God's Lonely Man

Inevitable

"How do I look?" Laura asks, doing a dramatic twirl in her dress.

Her dad looks her up and down. "Like the respectable daughter of the chief deputy," he answers stiffly.

Laura narrows her eyes at him. "Daaaaaad..."

He drops his act and cracks a smile. "You look like a beautiful young lady, Laur. As usual."

Laura plops down next to him and giggles.

He hums in response and pats her leg.

"Dad?"

"Hmm?"

Laura sighs. "We're okay, right?"

He shifts a bit to look her in the eyes.

"I'm still not thrilled you dropped those charges. Or that you were drinking underage," he says sharply. "But if your mother was still here, she would tell me to let you make your own decisions, as long as you're not actively endangering yourself. And while both of those decisions kinda are, you're a smart and strong kid, Laura."

Laura nods. "Thanks, dad." She leans her head on his shoulder.

"Your mom would be proud of you, kiddo."

"She'd be proud of both of us," Laura asserts.

He laughs and gently pushes her head off his shoulder, standing up and offering her his hand. "Time for us to get going. Can't be late to the town party, can we? Us Hollises have a reputation to uphold."

Laura grins and takes his hand, doing a mock salute when she rises. "Yes, sir!"

~*~

"The guest list is a little different this year. I didn't see the updated version, but that's just what I was told," her father says conversationally as he parks the car outside Mayor Kirsch's home.

Laura hums in response. She had been meaning to take a quick picture of herself in the dress and send it to Carmilla, who'd been sleeping when Laura left her apartment, as usual, but didn't have time to before they'd left. If her father saw her taking it, it's not like Laura could lie and say it was for Danny or any of her other close friends, since they'd all also be at the party.

It'd only been a few days before her father had reached out to her post-arguments about attending as his plus one and she hadn't really had time to talk to Carmilla about it.

In fact, all she and Carmilla had been doing since the picnic date had been studying for midterms. They'd meet up for dinner and maybe some Netflix and then sleep over in each other's beds, but both were too tired for any real conversation. Hell, Laura wasn't even sure if they were exclusive.

Laura's father gets out of the car, snapping her out of her thoughts. He escorts her in and starts working the room's older crowd, while Laura makes her way over to her friends.

"Hey, guys," Laura says to Perry and LaF, giving Danny an awkward nod.

"Hi, Laura," Danny says quietly. "You–– Uhm... You healed up nicely."

Laura offers her a small smile. "That's the magic of make-up."

Danny gives a small chuckle.

"Hey, Danny," Laura says slowly. "Can we talk? In private?"

Danny nods and they give Perry and LaFontaine small waves as they head out to a patio.

"I wanted to apologize for how angry I got at you," Laura begins. "I know you're just looking out for me and I don't think you deserve all the flack I give you over it."