le 22 avril
Carmilla hated packing, but she absolutely loathed unpacking. The only thing making the seemingly asinine feat doable, was Laura dancing to "American Woman" in a loose grey tank top and a pair of Harry Potter boxer shorts. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun on top of her head and she had a can of Grape Soda in her hand and a goofy smile on her face as she belted out the words to the song at Doc who ran in circles around her feet. Carmilla was nursing a beer and occasionally yelled out the lyrics to the parody, "Canadian Woman" instead, leaving Laura in a fit of giggles and Carmilla with a huge smile on her face every time, without fail.
Carmilla had to admit that life was good. Life was going well. She had the girl of her dreams, she was happy, her girl was happy. Up until then, the road was bumpy, but she didn't think she'd take any of it back. They were closer now than they ever had been and that feeling was new, but not unwelcomed. She felt like she knew Laura, but in a different way than she did growing up. Back then, it had been slow and steady and neither girl was sure whether they wanted to risk their friendship for a less platonic relationship. Of course they had, when they got together after prom, but they were only together for a few months before Carmilla was forced to leave, forcing a gorge the size of the Grand Canyon between them. But they took the leap, met each other halfway and now, here they were, living together as a couple, with two dogs that might as well be considered the equivalent of toddlers and doing adult things.
When the song ended, a new one began. One that neither girl had heard in years, mostly because they refused to listen to it. And for good reason. It was their song. "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls.
The beginning chords drawn from the guitar made Carmilla's smile fall from her face almost immediately. She quickly got up from her spot on the floor, sliding Finn from her lap and onto the carpeting underneath her and went to go change the song, but before she could even get up to her full height, Laura grabbed her wrist and held her in place.
"Leave it on." Laura's voice was soft when she spoke. Carmilla was slightly surprised, she didn't think Laura would be okay with it, after everything.
"Really?"
"It's a good song," Laura shrugged.
"It doesn't bring up bad memories?" Carmilla's voice didn't sound her own. It was small and full of guilt, but Laura was smiling softly at her and had intertwined their fingers and Carmilla instantly relaxed, the guilt washing away with her anxiety.
"Of course, but it also makes me remember all the good ones."
Carmilla nodded, her eyes locked with Laura's. She knew what Laura meant, she didn't have to ask which memories she was referring to. Carmilla cleared her throat and held out her free hand, taking Laura's half-full pop can and placing it on the coffee table next to them before she took Laura's now free hand and guided Laura's arms around to the back of her neck.
"Well, in that case... may I have this dance, Miss Hollis?" Carmilla smirked, making Laura giggle before she nodded politely.
"You may, Miss Karnstein."
They danced like that for a while, swaying gently back and forth with Laura's hands locked behind Carmilla's neck, massaging the muscle there with her thumbs, Carmilla's hands gripping Laura's hips, her thumbs drawing small circles on the soft, exposed skin where Laura's tank top had ridden up. Their foreheads were together, eyes closed, just breathing each other in and enjoying each other's presence in the other's arms. When the song picked up, Carmilla made sure to gently twirl Laura in front of her before bringing her back to her chest. Laura let her arms fall to Carmilla's shoulders then slowly down her chest where she tucked them in between her and Carmilla's bodies. Carmilla hugged her closer, her hands gripping the back of Laura's tank top as Laura's hands bunched Carmilla's hoodie in her fist where she held it, letting her head fall to rest on Carmilla's chest, over her heart. They didn't hear the song change to "Sink or Swim" by Lewis Watson, or "Saturn" by Sleeping at Last. They didn't care about the mess they made on the floor where several boxes were torn open, their contents haphazardly placed onto the carpet around them. They were focused solely on each other. The only thing that forced them out of their trance, was the incessant barking of Finn at the basement stairs because he had to go out.
It took a while, but Carmilla eventually got Finn to listen to her for the most part and she even taught him a few commands without having a fit. Doc was a natural when it came to learning and it was much less stressful teaching him things like stay or roll over, or how to ring the bell Carmilla tied to the basement doorknob and quietly sit by the door if he needed to go to the bathroom. Finn got the door part, but still didn't quite get the concept of not barking, or ringing the bell for that matter.
Carmilla groaned when Finn barked again and this time jumped up to scratch at the basement door. She reluctantly let go of Laura before the pup could do any real damage, but not before smiling down at her girlfriend and placing a gentle kiss to her hairline. While Carmilla let the dogs out, Laura went back to unpacking, this time to the sounds of Amy Winehouse. She moved the last of the empty boxes over to the growing pile by the front door to make room for the last couple of full boxes before she grabbed her father's pocket knife and carefully cut the tape on the small box she sat in front of her. It was a box her brother dropped off from their childhood home, filled with things from her old bedroom. She laughed, having an idea as to what would be in it.
She was right. The box was filled with stacks of countless pictures from elementary school, high school, early college years, and the summers in between, some in frames, others simply held together by rubber bands. There were yearbooks dating back to preschool under her high school graduation cap and gown that was folded around her multicolored cords and framed awards. Shoved into a corner was her old soccer uniform and cleats covering a signed jersey with her number '13' on it from when she scored the game winning goal and Carmilla's dad made everyone on the team sign her jersey for her. Carmilla's name was written the largest, under her own and in the center, as if it was the only name that mattered. To Laura, it was.
Lying at the bottom of the box, were copies of every school newspaper that she was published in and thrown amongst the chaos were pieces Laura's old camera that she threw against the wall in her bedroom and destroyed in a blind rage barely a month after Carmilla left. She placed that off to the side, knowing she should throw it away, but not being able to just yet. The last thing in the box was a blanket that her mother knit herself while she was pregnant with Laura, made with scrap pieces of yarn that were coming unraveled in some places. For years, its home was the foot of her bed or the back of the rocking chair in the corner of her bedroom.
Carmilla came back up the stairs with the two pups in her arms to find Laura sitting on the couch, her old blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and going through piles of pictures from a box on the floor.
"What are those?"
Laura looked up at the sound of Carmilla's voice and laughed sadly.
"Pictures from high school. I forgot I had all of these. My dad never missed an opportunity to document something, that's for sure."
Carmilla sat down next to Laura on the couch and placed Doc into Laura's lap before lying Finn down in hers with a chew toy and grabbed a stack of photos from Laura's offering hand. She began to flip through them. A lot were from their senior trip, when they went on a cruise to the Bahamas with Mr. Hollis and Noah. Her and Laura stayed in their own room on the ship next to Mr. Hollis' and Noah's room and ate ice cream after midnight most nights when Laura's dad was already asleep. One day, early in the trip, Laura got seasick and Mr. Hollis gave her something to settle her stomach that knocked her out for nearly 18 hours. Carmilla managed to get a picture of her sleeping in their shared bed, her mouth wide open, hair splayed out all over the pillow, and snoring quietly. Carmilla spent a majority of that day in the library playing chess with a man that could've been considered her grandfather and reading the ship's collection of books. On the last day of the trip, Carmilla fell asleep lying out by the pool on the back deck of the ship and her back got so burnt that she looked like she'd have been able to blend in with a pod of lobsters. Laura made sure to get a picture of that. Most of the pictures were of the two of them together or individually, some with Noah or Mr. Hollis, but mostly it was just the two of them being carefree and young. In the same stack, there were photos from prom and their high school graduation.
The pile of pictures Laura was looking through were all from the class that she took with Carmilla the summer after they graduated. A majority of the photos were all black and white candid shots of the girl that was currently sitting to her right. There were a few shots of the forest near their elementary school and the playground before it was rebuilt after she went off to college. Some were of her dad in his uniform, or sitting in his recliner in the living room with a beer in one hand and the television remote in the other, laughing at whatever stupid joke was said. There were a few of Noah and the Hollis family at their cabin in Newfoundland, secluded by snow covered trees. She even kept the film that Carmilla left undeveloped in the back room of the classroom. She never looked at it and instead, left the film in an envelope, thinking it'd be a breach of privacy if she were to develop them herself or simply hold the roll up to a light and look out of curiosity.
"We were so young," Laura murmured, mostly to herself, but Carmilla still heard.
"We were 17, Cupcake. I would hope we've grown up since then," Carmilla tried to joke. Laura lightly slapped her arm.
"You know what I mean." Carmilla simply nodded her head with a slight smile and continued flipping through the stack of photos in her hands from graduation. She stopped on a picture of her and Laura outside the church they graduated in. Laura was on her back, one of her arms wrapped tightly around Carmilla's neck, while the other was held high in the air, holding her graduation cap, her head back, eyes closed, and mouth open in a silent laugh. Carmilla had one arm underneath the girl on her back and one holding her graduation cap on her head, her attention focused on Laura above her, a wide smile on her face. Then she remembered the box she brought back with her from her mother's house.
"Wait. This reminds me…"
"About?" Carmilla chuckled, but placed the pictures in her hand down onto the coffee table before sliding Finn to the floor and getting up, making her way to the basement stairs.
"When I went back to my mother's house that night...Will wanted me to fix his car...which I never finished, but anyway, I stopped and got a few of my things before mother used them for kindling. I'll be right back." Carmilla practically ran down the basement steps while Laura watched her, dumbfounded, the pictures that were previously in her hand, lying forgotten on the coffee table next to the ones Carmilla was looking at. Carmilla returned not long later with a box that was falling apart and looked vaguely familiar to Laura.
"Remember this?"
Carmilla ungracefully plopped the dust covered box onto the couch next to Laura. Laura just looked at it with a raised eyebrow until realization spread across her face accompanied by a small smile.
"Holy crap sticks. Is that what I think it is?"
Carmilla laughed, but nodded and began to empty the contents of the box. First, she pulled out the ancient Monopoly and Scrabble boxes and the dusty blankets from the attic.
"Wow," Laura laughed, taking the items from Carmilla's arms. "These blankets look like they've seen better days."
"At least the moths enjoyed them." Carmilla grabbed her camera and the pictures from the box next, placing them gently on the coffee table before removing her books and band shirts, leaving the journal for last and removing the box from her spot on the couch, taking a seat. Laura had placed the board games on the floor at her feet with the blankets on top, the item in Carmilla's hands having her full attention.
"Is that your journal?"
"Yup..." Carmilla ran her finger over the faded leather on the front of the journal in her hands.
"When was the last time you even wrote in that thing?"
Carmilla didn't answer right away, instead choosing to open it to the last page where she knew the loose piece of paper was tucked between the bonded sheets. She pulled it out and held it in front of her, the journal placed gently in her lap when she practically whispered, "Prom." Laura didn't say anything, she just silently stared at the folded piece of paper in Carmilla's hands. It took, what seemed like, minutes before Carmilla spoke again. Her demeanor entirely changed.
"Laura, I never wrote down the true extent of what really happened. I always wrote the half-truth and hoped you never caught on." Carmilla let out a puff of air, resembling a sad laugh. "Half of those entries weren't even dreams…" She trailed off with a furrowed brow.
"Carm…"
"No, listen. When my mother found my dad that night...something broke in her. I'm not saying that excuses her behavior, but it's why she is the way she is, for the most part anyway, but honestly, part of me feels sorry for her. She's had to deal with seeing the love of her life dead, in her home, resting on her shoulders for the past almost seven years. And she's had to do it alone. I don't think I could-" Carmilla cut herself off and shook her head before she got too deep, and started again. "I think I remind her of him and that's why she treated me like she has. Will looks like him, but his eyes are hers. Not really sure how I missed that… But, I'm practically his spitting image, not to mention my love for books and Philosophy is all him."
They sat silent for a moment before Laura took Carmilla's left hand in her own and sat so she was facing Carmilla, her legs tucked underneath her. She took a deep breath before she spoke her next words.
"Carm, I wasn't as naïve as you thought I was."
Carmilla's head whipped up from looking at the folded piece of paper in her hand to the small smile on Laura's face.
"What?"
"Why do you think I was so adamant on turning whatever you wrote in that thing into the happiest stories I could come up with?" Carmilla simply shrugged. Laura continued. "Of course, I wasn't completely sure as to which ones were dreams and which were reality, but I knew at least some of it was the truth. I was an aspiring journalist for Pete's sake." Carmilla let a small smile form on her lips, her gaze still directed towards her lap. "And Carm, I saw the bruises. No matter how hard you tried to hide them. I saw them. I just figured you would tell me the truth when you felt comfortable enough."
Carmilla nodded, trying not to make eye contact with the girl watching her so intensely. Laura knew. Not the full extent, but she knew something. And she tried to help in whatever ways she could. Suddenly Carmilla's heart felt heavier, but it was a good feeling and she welcomed it.
"I want to tell you now."
Laura nodded her head and squeezed Carmilla's hand, waiting patiently for Carmilla to tell her what was probably the most difficult four years of her life in one go. Carmilla finally looked into Laura's eyes. They were the color of honey and gold flecks bordered the dark of her irises. Instantly, a feeling of intense calm washed over Carmilla's entire body and she knew she could do this. Laura needed to know and she was finally ready. So, Carmilla handed Laura the piece of paper she had been holding with as much confidence as she could muster. Laura took the paper with eager hands and with a last glance at Carmilla, she unfolded the paper and began reading, Carmilla watching her face for any slight change in emotion.
It took Laura an hour to read the 8.5 x 11 piece of notebook paper that was covered, top to bottom, in Carmilla's loose script. She read it the first time carefully, not wanting to miss anything. She wanted to feel Carmilla's emotion through her words and she wanted to know what she had gone through at such a young age. And she did. But it wasn't until the fourth or fifth time that she read it that she began to feel hot tears running down her cheeks. She hadn't known it was that bad, or that the abuse went on from when they were freshmen to even now. The journal only covered the four years they were in high school. Laura wondered what the woman Carmilla called her mother put her through in the years before that or even the three years after that, when they didn't exist, physically, in each other's lives and Carmilla's mother practically controlled everything in the woman's life.
Laura was appalled, outraged, confused, yet everything that happened after their senior prom now made so much more sense. The week Carmilla took off of school and barely texted Laura, the way Carmilla acted differently when she was with Laura in public and at school, the way she constantly flinched away from Laura's touch. All because of her mother. It wasn't Laura's fault like she thought. She was also slightly baffled at the fact that Carmilla's mother didn't believe that Carmilla was gay. Or she didn't want to believe. Especially after they were caught practically dry humping each other against the front door. It only took a few months after that for Carmilla to officially come out and even then, her mother tried to convince her it was 'just a phase'.
When Laura finally folded the piece of paper back up and placed it calmly back into Carmilla's journal, she was livid. She wasn't exactly seeing red, but she might as well have been. Carmilla didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve her only parent to show her so much hatred and disdain over something as simple as loving another woman, or take the sorrow and sadness of seeing her love lifeless in front of her out on her child in more ways than just physical abuse. Laura wanted to yell, she wanted to drive over to that witch's house and scream at her until her throat felt raw and her voice was hoarse, but she also knew she couldn't. Like Carmilla said, she felt slightly sorry for her. So, as calmly as she could, Laura stood up from the couch, gently squeezed Carmilla's hand in her own, placed a gentle kiss to Carmilla's head, and walked quietly down to the end of the hall to the empty room in between the future office space and Carmilla's small studio. She locked the door and didn't even bother turning on the light as she sat down in the center of the room and just breathed. She breathed like she was taught in her yoga classes and took what she read on meditation to heart. She focused all the anger and rage boiling inside of her to one spot in her body and focused on pushing it out. She needed to clear her head and calm down.
Back in the living room, Carmilla was frozen on the couch. She figured Laura would need some time to process what she had read, but she hadn't expect her to just get up and walk away, as if in a trance. Carmilla had heard Laura lock the door behind her, but other than that, there was no sound. The house was eerily quiet, even with the music quietly playing in the background, and it left Carmilla with an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Laura wasn't one to just be silent. She was vocal and expressive and anything but what she just witnessed. She wasn't sure what to think. To drown out the noise, or lack thereof, Carmilla turned the music off and turned the TV on low to a local news station before busying herself with the last couple of boxes and placing items around the house where she thought they might go. It wasn't as fun as it had been, but it distracted her enough from her own thoughts that she actually made a noticeable bit of progress. When she came to Laura's busted camera on the coffee table, a pang of an uncomfortable something racked through her chest. Laura loved that camera, it was an exact replica of the one her mother gave her when she was incredibly young, and it was smashed to pieces as if it was thrown or hit multiple times with something hard enough to break through the plastic. Carmilla gently picked it up with the rest of the pictures and her camera and took it into the future office, setting it all down carefully on the only piece of furniture in the room before she made her way back to the living room to continue the task at hand.
It wasn't until nearly an hour later that Laura finally exited the empty room and made her way into the bathroom without a glance in Carmilla's direction. Carmilla heard the water turn on for the shower shortly after the door closed and the lock clicked. Carmilla managed to get the kitchen organized in the time it took Laura to shower and change and when she came back out, in her father's oversized soccer coach hoodie, with the name 'Coach Hollis' on the back, and a pair of sweats with her wet hair tied into a bun, Carmilla noticed her eyes were red rimmed like she had been crying. Carmilla was sitting on the couch, barely paying attention to the TV, her leg bouncing out of nervous habit as she clutched onto the remote like a lifeline.
Laura wordlessly took a seat next to Carmilla on the couch and drew her girlfriend as close to her as she could. Carmilla was a little shocked at first, but didn't protest and instead let herself relax into the embrace with a sigh and indulged in the comfort of Laura's breath on her neck and her hand rubbing circles into her back. She eventually responded by wrapping her arms around Laura's middle, holding tight to the fabric under her palms. The only words Laura spoke, were "I'm here." Just once and just a whisper into Carmilla's hair, but it was enough.
Carmilla decided it was only fair that she made dinner that night, considering Laura made it the night before. Laura kept busy by moving furniture around the living room and ridding the dining table of years of dust and dead ladybugs, the 7 o'clock news playing in the background. Carmilla sent Laura downstairs to the wine cellar with a request to find a bottle of red wine when she started to hover around the kitchen out of boredom. Carmilla stayed at the stove top, stirring the spaghetti sauce she carefully perfected over the three years she spent in Paris. It was the only dish she knew how to make, other than Kraft Mac & Cheese and PB&J, but it was pretty damn good. She had a small pot of noodles boiling on another burner and a thin loaf of bread toasting in the oven with fresh, chopped garlic and olive oil spread over the top. By the time Laura came back up from the basement with the pups in tow, the noodles were done and Carmilla was taking the bread out of the oven.
"I don't know anything about wine, but you said a dry red and this sounded pretty fancy, so..." Laura was staring at the bottle in her hand as she made her way into the kitchen. Carmilla took the bottle of wine and read the label.
"Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. Not a bad choice." Carmilla placed a quick kiss to Laura's lips before putting the wine bottle down on the counter and searching for a corkscrew through the unorganized drawers to the left of the stove. "Could you set the table and I'll pour us a couple glasses? This sauce is pretty much done. Just a few more minutes."
"Aye, aye, Captain." Laura mock saluted before turning on her heel and grabbing two plates from the cupboard above her head and bringing them to the kitchen table.
"Dork," Carmilla mumbled with a roll of her eyes. She wasn't expecting a slightly moist finger in her ear as a response just as she was grabbing a pair of wine glasses for her and Laura. She nearly dropped them in her attempt to quickly wipe Laura's spit from the inside of her ear with her shoulder. "Laura Eileen Hollis! You did not just give me a wet willy." Laura simply smiled sweetly, her hands clasped in front of her, and shrugged.
"I think I did...Carmilla 'I Have No Middle Name Because My Parents Thought It Was Cool' Karnstein." Carmilla couldn't fight the smile that began to creep its way onto her face as she shook her head. Instead of hiding it, she used uncorking the wine as an excuse to turn back to the counter where she gently placed the two glasses before she actually did drop them.
"Real mature, Pop tart." Carmilla grabbed the corkscrew from where she previously placed it and screwed it into the cork of the wine bottle. She heard Laura scoff behind her and if she turned around, she was certain she would find her with her hands on her hips and a pout on her face.
"Excuse you, I am the epitome of maturity." Laura's voice was an octave higher than normal and Carmilla barely held in her laughter.
"Maybe compared to a 13 year old boy," she grunted, trying to hold the bottle of wine in between her thighs while simultaneously pulling at the corkscrew with both of her hands.
"Are you comparing me to a 13 year old boy?" Carmilla could hear the amusement in her voice and smirked as the cork popped from the bottle. She carefully pulled it from her thighs and began pouring it into the glasses, stopping just below the rim.
"You definitely have the sex drive of one," Carmilla mumbled, still smirking. It was a couple silent seconds before Laura answered.
"...And that's a bad thing because...?" Carmilla turned around and handed Laura her glass before taking a slow sip from her own and stepping into Laura's space.
"Oh, I didn't say it was." It was Laura's turn to roll her eyes as she placed a gentle hand to Carmilla's chest, effectively stopping her not-so-subtle sexual advances before they went too far down that road and weren't able to stop.
"Okay, Lady Killer, your sauce is going to burn." At that, Carmilla's eyes went wide and she immediately spun around, placing her wine glass on the counter, and turned the burner off that the sauce pan was on as she hastily moved it to a cooled burner, nearly dropping it when the hot steam and a drop of the sauce burned her skin. She gasped at the pain before a string of incoherent ramblings fell from her mouth.
"Oi, merde! Fils de pute! Merde, merde, merde! Zut! Vous faites le dîner à partir de maintenant, j'ai fini. Fini! Sauf si vous êtes d'accord avec manger des céréales pour le dîner tous les deux jours ou embaucher un chef. J'ai fini." Laura stood, completely frozen, in front of where Carmilla was turned around, gesturing angrily with her hands at nothing in particular. She knew Carmilla knew French, she knew she lived in France for a time, she knew she had a French girlfriend at one point, but she didn't know Carmilla was completely fluent in the language. Or that she could be so incredibly attractive while very obviously pissed off. Carmilla was muttering to herself at the sink now, running cold water over her wrist. Laura had to force herself to focus for two seconds on the fact that Carmilla just got burned and not on the feeling of whatever was going on deep in her stomach at Carmilla's sudden bout of angry French in a practically native accent. She always did have a knack for foreign languages. "...J'essayais juste de faire quelque chose de bien pour ma petite amie parce que c'est ce que les copines font, mais non! Je ne peux même pas faire ce droit. Merde-"
Laura cautiously put a hand on Carmilla's shoulder, effectively bringing her back to the present. Carmilla was pouting, her head bowed over the sink as the water from the faucet continued to pour over her wrist and down her hand. She watched it flow with a stare that burned with an intense fire as if she had a personal vendetta against water. Laura squeezed her shoulder gently before moving to rest her arms loosely around her girlfriend's waist, her chin softly placed on Carmilla's shoulder.
"Babe, I have no idea what you just said, and I'm honestly not sure I want to, but your sauce is fine and it smells delicious, so if you're done cursing the existence of the contents of that pan, then we should eat it because I'm starving."
Carmilla managed a chuckle before letting herself relax back into Laura.
"Sorry, I wanted to do something nice and when you said the sauce was burning, I-."
Carmilla shook her head, her face heating up. She didn't mean to lose it like she did, she just wanted everything to be perfect because she didn't do things like make dinner for her significant other very often, in fact she could count the amount of times she had on one hand.
"Hey, it's okay. I'd honestly eat it if it was black and charred, but thankfully for my taste buds, it is not. It's perfect."
"You haven't even tried it yet," Carmilla scoffed, turning off the running water and grabbing a hand towel from next to the sink, turning around in Laura's arms.
"Well, it smells amazing. Now, come on, get your wine, pour the sauce over the noodles, and let's eat." She let her arms drop from their hold on Carmilla's waist as she backed up to finish her task of grabbing silverware and placing them at the kitchen table. Carmilla joined her a couple minutes later with a small pot of cooked noodles covered in a light red sauce with a few green leaves sitting in it in one hand and two glasses of wine in the other, with the bottle tucked under her arm. She had to make an extra trip for the garlic bread, and quickly threw a salad together, but she managed it well and Laura commented again on how perfect everything was.
The rest of dinner went by without any more outbursts. They finished their helpings, Laura going back for seconds before she even managed to finish her first, before they made their way to the couch in front of the TV where the evening news was still playing, a bottle of wine in their systems and their glasses nearly empty. Laura was watching the news, her head resting in Carmilla's lap, with the dogs lying on the couch at her feet, as the older woman gently ran her fingers through her girlfriend's hair, and her feet propped up on the coffee table in front of her. A headline flashed across the screen that made Laura's brows furrow in confusion, the glossy look in her eye prominent as Carmilla focused her gaze on the woman in her lap with a slight smirk.
"The amount of effort you are exerting right now, Cupcake, is astonishing." Laura's eyes looked up to meet Carmilla's own, her eyebrows still drawn together in confusion.
"I just don't get it." It was Carmilla's turn to be confused.
"Get what, Cutie?" Laura vaguely gestured toward the direction of the tv, her eyes leaving Carmilla's to watch the video playing on a loop on the screen, the caption: "Cat Burglar Strikes Again, Maybe Closer to Home Than You Think" lighting up the bottom of the screen. Carmilla raised an eyebrow at Laura in question.
"Why would anyone want to steal a cat? I mean, sure, they're cute, but why do you need to steal them? More importantly, what would they do with them once they steal them? Do they just let them go? Do they keep them? If that's the case, I'm sure the Cat Burglar could just find one on the street-" By this point Carmilla was using all the strength and sobriety left in her body to try and not laugh at the very obviously drunk girl with a newfound passion for stolen cats. "I wonder if they only steal kittens, or if they steal older cats as well. Imagine being that cat's owner! What an asshole! Who even does that?!" She was getting fired up now and Carmilla couldn't keep her snickers at bay any longer. Her shoulders were visibly shaking with the effort it took not to burst out laughing. She had to remove her hand from Laura's hair to hide the smile on her face. The reporter on the TV finished the report by reminding the town's residents to lock their doors and windows and think about investing in a security system. "Carm, we should put up cameras around the house, what if the Cat Burglar changes tactics and starts going after dogs next?" That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Carmilla couldn't hold it in any longer. She was openly laughing like a child at her girlfriend's expense. And her girlfriend looked pissed. "Why are you laughing? This is serious, Carmilla!" Carmilla stopped laughing long enough to get out a few words.
"No, no, I know. Except he's not actually stealing cats, Cutie." Carmilla started laughing again at the look on Laura's face.
"He's literally a cat burglar, Carmilla." Laura rolled her eyes at the woman above her and focused her attention back on the screen, hoping to get more details on the Cat Burglar story.
"I think you need to look up what a cat burglar is, Sweetheart," Carmilla replied through a smirk that Laura glared at. She pulled her phone from the pocket of her hoodie and Carmilla watched in amusement as she quickly realized why Carmilla found the situation absolutely hilarious. Laura felt her face heat up as she silently tucked her phone back into her pocket and turned her attention back to the news. She barely managed to mutter an 'oh' before Carmilla was laughing so hard her sides hurt. Laura found herself only ignoring her for a few seconds before her face was so hot she figured someone could fry eggs on it.
"I think I need to go sleep this wine off." She managed to stand up and made it two wobbly steps before Carmilla was behind her with a smirk on her lips, her hands on Laura's hips helping to steady her on their way to their bedroom.
le 23 avril
Laura was up bright and early the next morning with a pot of coffee and a mug of hot chocolate made. Carmilla didn't wake up until it was almost noon, so she had the entire morning to clean the house up from the night before and get the office organized with what furniture they did have. She even put together the basement and found places for Carmilla's artwork (the pieces that didn't reveal the more intimate parts of Laura's body, those she hung up in Carmilla's mini studio along with the piece of Ell). Looking at the almost finished product of their new house, an idea popped into Laura's head. She and Carmilla hadn't been back to Silas since she left and they hadn't seen their friends in weeks. What better way to get the gang back together than with a housewarming party? Carmilla probably wouldn't be too thrilled, but she missed her friends and she needed a laid back weekend after the move and before the summer semester started and figured Carmilla wouldn't argue with that logic. With that in mind, Laura grabbed her laptop from the coffee table in the living room and began searching for things to do in the area. She found a few noteworthy activities she could bring up before she found a furniture store nearby, along with multiple antique shops that she made note of for future reference. She was looking online for furniture for the office and the guest bedrooms with a fresh mug of hot chocolate and enjoying the breeze from the open windows when Carmilla finally made her way downstairs with the dogs, an hour later.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Laura acknowledged, way too cheerfully for Carmilla so early in the afternoon. Laura received a grunt in response from the disheveled woman making a beeline for the fridge. "There's reheated coffee in the pot and Aspirin next to your mug and bagels and cream cheese on the middle shelf of the fridge." Laura watched as Carmilla's entire demeanor changed from tired grump to excited child. Laura chuckled before going back to the task at hand, while Carmilla rummaged through the fridge and cupboards.
"This is why I love you." Carmilla took her seat next to Laura, at the island in the middle of the kitchen, with her mug in one hand and two Aspirin capsules in the other and a paper plate with a cheese bagel on it. She placed a chaste kiss to the corner of Laura's mouth before tossing back the pills with a gulp of coffee.
"Mmhmm," Laura responded with a sip of her hot chocolate. Carmilla paused with her bagel halfway to her mouth and turned to Laura with the most serious expression she could muster.
"This among many other reasons." Laura smirked before leaning over and kissing Carmilla on the cheek who smiled at the action.
"I love you, too. Hey, I was thinking-"
"Uh oh." Laura playfully hit Carmilla in the side if the leg closest to her.
"Shut up, this is a good idea."
"Oh, then please enlighten me. So sorry for interrupting," Carmilla smirked, taking a bite of her bagel. Laura rolled her eyes before she continued.
"What if we had a housewarming party? And went out for the weekend? I found a paintball place around here somewhere. We could invite Laf and Perry, and Will and Mattie, if you want, and my friend Danny is really cool, and then there's Kirsch, I think he's actually friends with your brother…" Laura looked to Carmilla hopefully when she didn't say anything. Maybe she should've eased into it a bit more instead of ripping off the band aid, but sometimes things worked out better that way, especially with Carmilla. "I'll make them bring gifts and alcohol," Laura tried to make a deal with her, thinking she'd immediately shut the idea down.
"Fine." Laura's eyes lit up.
"Wait, really? That's it? I tell them all to bring gifts and alcohol and you're in?" Carmilla sighed, but shrugged.
"As long as it's good alcohol."
"Yes! I'll start a group chat!" Laura did a small victory dance in her chair while Carmilla rolled her eyes. She was just hoping she wouldn't regret this.
While Laura fished her phone out of the pocket of her jeans and started adding people to her message, Carmilla took hers out and sent a quick text to Mattie and Will, warning them about Laura's plans. Will responded immediately with an overly enthusiastic 'yes', while Mattie declined the offer of paintball, but said she would be there for the party. After several minutes of Laura furiously typing at her phone, she came to the conclusion that everyone was free a few weekends from then and relayed the information to Will and Mattie who both agreed on the date, as well. Carmilla figured she had at least two weeks to mentally prepare for the chaos that was surely going to erupt that weekend.
Laura spent those two weeks "getting the house ready". Those were her words for throwing printed out pieces of paper with pictures and prices of various furniture on them at Carmilla until they agreed on the items and color schemes for the office, Carmilla's studio, the bedrooms, and even the bathrooms. Laura kept herself busy, that's for sure, but Carmilla knew she wouldn't do it, so she let Laura take the reins and simply input her opinion where she figured it necessary. She figured commenting on Laura's need to give each room its own separate folder with paint swatches, furniture sets, and window treatments, was pointless. By the time the weekend of the party rolled around, the bedrooms had at least beds and a dresser in them and the bathrooms on all three floors were finished (not that there was a whole lot that needed to be done).
le 6 mai
The weekend of the party arrived a lot faster than Carmilla had anticipated. She wasted two weeks, hoping she could prepare herself for the day, but ultimately, running every other day with the dogs while Laura rode her bike beside her, reading or painting in the afternoons, and spending the evenings either on the couch watching Laura watch her shows or in their bed just being with each other, Carmilla didn't find any time to actually prepare and was caught off guard when Laura told her she had to be up and ready before one because they had to pick up Danny, Laf, and Perry at the train station at three. Kirsch and Will ended up driving together in Kirsch's truck and Mattie drove herself from the airport in a rental car. Mattie was given a room for the night, along with Laf and Perry, and Danny. Kirsch and Will decided they would take the basement, one sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag, the other on the couch, no one questioned it.
The party officially began when Kirsch and Will, the last to arrive, finally found the place around 4:30. Carmilla made sure to generously accept (with a warning from Laura, of course) everyone's gifts and various bottles of booze while she took their coats and Laura led them through the house, the dogs never leaving Lafontaine's side after their initial greeting. There were snack bowls set out and glasses passed around and before the sun even started setting, everyone had a good buzz going.
Carmilla was on her third rum and coke when Laf challenged her to a game of pool. They grabbed Laura by the wrist, claiming her as their teammate, while Carmilla called Perry over to be hers. Laf upped the stakes though, when they suggested that the loser do a body shot off of the winner on top of the bar. Carmilla silently snickered behind the rim of her glass. Watching Laura take a body shot off of her was going to be amusing. Laura was never good at pool when they were kids, Carmilla always beat her, and if her instincts were right, Perry was surprisingly good at the game. Carmilla let Laf break for their team. They sunk two solid balls right off the bat. Carmilla took the next turn, sinking a stripe and a solid. She didn't think too much of it, letting Laura and Laf have their lead. Laura didn't sink any balls on her turn and Carmilla barely kept her grin to herself at the pout on Laura's face when the cue ball completely missed its mark. Perry ended up sinking three striped balls before she barely missed what would have been her fourth. On the next round of turns, Laf sunk another solid and Carmilla sunk another stripe, but when Laura went, she ended up sinking two more solids, leaving one solid left, the eight ball, and two stripes. Perry ended up getting another stripe into a pocket and Laf sunk their last solid, but didn't end up getting the eight ball in so it was still anyone's game. It was Carmilla's turn next and she sunk the last striped ball into a corner pocket. With eight ball the last one left, she lined up her shot and was seconds away from sinking it into her called pocket when Laura spoke up.
"Is it getting hot down here for anyone else?" Carmilla usually wouldn't pay any attention to a simple question, but it wasn't just a simple question. It wasn't just a simple question because Laura accompanied the question with the removal of her flannel. This would have been completely fine if it weren't for what she was wearing underneath said flannel that Carmilla somehow failed to acknowledge before. Now with the absence of her flannel around her shoulders, Laura simply wore a plain cut off black shirt that revealed a couple inches of her stomach above the waist of her dark jeans, the neckline low enough to make Carmilla do a double take. Carmilla tried to shake it off and focus on lining up her shot again with a subtle clearing of her throat and a small shake of her head to try and clear the drunk fog in her brain, but as she drew her pool stick back, Laura dropped hers. It landed on the rug with a thud and when she bent down to get it, she was right across the table from Carmilla's line of sight, the back of her shirt riding up with the extension of her body. Let's just say, Carmilla completely missed her shot and Laura perfectly sunk hers, effectively winning the game for her and Laf. Carmilla was dumbfounded. She actually lost a game of pool to Laura. Laura at least had the decency to look a little guilty as she laid down on top of the bar, her arms at her sides, while Will poured a shot of tequila into an empty shot glass and Carmilla tried not to think about how she lost so easily and forced herself to blame it on her state of inebriation.
Carmilla positioned herself over her girlfriend's body lying on the bar top, ignoring everyone else's eyes on them. If Laura was going to play dirty, so was she. She grabbed the lime wedge from Will's outstretched hand and placed the peel in between Laura's teeth before she grabbed the salt from the counter and lowered herself to the stretch of skin between the bottom of Laura's shirt and the waistline of her jeans. Carmilla made sure to keep her eyes locked with Laura's as she slowly lowered her mouth to just above Laura's naval. She smirked at Laura's immediate intake of breath and the twitching of her stomach muscles as she slowly ran her tongue over the smooth skin there and sprinkled the salt over the moist trail. Carmilla grabbed the tequila shot from Will with one hand and steadied herself with the other as she, once again, lowered herself to Laura's stomach. This time, she left a soft kiss just below Laura's naval before she licked the salt slowly off her girlfriend and chucked the liquid in the glass to the back of her throat before leaning down and grabbing the lime sitting between Laura's lips, with her own and sucking. She felt Laura squirm underneath her and try to lean up for a proper kiss, but Carmilla simply lifted herself off of the bar top, spit the lime in the sink and walked around the bar for a refill of her previous drink of rum and coke with a smirk that she didn't bother hiding. She pretended not to notice the look of complete astonishment on Laura's face.
The night didn't last much longer after that. Kirsch and Will lost a round of pool to Danny and Laura, Kirsch having to do a body shot off of Danny. Laf passed out on the couch with the dogs around midnight and Perry eventually dragged them upstairs to their room. Mattie went to bed around the same time, excusing herself for the night with a promise to see them all in the morning. Danny and Kirsch got into a heated argument, after their whole body shot debacle, about who could drink more and they both passed out soon after on separate ends of the couch. Laura made sure to give them each a blanket and pillow before following Will upstairs with Carmilla and the dogs close behind. They spent the rest of the night in the kitchen talking about nothing and everything, slowing down with beer in their hands instead of liquor. At some point, Will started taking out ingredients for pizza and turned on some top 40 station that Laura knew. Carmilla sat at the island, sipping her beer, and watched Laura and Will as they threw odd combinations of vegetables on flatbreads while "quietly" singing and dancing around the kitchen. They both ended up burning the pizzas and Will fell asleep with a piece of his on his chest after slipping on the wood floor after a dance move that involved a lot of spinning and he refused to get up. Laura never made it back up either, after laughing so hard she collapsed on the ground. When her laughs subsided and her eyelids began to droop, Carmilla made sure the oven was off and called it a night, leaving the mess for the morning.
le 7 mai
Carmilla was not a morning person. How Laura was, especially after a night of heavy drinking, was a mystery to everyone. Much like the last time Laura and Carmilla drank too much, Laura was the first one up, out of the two, with Coffee ready and a bottle of Aspirin. This time though, Carmilla's mug was accompanied by six others; Mattie's with black tea and a lemon wedge and honey, Perry's with Green tea, Laf, Danny, and Kirsch filled theirs with coffee, and Will went with hot chocolate. The only people not miserable and hungover were Mattie, Laura, and Perry. Carmilla found it unbelievable. Laura drank just as much as she did and looked like a fucking ray of sunshine.
When she came down the stairs, Will was half asleep at the kitchen island next to Laura blowing into his mug of hot chocolate, Perry was putting scrambled eggs and bacon onto plates, with Mattie's help, Lafontaine was nursing their coffee with their head in the freezer, and Danny was talking to Laura about something Carmilla could care less about, while Kirsch rolled around on the floor with the dogs on top of him. It was all incredibly domestic. Upon her entrance into the kitchen, Perry handed Carmilla a plate of breakfast, along with her mug of freshly brewed coffee and painkillers, and she kicked Will out of her seat next to Laura who greeted her with a loud 'Morning, Babe!' and a kiss to the corner of her mouth.
"Ow, Cupcake. How the hell are this awake right now?" Carmilla grumbled.
"Today's paintball day!" Laura responded, Carmilla only glared.
"Oh, right. Joy," she mumbled, taking a sip of her coffee with her Aspirin before digging into her bacon and eggs.
"Oh, hush, ya big grump. You're going to love it! You get to shoot at people." Carmilla looked up at Laura at that, with a smirk.
"Do I get to have you on my team?" Before Laura had a chance to answer, Laf chimed in, removing their head from the freezer.
"Sorry, Drac, you're on our team." Carmilla raised an eyebrow, her smirk disappearing as she caught Laura's apologetic look out of the corner of her eye. She placed her free hand on Laura's thigh and gently squeezed. Sure she'd rather she be on Laura's team, more so she could distract her from actually playing the game so they could just make out, but she wasn't all that upset about being on Laf's team either.
"Drac?"
"Short for Dracula?" Carmilla rolled her eyes and groaned, going back to eating her breakfast.
"No, I get it just-"
"Okay! " Laura cut in, "We have to be there at one, so everyone be ready in an hour!" Carmilla groaned again while the rest of the gang finished shoveling their food in their mouth as quickly as they could, with the exception of Will, who was still half passed out, now next to Kirsch sitting on the ground, and Perry, who took her time. Mattie didn't even bother.
"And it looks like that is my cue," Mattie interrupted as she placed her empty mug in the dishwasher after rinsing it in the sink. "As much fun as watching you all get deliriously inebriated was, I have a meeting in Toronto this afternoon and should get going." She walked over to Carmilla and opened her arms wide for a hug, to which Carmilla responded with a side hug of her own, her mouth full of eggs. "Ciao, Kitty." Mattie turned towards the rest of the gang with a nod of her head. "Kitty's friends." Then she glanced down at Will. "William." He simply groaned in response. "Oh, and I love what you've done with the place, by the way. Very...home-y." And with that she was halfway down the hall to the guest room she stayed in and everyone continued with their breakfast, not thinking twice about Mattie's hasty exit.
Everyone was dressed and waiting by the front door an hour later, just as Laura instructed. Carmilla was the last to come down, dressed head to toe in black, her hair tied up in a loose, wavy ponytail, carrying an old pair of black Nikes. She stopped next to Laura who was waiting impatiently with her keys in one hand and a bag of extra clothes for her and Carmilla in the other, the dogs already having been let out and put away in their kennel. Carmilla rolled her eyes at Laura's eagerness. She could feel her excited energy from the hallway near the kitchen.
"Alright, Sundance, let's get this horror show on the road." Carmilla gestured to the front door with her free hand and Laura beamed and practically skipped out the front door, followed by a bored Carmilla, a scared looking Perry, a refreshed, but not fully awake Will, an overly excited puppy Kirsch, and an annoyed Danny. Lafontaine just looked way too happy to be on their way to get shot with balls of paint that left welts the size of quarters.
Laura drove Carmilla, Laf, Perry, and Danny, while Kirsch drove Will following close behind in his truck. The drive wasn't too bad and they were at the indoor arena in less than 40 minutes. Laura took care of the reservations after she parked and when she came back out with waivers and pens attached to clipboards looking like a small child on Christmas morning, Carmilla couldn't help the groan that escaped her throat. Laura was too excited for this and she was not looking forward to getting shot at by her girlfriend. Laura's dad was a cop for Pete's sake, Laura obviously knew how to fire a gun. It was clearly an unfair advantage. And if her team lost, that would be her argument.
After waivers were signed, rules were covered and teams and colors were decided. Laf was the captain of the Blue Team with Carmilla, Perry and Kirsch and they decided on the team name Blue Balls, which Perry wasn't too fond of. Laura was the captain of the Red Team with Danny, Will, and some kid that worked at the arena as the team's extra player. They decided on the team name PREDators. They thought it was hilarious. Each player was given a face mask, an earpiece for communicating with their team, a gun with red or blue paintballs, and a black chest plate with either red or blue accents. The arena was set up like capture the flag. There was a Red Team base and a Blue Team base and in front of each base, surrounded in red or blue "rocks" was a flag of the team's color. The arena itself was set up in a warehouse and had multiple obstacles for cover. It was basically a large scale game of hide and seek, with the goal to steal the other team's flag without getting hit in the chest, face, or back.
The game officially started when all players were in their base and an air horn sounded across the arena. Each round lasted an hour, or until one of the team's flags was captured and successfully brought back to the opposing team's base. There were three rounds. Round one was the longest for the group. After the air horn announced the beginning of the round, each team took their time in scoping out the arena for the other team's base and to get a feel of the obstacles. On team Blue Balls, each player took turns protecting the flag while the other team members ventured out into the arena. It was 45 minutes into the round with Kirsch, Danny, and Laf out on the sidelines with splats of paint to their chests and it was Carmilla's turn to watch the flag. She was standing in front of it, looking to her left, her gun aimed at an obstacle where she thought she saw a red uniform crouch behind. Apparently she was wrong because the second she went to investigate she was hit in the back with three paintballs and Will grabbed the flag and ran it back to his base with Laura covering his back, giggling the entire way. It was just Carmilla and the extra and she took her anger out on him by shooting the employee in the thigh, dangerously close to his groin, just for the hell of it. She almost got them kicked out of the arena for breaking the rules deliberately.
In round two, Laf's team won when Carmilla simply walked from her base and to the other side of the arena the second the air horn sounded, grabbed the red flag and walked back to her team's base before team PREDators even had a chance to exit their base. Everyone was baffled and too shocked to even fight it so it went as a win for team Blue Balls. With the game tied and one round left, the teams were given five minutes to come up with a strategic plan of attack. Kirsch came up with the idea of having two people guard the flag, while the other two people ventured out into the arena as a pair, back to back, and tried to target the other team's strongest players, i.e. Laura and Will. Considering no one else had successfully come up with a better plan, they all agreed that Perry and Kirsch would stay behind and watch the flag leaving Carmilla and Laf on "hunt and destroy" duty, as Kirsch so gloriously nicknamed it.
After the air horn sounded for the third and final round, team Blue Balls exited their base, with Kirsch and Perry keeping watch on the flag and Laf and Carmilla making a beeline for the closest obstacle for cover. They made it within 10 yards of the PREDators' base without any issue until Carmilla spotted and shot the extra player on the red team and got him out. Laf rewarded her with an overly enthusiastic fist bump before going back to business mode, their gun raised and ready to shoot at any moving target. The pair barely made it a step from behind the foam wall they were hiding behind when a flash of honey hair streamed past Carmilla's peripheral. Her head immediately whipped in the direction and she was about to raise her gun to shoot when the body attached to said head of honey hair tripped over something Carmilla couldn't see and landed on the ground with an 'oof', her gun skidding out of reach. Out of instinct, Carmilla immediately lowered her gun and attempted to jog over to where Laura was now sitting, holding her ankle with both hands, a pained expression on her face. All thoughts involving the game vanished completely from Carmilla's mind were now replaced with making sure Laura was okay, but before Carmilla had a chance to take a step forward, Laf grabbed a hold of her wrist.
"Wha-? Are you insane, Karnstein? You can't just-" Carmilla shot daggers at Lafontaine with her eyes and they immediately let go of her wrist.
"Like hell I can't," Carmilla growled. If her girlfriend was hurt, she was sure as hell going to stop in the middle of a game of paintball and make sure she was okay, consequences be damned. Which is exactly what she did. Except, the second she got to Laura and crouched down in front of her, she was bombarded with several paintballs to the back, chest, thighs, ass, anywhere visible within Will and Danny's line of sight. She immediately threw her face mask off the second the shots stopped firing and glared daggers at Will and Danny. Lafontaine was too pissed off at Carmilla to even try to retaliate and Will ended up shooting them in the chest while Danny took off to grab the blue flag.
"Sorry, Sis," Will shrugged. "Your weakness for hot brunettes with puppy dog eyes and incredible acting skills is truly astonishing." Will was smirking as he walked around Carmilla, held out his hand for Laura to take and pulled her up from her position on the ground. Carmilla just watched with her mouth hung open. She had been played. Not only by her brother, but by her girlfriend as well. Laura wasn't hurt, she just knew Carmilla extremely well, and Carmilla fell right into her trap. Laura was smiling smugly when Carmilla chanced a glance at her.
"Wow, you play dirty, Cupcake." Carmilla smirked, slightly impressed, but made a mental note to get back at Laura later and started scheming quietly to herself.
After changing into clean and paint free clothes, the PREDators were sent home with three small plastic trophies with their team name engraved in it, the date, and the company's logo underneath. On the walk back to the car, Will hoisted Laura onto his shoulders and they started singing "We Are the Champions" by Queen while Laura held the trophy above her head and team Blue Balls sulked quietly to themselves, Laf pouted the entire drive back and refused to sit next to Danny in the back seat.
By the time the gang arrived back at the house, everyone was tired and hungry and sore. Carmilla could feel every welt on her skin with each subtle movement. She wasn't expecting paintball to actually hurt that much. The second she walked over the threshold through the front door, she made a beeline for the living room and face planted onto couch with a groan. She vaguely remembered talk of tacos for dinner before she felt herself drifting off to sleep.