Carmilla sat watching a frantic Laura shuffling around the room. Book in hand; Carmilla casually peered over the edge to see Laura running around the room flinging piles of clothes into a giant suitcase. Laura was visiting her dad for the weekend and after begging and pleading with Carmilla the vampire had begrudgingly agreed to join her.

Laura felt Carmilla's eyes watching her causing her to spin round, dropping all of the clothes in her hands. Which only cause Carmilla to smirk more earning her a glare from the tiny human. She watched as Laura folded her arms raising an eyebrow impatiently at Carmilla.

'You know I love that scrunched up face you make buttercup'

Laura rolled her eyes continuing to glare at the bemused vampire until she finally sighed and made her way over to where Laura stood.

'What do you need me to do, cupcake?'

'I need you to help pack, we're meeting my dad in just over an hour and you're not even ready!' Laura's voice was shrill as she began thrusting Carmilla's clothes into her waiting hands. Grinning Carmilla spun them both around, moving them both to her bed before kissing Laura hungrily. Laura moaned into the kiss before hastily pushing Carmilla off as she regained some composure.

'Carm, stop distracting me! We need to pack.'

After 40 minutes they were packed and ready to go. It was then that Laura noticed that Carmilla was unusually quiet.

'What's wrong Carm?'

Carmilla's head snapped up, she looked distant and so lost in thought. She looked at Laura and just shook her head; she didn't want to talk about it. Laura sighed but nodded choosing to rest her head on Carmilla's shoulder, smiling when she felt Carmilla's body relax into her touch.

They were broke out of their trance when Laura's phone started ringing. Jumping up she answered it realizing it was her dad.

'Hey Dad'

Carmilla watched as Laura started a conversation with her father.

'Yes we're ready, okay we'll come down now'

Carmilla felt anxious all of sudden, finally realizing that she was about to meet Laura's dad. She started pacing back and forth, clenching her fists as she tried to calm her nerves. It was only when Laura placed her hands on her shoulders that she stopped pacing and looked down at Laura. She seemed vulnerable and almost scared something that Laura didn't see very often.

'He's going to love you Carm'

Carmilla gave Laura a slight smile before following Laura through the quad. She felt slightly better until she saw a man leaning against a blue ford focus, her feelings of dread creeping back up again as she took in the distant figure.

Spotting her father Laura all but ran towards him flinging her arms around him as he embraced her in a tight bear hug.

'There's my little girl' his voice was warm and friendly but it did nothing to ease Carmilla's concerns.

'daaaad,' Laura moaned embarrassed at being called a little girl, which made the man chuckle lightly before he turned to address the quiet brunette stood behind his daughter.

'You must be Carmilla, I'm Mark.' He smiled warmly at Carmilla who just gave a slight nod, her face filled with panic. Sensing her unease he stepped closer sticking his hand out.

'It's a pleasure to meet you Carmilla' Carmilla stared at his hand before meeting Laura's eyes. After a nod of reassurance from her girlfriend, Carmilla shakingly reached out to shake the man's hand whispering a barely audible 'it's nice to meet you too Mr Hollis.' Giving them both a wide smile he motioned to the car.

It had been 20 minutes since they'd set off and Carmilla didn't feel any safer. She watched as Laura chatted animatedly to her father as he asked about college and her friends. Laura was sat in the passenger seat in the front whilst Carmilla sat behind her, her hand gripping the side of the car.

Mark looked at Carmilla briefly as she clutched the side, sensing something was wrong he decided to stop off to get some food on their journey.

'Alright ladies, where do we want to go to eat? I know a great little sandwich shop round this corner what do you say?' He addressed them both hoping to make Carmilla feel less nervous. Receiving a nod from them both he pulled in and all three of them made their way into the shop.

'Right, well I know what L wants but what about you Carmilla, what would you like to eat?'

Carmilla looked at him with curious eyes before she spoke softly, an edge to her voice that Laura knew she used when she was nervous or scared.

'I'll just have a coffee Sir'

'Nonsense! You've not eaten since this morning, how about I get us all some jam and scones to share eh?'

'Honestly Mr Hollis, you don't have to do that'

'I want to dear, now why don't you and Laura go find us a table' he smiled reassuringly, nudging the girl slightly to move her in the other direction. He didn't fail to notice how she flinched slightly at the touch.

They found a booth in the corner. Laura slid in first and Carmilla slid in next to her. She was still incredibly anxious but feeling Laura's soft hand squeeze her own eased her discomfort slightly.

10 minutes later, Laura's dad returned with a plate full of scones, a grape soda for Laura, a coffee for Carmilla and a tea.

'Buckle up ladies, these scones are amazing'

Carmilla smiled slightly as his words reaching to take a sip of coffee. They were sat in comfortable silence before Mark addressed Carmilla.

'So, Carmilla what are you studying?'

Carmilla took a breath that she didn't really need before turning to look at the man.

'I take Philosophy'

'You like it I assume?'

'I do Sir.'

'You must be very wise then?'

'Oh I don't know about that...' she trailed off feeling anxious again.

'She's just being modest Dad, she is very wise' Laura piped up moving to give Carmilla a small peck on the cheek which seemed to immediately relax Carmilla.

Watching the embrace fondly, Mark smiled seeing how happy Laura seemed which made him immediately like the other girl more.

It took another hour to arrive at the Hollis household but upon arrival Laura had whisked Carmilla out of the car, ready to give her the house tour. Laughing at his daughter's eagerness he moved to grab the suitcases surprised to find Carmilla already pulling both her own and Laura's out of the car.

'Wow, someone's strong!' He sounded genuinely impressed, beaming at Carmilla proudly.

'I go to the gym a lot Sir' Carmilla stumbled, thinking up an excuse so as not to give her vampiric identity away. Laura smiled softly at her father before dragging Carmilla into the house.

Smiling at her girlfriend, Carmilla allowed herself to be guided around the house watching as Laura got excited whilst showing her film collection. The house was small but it had a cosy feel to it, like a little cottage but bigger.

Carmilla was shown the lounge, the dining room, the bathroom and finally Laura's room.

Carmilla slowly entered the room letting her eyes glance around the room. It was average sized with a big double bed in the centre. The walls were covered in posters of Doctor Who and Harry Potter, her eyes falling on the picture frames scattered around the room, smiling when she saw that Laura had put up several pictures of her and Carmilla next to one of a woman that Carmilla knew to be Laura's mum sitting with a small child with missing teeth that was so obviously Laura. Carmilla finally spotted a big window accompanied with a spacious window seat lined with cushions; a smaller version of the beloved yellow pillow lay amongst them.

Turning to face Laura she smiled, that crooked smile she gave Laura which made her feel special. Carmilla was relaxed, moving to sit against the window, taking in the view. Laura sat cuddled against her placing soft kisses along Carmilla's collarbone.

This was how Mark found them. Knocking on the door gently he entered watching as the two sprang apart.

'Good to see you're both settling in, dinner will be ready shortly so if you could make your way down and set the table please ladies I would greatly appreciate it.'

'No problem Dad.'

Laura took Carmilla's hand and together they walked downstairs to set the table. Carmilla looked uneasy again, her eyes becoming distant and her face becoming harder. Laura could only watch her girlfriend in confusion as she tried to figure out what was bothering the vampire.

Dinner was quiet; they had chilli which Carmilla gobbled down like a wolf. She felt panicky, she left the table abruptly rushing to the bathroom and locking the door behind her.

'I hope that wasn't my cooking'

'Don't worry Dad; Carm's just weird around new people that's all'

Carmilla sat with her head against the door, her legs were trembling and she felt constantly on edge. She didn't trust this man, he seemed nice enough but she was still scared by him, he was in a position of authority and that scared her. Regaining herself she rejoined the table, apologizing for the interruption.

'Don't sweat it hun, it's fine honestly'

The rest of the dinner was filled with small talk and Carmilla seemed to slowly relax a bit more. After dinner she offered to clean up stating that was the least she could do but Mark brushed her off and told her to go watch a film with Laura. They fell asleep watching the second Lord Of The Rings.

The house was awoken by the sound of Carmilla screaming. Laura stirred as she heard Carmilla thrashing around in her sleep. Turning on the lamp she tried to get Carmilla to calm down but it was no use, her screams were getting louder.

'MOTHER STOP.'

Laura froze when she heard Carmilla mention her mother; she knew these nightmares all too well and when she heard another piercing scream she ran forward calling out Carmilla's name. She was met with deafening screams and she could hear Carmilla crying.

'PLEASE, MOTHER TAKE ME.'

'DON'T HURT LAURA'

'LAURA RUN, GO'

'LET ME GO!'

This was when Mark ran in, he'd been startled awake after he heard someone screaming. He ran into the room with a baseball bat in his hand. Seeing Laura crouched beside a whimpering Carmilla he dropped it, moving slowly towards his daughter. Turning round Laura looked at her father, her eyes were filled with fear as she looked back at the sleeping girl.

Mark moved Laura aside and stepped towards Carmilla. Nudging her gently he tried to wake her up softly. Carmilla's eyes flew open; she scrambled away flinching in fear as she curled away from the stranger before her.

'Carmilla, it's okay it's me Mark. Laura's here, it's okay it was just a nightmare.' His voice was filled with the same compassion that Laura had which helped the vampire relax. She slowly crawled back into bed, closing her eyes at the soothing tones. After a nod from Laura he left them alone, Laura pulling Carmilla into her body protectively.

Carmilla awoke mid-afternoon to an empty bed. She could smell bacon cooking, throwing on one of Laura's hoodies she made her way downstairs greeted with two smiling Hollis's. Mark was cooking bacon whilst Laura sat on the kitchen side a mug of hot chocolate in her hand.

'Morning sleepyhead' Laura jumped down moving to give Carmilla a soft kiss and a mug. Carmilla sipped the mug surprised to see that it was filled with blood, glancing at Mark she put it down quickly.

'Mr Hollis, I just want to apologize for last night.' She was silenced by a hand waving at her.

'You have nothing to apologize for Carmilla, and please call me Mark' he smiled patting her shoulder gently before going back to the bacon. Carmilla smiled at Laura before she motioned for her to sit with her on the couch.

10 minutes later they were all sat munching on their bacon butties. Carmilla felt a lot more relaxed today and she felt herself talking a bit more which made Laura incredibly happy.

After they'd eaten, Carmilla had the pleasure of being included in the 'Sunday Funday' that apparently was a weekly thing that happened every Sunday. She watched bemused as Laura and Mark competed in several different board games, realizing what a funny family Laura had.

She was brought out of her thoughts when Laura called her over.

'Hey cupcake' she moved sitting next to Laura, receiving a soft smile.

'We wondered if you wanted to play frustration with us?'

'If that's okay, I think I'd like that very much'

'Then it's settled you will play with me and Laura, I must warn you though I am a bit of an undefeated champion!'

Carmilla laughed along with Laura as she watched them banter back and forth before the game began.

'Oh this is ridiculous.'

'Is somebody being a sore loser?'

'The numbers to this juvenile game are fixed, how on earth did you convince me to play this game cupcake?!'

'Oh hush Carm; you know you're enjoying yourself'

Laura let out a laugh as Carmilla pouted begrudgingly moving her red figures one space. Mark watched the two together, commenting every now and again but for most of the game he watched at the change of the quiet nervous girl who first entered the house to this sarcastic broody girl before him. Carmilla reminded him of Laura's mother and anyone that can match Laura in a board game was in his good books.

Carmilla improved quickly managing to send Laura's counters home at least three times and finally getting all of her own successfully home. Carmilla seemed thrilled at this and proceeded to pull silly faces at her girlfriend for the rest of their matches.

Carmilla excelled in scrabble and in trivial pursuit which angered Laura. Carmilla swore she heard the words 'cheater' and 'show off' within Laura's grumbling. Their final game was Pictionary which Carmilla was awful at. They couldn't stop laughing when she'd tried to draw 101 Dalmatians but somehow managed to make them all look like evil slugs. Needless to say she did not win any rounds at that game.

After a long day of competitions and teasing, Carmilla fell to sleep. She awoke again from another nightmare but luckily did not wake up the whole house. After convincing Laura that she was okay, the girl went back to sleep and Carmilla decided to go outside for some free air.

Their garden was spacious with lots of flowers and trees gracing the space. Spotting a tree house, Carmilla crawled up, her catlike instincts showing as she elegantly made her way up. The tree house was brightly painted with photographs lining the walls. It had beanbags scattered across the floor and a window on the roof so she could see the stars. Feeling content Carmilla lay against a beanbag staring at the stars, she felt peaceful and the stars comforted her.

She was lay content for a long time before she heard someone coming up, her eyes widened with fear as she saw Mark enter the tree house. She bit her lip and prepared herself for the shouting, for the punishing but none came. She opened her eyes to see him smiling at her, there was no malice in his eyes then why was she so afraid?

'My wife always liked to come up here to think, she loved the stars, made her feel better I guess. I could always tell something was wrong if she came up here' he smiled knowingly at Carmilla who gave a small smile back.

'I'm sorry, I couldn't sleep and stars help me to stay calm'

'Spoken like a true Philosophy major'

They sat together quietly, before he turned to her to speak softly with a genuine smile gracing his face.

'I watched Laura's videos and I just want to say that my daughter couldn't have had a better person protecting her'

Carmilla's face flooded with panic as she listened to his words, he'd watched them which meant he knew she was a vampire. She knew this would happen, her mother haunted her everywhere, and her mother caused this.

'You know?' Her voice was so fragile and she looked so scared of the man before her.

'I do. But my first thought was not oooh my daughter's bringing a vampire home, my first thought was to make you feel welcome. I taught my Laura to accept people for who they are and I'll be damned if I don't try to do the same. You risked your life to protect Laura and in my books that makes you worthy. I've watched how you are with her and how much you care for. I'm not going to be the one that stands in the way of my daughter and the woman that she loves.'

His voice was firm but not in a harsh way just in a genuine, kind way which took the vampire by surprise. How was this man being so nice to her? How did he not think she was a monster? Carmilla looked confused at the man but gave him a genuine smile; she could see where Laura got her compassionate nature from.

'Thank you Sir, you have no idea what it means to me for you to accept me'

'For the last time, my name is Mark! I'm not Sir or Mr Hollis unless you want me to start calling you Miss Karnstein,' at this she shook her head laughing. 'Then it's settled. Now go and get some sleep, the stars will be here tomorrow.'

The drive back to Silas was a lot more lively than the prior journey, Carmilla even joined in a lot of the conversations. Giving Mark an in-depth explanation of what it feels like to be a cat much to Laura's amusement. The music was on and Laura sang for most of the journey, her attempts to get Carmilla to sing along to Taylor Swift were thwarted after Carmilla requested for a different channel to be put on, to a which Mark quickly agreed.

Silas was practically empty when they pulled up. Exiting the car, Mark opened the door for a startled Carmilla and grabbed the suitcases for them before pulling Laura in for a big hug.

'I put a fresh can of bear spray in your bag'

'Thanks Dad.' Laura laughed releasing herself from the embrace.

As they were leaving Mark ran over to them to pull Carmilla in for a hug, shocked she eventually leaned into the embrace feeling comforted by this man. Waving goodbye the two girls made their way back to their dorm room.

...

After settling themselves back in, Laura turned to look at Carmilla.

'Thank you for coming with me'

'It was my pleasure cutie'

'I told you he'd like you, I know you were scared but I'm so proud of you'

'Ha, thanks cupcake. I was scared at first, I figured he'd be just like my Mother, I didn't trust him. Then I had the nightmare and I felt more on edge than ever but he was being so nice and I just didn't understand it. I thought it was part of a trick, so when I woke last night I went into your tree house and he joined me. I was prepared for rage, for punishment but instead he told me that I was worthy of your love. I didn't want to be afraid anymore.'

'Oh Carm, I'm so sorry. I didn't even realise,' she was cut off by Carmilla shaking her head.

'You didn't know Cutie.'

'I love you Carmilla Karnstein and my dad can now see how awesome you are. You don't have to be afraid anymore.'

Carmilla smiled at Laura her eyes filled with emotion as she uttered two simple words that are so Carmilla: 'I know.'