americas_son | Sunnydale AU: and nothing even blew up

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Sunnydale AU: and nothing even blew up

Cal isn't sure which took longer: the speeches at the graduation ceremony, or the gathering his mother had planned after. At least the monotony of the party was broken up by Grahame's calmly stealing the spotlight to announce his new job with some law firm in LA.

Cal kind of has to admire his style there.

But, whatever, either way it's finally all over, and now he's pulling up in front of Tina's house to pick her up and head over to the Stark residence for the real party.

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Her older sister came to her graduation, but she had to get back home to her kids right after. Donna couldn't be bothered. Tina didn't care. So she, her mom, and her grandmother went out to Denny's, and that was cool.

Then they surprised her with a cake that said 'Congratulations, Tina!' and ice cream at home. That was pretty excellent. She and her mom aren't the closest, but sometimes they're close enough.

It's been great, but she's had plenty of family time. She kind of hopes Cal doesn't come in. She'd rather just scoot on out and take off.

Sorry, Tina, Cal has been thoroughly taught that only jerks sit outside and honk the horn.

So he's gonna kill the engine, get out, and ring the bell instead.

Shit. She should have been watching.

But there was cake.

"Oh, um, that's my, um, boyfriend, Cal. We're going to a party."

"Figured you'd be going out," her mother says.

"Bring him on in," says her grandmother, smiling. "Let's meet this boy you're always out with."

Tina grimaces and opens the door. "Uh, my mom and my grandma want to meet you. Sorry."

"No problem," Cal assures her quietly. "Moms and grandmas love me." It sounds sleazily over-confident, but it's true.

Cal changed into more casual clothes before he left his house, of course, but his hair still bears remnants of the careful styling it was subjected to, and he's still partially in Charming Social Mode. He is totally ready for this.

And of course, her mom is right there, her arms folded and her expression skeptical.

Betty McCoy is a large woman, and she's pretty humorless and quite suspicious of the entire world. She's had little to find funny for a long time and a lot that proved suspicious. She's concerned, too. What's this white boy doing sniffing around her daughter? Tina's a good kid, but she's got her head in the clouds. She'll learn the hard lessons quick enough. It's inevitable.

"Mom, this is Cal Chandler," says Tina, sending up a prayer for ease of introductions. "Cal, this is my mom, Betty McCoy."

Betty nods and reaches out her right hand. She's no nonsense, and she will judge someone by a handshake.

"Good to meet you," says Betty.

Okay, so this is going to be a harder sell than usual. Cal can work with that. He smiles, polite and sincere, and shakes her hand. It's a reasonably firm handshake, but not too firm - Betty McCoy is the adult here, and Cal is deferring to that.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Mrs McCoy," he says.

"Mmm hmm." Well, if nothing else, he's polite. "There better not be any drunk driving tonight."

Tina grimaces. Oh, God.

"Absolutely not, ma'am," Cal promises.

Not only would it be stupid, but there's no way Tony would allow it.

"I'll call a cab if I need to."

Or a driver from home, but that doesn't really seem like something to bring up right now.

Tina's grandmother has joined them. She's a smiling lady walking slowly with a cane. She worked all her life as a maid, housekeeper, nanny, and sitter with the sick and elderly, and while she never worked in the Chandler's neighborhood, she knew people who did. She's more willing to give the boy a chance.

"Well, that's fine to hear, ain't it, Betty?"

Tina is edging towards the door. "Grandma, this is Cal, which I'm sure you heard. Cal, this is my grandmother, Stella Harris. And, uh, we should probably go? Because people are waiting?"

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs Harris," Cal says, with the same politeness, and reflecting some of her warmth back to her.

He glances toward Tina and adds,

"But I think I'm being summoned."

"You kids have a nice time," says Stella, waving them along. "We're proud of you, Tina."

Betty says nothing. Her arms are folded over her chest again and her expression is stern.

Tina does not hesitate, but drags Cal down the sidewalk by the hand calling out, "Bye! Thanks!"

When they are near the car, she mutters through gritted teeth, "I am so so sorry about that."

Cal laughs.

"Don't worry about it," he says. "She's still nicer than my mother."

It's true.

"She's just- My mom isn't a friendly person."

Or nice. She can't stand her mom sometimes.

"Let's just get out of here."

Cal glances over.

"Sure," he says.

Tina's door is already open for her. Again - as always - Cal has to get his on his own.

"I wish my car would stop flirting with you," he says as he drives them away.

"What? Flirting?"

"Totally flirting," Cal says cheerfully. "It's worse than Tony."

He pats the steering wheel affectionately. His mood has improved infinitely since leaving his house - he more or less survived the "meet the family" gauntlet (Tina's mother is obviously going to be more of a long-term project), and now he's with Tina and they're going to hang out with his friends.

And Grahame's announcement was something of a relief, too, maybe more than he's willing to admit even to himself.

"He's pretty blatant, isn't he? And that's cool?"

She's not quite sure what to think about Tony Stark.

Cal hesitates, glancing at her in the mirror.

"Yeah," he says. "I mean, he's not a creep. He's not - gonna try to grab you or anything. And if you tell him to knock off the flirting, he will.

"Or - he'll try."

That's what she meant, right?

"Damn. That much of a horndog?"

She shakes her head, laughing. "He does have that reputation with the ladies."

Cal relaxes and grins.

"I don't think he even thinks about it," he says. "It's like, some people breathe. Tony flirts."

"All right then," she says, shrugging. "It's no big deal."

Cal nods.

"Okay," he says.

There. That was fine. Nothing to worry about.

"So what should I expect at this party? Mountains of beer cans in pyramids? Skinny dipping in the pool? Orgies in the basement? I have no idea."

She's joking.

Mostly.

"I think it'll just be us," Cal says. "Most people are still stuck with their families tonight."

He pauses.

"But the beer can pyramids might still happen."

"Oh. So this won't a scene out of a bad teen movie? I was imagining, like, a horde of people I didn't know setting me up for am experience of a lifetime. I'm a little disappointed now."

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Sunnydale AU: and nothing even blew up

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