Chapter Text
10….
The sun is shining through the bay window. The sky outside is clear. Laura checks her phone and it says the temperature is mid 60s. It’s perfect.
She sits in the sill of the window. She’s still in her pajamas. Her coffee has gone cold in her hands. Her eyes are focused on something over the horizon and even she isn’t sure she’s looking at. Or for. There’s a knot in the pit of her stomach and she tries to convince herself that it’s nerves.
(Because it can’t be dread –it just can’t be.)
There’s a knock on the door. She sighs. “Come in.” She says lightly but her voice travels. She doesn’t turn away from the window.
“Hey. You’re still in your pajamas.” Comes the voice from the doorway. Laura nods. She looks down into her coffee cup. She traces her fingers around the rim.
“Yeah. I don’t know where to start. I can’t just get into the dress, can I?” She asks rhetorically. She looks up, shrugging mercilessly over at Lafontaine, who is still standing in the doorway. They’re still in their own sleepwear. Laura points to their periodic table pajama pants. “You’re not dressed either.” Lafontaine shakes their head, taking a few more steps into the room.
“I’m not the one getting married today.” Laura’s shoulders fall. She turns back to the window.
“Right.” The sunlight hits the diamond sitting on her finger. She stares at it. It feels heavy on her hand. Like it’s trapping her. Weighing her down.
“Try not to sound so enthused, Hollis. It’s only the most important day of your life.” Lafontaine jokes and Laura attempts to smile. It’s halfhearted.
“You’re right. I am excited. It’s just nerves.” She rests the coffee cup on the sill of the window. She turns toward Lafontaine, pulling her smile fully across her face.
She can do this.
Right?
9…
Carmilla leans over the railing of the balcony. Her cigarette dangles from between her fingers. The ash is long but she doesn’t shake it off. It falls, eventually, and burns her fingers. She doesn’t move. The sun is in her eyes. She takes another drag.
She exhales. The smoke gets into her face. She hears footsteps behind her.
“You know I hate it when you smoke.” She hears from the doorway. She takes another drag. She turns. Ell is leaning against the frame of the door. She exhales the smoke toward her. Carmilla shrugs.
“And I hate it when you nag. Guess we’re even.” Carmilla mumbles in response. Ell is waving the smoke from in front of her face, her nose wrinkling. She’s only got underwear and a camisole on and her blonde hair is thrown up into a messy bun. Carmilla pushes off the banister. She reaches out. She grips Ell’s hip and pulls her in. She squeals. Carmilla smirks. She kisses the side of Ell’s mouth. Ell smiles, turning her face away from Carmilla. She nudges Carmilla’s cheek with her nose. She pulls back. Carmilla drops the cigarette. She stomps it out with the tip of her boot.
“Really though, Carmilla, you should think about quitting. It’s going to kill you someday.” Ell says, glancing down unfavorably at the collection of cigarette butts on the ground.
“That’s the plan.” Carmilla jokes but her smile is bitter and she sees the way Ell’s face falls. She knows they both know that mostly, she isn’t kidding. Carmilla pushes past Ell back into the apartment. “There coffee left?” She asks over her shoulder.
“Yeah. Half a pot.” Ell responds. She follows Carmilla back into the apartment, shutting the doors to the balcony behind her. Carmilla pulls a travel mug from the cupboard. She pours her coffee. She hears Ell pull one of the kitchen chairs out from the table. Carmilla turns and she leans against the counter. Ell is looking up at her with wide eyes. Carmilla raises an eyebrow.
“What?” Carmilla asks, agitated. Ell bites her lip. “Spit it out, blondie.” She continues, frowning. Ell looks down.
“Look, I know what today is.” Ell murmurs. Carmilla scoffs. She turns around to get a lid for her mug.
“I’m not talking about this with you.” Carmilla snaps. Her hand is shaking and coffee is spilling out all over her fingers. She jumps when she feels Ell’s hand rest on her shoulder. She shrugs it off. She fixes the lid on the mug and slips away, toward the front door. “I’m going to go pick up Thea from Leila’s place. I’ll call you later.” She mumbles, slipping out the front door without waiting for a goodbye.
8…
Lafontaine slips back into their own hotel room. Perry is sitting at the vanity, red curls up in a ponytail. Lafontaine smiles. They move to sit down next to her. Perry smiles. She leans in and kisses Lafontaine on the cheek. Lafontaine rests their hand on top of Perry’s, intertwining their fingers. “How is she?” Perry asks. Lafontaine shrugs, squeezing Perry’s hand.
“She looks empty, Perr. Nobody should look that empty on their wedding day.” Lafontaine says. They lean in. Perry meets them halfway. Their foreheads connect. “I don’t want to tell her how she should feel but…” Lafontaine trails off. Perry strokes the back of their knuckles with her thumb.
“I know.” Perry assures. She smiles then. “I promise you I’ll be nothing but smiles on our day. You’ll have to sew my mouth shut to get me to stop.” Lafontaine laughs, looking down at the ring on Perry’s finger.
“You better. With the amount of money I spent on that ring, you better not stop smiling for at least 30 years.” Lafontaine jokes. Perry pulls her bottom lip between her teeth.
“I think that can be arranged.” Perry whispers. Lafontaine disconnects their hands just for a moment. They put their pinky up.
“Pinky swear?” Perry wrinkles her nose in that cute way that Lafontaine loves. She connects their pinkies. They shake.
“Pinky swear.” Perry echoes. Perry disconnects their fingers. “We should take our stuff over to Laura’s room. Help her get ready.” Perry glances down at her watch. “She’s getting down that aisle as long as I have a say in it.” Perry says stubbornly. Lafontaine laughs.
“Let’s do it.”
7…
“Will you just let me drive?” Danny exclaims. Her foot is resting on the glove compartment, her knee on the sill of the open window. The sleeves of her long sleeve shirt are rolled up to the middle of her arm.
Kirsch has one hand on the wheel, the other hanging out the window. He snorts. “Sorry, no can do. I want to get there before next week.” Danny rolls her eyes.
“Remind me again why I agreed to drive with you?” Danny says through clenched teeth. Kirsch looks over at her with a goofy grin and Danny thinks that maybe punching him in the face wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
“Gas money.” Kirsch says with a smug look. Danny scoffs. She turns so she’s looking out of her window. It’s warm in the car even though all of the windows are open. Danny wipes the sweat from her forehead. She reaches over and wipes it on the sleeve of Kirsch’s t-shirt. He shrugs away from her, making a disgusted face and an ‘augh’ noise coming from his mouth.
“Really? That’s disgusting, Lawrence.” Danny snorts.
“Are you really telling me you can’t handle a little bit of sweat? Baby.” Kirsch rolls his eyes. Danny sticks her tongue out.
“It’s disgusting. Keep your fluids to yourself, woman.” Danny’s hand rises from its resting spot on her leg. She hits him with the back of her hand. He looks over at her with wide eyes. “Ouch, okay, what was that for?” He exclaims. Danny raises an eyebrow. The car starts to swerve and she nearly reaches over and grabs the steering wheel from him.
“Eyes on the road, jackass.” Danny practically yells. Kirsch’s eyes return to the road. “You’re going to get us killed, you know that right?” Danny exclaims. “How did you even manage to get your license?” Danny jibes and Kirsch smirks. He pulls his hand off of the wheel, crossing his arms. “Oh my god, what are you doing?” Danny exclaims and then she’s frantically reaching over Kirsch to grab the wheel. He cuts her off though with a laugh and putting his hand back where it belongs. Danny swears her heart is going to beat out of her chest. Mostly from anger. Kirsch is laughing and Danny crosses her arms over her chest, her face red and hair blowing in her face. “You’re never driving our daughter anywhere again.” Danny snaps. Kirsch’s laughter trails off.
“Lighten up, Lawrence. You know I’m safe when Thea’s in the car with me.” He sounds just a little offended. Danny hates that she feels bad when she hears the defeated tone in his voice.
“Yeah, yeah. Prove it.” Danny challenges, trying to lighten the mood in the car again. Kirsch’s eyebrow raises. “Bet you can’t resist the urge to fuck with me for the rest of the drive.”
“I’ve resisted the urge to fuck with you for years, Lawrence, a few hours is cake.” Kirsch jokes and Danny rolls her eyes.
“Not like that, pig. Is that honestly all you think about?” Danny says, her lip raised in minor disgust. Sometimes, it hits her that this is the man – no, boy, that she has a kid with.
“I’m a dude. I have needs.” Danny furrows her brows. Her lip curls.
“You’re disgusting.” She says. Kirsch just shrugs.
“Winner buys the beers?” He counters, ignoring her. With a sigh, Danny agrees.
6…
She’s wearing a robe and her hair is finally finished. Lafontaine is zipping Perry’s dress in the corner.
Her own dress is hanging on the edge of the wardrobe. It’s large. Poofy. Nothing like her Mother’s dress, which is what she’d always imagined she’d get married in but that….clearly wasn’t meant to be. Laura reaches her fingers out. She touches the satin lightly with her fingers. It’s a beautiful dress. When she tried on in the store, she felt like a princess. When she twirled, the skirt fanned out around her and it felt like a dream.
Actually, this whole thing kind of feels like a dream.
She wonders when she’s going to wake up.
Her sigh is deep and she drops her fingers to her side.
She doesn’t want to put it on. It weighs as much as she does and once she’s in it, she won’t be able to move. She wonders if she can wait until just before she has to leave to put it on.
Perry walks up behind her. She puts a hand on her shoulder. “It’s a beautiful dress, Laura.” She says. Laura nods.
“It is.” She agrees. She wonders if maybe, it would be more beautiful if her bride were a different girl. On a different day. In a different place. In a different life. She sighs again and it’s heavy. “It weighs a lot.” She comments. She looks at Perry out of the corner of her eye. Perry has the sympathetic look on her face that Laura is used to. Her smile is only half genuine. “I have to put it on, don’t I?” Laura says resignedly. She nearly misses the look Perry shoots Lafontaine over her shoulder. Nearly.
“Sweetie, if you don’t want to do this, nobody is forcing you.” Perry says carefully. Laura turns and forces a smile.
“No, I do. Of course I do.” She looks down at her ring again. “I said yes, didn’t I?” She murmurs. She wonders, if she had known all that she knew now, if her answer still would have been the same. She likes to think so. She hopes so. She is about to spend the rest of her life with this girl. She’d felt ready to do that eight months ago. A letter or two shouldn’t change that. Laura. “How much longer?” She asks. Her eyes don’t leave the dress.
“An hour. You have to put the dress on, sweetie.” Perry says. Laura nods.
“Okay.” She replies, if a little reluctantly. Perry grabs the dress from off of the hanger. Laura turns away. She hears the zipper and she shivers. She convinces herself that it’s anticipation. Laura unties the robe. Slowly, she drops it from her shoulders. The dress is settled on the ground and she steps into it. Perry pulls it up. Laura closes her eyes. Perry zips the dress and Laura feels like she can’t breathe. She inhales sharply. Perry pauses.
“Are you okay? Is it too tight?” Laura shakes her head.
“No, it’s fine.” Laura mumbles. Perry leans down and fluffs the skirt, pulling out all of the layers. She stands up and gets in front of Laura. She puts her hands on her shoulders.
“You’re a beautiful bride, Laura.” Perry comments and Laura smiles. It’s the first genuine smile she’s had all day. Perry’s own smile is bright and Laura believes her. She’s sure she does look beautiful.
She just doesn’t feel right.
5…
The moment she walks through the door, she’s got arms wrapped around the tops of her thighs. She’s nearly knocked over. She lets out an ‘oof’, rubbing the top of the little girls head, messing up her hair. “Hey, monster.” Carmilla says. Thea looks up at her with a bright smile. Carmilla wrinkles her nose down at her. Thea lets go of her legs and pulls at the bottom of her shirt. Carmilla grabs her from underneath the arms and lifts her up. She wraps her legs around Carmilla’s hips and her arms around Carmilla’s neck tightly. She kisses Carmilla’s cheek. It’s sloppy, as most kisses from six year olds are, and Carmilla makes a barf noise. Thea giggles. “Gross. Don’t slobber all over me, kid.” Carmilla says.
“Sorry, Auntie Carm.” Thea replies, just a hint of a lisp on the ‘s’ of her sorry. A product of her missing front tooth.
“Where’s your Grandma?” Carmilla asks, taking a few steps forward into the foyer of the house. Thea’s toys are strewn across the living room and Carmilla hears noises from the kitchen.
“I’m in here Carmilla!” She hears from the kitchen. Leila’s thick Brooklyn accent comes through and Carmilla follows the voice. She’s in the kitchen, washing dishes. She’s chewing gum, as she normally is. She shuts off the sink, drying her hands on a rag. Thea is starting to wiggle so Carmilla puts her down. Leila walks over to Carmilla and gives her a kiss on the same cheek that Thea did. “How are you doing? I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages.” She says, turning around to go to the fridge. Carmilla wipes her cheek while she’s facing away from her. She catches Thea’s eye and makes a gagging motion. Thea giggles. “Do you want some water or something?” Carmilla jumps, turning back to Leila. She shakes her head.
“No, I’m good.” Really, she just wants to take Thea and get the hell out of here. She likes Leila well enough and normally she can handle conversation with the talkative woman but today? She just wants to spend time with the kid and keep her mind anywhere but on where all of her friends are.
“If you’re sure.” She says, stepping back from the fridge. “Her bag is on the table. They left a few pairs of pajamas in there for you and some shorts if you wanna take her to the park or somethin’.” She says. Carmilla nods. She moves to the table and grabs the bag. She gestures to Thea with a nod of her head toward the door of the kitchen. Thea moves over to her. Carmilla reaches out her free hand, which Thea grabs.
“Sounds good.” She says. She pulls Thea toward the door. She hopes to escape without another awkward conversation but Leila has other plans. She grabs Carmilla’s shoulder before she escapes the kitchen.
“Listen, I know what today is-” She starts but Carmilla interrupts her with a shake of her head.
“I’ll see you later, Leila.” She’s not talking about this. If she wasn’t talking about this with Ell, she definitely wasn’t going to be talking about it with Leila Kirsch. She gives her a tight smile and tugs Thea toward the door.
This time, they manage to escape without another interruption. Carmilla swings their intertwined hands between them. She looks down at Thea. “So, what do you want to do today, kid? Gamble away your life savings? Rob a bank to get it all back?” Carmilla jokes. Thea laughs and leans into Carmilla.
“Ice cream!” She exclaims with a grin. Carmilla pretends to groan.
“Ice cream? Again? You are going to turn into an ice cream cone, Thea Lawrence.” Carmilla jokes. Thea looks up at her and sticks her tongue out. Carmilla does the same. “Anything else, kid? Ice cream won’t take our whole day.” And she needs the whole day. She’s glad that she gets to spend the day with Thea. She’s the only one who could make Carmilla forget about what today is.
“I wanna paint!” Thea once again exclaims and Carmilla pretends to mull it over.
“Alright…We could make that work.” Carmilla says, coming to a pause in front an old brick building. She pulls keys from her back pocket. She messes with them for a few seconds, finally finding the proper key for the front door. She opens it and stands behind it, letting Thea go in front of her. They stand at the bottom of the stairs for a moment. “But first…” She pauses, kneeling down so she’s eye level with Thea. “Race you up the stairs?” Thea’s eyes widen in excitement and she grins, shooting up the stairs, Carmilla following shortly after.
4…
They’ve finally made it to the church. Laura is sitting in the back room, waiting for her Dad.
Lafontaine is messing with their boutonniere and Perry figures it’s just because they’re nervous. For Laura. For themselves. Perry takes their hand. She shoots them a reassuring smile. “It’s going to be fine.” Perry whispers. Lafontaine’s smile in response is weak.
“I don’t want our wedding day to feel like this.” Lafontaine mumbles. “So dreary. Industrial. Stuffy.” They shift their weight and squeeze Perry’s hand. She leans in and kisses Lafontaine’s cheek.
“I promise you it won’t. I’m in charge of planning our wedding and it won’t be anything like this.” Perry whispers, looking around at all of the grey décor. She’d never imagined Laura getting married in a place like this. She’d always had Laura pegged as more of an outdoor wedding kind of girl. When Laura had come to them, saying that she was getting married in this church in New York, it took them all by surprise. They were supportive of course, they had to be, but if either Perry or Lafontaine were being totally honest, neither of them had even expected Laura to make it to the wedding day.
But they figured, if it made Laura happy, they would stand by her.
And up until now, Perry really had thought that this was making her happy.
But Perry’s never seen a bride dread getting into her wedding dress. Or nearly start to cry once it was on.
That wasn’t happiness.
“Have I told you that you look beautiful in that dress yet?” Lafontaine says with a lopsided smile. Perry blushes. It’s been years and she still gets butterflies every time Lafontaine compliments her. She doesn’t think they’ll ever go away.
“Yeah, but I don’t mind hearing it again.” Perry replies with a flirtatious lilt.
“You look beautiful in that dress.” Lafontaine repeats. Perry leans in and kisses the corner of Lafontaine’s mouth. They smile into the kiss.
“And you look incredible in your suit. It kind of reminds me of prom.” Perry says with a giggle. Lafontaine’s cheeks color and it’s clear they’re remembering the night of their senior prom.
“That was a little more haphazard.” They mumble. Perry squeezes their hand.
“Oh, please. It was wonderful. It was the moment I knew I loved you.” Perry says softly, feeling reminiscent. Maybe it was the wedding atmosphere.
“You’re telling me it wasn’t love it at first sight?” Lafontaine jokes and Perry throws her head back with a laugh.
“Sorry weirdo, not quite.” Perry says. “But I love you now.”
And she does. She really, really does.
3…
“You’re actually delusional if you think the Bruins have a shot at the cup this year. Have you seen the way your precious team is playing? They’re horrible. It’d be a miracle if they can even make the playoffs, let alone get to the final.” Danny exclaims, garnering a few strange looks from the other people sitting in the pews across from them. They’d finally made it to the church after a few more hours on the road. Danny had to change into her dress in a gas station bathroom, much to Kirsch’s amusement. He managed to change into a dress shirt (that happened to fit him very, very well) while she was in the bathroom and he made sure to wolf whistle as she walked out of the gas station, still trying to get her shoe all the way on her foot. She gave him the finger.
He had managed to win their bet, so Danny’s on the hook for their drinks for the night.
“I’m sorry, where are the Flyers in the standings right now? 12 points below the Bruins? Thought so.” Kirsch says and Danny rolls her eyes.
“They’re not even in the same division. We still have a shot. We just need to get our offense up and running again and we’ll be fine. Your Bruins on the other hand? Gave up one of your star players before the season even started. Just face it. You’re fucked.” Danny exclaims. Her face is flushing, as it’s prone to do when she starts talking about hockey. Especially when Kirsch starts on his ridiculous rants about how the Bruins are better than the Flyers. Kirsch is smiling at her and it’s goofy. She narrows her eyes at him. “What?” She asks harshly. He shakes his head.
“Nothing. Your face is starting to match your hair.” He comments and Danny’s nostrils flare. She slaps him on the shoulder. She’s about to comment when her phone vibrates from its spot in her cleavage. Kirsch stares as she pulls it out. He raises an eyebrow. She shrugs. “What? The dress doesn’t have pockets.” She mumbles as she glances down at her phone screen, which is alerting her to a new picture message from Morticia Karnstein. Danny elbows Kirsch in the side as she opens the picture.
It’s Thea, in one of Carmilla’s shirts which is way too long on her tiny frame, grinning up at the camera with paint all over her face. She’s got a paintbrush gripped in her hand and Danny feels just a small tug at her heart. She hates being away from Thea. She knows she’s in good hands with Carmilla but it doesn’t make her miss her any less. Danny’s grin is large as she leans into Kirsch’s shoulder to show him the picture. He grins and nudges her on the shoulder. “We made a cute kid, Lawrence.” He says just a little bit smugly. Danny can’t help but smile.
“Yeah, we did. Weird considering what you look like. Guess she looks like me.” Danny says with a grin. Kirsch’s smile is soft when he says,
“She does.” Danny blushes and looks down. The organ starts to play.
“Oh, they’re starting.” Danny says, turning her head so she can see toward the back of the church. They stand as the bridal march starts to play. Kirsch leans back and whispers in Danny’s ear,
“10 bucks says she doesn’t make it through the vows.” Danny scoffs. She narrows her eyes.
“You can’t just bet on her wedding, Kirsch.” She pauses. “She’s doing this.” He turns to her and the look in his eyes is sad. “I know that for Carmilla’s sake you don’t want this to work out, but...” Danny trails off as Laura walks through the door with her father. Kirsch shakes his head.
“It should be her up there.” He mutters. Danny can’t help but agree.
2…
Her clock strikes three and she feels her heart rate accelerate. She knows what’s going on hundreds of miles away from her right now and the thought of it makes her sick. She’s reclined on her couch and Thea is in the bathroom, washing her hands. They had just finished splatter painting another one of Carmilla’s large canvases. They’d gotten more paint on themselves than they did on the piece but it was worth it. It’d kept her mind off of New York. Thea had even intentionally jumped up and hit her in the face with a freshly dipped paintbrush.
She’d gotten her back though by knocking her in the cheek with the paintbrush of her own.
Carmilla has two bowls of ice cream sitting in front of her and Thea comes bounding out of the bathroom with still wet hands. She plops onto the couch next to Carmilla and wipes her hands on her shirt. Carmilla furrows her brow. “What’s that for, monster?” Thea shrugs.
“There was no towel in the bathroom.” She says. Carmilla wrinkles her nose at her but wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her in tightly against her chest. She makes a fist and rubs her head, messing up her hair. Thea laughs against her chest.
“How can I be mad at you when you’ve got that lisp, kid? When are you going to get your front tooth back?” Carmilla asks, putting her hand down.
“I don’t know! Mommy says whenever the tooth fairy goes through her tooth collection and decides to give them back.” Thea says, completely seriously. Carmilla snorts.
“Okay.” She responds. She leans forward to grab the bowls of ice cream. She puts one on Thea’s lap. She’s about to eat her first spoonful when she hears a knock on the door. Thea is happily entranced by the bowl of ice cream on her lap. She’s sitting flat against the back of the couch and her feet barely reach the edge of the couch. With a sigh, Carmilla walks over to the door. She unlocks the bottom lock but leaves the chain on. She opens it just enough to see who is on the other side.
Carmilla sighs. “What are you doing here?” She asks. Ell holds up a bag of Chinese food and smiles, just a little guiltily.
“I know you said you wanted to be alone with Thea today but…I didn’t. Want to be alone. So I bought food and some movies and I’m spending the night.” Ell says with determination. Carmilla raises an eyebrow.
“And you just decided that?” Carmilla responds a little bitterly. Ell shrugs.
“If I’d called you would have told me not to come. C’mon I’m already here. And it’s raining. Don’t make me go back out there.” Ell practically begs. Carmilla sighs. She’s persistent, Carmilla would give her that. She shuts the door and pulls the chain off. She opens the door and stands aside.
“Fine.” Carmilla says and Ell grins and it’s one of those really bright smiles that Carmilla knows Ell reserves only for her and she can’t help but smile back. Ell leans in and gives her a kiss on the cheek.
“Where’s Thea?” She asks. Carmilla gestures with her head over to the couch.
“She’s eating ice cream so she’s not going to be eating.” Carmilla murmurs. Ell nods as she puts the bag of food on the table. She stars pulling things out. “What’d you get?” Carmilla asks, walking over to the table and leaning over the bag.
“Lo mein. Shrimp for me, pork for you.” Ell hums and Carmilla smiles. She feels an overwhelming sense of affection for the girl next to her. She wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her closer to her. She kisses her on the cheek. Ell smiles.
“What was that for?” She says and Carmilla shrugs.
“Felt like it.” Ell just nods and Carmilla knows that Ell doesn’t want to push it. In case Carmilla takes it back. She won’t – but Ell doesn’t know that. They gather their food and move toward the couch. Carmilla sits down next to Thea, who has ice cream all over her face and Carmilla groans at her. “You are a mess, kid.” Thea shrugs, smiles, and then shoves another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. Ell sits down next to Carmilla. She rests her head on her shoulder and Carmilla turns her head toward her. “Thank you. For not letting me alone.” She whispers. Ell tilts her head up toward her. She kisses the base of her jaw.
“Any time.” She pauses. “I love you.” She murmurs. Carmilla’s smile fades. She turns away.
“I know.” Is all she says.
1…
She has her bouquet in her hands and her Dad is looking at her like she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. She wants to cry. He walks up to her and kisses her cheek. “You look beautiful, darling.” He says and Laura looks down. She forces a smile.
“Thank you, Daddy.” She says. He’s choked up and Laura hates it when he cries. “Oh no, don’t cry.” She reaches out and he shakes his head. He wipes his eyes with his thumb.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” He says. He puts a hand on her cheek. “I just wish your Mom was here.” He continues and now Laura’s tearing up. Yeah, she wishes she was too. “C’mon kid. Let’s get you married.” He jokes and Laura knows that it was meant to be light hearted but all it does is make her stomach sink to her toes like lead. He offers her his elbow and Laura grabs it. Her heart is racing and now she knows it’s not nerves. The doors to the church open and Laura sees the full pews and her fiancée waiting for her at the end of the aisle. Her stomach churns. She puts her head down, focusing on her footsteps.
One together. Two together. Three together.
The wedding march starts to play. She thinks she’s going to vomit.
Four together. Five together. Six together.
Her Dad is pulling her close. She wishes she could stay close to him forever. Or go back to when she used to fit against his chest when she sat in his lap. When everything was easier.
Seven together. Eight together. Nine together.
She finally looks up. Standing, at the end of the aisle, looking the same as she did when she was eighteen, is Carmilla. She has a smile on her face and wow. She’s beautiful. Laura blinks. Carmilla is gone. Her fiancée is there again. She pauses. She can’t do this. She turns to her Dad, eyes watering. She shakes her head. “I can’t do this.” She whispers. She drops her bouquet.
And then she runs.
0.