One second I was looking at Jackson in his lycan form and now all I can see is black
Images start going through my head. I'm looking at a shadow coming out of the forest behind a house, I turn my head to see my uncle Gio run towards the shadow to attack it. My uncle and the creature are fighting and my body won't move, I start screaming for my family to come down but when they get there everything is red and then there's smoke. I can't breathe. I'm crying, screaming, coughing. I turn around to see my aunt Jade being held back by my dad and my grandpa. I notice we are outside the house now. When I look towards the house that's burning I see the shadow again. I let go of whatever I was holding and run inside. The shadow is a lycan, a black-haired lycan with a purple pendant. I stare into it's black eyes before it bears its sharp teeth at me and runs off. I start following it but my foot hits something and it feels warm. I've forgotten by now that there's fire around me so when I look down to see something caught on fire I'm confused. I look closer and notice it is my uncle's head turning to ashes, but it's at the point of no return. I start screaming again and someone shakes me
I snap out of my nightmare and start gasping for air and pulling at my roots to make the pain stop
I feel strong arms wrap around me and I try to fight them off. I take a breath and smell Jackson so I relax against him, still crying. I remember where we are and who it is I'm with but I still can't fend off the memory
I cling to Jackson not wanting to go back to my memory as I keep my eyes shut and sob as he rubs small circles on my back to calm me down.
I lock away memories that I just can't bear with, one of those being my uncle's death. I can't remember the details of it, as in when, how, and where it happened. Most of the time I also lock away the feelings and emotions it brings on. For this specific one, I wanted to remember why I locked it off so I just left the feeling of fear and sadness, this was way better than the pain I felt before I tried to erase the memory. They are usually locked away for good but very specific things can bring them back
After a few minutes of crying, I open my eyes. My arms hurt of how strong of a grip I had on Jackson, but I felt that if I let go I would go back to the darks of my mind.
I let go of Jackson and back away for a second to pick myself up. At one point I must have fallen because we are now sitting on the grass
I look around me to make sure we are still at the lake before looking at Jackson again. His face is full of worry
I wipe my cheeks and take a deep breath and go back to give Jackson a hug again. His scent calms me down somehow. I understand why he hugged me last night and how my simple touch earlier helped
He rubs my back again, "I know you're most likely not, but, are you ok?"
I let him go and shake my head. I feel like if I start talking more tears will come out
"Do you want to talk about it?"
I shake my head again. I'm scared of wandering back into my memories
"Ok. How about we head back." He starts standing up before I grab his hand
Once more, I shake my head. I don't want to go anywhere; I want to stay here looking out to the sky and trees a little longer. Like if nothing else exists. I don't want to go back to reality just yet.
He smiles and sits down next me, pulling me up to his chest to put his arms around me
I must have fallen asleep because when I open my eyes I'm back in Jackson's car and he's driving
"You awake?" He turns his head to look at me before looking at the road again
"Yeah," I take the blanket that, I assume, Jackson put on me
"You've been sleeping for two hours now, we just left the lake"
I sit up normally now, "Thanks for carrying me to the car but you could've woken me up you know"
He smiles and shrugs, "You looked peaceful and I didn't want to interrupt your sleep"
I chuckle, "Such a gentleman"
I quickly fold the blanket, "So where are we going?"
"Believe it or not we've been out for a while so it's already 5, I think I should take you home. I'm sure you didn't text your parent you were out and you have homework"
I slightly pout and cross my arms, "Buzzkill"
He rolls his eyes and turns the radio on
We spend the rest of the drive in a comfortable silence while I hum to whatever is on the radio
Turns out I text really slow and so do my friends because the ride back home took longer than I remembered. We arrive at my house around 6
We get there and I see Sammy's car parked in front of my house
Of course she would stay and wait for me. She's so impatient
"Here we are. Thank your dad for the breakfast, it was delicious" He smiles at me
"Will do. Also, thank you for today, I don't really feel like talking about what happened, I wasn't even going to bring it up, but you need an explanation and all I can say is that it wasn't your fault. Seeing you as a lycan wasn't scary or ugly for me, it was intriguing and on its own way beautiful Jackson. I get why you might've been scared but you need to know that you can't scare me off that easily"
Even though a lot has happened I still need to guard myself and I don't know about telling him what happened but I do know that showing me his lycan form was a big deal so I needed to clear that up
He starts laughing, it sounds as if he's relieved, "Alexandra you have no idea the hell you put me through. I didn't want to bring up the lake because of what happened to you and I respect that you don't want to talk about it but I really did think it was my fault and that you would bolt any second. Please, if it happens again, which I hope doesn't, tell me if it was or wasn't me. I can't go through that again"
I send him an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry but yes I promise I won't do that again. Thank you for being the buzzkill you are because I remembered I have some very important work to do. I'll see you tomorrow?"
He smiles, "Tomorrow, same time"
I nod and exit his car, I walk up to my door and open it before turning around to see him waiting for me to get inside
"Bye" I wave my hand knowing he can hear me
With his smile still prominent he drives off
I get inside and lock the door before going up to my room. I take my clothes off and step in the shower
I feel my muscles relax as the hot water hits my skin
I hear the bathroom door open and try my best to cover myself
"Sammy, little warning next time!" I drop my hands as Samantha laughs at me
"C'mon girl this isn't the first time I walk in on you showering or see you naked,"
I scoff, "I know, I'm used to it by now because you don't know how to knock but what if it was someone else?"
"Who in this house walks in without knocking? Name one person and I'll be more careful"
Everyone goes along to what I say so they all knock, "Fine, but still don't scare me like that"
I turn back and keep washing my hair
"So," From the corner of my eye I see Sammy sit on the toilet next to the shower, "what did you guys do?"
I wince, "I'd rather not get into it but to keep you from questioning anyone else, we went somewhere beautiful and then something happened"
I see her smirk and realize what I just said and how it sounds to her
"I didn't mean...."
"Uh-huh, sure you didn't Als" She winks at me
"Be useful and get me my towels"
She chuckles and passes me the towels before going back into my room
I dry myself and my hair before going out to put my pajama shorts and a tank top, I leave my hair in a towel for a little longer before taking it off and brushing it
"So you're sleeping over?" I plop myself on my bed
"That, I am. I couldn't wait until tomorrow to get all the juicy details," She wriggles her eyebrows
I make a gagging sound and sit up
"Now don't leave anything out, spill"
"Samantha, nothing happened. After we left the classroom he said he needed to show me something, that it was important so I went with him. He just showed me his lycan form and after that nothing, we just stayed where we were for a while and came back" I really don't want to bring up what happened, I need to give myself some time
"You're so boring Als, if it was me I would have jumped him already"
I smack her leg and she giggles
"Oh please, you know damn well he's smoking hot. Don't tell me you don't even feel the urge to kiss him"
I blush fiercely of embarrassment, "Ok, he's good looking. So? Doesn't mean I'm going to have sex with him after knowing him for 2 days"
"I mean why not? You guys are going to end up together anyway," She says lightly as if we were talking about the weather
"Sammy we don't know-"
She covers my mouth with her hand, "'We don't know' my ass Alexandra, you like him, he likes you, you guys are meant for each other, you will end up together. I've already lined up names for your children and started planning your wedding too." She drops her hand and grins
I just stare at her wide-eyed. I knew she was crazy but damn she's something else
I must have said that out loud because she nods
"Ok whatever you want Sammy, I have homework for tomorrow so I'm not sleeping tonight. If you want you can put something on the tv"
"Ooooo YES, I'm re-watching The Vampire Diaries" She grabs the remote for my tv and wiggles inside my bed
I groan, "Again, really? Haven't you seen that show already like 50 times since it came out?" when I say 50 I'm not being rhetorical. I really don't get why she likes that show so damn much. We are vampires too and we are not like them so it's not like she can relate or anything
"And? Look who's talking. You've re-watched Ouran Highschool Host Club the same amount of times, if not more, because you're still waiting for a season two so you can't shame me"
I glare at her, how dare she bring up my baby, "How about you kiss, kiss, fall down the stairs"
"I don't even get what that means!"
"Ay whatever just watch your little show," I wave my hand dismissively
She grins and put the show on. I've seen it so many times with her that I already know the lines
I block the tv off with the music in my headphones as I do my homework. I've been to high school too many times to count now so doing my homework doesn't take me long
I convince Samantha to watch Ouran so she gets my joke. We spend the rest of the time binge-watching that
"Ok, Hikaru needs to watch his temper. I like him but he needs to chill. Tamaki is hilarious. Honey-senpai is officially my baby. Kyoya gets on my nerves but we cool. Mori is just there. Lastly, what the fuck is going on between the twins because that is not brotherly love. Like 'punishment games'? No. Still love them though and yes you were right it's good now can we continue?"
"What about Haruhi and Renge?" I ask
"Well Haruhi is my spirit animal and Renge is just everything and I relate cause boys," She makes a dreamy face
I chuckle. I wanted to stop half-way through to see what she thought but she wanted to keep going; I stopped it after episode 15 before things started getting better. To say she liked is an understatement
I'm about to click play when I hear my doorbell ring
I stand up, wrap my blanket around me and head for my door
"You've watched this before. Hand the remote and go" She sounds kind of threatening
I created a fucking monster
I throw her the remote and flick her off
Oh well
I put my hair up in a bun and walk down the stairs turning on a light
"Hey," I open the door to an awkward Jackson
"Hi?" I open the door further to let him in
I lead him to the kitchen so I can grab a cup of water. I finally notice the time and see it's already 1:30 AM
"You want anything to drink?" I ask looking in the fridge
"No thank you I'm fine"
I grab my cup of water and go sit next to him in the counter
"So, what has brought you to my humble abode at 1 AM?"
"You little beautiful fucker, I will slap you myself!" I hear Sammy scream from my room
"Language ladies!" My grandpa responds from wherever he is
"Sorry Gramps" She answers back
Jackson and I stare at each other for a second before we start laughing
"Samantha?" he asks nodding towards the stairs
"You bet" I chuckle
After we quiet down I ask again, "So what brings you here?"
"Right. My bookbag, your friends brought it with them, right? I just have something due tomorrow"
"The bag is on the sofa." I jump as I hear my mom from behind me
"Mom! Stop scaring me" I put my hand over my heart trying to get it to calm down
I hear Jackson laughing so I hit him upside the head
"Hey! What was that for Lexa?"
I raise an eyebrow at him; he just grins
I shake my head remembering my mom is with us
"Mom, this is Jackson. Jackson, my mother" I make it short and to the point
He puts his hand out, "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Volturi"
My mom ignores his hand and pulls him into a hug
"So formal, please call me Amelia. There are 4 Mrs. Volturi in this household, it'll be easier" She lets go and gives him a warm smile
I clear my throat, "Let's go get your bag, it's pretty late"
I need to get him away from my mom before she starts saying embarrassing things
"Sweetie it's very late, and it's dangerous to be on the road this late at night,"
My eyes widen at what I know she's offering
She turns to Jackson, "Jackson how about you stay the night? We have a guest-room down here and we also have spare clothes"
Sometimes I really wish I had a normal mother where she doesn't literally ship her daughter with the guy and is all strict about the male species
"I don't want to be a bother Miss Amelia, I'm not really tired" His statement is contradicted by a yawn he tries to hide right after
"Sure you aren't. Come on, you still have homework to do right? I'll help you out so you can go to sleep" I grab his wrist and start leading him to the living room
"Your father and I will be in our bedroom Alexandra" I hear my mom call as she closes the door to their room
"Didn't need to know that" I mumble
We find Jackson's bag and go back to sit down in the counter once more
"Your mother's very beautiful"
I smile, "Thank y-"
"I can see when you get it from" He grabs his bag and starts taking things out
My eyes widen and I feel warm
"What is this about?" I look up to see my aunt Jade in front of us
She doesn't sound mad or sad or worried, she's actually just smirking at me. Women in this household do get on my nerves sometimes
"Great, is everyone going to come down now?" I huff
"You bet we are hon" I feel my Ramona wrap her arms around me from behind
"I swear" I rub my temples my eyes
"We just wanted to come down and meet the young man we've heard so much about" Jade redirects her gaze to Jackson
I go from pink to red just like that
Jackson turns to look at me, "Lexa, I'm honored you talk about me"
"All bad Jackie, all bad" I pat his shoulder
"Wouldn't want it any other way" He smiles
I narrow my eyes at him. He's good
"Jackson these are my aunts. Jade" I move my hand to my green eyed aunt
"Nice to meet you, ma'am" Jackson bows his head respectfully
"And Ramona" I point behind me
Ramona puts a hand in front of him to stop him from talking, "Calls us by our names Ramona and Jade, we don't want to feel old"
I turn around to face her, "Says the one that's 2,000 years old"
"Oh shush" She pokes my head
"We will leave you guys to your thing," Jade by us before grabbing Ramona's arm and dragging her away
"You've met half my family now, feel special" I glare at him before grabbing his book to see what to help with
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It doesn't take us long to finish and I start feeling actually tired. My family is exhausting
"Come, you must want to sleep, I'll show you your room" I move my hand telling him to follow me
It's obvious Jackson's having a hard time keeping his eyes open. I forget just how human he is sometimes
We walk to the guest bedroom next to the stairs. I turn on the lights and there are already clothes on the bed
"You're family's very generous" He says in a sleepy voice
"More like annoying but yes. There should be everything in the bathroom if you need it, you know where the kitchen is if you want water, and if you need me by any chance just go to the last floor first door"
I was looking around the room to make sure everything was fine but I turn around when I hear light snores
Jackson's sprawled on the bed still dressed but fast asleep
I shake my head and go get my blanket from the kitchen, it gets very cold in my house and he's too heavy to move under the covers
I lay the blanket on him and make sure he's covered up
I smile looking at how peaceful he looks while sleeping, "Night Jackie"
I go back to my room taking a quick detour to the kitchen to grab a blood bag for Sammy
I throw the bag at her before plopping down on my bed, "Here you go" I mumble into my pillow
"Thank you" I hear her pause the tv, "Who was that?"
I shake my hand at her as sleep envelops me