The silence when Rich and Lisbon spotted Libia was deafening. She found herself shrinking into Damon's hold as their cold stare bit at her.

"Dad, Mom, welcome home," Carol murmured quietly.

"Yes, thank you Carol," Rich said, his voice cool and collected, with no hint of affection for their youngest daughter.

And suddenly, Lisbon slapped a big, fake smile on her face.

"It's so nice to finally have you for dinner, ah...?"

"It's Libia, Mom, you know this," Damon half-growled.

Quickly, Libia trailed her fingers up his back, finding the familiar spot between his shoulder blades. As her fingers traced the line of his spine, he found himself relaxing without his consent. He almost shook his head in disbelief. The girl had more of a hold on him than he cared to admit to himself.

Libia forced herself to be bold as she smiled politely at the two that approached. "It's nice to see you both again." Of course she was lying through her teeth.

"Ah, yes, you as well," Rich told her, nodding his head, before turning to his oldest son.

"Jackson, did you manage to set up dinner?" He asked him.

It made Libia blink in the realization of the meaning of those words. They weren't polite, or even just a friendly question. They were demeaning and bordering on condescending - as if they didn't expect him to be able to, as if he were so below them that he bordered on being stupid.

She could feel her hands clenching, so she reached behind her and gripped Damon's shirt tightly. She could no longer keep her face polite, so she settled on keeping a smooth poker face.

Now it was Damon's turn to calm her down, sensing her want to speak up,  he moved his hand down to her arm and squeezed softly, before carefully rubbing up and down.

"As a matter of fact," Jack said, his face hard as he stared straight back at his father - accepting his challenge, "The roast is in the crockpot and has been since this morning."

Carol cleared her throat, squeezing her brother's hand once in a warning, before looking up. "It shood be ready in a few hours so...we should all go and sit on the back porch. I made lemonade."

They were all on edge as they watched them walk past, and when they dissapeared into the kitchen, the relief that relaxed everyones shoulders was palpable.

Letting out a deep breath, Carol looked over at Libia with a small smile. "I'll go and get the cups filled. Jack, will you help me?" She looked up at him.

He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced at Libia and Damon, who were standing close together. He noticed Libia's hand clasping Damon's shirt in a vice-like grip from behind, and met her eyes with a smile of his own.

"Next time, we should have dinner at your house - Damon says your mom and brother are great people," He murmured.

Libia found a smile on her lips as she nodded immediately in agreement. "It'll have to wait a bit though - my mother and brother are still recovering from that virus."

"Of course," Jack's eyebrows furrowed in worry.  "I hope they get over it okay."

She released Damon's shirt to wave a hand in dismissal. "They're fine. My mom's a soldier and my brother is too hyper to let something like this pull him down for long."

Chuckling at the truth of her words, Damon dropped his hand down and thread his fingers through hers.

"Well," Carol pulled on her brother's hand, leaning slightly around him as she said in an obvious voice, "We're gonna go...get the lemonade ready. You come on out back when...you're ready," She shot Damon a wink, before hightailing it out of the foyer, dragging a reluctant Jack along.

Damon rolled his eyes, but was glad for the alone time with Libia. He turned to her and lifted her face with one hand, taking their intertwined hands and pressing his knuckles to her cheek. "I'm sorry about that. Our parents aren't really...well they're not exactly...," She reached up, planting a finger on his lips. 

"I understand, Damon. They're not social...in any way," She shrugged with a small smile. "I'm glad to at least have met your siblings. They're worth sitting through an awkward silence with your parents."

Laughing, Damon leaned down and planted a warm kiss on her lips. "Thanks Babe."

Giggling, Libia pushed on his chest before he could steal another kiss and began dragging him. "Let's not make them wait too long."

He groaned. "But they just gave us the go ahead to be alone!" He complained.

"That's not why we're here, Babe," She teased him dryly.

"Ooh, you've never called me that before," He said, stopping her with an abrupt pull of her hand and spinning her around to face him. She yelped at the sudden movement, laughing as he enveloped her in his arms. "I think I like it," He whispered in her ear.

She found a confidence in herself that she'd never thought she posessed, as she pulled out of his embrace and shot him a wink. "I'll never say it again."

He watched with his mouth open as she flashed a teasing smile, and then began pulling him along. Who was this new Libia? 

They walked through the kitchen, Damon being led in a slight daze. He didn't notice when she stopped walking.

Libia had just turned the doorknob, when Damon bumped into her, and she tripped. Yelping, the door pushed open, and they stumbled out. Instinctivly, Damon wrapped his arms around her, and kept her upright.

She snorted and laughed, causing Damon to grin. "You totally did that on perpose!" She accused, still laughing.

"Hey!" He complained, "I did not!"

A male voice clearing his throat caused Libia to look up, and immediately she realized that they had an audience. She straightened, and Damon's laughter cut short.

"Sorry," Libia blurted, tucking a stand of hair behind her ear.

She contemplated stepping out of Damon's grasp, but decided as his arms tensed around her that she should stay put. His parents sat at a round outdoor table, across from Jack and Carol, who sipped silently at their lemonade.

Plastering a smile across her face, Damon's mother gestured to the porch swing against the edge of the ledge beside them. Libia hesitated to move, frozen by the stare of Damon's father, who was clearly dissaproving of her. His eyes, so similar to Damon's cut into her skin. Damon managed to drag her along, settling them down on the porch swing. She suddenly wished that she had taken up Damon's offer to go out to eat, just the four of them. 

"Well, Libia, tell us about yourself," Damon's father said, and Libia heard a slightly demanding tone. 

"Ah...well what would you like to know?"

"Grades?" He immediately suggested, and it sounded a bit rude.

Despite her apprehension, she hesitantly answered the question. "I...I get straight A's in all classes."

"Wow!" Carol piped up, smiling. "Adorable, and smart!"

Libia felt her ears heat up. She worked hard to keep her mom from worrying about her. She knew that if her grades fell, her mom would be dissapointed. She hated disappointing her mother.

"What about career?" Damon's mother piped up.

At this, Libia let out a hesitant laugh. "I'm working a part time job at a grocery store at the moment. Career choices...are a little scattered right now." She tried to be as honest as she could, but she could see that they weren't pleased with her answer.

Damon tightened his hold on Libia's shoulders, pressing a kiss to her cheek to reassure her, and she let out a deep breath at the contact. She was fine, she knew that she could do it if he was there with her.

"Well, I do hope you make your decisions soon. Is there anything you like to do, especially?"

Libia hesitated for a moment, before murmuring, "I...I like to dance."

"Dance? As in, Ballet?" 

Libia felt a short laugh rise to the surface, and Damon shook his head. 

"Not exactly. It's...more hip hop."

She felt the dissaproving gaze of Damon's father cut into her again, and knew that the answer she gave wasn't wanted. She winced.

"She's an amazing dancer," Damon piped up, and she could hear the defensive tone behind his voice, "I've seen what she can do. She could be a professional if she wanted."

Jack and Carol stared at Damon as if they were seeing him for the first time. She wondered how he was with them - was he different with Libia? She would have liked to think so, but she didn't want to be conceited. 

"I'm sure," Damon's father muttered, sipping his lemonade. It didn't sound convincing.

Damon looked as if he was ready to leave, so Libia took his hand in both of hers, calming him down some. 

"Ah, Libia, Damon tells me you're amazing with electronics," Carol jumped in, trying to change the subject.

"Oh...yeah. I suppose I have some knowledge about it. My dad was an electrician, and he taught me a few things. Mostly it's like a puzzle to solve for me."

Damon glanced at her. She'd never told him that her dad was an electrician. It made more sense now that he thought about it.

"Oh, how nice," Lisbon murmured, clearing her throat.

Libia shifted uncomfortably. It was silent again, and no one seemed to know what else to talk about. Damon, however, seemed relieved. Did he not want to talk anymore? She looked up at him, and noticed a hint of exhaustion in his eyes. It must have been tiring to hold back all of those thoughts and feelings towards them. Was this how it always was with them?

He met her slightly concerned gaze, and let a small smile slip. No matter how tired he was, he never ceased to smile at her. It was nice.

"Well, Libia, since you seem like a nice girl, I can assume you won't be influincing my son in ways that are unsatisfactory to his maturity?"

She looked at Rich, blinking at his words., not only was he threatening her, he was refurring to his Aunt. Maybe Damon's friends as well. Damon tensed, and even Libia couldn't hold back her protests at that moment.

"Maturity? I'm sorry, I didn't realize that Damon was that easily influinced by outside sources. I always saw Damon as a human being with his own capacity for making decisions."

It was silent yet again - even Damon had been shut down by her words. 

But Libia wasn't done yet.

"If I ever asked something of Damon that turned out to be "Unsatisfactory to his maturity" I'm sure he would decide on his own whether or not he agreed to such things. With all do respect, he is not a ten year old boy, Mr. Slain, he's an eighteen year old man who can do for himself."

Jack's mouth dropped open, and Carol covered her own with her palm as she lowered her head, hiding her smile. Damon stared at Libia as if seeing her in a new light, but she kept her gaze trained on Rich and Lisbon, wanting them to know just how much she disagreed with the treatment of their children. 

Lisbon stood, and Rich followed suit, straightening his shirt.

"Well, I really think that you don't know Damon at all, if you think that's the case. Now if you'll excuse us," Lisbon said, and she couldn't even manage that fake smile of hers.

Both of them went inside, and as they past, Rich sent her a scathing look.

As soon as the door closed, Libia smacked her palm to her forehead. "Oh my god. I thought for sure they'd kick me out."

Damon's mouth had dropped open a little while ago, and he still didn't have control of his voice. Carol stared at Libia, mystified. Jack leaned forward, asking,

"Libia, do you realize you just cause my parents to leave the area? Do you realize you just crushed their pitiful souls?"

She looked up with a worried gaze. She hadn't meant to hurt them. "I did?"

He blinked at her, sitting back with disbelief. Carol let out a laugh that was slightly amused, and slightly incredulous.

Damon shook his head, coming out of his daze as he noticed her worry. "Don't worry, Aunt Cass crushes their souls a lot. It's not that hard to do. You didn't hurt them - you hurt their pride."

"Oh," Libia murmured, slightly relieved, but slightly horrified that she'd hurt them in any way. 

Neither of them called Damon on his lie. It was very hard to break them from their prideful stupor. Cass would have visited a lot more often if that was the case. 

"Libia," Damon said, causing her to look at him. He smiled at her, and her heart stopped. It was a tender smile, a kind of smile that she'd never seen before - it was so loving, so innocent, and so beautiful that she had to hold her breath. "Thank you."

She shook her head, not understanding.

"You stood up for me. Stood up for all of us. You were amazing."

She sucked in a gulp of air, and furrowed her eyebrows. "I did?"

"You have no idea," Carol murmured, still disbelieving. "Absolutely no clue."

She really didn't. She simply said what was on her mind - what had been on her mind since the night that Damon came to her house drunk. Had she really made that much of a difference?

"Geez, Damon. You said she was shy," Jack said to him on a laugh. "How could you lie to us like that?"

Damon shook his head, his eyes never leaving Libia as he watched her cheeks flush. 

Why did he think she was shy again? He didn't know.