Dangerous - Jasper Hale

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
"So, not that I don't appreciate a little bit of air now and then, but why are you so eager to get outside?" Alex said while watching the boy who was standing by the backdoor of Alex's house. Jasper shrugged.

"I suppose I have things to show you, explain," he said, making her turn her head slightly.

"So, I take it that vampires don't burn up in the sun then?" she said, seeing him shake his head.

"No, myths. Come on, I'll show you." Alex was tying the last bit of her vans, before following him outside in the sunlight. He was still wearing the hoodie, covering him up completely.

Jasper looked around to see if there were any people around, but quickly realized that Alex's backyard was surrounded by a big forest, making it impossible for any neighbors to see what was going on. He then turned around towards Alex and grabbed one of her hands while backing out towards the grass. The moment the vampire stepped out of the shadow created by the two-story house, Alex gasped.

The sun that hit the skin of his face reflected off of him as if he was made entirely out of diamonds. He let her hand go as he zipped down his hoodie and took it off, buttoning down his dress-shirt soon after.

Alex was merely mesmerized by his appearance, then she noticed the scars that covered the most-part of his torso, neck and arms. Her lips parted slightly as she walked over to the boy and traced her finger over what seemed to be bite marks.

"How come I've never seen these before?" she said with a light voice while looking up at him slowly.

"They are, much like my skin, only visible under a strong light. That's why we can't show ourselves out in the sun - not because we turn into a small pile of ash, we become-"

"Incredibly beautiful disco balls," Alex murmured while tracing one of his scars, making him laugh while looking down at the girl. "Are these from your time in Texas, with Maria in the vampire wars?" Jasper nodded, meeting her gaze as she looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, before directing her gaze to his neck, where the scars seemed to be the most concentrated. She felt a strange mixture of emotions, overwhelming sadness for the man being one of them. Alex wrapped her arms around Jasper's bare back and hugged him tightly, feeling him rest his arms around her as well, making her feel safe. It felt extreme that he, even though he was a vampire, could survive something like that.

"If you only knew how many lives I had to take to stand here with you today Alex," he almost whispered while leaning his forehead down into her red hair. She looked up at him and saw that his eyes were closed, he was quite obviously thinking about the lives he'd taken.

"Sometimes... it's kill or be killed. I'm glad you're here with me," Alex said, seeing him opening his eyes to look at her too. He pressed his lips to her forehead, making her close her eyes.

Then all of a sudden, rain started to fall from the sky that had been open and blue just a while ago. It was now covered in thick, dark clouds. Alex looked up as she'd been taken by surprise by the sudden change, as she heard the thunder making an appearance far away from them.

She started laughing out of sheer surprise, seeing Jasper react like herself, smiling at the girl. Her hair was already soaked from the intensity of the rain that was falling, just like Jasper's blond curls. She grabbed his hand and headed towards the door, and they both got inside the house while chuckling at the sudden surprise of exposure.

Jasper started to button up his shirt again, which was soaking wet by now just like everything else they were wearing.

"Okay, I seriously need to go change," Alex said, looking down at her wet skirt and soaked t-shirt. Jasper chuckled.

"Well, I think I have to head back. I'm going hunting with the rest of my family," he said, while gesturing to his eyes which she'd noticed earlier were slightly darker than usual. Alex nodded.

"Will you still be able to come tonight?" she said while looking at him intently, raindrops rolling down his face from his wet hair.

"Yes, you've never seen a vampire run right? I'll be back before you know it," Jasper said while smiling broadly. Alex chuckled while hitting him loosely on his arm.

"You bragger," she said, making the boy smirk.

The sound of the front door opening caused the two of them to turn their heads. Petunia entered the house and quickly made her way over to the kitchen, where she put down the brown paper bag filled with groceries she'd been holding. When she turned around and spotted Alex and Jasper she jumped, not expecting them to stand there. She then smiled widely.

"Alex, Jasper, how are you doing?" she said, giggling slightly. Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Gooday Mrs. Taylor," Jasper spoke formally with half a smile on his face.

"We're good, how was grandma?" Alex asked. Her parents had been visiting her grandmother Susan, as they did quite often since her husband passed away, just to help out around her house since it was far too big for her to take care of by herself.

"She's fine, she just needed some help to fix in her garden and a little bit with cleaning. So, what have you been up to? You're all wet," her mother answered.

"We were out on a walk and then it just started raining out of the blue," Alex responded, Jasper nodding while looking at the redhead who was speaking. Petunia smiled widely.

"So, what are you going to do now then kids?" Petunia said, almost making Alex snort when she uttered the word 'kids,' since Jasper was about 120 years older than her.

"Well, I think Jasper was about to leave, and I have to clean my room," Alex responded.

"Too bad, just know you're always welcome here Jasper," Petunia said, making Jasper respond with a simple 'thank you'. Alex noticed that the blond boy was being quite curt in his answers, looking at him she realized that his eyes darkened significantly.

As Petunia turned around to start picking with her groceries, Alex followed Jasper outside the front door. "I'm sorry Alex but I have to go, I need to-"

"I get it. I'll see you later," she said, making him smile. He leaned down and hugged her tightly. Her stomach fluttered like it did every time he touched her or even looked at her, but she knew it was hard for him. "Jasper, you don't have to touch me. I don't want to make anything harder for you."

"I'm fine, as long as you're here," he said, before walking away and getting inside his car. He quickly started the vehicle and backed out from her driveway. Alex, once again, stood there and looked after him until he was gone and not visible anymore.