Cal Chandler

First thing about college that sucks: Classes started two days before Sunnydale High.

Cal is also not excited about his classes themselves.

He does have to admit, though, that not having to be awake practically before sunrise has been pretty awesome. And today he got out at roughly the time Sunnydale High does, which he'll have to mention to Sherlock - there are three days in his week when Cal will be able to give him a ride home.

. . . although, judging from the ancient red truck with the hot girl driving it that Cal passed on his way up the driveway, that may not be an issue.

He's still smirking as he heads for the door.

After the alarming conversation with Tina's mother, and the subsequent instructions to Peter, Cal doesn't waste time.

He calls Sherlock while he's still in the car, halfway across town.

Cal knew graduation was coming, but after everything that's happened in the past few months, it still catches him by surprise. It should be a major milestone, but it seems almost pointless, like it's getting in the way of more important things.

He never seriously considered skipping the ceremony, though - there's still the family image to consider, after all. And besides, for some of the people who matter to him, it is important. So he arrives right on time, crimson gown and hat in hand, and watches the other excited seniors mill around the gym.

The Milliways vacation was, Cal thinks, exactly what they all needed. He definitely came home to discover that things seemed a lot more manageable than they had before he left for New York, and not just because Obadiah Stane will officially never be his damn problem again.

(Peter, he knows, suspects that something happened while Cal was away, but Cal calmly ignores his less-than-subtle hints for an explanation. What would he even tell Peter?

Although he does kind of love imagining the look on Peter's face if he found out exactly how far Cal was out of his reach, and for how long.)

There's more time for life beyond the household now, and so it is that Cal is resuming something resembling regular visits to the Stark residence once more.

It's been a full couple of days. Cal hasn't even been to school; there's been too much to deal with at home.

(He's fine with that. Less time to think.)

He's got some spare time now, though, and he hasn't talked to Sherlock since he left the Stark residence a couple days ago, so he holes up in his room (still downstairs - easier for everyone that way) and flips open his cellphone.

Cal has been growing more and more restless since his encounter with Sherlock the other day. It's crept up on him a little at a time, something he can't shut out no matter how much he smokes.

("He promised."
"And do you believe him?")

Mother said he can't hide in his room forever.

("Reality hasn't got a whole lot going for it right now."
"But it is the only game in town.")

He hates Sherlock for a little while, for changing him just enough to make Mother right about that.

I just have to deal with it.

He emerges, eventually, for a few minutes a time here and there. Getting a snack, using the bathroom in the other wing. Going upstairs to his bedroom to get something. Making himself move around the house again, and face up to the fact that his room is not, in reality, any safer.

(When a person becomes a vampire, a demon takes up residence within the body. Something else to hate Sherlock for: the fact that he knows that at all.)

(But words on a screen isn't proof. Maybe Sherlock got that wrong.)

Cal doesn't run into his father on any of those little journeys. Cal can come to me when he's ready, he'd said. You know how he is, Violet, he always needs time. That promise is one he seems to be keeping; for a little while, maybe a day or so, it allows Cal to believe that this impossible equilibrium can hold. Maybe he has been overreacting. Maybe it's not as bad as it seems.

Then, for the first time since that surreal late-night family conference, he does see his father. Reed Chandler is stepping out of Uncle Grahame's study. He looks up as he does so, eyes meeting Cal's like he already knew Cal was there. Cal freezes, waiting, but his father just smiles down the hall at him -

- and just before he turns to walk in the other direction, away from Cal, he reaches up to wipe something away from the corner of his mouth.

Cal is getting a little worried.

While it's hardly unusual for his father to disappear from parties, he's always back by morning. He comes back early, too, to avoid any potential media attention; it's a habit ingrained into him since long before Cal was born.

But it's almost nightfall, the day after Cal's elaborate birthday party, and Reed Chandler has yet to turn up.

Luckily, Cal happens to know someone who's pretty good at detective work. So, once he gets tired of waiting around, he grabs his keys and heads out to see Sherlock.

Cal's been locking the door to his room when he sleeps for the last few nights. He's thinking maybe tonight he won't.

Right now, though, it's still only late afternoon, so he's not letting himself worry about it much.

In fact, he might even be waiting for it to open.

There are certain difficulties surrounding the trip to Modesto with Sherlock and Tony - namely, that he wouldn't be allowed to go if Mother found out who he's going with. And she would find out. Normal kids can just lie about spending a night at someone else's house or whatever, but Cal isn't normal. Cal gets to have a bodyguard whenever he leaves the house at night. An after-school visit to Sherlock he could get away with, but a trip out of town is a little more complicated.

In the end, Cal decides to just cut right to the chase and make an appeal.

But not to Mother. He does give Mother the overnight-at-a-friend's excuse, and then he catches Peter during a quiet moment and does something that is distinctly unique in the Chandler household: he tells the truth. He can't hoodwink Peter, but he can get him on his side. He's pretty sure.

"- and I know you have to know this stuff, but I don't see why Mother has to know."

"So you want me to lie to Mrs Chandler about your company and your whereabouts so you can have pizza."

Cal tries not to smirk. "Does that mean you're also gonna tell her how you've let Sherlock break in twice without having him arrested?"

Peter's eyes narrow. Cal wins.

There's still a bodyguard following him when he arrives at the Stark residence, but that's okay. A visible guard when he leaves town is something he's used to. For him, it is normal.

The frustrating thing is that everyone acts like nothing happened.

It's not surprising - it is, in fact, the standard Chandler family approach to anything out of the ordinary - but Cal had hoped that something would come of it. Wouldn't it be to everyone's benefit to teach him the basics of the real Sunnydale night life?

Apparently not. Mother emphasizes the importance of his curfew, and he finds some vials of holy water in his jacket pockets, but that's it. He's expected to leave matters in everyone else's hands, as always.

But Cal is, for the first time in his life, starting to think he's had about enough of that. Which is why he lingers at his locker after school one day not long after that eventful night, keeping an eye out for Sherlock.

(He's also tacitly expected to keep his distance from the Starks after the attempted shooting, but fuck that too.)