After Jasper and she ate dinner, he gave her time to clean up and rest herself. Since she hasn't read the books Elijah got for her, might as well read it now while she's free. Speaking of Elijah, Jasper told him about what happened and was absolutely furious, taking it upon himself to make sure the boys were caught. This time, he took his time to thank Jasper for taking care of his daughter while he wasn't there.
Madelline sat on her swivel chair, her left leg tucked underneath her right leg. A breath of relief escaped her lips at the comfortable position and pulled out the books from the paper bag. Her hands skimmed the books as she studied the front and back cover before fully opening it. The immediate scent of the book engulfed her senses, causing her to close her eyes in bliss as she has always adored the scent of books since she was a child.
Silence filled her room the moment she started to read. The book was all about legends and one was able to catch her attention. The Quileute legends. According to the book, they were descendants of werewolves. It was like a fever that sets when their enemies are nearby. They shift to werewolves in order to protect the humans from any danger.
Upon flipping a page, an image stopped her from turning the page. It shows a terrifying enormous monster that is eating people. Her eyebrows furrowed in curiosity and squinted her eyes as she reads the description.
'A mask depicting the cold one,' it says.
"Cold one," she mumbles to herself at the foreign term.
In order to feed her curiosity, she closed her book and turned towards her laptop to open it. She opened a browser and typed 'cold one' in the search bar. She was beyond surprised when she saw numerous results under it. After continuously scrolling, she decided to click the one that says, 'The Cold One: Apotamkin.'
Her fingers tapped against her table as she waited for the page to load. Her eyes, however, widened when upon loading it revealed a disturbing image. Nevertheless, her interest was piqued as she begun to read their descriptions. Her eyebrow raised as she read the characteristics a cold one was supposed to have and some words stood out the most to her as it matched someone that was very familiar to her.
Deciding to disregard it for now, she closed her laptop and glanced at the clock right beside her. She still has to go to school although it's a half day thing. She grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulders and exited her room, heading straight towards their driveway and to her car.
♡
Sitting inside the library with Jasper has become a natural thing for them to do. Instead of sitting inside the cafeteria where they find it too loud and chaotic for them, they instead settle inside the library where it's the most peaceful for them.
Jasper glanced at Madelline who was busy with her book, her eyes fixed on what she was reading. He continued to steal glances from her, a soft smile gradually forming on his lips. He returned to his book with a dazed look, finding everything just right for him. He adored moments like this where they can be silent and not be awkward. He finds it therapeutic, especially when they read and discuss the books afterwards to themselves.
All of a sudden, the words Madelline was looking at earlier came into her mind, distracting her from her reading. When she tried to refocus, she knew she was doomed when she realized she has been reading the same paragraph all over again. Deciding to just settle it, for once and for all, she closed her book and turned towards the honey-haired boy beside her. She propped up her elbow on the table and leaned her cheek against her hand.
"Jaz?" She called out. He hummed in response, yet his eyes did not leave the book.
"Can I ask you something?"
This caught Jasper's attention, making him look up in confusion. He slowly nodded his head. "Sure, what is it?"
"This might come out as a weird question and would not make sense at all, but are you a Cold One?"
Jasper's eyebrows quirked up in surprise, amusement written all over his face. "No darling. I may seem like a cold person but I'm not that that emotionless or—"
"No, what I mean is, are you a vampire?"
Jasper halted and looked at her straight in the eyes. He was thankful, for once, that he was a vampire and the ability to sweat was impossible; he knew that if he could, he would have sweat gallons of it already. His fingers begun to fiddle the corners of the page of the book he was reading which didn't escape Madelline's vision.
"Hey, I'm sorry if I weirded you out and I seem rude. I'm not saying that you look like a vampire—"
Jasper shook his head and closed the book he was holding. He looked back at her with a reassuring smile. "No darling, you're good. It's just that... can we talk about it somewhere else?"
"As long as you won't hurt me," Madelline joked. "Just kidding, I know a place."
"I would never hurt you and I do hope you don't think otherwise."
♡
Madelline decided to bring him to the lake she found weeks ago. They placed their things down on the grass as soon as they arrived and removed their shoes. They rolled their pants, just right under their knees and sat down.
"To answer your question, I am a vampire since 1863. I didn't have the same upbringing my siblings had. I was vicious, lethal, and preyed on humans. A different Jasper than you are seeing right now. It all changed when I found Alice by the diner," he said.
"Wait, sorry to interrupt but even Alice?!"
"All of us are. Alice, Edward, Emmett, even Rosalie, is a vampire. I met Alice first in the diner. You see, she has a special ability where she could see the future depending on the choices they make. She was one step ahead of me. She already saw me visiting the diner, so she waited there," Jasper answered. "Ever since then, she helped me adjust to the vegetarian lifestyle which was feeding on animal instead of humans. Through her, I found out about Carlisle's coven and everything slowly became better when I met him as he became a second father figure to us all."
Madelline's eyes was trained on him as he speaks. Nostalgia flickered in his eyes as he reminisced the past but she saw how remorseful he was when he talks about his upbringing.
"It was harder for me to adjust to the vegetarian lifestyle. Ever since I was a newborn, I was taught to feed on humans and only them until it has become my nature. It went on for years and when you change what you have become accustomed to, it becomes absolutely hard. The constant temptation whenever I am in school, it was hard," a weak smile showed on his lips as he gave her a glance.
"What about now?" Madelline asked, hesitation lacing her voice, hoping she doesn't offend Jasper by asking questions. She doesn't want to come off as too nosy, especially if he wasn't ready to tell her everything.
"It was still hard, but when you came, their scents do not faze and daunt me anymore when they're around. I feel more... human when you came and felt more alive than ever. Everything just fades away except yours. Your mere presence is like a safety to me. My control has gotten better with you by my side," he answered. A soft smile playing on his lips as he looks down at his hands, afraid to meet her eyes. Of course he wouldn't be able to meet her eyes. He was discreetly telling his feelings out loud already.
She doesn't want to think about his words, but she couldn't help the butterflies flying around in her stomach in panic. She didn't know she gave an impact on him nor did she affect him that much; such happiness arose inside her as she held back a smile from forming on her lips.
Jasper turned his head to look at the girl beside him, who looked quite deep inside her thoughts. He couldn't help chewing on his lip as nervousness begun to creep inside him. He hasn't felt this way before, heck he was supposed to be confident but something about Madelline fearing him tugged his heart in the harshest way possible.
"Would she think less of him? Would she run away? Would she stay away?" His thoughts did not help in any way and decided to go for it.
"Are you afraid of me, Maddy?" His voice came out like a whisper, measuring her reaction despite not meeting her eyes.
"No."
Jasper's head shot up at his answer and looked at her with his eyes wide. Her answer obviously caught him off-guard.
"You're still the boy that I met in history class and debated with for weeks. You're still that boy who took care of me while I was in the hospital and was harassed by a group of boys. The one who gave me iced coffee after knowing how much I love caffeine," a laugh escaped her throat. "My point is, Jasper Hale, is that even if you're a vampire—God, I can't imagine saying that. Anyway, you're still the boy I know and like, okay? So, no. I'm not scared. Don't worry, I'll help control your blood lust and you can help me with my addiction in coffee," she winked at him, emitting a laugh from him.
Jasper grew silent as he let Madelline's word sink into him. "She likes me?" He thought.
"You like me?" He asked out loud and turned his body to properly face her.
"Huh? Did I say that? You're probably hearing things—"
Her eyes widened he felt a soft feeling against her lips, quickly shutting her up. Jasper's lips were perfectly in sync against hers, a perfect dancing partner if she was to describe. A smile gradually came to her lips as she closed her eyes and respond to his kiss. He was the perfect dance partner. She felt like she was in cloud, her mind emptied, her attention solely on their kiss.
Jasper soon pulled away, not too far and leaned his forehead against hers. They had their eyes closed as silence engulfs them, the only thing that is audible is their heavy breathing. Jasper pulled away and cupped her cheeks, running the pad of his thumb against it.
"No words can possibly articulate how much I like you darling. I'm beyond ecstatic to know that you feel the same way," he softly replied. His eyes scanned her face up close, memorizing every little details it has.
Madelline couldn't help but feel beyond happy upon hearing him as she leaned her face even more into his hands, not knowing how it almost melted his insides. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Jasper pulled away, much to her dismay, and stood up. He walked over to the lake where the sunrays were while he was still clad in his jeans.
"Where are you going? You'll get soaked!" She shouted. Jasper only looked back with a grin covering his lips. Madelline closed her lips as she admired the view in front of her. Her trance got broken when Jasper called out her name and beckoned her over.
"Come here! I wanna show you something."
Madelline stood up from her place and dusted off her pants before walking towards Jasper. He stood patiently where the sun won't hit him and begun to open his buttons when Madelline stopped in front of him. Her eyes widened upon what she saw and quickly covered her eyes, yet opened it a bit to peek.
"Hey! Keep it PG please," she told him while still covering her eyes. Jasper laughed and continued removing it one by one. After unbuttoning all of it, he looked up at her with a soft smile on his lips as he watched at how she slowly removed her hands in awe.
"You do realize you're sparkling right?" She asked, her eyes flickering between his glistening upper body and his eyes. A dilemma was starting to form when she couldn't pick whether she would stare at his chest or his eyes.
Jasper chuckled and nodded. "Yes, I'm completely aware, Maddy."
"I have so many questions to ask and would find this funny but your abs is kind of distracting," she commented before begrudgingly tearing her eyes away from his body to look at him properly.
Jasper couldn't help but laugh before a sudden thought came into his mind. A mischievous grin suddenly appeared on his lips to which Madelline noticed and begun stepping away when he decided to lunge at her and pulled her in with him into the lake.
They spent the rest of the day playing around in the like and went home with big smiles on their faces despite their wet clothes clinging to their body.
♡
HOW WAS IT? I CAN IMAGINE THE WHOLE CONFESSION THINGY OMG idk i find it cute T__T anw hi!