Emma moved around the kitchen, pulling items out of grocery bags brough home by her mother and putting them away in their designated spots. "You really went all out, didn't you?" She questioned her mother with a laugh as she started to struggle finding room in the fridge for all the new food.

"Well, my schedule's going to be great next week, and if I have time to cook, you can be sure I'll take advantage." Marissa explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Which, knowing her mother's love for cooking and food itself, it actually was.

"I can't wait. The food at the Grill is good, but one of your extravaganza lunches would be greatly appreciated." Emma smiled happily. Her mother's cooking was some of the best in the world, so when her job didn't keep her busy, both Marissa and Emma were always eager to make the most of it.

"Is it just the food that keeps you at the Grill? Or is it the person who keeps giving you extra fries?" Marissa questioned with a teasing smile; however, her daughter's reaction wasn't the one she expected.

"The person who... Matt? Oh god no. Matt's just a friend." Emma laughed at her mother. Trust the woman to look too far into every little interaction Emma had with anyone she met when they moved to a new place.

"And what's wrong with this Matt?" Marissa raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

"Maybe the fact that he and Rebekah are... Have something going on." Emma wasn't sure what kind of label to put on Matt and Rebekah's thing. After all, it wasn't like it went far with their failed homecoming date. But knowing Rebekah was the one who asked Matt and seemed to like him, Emma knew better than to even look at Matt as more than just a friend. And he wasn't her type anyways.

"You haven't mentioned Rebekah in a bit, why is that?" Marissa asked curiously, only now noticing the absence in Emma's stories. Perhaps it had been an initial friendship that fizzled out after a couple of weeks. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Oh... She'd been travelling for a bit, took a trip to see some family out of state." Emma lied quickly, already having come up with the story a long time ago in case her mother asked such a question at any point. "But she's back in town now, so don't worry, you'll be hearing more about her again."

"That's great. Did she-" Marissa continued on, but before she could ask whatever was on her mind, the sound of the doorbell interrupted their conversation. The two Park women shared curious looks among themselves. "Are you expecting someone?"

"No, I'll go see who it is." Emma replied. While she wasn't expecting anyone, she wouldn't be surprised to find one of the two Mikaelson sibling she was acquainted with standing on the other side. It wouldn't be the first time Klaus showed up with no announcement whatsoever.

Opening the front door, Emma was surprised to see no one standing there. Or anywhere around the front of their house for that matter. Instantly, her eyes first turned to the opposite side of the street, searching for the stalking car that she hadn't seen for a couple of days. Ever since Rebekah reassured her she'd take care of the issue.

She was about to close the door and give up, but then something finally caught her eye. A simple white envelope laid on the ground in front of the door, Emma's name written out on top in a beautiful handwriting. With furrowed brows, she picked it up before closing the door and moving back to the kitchen. Opening it as she walked, she curiously read over the invitation. It would seem all of the Mikaelsons were extravagant, not just Klaus and Rebekah.

"Who was it?" Marissa asked as she saw her daughter return to the room without anyone else.

"An invitation to a ball." Emma said, making her mother become just as intrigued as she was. Marissa extended her hand towards the daughter, wishing to see the invitation herself.

Emma thought about it for a moment. She was still trying to figure out just how much her mother knew about the supernatural people living within Mystic Falls. By now, it was clear she didn't know Rebekah was a vampire, much less an original. If she had, the mother certainly wouldn't be so happy to be hearing stories of Emma's newest friend. However, Emma had never mentioned Rebekah's last name. And so, she decided to take the plunge. She handed her mother the invitation.

"The Mikaelson ball? You do know this will be much fancier than Homecoming, right? And you weren't too keen on even going to that." Marissa asked, trying to be subtle in her attempt to dissuade her daughter from going to this event. But it was enough to provide Emma with more answers. So, she did know who the Mikaelsons were.

"I actually think I want to go to this one." Emma said honestly. Did it seem a bit intimidating, attending a fancy event hosted by the oldest family of vampires in the world? Certainly. But she was more intimidated by possibly causing offence if she declined.

"Come on, Emma. Think about it. The Mikaelsons are a politically involved family from what I hear, it'll probably be a boring event anyways." Marissa pointed out, pretending to remain calm as she continued to fold and put away the plastic bags.

"I think it could be fun. And when do you get to say you've gone to an actual ball?" Emma knew what this was about, of course. Her mother was trying to keep her away from the town's vampires. But she wasn't stupid enough to call her out on it openly. Not yet at least. She wanted to see how far her mother would take this act.

"You've been going around quite a bit lately, maybe a quiet night in would be good for you. Take things easy for a bit." Marissa suggested. And Emma realized how far it would go. Too far...

"Is this because you think I should take things easy or does it have to do something with the Mikaelsons themselves?" Emma asked innocently, giving her mother a chance to come clean about what she was hiding on her own.

"What do you mean by that?" Instead, Marissa acted oblivious.

"Do you want me to stay home because of my health or because the Mikaelsons are vampires?"

It was a good thing that all Marissa was holding in that moment were plastic bags. Were it anything else, the sudden drop to the floor could have created much more of a mess. But right then and there, neither of the Park women really cared about the mess. Instead, they stared at each other in silence, Marissa's eyes displaying her surprise while Emma's had a challenging gleam in them.

"How do you... When did you..." Marissa wasn't sure which question to ask first. How was it that Emma knew about vampires at all? When did she find out? How much did she know? So many of them swarmed her mind, but before she could clear it enough to ask a coherent one, Emma's phone started to ring on the counter. "Maybe you should let it go to voicemail, we need to talk."

"Hey Bex, what's up?" Emma didn't listen to her mother's suggestion. Perhaps she would have if this weren't one of the many, many chances she'd given her mother to have this particular talk with her. She ignored all of them until now... She could ignore one more.

"I'm calling to make sure that your answer to the invitation isn't a no. My mother's eager to meet my friend, and need I remind you, our plans to go to Homecoming together didn't really work out. If necessary, we can even compel you a date."

"The answer to the invitation is a yes. To that last part, it's a no. Just like it was when you suggested the same thing the last time." Emma laughed in amusement. She didn't need a date; she'd never been one to care about having a date to an event. If she wanted to go, she wouldn't sit around and wallow while waiting for someone to show interest.

"Emma, I don't think this is smart." Marissa whispered harshly, trying to get her daughter to listen to her, but it had no effect. Emma simply turned to her mother, the defiant look in the teenager's eyes giving Marissa a bad feeling about what was about to happen.

"However, I wouldn't mind you compelling me a dress. I don't know how big your expectations for this town are, but something tells me they don't sell ballgowns on every corner." Emma announced, and watched the shock pass over her mother's face. At least now she had her answers on how and when.

"I've already planned ahead. Meet me at the Grill in half an hour." Rebekah announced confidently, obviously pleased by Emma's lack of resistance. She didn't let the brunette say anything else before hanging up the phone and leaving Emma to deal with her mother once again.

"Emma, you can't go to this. Please, just give me some time to explain. It isn't smart." Marissa was now growing desperate after seeing just how careless her daughter actually seemed to be about the presence of vampires around her.

"No, mum. You had six years to explain." Emma snapped back, finally done with the walking on eggshells and hiding what she knew. Mentioning the years during which her mother could have said something made it clear that not only did Emma know about Mystic Falls, but she also knew about her father. "Instead of telling me before, you moved us to this town, expecting what exactly? That I'd stay oblivious and blind? Have you noticed the chaos here?"

"Emma..."

"You said nothing and I had to find out on my own. So you can't expect me to listen now. Everything I know so far, I learned on my own, and to be honest, I trust my gut a lot more than I trust you when it comes to all of this, it would seem."

Emma was done with the conversation. But she knew her mother wasn't. It left her with nothing to do but grab her bag, her phone, and head for the door. She knew she'd show up to the Grill much too early, but it was better to sit there sipping on a cup of tea than to endure the tension and uncomfortable atmosphere here. And so she left.