***Jasmine's Pov:***
"But why Jasmine!!?" Rosie asks as she tries to sort all the variables out.
"Something's missing here. There's still one vital piece of information that we still don't know." I say as I start pacing up and down." It's like were reading the story but we can't understand."
"All I know is Mike Hobbs is gonna get a piece of my mind, and I'm gonna send the message through my fist!" lucas says as he unconsciously curls his hand into a fist.
"That's if we find him." Jed points out. " Shane is still at the Hospital."
I wince at his name. The thought of Shane wanting to make sure I was okay that night, and getting caught by the serial killer, and the guy practically took a knife for me, and almost bled to death, it actually makes me feel like there's more to this guy than just his hacking skills.
"Yeah, well as soon as he gets back, we're finding this"Mike Hobbs" guy and we're making him pay big time for even thinking about messing with one of us. Especially Jasmine." Lucas is almost screaming now.
"I could take care of myself Lucas," I say kind of disturbed.
"And that's exactly why I have to stay with you for a while." He says casually.
"Yeah, and that's why you're gonna get kicked in the shins real hard if you dont back off," I say mimicking his tone.
I feel my arm getting yanked to the front, and my body just practically dragged to the copy Room.
The copy room is a room smaller than I would've liked to be standing in right now. It has every printer needed for the CIA. The ordinary printer, printer that prints blue prints, maps, etc...
And guess who I was dragged by? That's right... Luacs! He pushes me hard on the wall, and locks his arms around me. His face inches firm mine.
"When are you gonna start improving your attitude with me Jasmine?!" lucas says. I can almost see the flames burning bright in his even brighter blue eyes.
I just look at him. I'm not gonna answer him. I don't want to answer him.
He slams his hands hard on the wall. I am deafened by the noise since one, his hands are right above my ears, and two, he slammed his hand that hard, I actually see them get red.
But he doesn't flinch. But neither do I.
He holds my gaze for a while, and then drops his hands in what I think is defeat.
"Jasmine this is serious,okay? I don't want you getting hurt. That low-life is still out there, and I swear I will rip him to pieces if he just tries to look at you." His blue eyes turn a shade darker.
He's...nice. But I'm not buying it.
"I really appreciate your growing concern, but I can take care of myself." I say as I make my way back to our section.
I see Jed showing Rosie something on his computer, and she starts laughing. I just grab my things, and start to head out. I reach out to grab my car keys as a hands takes them away form me.
"I'm driving you," lucas says as he doesn't even glance back and makes his way out of the building.
****************
Halfway to my house I tell lucas to take left instead of the usual right.
He asks why, and when we are far enough for him to not be able to turn back I say," I wanna go see Shane."
I see as Lucas's jaw clenches. "Why?" He asks.
Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner for the "Most stupid Question of the century" award.
"The guy got stabbed trying to warn me that a serial killer was going to kill me!" I say frustrated at how calm he is about the whole "Shane almost died" situation.
"No one told him to." Lucas says with a shrug.
"Just shut up and drive!" I tell him as I give him the coldest glare I can manage, and decide to ignore him...for the rest of my life!
We make our way inside the hospital and as which room he's currently in. We are met by a nurse who tells us his condition is getting better, and he'll be out as soon as possible.
I open the door, and make my way in. Lucas grabs my hand, and I just freeze.
"What in the name of hell do you think you're doing?" I ask him.
"I don't want you to feel alone." He says.
Oh please!! Give me a break! Now he cares about me!? Oh, bit just that! He thinks I have loneliness problems!
I remove my hand from his in any way but gently.
"Just spare me the trouble and stay outside or go home. I can take care of myself." I enter the room, and close the door behind me.
He's speaking on the phone, but I am greeted by the widest smile ever as he tells whoever is speaking to him to call him later.
He tries to sit up straight and manages easily.
"Judging by the fact that you sat up straight without even wincing tells me that you're feeling better." I say as I sit at the edge of the bed.
"I'll be out tomorrow morning" Shane says, the smile never fading away. As if hasn't almost been stabbed to death.
"Now that we've gotten the sentimental part out if the way....WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?" I say as a laugh escapes his lips.
"No Shane, I'm serious!" I continue," If you had just sticked to the plan, all this wouldn't have happened!"
"Yeah, but if I had stuck to the plan, you would've been the one in the hospital not me. And I couldn't ever let that happen." his eyes are deep with genuine concern as he cups my cheek with his hand.
His fingers feel so warm against my skin, and I'm trying my best not to forget why I'm here, and it's clearly not working.
"I just came to make sure you're okay, and make sure you know how stupid you are," I say as I get up.
"Yup, noted! I'm really stupid, got it." He says as we both laugh.
"Well, see you at work," I say as I wave goodbye and he returns it with a smile.
I make my way out, and of course Lucas is still waiting outside for me.
"Is he okay?" He says. Looks like he ran out of poison to drench all over his words every time he speaks!
I ignore him as I make my way back to the car, and I feel him trying to keep up with my pace.
The way home is quiet. Well, Lucas tries to talk to me a few times, but stops after realizing I'm not gonna be speaking to him anytime soon.
We reach my house, and I race to my bed after Bud greets me with a huge lick. I just flop on my bed, and fall asleep directly, as if not a care in the world.
***********************
I wake up to continuous knocks on the door, and my cell phone going crazy. 25 missed calls from "the douchebag" aka Lucas. I check the time, and I see its 2:15 a.m.
Another series of knocks sound from downstairs. I head down, half walking, half stumbling down.
I open the door, and I see lucas standing there.
I start shutting the door. What do you know...natural reflexes.
He stops the door with his hand, and makes his way inside.
"I know you're angry, and I know you don't want to talk to me, so let me do the talking." He continues," I wanna take you somewhere."
And as if he read my mind he continues," yes, right now. Just get dressed, unless you wanna head out in half a shirt and what seem to be shorts." He says as a smirk plasters on his lips. He's clearly enjoying the view.
I head upstairs and put on whatever I manage to find in front of me, and head back down.
"Where are we going?" I ask.
"It's confidential," he says with a wink. And I am reminded by the time we first met when we headed to the beach, and I wanted to know something...anything about him, and he would just say it's confidential.
"This is for you," he says as he hands me a rose. A red rose.
No one's ever gone through the slightest trouble for me before so I can't help but smile.
As I try to decipher where we are heading, I catch him looking at me a few times, and then smiling.
He stops the car at a cliff, and we get our of the car.
I am awe-struck by the breathtaking view of LA's city lights ahead of us. And the bright full moon, the star-filled sky, and silence of the night makes it ten times better.
"Jasmine, Im really sorry for acting like such a douchebag this afternoon, really I am." his blue eyes turn a shade darker once again."Its just..."
"What's wrong with you and Shane?" I say quickly.
He's caught off-guard for a second there. "Nothing," he lies.
I raise my eyebrow and make the "lie to someone with your knowledge" face.
"Fine," he admits," It's stupid, but that's the second time he hasn't stuck to my plan, and the result was the same, he ended up in the hospital."
He continues," I just don't like it when the plan fails because of him. I wouldn't like it if the plan failed because of Jed or Rosie either. So nothing's wrong." He says." On the contrary, Shane is like a brother to me."
I nod my head. He runs back to the driver's seat, and turns in the radio to a slow song.
"Oh,no! No, no,no!" I say as I go back to turn it off. Instead he grabs my waist and pushes me back gently.
"Why do you have to make everything so cheesy!?" I say. I can't help but smile...like a maniac!
"Because..." He says with a shrug, followed by a smile. He actually looks really good when he smiles, and I realize for the first time, that he's got dimples.
Why does he have to make it so hard! Dimples and a six-pack?!
Oh good lord, help me!
He pushes me towards him gently, his hands resting on my waist.
"Bub, do you forgive me?" He asks.
I smile, wanting to test his patience yet again.
"No," I say.
His lips now on my ear, he replies,"wrong answer, try again." He says as he brushes a loose strand of hair out of my face, and places it behind my ear.
"Bub, do you forgive me?" He repeats. His hands are still on my waist as he pushes me even close to him, our lips inches apart.
"yes," I say.
He releases that dangerously beautiful smile out of its cage. He keeps one hand on my waist and grabs my other hand with his free one, as he sways me to the music.
"You better appreciate this, okay?" I say.
"What? That you're enjoying this?" He smirks.
I don't admit it to him...but I am actually enjoying this.
I reply," you better appreciate that I woke up at 2 a.m., agreed to get dressed, go with you, and the fact that I'm actually dancing!" I continue," and I don't dance okay?"
He just smiles and pulls me closer to him.
We stay like that for a while, just casually swaying to the music.
We lean on the front of the car, talking and laughing, our conversation ends up about something related to marshmallows and koala bears. Yeah, don't even ask.
I rest me head on his shoulder, and I can feel my eyelids getting heavier.
Lucas puts those muscles of his into use, and slides one arm under my legs, and another up my back, lifting me upwards as I lean my head on his chest. He feels so comfortable...yet again!
He carries me back to the car, and gently puts me down.
***************************
I wake up smiling...now that's a first!
Last thing I remember is luacs's apology, and his cheese music, and....Oh my god!
I look next to me...he's not there. I search the room...also no sign of him. I guess he's becoming less of a douchebag ever since last night.
I get dressed and make my way downstairs to the kitchen, and grab a slice of pizza. Yes...that's my breakfast!
I see Bud happily swaying his tail as he tries to tackle me to the ground wanting to have a clear target of the face he's licking.
He then drops the newspaper at my feet. I pat his as I pick it up.
There's usually nothing very interesting there except....WHAT IN THE NAME OF HELL!
I glance at the headline which is something about drugs and a gangleader. But what really captured my attention was the picture underneath.
It was of a guy which I'm guessing is the gangleader, but only part of his profile. And in the background a girl. She has her back to the camera, but I'd know her hair anywhere...it's Scarlett!
But what is she doing? She was at her grandma's. At least that's what she told me.
I quickly grab my car keys and head to the office, wanting to attempt to find out what's happening.
I'm not surprised to find Jed and Rosie there. Shane has come back from the hospital as well. They all greet me with wide smiles.
I hold up the newspaper and ask," What do you know about this?"
"Just what we're trying to figure out," Jed tells me.
"Yeah okay, but who the hell is that!" I say pointing at the guy in the picture.
Rosie replies," Daniel. Most Wanted gangleader in all LA. Never had a clear shit of him, always part of his profile or a blur" she says pointing to the picture.
"okay... But why the hell is my best friend in the background!!" I say impatiently.
Shane takes a closer look," we can't be sure that's Scarlett. See, that incident was at an opening celebration for an orphanage. Many people were there, so nightie just been someone in the background. Not necessarily her."
He speaks as if he's absolutely positive of every single word he said.
My thought is pushed away as Lucas quickly enters.
He blurts out," Mike Hobbs has joined a gang. We're not sure which, but do you know what that means?"
I try to sort the information out and realize what he's talking about," means possibly more killing, and that my death is now certain since not only one but a group of gang members are out to kill me."
Awesome!
I'm just really sick of this. People getting hurt because of me. And where the hell is Scarlett I really miss her, and I really need to talk to her about all this craziness going on!
Shane gets up from his chair and mentions for me to follow him as he grabs his car keys.
Maybe he's gonna be the friend I need to talk to.
"What's wrong?" I ask him as we exit the building.
"What's wrong is that it's too much pressure, and it's clear you're gonna go blow if you don't relax." He says as if he's made himself clear.
"Okay and...?" I say sarcastically.
"We're going out for ice cream." He says as he opens the door for me to get in.
He laughs at how my face lights up at the sound of those 2 splendid words.
It's almost a 5 minutes drive to the ice cream shop.
We enter, and just the view makes me forget all trouble going on in my life. Including the fact that I might die!
"What's you're favorite flavour?" Shane asks as he scans through the available ones.
"Cookie dough!" I half scream as my eyes light up with delight as if I were a little kid receiving candy.
He laughs as we take our ice cream cones and make our way to walk on the beach.
So turns out, there actually is more to Shane than I thought. He got caught hacking the CIA, and actually almost getting away with it. But no one was ever able to do that before, so he was-without hesitation- welcomed into the CIA.
His favorite ice cream flavour is chocolate, and favorite color is green.
"Now your turn," he tells me. "What was the most embarrassing moment of your life?" I can see the mischievous smile creeping in his lips.
"Pass!" I say as we walk on the sand. It's actually not bad, the beach thing. I remember when lucas took me to the beach first night we met. Didn't turn out so well as I remember how I kicked him hard at tackled him to the ground.
"You can't pass," Shane says.
I give him a playful punch on his shoulder. He laughs as he pretends he got hurt.
"Fine! Most embarrassing moment...got a pen and paper, because it is a long list!" I say as he starts laughing.
He looks at me and smiles.
"What!?" I ask.
"Nothing," shane replies," It's just you got a little something," he says pointing at my mouth. "here!" He says.
He raises his hand and places it on my cheek as he wipes away the ice cream form my mouth.
Shane keeps his hand on my cheek, and holds my stare for a while. I never realized how deep his eyes were. I smile at him, and he returns it. We just stand there smiling, his hand cupping my cheek.
I hear a very familiar voice saying "Jasmine?"
I turn around to find...Oh crap! It's Lucas!