Notes: Written for Ladies Bingo round 6, with the prompt The Elephant in the Room. WC = 671

"Thanks for inviting me over for dinner" Marin said when Laura opened the front door. She greeted her girlfriend with a kiss on the cheek.

"Of course" said Laura with a smile. "Come on, everybody else is in the dining room." She took Marin's hand and led her down the hall.

Marin stopped short when they entered the dining room. Derek and Cora were there, which she had expected. What she hadn't expected was for Peter to be there. As Laura turned to look at Marin, the druid whispered "What is he doing here?" Despite lowering her voice, she was sure all the werewolves could hear her.

Laura frowned. "We'll talk about it later" she said.

Marin was unhappy about the brush off, but held her tongue for her girlfriend's sake. She sat down at the table next to Laura. "Dinner smells delicious" she said after a moment.

"Thanks" said Laura with a smile. "It's just spaghetti and meatballs." But Marin could tell she was grateful for the compliment.

"It looks great, Laura" said Peter, helping himself to a few meatballs.

Marin just about bit off her tongue in her effort to keep quiet. This man had murdered his niece, and yet here he sat at her dining room table, as if nothing had occurred. She was furious on Laura's behalf. But if Laura wanted to ignore what happen, Marin would try to do the same.

They made it all the way to dessert by making polite conversation. But the whole time, Marin kept darting glances at Peter. There was an awkward tension in the air. Even Marin, who had no supernatural senses, could feel it.

Finally, as Laura was slicing the cake she made, Marin could stand it no more. "I'm sorry" she said to her girlfriend. "But I have to say something."

Laura's eyes widened in surprise. Before she could stop her girlfriend, Marin turned to face Peter again. "You have some nerve showing your face" she said, pointing her finger at him.

"Marin, please " said Laura.

"No" said Marin, shaking her head. "I can't just let this slide. He murdered you, Laura." She emphasized the word murdered , the disgust obvious in her voice.

Peter chuckled at her. "You aren't saying anything that nobody here doesn't already know" he pointed out.

"She trusted you and you killed her. You should be in prison, rotting for life" said Marin. "Not sitting around eating meatballs and chocolate cake." If it wasn't for the need to keep the supernatural world a secret, Peter probably would be behind bars. But there was no way to make that possible without exposing the rest of the family. And if that happened, Laura was as good as dead - again.

"Hey, I died too" said Peter defensively. "You don't see me holding a grudge against him, do you?" He pointed at Derek.

Derek rolled his eyes. "It's not like we trust him" said Derek to Marin. "But we're stuck with him."

Marin shook her head again. "Why?" she said. "Why don't you just get rid of him? For good, this time."

Laura stared at her girlfriend. "Because we aren't murderers" she said finally. "And because family has to stick together."

Marin frowned. "He might be blood, but he's not family" she said. "Family doesn't do that to each other."

"They do in this family" Peter pointed out. He eyed his nephew.

Marin could see this conversation wasn't going anywhere. Ignoring her uneaten slice of cake, she pushed back her chair and stood up. "I have to go" she said to Laura. "I'll call you later and we can talk."

Marin loved her girlfriend, but she couldn't stand being in the same room as Peter for any longer. Not if she was going to keep from doing something she'd regret.

"Okay" said Laura, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Marin knew they would make up later. But she wasn't ready to back down. Sooner or later, she would convince Laura to cut Peter out of her life.