[closed thread/completed]

[bellatramonto]

WHO: Bella and Jasper
WHAT: Ghost in the Graveyard
WHERE: The city graveyard, a.k.a the shadiest, but most peaceful place around
WHEN: Thursday afternoon

Comments

[bellatramonto]

Bella shrugged. She didn't know what else to say as they walked towards the tall iron gates of the graveyard entrance.

"I guess."

She looked down at her toes which were thonged in flip flops. The water inside them made them make squishing sounds every time she took a step.

"I mean, I ruined the day, obviously . . . by cutting myself."

[insanguinato]

"After all that, you're worried about the rest of the day?" Jasper repeated, incredulous. "Aren't you at least a little weirded out? A little worried? A little scared?"

Even as he asked, he knew she wasn't; he would know the instant that she was. And maybe that was what was throwing him off about this whole thing. No matter what he did, or nearly did, she took it all in stride as if there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about it, and he wasn't used to that.

"The cutting was a bad idea," he continued with a sigh a moment late, running a hand back this hair. He already knew what her answers would be. "Don't ever do that again, all right? Don't even come near me with a small wound. I don't have the best self-control, and I might not be able to stop myself again."

[bellatramonto]

Weirded? Worried? Scared? By what? Bella was missing the cautionary gene that showed up in most people when danger was near. To Bella, Jasper was just . . . Jasper. He was that handsome Adonis who wanted to be her friend and yet kill her. The sacrifices he made were an inspiration to her.

"I will be careful. I very seldom . . . bleed."

She looked over at him with an unreadable expression. The statement was like her way of saying that she could be with him more often.

[insanguinato]

Jasper met her eyes and sighed again. She really was impossible to drive off. Which was just as impossible for him to understand.

"Why aren't you scared of me?" he asked bluntly, but in defeat, not as a challenge. "I understand that you trust me not to hurt you, even if I think you give me more credit than you should. But earlier you weren't actually frightened of me, just...alarmed. Doesn't what I do and what I am bother you at all?"

He usually kept to himself because people tempted him, but it was also because he knew there was something off about him that they noticed and shied away from. Bella was the first who didn't. Her crush was normal, he knew how he looked to people, but she actually didn't feel any type of revulsion or caution the way others did. It was completely throwing him off. And it made him curious, too.

[bellatramonto]

Jasper's questions and statements made Bella laugh out loud. He would think she was crazy, but whatever. It was funny to her that he still wondered why she was drawn to him after all this time.

Feeling incredibly sassy all of a sudden, Bella swaggered over to him when the two of them had reached the gates, and she came daringly close to his face.

"I'm not scared of you at all," she said softly, staring at his lips. If she wasn't so damn set on making him uncomfortable, she would have kissed him. Not that, that wouldn't make him go ballistic.

She made it a point to breathe on his bare shoulders, though she was sure her breath smelled rotten.

"I think I just want to trust you so bad."

The statement was part of the game, but there was also a serious undertone to it - like Bella unconsciously believed it.

[insanguinato]

Jasper froze when she came so close, tensing when she leaned in, and actually shivered when he felt her breath on his skin. For a single long, yet fleeting moment he thought she was actually going to kiss him, and his stomach flipped alarmingly at both the idea and her nearness.

When she didn't step back again he had to force himself not to instead, though he tried leaning away a little. Up close like this her scent came through the graveyard stench, and even though it made it difficult for him to think, he recognized the challenge in her eyes. He had to swallow thickly before he could reply.

"Well. That doesn't make any sense either. You barely know me."

Giving in, he took one small step back. People weren't normally that forward with him. He had personal boundaries, was all.

[bellatramonto]

Bella resisted the urge to roll her eyes when he stepped away. That much was predictable, and she knew him well enough to know that.

"Maybe you're scared of me," she jested, stepping closer again. The stone column holding the gate door was directly behind him, so he couldn't continue moving away forever.

There was something endearing about him. She was just setting a trap, yet she was falling victim to it herself. The more she looked at those lips, the more she wanted to feel them.

[insanguinato]

It was impossible for Jasper not to notice the ways Bella was looking at him, or the warm feelings of desire bubbling up in her, or the way he had to struggle to keep them from tangling in and coaxing out his own. The one downside he'd found to his ability was that it was nearly impossible to keep someone else's feelings from influencing his own, and while he was mostly sure it was all her, a niggling thought in the back of his mind kept him from being positive.

"I am not scared," he argued, and felt the cool stone near his back just before he pressed against it. He knew he could slip away from her if he wanted, but that would be running, and she was just trying to intimidate him. Hopefully.

[bellatramonto]

She wanted to smile but restrained herself. Seeing him squirm like this was more uplifting than Valium. Here he was, the blood-sucker, afraid of getting too close to a girl.

"Are you afraid I have cooties?" she muttered, stepping closer still- until her chest was almost pressed against his. Would he run now?

The sight of his discomfort was pleasing. It meant that he truly was more human than he let on.

He looked painfully attractive to her just now. She could have written a whole Shakespearean play about it in one hour, if he stood still that long.

[insanguinato]

"No," Jasper scoffed, flush against the wall now but still was too close. He could feel the body heat radiating from her through the thin material of his undershirt. The urge to slip away was rising, but he refused to give her the satisfaction. Instead he curled his hands around the corners of the weathered column and anchored himself to it.

"What are you doing?"