AN: Since I made the executive decision to let the story take part in Austria, and I grew up in a country, where everybody wears Lederhosen, drinks beer, loves their sausage and is punctual (NOT, though I am very fond of beer), I thought why not take advantage of that and put some German customs, language bits and things that haven been part of my childhood in the story. I'll try to explain them as best as I can (without disturbing the flow of the story), but I am aware that there might still be things left unexplained. So, if there are any questions left unanswered, don't hesitate to ask.

For translations have a look at the end notes!

The first thing Laura notices is the warm body that is pressed up against her. A strong arm is pulling her even further into the soft torso behind her.

Carmilla.

She closes her eyes again, reveling in the feeling of just being held. God, she could do this every day.

"Good morning, sunshine." Carmilla smiles in her neck. Laura's skin tingles, when Carmilla leave small kisses all over her sensitives neck. She doesn't know how Carmilla is able tell that she is awake, but she is not about to complain.

"Mornin," Laura mumbles back, still not completely awake.

"Not a morning person?" Carmilla asks her, entirely too cheerful.

The only answer she gets is a low grumble from the small girl that is most definitely not a morning person. Carmilla laughs, running her fingers through Laura's hair - apparently hell bent on getting the other girl to give her more than a muttered mornin. Laura moves in Carmilla's arms, curling up against her.

"It's Sunday," Laura says, without opening her eyes.

"So?"

"I don't have to get up on Sundays." Carmilla laughs, her breath warm against the arch of Laura's neck. Laura finds her hand and presses it against her stomach. "Let's just sleep so more, okay?"

Carmilla doesn't answer. Laura holds her hand, feeling at ease. Happy. It's just the two of them. Nothing to worry about, no care in the world. Just Carmilla and Laura. Laura and Carmilla.

But apparently, Carmilla has other plans. She takes her hand back and starts moving. Laura wants to complain, but doesn't find the words. Her brain is still muddled by just having woken up.

"Alright, I am going to take a shower, cutie."

"Hmm?"

Carmilla sits up, the mattress shifting, when she moves. "Go back to sleep, I'll be back before you notice," she says. Carmilla has to climb over Laura in order to get out of the bed. When Laura finally opens her eyes, Carmilla has moved one leg over her body, clumsily straddling her. Laura blinks at her, her eyes finally focusing on the girl. Her face is only mere inches away. Her eyes immediately shift to Carmilla's lips that look so very inviting. Licking her lips, she wraps her arm around Carmilla's neck and pulls the other girl down again. Surprised Carmilla loses her footing and clumsily lands on Laura.

"Ow," Laura moans, crushed by the sudden weight of Carmilla. Carmilla uses her hands to prop herself up, allowing Laura to breathe again.

"What was that?" Carmilla asks, rubbing her forehead that had violently collided with Laura's shoulder.

"I just..." Laura starts not even sure what she wanted to accomplish herself. "I think I am probably still asleep."

Laura jumps, when Carmilla pinches her arm. "Not anymore."

"You are evil."

"Good and evil is just a social construct, invented by gullible men that-"

"Not now, please," Laura begs her to stop.

Carmilla smirks, sitting up. Her legs still straddling Laura she looks pretty content with herself. Her hand searches for Laura's head, finding it only moments later. She starts twirling a strand of her hair, playing with it, turning it in her fingers.

Laura finds it difficult to do anything than stare. Her mouth slightly agape she just watches Carmilla.

"You wanna come?" Carmilla asks.

"Come where?"

"Take a shower with me."

Laura blatantly gapes at her, her mouth opening and closing again and again. No words make it out.

"I am only kidding, you'd have to make me breakfast first, cupcake," Carmilla says with a devilish smile playing on her lips. She kisses Laura's cheek, before raising herself up and getting out of bed.

"Oh, oh, but you are evil."

"Get some more sleep, Laura." Carmilla quickly shuffles through her closet, grabs some clothes and leaves for the bathroom. She's still wearing yesterday's clothes. They didn't even change. Laura lifts the blanket to look at her own crumpled attire. Yawning she sits up, leaning her back against the wall.

The last thing on her mind is sleep. The mere thought of a very much naked Carmilla showering only meters away from her is making it very hard to do anything else, but get lost in her daydreams. She is surprised at herself for feeling so drawn to Carmilla. She never felt so drawn to anybody before. And especially not after only knowing them for... not even a day.

Only know Laura realizes the fact, that they only met like... not even twelve hours ago. Everything happened just so terribly fast. She remembers the first touch they shared. An innocent touch, Carmilla had touched her arm asking her if she was ok. Everything after that was a blur.

So much had happened in just so little time. She runs her fingers over her eyes, driving the last bit of sleep out. Waking up together, Carmilla teasing her felt so normal, like it was something they had already done for the past year. Laura is still trying to make sense of everything. All thought leave her mind, when Carmilla comes back.

When Carmilla enters the room again, she is only wearing a tank top and boy shorts. Her hair is still damp from the shower she took. Laura silently watches her. Speechless. God, she was so damn beautiful. Carmilla. Her girlfriend.

"See something you like?" Carmilla asks her with a raised eyebrow. She has turned her head in her direction, though her eyes are still closed. As far as Laura can tell, she never opens them. She remembers how reluctant Carmilla had been yesterday to show them to her.

"Huh," is all Laura can manage, her eyes still glued to the beautiful girl in front of her. Carmilla laughs heartily, before opening the door to her walk-in closet. She turns her back towards Laura and after very thoroughly checking out her ass, Laura notices something else.

"You have a tattoo."

"I do, cupcake." Carmilla doesn't turn around.

"Oh."

"Don't act so scandalized. It's not a tramp stamp. You wanna see it?"

Laura nods. What she didn't expect was Carmilla to just casually shrug of her tank top, now only leaving her in matching bra and shorts. All black of course. Laura just stares at her. Carmilla turns around and walks towards her. Laura doesn't really know where to look. She bites her lips, when Carmilla strides towards her, her hips swaying with every steps she takes, every motion perfect, elegant, enticing.

"You act like you never seen a girl before, Laura." Carmilla smiles. She is always so confident, always knows exactly what is going through Laura's mind. It's unnerving.

"I'm not, I mean I have, but I..."

"Stop rambling, honey," Carmilla says, when she stops in front of Laura. Her hands find her face faster than she'd thought it possible and a moment later, Carmilla leans down to kiss her. She tastes like mint and toothpaste. "That's better."

Laura thinks that she doesn't mind Carmilla shutting her up by kissing her. She doesn't mind anything, when Carmilla is kissing her.

Carmilla breaks them apart, before she turns around, so Laura can take a closer look at the tattoo on her back. It's all in black, except for the bright, yellow eyes. Directly above her bra, a black panther is carved into her skin. Laura remembers how Carmilla told her that it was her favorite animal.

Above the panther, there is an inscription – small dots following a pattern, forming letters, words, meaning. "What does it say?"

"It's a poem by Rilke. Sein Blick ist vom Vorübergehn der Stäbe. so müd geworden, daß er nichts mehr hält. Ihm ist, als ob es tausend Stäbe gäbe und hinter tausend Stäben keine Welt," she recites. "I got it after Ell moved away."

"It's beautiful," Laura breathes leaning closer, "can I touch it?"

"Of course."

With slightly shaky fingers Laura draws the contours of the tattoo. She'd never seen a tattoo so close, let alone touch one. She doesn't know anybody that has a tattoo, most of her friends are all rather... conservative. She is surprised, when the inked skin doesn't feel any different.

"You can't even feel it."

"No, it's only ink."

"I know that. I just always thought, you could feel it, that there was like a bump, that it would feel somewhat different."

"I wish," Carmilla sighs.

"Why did you get it?"

"There are a million reasons, honestly; I just felt so... tired of everything. I was sad and angry all the time, and there was nothing... I could do about it. It felt right at the time."

"Not anymore?"

"I changed, but I don't regret getting it."

"It is beautiful." Laura presses a soft, tentative kiss on the skin just above the tattoo.

"So I've been told."

Carmilla puts her tank top on again. Laura watches her intently. She can feel that Carmilla wanted to say something else, something more. She wonders what that might be. Carmilla makes her way back to the closet to pick up some clothes. With the door now fully open, she can see that every piece of clothing in there is black, or at least very dark. She stifles a laugh, not entirely surprised.

She gets up from the bed, trying to smooth her unruly hair by running her fingers through her long curls. She must look like shit. Her clothes are a mess, her hair is a mess, her make up is probably running down her face. She takes a deep breath, feeling stupid. She is worried about what Carmilla might think of her, really stupid when she thinks about it. Carmilla isn't able to see how run down she currently looks, she told her the day before that for her... beauty is not attached to looks.

Her cheeks burn, when she remembers her words. Carmilla had told her that she was beautiful. The amazing girl in front of her thought she was beautiful, thought she was special, meant something to her. Laura isn't really ready to process that.

Trying to get her mind of the thoughts, she wanders around the room stopping in front of the huge cabinet with the lettered boxes. She runs her fingers over one of the signs.

"What do they say? The braille lettering's on the boxes." She points at the cabinet with the labelled signs, quickly retracting her arm, when she remembers that Carmilla won't be able to see her gesture anyway.

"Hm?" Carmilla asks, emerging out of the closet, now dressed in a pair of dark grey, skinny jeans and a black shirt.

"The boxes, there are signs on it. In braille." She is still amazed how anybody can read braille, how the feel of the small dots translate into coherent sentences. How anybody can be able to tell which combination results in which letter by just touching the small bumps.

Carmilla walks towards her stretching out her hand in the direction, where she assumes Laura to be. Laura takes her hand.

"What you see in front of you is basically my whole life put in a couple of boxes," Carmilla says, entangling their hands. "I like things to be sorted. No, I need things to be sorted in order to find anything again. It's a lot of different stuff. Memories, things I don't really need anymore, but like to keep close. The signs have years on them. In there, there are things that I like to remember, things that remind me of special people, of certain events.

"Here, this is a year. 1999. You want to find out what I did in that year?"

"Yes."

Carmilla takes box out of the cabinet and puts it on the floor. She sits down next to the box and Laura copies her motions.

Laura peers into the box. The first thing Carmilla gets out is a huge book. "This is first book I read in Braille. It's just a collections of some stupid children's stories, fairy tales and all that. 1999 was the year I learned reading and writing. I was home schooled, you know. My mom didn't want me to go to a public school. She handpicked every single one of my teachers; only the best for a Karnstein, she always said."

Next she takes out a sock puppet. It's woolen body is a bright orange with big, black eyes that are slightly asymmetrical. It has a mop of jet black of hair on his tiny head, its nose is a button and the line of its mouth opens, when Carmilla moves her hand inside the puppet. The puppet looks familiar, but Laura can't really place it.

"Hello Laura," Carmilla says with a deep voice. Laura assumes she's trying to imitate a male voice. "My name is Fu, I am very pleased to meet you."

The puppet looks at her with wide eyes and an open mouth. When she hears the name, she remembers why the puppet seems familiar. Her Volksschule teacher had used the puppets to try teach them writing and reading. There were whole books about the adventures the two sock puppets experienced.

"Um, nice to meet you," Laura offers, before Carmilla continues to speak in the low voice.

"You know I used to have a sister. Fara, she was really beautiful and amazing. She had these eyes, so big that you could get lost in them." Carmilla turns the puppet, so that it is looking at her. "But this idiot lost her." Carmilla imitates sobbing sounds, and makes the puppet shake with invisible sorrow.

"Don't be like that, Fu." Carmilla answers in her normal voice again. "You know that it was an accident."

"An accident." The sock puppet called Fu snorts and refuses to look at Carmilla. Laura has to stifle a laugh. "That's what they always say an accident."

"Well, it was. You want to tell her or do you want me to, Fu?"

The puppet looks from on girl to the other. "We were driving on the Autobahn, and this idiot, wanted Fara to feel the breeze in her hair, wanted her to feel the speed of the car, so she opened the window of the car and... I never saw her again."

"I'm, um sorry, I guess."

Carmilla laughs, pulling the puppet off her hand. "Sorry I couldn't help it. But yeah, I had two of them. I begged my mom to turn the car around, to let me look for her, but of course she didn't. So I only have this little mischief-maker left." She points at the sock puppet in her hand.

"Fara and Fu, right I remember. My teacher also had them, pretty clever now that I think about it. Using toys to trick kids into actually enjoying the lessons."

"Indeed, I didn't know about them until Will started school. He told me about them, and I just feel in love with them. I always wanted to have Fara and Fu as sock puppets, but my mother thought they were childish and didn't want to buy them for me. So, I made them myself. Will helped. For about a month I only spoke through the puppets. My mother even wanted to send me to a psychiatrist, but dad told her off. I think she was happy that I lost Fara."

She puts the sock puppet back into the box. "Eventually I stopped, when I got new toys."

She gets out a small paper bag in the form of a big cone. A Schultüte. The cardboard cone is handmade, Laura remembers how her dad had just bought her one from the store; she loved it nonetheless. But Carmilla's is special, handmade, it's colorfully decorated. There are a lot of different animals and shapes cut out and glued to the cone. Laura spots a tiger, lion, panther, a rabbit, a huge dog, a lot of different flowers, a huge tree and some kind of a space ship.

The Schultüte was the only things that had made her first day of school bearable. Her dad had filled the cone with her favorite sweets, she remembers the friends she made by trading the sweets with the other kids. She met her best friend that day. She traded a pack of licorice wheels for another pack of HARIBO frogs. God, she had loved the little frogs. Still does to be honest.

"I didn't go to a school, but I still got a Schultüte after throwing a fit about how unfair life was. My dad and my oma made it for me. I ate most of the sweet in there that day, I remember feeling so sick."

"Didn't we all?"

"Probably."

"It's really not the best idea to give small kids a cone full of their favorite sweets and not expect them to eat them all at once."

"Indeed. What else do we have here?" Carmilla takes out some papers that have braille on them. "Right, the first words I wrote. I hated my technology teacher, he wasn't very good at the whole teaching thing. I made his life a living hell."

She silently reads what is on the paper, while Laura watches her. Her fingers read every dot, every space in between them. "Yeah, I was a brat alright."

"What does it say?"

"Herr Schneider smells like farts. At least that's what it's supposed to say, I got a couple of letters wrong, I was still learning, but he definitely got the message. It only took me three weeks I think to get him to quit his job."

Laura isn't surprised. Getting on Carmilla's bad side isn't something she would want to experience herself.

"Do you have one for every year?"

"Almost every year, yeah. I am a hoarder."

"That's amazing."

Carmilla just shrugs. "It's really not. I just like to remember sometimes and those things, they help." She gets something else out of the box. It's an audio cassette. Laura doesn't think she has seen one of those since her childhood days. It's not like anybody used cassettes any longer.

"It's Bibi Blocksberg, holy shit!" Laura recognizes the blond girl on the cover of the cassette at once. She had loved listening to the audio cassettes as well, when she was younger. What isn't there to love about an audio book about a young, sassy witch that uses her powers to play pranks on her classmates, her family and the mayor of their small town.

Carmilla just smiles, running her fingers over the small braille label at the front, that was glued on the case. "It's my favorite episode, it's the one where they visit a creepy castle and meet vampires. It's really cute."

"I don't think I know that one."

"It's great. She's on holiday with her parents and they get stuck in Dracula's castle and meet all sort of weird folks." Carmilla puts the cassette back. "I am pretty sure I own every cassette they ever produced. I told you, I'm a hoarder. Our attic is full of my old stuff. I don't like to throw things away."

"We moved around a lot in the last years, and my dad gave away most of my stuff, whenever we moved. It was just easier that way."

"I threatened my mom that I would run away, if she ever did anything like that. Once I even had my suitcase all packed, ready to run away. Wasn't the best plan to be honest, all I packed were toys and stuffed animals. I don't think I would have gotten far."

"Who knows, you could have traded them for food."

"Tzzz, I'd never give them away."

She puts the lid on the box, and gets up to put it back at its original place.

"There's something else, I'd like to show you," she says, when the box is back in the cabinet. She walks over to the desk and silently searches for something on the counter. Her fingers enclose around something to small for Laura to make out from where she is sitting. She gets up from the floor and walks over to Carmilla.

Carmilla takes her hand and guides her to the bed, where the both of the sit down. Carmilla crawls over the bed, until her body meets the wall behind her, she leans against it and pats the place beside her, indicating for Laura to sit besides her. Laura moves.

Carmilla opens her palm, revealing a small wooden figurine in her hands. Laura squints trying to make out the shape, trying to identify what it is supposed to be. It's a heart. But not the abstract depiction of a heart that she normally affiliates with heart shaped things, no it is shaped like a real human heart. Small tubes, veins and arteries she supposes grow out of the somewhat oval shaped heart.

Carmilla turns the wooden heart in her fingers, revealing all the small details Laura hadn't noticed before.

"Dad made it for me."

She turns towards Laura, her palm open, the small wooden heart in her hand. Gingerly Laura takes it from her, the wood feels smooth.

"He was really into nature stuff, he even knew how to shoot a freaking bow and arrow. Apart from that and dancing, his favorite past time was carving in wood. He cut these amazing … little figurines out of wood. This is my favorite."

Laura weighs the little wooden heart in her hand. She has never seen anything like it. She wonders how much time it must have taken her dad to get all the little details right. she turns it around, looking at it from every possible direction.

"It is beautiful."

Carmilla smiles, leaning her head against Laura's shoulder. Her hair is still wet, and leaves small stains on Laura's shirt.

"It's probably my favorite thing in the world. It's just so him. Him and me."

"Here," Laura says, handing it back. Carmilla takes it back, enclosing her fingers around the heart.

They spend some time cuddling on the bed. Holding each other close, reveling in the feeling of having each other, before Laura's stomach violently grumbles. Carmilla laughs and runs a hand over her belly.

"We should get you something to eat."

"Yeah," Laura says just as her stomach grumbles again.

"Come on," Carmilla holds her hand out and together they crawl out of bed. She puts the little, wooden heart back on the desk, before they leave. When they exit Carmilla's room, Laura stops for a second.

"Is it okay, if I use the bathroom first?"

"Sure, it's down the hall first door on the right. There should be a spare toothbrush under the sink and you can use everything in there."

"Thanks. Um, do you maybe something to wear? A shirt or a sweater?"

"Of course. Any preferences... wait, I only own black clothes." She laughs and gets a sweater out of her closet, that she hands to Laura. Black. Of course.

"Thanks."

Carmilla takes her hand and shows her to the bathroom. The air is still humid from the shower Carmilla had taken. "As I said, you can use everything in here, that's all my stuff. Towels are in the cupboard above the sink. I'm going to wait downstairs, okay? Take your time."

Laura smiles, when she pulls her in another hug.

Somebody is in the kitchen. It shouldn't be a surprise to Carmilla, but she still hesitates before entering the kitchen. Even before she steps into the room, the delicious smell of freshly brewed coffee fills up her nose. The smell is honestly the only reason she drinks coffee at all. She hates the taste of it, only milk and ridiculous amounts of sugar make it drinkable at all.

There is only one person, aside from herself that uses the coffee maker.

"Morning," Danny grumbles at her, before Carmilla gets a chance to say anything. "Coffee?"

Carmilla only nods and takes a seat. The loud rumbling of the coffee maker is the only sound that can be heard in the room for a long time. Carmilla leans against the backrest of the bench. It's been a long time since she and Danny were in a room together. Alone. After the debacle with Mel, Danny avoided her like the plague. The first month she didn't even visit their house any more; though that was probably courtesy of Will.

Danny didn't react very well to her girlfriend cheating on her. Carmilla remembers the fight that ensued, when a drunk Danny stumbled into Will's bedroom to discover her half naked girlfriend straddling Carmilla's hips. She wasn't very amused. Carmilla remembers laughing her ass off, while Mel desperately tried to explain her behavior to her girlfriend. She had only stopped laughing, when Danny punched her hard enough in the face to leave a not so pretty bruise on her cheek.

She would never admit that to anybody, but the moment Danny's fist collided with her face, was probably the moment she started to like the brash, red giant. Not that she would ever tell the annoying girl. They are probably more alike then either of them would ever want to admit. They never really talked about anything that happened. She had always been at least somewhat jealous of her and Will's relationship. Danny was fiercely loyal, she was always there for her brother no matter what.

Danny is still rumbling around, making a lot of noises. The girl had never been able to do anything without making a big fuss. The door of the refrigerator wings close with a loud thud.

"How is he?" Carmilla can't help but ask.

"Finally sleeping."

"Did mother see him?"

"Fuck no, we made sure of that. Perry helped me bring him to his room, she didn't notice a thing."

"Good." Carmilla nods, though she is pretty certain that her mother knows anyway. She always does.

"He threw up three times, I haven't seen him like that since..."

"Yeah well, he's an idiot."

"He is," Danny agrees - though for different reasons. "What about you, Carmilla? Had a good time with my date?"

"She doesn't belong to anybody."

"I know," Danny sighs. She puts the cup in front of Carmilla. "Milk, two sugars. It's just... I care about her."

"So do I."

Danny says nothing, and sits down on the chair opposite of Carmilla. Carmilla hears the clinking of the spoon, when Danny stirs her coffee.

Carmilla remembers mornings like this. Danny practically lived here for the better part of the last year. Will slept in most days, but Danny was always up bright and early getting ready for university. She had never liked Danny, but their mornings together had somehow grown into a routine. Silently drinking their coffee, before they both went their merry ways. Her mother was never at home – thank god; and as much as she loved to spend time alone, even she appreciated the occasional company of... anybody really.

Well, that was before Danny caught her with Mel. After that occurrence she didn't visit any longer. It annoyed her how empty the house felt.

"I do like her. She's special," she tries again. She can't really explain why, but she doesn't want Danny to think that what she and Laura have is fake, that all Carmilla is doing is fucking around with Laura to hurt her. Because she isn't.

Whatever animosity she felt towards Danny, the anger at being replaced so easily, in her mind they were even, when she caught her with Mel. They hurt her, and she hurt them. They were even.

"It's funny, Carmilla. I want to believe you, I do. For her sake, for Will's sake, for my sake, heck even for your sake. But it's just... very hard."

The worst thing is that Carmilla knows. She knows. In the course of the last two years she had grown into somebody she never wanted to be. She had stopped caring. About anybody. About herself. She had nobody to talk to, nobody to confide in. Nobody to help her out of the hole she was buried in.

She started to do thing only to annoy others. She wanted Will to get angry at her. She wanted him to hate her. He had never stopped apologizing, trying to make up for mess he and Ell made. He tried to be there for her, but she couldn't stand to be near him, to have him sympathize with her. To have him care. He was just a cruel reminder of everything she lost.

Without meaning to she had turned into the person she loathed the most. She had turned into Lilita. She had turned into her mother.

She never meant to. She had vowed to never been anything like her, to never turn into the cold-hearted, cruel woman her mother was. But she did. Slowly, but gradually she had turned into her mother. She had felt joy at hurting Will. Will, who had always had her back before. Will, who tried everything to make things right again.

And now he was lying in his bed, after drinking himself into a stupor, all because of her. Because of her inability to forgive.

"I'm sorry."

Danny doesn't answer. The clock is the only thing that can be heard in the room. Carmilla can only imagine what is going through the other girl's mind. Danny never trusted her, rightly so. Still she feel the need to right at least some of her wrongs. If not for her sake, then for Laura's. Laura is a sensitive person and Danny is her friend. She doesn't want the blooming relationship they are starting to have to break, because of her past wrongdoings.

Carmilla had nobody. She only had memories of the people that hurt her the most. The feeling of waking up with Laura in her arms, had reminded her of that. Ell had been the only girl that spent the night in her bed before that. Laura might not realized what a big deal her sleeping in her bed was, but Carmilla was all too aware.

She doesn't want to loose Laura. She can't loose her.

"So am I," Danny finally says taking a deep breath of air.

"Hey Carm, I used your hair brush, I hope that's okay. I... oh." Laura stumbles into the room. She is confused at the situation, she just barged into. The two girls, that have been at each others throats only hours before, are now sitting opposite each other. Drinking coffee. Carmilla isn't even scowling.

"Good morning, Laura," Danny says.

"I... good morning."

"Coffee? Tea?"

"Tea would be nice," she answers still perplexed.

"Hey cupcake," Carmilla smiles at her. She scooches over, making room for Laura on the bench. Hesitantly Laura sits down next to her.

Danny opens a cabinet and peers inside. "So, we have green tea, black, rooibos and peppermint. Which on would you like?"

"Peppermint, please." Laura looks down, when something touches her hand. Carmilla has entangled their hands. Their hands are intertwined in her lap, well hidden by the table in front of them. There is no way in hell or Hogwarts that Danny will be able to spot them holding hands. She looks over to Carmilla, who is currently sipping at her coffee.

Laura caresses the back of Carmilla's hand and watches Carmilla's lip turn upwards as she returns the small gesture.

She is thankful that Carmilla isn't making a fuss about their... relationship. It still sounds weird in Laura's mind; weird in a too-good-to-be-true kind of way. Carmilla isn't bent on riling Danny up like she was yesterday, she isn't using her to get a rise out of her friend. This is all too real.

Danny sits back down again.

"Laura," Danny starts. "We never got a chance to talk yesterday, I'm really sorry how everything went down."

"No, Danny. I am the one that is sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Danny looks at Carmilla, but her face isn't angry like yesterday. She looks troubled, but not mad. "I just want you to know, that I..." Danny takes a deep breath. "... that I care about you. A lot. And I want you to be happy."

Laura grabs Carmilla's hand harder under the table, expecting Danny to say something along the lines of being happy with anybody, but Carmilla. Carmilla doesn't react. Not to Danny's words and not Laura grabbing her hand so hard that it must hurt.

"I appreciate that, but..." Laura starts, when Danny doesn't continue.

"Hey," Danny puts her hands up, "no need to get defensive, Laura. I just don't want to loose you as a friend, is all I am saying. I know I had no right to act the way I did yesterday. Emotions were running high and I just snapped."

"How the mighty have fallen," Carmilla disrupts. Laura elbows her in the side; an action that doesn't go unnoticed by Danny.

"Indeed, Carmilla, indeed," Danny smirks.

"Oh, just shut your mouth, you big red giant, will you."

"Stop it, both of you." Laura is surprised, when they both actually listen. There is no real animosity between the two girls, if anything their exchange is playful. "Danny, it's ok. I am the one that has to apologize. I like you too, and I never meant to hurt you."

"I know that."

"I want us to be friends as well."

Danny nods, though her eyes betray her. She is hurt. It pains Laura to know that she is the one that hurt her.

Danny gets up to bring Laura her tea, the water still steaming. She puts it down in front of Laura and smiles at her. Her eyes roam over the two of them, spotting their intertwined hands, but she doesn't say anything.

"I'm gonna leave you two alone, I have to check up on Will."

She turns to leave, but Laura stops her. She quickly gets up and hurries after Danny. She wraps her arms around the tall girl and pulls her into a firm hug. At first Danny doesn't react, but soon strong arms engulf her in a tight embrace. When they loosen their hold on each other, Danny is smiling.

"I'm going to see you later, Laura. Oh and Carmilla?"

"Yes?"

"If you hurt her, I will change your whole wardrobe from that depressing black you love to wear to a lovely pink. With little cute animals - unicorns, baby hedgehogs, giraffes and ducklings - embroidered on the fabric. You won't even be able to tell the difference." Danny smirks at the disgusted look on Carmilla's face.

"I am not going to hurt her."

Danny shrugs. "Then you have nothing to worry about."

Laura looks after her surprised at the fierce loyalty to her, a girl who had hurt her, she just exhibited. She is truly lucky to have her as a friend.

She sits back down next to Carmilla, leaning into the other girl. Carmilla wraps and arm around her shoulder and pulls her even further into her.

"I only hugged her," Laura feels the need to explain. Carmilla wasn't able to see why she jumped up and ran after Danny after all. She needs her to know that there is nothing more than friendship between the two of them.

"I know. I trust you."

"You do?"

"Of course, cupcake." Carmilla leans towards her and softly kisses her atop the nose. "Oops."

Laura giggles, cupping her cheeks, she pulls on Carmilla's hand, bringing them closer and places a lingering kiss on her lips. She pulls back after the chaste brushing of lips against each other.

"You need to aim lower," she whispers against Carmilla's lips, before Carmilla kisses her again. On the lips this time. Everything stops, it's just the two of them caught in the moment, tasting each other, breathing each others air. Carmilla's hands find their way into her hair again. Laura melts under Carmilla's touch.

Everything is forgotten. Danny is forgotten, their histories are forgotten, all that counts is the moment.

Laura stomach grumbles again. Violently. Laura doesn't react at first, and finally it's Carmilla who breaks the kiss. She bites her lower lip, her arms still wrapped around Laura's shoulder.

"So, how about that breakfast?"

Translation of the poem: "His gaze against the sweeping of the bars has grown so weary, it can hold no more. To him, there seem to be a thousand bars and back behind those thousand bars no world." (That's the first paragraph of "The Panther" by Rainer Maria Rilke, the English version does the lyrical genius of Rilke no justice, so I had to leave the German in).

Hope you enjoyed! :)