Work Text:
“Of all the stupid, inconsiderate…” Laura grumbled darkly to herself as she stomped down the hallway of the concert hall. Her id badge bounced wildly with every angry step. She spotted Lafontaine pushing one of the speakers to the stage and stomped over to them. “Where is she?” She snapped.
The redheaded technician gave the irate blonde a wry smile and pointed down the hall. “Being interviewed. You okay, L?”
“Peachy.” Laura muttered through clenched teeth. “I just need to have a talk with our darling performer about her dressing room. Again.” Without another word she stomped towards the room Lafontaine had indicated and threw the door open. “Carmilla, I swear to Dumbledore, how hard is it to keep a dressing room clean?!”
To the blonde’s intense aggravation, Carmilla only chuckled softly and turned to look at Laura over her shoulder. Already dressed in her performance outfit of a ripped, black t-shirt with a snarling panther on it and sinfully tight leather pants, Carmilla perfectly portrayed that casual beauty that had hooked so many people.
Spiked, black leather bracelets were wrapped around her wrists, the new tattoo of a nightingale poked out from above the waistband of her pants and a silver necklace with a skull charm dangled from Carmilla’s neck.
Laura found it a little difficult to cling to her anger when she saw a second, much older charm in the shape of a silver kitten hanging next to the skull.
The gorgeous wave of dark hair and seductive smile didn’t hurt either.
“Sarah, I think you’ve met my tour manager?” She asked, gesturing at Laura.
“Eh, yes, when we arranged this interview.” The journalist was a pretty young woman with big, brown eyes and almost neon-pink hair. She was also sitting very close for a professional interview. “Although she was your PR manager at the time.”
“Cupcake here plays many roles. When I’m not touring, it’s mostly PR.” Carmilla smiled at Laura, either ignoring the blonde’s obvious displeasure or actively trying to feed it.
“Cupcake, what did you want to yell at me about?”
The tiny blonde clutched her clipboard tightly and took a deep breath as she counted to forty. Counting to twenty had stopped being enough long ago. “We have been here for maybe 35 minutes and already your dressing room looks like a bomb went off in it. Do you have any idea how much of a pain it is to book venues when you keep breaking their stuff?” She glanced down at her watch. “And this interview has gone over time by at least ten minutes.”
The star actually looked a little sheepish about that. “Yes, I know and I was trying to cut it-“
“That’s my fault.” Sarah quickly said as she stood up. “Carmilla is just an amazing artist, you know? I had so many questions.” The pink-haired journalist quickly gathered her things and turned back to Carmilla. “I never even got to ask about the fued between you and Taylor.”
Carmilla arched a brow. “It’s cute that she thinks we’re feuding, the perpetually love-sick tw-“
“Carmilla!” Laura cut her off with a yelp. No way in hell was she going to stay up all night dealing with angry Taylor Swift fans online. Again.
Sarah laughed too loudly at that and grinned at Carmilla. “Well, thank you so much for your time. It’s good that we have someone who can show girls that they can rock too, you know?” She shook Carmilla’s hand and Laura noticed the bright rainbow tattoo on her left wrist.
The blonde grit her teeth so hard she swore one of her fillings cracked. Sarah was hardly the first or the least subtle, but it still got on her nerves.
The moment she was gone and Laura had managed to drag Carmilla into the hall, her frustration boiled over. “Carmilla, I swear, you are going to give me an aneurism. I’ve had to clean up your mess, again, and now I have to apologize to the venue owner again. Besides, how hard is it to keep track of time? Now Perry is going to have to rush your make-up and you know how Perry gets when she has to rush and what in hell or Hogwarts are you doing?”
Carmilla opened a door seemingly at random and yanked Laura inside before she slammed it shut again. Laura tried to muster the will to resist and stay angry when Carmilla pinned her against the door with an utterly ravenous expression, but she knew what was coming and she wanted it so very badly and she was weak, alright?
For all the obvious hunger, their lips met gently and their kiss started slow and loving. Laura’s clipboard clattered to the floor and she drew Carmilla closer until there was no space between them and everything but the perfect creature in her arms melted away. This was where she belonged. This was home.
It was everything. Carmilla was everything.
The kiss quickly spiralled out of control, hands slipping under clothes to seek warm skin and tongues tangling together. It took far longer than it should have for Laura to remember that she was supposed to be mad and she finally pulled away. “I swear you get off on annoying me.” She muttered. Even now, she couldn’t bear to pull away enough that their foreheads weren’t pressed together.
“How else am I supposed to get you alone?” Carmilla asked with a small, triumphant smile on her face. “You’ve been avoiding me for two days, Cupcake. That hurts.”
“Don’t you talk to me about what hurts, Karnstein.” Laura snapped, anger swirling in her chest. “You know what hurts? Being a secret. Pretending I’m fine when other women hit on you. Not being able to hold your hand every time a camera might be near.” Tears stung at her eyes. “That hurts, Carmilla. Not being with you hurts so much.”
Carmilla’s smile dropped and the pale girl looked at her feet, suddenly very tired and very sad. “Laura…”
“I know, I know alright?!” Laura growled as she pulled out of her girlfriend’s hold. “You need to seem available for the first few years of your career. It’s about the fantasy. I’d hurt your image because I’m not punky or emo or goth enough!” She threw up her hands and stomped over to the other room to sit down on a box of electrical equipment. “I’ve heard all your sister’s bullshit arguments.” She muttered, wiping at her eyes.
Slender arms wound around her waist and Carmilla dropped a tender kiss on her shoulder. “You’re hot when you swear.”
Frowning, the short blond struggled against Carmilla’s hold but her girlfriend only seemed to cling more tightly. “This isn’t a joke, Carmilla.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” The pale girl sighed, burying her face in Laura’s hair. “I love you, Laura. So, so much.”
“And I love you.” She answered, voice trembling. “But I’m tired, Carmilla. I’m tired of only being able to show you that if nobody is around. I’m tired of pretending I don’t hate it when other women flirt with you. I’m tired of pretending that watching you sleep with every groupie that threw herself at you didn’t tear me up inside.”
That had easily been the worst part of working with Carmilla. They had been friends almost since birth, had come out only days apart and had been planning Carmilla’s future as a rock star since the dark-haired girl first held a guitar that was taller than she was.
And Laura had been in love with Carmilla basically since she realized she preferred women.
A healthy dose of denial had kept things manageable, but once Carmilla’s dream became a reality and there were plenty of eager, beautiful girls to dive into bed with, it had only gotten worse for Laura.
Eventually she had gotten very drunk, confessed to…okay screamed at Carmilla, quit her job and flown back home the next morning. After three days of utter misery, Carmilla had appeared on her doorstep.
It was the first and only time Laura had ever seen the older girl in near hysterical tears.
“I’ve not been with anyone but you since you came back with me.” Carmilla sounded wounded. “I don’t want to. How am I supposed to look at the stars when I’ve been given the sun to hold in my hands?” When Laura didn’t reply, she continued hesitantly. “I still do, right? Have you, I mean.”
“Yes! Yes, of course.” The tiny blonde hurried to assure her, placing a hand over Carmilla’s on her waist. “Carm, of course you do. You’ll always have me.” Hell, she’d barely managed to get through the day without Carmilla. Maybe that was needy or clingy, but not having Carmilla in her life was so much worse than having her in hard times.
Carmilla sighed and muttered quietly in relief, her breath brushing against Laura’s neck. “It’s not for much longer, I swear.” She poured every last bit of sincerity she had into those words. “I’m sorry it’s taken this long, but it’s not like my career got off to a great start and Mattie-“
“Fuck your career!” Laura snapped, only to immediately gasp and cover her mouth. “Oh, shit. Carm, I didn’t mean that. You belong on a stage and you’re amazing at this and I’m just tired and your career keeps us both employed and-“ She turned teary eyes on her lover only to be met with a soft kiss.
“Cupcake, it’s okay.” Carmilla muttered patiently when she pulled back.
“No it’s not.” Laura shut her eyes, trying to find where she was on the emotional spectrum between angry and guilty. “Look…I just…I really, really hate your sister.”
Carmilla let out a bark of laughter and kissed Laura again. “Yeah, me too sometimes.”
Laura laughed softly into the kiss. “Liar, you love Mattie.” She knew all too well that Carmilla’s big sister had never really been a fan of her or her relationship with her little sister. Part of her frustration stemmed from the fact that Mattie’s insistence on keeping their relationship secret was only partially motivated by her concern for Carmilla’s career.
“You can love someone and hate them at times.” Carmilla muttered as if she was trying to impart some sort of great wisdom.
“Your pretentious philosophy student is showing.” Laura laughed and nuzzled at her lover’s cheek. “I’m sorry, Carm.”
“Don’t fucking apologize.” Carmilla said seriously. “We promised to talk about things, remember? We already fucked that up once.” She squeezed Laura and offered her a smirk. “I’d really rather not drive for four hours just to beg you come back again. I think it’s better for both your ego and mine. Besides, everything I said back then is still true. I need you.”
“You’re such a sap.” Laura sighed and nodded, playing with the kitten charm. How long ago had she given Carmilla that thing? Ten years? Fifteen? Even though she wore it every day, Laura still found it surprising sometimes to see proof that Carmilla belonged to her as she belonged to Carmilla. “But also right.” She looked at her watch. “But this really isn’t a conversation we should have when you’re 20 minutes behind schedule.” She slipped from Carmilla’s arms but found herself tugged back when her girlfriend caught her wrist. “Carm?”
“I...Tom and Jim know to save you a place at the front of the crowd tonight.” Carmilla said, studying her nails like they held the meaning of life.
“Ehm, okay?” Laura smiled uncertainly at her suddenly nervous girlfriend. “What are you planning?”
“Good things, I promise.” Carmilla’s thumb swiped back and forth over Laura’s pulse. She stood up and stretched. “It’s related to this whole thing, actually.”
Eyeing her suspiciously, Laura nodded. “Okay…but only because I’m pretty sure you’re not going to tell me anything else.”
“You know me so well.” Carmilla pecked her on the forehead. “Now I’m gonna go and subject myself to Ginger #2’s care before she bursts a blood vessel. See you tonight, Creampuff.”
As Carmilla made her way to Perry and her frightening number of powders and foundation and concealers, she pulled out her cellphone and began to write a message. She had no intention of sending it until the very last minute, but she wouldn’t have time to write it later and she at least owed Mattie some advanced notice.
Carmilla – Mattie, I’m going to do something and you’re not going to like it. Before you ask, yes I’ve thought it through. Yes, her. Yes, really. No, I don’t care. Yes, dealing with it is your job. Yes, that includes mother.
Message ready to send, she slipped her phone back into her pocket. As she did her fingers brushed against the small, black box which had been in her pocket for at least a week now. A nervous smile spread over her face.
Laura was probably going to murder her for proposing on stage…and if she didn’t then Mattie probably would for proposing in the first place.
Ah well, it would be worth it.