take it how you want it (take on my love) // carmuel one-shots

that slow burn wait while it gets dark (part ii)

description: the second part to the 7 years later reunion fic previously posted

rating: explicit

//

It's a few seconds of suspenseful silence as they wait in vain for the lights to come back on before Samuel says, "Shit, I think the power went out."

Carla isn't sure how to feel about being interrupted; part of her is grateful, while the other part is a bit annoyed. As it is, she ignores the nervous flutter in her stomach from their previous conversation and rolls her eyes, only slightly exasperated, even though it isn't visible to him.

"I can see that," she remarks, unable to keep the touch of irony out of her voice.

"I can't see anything. Let me just—" She hears him rustling around, and her eyes adjust to the dark in time to watch his silhouette tapping on something that he pulls from his jeans' pocket. "Fuck. My phone's dead."

"Mine is in the bedroom. Hopefully it's still got some battery," Carla says, standing up from the couch. She pauses, however, just like her breath does in her throat, when she feels Samuel's fingers catch her own. When she turns her head, she can just barely make out his eyes staring back at her.

"Be careful."

That flutter in her stomach comes back again, but for a different reason entirely. Once more, she shoves it aside and lets out a light scoff. "It's just down the hall."

Still, she flexes her hand at her side after Samuel lets her go without another word. Carla easily maneuvers her way to the bedroom, gently bumping into the occasional piece of furniture but avoiding hitting any sharp corners or knocking anything over, and finds her cellphone right where she left it on the mattress. It doesn't have much life left when she thumbs the screen, but she forces herself not to worry about that too much as she turns the flashlight on and returns to the living room.

The couch is empty when she shines the light on it. Carla huffs in vague annoyance when she swings her phone around and finds no trace of Samuel in the kitchen, either. She was only gone for a minute, where could he have possibly—

A soft, surprised yelp leaves her mouth as she feels a tap on her shoulder, and humiliation and adrenaline are both burning hot in her cheeks when she whirls around and is greeted by Samuel standing right behind her, expression creased in amusement. Immediately, she smacks him on the chest, causing a gasping laugh to bubble out of him as he stumbles back half a step.

"What was that for?" He asks, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him.

"You scared the hell out of me," she hisses back, and in spite of the way she's still scowling at him, he grins.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident," Samuel says, not sounding apologetic at all. She'd be more pissed off about it if she didn't fully know that her glare is weak at best. "I thought I'd try and look for an emergency kit, although without light, I didn't get very far. But I guess your phone's working?"

She nods, her pulse finally calming down. "And it's going to run out of juice any minute now, so we better pray that the power comes back on fast."

"I'm more worried about losing heat than light," Samuel comments, starting to turn back, "but come on, let's see if there are actual flashlights somewhere, at least."

She can't be of much help without taking her phone with her, so instead she follows and dutifully points the light where Samuel needs her to while he searches the room. They don't find anything in the first couple of minutes except a deck of cards and a few lame board games in the entertainment center; otherwise, each drawer he pulls open contains nothing but a light layer of dust that actually makes him sneeze at one point. She snickers softly, biting her lip in a smile when he half-heartedly narrows his eyes at her.