Family | Tfp AU

Ships Set Sail

>>Saturday night>>

Arcee sat on the couch in the living room, waiting for Cliffjumper to come pick her up for their date; it was almost 7:15, so he should be here soon.

The roar of a motorcycle engine was heard outside.

Knowing that was him, Arcee jumped off the couch and went outside. Sure enough, Cliffjumper was sitting on his red motorcycle, just taking his helmet off. When he did, he looked up at her and smiled his special smile that made the butterflies in her stomach intensify and her heart flutter. He dismounted from the bike and walked over to her, handing her a flower and giving her a hug in greeting. Arcee laughed and hugged him back.

"Hey, Cliff."

"You look beautiful," Cliff said smoothly, as he released the hug and took a small step back to look at her.

Arcee couldn't help but blush and pull at her jacket a little. Her outfit was nothing fancy, Cliffjumper had called about an hour ago and let her know that the restaurant was casual, but she had still tried to step it up a little so she wasn't too casual. It was still a date, after all. She was wearing a light blue hoodie zipped up halfway with a darker blue shirt underneath it, and a very light pink undershirt. She also wore a pair of blue jeggings (jean-leggings) that were a little loose on her, but not too much, and a pair of pink, half inch heels that were just a little darker than her undershirt, pulling the outfit together nicely. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, and Elita had helped her curl the pieces that couldn't reach, framing her face and giving her hair a completed look, like it was on purpose. Which it was.

Cliff, on the other hand, was wearing a pair of nice black pants and a red leather jacket, with a red shirt underneath, and nice shoes that were somewhere between dress shoes and full on sneakers. He had done his hair nice for a change, getting it all to mostly go the same direction, with the exception of a few rebellious pieces that stuck up apart from the rest.

"You said it was casual," Arcee accused teasingly, gesturing to his outfit. Cliff glanced down at himself and smirked.

"Well I didn't want to be too casual," he said with a small laugh, gesturing to her. "Apparently, I wasn't the only one."

Arcee laughed and pushed him back playfully before turning to the door. "I'll just let my parents know we're leaving, and then we can head out."

"Sounds good to me," Cliff shrugged with another one of his winning smiles. She couldn't help but laugh again as she opened the door and called inside.

"Mom? Cliff's here, we're gonna go!"

"Alright, have fun honey!" Elita called back. "But be home by eleven!"

"I will," Arcee smirked, about to close the door.

"Wait!" Smokescreen shouted, running down the stairs and around the corner over to her, slamming into her and wrapping his arms around her. "Bye!"

"See you later, Smokes," Arcee smiled, kneeling down and returning the small boy's hug. Smokescreen grinned and watched her walk over to where Cliffjumper waited on his motorcycle. He handed her an extra helmet and she put it on before mounting the bike behind him. Smokescreen waved ecstatically, and Arcee waved back; Cliff revved the engine for him, making the young boy laugh in delight as he watched the couple back out of the driveway and zoom away to go on their date. Smokescreen remained outside for several minutes, just listening to the sound of Cliff's engine getting gradually quieter and quieter, until he could no longer pick it out amongst the rest of the noise of the streets.

Cliffjumper tried not to stare at Arcee as he ate his meal. They had gone to someplace simple- he couldn't really afford anything too fancy. He had always liked her, since practically the moment he laid eyes on her back in third grade; she was a little over a year younger than him, and one grade back. His favorite thing about her, besides her contagious laugh and wonderful personality, was most definitely her eyes; they seemed to change everyday to perfectly match whatever she was wearing, and even if she was hiding her emotions from her face, they always shone through her eyes. If he ever doubted, which he never did, he knew he could look into her eyes and find the honest truth in them.....he was getting distracted! She was talking- how long has she been talking?! Scrap, pay attention to her words and not her sparkling, blue, radiant eyes...oh no! Did she just ask a question?! Pull it together and pay attention!

"-have you?" Arcee asked with a perky laugh. Cliff panicked a little and tried not to simply stare blankly at her. How could he possibly answer a question he hadn't heard?! But there was no way he could admit that he hadn't been paying attention, which meant he had to come up with something...

"Maybe?" he shrugged weakly, mentally kicking himself for taking the coward's way out. "I don't know," he mumbled, stirring his food around his plate. Thankfully for him, Arcee simply laughed it off.

"Okay, whatever," she said with a knowing smirk. Cliff sighed and tried not to let his embarrassment show; he was such a fool sometimes...

The movie was just about to start, and Cliff still hadn't told her what they were going to watch.

"So what is this?" She asked, gesturing to the screen where previews were playing.

"The Village," Cliff said simply, eating a bit of popcorn. Arcee stared at him.

"That sounds like a scary movie."

Cliff shrugged. "Not really, but it is by M. Night Shyamalan so..."

She hit him in the arm. "I told you no horror movies!"

"It's not horror!" Cliff insisted, holding up his hands to ward off another hit. "It's mildly romantic suspense-"

"Does it have any jump scares?" Arcee eyed him, making him want to squirm, but he resisted the urge as best he could.

"Only one- but the music gives it away anyways. And really there are only like, 3 scary moments in the whole thing, and you can usually see them coming. It's fine."

Arcee huffed quietly and folded her arms, facing the screen. "Fine. But I am not turning to you if I get scared; I'll just walk out."

"Okay okay," Cliff sighed, rolling his eyes. He knew she wouldn't walk out- the suspense would keep her there even if she did get a little scared. But she would be fine...

The movie had been going much better than Arcee had anticipated. Not a single jump scare so far- wait, did someone just knock on the trap door?! I-it was probably just Lucius...but no, he was talking to someone in their house, why would he be here...? Oh great, he's going to check the door. Those-we-don't-speak-of are probably right there waiting to pop up like demon jack-in-the-boxes. No, there's nothing there-

"Aah!" Arcee yelped as a red hooded figure ran under the structure, the music coming to a sudden forte at the same time. It was Those-we-don't-speak-of! Her heart was racing and she was panting slightly from the burst of adrenaline that came with the shock. Cliff rubbed her back to calm her down, and only now did she realize she had practically jumped into his arms when the scare had happened. She took a deep breath and sat up straighter, throwing him a glare that just made him smirk.

"I told you it was coming," he shrugged. "I don't know how you didn't see it."

"I did," she muttered, slapping him on the arm. "Just not like that." Cliff just chuckled and put his arm around her, which she accepted grudgingly.

"Tell you what, I'll let you know when a scare is coming, if you'll stop being mad at me."

Arcee sighed forcefully and looked up at him. "Fine," she nodded. "But if you miss even one, the deal's off."

"Okay, okay," Cliff smirked, giving her shoulder a little squeeze as he turned his attention back to the movie.