Taylor sat on the front porch in a white sundress, her hair curled into loose waves. She tapped her foot impatiently, her eyes trained on the drive. So far, it was empty. Taylor glanced at her watch. 8:15 — Jamie had either hit major traffic, or he was standing her up. Her guess was the second one. At least, she figured, she'd gotten out of that traffic ticket.

"What's wrong, Taylor?" Sam asked, coming to sit beside her on the porch ledge.

"I thought I had a date tonight," Taylor laughed. "I think I got stood up."

Sam bit his lip, wondering if this had anything to do with the phone call that was made earlier. The brothers may have made up with David, but there was still an uneasiness between them — if David continued to do this to Taylor, their truce wouldn't last long.

Laddie had apparently overheard them, and came out to the front porch as well.

"But I thought you liked David?" He said, sitting beside them. He plucked rocks up from the ground, loading them into his two-cent slingshot and flinging them towards the drive.

"I do like David," Taylor sputtered. "But we're just friends, Laddie."

David was inside the house, and Taylor knew he could hear her. She tried to keep the menace out of her voice, but it clearly wasn't working. Both Laddie and Sam gave her a pointed look.

Before there could be any further questions, a marked car pulled up the driveway quickly, 'Police' etched onto the side of it. Sam sucked in a breath, wondering what the Lost Boys had done now, and Taylor laughed at his reaction.

"Relax," She smiled. "That's my date."

The Lost Boys, including David, came out to the porch, stirred by the noise. Max and Lucy must not have been home, otherwise they would've been out there too. The four boys, Laddie, and her brothers stood behind her in a kind of semi-circle, intimidating her date, Taylor was sure. Still, Jamie got out of the police car with a self-assured wave, pushing his hair back and putting his cowboy hat on his head, like he had earlier that day.

"Sorry I'm late, Taylor." He smiled at her. "There was a case I had to wrap up, it was taking longer than anticipated."

Taylor tried not to roll her eyes — clearly, the police in Santa Carla weren't doing much police work at all, based off those Missing People posters she'd seen plastered all over the place. Officer Harlem was trying to impress her, and it wasn't working.

"A call would've been nice," Taylor shrugged, genuinely rolling her eyes this time. "I was beginning to think you couldn't find the house."

"This place is hard to miss," Jamie looked up at the home, letting out a low whistle. Then he turned to Taylor with confusion. "I left a message for you."

"I must not have gotten it," Taylor turned, pointedly looking at the faces of the boys behind her. "Boys, this is Officer Harlem."

"Actually, you all look familiar." He said, bravely coming up on the porch to stand beside her. "Sometimes I patrol the boardwalk in the evenings, any of you like to hang around there?"

David didn't want to give this guy any credit — not like he deserved it — but one thing was for sure, this guy had some serious balls on him. The boys glared harder, their eyes narrowing into small slits, as Taylor placed a hand on the uniformed officer's shoulder.

"What else is there to do in this town besides the boardwalk anyway, Jamie?" Taylor giggled in a lighthearted attempt to save the moment, to prevent the boys from unleashing their anger on the first date she'd had in a while. "Anyways, we should get going. I'll see you when I get back, boys."

Officer Harlem helped her into the car, opening the passenger door of the cruiser for her and extending a hand. She took it gratefully, but quickly. She wanted to get out of here before one of the boys made a meal of her date, but she also wanted David to get an eyeful, to make him jealous the same way he'd done with her the night before. He was playing a game she was just as good at.

Jamie slid in the seat beside her, immediately reversing down the driveway.

"You have a large family," He said momentarily. "They're, interesting."

Taylor swallowed, quick to change the subject.

"Where are we going for dinner?"

()()()

Jamie had been a good date. He'd taken her to a little bar in the downtown area, only a bit nicer than the one she worked next door to, and told her to pick whatever she liked from the menu. They ate, and then they had a couple of drinks. Both of them had more than enough by the time they decided to call it a night, but Jamie assured her that he never got pulled over in his cop car anyway.

The more she talked to him, the more she started to dislike him. He'd been a pawn to begin with — a date in exchange for less points on her license, and someone to make David jealous with. But he was quickly grating on her words, his cockiness only seeming insecure. She was happy the night was ending, and that he hadn't asked about a second date as he dropped her off.

Waving to him as he headed down the drive, Taylor moved to open the front door, but it was bolted. It wasn't too late, only a little after eleven, so it was likely the boys were still out, and maybe they'd locked up after they'd gone? She wasn't sure where Sam was, so she tried knocking for a moment, but no one came.

They hadn't even gotten a key made for her yet. Naively, she thought they wouldn't use locks, because vampires were a good enough security system by themselves. She could see the purpose of the deadbolt now, to protect them while they slept, but why was it locked in the middle of the night?

Sighing, Taylor moved towards the back of the house. Maybe the back or side door would be unlocked? She tried both, with no avail. It seemed that her only hope was the small window above the kitchen sink, which had been left open and unlocked. Taylor moved to it — it was low enough to the ground that she could climb to it, and, if she wiggled enough, she could fit. Groaning, she hoisted the window open a bit higher, and lifted herself onto the ledge, starting to work her way through.

With a clatter, she fell into the sink headfirst, her hand outstretched to catch herself. She fell off the counter and onto the harsh linoleum floor, bringing one or two glasses down with her. They shattered next to her, but thankfully not on her.

"Whew," Taylor breathed, taking a moment to smooth her dress and her hair.

"That was quite a show." Lucy stood in the corner, her eyes cold, clutching a glass full of red liquid — either blood or wine.

"Really?" Taylor sighed. "You couldn't have gotten the door for me? At least pulled me in through the window or something?"