"How about a game of spin bottle?!" LaFontaine had drank one too many of their own cocktails as they suggested the childish game. Carmilla, sitting on the other side of the room - with Laura tucked beside her - rolled her eyes at her best friend.
"That's a stupid idea." She huffed. "Half the people here are either darting, related, or used to be dating."
"Oh come on, Carm. It's just a bit of fun! Besides, you and Perr were together for, like, five minutes!" Carmilla outwardly cringed as she felt Laura shift beside her. The younger girl craned her neck back to glance curiously up at her.
"I wasn't actually talking about me and Perry; but thank you, Captain Blabbermouth…" Carmilla grumbled. She was aware of practically every eye in the room watching her. At least LaFontaine had the good grace to look sheepish about having put their foot in it. Perry's cheeks were burning scarlet, while Carmilla was certain the colour had drained from her own.
"It was freshman year." Perry turned to Laura, wearing an almost apologetic smile. "And Carm was a bad-girl in leather pants." She chuckled, giving Carmilla a pointed look.
"Yeah, yeah. We weren't exactly dating." Carmilla returned the look with a conspiratorial one of her own. "Besides, it got someone to get their act together and ask you out. Didn't it?"
"It did." Perry agreed, laughing as she tugged LaF in for a quick peck on the cheek.
Carmilla hardly noticed. Laura had shifted while the old friends were busy reminiscing, moving her hand to cover Carmilla's. Their fingers became intertwined as Carmilla ran the pad of her thumb over the back of Laura's hand. The pair were lost in their own little world as the others argued over what to play.
"I'm telling you little-bro, poker!" Kirsch piped up, with Will agreeing with him.
"Sweetie, we're not playing strip-poker. You always lose." Danny patted his arm. She was always more affectionate when she'd been drinking.
"Truth or dare?" LaFontaine suggested. They ignored the collective groans coming from Perry and Carmilla.
"LaFontaine, no! Your eyebrows have only just grown back in! And Carmilla is still banned from the public library!"
"Also LaF's fault." Carmilla pointed out, barely suppressing a giggle.
"Hey, at least those nice policemen decided not to press charges!" LaFontaine grinned, looking far too proud of themselves. "Okay, okay. How about 'Never Have I Ever?"
"I'm in." Danny shrugged, followed by Will and Kirsch. Perry reluctantly agreed, and Laura nodded enthusiastically. Which just left Carmilla.
"I hate that game." Carmilla rolled her eyes. She felt Laura squeezing her fingers in protest though, and eventually gave in. "Whatever. I need another drink."
Pulling herself up off the floor, she headed in to the kitchen to refill her cup. LaFontaine's cocktails really did go down far too easily. By the time she was settled back on the floor beside Laura, LaFontaine had already rounded everyone up in a circle. Laura was grinning as they all got settled. She was excited to play; even if she was worried about what she might learn about Carmilla.
Forty minutes in to the game and Laura's fears turned out to be well-founded. Carmilla had taken a drink for nearly every statement made, ranging from 'Never have I ever jaywalked' (that one being Laura's) to 'Never have I ever had sex on a boat.
"Okay, never have I ever… shaved my face." Danny grinned as the two boys let out a groan and each took a drink.
"That's no fair, Lawrence! That's like… strategical!" Kirsch whined, already five sheets to the wind.
"That's the point, doofus!" Danny mussed at his hair, while Kirsch tried to knock her hand away.
Carmilla pulled a face, miming a gagging motion to Laura; who was lying with her head on the older girl's lap. It had been so long since she'd had to take a drink that she'd laid down and made herself comfortable. The teenager stifled a giggle, turning her head to bury her face against Carmilla's thigh.
It was Will's turn after Danny. He'd been watching Laura out of the corner of her eye, noticing the things she did and didn't drink for. On a hunch, he came out with, "Never have I ever had sex with a girl." The room exploded with noise as they all took a drink.
"I call bullshit, Little Brother!" Carmilla called him out on it, right before he took a drink himself.
"Dude! Everybody drank!" Kirsch punches Will playfully in the arm. "You know the rules! You gotta take another drink!"
"Actually, not everybody took a drink..." Will was watching Laura with a curious expression. He wasn't the only who had noticed her not taking a drink. Carmilla was watching the younger girl out of the corner of her eye. She was biting down on her lip, and gripping her glass so hard that her knuckles were white with the effort. "And if only one person doesn't drink…"
Laura's cheeks were burning hot as she realised everyone was staring at her; everyone except Danny. She couldn't bring herself to look up from her glass. Had her mother not walked in on her and Laura last year, then she'd have taken a drink like everybody else.
"Will's right. Hollis, you got to down it!" LaFontaine piped up, trying to break the awkward silence that had settled over them.
"LaF, don't be an ass." Carmilla bristled, instantly defending Laura. "Laura doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to do."
Her fussing over the younger girl didn't have the outcome she expected. "Maybe Laura wants to drink." She shot back at Carmilla. Sitting up - her chin held up defiantly - she downed what was left in her cup. "I'm going to get a refill."
"Let me." Will offered quickly, scrambling to his feet. Carmilla glared daggers in to his back as he walked off in to the kitchen. Her hand found the small of Laura's back. She leaned in to whisper in her ear, her lips brushing softly against her lobe.
"Let me." She imitated her brother in a low whine, her fingers dancing up Laura's spine. It drew a smile out of the younger girl; just like Carmilla knew it would.
"Jealous?" Laura teased. She bit down on her lip, expecting Carmilla's rebuttal.
"Of what?" Her voice was thick and hoarse. Her lips warm against Laura's ear. The others were too distracted, arguing over whose turn it was, to pay them any attention.
The game started up again once Will was sitting back down. It was Carmilla's turn to go. Laura just knew she was going to pull something. It was written all over her face. "Never have I ever… gone on a date with somebody without realizing it was a date."
"One time!" Laura huffed, shooting Carmilla the stink eye as she had to drink.
"Sounds like there's a story there." LaF grinned, trying to probe Laura in to revealing more.
"There sure is, Point Dexter." Carmilla answered before Laura got a chance to. "Laura here went on a date. With my oh-so-charming baby brother."
"Oh dear." Perry muttered under her breath, while LaFontaine held back a snicker.
"It was a misunderstanding." Will's ears were burning as he ducked his head, not quite able to look Laura's way.
"Which bit? The date, or the goodnight kiss?" Carmilla asked, feigning innocence as Laura choked on her drink. Will glared back at his sister, cursing her under his breath as she got to her feet.
Carmilla made an excuse about going to the bathroom and walked off down the hall, leaving the others still sitting in a circle. "Okay… new game. Let's just get drunk!" LaFontaine announced, breaking up the heavy silence that had settled over the room. Laura waited until Kirsch had started the music again, and the others had spread back out, before she went after Carmilla.
She found her in the bathroom, bent over the sink and splashing cold water on to her face. Carmilla caught sight of her as she glanced up in the mirror of the bathroom cabinet. "Come to give me an earful, Cupcake?" The older girl asked, while wearing her usual smug grin; the one that told Laura she wouldn't take a word of it in if she was there to tell her off.
"No." Laura closed the door behind her, letting the latch click before she took a step forward. Standing with her arms folded across her chest, she looked a lot more confident than she actually felt. "You're jealous." She said, making Carmilla scoff out loud.
"Please, we've been over this, Cutie. What the hell would I be-"
"Because Will has kissed me, and you haven't... You're jealous." Laura's tone was deceptively calm. Inside she was shaking like a leaf. Her stomach was tied up in knots and her heart felt like it was trying to rip its way out of her chest. Still, she held her chin up. Her eyes meeting Carmilla's in a poignant staring competition. Carmilla was so shocked by Laura's answer that she forget to even protest.
Her gaze dropped, momentarily, from Laura's eyes to her mouth. Her tongue darted out across her own lips, which suddenly felt dry and cracked. "Maybe I am." She conceded; a little chink appearing in her armor. Pushing herself off the basin, she took a step closer to Laura. Then another. Her eyes never leaving the other girl's face the whole time.
"Well… you shouldn't be." Laura took a step of her own, searching Carmilla's eyes for any kind of sign that she'd read the situation wrong. There was nothing in Carmilla's expression. Her face was a blank canvas, devoid of emotion. However she was feeling, she was doing a world class job of concealing it from Laura. "He kissed me. I didn't ask for it. I didn't enjoy it… If I had my choice, he wouldn't be the Karnstein I'd want kissing me."
"Should I give Mattie your nu-" Carmilla started, but was abruptly cut off as Laura took another daring step closer, grabbing the front of her shirt and crushing their mouths together. It took Carmilla a fraction of a second to start kissing her back.
Laura's eyes fluttered shut, her body melting against Carmilla's as her lips parted. Noses bumped, and teeth clashed, as they pulled each-other in as close as physically possible. Carmilla's hands reached up, tangling themselves in Laura's hair. The nails digging in her scalp, and tugging just slightly - just enough to draw out a desperate whimper from the younger girl.
The sound should have brought Carmilla to her senses. It should have made her stop and think about what it was they were doing. It didn't. If anything, it had the opposite effect. Carmilla turned them around, pushing Laura back up against the sink. Her hands dropped so they were cradling her ass, then she hiked Laura up, lifting her like she weighed less than a bag of sugar.
Laura sat back against the sink and wrapped her legs around Carmilla's hips, digging her heels in to her back to pull her in closer. Outside, they could still hear the sound of the party in full swing. Though it was muffled. Like the two of them had stepped in to their own private world, and everything else had just faded in to the background.
Until the cold tap bit in to Laura's back. "Ow! Ow! Cold!" She arched forward, her hands resting on Carmilla's shoulders as she pulled herself away from the tap. Carmilla started laughing. The sound was so care-free, so unlike Carmilla, that Laura found herself moving to kiss her again. Carmilla happily obliged, still giggling in to her mouth.
When they finally pulled apart, little aftershocks of laughter still rippling through them, Laura was still sitting on the sink, with her legs wrapped around the other girl and her arms draped around her neck. Their foreheads were resting together. Carmilla bumped their noses together, grinning like an idiot as Laura's eyes closed over again. "Hey." She smiled at her when they opened.
"Hey yourself." That set off another round of giggling between them. "Do you think anybody has noticed we're gone?"
"I don't care." Carmilla sighed, her breath hot against Laura's lips. "I don't give a damn about anything right now. Except for you." Another kiss.
"God, do you have any idea how long I've wanted to do this for?" Carmilla ran her hands up the outside of Laura's thighs, trying to steady her breathing as she gazed down at the beautiful creature that was currently wrapped around her.
"I wanted to kiss you the first night I was in your apartment." Laura confessed, ducking her head and blushing. "When you let me wait inside while my Dad was out."
"So did I… until I found out you were only seventeen." Carmilla let out a hollow laugh. Laura's age had freaked her out at first, but it hardly seemed to matter now. It wasn't like she was some wide-eyed school girl.
"Hey Carmilla, can you hurry it up in there! I need to hit the head!" Kirsch banged on the bathroom door, making them both jump.
"Just a second, Meat-head." Carmilla called back. "I got this." She reassured Laura as the younger girl gave her a wary look. Helping her down from the sink, she kept hold of her hand as she opened the door.
"Thanks. Oh, hey Laura… Oh. Hey." Kirsch looked from one girl to the other with a goofy smile. It didn't take a genius to figure out why they'd locked themselves in the bathroom.
"All yours, Captain Caveman. Oh, and not a word, or you're dead meat, 'kay?" Carmilla offered him a less than sincere smile as she pushed past him, tugging Laura along with her. The younger girl shot him an apologetic look on her way out.
Laura felt like everyone was looking at them as they walked back in to the living room, hand in hand. It was hardly out of the ordinary with them, but Laura still felt like she had a flashing neon sign above her head. Her lips were tingling from where Carmilla's own had touched them, and all she could think about was it happening again.
"Is ten-thirty too early to end a party?" Laura whined petulantly in Carmilla's ear, tugging on Carmilla's arm to get her attention.
"I'm thinking it might be." She laughed, ignoring the way Danny was glaring at them from across the room. "Grin and bear it, Cupcake… Just about eight more hours to go."
"Okay, losers, the sleeping arrangements are as follows: LaF and Perry get the spare room, the boy can fight over the couch, and Danny is in with me and Laura." Carmilla announced, catching everybody off guard. It was hard to tell who was more shocked by the suggestion, Laura or Danny.
Kirsch was the first one to speak up though. "Dude, no fair! Why do you get to sleep with my girlfriend?" He huffed, his words slurred and his eyes glassy from drinking so much. His tone was light and teasing, but Carmilla could hear the edge it had to it. He wasn't so worried about Danny sharing a bed with Carmilla. It was that Laura would be sharing it too that worried him.
Kirsch did a good job of hiding it. He generally played dumb, and acted like he didn't see the lingering looks that his girlfriend sent her ex's way. He was a good guy. A little stupid - in Carmilla's opinion - for putting up with Danny's bullshit, but still a good guy.
"Because someone has to." Carmilla socked him in the arm. "You don't like the arrangement, go home to your own damn bed."
"Yeah, that's not happening. My Mom would kill me." Kirsch sighed, flopping back down on the couch beside Will. "What about it, my man? Top and tail?"
"Why do you really want me to bunk with you and Laura?" Danny followed Carmilla in to her room as she went to fetch blankets for the boys. "Because if you think for a second that anything is going to happen-" She had her arms crossed across her chest, and her chin held up at a defiant angle.
Carmilla scoffed at her insinuation. "Relax, Bigfoot. You're not my type. Besides, the point of you staying in here with us is so that nothing happens."
"What?" Danny frowned, not quite following the conversation.
"Jesus, try and keep up… I'm drunk, and Laura's wasted. That's not a good combination." Carmilla ran her hand through her hair, pushing her loose curls back off her face. "I don't trust myself, okay?"
"You care about her." It came out as a statement, rather than a question. Danny seemed surprised by the revelation.
"When you first showed up, I didn't like you much… I still don't." She shrugged, being brutally honest. "I thought you'd end up hurting her, but you care about her."
"I'd rather die than do anything to hurt Laura." The strength of her conviction was enough to shock even Carmilla. It was like finally saying it out loud made it somehow all the more real. "I'm in love with her."
"Yeah. I know what that's like." Danny sighed. She couldn't look Carmilla in the eye as she sat down on the side of her bed, wringing her hands together. "Okay. I'll be your chaperon, or whatever… I like Kirsch. Like, a lot."
"Kinda figured." Carmilla rolled her eyes at the younger girl, unsure of just where the conversation was headed.
"He loves me. He always has… and I like him… I like him a lot-"
"But you're still in love with Laura." Carmilla finished for her. Despite the fact that Danny Lawrence was the last person she wanted to have a heart-to-heart with, but she still found herself offering up some free advice. "It's not all or nothing, you know. Loving someone new doesn't take anything away from the last person. It just changes it a little."
"Should I be worried about you breaking my best friend's heart?" Danny frowned again. "Is there someone else on the scene?"
"Not unless you've got a Ouija board."
"Oh… I'm sorry."
"It's no big deal. People die. Happens everyday." Carmilla shrugged, playing down the lump that was forming in her throat. Maybe it was because she'd been drinking, because she added. "Her name was Elle. She was… special. One of a kind. There hasn't been anyone since. Not until I met Laura."