The reader and the talker.
Disclaimers: I do not own any of the rights to the characters from Carmilla.
Chapter 9:
It was a bit over seven and Carmilla was a bit concerned. She had texted Laura after her interview however she hadn't gotten a response yet. She felt a bit guilty, she probably should have told Laura that the Director was her mother. But she couldn't help it though, the thought of seeing Laura react to her last name written on the door was just too hilarious. However, after their coffee Carmilla started to regret more and more that she didn't tell the shorter girl about what was about to come. She wouldn't be surprised if Laura decided not to come tonight. They had agreed on meeting up at Carmilla's apartment before going to the party to drink a glass of champagne, however now she was second guessing that happening.
Carmilla took another look at herself in the mirror and fixed her black top once more. She had always been impatient but now she was getting antsy. She had gone out and bought expensive champagne, put on her best pair of leather pants and even cleaned the apartment. She was shocked at how much time she had invested for the night, with lighting candles, putting on some background music and made it over all very inviting. She smacked her red-lipstick covered lips before heading into the living room pouring herself a glass of champagne.
She sat down in the leather chair in a huff and looked at her phone again, it was quarter past seven and still no sign of Laura. She shouldn't care this much she thought to herself. First of all what did she expect, of course Laura would be pissed at her after the encounter with her mother. Also, her mother probably tore the poor girl apart. Secondly, she was just some other girl, she was just like the others. No… actually she wasn't.
William jumped up into her lap and nuzzled against her chest. She smiled sadly at the black furred cat who looked up at her with equally dark eyes.
"William, mama messed up badly. But I'm not a bad person right?" She asked as she itched him behind his ear. He purred in response.
"You always understand me… God I'm going to end up alone and become a crazy cat lady." She said grimaced. "Well, at least I have you."
Before Carmilla could continue her one-sided conversation, there was a harsh knock on the door which made her jump up in her seat making William fall off her lap. She walked briskly to the door and she took a deep breath to get ready at the scolding she was about to get before she opened the door.
She opened the door to be met with a not so happy Laura in front of her. She didn't look happy at all actually, her arms crossed and a stern frown on her face.
"We actually have a doorbell." Carmilla said dryly, trying to be her sarcastic self, she didn't want to show how shocked she actually was that Laura even showed up tonight.
"Well, maybe I just didn't feel like using the doorbell and being a civil human being towards you right now." She said with a huff and walked past Carmilla.
"Well, walk right in cupcake." The taller woman said sarcastically as Laura took of her jacket and hung it up on the hanger. Carmilla dragged her hand through her long hair, feeling that this evening wouldn't turn out at all like she expected.
"So, you have a lot of explaining to do." Laura said with irritation as she turned around and pointed at the taller woman.
"What is there to explain?" Carmilla stated simply as she shrugged her shoulders before turning around and taking a seat on the couch. "Do you want some champagne?" She asked, trying to avoid the conversation she was dreading.
"Oh no, don't you pull that on me again." Laura's voice raising a bit. "Can you please explain why you didn't tell me that your mother or aunt, whatever, was the director?!"
Carmilla looked at Laura for a second before letting out s sign and leaning back in her couch. "Do you really want me to be honest?" She asked, getting a bit nervous over Laura's reaction that would come.
"Yes, now tell me."
"Fine, just come and sit down first. You'll probably leave after this and it would be a shame to waste such good champagne." Laura hesitated for a second before coming over, taking the glass Carmilla handed her and sitting down.
"Well?" Laura asked impatiently as she turned to face her as she leaned her arm against the armrest.
"Well, I thought it would be funny." She said, avoiding Laura's glare.
"Excuse me, what?" Laura asked, the anger in her voice clearly showing.
Carmilla nervously pulled her hand through her hair. "Yea, I thought it would be funny but I didn't really think of the consequences I guess. I mean, I get that you'd be put off by the name but I don't know. I guess I didn't realise that this actually meant a lot to you and I should have told you it's just I didn't know how and-"
"You had many opportunities to tell me. First at the cafe and might I add that texting is a thing? Remember we've been texting the last couple of days so you could have done that!"
"I-" Carmilla started but Laura interrupted with a pointed finger right in her face.
"To say that I am irritated at you is an understatement. You knew and you didn't tell me! I walked into the office all confident but then when I saw YOUR last name on the door I was so irritated. I thought it was you who was the director so I basically kicked down the door. And to my surprise, when I walked in I wasn't met by you, I lost all focus. Everything I had practiced on went out the window. I couldn't even think straight!" Laura let out a long breath after her aggressive speech.
"Cupcake I'm so-"
"No, let me finish. This is my career we are talking about Carmilla. Don't you understand that that is pretty serious?! I mean christ, people can be insensitive. But that was just low. Even for you." She finished and looked down at her glass, not even looking at the woman next to her anymore. Carmilla genuinely felt bad for the girl next to her. She knew her mother and she had probably crushed the poor thing. Laura was right, this was her career and that Carmilla hadn't even considered it and it made her disgusted with herself.
"Cupcake, I'm sorry… I don't know what I was thinking. It was stupid and-"
"Yes, it was extremely stupid. You must have had a laugh didn't you?"
"I thought I would, but I've been feeling bad all day. I should have told you…" Carmilla admitted as she looked down in shame. It wasn't often she was ashamed of herself. But for once the taller girl actually felt shame. It is one thing to joke around with people but joking about someones career like that just wasn't okay. Even Carmilla understood that.
"Well, it doesn't matter. I guess I forgive you. Or I wouldn't say forgive but I'll let this one slide…for now" Carmilla looked at her extremely confused. Why was the girl next to her letting this slide. She made her lose an opportunity for a job. Not that she had a chance anyway seeing that Mother probably tore her apart like she did with all the other interviews. If anyone would have put her career on the line like she had done that to her she would make their life living hell. Laura kept surprising her and what was surprising her the most was her patient with her. All the other girls always left and here she was, letting something so big as this slide.
"But why?" Carmilla finally asked.
"Because I got the job." Laura said with a proud smile on her face.
"Wait… what?!" Carmilla exclaimed in shock.
"Yup, you heard me!" Laura answered with a satisfied nod of her head.
"But how?! My mother never hires new people!" Carmilla said in disbelief.
"Well, I'll tell you all about it in a second. First, I would love to be introduced to William. Where is he hiding?" She questioned as she looked around. Carmilla tensed up for a second. She never let new people in her life meet William. It took her weeks to even let Will meet him. She wouldn't say she wanted him for herself, more that she was overprotective. Or both actually. Plus, William never liked people, except from her. Will hated William and William hated Will for example. But seeing how she had fooled Laura it was only fair that she got to meet the little fellow.
"Yea…sure. I'll go get him. But I was to warn you first. He doesn't like people, well except me." She explain and she stood up and started looking around the apartment.
"William, where are you hiding?" She said in a cooed voice. Suddenly a black cat came rushing towards her and started nuzzling against her legs.
"Hey handsome!" Carmilla said with a smile as she lifted him up. "Gosh William, you've gotten heavy!" She said a bit shocked and laugh at how the cat looked back at her, looking a bit annoyed. Sometimes she wondered if he actually understood her, it wouldn't surprise me seeing how much time she had spent talking to him. On the couch, Laura was smiling at the two. Carmilla was acting so cute with her cat, now nuzzling him face doing a polar bear kiss. Laura just couldn't help to hold back a smile. Carmilla always had her guard up, but with William she clearly let her guard down and Laura was so happy to finally see this part of her. Carmilla's eyes locked with Laura's. Laura was still smiling and Carmilla got butterflies in her stomach over how beautiful she looked. Suddenly she realised how she'd acted and she cleared her throat, trying to seem unfazed over what Laura had just witnessed.
"Well, this is William. William, say hello to Laura." Carmilla said as she sat down on the couch with the cat in her lap.
"Hey, little guy." Laura said soothingly, trying not to scare the little furry cat. She reached her arm out, and Carmilla knew what was coming. She would be too eager to pet him and he would run off into her room. But to her surprise, Laura didn't reach over to pet him. She just put her hand in front of his face, letting the cat have sniff of her hand. William started sniffing her, looking really unsure. The cat looked at Laura and Laura looked at William with kindness in her eyes and he let his tongue stroke over her hand, which made Laura giggle. The cat them proceeded to curl up in her lap, letting Laura pet her. Saying that Laura looked proud was an understatement.
"Wow… I've never seen him like anyone, like not even my brother." Carmilla said in shock, looking at the pair in disbelief.
"Well, I'm good with animals." Laura answered with a smile and a shoulder shrug as she petted the cat which made him start purring.
"Everyone says that, but you're the first one who actually succeeded…" She took a sip of her champagne and let out a chuckle.
"What?" Laura asked, which made the cat look up at his owner.
"No, just… you keep surprising me" She answered with another chuckle as she examined her glass.
"Well, I'm pretty awesome." Laura stated simply as she went back to petting the cat, which made Carmilla let out a tiny laugh.
"So, tell me. I'm still curious about how you got the job." The raven haired woman said as she turned to face Laura. She let down the cat from her lap and took up her glass of champagne before starting.
"Well, the interview went to hell. She humiliated me and I almost started crying."
"Sounds like something my mother would do…but how…"
"Well, when she told me in a stern voice to get out of her office something happened. I turned around and yelled at her." She answered with a chuckle.
"You yelled at her?!" Carmilla said in shock. To say that she was impressed, and extremely shocked, wasn't nearly enough to justify her reaction. Not even she had the balls to yell at her mother.
"Yea, I didn't really plan that. I basically said that she was a horrible person and she doesn't make people feel safe and that yes, even though the newspaper is about telling the truth to people it's also about how you make people feel safe. And I told her, or yelled at her that that was not one of her "traits"." Laura finger quoted. "And I'm sorry if I'm insulting your mom but she is scary!" Laura exclaimed. Carmilla smiled at her and nodded her head in agreement.
"Anyway, after my outburst she threw me out, which is pretty understandable." She said as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Wait, but I thought you got the job?" Carmilla asked confused as she put her glass down.
"Yes well, here's the awesome part. When I'm on my way out the receptionist Natalie calls my name and says that the director wants to meet up with me. And I couldn't believe it. I was just about to go out, probably cry fro a bit and then call you and yell at you saying that I wasn't coming tonight."
Carmilla flinched at that though. "Understandable."
"I walk back up, this time I actually knock instead of breaking down the door. And when I come in she told me that I had done what she needed. Apparently I had told her the truth and that was exactly what she needed to know. Basically she wanted to see if I was thick skinned. So she offered me the job." She took another sip of her drink and Carmilla sat shocked for a couple of seconds looking at the blond. Laura caught her shocked glare at her and giggled.
"I know, I was as surprised as you are." and let out another giggle.
"I'm just… so surprised by you." She said in shock.
"How come?" She wondered as she frowned.
"Well… I've never met anyone, and I mean anyone including myself, who has yelled at my mother." She shook her head before continuing. "You have balls cutie, I'm impressed." She said with a smirk. She held up her glass and looked at Laura.
"Well, let's make a toast for your forgiveness and you getting the job. And once again, I'm sorry I was an idiot."
"Oh, I haven't forgiven you yet, but let's toast for my job." And she let out a little "yay" as the glasses clinked together. Carmilla chuckled at the shorter girl. Who knew that this small girl had so much power.
"So, now tell me. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I-I thought it would have been funny to see how you would have reacted when you saw my last name on the door. But then as our meet up went on I realised that that wasn't fair and I wanted to tell you I just didn't know how…" She admitted shyly. "I just… I don't know. I just didn't know how to bring it up after and I don't know. I promise you thought that I actually felt guiltily." Carmilla continued.
"huh." Laura let out
"Why the huh?"
"No, you're just acting human again. Don't know how to react to that." Laura said with a cocky smile.
Carmilla rolled her eyes in amusement "Well, sometimes I actually do show emotions."
"I like it." Laura admitted as she smiled as Carmilla. Carmilla looked into Laura's eyes, then her pink lips and then into her blue green eyes again. Carmilla licked her lips slowly, feeling the tension rising between them. However she quickly broke eye contact, feeling that the girl in front of her was getting too close to her too fast.
"Well, don't get to used to it cupcake. I prefer being nonhuman." She said as she acted nonchalant and crossed her legs.
"Ah, like a vampire?" Laura teased back.
"What?" She asked confused.
"Well, just thinking about all those vampire books you were reading at the store. I mean seriously who reads twilight." Laura snorted before letting out a chuckle.
"Hey, those books are actually really underrated! I mean yea, the movies was a poor interpretation of the book, but they are alright." Carmilla argued back.
"It just so funny that you read so much literature and then you also have this geeky side." Laura teased.
"I'm not a geek, speak for yourself!" She answered in a playful manor.
"Well, at least I accept it. I think it's a bit cute though."
"I'm not cute!"
"A little bit…"
"No."
"Tiny bit?"
"No."
"Mega mini tiny" Laura playfully said with a hushed voice, showing Carmilla with her fingers the size of her tinyness. Carmilla laughed and nudged her shoulder.
"Stop it, I'm not." She said as she continued laughing at how silly the blond was acting.
Laura suddenly noticed how close they had gotten. Carmilla's shoulder was touching hers lightly, skin to skin. Laura felt her heart beat faster. She hadn't even realised them leaning closer into one another. Laura felt a blush creeping up on her cheeks and she felt her mouth go dry. They had never been this close before and she didn't know how to react.
Carmilla had also noticed their closeness and she didn't really know how to react to it. It would be weird if she just jumped back to her end of the couch again. She liked being close to Laura, she liked her smooth skin against hers, she liked the way she smelled. She liked Laura. "Omg… I like Laura…" Carmillas eyes widened and she started feeling her heartbeat quicken. She hadn't liked anyone in a long long time. She suddenly flinched at Laura's touch instead of leaning closer as before and sat up straight in the couch. Taking a sip of her champagne, trying to calm herself down.
Laura felt the quick change in Carmilla and felt slightly hurt. She liked Carmilla, even though she was annoying most of the time there was something about her that pulled her in. And she thought Carmilla felt the same but apparently, well she didn't know. She was so confused by her.
"Are you okay?" Laura asked looking concerned at the woman next to her.
"Mhm" Carmilla answered, forgetting she had champagne in her mouth and almost spat it out. She put her hand over her mouth and nodded at Laura, feeling slightly embarrassed. "I'm just thinking that maybe we should get going. We don't want to be too late." Carmilla said, trying to recover from her realisation. Laura tightened her lips but said nothing. Carmilla was acting off there was no way of hiding that.
Laura finally nodded her head, letting it slide and drank up her drink and handing it to Carmilla, who went into the kitchen and put them in the sink.
Laura started putting on her jacket and couldn't help put feel that there was tension between them. Not good tension but weird tension she had never felt before.
"Should we go?" Carmilla asked as she put on her jacket.
"I guess, but are you okay? You're acting…weird. Even for you." Carmilla got quite and Laura felt that she was overstepped in her boundary again and that Carmillas bubble was getting thicker.
"I'll be fine cupcake, let's just go to the bar and I'll buy you one of those fruity drinks or whatever you like." Carmilla said simply.
"Hey, you can't call them whatever. They are the best drinks ever!" Laura said in a playful tone, trying to lighten the tension.
Carmilla smiled at the girl, being thankful for her wonderful skills of understanding situations.
"Well, they can't compete with a fine glass of red wine." Carmilla said with a smirk.
"But you can't compare them. That's like comparing a kid with a sophisticated adult. Wine clearly being the sophisticated adult." She said, pretending to be frustrated.
"Well cupcake, thats just how the world works." Carmilla said, still with a smirk plastered on her lips. They looked at each other for a couple seconds and smile at one another, both happy with the tension being gone. They said farewell to William and started walking towards the bar.
—-
When they arrived at the bar, Laura realised she had no idea why this was a private party and what kind of event this was.
"Hey Carm? Why is it a private event?" Laura asked just before entering. Carmilla frowned at her new nickname, she had never had a nickname so close to her actual name before. She liked it though and decided not to comment on it.
"It's actually Will's belated birthday party." She answered simply.
"What?! Why didn't you tell me? I didn't bring a present!" Laura exclaimed.
"You'll be fine sundance, it was months ago anyway, plus he's not expecting anything." She answered as she opened the door to Laura motioning her to get inside.
"Okay as long as you say so." Laura muttered as she walked inside.
The bar was filled with people, however it wasn't as much people as there usually was, but there was still enough people by the bar to make it almost impossible to walk through. Laura caught a glimpse of Will and she saw that he waved at them, signalling them to come over to his table. Laura got a bit nervous, she knew who Will was but she had never talked to him. But then Carmilla put her hand on her back leading her forward towards the table and Laura felt herself relax by her touch.
"Hey kitty! Who's this?" Will said as they started sitting down.
"Kitty?" Laura asked in both confusion and amusement as she looked at both Will and Carmilla.
"Ignore him, he's being a dork." Carmilla answered as she rolled her eyes.
"She's just a little kitten, thinking she's so cool and all." Will answered with a snicker.
"Calm it dofus. Do you want anything at the bar?" She asked, he shook his head and she looked over to Laura. "One of those fruity drinks right?"
"Yea, that'll be great. Wait let me just get my walle-"
"First drinks on me." She said with a smirk and Laura felt herself melt. She nodded and Carmilla left in the sea of people. And she realised she had left her alone with Will. The coolest guy at University and the nerves came back.
"So, what was your name?" He asked again, crossing his arms and resting them against the wooden table.
"Oh, right. I forgot! I'm Laura! And happy belated birthday" She smiled at him and shook his hand.
"Will. Thank you! So, we went to the same university right? Kirsch has talked about you" He said as he took a sip of his beer.
"He has?" Laura asked shocked.
"Yea, you helped him study and in return you got to go to parties. Smart move." He said as he put down his beer. "So, how did the interview go?"
"Wait, how do you know about that?" She asked frowning at him in confusion.
"I'm your stalker." He said in a creepy voice.
"Okaaaay…Well, mr. stalker you are an excellent stalker."
"Thank you, I try." They both started laughing and Will shook his head before continuing. "No, but kitten over there told me about it. She said you had a interview with our mother, that's all I know."
"Wait, she talked about me?" She asked, once more confused.
"Yea she does, she maybe seems like a cool cat but she's actually just a kitten."
"Hey, stop talking behind my back imbecile." Carmilla said as she handed Laura her drink.
"Calm down sis, just talking to your girl here. No bad intentions." Both Laura and Carmilla stiffened at him calling her her girl. Neither really knew how to react to that, nothing had happened between them yet and Laura didn't even know if Carmilla liked her.
Carmilla cleared her throat before changing the subject. "Well, did she tell you how the interview went?"
"She was just about too before you interrupted us." He said in a mocking tone which made Carmilla roll her eyes. "Go on."
"Well…" Laura felt a bit nervous now when both eyes were on her. "First off, no offence but your mother is scary." Which made Carmilla smirk and Will throw his head back laughing. "Secondly, I got the job." This made Will's laughter sober up directly.
"You what?" He asked shocked.
"I got the job…" She repeated, looking nervously at Carmilla nodded at her to go on.
"I…I really didn't think I would get it, because well the interview didn't go as planned and she got mad and-"
"What do you mean not as planned?" Will asked.
"She yelled at her." Carmilla said before taking a sip.
"You what?!" He exclaimed in even more shock. "You? You yelled at our mother? You're like what 5,3?" He asked.
"5,2 actually. Not that size matters." She said as she took the straw and started drinking.
"No of course not but you… she is like hardcore. I didn't know you were that hardcore, I'm impressed." He said as he nodded his head and looked at Carmilla.
"So you yelled at her then what?"
"I'll be right back, just gonna go say hi to Kirsch." Carmilla excused herself and left before Laura could continue. She felt that as fast as they got into the bar Carmilla had started acting more like how she was before. Her guard was up and it made feel a bit sad.
"Well, I thought my career was screwed forever, but she called me back up and said I got the job. She said I had told her the truth and that was exactly what she was looking for. So yeaaa. I got the job." She said with a satisfied smile.
"High five on that!" He highfived her and she tried to hide the grimace of pain. Carmilla and Kirsch joined them and Kirsch met Laura with a hug, which surprised both Carmilla and the short blond.
The gang continued to talk about nothing and everything. And Carmilla started to loosen up after a while, teasing, laughing and even talking a lot more than she usually did. The night went on and the music got louder and people got drunker. The dance floor started to fill up with people, or it wasn't really a dance floor but people started dancing anyway. Laura wouldn't say she was drunk but she could feel the alcohol in her system. However, both Will and Kirsch seemed to be extremely drunk, laughing like maniacs and clapping their hands. Laura smiled at the two, they had such a bromance going on.
Will had been offered so many shots that she clearly understood why he was drunk. People kept on popping up with drinks and congratulating him.
Carmilla on the other hand was hard to read. But sometimes, Laura noticed, she would stutter on her words which she usually never did. Always speaking in a clear and sophisticated manner. So she figured that she was too a bit tipsy.
"I just got to go to the toilet! I'll be right back." Laura said. The guys didn't even seem to hear her but Carmilla turned to her and nodded her head. Smiling at her. Laura smiled back, but feeling silly over smiling at going to the toilet, she quickly left.
When she was on her way back to the table she suddenly felt a hand grip her wrist. She quickly turned around, startled, but was met by the tall woman who was smiling at her.
"Danny! I'm sorry I totally forgot that you were coming!" Laura exclaimed as she hugged her.
"It's okay. I knew I'd run into you." She answered with a giggle. Laura looked at Danny suspiciously.
"Are you drunk?" She asked uncertain.
"Pfff, no!" Danny laughed, her body swinging from side to side. Laura laughed at her friend for acting so silly.
"Yes, you are." Laura said with a smile and eye roll. Clearly amused.
"Pff, yea maybe…. You're pretty Laura." Danny said, suddenly becoming very serious. Laura was taken a bit aback by her random comment, but she always appreciated a compliment.
"Oh, well…thank you! So are you!" She said over exaggerated as she swung her arm. However, Danny looked quite serious but she quickly went back to being a ditzy drunk.
"So, wanna dance?" The red head asked with a big grin on her face.
"Actually, I was thinking about going back to my table! You can come if you want too." Laura invited as she pointed to her table.
"No, lets dance!" Danny said, pulling her in into her embrace. Laura frowned and pushed herself off Danny.
"Danny, no I really don't feel like dancing." She stated again, trying to be more firm with the drunk girl.
"Come oooon, you're no fun!" Danny whined.
"I'm…fun. I guess. But no I really don't feel like dancing." Danny started trying to pull her towards the dance floor and it was hard to break loose from the giants girl grip. Suddenly she heard a voice behind her.
"Hey, I'm sorry but I don't want to interrupt. But I think that the girl clearly said she didn't want to dance." Carmilla said as she raised her eyebrows at Danny unimpressively. Danny frowned at Carmilla and let go of Laura's wrist.
"Well, who are you?" Danny asked annoyed.
"Uhuh, this could only end badly." Laura thought.
"Non of your business. However, maybe you should respect a girl when she says she doesn't want to dance. I didn't know that cavemen were invited." Carmilla said with a evil smirk as she took a sip of her wine.
"Carmilla, come on. Be nice." Laura said sternly, putting her hand on her arm. Hoping it would calm her down a bit.
"Wait? THIS is Carmilla?!" Danny asked, shocked and irritated.
"I didn't know I was this famous. But yes I am Carmilla, take a picture, it lasts longer." She said with a smirk on her face, clearly loving this. Laura nudged Carmilla and she looked at her her face expression clearly saying "What, I'm just having a bit of fun." Which made Laura roll her eyes in irritation.
Danny stood watching the two and felt her heart sink a bit. Even though the look Laura had given her wasn't maybe the nicest, there was still something between the two.
"Eum Laura, why are you hanging out with such a bitch?" She asked with a frown.
"Hey now, both of you calm down!" Laura said, stepping in front of Carmilla a bit, trying to calm the two women.
"Well, at least I'm not a seven foot troll." She said with a smirk on her lips as she crossed her arms, her drink still in her hand.
"You little-"
"Danny, Carmilla! Calm down! You guys are acting like high school girls, both of you!" Laura raised her voice at the two. Carmilla clearly wasn't helping the situation and Danny was getting redder and redder in her face and breathing heavily. She was mad. Furious even.
"Laura" She said loudly, causing Laura to look at her. "From now on I don't think you should hang out with Carmilla, she seems to have a bad influence on you."
Laura widened her eyes at the taller girl. "Excuse me?" She said, now also irritated.
"You heard me, I don't think you should hang out with her." She said again, trying to convince her.
"Who are you to decide who I should hang out with?" Laura questioned, feeling herself gripping her knuckled tightly together in anger.
"Well, of course I can't decide. But come on, look at her. First of all how she dresses, she looks like a biker girl. Secondly, she has an awful personality. You should just hang out with us instead. Your real friends."
Laura felt herself boiling over. If it was something she couldn't handle it was this. People deciding how to live her life. Not after her father. She couldn't handle it and she felt that if this continued she would probably get so mad she would start crying.
"Danny, excuse me but you are being ridiculous. First of all, you are judging a book by its cover and that is something I hate. I really thought better of you. Secondly, you don't know her. You don't know that she is a really funny person actually, she's really smart and yea she can be a dick sometimes. But she is someone who makes me happy and I like being around her. You have NO right to tell me who to hang out with! You can't control me. " She spit the words out like fire. Laura saw fire and Carmilla was shocked at how the blond went from bubbly to angry in seconds. She realised that Danny had hit a nerve and she took a step forward and put her hand on Laura's lower back, showing her that she was supporting her.
"Laura, I'm not trying to control you I'm just helping you make better decisions-"
"No, you know what Danny! I don't need more people controlling me in my life. Yes, I might not be tall and confident like you and I might not be as confident, straightforward and sophisticated as Carmilla. But I am doing just fine on my own and I don't need ANOTHER person in my life telling me what to do! Let me live my life and you live yours!" She basically screamed out the last part as she felt tears falling down her face. Her face crunched up and ran back into the bathroom.
"Laura!" Danny yelled after her, starting to walk after her but Carmilla took hold of her wrist, stopping her.
"Leave her alone, she needs some time to calm down." She said as she looked up at the taller girl. What she really wanted to do was punch her in the gut for hurting Laura, but she knew that wouldn't help the situation. She had to stay calm…for Laura.
"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Danny spat out.
"Just leave her okay?" Carmilla said sternly. Danny looked at her before she softened up and nodded at the shorter girl.
"Yea… I should get going. I don't feel like dancing anymore anyway." Danny answered, sounding defeated and after that she turned her heel and was on her way out the door.
In the bathroom, Laura was trying to stop her tears. She had stopped shaking with anger now but the tears just kept on coming. She dried her eyes one more time, trying not to mess up the mascara. But she already felt that that was a lost case. Maybe she overreacted she thought, but she couldn't help it. It was too much of a sensitive topic for her.
Suddenly she heard a knock on the bathroom door. "I'll be out in a minute!" She yelled back.
"Hey cupcake, it's just me. Come out." Carmilla answered through the door.
Laura shook her head, trying to calm herself. She took one a deep breath before opening the door. Carmilla greeted her with a sad smile and she looked so beautiful and Laura suddenly felt very self-conscious. She must be looking like a mess next to the beauty that was Carmilla
"Well cupcake, this is the third time tonight that you impress me and I'll tell you one thing. I'm not easily impressed." Laura let out a chuckle and and shook her head.
"You don't have to-"
"I'm being serious Laura. First my mother hiring you. I mean… now I clearly understand a 110% why she did that. You're extremely strong. Secondly, William liked you and he likes no one. Like seriously." Laura couldn't help but smile and she also noticed that while she had been looking down at the floor Carmilla had gotten awfully close to her. She looked into her beautiful eyes and she saw how the woman in front of her reached her hand to her face, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear. Laura felt herself blush again. "And thirdly, you stood up from yourself. And there is nothing more I respect that when people stand up for themselves. You're braver than you think." Carmilla smiled kindly at her however her eyes still looked a bit worried.
"Thank you… I really ended that right now…"
"No problem sundance." Carmilla looked at Laura's lips again and then into her eyes. The tension was rising again, this time however Laura broke eye contact feeling that she was looking like a mess. "Let's leave and do something fun instead." Carmilla said as Laura went to the mirror and started fixing herself up.
"But it's your brothers birthday party." Laura stated as she looked at Carmilla through the mirror, who was leaning against the bathroom door.
"So? This party blows anyway. I thought we could go to my place, drink some good win instead of this cheap wine and look at the stars? I mean if you would want too of course." Carmilla asked, sounding a bit insecure by the end.
Laura smiled at her through the mirror. "I would like that a lot actually." and Carmilla face lit up with a smile.