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Laura was perhaps the least princess-like Princess that Carmilla had ever met. Ignoring the flash of the paparazzi cameras as they crowded the small airport, Carmilla slid her sunglasses off her nose and into her hair as Laura appeared on the escalator. Although she had the same over-sized bodyguard trailing behind her that Carmilla did, Laura grinned and waved at the paparazzi before stumbling off the escalator as she forgot to keep an eye out for when it ended.
Carmilla snickered, taking a few steps forward as Laura’s head started pivoting to find her.
Showtime.
She stomped down on the feelings in her chest and took another step forward. “Hey there, cutie,” she called, making sure that the cameras could make out the Princess of Karnstein waiting at the airport.
Laura’s face light up in a grin, “Carm!”. Shoving her bags at her bodyguard, Laura jogged forward and suddenly Carmilla had an armful of tiny Princess Hollis. She wrapped her arms around Laura’s waist and buried her face in Laura’s hair, taking a moment to just enjoy being back in the presence of her best friend. They’d met as children at the wedding of one royal or another and, even then, Laura had smelled like the cookies she’d been hiding under a table to eat. It hadn’t taken long before Carmilla had learned that fresh cookies were always in danger when Laura was around.
They were no longer small enough to hide under table but the wave of Laura’s brown hair was enough to block out the flash of a hundred cameras.
But only for a moment.
Laura drew back but kept her hands on Carmilla’s waist, “hey.” she said.
Carmilla rolled her eyes but smiled at the familiar greeting, “hey.” She let the word hang for just a moment before leaning in closer and letting the tip of her nose brush against Laura’s. She had to fight her own smile when Laura inhaled sharply. “I think,” Carmilla purred, “that your girlfriend can get a better greeting than that, cutie.”
So Laura kissed her. There wasn’t even a moment of hesitation before Laura’s hands were on her jaw and her lips were pressing hard against Carmilla’s own. They moved quickly but every stroke still had the familiar pattern that was all Laura. Hard. Slow. Soft. Fast. It didn’t matter.
She’d always know Laura’s lips.
They were the only ones that had an ‘i love you’ threatening to spill from her own.
She couldn’t let those words fall.
Instead, Carmilla let her hands slip down and quickly grasp Laura’s butt. Just long enough for the camera’s to catch before Laura’ was backing out of her grasp and playfully swatting at her hands before giving Carmilla a quick wink and reconnecting their hands. Blush on her cheeks.
Giving the paparazzi a salute, Carmilla let Laura yank her out of the terminal. She licked her lips and it tasted like peppermints. They practically broke into a run as Laura started laughing, “Come on,” she called, “Before they catch up.”
They’d made the sprint down the airport a hundred times before and even though they were long past their teenage years, it quickly turned into a race.
Carmilla had worn her sneakers for a reason. Laura never had a chance but Carmilla was careful to only stay a few steps ahead, any further would mean letting go of Laura’s hand.
Unthinkable.
Not when they had so few free moments.
The empty airport tunnel a last refuge.
They burst from the end and into the limo where Carmilla’s bodyguards were already waiting with the door open. Carmilla went in first, tugging Laura after her until they landed in a pile on the plushy backseat. Her arms latched around Laura automatically as Laura giggled into her chest. As soon as the limo door closed and the bodyguards were safely hidden away behind a partition, Carmilla forced herself to try and roll out from under Laura.
Laura just clung tighter.
“Get off me, cupcake,” Carmilla said, “they’re gone.” Even so, the smile on her face wasn’t faked.
With a final giggle, Laura listened and popped up to sit up properly as the limo started moving. Carmilla followed, sinking into the cushions.
She reached into the cupboard and pulled out a bag of fresh cookies, tossing them to Laura who squealed and stuffed one in her mouth. The second was promptly split in half and given to Carmilla.
Once her mouth was clear of cookie, Laura said, “A butt grab? Really? Are you trying to get us on the front page again?”
“But it’s been so long since I’ve seen my dear, sweet, darling cutie-pie,” Carmilla put a hand on her chest and fluttered her eyelashes, “I’m just dying without some action from my girl.”
Laura rolled her eyes, “Sorry to disappoint then.”
“You?” Carmilla gave her a wink, “Never. That show you put on in Cannes has Will convinced that I’ve hit the girlfriend jackpot.”
Just the mention of Cannes had Laura blushing. She threw a chunk of cookie at Carmilla who just caught it in her mouth. Laura huffed, “You’re the one who said he was suspicious!”
“You’re the one who just started moaning while we were playing scrabble,” Carmilla reminded her, “I still think it’s because you knew that I was about to beat you for the first time.”
Nothing had driven scrabble faster from her mind than Laura moaning. Even if Laura had been doing it while fully clothed and playing the word quixotry for a truly startling number of points. Those were the kind of sounds that haunted a girl’s dreams.
“He’d just walked into the next room! It was the most logical way to get him to stop asking questions!” Laura objected. Still, she buried her face in her knees to hide her blush.
Carmilla’s smile softened and she gently pried Laura’s head back up, “Don’t worry, cupcake. Your plan worked just fine. Mother’s even backed off trying to re-arrange my marriage with Elle, hasn’t brought it up for months and with Will off my back, we should be home free.”
“Next time you’re coming to my place,” Laura said, still mumbling into her knees, “I don’t have any overly-inquisitive siblings to walk in on us not doing things.”
When Will had ‘accidentally’ barged into Carmilla’s room while Laura was over for the fifth time in a row, they’d known something was up. It had only taken the right questions to Mattie before her eldest sister had let Will’s doubts about their relationship slip out. So, they’d taken care of it.
Mattie was a whole other problem. She’d never once given them an indication as to what she thought of the media’s darling ‘Hollstein’.
“No siblings,” Carmilla agreed, “but King Hollis has never quite liked me since that second time we broke up.”
Laura glared at her, “it’s not my fault you wanted to date Elle again. I told you it was a bad idea and even though I told him that we broke up first, I’m pretty sure he still kinda thinks you cheated on me.”
Something squeezed in Carmilla’s lungs at the idea, “I’d never cheat on you, cupcake.”
Laura rolled her eyes, “I appreciate the sentiment but unless you’ve got another best friend somewhere to replace me, we’re good. And considering no-one else would put up with your broody butt, I’m not concerned.” Carmilla pretended to pout and Laura just laughed. “Otherwise,” she continued, “I think it’s logistically impossible to cheat on your fake girlfriend.”
Every time Laura said it out loud, she dropped her voice to a whisper and looked around like she was expecting her father to pop out of nowhere and catch them in the act of not dating.
It would have been adorable if it hadn’t made Carmilla’s chest hurt.
They’d been not-dating for a long time. Carmilla was the first of the pair to learn that she had an arranged marriage. The entire set-up had quickly been torn apart when Carmilla had come out to her mother but that had simply started her mother attempting to set up a new arrangement, just with the appropriate gender. When Laura had found out, she’d quickly confronted her own father to discover that, he too, had been in discussions for a politically helpful match.
The only difference was that he assured her that she’d get to choose between his final selection of female suitors.
Apparently that was supposed to make her feel better.
It didn’t. Laura had panicked and told her father that she was already seeing someone. Unable to tell her dad that she had a crush on Danny, who was just a girl who worked in the castle, she’d blurted out Carmilla’s name. The next time they’d seen each other, Carmilla hadn’t gotten any warning. Laura had just walked up and kissed her.
It had been timid and soft and Laura’s hands had been shaking when they’d broken apart and she’d grabbed Carmilla’s hand to entwine their fingers.
She’d only explained later, after Carmilla had spent the day in a daze. Nothing but Laura’s fingers to ground her to reality.
A first kiss for both of them.
The charade had only continued. Their parents were unable to arrange meetings with eligible suitors when the girls were in such a public relationship. As much as Laura blushed, she was the one who told Carmilla that they had to sell it to the press as much as their families. Laura was the one throwing herself at Carmilla face-first.
Carmilla had been the one to make Laura promise that it wouldn’t ruin their friendship.
They’d officially broken up twice. Once so Laura could date Danny and once so Carmilla could date Elle. Yet somehow, they always ended up gravitating back towards each other as relationships cracks and parents starting lining up suitors all over again.
Six years and Carmilla still didn’t know why Laura had broken up with Danny.
She’d asked once, right before their second break-up, and Laura had only paled and told her never to ask again.
“Don’t worry, cupcake,” Carmilla said, leaning back to put some distance between them, “You’re the only fake girlfriend for me.”
“You say that,” Laura said, staring out the window without looking at Carmilla, “but one day you’ll meet some wide-eyed maiden fair who will sweep you right off your feet.”
“Not if my mother has anything to say about it,” Carmilla said.
Laura winced in sympathy. Although the matches that the Queen Regent favoured were politically sound, the candidates themselves hadn’t exactly been what Carmilla had been looking for.
“Maybe she’ll give up,” Laura turned and Carmilla plopped her feet into Laura’s lap as she reclined against the door. Laura scrunched her nose but continued, “My Dad hasn’t brought marriage up for a while and you said that your mom was taking it easier these days.”
“Sure. And maybe hell will break loose on earth, pigs will fly, and your father will actually shake my hand this time,” Carmilla drawled, “He did come with you, didn’t he?”
Laura nodded and fiddled with Carmilla’s shoelaces, “Yeah. He’s taking his own limo, though. Didn’t even complain when I said that you were picking me up at the airport.” She winced, “I may have given him a small speech a few weeks ago about being less protective and letting me enjoy my space. He just kept asking about you and me and our relationship and I couldn’t take it.”
Carmilla hummed. Then she swung her feet off of Laura’s lap and, with one swoop of her finger, popped all the buttons on Laura’s shirt.
“Carm!” Laura hissed. She covered her chest but Carmilla could still make out the skin turning red about a bright blue bra.
Carmilla choked, “You always wear tank tops under those.”
“I was hot!” Laura said, hastily doing up the buttons, “It’s not like I was expecting you to undress me.” Her face turned even redder.
“Well, I’m sure that Papa Hollis thinks we’re up to some less than PG things in here, I was just trying to set off the right impression!” Carmilla said. She knew that she should look away but couldn’t quite keep her peripheral off of Laura’s skin. The girl had abs and she wasn’t a saint.
Laura paused, button half done-up in the wrong hole and looked out the window, “We are almost there…” Letting her hands fall away from her shirt, she reached out. Before Carmilla could move, Laura’s fingers were in her hair, messing it up. She hissed and jumped away from the attack as the limo ground to a halt.
Laura just chased after her, vaulted into Carmilla’s lap and pushing her back against the seat. Blue bra still showing even as Carmilla tried to keep her eyes on Laura’s face. “They’re about to open the door,” Laura whispered against her skin, “And it’s my turn to be on top.”
It took nearly 30 seconds for Carmilla to realize when the bodyguard had actually opened the door, too busy with Laura’s mouth on hers and the way that Laura’s abs twitched when Carmilla touched them.
They climbed out of the limo after fixing themselves up under the watchful eye of half the palace staff and instantly locked hands again. The instinct well-ingrained after years of ‘dating’. Carmilla flipped her sunglasses back over her eyes and stomped through the palace, intent on getting to her room where she and Laura could simply be friends. It was always a longer process with Laura following her. They had to stop and greet every member of the palace who crossed their path as Laura tried to catch up on lives and missed time. Carmilla rarely listened. Instead, she tried to tame a stray piece of Laura’s hair, tucking it back behind Laura’s ear while she was talking to the head of operations.
Perry smiled at them and Carmilla told herself she’d done it just for show.
“Mircalla? Laura?” Her mother’s voice rang down the hallway and Carmilla froze. Her mother never simply called; she always sent a housekeeper.
It was Laura who answered, “Yes, ma’am?”
Her mother called again. Not quite a shout but loud enough to be heard clearly, “Laura, dear. Could you please grab Carmilla and drag her with you to my study? Your father and I have something to discuss with the both of you.”
“We should just run.” The words fell off Carmilla’s tongue.
Laura gave her a look and tugged her in the right direction, “She probably just wants to talk about our schedule while we’re here or something. You know she’s just dying to get us on more outings because you apparently only leave the palace when I’m here.”
“Why would I want to go outside?” Carmilla grumbled.
She could hear Laura’s smile, “You are such a secret vampire.”
“Does that make you the innocent damsel?” Carmilla said.
Laura huffed but she kept tugging. Then, she turned so that she was walking backwards and gave Carmilla’s hand a stroke with her thumb, “Oh Carm. I thought you knew that I’m anything but innocent.”
She spun back around. Tugging harder.
“Still killing me, Hollis.” Carmilla said.
When they talked into the study, they found Carmilla’s mother sitting calmly at her desk while Laura’s father sat in one of the large chairs across from her. His knee bounced and a smile went on his face as soon as he saw the girls. It dimmed slightly when he noticed the mismatched buttons on Laura’s shirt but clearly quickly.
“Sir.” Carmilla mumbled, ducking her head as Laura greeted her mother.
“Sit please,” Carmilla’s mother said. Despite the couch available across the room, Laura quickly sat in one of the oversized chairs and pulled Carmilla down beside her so that they were squished together. Hands. Legs. Arms. Laura’s arm slid around her waist to rest on her hip.
Laura was so much better at this. Carmilla tucked her hands in her lap. Never quite sure what to do with them. They would misbehave if she let them loose.
“Girls,” Carmilla mother folded her hands on the paper on her desk and watched them, “We need to discuss the future of your relationship and what it means for all of us.”
Laura tensed beside her, fingers locking onto Carmilla’s hip almost painfully, “What about our relationship?”
“As you’re both aware,” Carmilla’s mother said, “According to the customs of our kingdoms, King Hollis and I have both been looking for suitable matches for each of you for many years. We’ve been lenient in allowing you both your freedoms during this time but now that you’ve both completed your education, it’s time to discuss your future. No more of these dalliances and the constant media parade as your young hormones constantly create break-ups. So, we’ve made our selections on your behalf.”
The hand on Carmilla’s waist gripped tighter as Carmilla just stared at the floor. “Dad!” Laura shouted, “You promised me that I’d have the final say. You can’t. You just. I know you want to protect me but we talked about this and I need you to trust me that I can make the right decisions on my own and I can’t believe that you wou-”
“No.” Carmilla’s hand came down, clenching tight to Laura’s knee and cutting off her words.
“No.” Carmilla repeated.
She took a breath and finally looked up, meeting her mother’s gaze. Her mother watched her, leaning back in her chair. “No, what?” She asked.
“No, I won’t marry whomever you’ve chosen.” Carmilla’s hands felt like they were shaking as beads of sweat sprung to life on the back of her neck. “I won’t marry them and you can’t make me.” She clung tighter to Laura’s knee but didn’t break her mother’s gaze. She set the words free, “I’m in love with Laura. I won’t marry anyone else.”
There was a hushed gasp beside her but Carmilla kept her eyes firmly on her mother.
They stared at each other for a moment and just as Carmilla felt Laura’s hand touch her own where it rested on Laura’s knee, her mother smiled and leaned forward, “That’s what I thought you’d say.”
Carmilla could barely keep her jaw from dropping, brain trying to keep up. Laura just let her jaw fall.
“What?” Laura said, “You knew Carm would say no? So why? Why even make arrangements and? Just?”
Carmilla’s mother looked over at Laura’s father who was practically bursting with excitement. When he had their attention, he grinned, “Lilita and I have reached an agreement. Rather than find separate arranged marriages, we thought we’d keep it simple. You’ve been dating for years anyway.”
Carmilla froze at the implication.
He continued, “you’re getting married to each other!”