what a woman! i.

quarante

After Carlisle gave her a bottle of painkillers and told her how many to take, Major still hadn't left. Tatum was clueless, but the others weren't. They knew what he was planning, they knew he wanted to talk to her alone. They just didn't know what about.

So, when Major offered to drive Tatum home, she was all for it. The others, not so much. But, they couldn't stop him. He grabbed the keys and retold the directions to her house after Alice wrote them down before. But, it was like a switch in Major's brain flipped. He knew where it was.

The two enter Emmett's jeep and take off towards Tatum's house. The ride was silent. She was feeling dizzy from losing consciousness. Major keeps a firm grip on the driver's wheel, hoping she'll notice that he isn't acting like Jasper.

"Jasper, is everything okay?"

It worked.

"I have something I really need to tell you," Major says, not looking away from the road. Tatum tenses up and looks between him and the road. She nods, him seeing it in his peripheral vision. He knew he was making her nervous and he loved it. He pulls into her driveway.

"Do you want to talk about it in my room? My parents are working night shifts tonight," Tatum offers. Major can hear her heartbeat get faster and faster. Major nods and the two quickly and silently head to her bedroom. She sets her jacket on a hook and takes off her boots, sitting on her bed. She pats the spot right next to her, Major complying. The two sit there for a couple of seconds before Tatum breaks the silence, "So what did you wanna talk about?"

"I'm not Jasper," Major says, giving her the truth. It was something he always did. No matter what. But, she just laughed. She laughed until she realized how serious Major was being.

"Huh?"

"My name is Major Whitlock. I was born in 1844 in the heart of Houston, Texas. I was a Confederate soldier from the ages of 17 to 19. I got in so young because I was so charming and persuasive," Major explains. He watches as Tatum's face goes blank, as do her emotions. She was truly listening. "I was on duty one night and I stopped upon three women. Their names were Lucy, Nettie, and damn Maria. She's the one that changed me."

"You're a vampire."

Tatum had stated it rather than questioned it. She had a gut feeling. After all the secret hints Paul and Sam had been trying to drop, they finally came together. Sam would call them bloodsuckers. Paul said they only ate their meats 'extra extra rare'. They never went to school on sunny days, their skin was pale, their eyes were all the same color, and of course, they were all unbelievably gorgeous. The perfect trap. It explained everything perfectly.

"You are taking this all extremely and scarily well," Major says, raising an eyebrow at her. 

"I don't understand one thing," Tatum says, looking at Jasper-not-Jasper. He motioned for her to go ahead. "Was 'Jasper' just a fake identity?"

"That is quite more complex than I may simply explain, but I will attempt to anyway," Major says, letting his full accent shine through. "My full name is Jasper Frank Whitlock. Major was my title in the army. I have two different people inside my mind. The more dominant one is Jasper Hale, the other is Major Whitlock, the one I am currently possessing. It's more or so a defensive mode. I possess the body when danger is near my loved ones. You just so happen to be one of my loved ones, lovely." 

Tatum sits on her bed, thinking about all of it. Jasper was a vampire. Jasper had split personalities. Jasper thought of her as a loved one. Jasper is about 144 years old. Jasper had kissed someone 127 years younger than him. Jasper could be the same age as her great-great-great grandpa. But god damn was he still hot. 

"So, when will Jasper return?"

"When I believe you are safe," Major says, eyeing the girl up and down. He knew she wanted Jasper back. He also knew his job. 

"Cuddle me."

He didn't know she'd say that.

"Cuddle me," Tatum repeats. "Jasper says he likes it when he can hold me. It makes him feel better."

"I don't cuddle."

"Too bad," Tatum says, dragging Major to her bed. She wraps his arms around her and lays in his lap, placing her head on his chest. His back was still stick-straight and she knew he was uncomfortable. "Relax, I'm safe with you."

Utter silence penetrates the room. 

And then a cold hand slips into a warmer one, linking their fingers together.

●○●