Smile For Me

Chapter 6

A/N: All mistakes are mine, as always, I haven't proof-read this as I'm now going to bed. :P

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"Buddy system has been in effect for two weeks, and it's going about as well as any of you could've guessed, cue b-roll," You animatedly swing your arms around while talking, apparently something your mother did. A smile graces your face when you think of her, you wait for a few seconds before continuing the conversation.

"As you can see, she rudely interrupts lectures, along with giggling at things that she's apparently found hilarious when the rest of the class, including me, hasn't," You pause and take a deep breath, "But there has been positives to it all, I've had no threats or rude remarks thrown at me while walking around campus, and the jock or whoever decided to beat me up the other week hasn't been on campus since that night."

"I mean, it's pretty strange but I think that Carm scared him off or something. Although it doesn't explain why she returned with claw marks and scratches on her when she came back from supposedly tracking him down, I'm thinking that I should probably sit her down and ask her about it. Speaking of asking her about that, she got clawed out by the Dean herself yesterday."

"She came and took Carmilla for the entire day, God only knows what for. When Carm returned, she didn't even look at me, much less even wanted to talk to me. I've got no idea what she got chewed out for, but I can only gues-"

Carmilla burst in through the door interrupting your stream of words; you quickly shut down the window with your reflected face in, making sure to actually keep the camera running.

"Hey, I've got a class in ten minutes if you want to come with me," You ask as you swivel around, you probably should've waiting until you saw her face and how she walked into the room with slumped shoulders, dragging herself slowly to her bed. She said nothing back to you as she collapsed onto the bed and pulled the covers over most of her face, masking whatever emotion was going on.

"Carm?"

Silence.

"Carmilla?" You try once again, walking over to the bundled mess. You outstretch your hand, ever so slightly resting it on her ribcage and not a few seconds later she's wriggled the comforting touch off.

"Not today, Creampuff."

"Alright then, well," You move away, grabbing a few books and a pencil case from your desk, shoving the items into a backpack, "I've got class..."

Just before shutting the door you turn, "I guess I'll see you later?"

You heard a huff just before exiting.

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It's been a few days since the whole, mysteriously upset Carm ordeal. She didn't tell you why or what made her upset - well to be truthful she didn't even say if she was upset, right now you're mostly guessing.

She came crashing in at 3 am last night, and you pretended that the loud slam of the door didn't wake you up. Carmilla had been AWOL since 5 in the afternoon, you'd only started to worry when eating your dinner alone a few hours later, usually she makes it back to eat dinner with you. That's been your agreement; you don't ask where she disappears to and she makes it back in time to enjoy whatever brand of unhealthy cereal you picked up this week.

Carmilla trudged pass your bed, slipping her boots off as she moved through the dark room, the only light was trickling in through the door from the dim hall lights that got left on at night, as a safety precaution. As soon as the bathroom door closed and you heard the running water, you slowly - and quietly, you'd like to add - slid out of bed.

You picked up her strewn across the floor combat boots and immediately pulled a hand away, they were absolutely disgusting. Mud clung to the black leather, embedding itself in the worn cracks that were scattered over the old boots. You grabbed them by the very top of the boot and placed them in the kitchen sink, filing away for later that you'd run hot water over them when Carm wasn't in the shower.

The only other thing she'd shrugged off before retreating into the bathroom was her famous leather jacket; it now lay on the side of her bed, dangerously close to slipping off onto the floor. It didn't look too bad, a few muddy sleeve edges and wet interior.

As you fumbled around with said interior of the jacket you found a short zip discreetly hidden, it was located at just the bottom of the jacket and you swear you'd have missed it if you weren't one for being such a detective. You chance a look back at the bathroom door, silence engulfing you as the sound of the leather rustling stops, the shower is still on and it doesn't seem like Carm will be joining you anytime soon.

I'm sure there are only coins or something in there. You think to yourself as you unzip the zipper. A single folded piece of paper sits in the pocket, you can already tell that the water has slightly soaked the edge that was most nearest the zipper. Upon unfolding the drawing you remember it as the one Carmilla was working on a few months ago, which was the girl kneeling near a grave in the pouring rain. It had obviously been opened and folded so many times that the picture now bore marks running through the drawing, separating the artwork.

You wonder why she carries this around, was it a personal thing that's happened to her. Had her mother passed away when she was young like yours had?

You were so engrossed in your inspection of the jacket and picture that you didn't hear the run of water shut off, nor did you hear the bathroom door click open.

"Cupcake? What are you doing up?" She asks you as she rubs the towel against the wet ends of her hair, the flowing natural locks seem to be more unruly when wet.

"I, uh, I heard you come in..." You whip around, picture still resting in your hands.

"And, you think it's okay to go rooting through my stuff?"

"Oh, no. God no, I was just cleaning up... your boots had mud on them, and then the jacket... I was just making sure it was clean and then I stumbled upon the zipp-" She laid a finger against your lips; it was still damp and warm from her shower.

She hummed, "Why are you nervous?"

"I'm not..." Carm sat down on the bed, and patted the space next to her. As you sat down the light that leaked in through the slightly open door fell on her face and somewhat illuminated her features in the otherwise dark room, you were sure that in that moment she looked the most vulnerable she had ever looked.

"Cupcake, you ramble when you're nervous," You waited for a moment, bit your lip and then handed her the picture, "Oh. Is it because of this old thing?"

"I really didn't mean to go through your personal belongings."

"No. It's fine. I guess I would have to tell you sooner or later." She folded the piece of paper and slipped it under a book that was on her nightstand, she turns back to you and you see her hand rub anxiously at her arm, up and down, and up and down. She obviously wants to move on from the subject, but is putting on a brave face for you. You wonder if you should maybe tell her not to say anything.

"It's a drawing of me at my girlfriend's grave."

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A/N: Oooh, cliffhanger. Next chapter should be a nice filler - expect a lot of talking - before hitting some more of the big stuff. :)