There's a long pause of silence while the unquestionable trace of uncertainty hangs in the air between us. Jay looks at me with eyes that hold an emotion that I don't understand, before letting out a heavy sigh that makes me completely awake with awareness.
"I know." He declares, an almost tired look on his face.
-You knew?" I take a step towards him, feeling the hurt swarming deep inside of me, anger dancing like a flame in my eyes. "And you didn't care to tell me?" My voice comes out cold, controlled, barely contained compared to the betrayal that I feel. He looks at me with what looks like exasperation, as if I were a small stubborn child refusing to see sense.
"Well, I'm sorry if I was too preoccupied writing my suicide letter after you rejected me. Twice!" He snarls, immediately cutting all contempt I held for him moments before, down. I'm shocked, lost for words, now slowly being filled by immense guilt.
There's a deep and painful silence through which the culpability continues to suffocate me. His words sting but I know that they're true. It was my own fault. I was too focused on myself and my own contempt for my parents that I stupidly stopped acknowledging my unquestionable part in Jay's near death. My own soulmate's death. I haven't paid much attention to his feelings, and how much he must have hurt after my second rejection.
I watch with sad eyes as he tries to recompose himself, starring at me with an unreadable expression. Finally, after time that seems to stretch out into eternity, his features soften, making him seem more like an angel than anything else. I want to slap him for focusing back on me and my problems instead of letting me acknowledge his hardship during my rejection.
"But that's not why I came." He says again after some time of us just measuring each other up with our eyes. "I want us to get to know each other better."
-Huh?
-You heard me. God this sounds so cliché doesn't it..." He mutters lowly to himself, and I'm restraining myself so bad to go pinch that cute little dimpled cheek as he begins to look more and more uncomfortable as the seconds tick by, "Okay that was weird, forget I even said that."
I watch with amusement as he struggles for words, all trace of anger or hurt evaporated into thin air from my and his side. "Jay?" I prod, eyes twinkling at him.
"Do you want - do you want to..." He still can't find the courage to say those very simple words, so I decide to put him out of his misery.
I'm such a humble person.
"Go on a date?" I finish for him with amusement and a tilted head, noticing his infinite struggle. The poor vampire has obviously never tried this before. He sends me an almost nervous glance that melts my heart.
He's so freaking adorable...
"I thought you vampires were too old-fashioned for that kind of stuff." I raise an eyebrow and he huffs, sending me that annoying hot smirk. Gosh he's way out of my league.
-So do you want to? We could go out somewhere..." At the mention of going out my eyes light up and I start nodding my head like a freak. "Yes, wait - is that a no? No! Yes, -No, it's a yes right?" He looks completely confused as I jump up and down, sudden excitement swimming through me.
"It's a yes! It's a big fat YES!" I squeal and run out of the room, leaving him starring after me with disbelief.
"We're going somewhere fancy!" I hear him yell, but that doesn't stop my heart from hammering wildly in my chest with excitement.
...°...
After opening a few doors and tripping various times, I finally make it to Alice's and Chase's one room. A big double bed is displayed proudly in golden and silver silk in the middle of the lightly furnished bedroom, and the actual furniture is constituted of a white wardrobe, a white vanity, a white desk and a crystal clear bathroom that's attached to the room by a glass door. Definitely my sister's interior touch.
She's sprawled on the luxurious bed, flipping absently through what looks like the most ancient copy of a Vogue magazine she could have gotten her hands on in this house. She looks up when I come in, closing the door slowly behind me, and sends me a curious look, quickly followed by a tired smile. She sits up and leans back on her elbows, eyeing me with worry.
"Are you okay?" She asks with curious worry.
-I'm fine." I reply, suddenly charging towards her and landing on the bouncy bed. "Where's Chase?"
-He's out with Hunter and Caleb.
-Good.
-Good?" She asks, and I continue nodding frantically. She seems to finally understand my excitement and her own mood lights up. "What's going on?"
-I'm going on a date with Jay!" I exclaim, leaning on my hands and dangling my legs up in the air behind me with excitement. She looks seriously puzzled for a moment, while I struggle to keep my patience. But I feel like a balloon that's about to pop from the waiting that it takes her to understand.
-Aren't vampires a bit too old-fashioned for actual modern dating?" She asks, honestly curious.
-That's exactly what I said.
-How old is he anyway?" She presses, a small smile tugging at her lips. I stop bouncing and frown with confusion. I hadn't thought about that. I guess I thought he would be around my age, sixteen, but that wouldn't make much sense since he's a vampire and has obviously lived for many years - maybe even centuries - before I was even born. The thought makes me shiver a bit, but then his perfect and youthful face flashes in my mind and I my insides melt. Oh well, mature men are my cup of tea anyway.
"I actually don't know." I state, another question appearing, "How old is Chase?"
-Let's just say that he's older than your great-great-great grandfather." She replies smugly, attempting to place some creepy suspense in the air around us. I burst out with uncontrollable laughter.
-You're dating a grandpa!" I wheeze in between giggles and I am quickly granted with a round of horrible tickles. She has me pinned down to the bed and starts tickling me torturously on my sides, my biggest weakness of all. "Stop! Stop!" I breathe out, but she continues, laughing herself with a malicious grin on her face.
"Isn't it funny though?" tickle, "That," tickle, "Chase told me," tickle, "that Hunter," tickle, "Turned," tickle, "Jay," tickle, "first?" no more tickles. She sits back and brushes of invisible dust, chuckling at my sudden shocked expression. "Yup" She adds, popping the P. "I'm pretty sure you're the one dating a grandpa. A very hot one actually. Just add the beard and the cane and you'd have yourself your very own sugar daddy!" She falls back and laughs hysterically when I grab the nearest pillow and throw it as hard as I can at her face. It's just too soft. Everything in here is annoyingly soft and luxurious!
"Oh shut up. I came to ask for your help, so don't make me regret it." I mutter, sitting up straight. I immediately have her attention back.
"Girl, I'm gonna make you so hot that I'd have to come after him with a stake to make him keep his eyes and hands off of you!" She exclaims with excitement. At my sudden delighted smile she frowns and calms a bit down. "Actually, maybe not to much hands would be nice."
She immediately pushes me towards the vanity and begins her torture on my poor being. After two whole hours of painful twisting and turning, pulling and spraying, I finally manage to exhale in relief when Alice's high-pitched "Done!" resonates through the room.
"Sooo..." She begins, guiding me towards the mirror. "Where's he taking you?"
"I don't know... He just said that it was somewhere fancy and -" I stop mid-sentence. The girl starring back at me from the mirror with the same incredulous expression is not me.
"You look smoking hot!" She squeals quickly to avoid any second thoughts from my part, hurrying around me and giving the last finishing touches here and there. Finally noticing my quiet self, she stops and pouts, placing her hands on her hips.
"You don't like it?"
-I -I love it..." I manage to say, and she squeaks again, giggling loudly.
"This was soooo fun!" She answers back happily, clapping her hand. I just nod, not detaching my gaze from the mirror for one second. The thing is, Alice has actually managed to make me pretty. But then pretty would be an understatement. I've never felt so out of place. This isn't who I usually am. The girl in the mirror is someone else, maybe my identical twin... I twirl around but sigh when she mimicks me. I'm being so stupid. But then again, I've never felt so - so beautiful.
Alice has given me one of her old dresses that she used for dates herself: it's a heart-cut, no-sleeved, golden lace-busted dress, with a slightly puffy white skirt that stops above the knees. She's paired it with a pair of golden heels that make my legs look so much longer. My hair has been curled into natural-looking golden waves that bounce and fall elegantly down my back. The light smoky eyes make both completely different colours of my eyes pop and the lipgloss that she found in Lily's bag (don't ask, she only had lipstick for some reason) created a soft, sensual look to my otherwise frail lips. She hurried to put it back in Lily's bag where she found it from fear of losing a limb.
And by judging Jay's stunned expression when I step into the hall affirms my suspicions. When his lips tug upwards into his signature smirk, I feel my knees weakening and hurry as fast as my heels would allow it over to his side, placing a hand in the crook of his bent arm. "Shall we?" He asks seductively in a very proper English accent that makes me restrain a giggle. "We shall." I confirm, and he leads me out into the night.
...°...
THERE YOU GOOOOO!!! BE PREPARED! Just enjoy the time that they spend like a normal, cute couple. Cause things are about to go down! ;) Please Vote so this story can get RANKED.
Love you, love you, love you my wonderful readers!
-Sophia, xoxo