Author's note:

I had this thought during a re-watch of the series; why would Laura know anything about the moment right before a car crash or create that immediate association? We never learn, where Laura's mother is or what has happened to her. And have you noticed, how in 2x01, our favorite little creampuff is scared by the lightning, not the thunder that comes with it?

Enjoy.

I was finally about to step over the threshold towards the land of dreams, when the low growling sky ripped me right out of my pre-sleeping trance. It broke the transition and so I growled back in disapproval and opened my eyes.

They adjusted to the familiar darkness almost immediately.

As a creature of the night, it was hard enough to sleep during "my kind of daytime", with this "noisy guest" visiting Styria, however, it was next to impossible.

Maybe it was a sign. Somebody's way of telling us to get the hell out of this God forsaken place instead of sleeping time away. And while I was up and awake most of the time, capable of following that unsaid demand any second, my human companions – Laura – were not.

The poor girl had fallen asleep some time ago, but judging from her constant movement every five or ten minutes, it was not a very restful sleep. After the first half an hour – and Laura almost hitting me in the head as she flung around – I had finally noticed the darkened skin right under her eyes. This was not happening for the first time. So the tiny human most obviously needed the rest.

I re-adjusted my blanket, that we were currently sharing, around Laura's thin shape and placed a small kiss on the crown of her hair, just as the nearing thunder once again sent its growling messengers. The storm was approaching fast.

I hoped that Laura would be able to sleep right through it, but that hope was crushed almost immediately, when she moved again as lightning flashed into both our faces.

"Nah– notnauw.", she mumbled incomprehensibly. "Dohn wanna ..."

The childlike gibberish almost made me smile contentedly, but my face wrinkled up in concern instead; Laura rolled towards the edge of my bed and suddenly curled up into a fetus position. That she took all of the blanket with her, so that the cool air hit my body, was probably not the only reason for my heart to freeze over painfully.

"No.", the tiny girl said, her voice much clearer, but also highly alarmed now. "You canno– no. No! Not both– Don–"

Her voice cracked fully, which was the moment I crawled over and touched her shoulder.
"Laura.", I said as calmly and softly as I could. "Laura wake up, you're dreaming."

"You can't be– you can't be ...", she responded, unfazed by my touch. That's a first.

"Creampuff.", I yelled, feeling very sorry for her, when I noticed that her cheeks were glistering with tears. "Wake up!"

Thunder cracked right above our heads in such intensity that my head flew into the direction of the ceiling in reflex. Just to snap back, because Laura was sitting up with a loud gasp herself. Her eyes darted, obviously not quite adapted to the darkness yet, and she was sticking out her arms as if she searched for something. Probably orientation or familiarity.

"Hey.", I said sweetly and reached for the confused human to give her just that.

Her slight flinch did not go unnoticed by me, but her shoulders dropped their defensive position when my hand rubbed over her tense back and neck softly. Laura took a shaky breath. Then, finally, her eyes settled upon mine and she sighed with relaxation. She used the back of her hand to wipe some of the teary stains from her cheeks, too.

"You were having a dream.", I explained. "Are you ok?"
Laura nodded lightly. "Peachy.", was all she said.

I could see Laura open her mouth again when she noticed my interrogative face. However, before any words could leave her mouth, her face lit up in the blinding light of lightning. Right before she squinted her eyes shut, they widened – even watered first – until she duck away at last. While she hid her face in her hands and ultimately in my chest and lap, a great rumble followed the lightning.

I blinked, confused. "Wait a minute." – I could not believe what I was seeing. "Laura Hollis, the girl who was bold enough to face my mother, a centuries old evil ...", I smiled a little, when Laura pulled the blanket over her head now. "... is afraid of a little thunder?"

The amused smirk on my face grew into a full fledged smile upon hearing no protest from my girlfriend. There was only the rustling of the blanket as another roar of nature filled the room. It surprised me and so I flinched a little myself. "Well, it is pretty loud, I guess.", I added to cut her at least a little bit of slack.

Suddenly, Laura's warmth left me.

With it went my rare cheeriness; the smile fell from my face and left me staring with wide eyes and an open mouth as the blonde sort of rolled out of my bed. In the blink of an eye she stood in the middle of our shared dorm room. And before I even knew what was happening, she walked towards her bed.

"Lau–", I started, but felt quiet in favor of her speaking.
"I should sleep in my own bed.", she mumbled, almost like a whisper.

She sounded alarmingly broken.

"Oh come on!", I protested. "I didn't mean it like that."
No response.
"Don't be a buzzkill!", I pouted.

"I will only disturb you again.", Laura deadpanned. She was lying down in her own bed now – the yellow pillow clutched to her chest – her back to me.

"I was just messing with you, cupcake.", I said. Again, no response.
"Come on, you know me!", I said.

Nope. No response at all.

My eyebrows furrowed. That tiny little human was acting very childish, with all that sulking. However, what to expect from somebody who had been around for less than twenty years? I had probably been the same, that age.

"I really didn't mean to laugh at you, sweetheart.", I stood up and walked over. Laura appeared to make room in her bed for me, but as I took a closer look at her and tried to reach out, too, I noticed that she was only trying to keep the distance between us. That realization hurt my un-beating heart.

"I will protect you.", I mumbled and touched her shoulder in an effort to comfort her.

That was when everything changed.

"Go away, Carmilla!", Laura screamed. So loudly, that I flinched in surprise. If she could, she would have crawled right into the midst of the wall besides her bed, just to get further away from me and my touch. I felt sorry for the yellow pillow – the one I loved for the sole reason it smelt so much like her – because it was stuck between flesh and stone and would have suffocated in other circumstances.

For a whole moment I just stood there and took her in. I was shell-shocked by my girlfriend's uncharacteristically aggressive behavior, but recovered soon. I had felt her shaking; there was something awfully wrong.

I sat down on the free space on her bed and reached out again. "The hell I will.", I said in the most serious tone I could muster without sounding utterly concerned instead. "You're clearly upset."

"I said go! Just leave me alone!"

Her voice was cracking again, which was all the motivation I needed. I shock my head in silence at her stubbornness, then, in a single swift move, I lay down besides my new girlfriend and pulled closer. I put my arms around her carefully, so that I would not scare her with my possessive touch; sure enough, Laura still protested wildly against the spooning. She even gave me a good elbow check in the guts once.

But it did not take long for her to stop the resistance completely. I clutched tighter as her shuddering became more and more prominent with each passing second. It was like I was trying to support my own heart that grew heavier and heavier as well; what had I done to upset her this badly?

"Leave me be.", Laura suddenly cried again. Tears were most certainly running down her face. I rubbed my cheek at hers and shook my head lightly. "Methinks thou dost protest too much.", I whispered lovingly and placed a soft kiss at her pulse point afterwards.

It only made her cry harder; she broke right then and there.

Laura turned around within my hold of her and we molded together like two puzzle pieces. In that moment, I realized there was no place I would rather be – ever again. She belonged to me and I belonged to her; it felt like this was the way it was always meant to be.

Author's note:

To be continued (once) soon. As always, reviews are very much appreciated :)