Is This a Date or an Invasion?

Set during the fifth season.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Sarah Jane Adventures, the BBC does so I'm not making any profit off of this story and I have no intention of infringing on Copyright laws.

"Mum, can I talk to you for a bit?" Clyde Langer asked Carla Langer.

"Of course, baby, what is it?" Carla inquired as she prepared dinner in their kitchen.

"I was wondering if I can borrow your car tomorrow night, since I don't have one of my own yet," Clyde answered and hoped that she would say yes. He had finally gotten enough nerve to ask Rani Chandra out on a date, and he certainly didn't want to take the city bus on their first official date.

"Clyde, I don't know," Carla was hesitant. "Why in the world would you need my car?"

"I want to take Rani out to dinner, to the cinema, and maybe out dancing," Clyde replied.

"You mean that you want to take her out on a date?" A smile formed on Carla's face.

"Well yeah," Clyde couldn't help but smile back.

"Of course you can borrow my car tomorrow night," Carla couldn't contain her happiness. "I like Rani, she's a sweet girl."

Yeah, if only her dad liked me, Clyde groused to himself. "She likes you too, mum," Clyde said and began to help her prepare dinner.

Carla observed her son and became concerned. "Is her dad still giving you a tough time?"

Clyde nodded. "I don't think he'll ever like me; he certainly won't like the idea of me taking Rani out."

Carla laughed.

"Well I'm glad you find that amusing, thanks, mum," Clyde scoffed.

"Oh you're taking it the wrong way," Carla retorted. "Did I ever tell you how my dad reacted when your father started coming around?"

"No," Clyde replied.

"It wasn't a pretty site. Your grandfather was very tough on your father I'm amazed we got to go on our first date in the first place," Carla said.

"Yeah but I'm not like dad," Clyde stood up for himself. "I'm nothing like him."

"I know you're not, Clyde, but that's not why Mr. Chandra acts the way he does," Carla continued. "Rani will always be his baby girl, and fathers are very protective of their daughters. You'll find out when you have children of your own."

Clyde sighed. "So what do I do in the meantime?"

"You show respect to Rani and her parents," Carla advised. "And if he doesn't warm up eventually then the heck with him if he can't see what a great kid you are."

"Mum," Clyde blushed but didn't stop her from doting on him.

Rani walked downstairs and joined her parents at the dinner table. She pulled out her chair far enough so she could sit down and not be too far from the table. She then sat down in the chair and pulled it up a little more to the table.

"It looks good, mum," Rani said about dinner.

"Thank you, Darling," Gita smiled. "So are you still trying on outfits for tomorrow night?"

Rani smiled and nodded. "I'm sure I'll find something right for the occasion eventually."

Haresh muttered to himself and fiddled with his food.

"Dad," Rani started.

"I didn't say anything," Haresh tried to avoid an argument.

"Not out loud anyway," Rani was miffed.

Haresh sighed. "Love, I just don't think that Clyde Langer is the right man for you. He's been the class clown ever since I've known him. Luke on the other hand is reliable and can provide a secure future for you."

Rani sighed in frustration. "So he cracks a few jokes every now and then, so he enjoys winding people up. That doesn't mean that he's unreliable, and besides Luke is like a brother to me. Clyde is the one that I'm in love with," she didn't realize she had said the 'L' word until it had already been said. The shock on her face revealed that much. Please tell me that I didn't just say that out loud in front of my parents. I haven't even told Clyde yet. He should be the first to know. Rani silently chided herself.

Okay this is worse that I thought, Haresh fretted. "Rani, you only think you're in love with him but once you go to Uni you'll meet other boys who are reliable like Luke. You may very well fall in love with one of them. You'll know when it's real."

Gita rolled her eyes at her husband and shook her head.

"What?" Haresh questioned.

"Our daughter says that she's in love with a bloke for the first time in her life, and this is how you react?" Gita chided him.

"Gita, he's all wrong for her," Haresh retorted.

"He's all wrong for her, or he's all wrong for you?" Gita inquired. "Haresh, you can't dictate who our daughter will fall in love with."

Rani's parents continued to argue back and forth while she ate her dinner. She waited patiently for the argument to end since she knew she was going to do what she wanted to anyway.

The next evening, Clyde knocked on the Chandra's front door. He had never felt so nervous about facing Rani's dad. What's wrong with me? Why am I scared to face him all of a sudden? It's just Mr. Chandra.

Seconds later Rani's mum opened the door.

Clyde smiled in relief. "Hi, Gita, is Rani ready yet?"

"Almost, come on in, Clyde," Gita motioned for him to come inside.

He walked inside the Chandra home.

Unbeknownst to Clyde he had been watched by a very protective pair of eyes.

I sure hope Haresh isn't too hard on him, Sarah Jane thought to herself as she watched Clyde from her attic. He had entered the Chandra home, so all Sarah Jane could do was hope that Clyde would be able to walk out their house with Rani.

Sky walked over to Sarah Jane and looked out the window as well. "What are you looking at, mum?"

"I was just keeping an eye on someone very important," Sarah Jane said. "So what do you want for tea?"

"May I cook tonight? Clyde's been teaching me how to cook," Sky revealed.

Sarah Jane remembered how messy the kitchen would get anytime Luke tried to cook. She remembered how messy it got whenever she tried to cook. Sarah Jane had almost told her daughter no, but she changed her mind. Just because she's a Smith it doesn't mean that she'll be messy as well. "Of course you can cook tonight, Sky."

Sky smiled, hugged her mum, and then ran downstairs to get started.

Sarah Jane decided to go downstairs and supervise.

One hour later Clyde and Rani had just finished eating dinner at her favorite restaurant and they were on their way to see a movie at the Cinema. They never made it there because their date had been interrupted by people running though the streets and screaming in panic.

Clyde pulled over so he wouldn't wind up hitting one of them.

"Clyde, what's going on? Why is everyone freaking out?" Rani worried.

"I don't know," Clyde stepped out of the car. "Rani, stay here."

"Since when," she scoffed and stepped out of the car as well.

Clyde and Rani ran to where the other people outside were running from. Not sure of what they would discover. They were sure of only one thing that they had to find out what was scaring all those people, especially if it was an alien.

-to be continued