Black & Blue |C. Cullen|

SIX

"It was easier to tell you that I'd lived in the foster system my entire life than to say 'Oh, yeah, my parents were both brutally murdered by a werewolf while we were hunting for the thing killing everyone in the village an hour from Barcelona'," I argued. "To be fair, you didn't tell me about yourself, either."

Carlisle rubbed his face with his hands and sighed, "Fair enough. Shouldn't you have known what we were at first sight?"

"I haven't even touched a weapon since I was sixteen, I haven't hunted in a decade," I shrugged.

Carlisle and I had been talking in his office for hours, Emmett and Jasper carried Aaron's body to a random place in Canada, he would have a hard time finding Washington after that. I paced around the office with my arms crossed and I would occasionally, aggressively run my hands through my hair.

"I didn't mean to put you in this predicament, I'm so sorry. He hasn't phased in years," I paced.

"Jessamine, stop pacing," he requested.

"I have to move around if you're not going to say anything, silence is never a good thing," I ran my hands through my hair.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because silence means I'm going to get hit, or worse," I cringed.

"Jessamine," he placed his hands on my shoulders and stopped me from moving, I turned my face to the side and squinted. "Jessamine, look at me," he requested. After a moment I took a deep breath, bit my lip, opened my eyes, and looked at him. "I will never lay a hand on you in any violent sort of way," he promised.

"I'm sorry," I sighed and rested my head against his chest.

"Don't be sorry," he rubbed my back gently.

"I can't help it," I admitted.

"It's all right," he soothed.

"How old are you?" I laughed and leant back to look at him, my hair fell over my shoulder.

"376 years old," he answered. "And you?"

"Twenty-three," I responded.

"You were hunting at thirteen?" He was shocked.

"My parents weren't exactly the nurturing type," I laughed.

He looked at me with a soft expression and in that moment I wanted to kiss him. I didn't, it would have been horribly inappropriate, I settled for resting my head on his chest and sighing.

"Are you tired?" He questioned.

"I haven't been able to sleep through the night in six years," I shrugged.

"You should try to now, you're safe here."

"I know, thank you," I kissed his cheek as a pardon and turned towards the door, "Buenas noches."

"Goodnight, Jessamine," he called from behind me.

I walked up to the top level of the house and found the bedroom I was staying in. I shut the door behind me, undressed, and crawled into bed.

I was cooking dinner for Aaron and I. He was happy because things had gone well for him at work that day, so I wasn't afraid. He sipped at his gin and tonic and watched the baseball game on the television while I finished stirring ingredients together. I lifted the spoon and tapped it on the edge of the pot to remove the excess liquid.

Aaron came up from behind me and forcefully pulled on my hair, I said nothing. He teeth went to my neck and he bit hard. "Please don't," I asked and attempted to get back to making dinner. He didn't stop. "Aaron, you're hurting me," I groaned and tilted my head to relieve the pressure. He tugged harder on my hair and gripped my arm.

"Aaron, please stop... Get off of me, you're hurting me!" I screamed.

I shot up in bed and gasped for air. I ran my hands through my hair and started hyperventilating. Cool hands found their way to my upper arms and I flinched. I looked over to see Carlisle.

"I'm so-rry," I panted and clutched my chest.

"You're okay, Jessamine," he wrapped his arms around me to calm me down, "You're safe."

"Oh my god," I gasped, "I'm so sorry."

"Why are you apologising?"

"You wouldn't be here unless I was making noise, which means I was screaming in my sleep, I'm so sorry."

"Jessamine, look at me," he requested. I did as I was told, tears were gathering at the brim of my eyes. He wiped them away, "You don't need to apologise, you went through a traumatic time period, it's alright."

I focused on my breathing until it returned to a normal level and then I buried my face in my hands. He rubbed my back and I ran my hands through my hair. "If it's not too much to ask, can you stay and talk?" I asked.

"Of course," he smiled and I scooted over so that he could sit down. I laid down and looked up at the ceiling. "Tell me about Spain," he requested.

"Okay. Well, I was born in Madrid, but we moved to Barcelona when I was ten. We lived in this beautiful flat in the middle of the city, it was surrounded by colour and people. I went to school down the road, I walked there every day. The Summer heat was amazing and the winter temperatures weren't too bad.

"There was so much culture, I miss that. There was music flowing through the streets and street vendors posted on every corner selling different types of foods. I would go to this one vendor by the fountain in the centre of town, she sold the best churros. Churros and coffee were a normal thing every day, that was amazing," I explained and used my hands to talk most of the time.

"That sounds beautiful," he replied.

"It was, tell me more about where you've been," I said.

"Well, I was born in England in 1640. I was turned by a vampire in the sewers at twenty-three and I ran away from home. I moved on to Italy a long while after that and worked with the Volturi, the royalty of our kind," he started.

"I've met them, they're not pleasant people," I giggled.

"Which is exactly why I moved to the States after two decades. I went to Ohio and met Esme, she was only a child then. I went to Chicago after that and met and turned Edward. After that, I went to Wisconson and found Esme again; she was an adult at that time. I turned her and after a while, we moved again and I found and turned Rosalie. Rosalie brought Emmett to us and requested to change him as well, we did.

"Years later, Alice and Jasper came to us and joined us, they had already been turned at other times. Derek came to us while we were residing in Alaska, he is closer to my age. He and Esme got married shortly after that. A few years later, we moved here to Forks," he explained.

"I don't mean to be invasive," I flipped over and propped myself up on my elbows, "but how long have you been without someone?"

He hesitated for a moment, "My entire life."

I traced his cheek, "That simply isn't possible. You're too kind, too beautiful, too caring to not have someone."

"I suppose I hadn't found the right person just yet," he commented and looked at me.

"Hadn't?" I questioned, there isn't a way he could have mistaken that word for 'haven't'.

"I think you should get some sleep," he smiled.

"Uncool, you can't just leave me hanging like that," I scowled.

He chuckled and looked back at me, took my face gently in his hands, and reached down to kiss my cheek, "Buenas noches, amor."