Chapter Text
I knocked on my new neighbors door, hoping she would open it really friggin’ quickly, because yeah, this is kind of embarrassing, but I’m standing in the hall way of our apartment complex in nothing more than a bra and shorts, very short ones for that matter. There’s a story behind that I promise, but now’s really not the time to get into it. I just need to get out of the hall before someone sees me. It was bad enough that Carmilla was going to see me like this.
Well if she ever opened the darn door. I know she’s home, we rode up in the elevator together less than an hour ago. And she said she had no plans for the night, well, it was more like, “why don’t you come over, Cutie. I’m sure I can keep you entertained better than your computer can.” She had bit her lip wantonly, her dark brown eyes roving over my body with unabashed lust. “Think about, Cupcake,” she said tossing me a seductive wink, before she opened her door and disappeared inside her apartment.
The memory of the lascivious smirk she had on her face when she said it was enough to make me flush with heat all over again. Now, I’m bright red and half-naked in the middle of the hall, great, just friggin’ great, because that’s not why I’m standing outside her door waiting for her to open it. I knocked again louder this time. If she didn’t open the door I don’t know what I’m going to do. There’s no way I can go down to the lobby like this.
“Who the hell is it?” I heard her angry grumble come from the other side of the door, and swallowed hard.
“Um--It’s me, Laura.” I said nervously.
“So you decided to take me up on my offer after all,” Carmilla said with amusement, as she opened the door. But once she actually saw me, her mouth fell open in surprise and she let out a breath. She recovered quickly though.
“Well, Cupcake,” she said staring at my chest for a moment before looking me in the eye, “I didn’t think you’d be this eager too...”
“No, Carmilla, it’s not like that.” I said, fitting off another blush, and failing miserably. “I locked myself out of my apartment.”
All I got in response was an arched eyebrow, as her gaze strayed to my chest again.
“Can I come in, please.”
“Huh,” she murmured her tongue darting out to lick her lips, as her gaze met mine again.
“Can I come in,” I repeated shifting from one foot to another, the way she was looking at me was making me more nervous than standing out in the hall with next to nothing on. “I just need to call the building manager, so he can bring the master key and unlock my door.”
“Right,” Carmilla said, stepping back to let me in.
I could feel her eyes on me, well on my ass, as she followed me into the apartment.
“The phone’s over there,” she motioned at the table by the couch where her cell phone was sitting.
“Thanks.”
I walked over and picked it up, dialing the managers number, which yes, I happen to know by heart. Not because I call him all the time to bail me out, or anything, my dad insisted I memorize it when he helped me move in to my apartment a few months ago. I’ve only called him once or twice, okay maybe it’s more than that, but whatever. The phone rang and rang, then went into his voice mail.
“Um--hi, Carl this is Laura, in 306. I locked myself out, again, yes I know. So when you stop laughing at me can you come up and let me in, please. Just knock on the door to 307 when you get here.” I hung up the phone with a sigh, “darn voice mail.” I muttered under my breath.
“So,” Carmilla said from behind me as I put her phone back on the table, “this happens to you a lot the?”
“No, I’m not that clumsy. It wasn’t even my fault, it never is.” I replied turning to face her, momentarily forgetting that I was topless, at least until I caught her staring at my chest again.
And it hit me that I barely knew her and I was standing in the middle of her living room half-naked, while she looked at me like I was the best thing on a dessert menu. Blushing profusely, I crossed my arms to block her view, because the sports bra I had on did little to hide the swell of my breast. I was so beyond embarrassed. I don’t let just anyone see me with no clothes on.
Carmilla cleared her throat. “Can I get you a shirt to put on, or something, Cupcake,” she said seeing my obvious discomfort.
“Please.” She nodded silently and left me standing in her living room.
Carmilla isn’t even my type, well she is, physically, but she’s too darn forward for me. From the moment we met in the front of the building, the day I moved in, she’s been hitting on me, which would be perfectly fine, if everything that came out of her mouth wasn’t laced with some kind of sexual innuendo. I don’t fall for girls that treat me like an object, or a play thing to be toyed with for their amusement, at least not usually, but there’s something about her that I can’t seem to shake.
Maybe it’s that she’s actually kind of nice and sweet and really funny, well in a broody sarcastic sort of way, when she’s not trying to get in my pants. That just doesn’t happen very often. Every conversation that I’ve ever had with her, started out innocent and random, but as soon as she lets something personal slip, she goes right back to hitting on me. It’s like she’s afraid to let me see who she really is, which really sucks, because I think she might be pretty amazing, if she stopped trying to act so cool and disaffected.
I might even be able to like like her, instead of just having the worst crush ever.
“Here you go, Cutie.” Carmilla said drawing me out of my thoughts as she handed me a t-shirt with phases of the moon across the front of it, and she was actually trying really hard not to look at me, which I really appreciated, because she’s been leering at me ever since she opened the door.
“Thanks,” I said as I slipped it over my head, immediately feeling better, though I did catch her looking at my chest again, out of the corner of her eye, as I pulled the shirt down over my body. But there was something different in her eyes, she actually seems kind of--nervous. Maybe. But I’m probably wrong about that. Carmilla’s always so confident and sure of herself. Why would I make her nervous?
“So, um--this is probably going to take a while, huh, Cupcake.”
“Yeah, probably, it always takes him forever when I have to leave a message.”
It occurred to me that maybe she had something to do, and she really was messing around when we got off the elevator. I didn’t want her to feel obligated to let me stay, if she didn’t want to.
“I can go, if your busy. I’ll bring your shirt back tomorrow after I wash it.” I said already heading for the door. “I can just sit in the hall and wait for Carl. It’s no big deal. I do it all the time when this happens.”
“No, Laura, wait!”
I turned back to her in shock. Because this is the first time I’ve ever heard her say my name. She’s always called me by dessert related nicknames. I just kind of figured she didn’t remember it, or at the least thought it was funny to use sweets as pet names, after I told her about my obsession with anything chocolate. So far in addition to Cupcake, which is apparently her favorite, there’s been Cream Pie, Twinkie, Cookie, and a few others that she doesn’t use very often, so I can’t remember them.
“You don’t have to go.” She wiped her hands on the legs of her tight black jeans with tears across the knee before sticking them in her pockets. “I mean, I want you stay.”
“Are you sure,” I asked uncertainly, “because a minute ago, it kind of seemed like I was imposing.”
“You’re not.” Carmilla replied, looking everywhere but at me.
And, yeah, it didn’t really instill the feeling that she actually wanted me to be here. I don’t need pity from her, or anyone else for that matter. I’ve already had enough of that to last me a lifetime. But that was another story altogether. One I wasn’t going to think about, right now, it has nothing to do with this. All that mattered at the moment was that I can take care of myself. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to stay somewhere I wasn’t wanted.
“Yeah, I think I’m just going to go now, Carmilla” I said flatly, “but thanks again. I really appreciate you helping me out. I’ll get your shirt back to you tomorrow.”
I turned back toward the door to leave, but barely got a couple steps before she reached out and grasped my hand to stop me.
“Seriously,” she said in response to the confused look I gave her, as she stepped in front of me to block my path. “I don’t want you to go, Cupcake,” she bit her lip and just looked at me for a moment, “it’s just, I--um, I’m not very good at the whole feelings thing, but--uh we can just hang out. And you can tell me how you got locked out of your apartment, okay.” Carmilla said hopefully.
She’s never stuttered in front of me before. Maybe I do make her nervous.
“Yeah, I think I would like that very much.” I said instantly, because despite what I was thinking a moment ago, I really didn’t want to leave. Like I said, there’s something about her, and I just can’t shake it. Believe me I’ve tried. But every time I see her, my crush just seems to grow.
“Really,” Carmilla asked, genuinely surprised.
“Really,” I replied.
She smiled at me, not a smirk, or the half-hearted grin that barely curled at the corner of her mouth, that I’m used to, but a real smile.
“Okay.” She said, some of her confidence returning.
But there was none of the underlying arrogance that always got on my nerves. This was the side of Carmilla that I liked, when she wasn’t trying to act all badass and cool, when she was just being herself, a girl who was actually just as much of a nerd as I am, believe it or not.
“So, um, do you want something to eat or drink,” She asked, “or do you just want to...” she motioned toward the couch when the words wouldn’t come out.
And I felt a tremor run through her hand that was still grasping mine.
“Something to drink would be nice.”
She nodded, and glanced back at her fridge, “I probably don’t have much. I’m not exactly a fan of grocery shopping,” she admitted sheepishly when she looked back at me.
I was about to tell her it was fine, I could just drink water from the tap, which is something I never do, because yeah, my diet mostly consist of sugary goodness, which includes beverages too. The last time I willingly drank water was when I ran track in high school, and that was only because I was about to pass out from dehydration.
“I tell you what, Cupcake,” she said squeezing my hand, drawing me out of my internal musing, “you go to take a seat and I’ll see what I’ve got.”
“Okay,” I nodded and turned to head over to the couch, the hand clasping mine didn’t relinquish its grip, so much as our fingers slowly slipped apart with the distance.
“I hope this okay,” Carmilla said when she joined me a few moments later with a can of soda in each hand.
“It’s perfect,” I said with a grin, “how did you know grape soda was my favorite?”
“Lucky guess,” she said.
Carmilla regarded me with an amused smirk, when I popped the top on the can and took a huge sip, with a satisfied, “aww.”
“I see you’re an easy girl to please.” She drawled.
A few minutes ago that statement might have bothered me, because there was definitely the hint of a sexual undertone to it, but it wasn’t like the comments she made before, or any other time in the past, more than anything it was playful and teasing. And yeah, I could work with that, because Carmilla was really really cute when she smiled at me, like she’s doing right now, with a twinkle in her eye and a goofy grin on her face.
“Hardly,” I replied, with a nonchalant shrug and took another drink of soda, not letting the pleasurable sigh slip out this time.
“So, Cutie,” she turned to face me propping her leg up on the cushion between us, “are you going to tell me, how exactly you got locked out of your apartment in nothing but your bra and those really sexy shorts,” she asked, smirking when I rolled my eyes at her.
“Like I told you, it wasn’t my fault...”
“Yeah, Cupcake, that’s what I don’t get.” She cut in, her eyes twinkling at me as she spoke.
“Mr. Bonkers locked me out in a manner of speaking that is...”
“Who is--Mr. Bonkers?” Carmilla asked in confusion.
“I’ll tell you,” I said, taking another sip of soda for dramatic pause, “if you’ll stop interrupting me.”
She nodded for me to continue.
“Mr. Bonkers is my cat.”
“The one with short black fur, that I always see roaming around the building,” Carmilla asked, because she couldn’t resist.
I nodded in response and kept telling the story. “...And most of the time he’s a sweetheart, well at least when he’s sleeping. He has a propensity for mischief. Usually it’s just like shredding the curtains, destroying my favorite shirt, or knocking over the lamp or dishes on the kitchen counter. I always come home to some kind of mess, when he gets left inside while I go out, but I’m used to that, he’s been like that ever since I got him from the shelter. The thing is, he’s the opposite when I leave him outside all day. When I finally let him in he turns into a little thief...”
“Um, Cupcake, I know I said I wouldn’t interrupt you and I keep doing it, but what does your mischievous cat have to do with you being locked out of your apartment?” Carmilla asked with a baffled look.
“Well...After I got home, I was feel all stiff and tense, so I decide to do some yoga to work the kinks out. I was in the middle of changing when I heard Mr. B meowing outside the door, so I went to let him in. I wasn’t really thinking about not having a shirt on.”
Which in retrospect I probably should have been, I thought to myself as I paused to take a breath.
“When I opened the door he darted right past me grabbed my keys off the coffee table and took off out the door before I could close it. So, I chased after him, not expecting the door to close behind me, or for it to be locked from the inside for that matter.”
Carmilla bit her lip, trying to hide the smile curling at the corner of her mouth from me when I stopped and looked at her.
“Carmilla, it’s not funny.” I squealed, crossing my arms over my chest with a pout.
“Come on, Cutie, finish telling the story.” She urged me, her voice laced with mirth. “I want to hear the rest of this.”
I tossed one of the black throw pillows at her. Of course, she caught it easily, arching an eyebrow at me in amusement.
“Fine,” I grumbled, and told her the rest, “I was about half way down the hall when I heard the door start to shut, but I had Mr. B cornered so I didn’t run back to stop it. Unfortunately the sound distracted me and he got away, jumping out the window at the end of the hall. So I went back to the apartment to call Carl for another set of keys, again. But when I tried to open the door the knob didn’t turn. I even jiggled it around, because it gets stuck sometimes, you know, but no such luck. My mischievous black cat did it to me again. Except this time I was locked out and I didn’t have a shirt on.”
Carmilla burst into laughter as soon as I stopped talking, she was sniggling so hard that she had to clutch her sides, and her eyes teared up.
“It’s so not funny.” I said dejectedly.
After several long minutes of gut wrenching laughter, turned to breathless giggles I thought the outburst had finally passed, but as soon as she looked up at me it started all over again at full steam. And when I grumbled about leaving she wrapped her arms around me so I couldn’t go anywhere, all while still laughing heartily.
“I think I need to thank your cat.” She said with a wink when she finally calmed down.
It took a moment for her to realize that she had her arms around me and was holding me close. I think we both recognized how intimate we were sitting at the same time. Because, my entire face was suffused with heat, from my blush, that reached all the way up to the tips of my ears, at the same time that she let go of me and cleared her throat with a blush of her own. The two of us settled back into the couch, sitting in silence for a while. Surprisingly it wasn’t awkward. We just kept side-eyeing each other and smiling like idiots when one of us would catch the other gazing. I’ve never felt this comfortable around Carmilla before. And considering how things got started it was a nice change of pace.
“You want to watch a movie,” she asked softly, when I caught her looking at me again.
I nodded.
Carmilla reached for the remote control on the coffee table to turn on the flat screen television on the other side of the room. “I have Netflix, so our options are pretty much endless.” She said meeting my gaze again. Flashing me a small hesitant smile as she bit her lip then glanced down at the cushion between us and back up at me.
Trying to act all nonchalant and cool about it, she slowly scooted closer, until she was lightly pressed against my side. At first she was all tense, as she started to fidget with the remote control. It was like she was afraid I might push her away, or something. She shot a glance at me when I didn’t, and visibly relaxed, as she reached out to take my hand, letting out a small airy breath.
The closeness, the intimacy--holding her hand, it just felt so natural. That I let out a sigh of contentment too.
...
Of course the only thing she had lined up in her que was horror movies. Somehow, that’s not surprising.
...
After twenty minutes of scrolling through menus and arguing back and forth, well it wasn’t really arguing, we spent most of the time smiling and laughing, while we insulted each other’s taste in movie. But, yeah, we finally settled on something to watch, more or less.
Carmilla and I were cuddled even closer than we had been before as the movie started. The sun was starting to set outside the window, but the last thing on my mind was that it was getting late. Or that I still hadn’t heard a word from Carl. It really didn’t seem all that important, as Carmilla slipped her arm around my shoulders and drew me impossibly closer. At this point I was practically sitting in her lap. Another inch or two and I would be.
...
“Cutie, the movies over,” Carmilla said, nudging me gently with her shoulder, to try and get me to sit up.
I was curled up into Carmilla’s side with my head tucked into her shoulder to hide my face from the gore and violence on the screen, which is pretty much how I’ve been since the darn movie started. How she convinced me to watch Insidious I’ll never know. Because, I hate that kind of stuff, give me a nice fluffy romantic comedy any day. But, no, all it took was a smile and an, “it’s not that bad, Cupcake,” and I gave in. And I completely regret it. Now I’m probably going to have nightmares for weeks, which I’m totally going to make her pay for, because the next movie we watch together is going to be something super sappy and romantic.
“Unh unh,” I mumbled borrowing my face even deeper into the crook of her neck, “that’s what you said last time. I’m not falling for that again.”
“I swear, Cupcake, I’m not lying this time.” She chuckled softly, her right hand caressing my back, the way it had been since I first got scared and buried my face against her.
“Carmilla, I swear, if you’re messing around, I’m never talking to you again.” I mumbled as I slowly lifted my head from her shoulder, feeling relieved when I saw the Netflix main menu, before I looked over at her.
“Don’t say that to me, Cutie,” She said softly when I finally met her gaze.
“You know I didn’t really mean that, right.” I whispered, at the hurt expression in her eyes.
“Yeah, I know,” She whispered back, “but it still hurts that you said it.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” I hugged her tightly, not because I felt bad, well I mean of course I do, that’s a given. But I did it because I didn’t know how else to take it away. And I really wanted to, more than that I wished I could take words back altogether, but I couldn’t.
I don’t know if a hug is enough to fix the damage, but I hope it’s at least a good start, because I don’t want this to end. To be honest I don’t even know what--this is. We went from being casual acquaintances to maybe being friends, or maybe it’s more than that, all in the span of a few hours. But all I know is I don’t want it to go back to the way it was before tonight.
“This can be whatever we want it be, Cupcake.” Carmilla murmured in my ear.
Her arms tightened around me, surprising me almost as much as her words had, since I hadn’t even realized that she was hugging me back.
I pulled away slightly, just enough to lock eyes with her, “did I say that out loud,” I asked quietly, biting my lip when she nodded.
“I really like you, Laura,” Carmilla murmured as she leaned in to kiss me.
Her lips lightly brushed against mine, kissing me softly, with more tenderness and passion than I’ve ever felt before. It surprised me, but I didn’t let that stop me from kissing her back. She lifted a hand to cup my cheek, tracing a finger along my jaw down to the curve of my neck in a light caress. Her lips were so soft and supple as they moved against mine. I moaned softly when she deepened the kiss, her mouth slightly parted, as her tongue traced across my bottom lip.
She hummed in response, shifting closer, as her fingers tangled in the hair at the nape on my neck. I pressed into her wanting more, my hands clutching at her shoulders, pulling her closer at the same time. Her tongue trailed over my lip again, this time with more persistence. Another moan escaped me, as my lips parted giving her entrance. Our tongues meeting, caressing, sliding against each other as we both fought for dominance. Carmilla whimpered, pressing harder against me, as I traced along her teeth before sliding inside to claim her, my tongue caressing as it stroked and teased, learning the nuances of every crevice of her mouth.
I’m not sure if I leaned back, or if it was her pressing into me, but one moment I was sitting upright and the next I was laying horizontally, sinking into the cushions on the couch as she leaned over me. Taking full advantage of our position, she tilted her head a little more, her tongue sliding against mine as she took control, claiming me, just as I had claimed her moments before. Exploring my mouth with a passion that wasn’t driven by lust, or even desire, no, this was something far more profound. Every flick of her tongue and glide of her lips against mine was laced with something, I couldn’t put a name to, but it was better than anything I’ve ever felt before.
I was moaning loudly when we eventually came up for air, but I wasn’t the only one. Our chests were heaving, as we stared at each other trying to catch our breathe. The intensity in those espresso eyes, as she reached up to stroke my cheek, with a soft smile, nearly took my breath away all over again. There was so much emotion behind her gaze, and it said so much more than our passionate kisses ever could. And I knew the same things were being reflected back at her in my gaze too.
“Cupcake,” was all she managed to say in between pants, but it was more than enough.
“Carm,” I murmured, closing my eyes as she leaned down to kiss me again, despite us both still being breathless. It didn’t matter. Because I wanted her and she wanted me.
We’ve been dancing around this for months, ever since we first saw each other on the front steps of the apartment complex. Most importantly I knew this wasn’t about sex, Carmilla wasn’t trying to get in my pants, she just wanted to be with me. And I couldn’t be happier.
Neither of us heard the knock at the door, as our mouths moved together blissfully, tasting, teasing and caressing endlessly.