Mystic Falls, VA | Friday Evening

[puppywithatutu]

Okay, so this time they were seriously going to make it, not only to Mystic Falls, but to Caroline's mother's house! Caroline was convinced it would be great - plus she'd run out of entertainment at the lake with all the annoying rain. How dare it refuse to let up after two days when she was trying to make the most of a mini vacation

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[need_no_moon]

Jake was pretty sure the stalling had been all Caroline and he wasn't nearly as strong enough to resist the promise of lots of sex and sharing a bed with her for a little longer. The changes that were about to happen to them weren't all something he was looking forward to, so he hadn't complained.

"Or more annoying," he suggested, moving up behind her. "I thought we'd agreed you'd call her."

[puppywithatutu]

Caroline leaned against the open fridge door and stared at her mother, her jaw slowly setting in annoyance that Billy would use the number she'd stupidly provided him with. "No, she totally does because clearly our parents are planning our lives behind our backs. Did you call dad, too? Really get everyone in on whatever you guys decided?"

"Do not get so snippy about it, Caroline," Liz sighed, her eyes rolling at the idea of her ex being involved. "Most people would be happy to hear their mother wasn't sending them out to get a job their senior year of high school."

[need_no_moon]

That was enough to draw Jake out of his staring mode as he realised the mood Caroline was in and he went to stand beside Caroline.

"It will help," he said quietly. "Even if our plans end up changing."

[puppywithatutu]

She recognized his attempt at comfort, but it was hard to let go of her annoyance. "Whatever, I'm hungry. Anyone else want a snack?"

Grabbing meat and cheese from the fridge, she slipped behind Jake to see about creating sandwiches for them at the counter.

[sheriff_forbes]

"I'm good," Liz replied, taking a seat at the table and starting to clean up the files she'd left there. "Sorry about the mess, Jake. I have a bad habit of letting my work takeover the kitchen table."

She was just waiting for Caroline to make a comment about that, but strangely enough none came.

[need_no_moon]

Jake shook his head. "It's fine. I'm much worse than this," he admitted, then realised what he'd said. "But I'll be in extra neat mode while I'm here."

He cast a sideways look at Caroline. "You know I'll never say no to a snack."

[puppywithatutu]

"And when he says extra neat, he means I'll help him keep his stuff out of the way," Caroline added, glad he wasn't making her eat alone.

[sheriff_forbes]

"You know, while you're talking about neatness, now is as good a time as any to go over the rules of the house, don't you think?" Liz said, glancing up from her pile of papers to check Caroline's reaction.

Caroline had turned to frown at Liz. "You mean like, no guests after 11 and we have no curfew since we're both adults?"

"You're still a few months away from that status," Liz corrected her very much seventeen-year-old daughter.

[need_no_moon]

Jake was eighteen, but he didn't think this was the right moment to point that out. It didn't matter anyway since he doubted he'd wanted to stay out when Caroline couldn't. And yes, he was going to make her stick to these rules, hopefully...

"Anything you say, Liz. I'm just glad you're letting me stay here," he said quickly.

[puppywithatutu]

Clearly her plan of not explaining Fandom to her mother was backfiring almost instantly. Especially with Jake just going along with whatever came out of her mom's mouth.

"Fine!" She put her hands up, gesturing with a butter knife covered in mayo. "Midnight curfew and no asking your deputies to report on our whereabouts, don't think I didn't know you did that last year."

[sheriff_forbes]

"It's their job to pay attention to drunk and disorderly teenagers, Caroline," Liz replied. "And thank you, Jake. The curfew is more for my sanity than anything else since I work late and sometimes checking in can be complicated."

[need_no_moon]

Jake nodded since it seemed obvious that Caroline had sort of needed watching out for, more than her mother probably knew. He was tempted to say that he'd watch out for her, but he thought he might get threatened with the mayo knife if he did. "We'll be here at midnight," he promised.

[sheriff_forbes]

Liz had liked Jake before, but he seemed far more sincere than most boys his age and...well, size.

"You seem like--" Her phone buzzed where it was holstered on her belt.

[puppywithatutu]

"And so it begins," Caroline said over her shoulder, seeing her mother stop mid sentence to step away from the teens and answer work's call, not realizing they could still hear her from the other room. "Ugh, an accident. In this rain she'll be out all night." Her hand shoved a plate of sandwich at Jake.

[need_no_moon]

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, turning towards her. He reached up to rub her shoulder and quickly kiss her cheek in thanks for the sandwiches.

[puppywithatutu]

"Why are you sorry?" Caroline asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Because you totally got roped into a curfew?"