Down the Rabbit Hole

Breaking Glass Part 2

Soundtrack:
Within Temptation All I need
Awolnation Kill your heroes
The Birthday Massacre I think we're alone now
Five for fighting Chances
Def Leppard Pour some sugar on me
Patrick Swayze She's like the wind
Eric Carmen Hungry Eyes
Emma Stone Knock on wood
Ester Dean Crazy Youngsters
Foreigner I've been waiting for a girl like you
Foreigner I wanna know what love is

The next morning Dean was up early and was already at breakfast when his parents came down. They helped themselves to food at the buffet before joining Dean, who was shovelling bacon and eggs into his mouth like his life depended on it.
"What's the rush?" Mary asked, looking amused.
"I said I'd pick Lacey up at 9:30." Dean told them.
"Lacey?" John raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, Amy's sister. We're going out for the day."
"Oh, so that's where you disappeared to yesterday." Mary smiled, knowingly. "We had a great time taking a tour of San Francisco with Sam and Jessica, we missed you." Dean shrugged.
"Sorry Mom, I'll go with you another time."
"Why don't you invite Lacey to come to dinner with us all this evening?" John suggested.
"Uh, yeah, sure, I can ask." Dean said as he got to his feet. "I'll see you guys later."
"Don't forget, the reservation is at 8!" Mary called after him.

As Dean drove the Impala round to the other side of Campus he spotted Lacey and another girl standing on the corner waiting. As he pulled up to the kerb they walked over.
"Hey." He said, winding the window down.
"Dean, this is my room mate Dani, Dani this is Dean. She wanted to make sure I wasn't getting in a car with a molester or something." Lacey joked. Dani didn't flinch at this description as Dean gave a chuckle.
"Well, you've got my licence plates now." He joked back. "I promise to bring her back unmolested." Dani nodded, satisfied.
"It was nice to meet you." She told Dean. "You have my full approval, hun." She told Lacey, then more conspiratorially, "He's gorgeous!" Before she headed off. Lacey laughed and shook her head before getting into the car.
"Sorry about that. She's more nosy than anything."
"That's ok." Dean smirked.
"So, do I get to know where we're going yet?" Lacey asked.
"I figure you can start guessing as we drive." Dean told her.
"Ok." Lacey did her seatbelt up, looking excited. As Dean started the engine Led Zeppelin began to blast out of the speakers.
"I love Led Zeppelin!" Lacey said happily as they pulled away. Dean smiled at her.
"I think we'll get along just fine then."

As they drove further along the highway Lacey studied the signs they were passing.
"Ok, we bypassed San Jose and now we've gone past Santa Cruz... I think I may know where we're going." Lacey declared as they continued down the coast road.
"Go for it." Dean encouraged.
"Carmel?" She guessed. Dean smiled. "Am I right? I did say I loved it there when we talked the other day."
"You are." Dean told her. She let out a squeal of joy.
"Oh my god! Thank you so much! It's definitely one of my favourite places in the world." She jabbered, excitedly. They drove down the coast road, enjoying the sights and listening to more of Dean's classic rock albums as they went, eventually ending up in the town of Carmel-by-the-sea. Dean parked the car on 7th Street and they got out.
"This way." Lacey took hold of Dean's hand and they wandered round the corner and into Dolores Street and into the fairytale section of Carmel. They wandered through the picturesque streets before stopping at the Tuck Shop and picking up some food. They headed back to the car and Dean drove them further along the coast before pulling into the wayside. They grabbed the food and a blanket Dean found in the trunk and headed down to the beach for a picnic.
"This is so amazing, thank you." Lacey told him as she dug into the pastries.
"I'm glad you're having a good time." Dean looked up hesitantly. "So my parents said to invite you to dinner tonight, we're going out with Sam and Jess. Don't feel like you have to come though." He hastily explained.
"No, it's cool, I'd love to come." Lacey smiled at him reassuringly.
"Ok, great." Dean's expression cleared.

They finished their picnic and spent some time walking on the beach before heading to Monterrey for ice cream and Mini golf. After that they headed back up to Stanford. They stopped at Lacey's Room so she could change for dinner. When she re-emerged she was jeans, black high heeled boots, a black mesh top with a chunky gold necklace and a green jacket with sequins on the sleeves.
"You look beautiful." Dean told her as he opened the car door for her.
"Thanks." She blushed, looking down at her feet. They drove into town and headed to the restaurant where Sam, Jess, Mary and John were waiting at the bar for them. Lacey hugged Sam and Jess and Dean introduced her to Mary and John.
"It's good to meet you. We wondered why Dean kept disappearing." John said as he shook her hand. A waiter approached them and led them to their table. There was some small talk about the weather and the graduation ceremony before the conversation turned to Lacey.
"So tell us about yourself? What do you study here?" John asked.
"I study history and Anthropology." Lacey told him, taking a sip of her drink. John looked impressed.
"And do you hail from out West originally?" He asked.
"No, I grew up on Long Island, I just moved out here at the beginning of the school year." Lacey told him.
"Long Island, there are some nice places out there, what do your folks do?"
"My dad runs the family company in New York." Lacey told him. "My brother works with him too."
"Is it a big company, would I have heard of it?" John continued to pry.
"Dad." Dean raised an eyebrow. "I don't think Lacey needs the fifth degree before dinner."
"I'm sure she doesn't mind, it's not like she's got anything to hide." John smiled back at her pleasantly.
"It's fine." Lacey reassured Dean. "You might have heard of it. McNulty Enterprises?" The table quieted down at this.
"McNulty Enterprises? The big investment company?" John asked, sounding surprised.
"Yeah, that's the one."
"So you're Lacey McNulty?"
"Yeah." She smiled as if it were the obvious answer.
"I've read about McNulty in the papers, your family has made millions in investments and on the stock market." John commented.
"Millions?" Dean looked at her slightly shocked.
"Now you know why I wanted to split lunch yesterday." Lacey joked.
"So Jess, have you decided what you're going to do now that you've graduated?" Mary asked, changing the subject. Lacey gave her a grateful smile. The rest of dinner went off without a hitch and the six of them finished up with a last drink in the bar before Mary and John said they were heading back to the hotel. Once everyone had said goodbye Dean walked Lacey to the car.
"I don't feel like going home yet, do you wanna go somewhere else?" Lacey asked.
"Sure, where did you have in mind?" Dean asked as they got in the car.
"There's a lookout point over by Ravenswood, it's right by the lake?" Lacey suggested.
"Sounds good to me." Dean turned the key and the car sprang to life. They drove for about ten minutes until they reached the nature reserve and Dean parked them up by the landing point.
"I'm sorry about my Dad earlier." Dean said as they got out and climbed up onto the hood of the car.
"That's ok. I'm kind of used to it."
"So when you said you grew up in a beachy suburban town you meant...?"
"The Hamptons." Lacey admitted.
"So people here know who you are?"
"A few people do, my friends, Sam and Jess know. It's not like I took out an ad in the school paper when I arrived." Lacey joked. "I hope this doesn't change anything between us, Dean." She looked at him apprehensively.
"Of course not." He said, taking hold of her hand. "But you were right about one thing." Lacey frowned at him, not understanding. "The burgers are on you next time." Lacey broke into giggles.
"You got it, all the burgers you want."