"Hey Mr H. How was the vacation?" Carmilla greeted her neighbor with a rare smile. "John?" She repeated when he didn't look up from what he was doing.
"Hmm? Oh, hi Carmilla." John set aside the wrench in his hand. He was bent in front of a radiator on the second floor. "It was just fine. How was your weekend? Laura said something about a party…"

"Uh, yeah. It was just a small thing… a few hundred people, some strippers and a clown." Carmilla joked, aware that John was a million miles away.
"What? Oh, yeah. Funny." He gave her a wry smile as he wiped his grease stained hands on his coveralls. "Thanks for keeping an eye on Laura for me. I hate leaving her when I go away, but I didn't think she'd thank me for a last minute trip."

"It's no problem." Carmilla shrugged. She adjusted her book bag as it began to slip down her shoulder. "You sure you're okay John? You seem a little out of it."
"I'm fine." He rubbed absently at the back of his neck, leaving grease stains on the skin there as he let out a small sigh. "Just can't get this damn radiator working… This lousy old building… it's falling apart." He shook his head in despair.

It was strange to think, but in the few days since Carmilla had seen him last John seemed to have aged by years. The lines around his eyes seemed engraved there, along with the creases in his brow. His hair was disheveled, sticking up all angles, and his beard was in dire need of a trim. In all the months she'd lived in the building, Carmilla couldn't remember a time when she she'd seen him looking so out of sorts. "This was the first building my Father bought when he came to the States.

"Yeah. He told me that when he hired me." John moved so that he was leaning back against the busted radiator, looking out across the landing with an almost wistful gaze. "After I left the Marines, and Laura's mom passed, I was at a loss. I needed to be there for Laura, but I needed to work to keep a roof over our heads too. Taking the job as the building manager meant I could do both. I had no experience, no nothing. Your dad had a whole line of people better than me apply, but he gave me a chance. I always appreciated that. He was a good man."

"He was a good guy." Carmilla agreed with a nod and a whimsical smile. "He loved this old place. He loved all his buildings. Mother, she… She doesn't care about the buildings or the people. It's all about money to her. Dad was never like that." The conversation had taken a sombre turn, and Carmilla found her eyes watering. John looked just as dejected.

"Hey, how about you give up on that thing for half an hour and come have a beer? I've got some cold ones in the fridge." She suggested, hoping he'd take her up on the offer. It wouldn't do either of them any good to wallow on their own.
"I could use a break." He agreed, managing a weak smile. He liked the Karnstein girl a lot. She'd been a good friend to Laura since she moved in. It was nice to see his daughter expanding her social circle; though he was pretty sure Laura liked Carmilla a whole lot more than as a friend.

After tidying his tools away he picked up his toolbox and followed Carmilla upstairs. His front door was on the latch. Laura was due home from school any minute. He loved his little girl dearly, but she was terrible at keeping hold of her keys. Dropping his tools by the front door, he closed it over again before heading across the landing to Carmilla's place. As promised, she had a cold beer waiting on the kitchen counter for him. "Thanks." He wasn't much of a drinker anyway but John didn't recognize the label on the beer, or the language it was written in.

"No problem. You looked like you could use one." Carmilla popped the lid off her own beer and took a long swig. Her classes had been hell all day. It was hard to concentrate on school when she'd spent the weekend making out with her cute - if a little dorky - neighbor.

They hadn't really talked about it. Laura had just spent all of Saturday and most of Sunday over at Carmilla's apartment. They'd ate junk food and watched terrible reality TV, so nothing out of the ordinary; except for the excessive amount of kissing that had been involved. "It's just been a long week." John shrugged off the unspoken question. Carmilla knew there was more to it. It was written all over the older man's face. She didn't push though. It was none of her business.

"I hear that." Carmilla raised her beer to him. John clinked their bottles with a small chuckle, glad of the company. They stood in relative silence after that, drinking their beers and making the occasional attempt at small talk. John was almost finished when Carmilla's door burst open. The tiny whirlwind that was Laura Hollis came waltzing in, dropping her book bag on the floor and jumping on Carmilla's couch without looking back in to the kitchen.

"Hey, babe. My Dad's out. So I figure we have maybe half an hour to make out before-" Over by the kitchen sink, John cleared his throat loudly, catching his daughter's attention. Beside him, Carmilla suddenly wished the floor would just open up and swallow her whole.

Laura spun around so quick that she almost fell off the couch. Her cheeks were burning with embarrassment. "Dad! Hi! What a surprise! What… What are you doing here?" She shot an accusatory glare in Carmilla's direction, which was met with a halfhearted shrug.
"Just taking a break. I should probably go start dinner. I'll see you in half an hour?" He wore an amused smile as he clapped Carmilla on the shoulder on his way out, his hand lingering just long enough for it to be a friendly warning.

"What the hell?" Laura demanded the second the front door closed behind him. Her voice had a habit of going up a pitch when she was flustered.
"Sorry Cupcake, I invited him in. I had no idea you were going to storm in here and demand sexual favors." Despite her own embarrassment, Carmilla was wearing a devious smirk as she crossed the room and tugged on the bottom of Laura's sweater, pulling her in closer.

"I didn't-" Laura started to argue, but her protests were cut off as Carmilla stepped forward and kissed her. "Hey." She offered the older girl a goofy grin as they finally pulled apart.
"Hey." Carmilla returned the adoring look. She still had her hands on Laura's cheeks, keeping her close. She'd spent the whole day craving the other girl's presence, like an addict desperate for a fix. It had been a long time since Carmilla had felt anything even close to that. "Is your Dad okay? He seems… different."

"Yeah. It's just the time of year." Laura pulled away and glanced down at the floor, biting nervously at her lip. She looked torn between leaving it at that and elaborating. Carmilla didn't push it. She waited for Laura to continue on her own.

"His and my Mom's anniversary is coming up. It's always been hard for him." Laura explained. It had been over eight years since her mother had passed away. As hard as it was for Laura, it was even harder for her Dad. Certain times of the year - like his wedding anniversary - seemed to hit him particularly hard.

"I get that." Carmilla nodded in understanding. It had been less than a year since Elle had died, but Carmilla had already had to deal with their anniversary, as well as Elle's birthday, without her. She had been broken for a long time after losing Elle. Laura had been the first person to make her feel like she could be put back together again.

She didn't need to force the smile that graced her lips as she tugged Laura in close again. "So, we've got half an hour to kill… Whatever could we do?"

"Can you hurry it up already?" Carmilla whined for the third time since she'd put in her lunch order. "How the hell is a grilled cheese sandwich taking so long? I'm the only customer in here."
"Forgot to turn the grill on." LaF shrugged by way of apology as they joined Carmilla over by the couch.
"Sweetie, how many times have we spoke about-" Perry began, but LaF wasn't paying any attention. She decided to save her breath, and allowed the rest of the lecture to slide. Carmilla wasn't so forgiving.

"Seriously? I am wasting away here!" Carmilla groaned. "Remind me why I even bother coming here anyway?" She huffed out, sprawling across the couch with her arms crossed in frustration.
"Free food?"
"Impeccable company?" Perry and LaFontaine answered in unison. Carmilla flipped them both off.

"Please. We all know you're just hanging around here waiting for Laura to get off school." LaF pointed out, earning another woeful glare from their best friend. "Okay. Actually, that sounded way creepier when I said it out loud. My bad."

"Is Laura joining us today?" Perry asked, choosing a more delicate way to bring the younger girl up. She shared a knowing look with LaFontaine. Carmilla got the feeling that she'd just walked in to an ambush.
"Yes… She is." She answered slowly and cautiously, watching the other two for their reactions.

"She's a lovely girl." Perry carried on with the softly-softly approach. LaF, who had never been big on tact, chose to just get it out there.
"Did you two sleep together the other night, or what?"
"We slept in a bed. Together. If that's what you mean." Carmilla shot them a disinterested look, as though she wasn't perfectly aware of their less than subtle attempts at bringing up her and Laura's disappearance from the party last weekend.

"Dude, you know that's not what I meant!" LaF rolled their eyes. Perry had done her best to keep them from asking outright for the last few days, but they were only human and their curiosity was getting the better of them. "C'mon, Carm! Did you do the nasty with-" "LaFontaine!" Perry chastised them.

"What?" They tried to look innocent, but only ended up looking all the more guilty for it. "I'm just asking the questions that need to be asked! Carmilla and Laura have been making heart eyes at each other for months now, and I for one am sick of waiting for them to get their shit together! There. I said it. The cat's out of the bag."

Carmilla snorted at that. Shaking her head at LaFontaine, she admitted, "Yes, something is going on. We haven't exactly labeled it yet. And no, we haven't had sex." Carmilla wanted it. God knows she wanted it, but she hadn't dared try to take things too far with Laura. She was painfully aware that the younger girl was still a virgin.

The only real relationship she had ever been in had been with Danny, and Carmilla knew how that had ended. She wanted Laura. Wanted her more than she could ever remember wanting anything else before - maybe even more than she wanted Elle - but she didn't want to rush her in to anything. They hadn't really spoken about what it was that was going on between them.

Every time they'd been alone together over the last few days talking had been the last thing on their minds. Carmilla pushed her hair back from her face, letting out a frustrated sigh. God, it's been weeks since I've had sex…" Perry cleared her throat. She had never been comfortable talking about 'bedroom matters'. "I just really-"

"Laura!" Perry piped up, her voice taking on an almost shrill tone as she greeted the teenager; who had just walked through the front door.
"Hi guys." Laura returned Perry's enthusiastic greeting, coming to a stop by the couch Carmilla was sprawled against. "Hey Carm."

"Hey, Cupcake." Carmilla couldn't help the goofy grin that spread over her lips. "You're early. Couldn't wait to see me, huh?"
"Actually, I just wanted to come by and see LaF and Perry." Laura teased. She laughed at the mock pout that appeared on Carmilla's face.

"Rude!" Carmilla huffed. She sat up on the couch, tugging on the front of Laura's shirt until she stumbled forward and fell on top of her. Taking advantage of the younger girl's surprise, Carmilla stole a kiss from her.
"Uh, Carm?" Laura's eyes widened as she glanced back at Carmilla's friends. They hadn't exactly spoken about keeping things private between them, but Laura had gotten the distinct impression that Carmilla hadn't told her friends about them.

"Relax, Creampuff. They know." Carmilla moved along so that Laura could take a seat beside her. She didn't miss the way Laura started beaming after the revelation.
"Really?"

"It wasn't exactly a shock." LaF smirked, earning a jab in the ribs from Perry.
"What LaFontaine is trying to say, is that we're pleased for you both. It's nice to see Carmilla happy." And if anyone deserved a little bit of happiness, it was Carmilla.