Who: Tyler and Caroline What: Peeps invade the Lockwood Easter party Where: The Lockwood's house When: April 1 Warnings/Ratings: Peeps cascade out of Care's mouth. Other than that pretty low! Status: Complete
It had been awhile since Caroline had been to a Lockwood party. Since she was in high school. It felt like forever ago but Caroline fell right back into old patterns, making chit chat with Tyler’s parents and other party goers. Although she had no problem mingling, she didn’t wander far from Tyler’s side. She was here to support him after all. Keep him from dying of boredom. It was the least she could do really, after everything he had done for her.
“See?” Caroline teased as she grabbed a glass of champagne. “This isn’t so bad.”
Tyler had never been a big fan of his parent’s parties. They’d always had way too many when he was a kid, filling the house with strangers and politicians when all he wanted to do sometimes was be by himself. If he hadn’t mingled, and hadn’t been on his best behaviour, he could have expected his dad taking him off somewhere privately and showing just how much Tyler had pissed him off. Tyer wasn’t afraid of his dad anymore - he was a hybrid, one of thoe most powerful monsters in his dreamworld, but that didn’t mean that he’d suddenly taken to enjoying the stuffy parties.
But with Caroline there, it really wasn’t too bad. She kept him from dying of boredom, and he could avoid talking to anyone he didn’t really want to so long as he kept in conversation with her. “It could be worse,” he admitted, shooting her a bit of a crooked smile. “I’m glad you came.”
“Anytime,” Caroline commented returning his smile. And she meant it too. Even if it was just as friends, she would always be there for him. The last thing she wanted was to lose touch with him like she had after high school. Although back then, so fresh after their break up, talking to him just made things worse. Still, she wasn’t going to let it happen again.
“I am too,” she added. She was going to say more, like how much she missed this, but something else caught her eye. Probably for the best too, she didn’t need to make a fool of herself again. A confused expression crossed her face, brows knitted together. “Is that peep, moving?” And since when would Tyler’s parents serve Peeps at their party?
“That peep?” Tyler asked, raising an amused eyebrow. “What is this, nineteen-nine” But his comment was cut short as he turned around, because there was, indeed, a bright yellow peep moving around on the refreshment table. He could maybe pass off the peep as being part of his parent’s decorations, though he didn’t think he’d have ever seen the day when they bought the sugary marshmallow treats, but he could definitely not excuse the fact that it was moving. Quickly, he snatched it off the table, crushing it. He had not expected the scream that came from his hand.
What the hell? Why was it making that horrible noise? “You killed it!” Caroline exclaimed. Maybe a bit too loudly considering the type of party they were at. However that was the least of their worries. More peeps seemed to walking all over the refreshment table. And they were multiplying. “What the hell?!”
Tyler hurriedly shushed her, looking around. Already some of the guests were giving the two of them strange looks. For a lack of anything better to do with the gooey marshmallow in his hand, he stuffed it into his mouth. “We’ve got to get this taken care of before my parents see this,” he said, giving Caroline an almost worried look.
He could already tell that this was something Orange County related, and if he’d learned anything living here, it was that these things rarely ended well. He had to remind himself that he couldn’t use his vamp-speed to take care of the problem. Not in front of Caroline, and not in front of the guests. “Do you have like, a bag or something? Maybe we can get all of these outside.”
Caroline gasped when Tyler shoved the marshmallow in his mouth. How could he eat something that had just been walking around? It was so cute too! However Caroline didn’t have time to argue about that right now. Not when there were so many peeps. And they just kept multiplying.
“You want to put them in my purse?!” Caroline exclaimed still in shock. But then her face softened when she saw the worried expression on Tyler’s face. Of course she would help him. “Fine,” she added with a sigh opening up her purse so he could put them inside.
With the way they were multiplying, Tyler wasn’t sure if they’d still all fit in Caroline’s purse, but he could at least try. He scooped them up by the handfuls and crammed them into her purse. “I hope this doesn’t make your purse sticky,” he said a little awkwardly. “I wonder if these damn things came from someone’s dreams.”
“Either way you’re buying me a new purse,” Caroline commented only half joking. Because really, she would never be using this purse again. “And they better not die in there.” For one even if they were multiplying like crazy they were too cute to be killed, but she also didn’t want to hear that scream again. “Who would have dreams about peeps? The Easter Bunny?” she asked helping Tyler stuff those poor peeps into her purse.
“Fine,” Tyler said. “And I’ll do my best not to kill any. It’s not my fault if I do though.” And really, leave it to Caroline to get all bleeding heart about a bunch of sugar formed into the shape of what he assumed someone who had never seen a chick before would think a chick looked like.
He’d been about to make a comment about not seeing the Easter Bunny on the network any time soon, when, to his dismay, his mother appeared apparently out of thin air. She looked at Tyler, hands filled with squirming peeps, and then at Caroline’s purse, filled nearly to the brim with peeps.
“What are you doing, Tyler?” she hissed. “If your father sees this he’s not going to be impressed.”
Crap! Tyler’s mom. Caroline wasn’t going to let Tyler get in trouble for this. It wasn’t his fault. “Sorry Mrs. Lockwood,” Caroline told the woman apologetically. “They are mine. I have somewhat of a peep addiction.” Hopefully Carol would overlook the fact that they were wiggling around in her purse and Tyler’s hand. But Caroline knew she had to make it more believable. So she picked one out of her purse and put it in her mouth to emphasize her point. Only she just pretended to chew so the peep wouldn’t scream. Not to mention she wasn’t a peep murderer like Tyler. Only, she hadn’t expected the peep to multiply inside her mouth! Before Caroline knew it she had a mouthful of peeps and she had to open her mouth so she didn’t choke. Leaving peeps tumbling out and onto the floor.
Tyler and Carol both stared at Caroline, identical expressions of shock on their face as the peeps cascaded out of Caroline’s mouth. Carol’s mouth opened and closed as if she was looking for something to say, but Tyler worked quicker.
“Wow, Care, you don’t look so good,” Tyler said hurriedly, as if a waterfall of peeps was just an everyday occurrence, and he grabbed her by the elbow. “I should really take her home, Mom. Thanks for dinner. And the party.” And, before Carol could say anything, Tyler was quickly guiding Caroline out from the party.
Once all the peeps were out Caroline’s hands flew to her mouth, covering it. Her cheeks were already turning pink from embarrassment. Luckily Tyler was leading her out of the party before Carol could say anything to her. So much for making a good impression on Tyler’s parents.
“Oh my god!” Caroline shrieked once they were outside. “Did that just - did I just? Oh my god!”
Tyler waited until they had left the Lockwood mansion before he burst out laughing, attracting the look of a couple of guests who had come outside to smoke. “Oh my god, Care,” he said, quickly leading her toward his car. “I wish I had gotten that on camera.”
“Shut up!” Caroline said punching him lightly on the shoulder. That was one of the most embarrassing experiences of her life. She was extremely glad Tyler hadn’t been able to capture it on camera. “You know I still have my purse full of peeps. Want me to shove one in your mouth?” She jokingly threatened. There is no way she would do that. Tyler would probably kill the poor thing.
Tyler really had no qualms with killing the things, even if they did scream. One of the perks of being a vampire. But that didn’t mean he wanted to eat more of the things. “No thanks, I’ve never been a big fan of peeps,” he said teasingly. “Though you should probably dump them out before they tear apart the seams of that thing.”
“You think they will be okay?” Caroline didn’t exactly want to let them in her purse but she was reluctant to set them free. What if someone like Tyler came along and just killed them. They may be multiplying like crazy, and yeah a little freaky. But that didn’t mean they deserved to die.
“They’ll be fine,” Tyler said. “I’m sure they’d be much happier out in the wild where they belonged.” Not something that he thought he’d ever say about the sugary confectioneries, but here he was. As far as Orange County events went, this one really wasn’t so bad.
“You better not run them over,” Caroline warned as she tentatively dumped the peeps out of her purse. Which took longer than she expected. Damn there were a lot in there. “Pretty sure your mom’s never going to let me back at one of her parties now.” Let alone plan it.
“I promise not to run them over,” Tyler said, the amusement obvious in his voice. Of course Caroline would be way too concerned about them. “And I don’t know about that. Mom likes you.”
“Okay,” Caroline said once she was assured Tyler wouldn’t run them over. “Let’s go. I’ll figure out a way to impress your mom again later.”