Chapter 2
The breeze was nice as Laura almost skipped across campus, holding onto her backpack so it wouldn’t fall off her shoulders. The sun was still out but the beginning of October had brought with it a relief from the sweltering heat of the past few months. She checked Carmilla’s schedule for the third time before pulling open the doors to the building that housed Carmilla’s philosophy class. She was fifteen minutes early so she slumped to the floor outside the classroom door to wait for the professor to finish.
Laura smiled to herself, excited to see Carmilla’s face when she showed up unexpected to walk her home from class. Maybe it was cheesy but between their classes and Laura’s new job at the The Journal, they did not have much time with each other anymore and it was grating. They spent every evening together and most nights simply because one or the other was too exhausted to go home, but other than that, they were apart and Laura missed how inseparable they had been after coming back from Carmilla’s lake house in the summer. The honeymoon period should not have ended so quickly and it left Laura disgruntled; she knew far too well that Carmilla’s grumpiness stemmed at least partly from that fact as well.
What Laura was really hoping was that they could grab a quick lunch before she had to go in to Styria for the evening. Her co-workers at The Journal were very understanding of her strange hours in the office but still expected nothing less from her than the humungous workload that they were saddled with. If she was going to be part of the team, she had to do as much as the rest of the team and she was glad to finally be out of the internship stage; fact checking could only entertain her for so long.
The door opened and the class swarmed out in a swirl of suddenly loud voices but the face she was looking for never appeared. Laura waited until she was entirely sure that everyone was out of the lecture hall before peering inside for one last check but her girlfriend was nowhere to be seen. Her face scrunched up of its own accord and she pulled out her phone, her fingering hovering over Carmilla’s name in hesitation wondering if this was an overstep. She eventually decided that it was not because Carmilla was supposed to be in class and her absence was enough to cause worry. She dialed the number and listened to it ring. There was a loud intake of breath, almost like a sigh in reverse, “Hello, cupcake.”
“Why weren't you in your philosophy class?” Laura said without an introduction.
“It got cancelled,” Carmilla said with a hint of confusion and weariness in her voice.
“That’s funny because I just watched a full class leave said class.”
There was silence on the other side of the phone, “Carmilla, I swear I’m not being controlling, I was just worried when you weren’t there.”
“Why are you there, cutie?”
“I wanted to surprise you,” Laura admitted, “I thought we could grab lunch.”
Carmilla chuckled on the other end, “I guess I should go to class even when I don’t feel like it if I’m going to escorted out by a pretty girl.”
“I’ll take it but you’re still changing the subject. Are you feeling okay? Did something happen?” Laura’s mind started going through every possible scenario for why Carmilla was out of class from a stuffy nose to falling into a hole. It was all possible until she was told otherwise.
“I’m fine. I just wasn’t feeling like sitting through class today.”
“Well, are you at home? Do you still want to get lunch before I have to go to work.”
“Shit, yeah, you’re working tonight. I’m sorry, cupcake. I’m actually in the city right now. I was planning on doing dinner with you. I guess I’m on the wrong schedule today.”
Laura heard something on the other side of the phone that sounded vaguely like, “Karnstein, no personal calls,” before Carmilla started talking again.
“What are you doing in the city?” Laura asked apprehensively.
“Nothing fun really. How about we do lunch tomorrow. Would that work?”
“No, I have to be in the office all day tomorrow. I could only do dinner.”
“Well, I know this is a week away but what if we do this time next week?”
Laura smiled, “It’s a date.”
Carmilla laughed on the other side of the phone, “Okay, I’ll see you later, cutie."
“Carmilla?” Laura said quickly.
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
The voice on the other end softened and gave Laura a warm and fuzzy feeling, “I love you too, Laura.”
The bus ride to Styria was always an unfortunately boring part of Laura’s day and there was no real way to pass the time. She exhausted her small music library before getting bored of having earphones in. She watched the passing scenery before realizing it had not changed since the last time. And so she always ended up pulling out her laptop and starting on work. She was in her own little world until the bus pulled up to her stop on West 3rd Street and she hopped out, walking the two blocks to her destination. She was stuffing a couple papers into her backpack as she walked up the front steps when she was startled from a voice, “Just gonna ignore me, cupcake?”
Looking up, a smile spread across her face. Carmilla was leaning casually against a concrete pillar, holding a bag of takeout. She pushed herself off of it and Laura noticed the light blue button down that was tucked into black pants that surprisingly, were not leather. “I thought since I ruined your plans, I’d try to make up for it.”
Laura took a hold of Carmilla’s hand and used it to help her reach up and give Carmilla a kiss. Carmilla’s lips turned into a smile against hers. Laura pulled back and frowned, “I wish I could but I don’t want to be late.”
Instead of answering, Carmilla opened the bag and reached in, the paper crinkling as she searched for something and delight spread across Laura’s features as she pulled out a chocolate chip cookie. “Thanks, Carm.”
Laura swiped the cookie, kissed Carmilla on the cheek and turned to enter the building.
“You will be eating this entire sandwich when you get home tonight,” Carmilla called out after her. Laura gave her a thumbs up before entering the revolving door.
Laura slogged to her door and turned the key in the knob. She shouldered through and dropped her bag on the counter next to a note that read in bolded letters, “EAT THIS.” And maybe if it was not after midnight, she would take the time to follow
Carmilla’s order but she was so exhausted that any hunger she may be feeling was well hidden and all she wanted was to fall into bed. Her feet shuffled her into her bedroom and she paused at the door. The light was on, and Carmilla was lying on her bed, fast asleep, fully clothed, with a book open across her stomach. Her black hair was lying in waves around her head, making it look like she had a lion’s mane. Laura shrugged out of her blazer, which she quietly hung back up in her closet and removed her shirt and skirt to change into lounge shorts and a tank top. So as not to wake Carmilla, she did not pull the sheets back on her side of the bed and instead laid on top of the comforter, facing her girlfriend. Laura had noticed that when Carmilla was sleeping her face was entirely blank. It did not look sad, upset, or happy. But it did look peaceful and calm as if sleep was the only time where she was not in constant fear of something happening and Laura found her own comfort in that. She always felt weird watching Carmilla sleep because she had woken up one to many times to see Carmilla staring at her with this weird, intense expression on her face. Carmilla would reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and then go on staring until Laura squirmed uncomfortably.
Laura scooted closer to the sleeping girl, sticking her hands up under her head to use as a second pillow and closing her eyes. Carmilla’s presence was a beacon to Laura; she could always feel it somehow. It was signified by a ball of warmth in her stomach and a gravitational pull that always forced them together. It was not surprising in the morning when she woke up in Carmilla’s arms.
“So, Halloween.” Carmilla’s eyes slowly looked up until she was almost glaring over the top of her book. She sat there for a few moments, just staring at Laura until she asked, “What about it?,” in a not so excited voice. Laura’s shoulders slumped and she pouted, “Awe, come on, Carm. Don’t ruin the fun.”
“I don’t even know what said fun is going to be; I can’t be ruining something already,” she said defensively.
“You haven’t heard?”
Carmilla shrugged and Laura continued, “The Summers and the Zetas have somehow decided to have a joint Halloween alumni bash.”
“Cupcake, how in the world do you think I would have heard about that? I have zero interest in anything involved with this school, especially those boneheads.”
Laura fell onto the opposite end of the couch, “You’re brother is one of those boneheads. I figured he would have told you.”
Carmilla’s jaw tightened and she looked back at her book. Laura’s eyebrows crinkled and she scooted over, closer to Carmilla, “Carm?”
“Hm?” the girl responded without looking up.
“What just happened?”
Carmilla’s head slanted slightly towards Laura but her eyes stayed glued to the page, “You asked me about Halloween and I decided the conversation was boring.”
“Carm!” Laura said, half-giggling, “But no, I mean what happened when I mentioned Will?”
Carmilla shrugged and turned a page. It was her usual adamant behavior when there was something she refused to discuss but Laura never gave up easily. Carmilla could ignore her as much as she wanted but Laura knew how annoying she could possibly get; that usually led to Carmilla throwing up her hands in desperation to get her to stop and telling Laura what she wanted to know. She opened her mouth to interrupt Carmilla’s reading but Carmilla sighed, closed the book and set it aside, rubbing her temples with her thumb and middle finger. Laura sat back on her heels.
“Will’s not talking to me very much lately so I suppose this was not important enough for him to break his vow of silence.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It just didn’t seem like a huge deal. It’s between Will and I and I was keeping it that way. I didn’t want to drag anyone else into it because he would not appreciate that.”
“But it’s me.”
Carmilla looked over at her and reached out, welcoming Laura into her arms, which she immediately obliged. Laura leaned her head onto Carmilla’s shoulder and felt a delicate kiss touch the top of her head. Carmilla squeezed her arm and then started rubbing it softly, “I know, cupcake. And I wasn’t keeping this from you for any other reason than to respect Will’s privacy. And no I don’t think you’re going to go and blab to everyone; I trust you.”
Laura’s entire body flooded with warmth; that was the first time she thought Carmilla had ever used those words so nonchalantly. It was nice to hear - even though she already knew and had heard multiple times - in such a de-stressed situation where they were together and the only problem was a small fight between siblings. It made everything seem clearer and Laura felt like this was progress; huge progress in fact that something massive did not have to occur to have Carmilla speak so openly and honestly.
“And it’s only been a couple weeks. It’s about the bus thing. I didn’t tell him either and so he was disappointed in me for that and then got angry that I had kept it from you as well.”
“Well I know now,” Laura said, hoping that maybe if Will found that out, he would talk to his sister. Laura did not want to see them splitting off from each other because Will did so much good for Carmilla and a break in that relationship couldn’t cause anything other than a breakdown in both of them.
Carmilla shook her head, “I don’t think it’ll change anything. But I know about this Halloween party now, so…”
Laura narrowed her eyes, “You’re willing to talk about that just to change the subject.”
“Is it working?” Carmilla raised an eyebrow.
“For now,” Laura returned.
“Thought so.”
“Alright so I think we should go -”
“That I had gathered, cupcake,” Carmilla said, cutting Laura off mid-sentence. Maybe it was for the best because she knew Carmilla would be averse to her next idea.
“Okay, well…I think we should do costumes together and I know what we should do.”
“I’m not gonna like this, am I?”
Laura grimaced, “Not one bit.”
Carmilla hung her head and sighed, “Well, get on with it, cutie. I haven’t got all day. But if it has anything to do with me wearing a fez, the conversation is over.”
Carmilla could be one hundred percent ridiculous sometimes. Laura had done Doctor Who the year before; she wouldn’t repeat a costume, especially the prior year’s. “No, silly. You get to wear a robe.”
Laura smiled brilliantly and Carmilla’s face went from concern to downright dread. “You do know I went as Joan Jett last year, right? You understand the certain factor that goes into what I wear and when I wear it?”
“Are you talking about the ‘cool factor’? You think you’re too cool for Hogwarts?”
“No, but I would be the coolest one there.”
Laura leaned across the couch and kissed Carmilla on the cheek, “I wouldn’t argue with you there.”
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“Will did a good thing here.”
“Yeah, but showing our faces after that last year. That could get…weird.”
“It’ll be fine and it’ll be fun. I’m going whether you do or not. Will asked me to and I said yes.”
There was silence on the line.
Then there was a groan, “Ugh, fine. But, I’m not doing a couple’s costume.”
“I never asked you to, D-bear.”
“And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m gonna do it anyway.”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Kirsch led the way up the sidewalk of the Zeta house followed by Danny who was irked at herself for letting him get away with what she had explicitly stated she would not be doing. He was dressed in a long sleeve white shirt and blue jeans, accented with an orange ascot that Danny had made fun of when she found it on his dresser. And somehow she found herself in a purple dress with a green scarf tied around her neck. The week before, Danny still had not found a costume for herself and was getting desperate when she found out what Kirsch was going as and he offered. Begrudgingly, she had obliged. It had been her only option and they looked cute together; the only problem was that they were still keeping their relationship to themselves and this was a very outward display.
“It’ll be fine. They’ll just think it was a fun idea.”
Danny glared at him, “Will is absolutely going to make fun of us.”
“I can’t argue with you there but I’m sure he won’t make a scene of it.”
Kirsch ushered her through the door and into the party. Danny was familiar with her surroundings having been in the house before and so she marched straight through to the kitchen where she found Will manning the drinks.
He looked at them and his eyes widened, “Yo! Fred and Daphne out on the town!”
Danny threw Kirsch another glare and he surrendered to her stare, “Shut up, Will.”
Will laughed, “I’m just messing with you. Honestly, great idea. Nice costumes. You guys look good.”
He handed them drinks over the counter that Kirsch had decided to lean on. “Your sister here with my best friend?”
Will shrugged and stopped smiling, “I don’t know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? You live together.”
“We aren’t talking right now. I didn’t tell her about this.”
“Oh,” Kirsch said, shyly. Danny stepped in, trying to avoid the unnecessary awkwardness that the discussion of personal lives had apparently caused the two boys, “I told Laura about the party. I don’t know if she’s coming or not though. Come on, Kirsch, we’ll go look for her.”
Will reached out to grab Kirsch’s arm before Danny could pull him away, “If you find Carmilla, can you tell her I’m here?”
“She knows you’re here, dude, -”
Danny tugged on his arm, “Just tell her, Kirsch.”
Danny nodded at Will who smiled in return. Maybe Kirsch was blind but Will was only trying to fix whatever was going on between them and Danny knew he did not want to be asked a lot of questions. It was none of their business. They would do as he asked and let it be.
“So, how is this going to work?” Kirsch questioned as they walked slowly through the crowded house into the back yard.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, can we dance together? Are we just going to stand here and drink all night? I just want to know what’s allowed.”
“How about we just figure it out when we get there?” Danny said only because she was not sure herself. Kirsch nodded silently and took a sip of his beer as he looked out over the backyard of the Zeta house, which was set up almost identically like the year before.
“No matter what I’m wearing, you cannot expect me to take you seriously when you look like that.”
Danny’s head whipped around as she heard the low, gravely sound of Carmilla’s voice coming from around the side of the house. Stepping around the corner was Carmilla and Laura holding hands, wearing long black robes with emblems on them that Danny could not quite make out from the distance, and Lafontaine and Perry dressed vibrantly in red jumpsuits with huge wigs of light blue. Carmilla was rolling her eyes so hard Danny was certain it hurt but she could not keep in a snort that bursted forth because of Lafontaine and Perry’s choice of costume.
She stifled the laugh with her hand as they got closer and nodded, “Thing 1. Thing 2,” before eyeing Carmilla and noticing the amusement in her eyes and the realization that they had actually agreed on something. Laura was bubbling next to Carmilla, proudly wearing the Hufflepuff House crest on her chest with a black and yellow striped tie fitted perfectly to her white button up shirt that was tucked neatly into a gray skirt. Carmilla was a serene picture with the Slytherin crest blazoned on her robe; a tie hung loose at her neck where the button down was unbuttoned but it was still tucked nicely into none other than leather pants. Danny was not sure those were in the Hogwarts dress code but she assumed Laura only just annoyed her into wearing the outfits in the first place.
She saw Carmilla look her and Kirsch up and down before her mouth opened and closed quickly as she bit her lip and looked towards Laura. She kept silent. So the queen of snark knew and was keeping the information from Laura. Danny supposed she should give Carmilla more credit and maybe less to Will if he had been the one to blab. Carmilla met her eyes and Danny mouthed “thank you,” getting a shrug in return.
Laura suddenly pointed inside, “ Come on, Carm.”
“Sure thing, cupcake.”
“That’s disgusting,” Lafontaine commented as they watched the two disappear inside, Carmilla’s arm wrapped around Laura’s waist.
“Lafontaine, don’t be rude.”
“Yeah, have you seen yourselves?” Danny asked. They were not as outward with their affection but the lovey dovey eyes they both looked at each other with was enough to make someone gag. Perry blushed and Lafontaine laughed, “I just can’t help it.”
It took another hour but eventually Danny realized that her and Kirsch could not put off moving into the throng of dancing bodies forever. It was half of the fun of the party and Kirsch was outwardly getting bored just standing and sipping beer. He was slouching and looking hopefully at the people inside. Danny smiled at him, “Oh, come on.”
She pulled him through the doorway and was met with hot air from the amount of people crammed into the small space. Even so, she made out Carmilla and Laura mixed in and made her way over to them. When Carmilla saw them coming, she moved away from her close proximity to Laura and kissed the girl on the cheek before twirling her toward her two friends and maneuvering through the crowd. Laura did not seemed bothered by Carmilla’s action and instead instantly melded into Danny’s space, grabbing hold of both her and Kirsch’s hands and jumping around like a child. Lafontaine and Perry appeared suddenly, the former dancing more intensely than the latter. They seemed to be on the same level as Laura, which was at least five up from where Danny currently was. Whether it was the alcohol or the atmosphere, Danny could not guess but she was glad they were all together, having fun. Well, almost all of them.
She glanced sideways and saw Carmilla leaning up against the wall, watching them, no smirk on her face, yet it was calm. She nodded at Danny. And Danny realized what she was doing. They were all friends and Danny hoped that Carmilla knew that; but whenever Carmilla was around, Laura only had eyes for her. She was being selfless. She was giving up time with Laura so that they could all have time with one of their best friends. The fact that she was even aware of this astounded Danny. Maybe she’s not so bad.
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“What are you doing over here?” Carmilla raised an eyebrow as she turned her head to find Laura had found her. She raised her glass and Laura shook her head. “You know what I meant?”
“Do I now, cupcake?” Carmilla said, taking another sip of her drink.
“Oh, Kirsch wanted me to tell you that Will is here.”
At the sound of Will’s name, Carmilla looked away. If he wanted to apologize, he could come to her. Maybe it was stubborn but she had nothing to say to him. Carmilla felt Laura’s hand on her arm, “Maybe you should go talk to him.”
“What would I say? He’s the one who stopped talking to me,” she tried to explain. He would not answer her calls; he was acting like a child.
“Just let him now you’re here as well. You don’t have to say anything to him. But maybe if he saw you, he would start a conversation.”
“Are you okay by yourself?” Carmilla questioned. Laura looked to be swaying a little where she stood and Carmilla had lost the count of how many drinks she had consumed.
“Its okay,” came a voice from behind her, “we’ll watch her.”
Perry and Lafontaine had appeared and though the latter looked very intoxicated, at least Perry looked in control of herself. Carmilla nodded, “Alright, I’ll be right back.”
She kissed Laura’s cheek before parting.
Carmilla found Will in the kitchen behind the counter, handing out drinks. He spotted her over the shoulder of some guy he was handing a beer and his eyes hesitated on hers before he went back to work to hand the next person a drink. She stood her ground, waiting for an opening. She didn’t need an apology from him; she just needed him to be in her life again. It had been weeks without even a word from him and her resolve was draining.
Will nudged another guy that was standing behind the counter and he took over while Will skirted the island and walked towards her, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets, and his head hanging against his chest. He stood in front of her; both of them silent though the only way the conversation could be heard was if they shouted at each other. And so she did, “You’re a fucking, idiot.”
She threw her arms around him and squeezed him in a hug that almost caused her to suffocate herself. When she let go, he fell back a few steps in surprise, “You just –“
“Yeah, yeah. Well if you would stop being a child then I wouldn’t have had to,” she squirmed, “That was uncomfortable for me as I’m sure you know.”
His smile grew, “So, you don’t hate me anymore?”
Carmilla blanched, “Will, you’re the one who stopped talking to me. I thought you hated me.”
“And I thought you hated me for doing exactly that.”
She looked around as if she was being pranked, “Do you ever look at your phone? I must’ve called you a hundred times.”
“Yeah, but…”
“There are no buts here, Will. I will not take the blame for this. This was your fault but I’m also not holding that against you. You don’t need to apologize. I’m not going to apologize. Let’s just move forward.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yes, fine, okay,” he said. She reached out a hand and ruffled his hair, “Good.”
He stared at her, examining what she was wearing, “Laura got to you?”
She slapped him on the shoulder, “Oh shut it.”
Carmilla could hear his laughter as she walked away from him but before she could find Laura, the girl found her instead. “Everything good?”
“Everything is just fine, cutie.”
“I’m glad,” Laura returned, wrapping her arm around Carmilla’s waist.
“Did I tell you that you’re breaking dress code?” Laura whispered in Carmilla’s ear. A rush of heat flooded through Carmilla’s body at the sound; it always took her off-guard whenever Laura became so overt.
They had stopped outside the apartment door. Laura was leaning against the wall, holding onto the edges of Carmilla’s robe and Carmilla stood, leaning over her, hand placed on the wall above her head. Laura’s eyes raked over her body until they connected with her eyes, “Did I tell you I like it?”
She pulled Carmilla closer with a tug and then flipped their positions, crushing her lips against Carmilla’s. Carmilla was staring at Laura’s face; not doing anything but looking at her and a fumbling at the door confused her very focused mind until she realized Laura was trying to unlock it. Apparently she had been successful, because Carmilla was roughly dragged through the door, which was closed before she found herself slammed up against it. Laura’s eyes were gleaming, even in the dark, and she was staring at Carmilla’s lips, causing the heat in Carmilla’s body to rise even more. I am one hundred percent okay with this.
Lips latched onto each other and Laura’s hands were getting knotted in her hair while her own hands reached around to grasp at Laura’s ass, pulling their hips together. All of a sudden they were surrounded by heavy gasps and her back was pushing hard into a counter, then her hands were stabilizing Laura against the fridge. She discarded her hot robe on the floor as Laura’s hands ripped open the front of her shirt, not caring about the integrity of the buttons that were no longer intact. Carmilla found Laura’s neck with her lips, her tongue tracing patterns on her collarbone. Laura’s small yet needy gasp urged her on. Fingers were fumbling with the button of her leather pants and that’s when a cold sense of clarity washed over her and she grabbed ahold of Laura’s hands, pushing them from their work. She kissed Laura on the lips and pulled away; not too far, but enough to clearly show an end to the heated situation.
“What’s wrong?” Laura whined making Carmilla laugh.
“You’re drunk, sweetheart.”
“So?” Laura said, her eyes moving slowly, proving Carmilla’s previous observation.
“So,” Carmilla began, guiding Laura towards her bedroom, “as much as I really, I mean really, want to rip those clothes off of you, I want you to remember when I do so.”
And the way that Laura was almost asleep in her arms, her feet dragging across the floor, she would most likely not even remember this conversation.
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“You know,” there was a groan from under the covers, “the one really nice thing about having a girlfriend who hates getting up early, is that when I have a hangover, you don’t annoy me.”
There was an even louder groan and a pillow disappeared under the comforter. “Wake up, silly.”
Laura jumped on the sleeping form of Carmilla under the sheets. She pulled back the top of the comforter, exposing a messy mob of black hair. Carmilla groaned again and her face was set in a grimace, “And you know what? The one really bad thing about having you as a girlfriend is that even when you’re hungover, you’re the one doing all of the annoying.”
Laura found herself falling onto the other side of the bed as Carmilla tackled her, tickling her sides. Laura was not too fond of tickling and Carmilla knew that so it only lasted a few seconds. Somehow Carmilla always remembered the little things and respected them; sometimes Laura felt bad when she could not reciprocate in the same way. Carmilla kissed her on the mouth and Laura was assaulted with a minty smell. She pushed Carmilla away, “How in the world, does your breath smell like toothpaste?”
“One of us needs to smell good because, cupcake, you taste like stale beer.”
Laura sat up on the bed, leaning back on her hands as Carmilla climbed off and walked out the door. There was a shout from the other room that had Laura springing from the bed followed by, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Laura came out to find Carmilla clutching her chest and Kirsch with wide-eyes standing in the doorway to the other bedroom. Laura wrapped her arms around Carmilla’s waist from the back and set her chin on Carmilla’s back, “I forgot to tell you, didn’t I?”
Carmilla just gestured at Kirsch and nodded.
“I gave Danny and him a key so they’d have a place to stay,” Laura turned her attention to Kirsch, “Where’s Danny by the way?”
Kirsch pointed behind him, “She’s still in bed.”
Laura tried to hold back her smile and act like she knew nothing, “Did…did you guys share a bed?”
Kirsch stuttered for a few seconds before coming up with an excuse, “Uh…no, I slept on the couch. I was just, uh, in there to wake her up.”
Laura’s eyes darted to the couch, which did not looked touched but she just said, “okay,” and left Kirsch to awkwardly walk to the kitchen. She leaned up on her tiptoes and whispered into Carmilla’s ear, “And they think I don’t know.”
Carmilla whispered back, “So, cupcake, how long have you known?”
“They moved in together. It wouldn’t take a detective. And I also know you know and weren’t telling me. But I won’t hold that against you,” Laura smiled slyly at Carmilla whose eyebrow quirked, “But they don’t need to know. It’s more fun this way.”