side of the rode so they could continue driving, or worse, not dead and she'd need to hit it to get it there.
As soon as Carmilla was free of Laura's grip, she carefully exited the car and made her way quickly to the trunk. The baseball bat was at the back of her trunk behind both of their suitcases and she picked it up and kept it hidden behind her leg as she made her way to the driver's side window where Laura was slumped over, her bottom lip quivering. Carmilla knocked lightly on the window, making the smaller girl jump, but she rolled down the window anyway and looked up at Carmilla with sad doe eyes.
"Hey, close your eyes and don't open them until I get back in the car, okay?"
Laura furrowed her eyebrows but did as she was told after nodding her head and rolling up the window. After making sure Laura wasn't watching, Carmilla made her way to the front of the car where she found a dent in her front bumper and a large raccoon lying in front of her car, it's eyes open, blinking slowly, but there was no blood.
Dammit , she thought.
"You couldn't have just died?"
Carmilla moved so she was standing a little further back from the raccoon and poked it in the side with the end of her baseball bat. It hissed at her and she let out a small yelp, jumping back.
Fucking bastard.
She was trying to psyche herself up to put it out of it's misery when the raccoon suddenly jumped to it's feet and hissed at her again.
Oh hell no, you little shit.
Carmilla backed up again and raised her hands in front of her, palms out, as if to say she surrendered, then realized what she was doing and rolled her eyes at herself before lowering her hands and slowly tried to make her way back to the trunk of her car. The raccoon followed her movements with it's eyes and she narrowed her eyes and hissed at it when it made no move to get out of the way of her car. The raccoon hissed back and she jumped, her eyes going wide and ran around to the driver's side. Looking back, she didn't see the raccoon following her and she quickly threw the bat in the trunk and slammed the lid shut before walking swiftly to the driver's side of the car again. She tapped on the glass a few times and Laura's eyes shot open before she realized what was going on and rolled down the window.
"I'll drive, scoot over."
Again, Laura furrowed her eyebrows, but didn't ask any questions and maneuvered herself into the passenger seat before Carmilla quickly climbed into the car and backed up to make sure the thing moved. It wasn't there, instead she caught sight of a set of beady yellow eyes in the ditch to the right of her car and she glared out the window at them before putting the car back in drive and speeding off down the road. She caught a glimpse of a smile on Laura's lips and knew the girl's happiness was more important than her dignity at that point so she didn't say anything. She knew Laura had heard her, she might have even watched the whole thing go down, but she didn't really care, at least there was a smile on her face and the tears that had been in her eyes were dried up.
They didn't end up stopping to let the dogs out, having forgotten after Carmilla's embarrassing encounter with the raccoon and Laura falling asleep shortly after. Carmilla only found out that one of them had an accident after she managed to carry Laura through the front door of their house, up the basement stairs and into the room she was supposed to be sleeping in and placed her in her bed. She felt a wet spot on the blanket she had thrown to the floor of the car in her haste to get the raccoon out of the way, only, she was too tired to give a shit and just threw the blanket in the garbage after she let the dogs out and put them away for the night. She fell asleep seconds after landing face first on Laura's mattress and into her yellow pillow, not bothering to change clothes or even unpack the car, but instead curling up next to her girlfriend and choosing to deal with it tomorrow. That seemed like a much better idea anyway.