God's Lonely Man

One Month

Laura huffs as her phone rings. She has one arm in her coat, and the other is moving stuff around to locate her keys and wallet. As much as she loves spending time with Carmilla in her place, her place has definitely got messier. She manages to get the coat on and answers the call, holding the phone in place with her shoulder to free up both hands.

"Hi, dad," Laura greets. "I'm just about to leave."

"Oh, okay," he says slowly.

Laura quirks an eyebrow but doesn't comment on it as she finds the wallet and keys. "Yup, leaving now."

She opens her door and finds Carmilla standing there.

"Uh, hey, Carm," Laura says, awkwardly grabbing her phone with her hand. "I'm about to head out to lunch with my dad––"

"––No, you're not," he says on the phone.

Laura furrows her eyebrows together. "I'm not?"

He chuckles on the other end. "Call it an early Christmas present."

"Dad, it's still mid-November," Laura giggles.

"A very early Christmas present, then." There's a beat. "Have fun today, kiddo..." He clears his throat. "You know."

"Yeah," Laura replies, pocketing her phone after he hangs up.

"Not that I'm disappointed, but why did my dad cancel on me so I could be with you?" Laura asks sweetly.

Carmilla bites her lip. "Uhm, s–so we could spend the day together." She looks more shy than Laura has ever seen her as she holds out her hand for her to take.

Laura giggles. "Hang on one second." She goes back into her house, walking back out with a bag.

"What's that?"

"It's a bag," Laura replies vaguely, locking her door with a grin.

"Wow, what would I do without you," Carmilla says flatly.

Laura laughs. "It's a surprise." She takes Carmilla's hand and interlocks their fingers, giggling when Carmilla scoffs. "And where are we off to?"

"It's a surprise," Carmilla mocks. Laura pouts at her but allows Carmilla to drag her to her car. "Looks like we're both in for a surprise."

~*~

It takes a bit of a drive, but Carmilla doesn't mind much when Laura's in the passenger seat rambling. It's only when Laura's been silent for ten seconds that Carmilla glances over at her.

"What's wrong, cupcake?"

Laura stares into the side mirror. "Hmm."

"Laura?"

"That car's been behind us for a while," Laura says slowly.

Carmilla shrugs. "Maybe they're heading to the same place we are."

Laura grins. "Which is...?"

"Nice try, Hollis."

Laura laughs and they drive for another ten minutes before getting to the place.

"Here we are," Carmilla says, opening the door for Laura. Her eyes light up and Carmilla can't fight the grin that makes its way onto her face.

"Carm!" Laura squeals. "The ice skating rink? I haven't been here since— in a long time!"

Carmilla blushes a bit. "Yeah, I... Well, I stopped by the station to talk to your dad about what we should do today, and he listed off a bunch of things that your mother used to take you to do and that you haven't done since he's never had time to take you... And this was on the list." She's not sure how she wound up rambling.