"First Crush"

"A bunch of my friends are going to the movies Saturday. May I go?"

Damon used his finger to hold his spot in his book as he gave Kensie his full attention. "Which friends would these be?" he questioned.

"Olivia, Willow, Morgan, Chelsea…" Kensie replied, listing the names of her closest friends from school. Since she'd first met them the previous school year, they'd become a close knit group.

He didn't respond for several long seconds as he studied Kensie. While the thirteen-year-old wasn't acting fidgety or nervous, Damon had grown to know her well enough to recognize that she'd left something out. "Who else?"

Kensie sighed internally. She'd really hoped he wouldn't pry. "A couple of other kids from school might be there," she said as casually as she could.

"Their names?"

It took a great deal of willpower not to roll her eyes. "Kevin, Jacob, Luke, and Austin."

The expression on Damon's face as she listed their names was exactly why she'd wanted to avoid sharing that bit of information. "You want to go to the movies with boys?"

"Not just boys," she reminded him. "It's just a big group of friends."

Damon shook his head, and Kensie suspected he was debating whether he could lock her in her room for several years without anyone noticing. He'd half-heartedly threatened to do so once or twice. "You are far too young to date."

Kensie huffed softly in response. "It's not a date. We're all just going to see a movie. Really, it's not a big deal."

"And just which movie are you all planning to see?"

"'Dracula Untold'."

Damon snorted under his breath. "Really? Dracula?"

"What?" Kensie demanded with a shrug. "After living with the undead for a year, how is 'Dracula' possibly going to scare me?" Loathe as he was to admit it, Damon couldn't deny the kid had a point. "So, may I go?"

"Will there be an adult supervising this event?"

Of course he would ask that. Kensie wondered if Damon would still expect a chaperone when she was eighteen and in college. "No because we're teenagers and we don't need a babysitter. Please, Damon?"

Damon tucked the front of the book jacket where his finger held his place and set the book down. "I don't know if I'm okay with this," he admitted honestly.

"You let me go to the movies with my girlfriends all the time…"

Was she seriously trying to argue that going to the movies with her best friends was the same as going with a bunch of boys Damon had never met or even heard about before? "They're girls."

Kensie folded her arms over her chest. "That's prejudiced against boys."

The kid would make a decent lawyer, Damon mused to himself. "Going to the movies with Olivia and the other girls is different from seeing a movie with a boy. I know you're still young and naïve, but boys your age have expectations."

"You're so ridiculous!" Kensie grouched. "We're all just friends!"

"If you're all just friends, why were you so hesitant to admit that your group of 'friends' would include boys?"

She gave him a pointed look. "Have you met you? The way you're reacting right now is exactly why I didn't want to say anything."

The two stared at each other for several long seconds, each scrutinizing the other.

"Please, Damon," Kensie said softly after a moment. "I'll get all of my homework for the weekend done right after school Friday. Please."

He was sure she knew exactly what she was doing when she said please in that innocent, pleading tone, because no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to tell her no. "All of your homework," he emphasized. "Every tiny bit of it, the moment you get home. No magic lessons, TV, or other distractions."

"I promise."

Damon sighed in defeat. "Fine. You may join your friends at the movies on Saturday."

Kensie squealed in delight and sprinted to Damon, wrapping her arms gratefully around him.

He returned the bit of affection before patting her back. "All right. I'm sure you have some homework to work on now."

She didn't protest as she let go. Watching Kensie practically bounce up to her room, Damon reached for his cell phone and dialed a number he'd memorized long ago. It wasn't long before a familiar feminine voice greeted him.

"Caroline," he greeted her, knowing she already knew who he was from her caller ID. "I have a favor to ask of you…"

Early Saturday afternoon, Kensie stood on the sidewalk that stretched in front of the mall as she waved Damon off before hurrying to join her friends outside the theater entrance.

"I'm so glad Damon let you come," Olivia greeted her. "I'm still sort of surprised. Was he horribly overprotective?"

Kensie rolled her eyes lightly. She would vehemently deny it if asked, but Kensie appreciated the fact that Damon cared enough to be obnoxious about boys. "When isn't he overprotective?" she countered. "Your dad gets really uptight about boys, too. He's okay with you going to the movies with boys?"

"He doesn't know," Olivia admitted. "Mom conveniently left that part out when she told him where we were going."

"Awesome," laughed Kensie.

"So, Jacob said they'd meet us inside by the concessions," Willow said, jumping into the conversation.

Perfect, Kensie thought. "I just need to buy my ticket."

Before she could take a step toward the ticket window, though, Olivia held up a ticket. "Here. Mom already bought all of our tickets."

"Thanks," Kensie said, smiling gratefully as she took the slip of paper from her friend. Olivia's mom was always doing things like that, yet Kensie never stopped feeling surprised when it happened.

The group made their way through one of the multiple doors leading into the lobby and concessions area of the theater. Kensie secretly wished she could have put on a little more makeup, but Damon had drawn the line at anything more than lip gloss or tint. She'd snuck a few other basics – foundation, blush, eye shadow, eyeliner, and mascara – in her purse, but there was no way Damon would let her leave the house wearing any of it.

Despite Damon's prodding, Kensie had managed to keep something from him. Yes, she was hanging out with a group of friends, but she'd neglected to mention that she had a huge crush on one of those friends. Austin Wylie was in two of Kensie's classes, and they'd become pretty good friends since Kensie's arrival in Mystic Falls. Austin was kind, funny, and easy to talk to. It didn't hurt that he was also rather easy on the eyes! She'd never mentioned him to Damon, but Kensie had decided it in her best interest not to mention any of her guy friends to Damon. Kensie knew if she'd admitted to Damon how much she liked Austin, he wouldn't ever let her out of the house unsupervised.

She spotted the boys before they spotted her group, and Kensie was glad because it gave her a few moments to compose herself. Austin looked really good that afternoon. He was just wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, but somehow he made the casual outfit look amazing. She seriously needed to get herself together, she thought, before she embarrassed herself.

"Jacob!" Willow called out, catching the boys' attention.

The two groups met in the middle of the lobby. Kensie watched as Jacob and Willow leaned in to kiss. She'd also purposely declined to mention to Damon that one of her friends was dating one of the boys. She was sure he would use it as an excuse to say no.

"Kensie, you look great!"

Turning her attention to Austin, Kensie hoped she wasn't blushingly profusely. She'd chosen her outfit carefully, wanting to look "cute" but not wanting to attract any unnecessary suspicion from Damon. After spending the better part of an hour debating options (thanks to several shopping trips courtesy of Caroline), Kensie had decided on a knee-length spaghetti strap dress, a lightweight denim jacket, and boots. She'd left her hair down, though she pulled it back from her face with a narrow headband. "Thanks, Austin."

"So, you like horror movies?"

She didn't know that she'd go so far to say that she liked them, but she couldn't very well explain to Austin that vampire movies didn't scare her when she knew real-life vampires. Even living in Mystic Falls, most kids her age were blissfully unaware of the supernatural world surrounding them. "They're okay," she said lightly. "How about you?"

"I love them!" he exclaimed. "They're better when they're realistic. I like that this version of Dracula is supposed to be different from the classic Dracula tales. I mean, can you imagine if the stories of Dracula were true, and that vampires really existed?"

Bram Stoker had gotten the history wrong, Kensie thought, but she didn't have to imagine. She couldn't admit that to Austin, though. "The thought is a bit creepy," she agreed. "So, did you want to get any snacks before the movie?"

Twenty minutes later, they had settled in their seats in the theater. Kensie found herself sandwiched between Olivia and Austin, though she couldn't say she objected in the least. She had a small bag of popcorn nestled in her lap, a medium soda in the cup holder to her right, and a pack of M&Ms tucked into her purse for later. She'd heard other girls at her school fret over eating in front of boys, but she thought the idea was absurd. She wasn't going to feel guilty about eating, and as far as she was concerned, if anyone had a problem with what she was eating they could go screw themselves.

As the previews started, Kensie felt something touch her hand. Glancing down, she saw Austin's hand resting on hers. Lifting her gaze to meet his, she offered a small smile as she shifted her hand, allowing his fingers to better cradle hers.

They sat in silence though the first several minutes of the movie. It felt a little odd, holding Austin's hand, but not in a bad way. However, as the movie progressed, another feeling washed over Kensie – the feeling that someone was watching her. She knew Austin was periodically glancing over her, but this was different. Not long after, she became acutely aware of another feeling – one that told her that something supernatural was in the theater. The presence was unexpected, though it didn't feel threatening. It reminded Kensie of how she felt when Damon or one of the others was nearby. There was no way Damon was in the theater, as he would have certainly intervened in a horribly embarrassing way already.

She had her suspicions, and unfortunately she couldn't sit there without trying to confirm them. Leaning over towards Austin, she whispered, "I'll be right back." Smiling, she stood, exiting the theater as quietly as she could, heading for the nearest restrooms. She knew they were tucked away in a short hallway that also led to employee-only areas.

Kensie casually stepped into the hallway, leaning against the wall. "I know you're here, Caroline," she said under her breath.

Nearly thirty seconds later, the blonde joined her in the small space. "How did you know?"

"I could sense you, and I figured it was at Damon's request."

Caroline smiled apologetically. "He tends to become overprotective when it comes to you. I promise you, I have no intention of giving him a play-by-play account of your afternoon."

Kensie rolled her eyes. "Nothing has happened that would even count as news-worthy."

"No?" Caroline asked, arching an eyebrow in disagreement. "Perhaps it has escaped your notice, but that boy hasn't been able to tear his eyes away from you for more than five seconds since you met up with him. Don't think I haven't noticed the way you've been holding hands since the movie started, either. Damon would have had a fit already were he here."

Blushing, Kensie averted her eyes. "You're exaggerating."

The teen grinned knowingly. "I'm not. I know boys, and that one is as interested in you as you are in him."

It sucked that she couldn't get anything past Caroline. "What are you going to tell Damon?" Kensie asked, unsure of whether she really wanted to hear the answer.

"You saw a movie with your friends," Caroline replied with a wink. "I won't say a word about how much this boy likes you, or how much you like him. I don't know how you even managed to keep that nugget of information from Damon in the first place."

"It wasn't easy," admitted Kensie. "Did Damon happen to mention what time he's coming to pick me up later?"

Caroline shook her head. "He's not. I convinced Damon to let me take care of that. Let me know when you're ready to go, and I'll take you home."

"That couldn't have been Damon's idea…"

"I talked him into it. We can talk about that more later, though. You have a really cute boy waiting for you in that theater, and unless he does something he shouldn't or there's some sort of emergency, you won't see me again until you're ready to go."

Kensie smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Caroline."

Hours later, Kensie strolled through the mall with her friends, her fingers interlaced with Austin's. The touch was becoming more comfortable as they hung out, and with Caroline there Kensie didn't have to worry about Damon spying on her. Still, she knew it was getting late, and her girlfriends had left not long ago.

She'd used a restroom break earlier to let Caroline know when and where to meet her, but now that the time was approaching, and they were nearly she almost wished she'd set a later time. Kensie hadn't expected an opportunity to spend time with Austin without the others around, and she hadn't been sure she'd want to, but being alone with Austin wasn't so dissimilar to hanging out with her other friends. Well, not so different if she didn't think about the fact that she liked Austin in a much different way from how she liked her other friends.

Spying Caroline near the mall entrance, Kensie let out a soft sigh. "I have to go," she admitted, stopping near a set of benches. "Caroline is waiting for me. I had fun."

Austin smiled nervously. "I had fun, too. Do you think maybe I could call you?"

It took everything in Kensie not to giggle. "That would be cool," she said as casually as she could, wondering how she'd manage to talk with Austin on her phone with Damon catching on.

"I… before you go…"

The next thing Kensie knew, Austin stepped forward and pressed his lips to hers. It was a brief kiss, as he pulled away half a second later, but Kensie felt a jolt of electricity surge through her body. A smile spread across her face, her cheeks feeling warm, but as the rest of Austin's face came into focus, she noticed that he was also blushing. "I'll see you on Monday," he told her.

Walking over to where Caroline stood, Kensie worked on slowing her racing heart. She wanted to jump up and down all while squealing excitedly, but she didn't want to make a scene, and as she was sure Caroline had heard and seen everything. Indeed, a glance at the blonde's face as Kensie reached the entrance confirmed the younger teen's suspicions. "Not a word," she managed without her voice shaking from the excitement as she purposefully strode past Caroline and straight towards the car.

"How was the movie?"

Kensie maintained her composure as she glanced over at Damon. Caroline had been even more excited than Kensie, but Kensie had managed to pull herself together by the time they'd reached the house. She wasn't sure if Caroline was aware that it had been Kensie's first kiss (and a pretty amazing first, if you asked her!), but she wasn't about to volunteer that information.

"It was okay," Kensie replied noncommittally. "Historically incorrect, of course, but Luke Evans is kind of cute for an old guy."

She felt Damon's eyes scrutinizing her, looking for any clue that anything had happened, but after a moment he made a 'hmmm' and asked, "Should I be worried about nightmares from the movie?"

She rolled her eyes. "Please. It wasn't the least bit scary."

"You seem a bit flushed," Damon observed.

Kensie shrugged. "It's warm in here. I'm going to go take off my jacket, and then I'm sure I'll cool down."

Before Damon could say a word, Kensie zipped up to her room. Closing her door gently behind her, she paused to lean against the door, allowing herself a moment to smile at the memory of Austin kissing her. It would be difficult keeping Damon in the dark, but she really hoped Austin would call her before Monday.