Jessie was first to pull away from the kiss.

"I'm sorry," was the first thing she said. "I should have- I should have asked first, or something."

He stared quite blandly at her, his lips not smiling nor frowning. In fact, he had a look of pure ignorance to everything around him.

"Edward? Please, say something."

Nothing.

"This is certainly no time to act quiet, Edward."

"Thank you." That was all. Jessie opened her mouth in disbelief.

"Thank you?"

"Yes."

"No, I mean, is that all you can think of to say? Thank you."

"Yes."

"But…why?"

"Thank you for trying. Trying to make me feel better."

"That wasn't what I was doing!" She said it too indignantly and blatantly to be thought of as polite. She bit her lip. "What I mean is…it wasn't just that."

"Then what?"

"Edward, I would have thought it was obvious." His face still did not change. She sighed. "Have you ever been in love, Edward?" He nodded his head stiffly.

"Yes."

"And…you have kissed before, right?"

"Yes."

"With her who you loved."

"Yes."

"Then…can you not see where I'm going with this?" The corner of his lip twitched in a smile.

"Yes." He paused, his lip dropping again. "But you love Tobias."

"Says who?"

"You."

"When?"

"The other night. You said you were in love, and with Tobias." She shook her head.

"I never said that."

"You did."

"Well, I know, but you forced me to."

"No, I didn't."

"You might as well have. I said I was in love, and you abused my tired state by asking if it were Tobias. I wasn't very well going to start a conversation at that moment in time, was I?" Again, the corner of his lip quivered in laughter.

"I'm sorry."

"There you go apologising again! I have never known someone to take such unnecessary times to apologise, Edward." She laughed, and reached out to stroke the hollow of his cheek. "But it's endearing, I'll give you that."

"Thank you." Jessie smiled. Yes, endearing. Then she paused, her face dropping from a smile to pure thought.

"Edward?"

"Yes?" She took a deep intake of breath.

"Do you love me?"

"Why?"

"Just answer me, Edward. Do you love me?" He looked blankly at her. Jessie almost wished to shake him.

"Answer me, please."

"I can't."

"You can't answer me? Edward, of course you can. It is a simple question."

"For you it is."

"But I am not being asked."

"You needn't be asked." She sighed.

"Edward, please tell me. Do you love me?" There was a silence. Edward lowered his head. Jessie did not need any more of an answer to create a fiery temper within her.

"How dare you!"

"Dare I what?"

"Edward, I do not care if you are slightly slow, if you do not show much emotion or if you barely know of the ways of the world, but you have no excuse for such common ignorance!" His brow furrowed.

"I'm not stupid."

"I'm not saying that, Edward, I'm saying you're ignorant."

"I'm not ignorant either."

"Yes, you are. You just keep staring like that; it's the only face I've seen on you for the past two years."

"I'm-"

"Don't you dare apologise!"

"I was only being polite." She folded her arms, and stood up, pacing quickly towards the doorway.

"I don't care anymore."

"Don't leave."

"I'm obviously not as welcome as I thought." She heard the creaking of floorboards as Edward stood.

"Don't leave," he repeated.

"Edward, I can't stay."

"I meant the attic."

"Yeah, well, I'm talking about the house."

"I know."

"And it seems you know bloody well all. I can't stay, Edward, I've made it awkward."

"No, you haven't."

"Edward, you can not even look into my eyes and tell me you love me. If I was certain you did, the perhaps…No, I have to go." He walked quickly towards her, his fingers twitching frenziedly.

"Don't leave."

"You're repeating yourself, Edward." He seemed in such a disarray that he did not even notice that he had repeated himself several times. Jessie stopped at the doorway, leaning against it, her arms still folded across her chest.

"Why should I stay?" He looked at her simply.

"I can't be alone again."

"Neither can I, Edward." She looked away for a moment, biting her lip, and then turned her head back to him. "Edward, you know my father was evil. He tortured me, he…abused me, he raped me, he did almost everything a normal father considered evil apart from killing me. I never thought I would be able to settle in. Then I met you. Sweet, wonderful you, who never laid a finger on me, so to speak. When you could have hurt me as easily as all that, you didn't." Edward looked at her, taking in every word. Once he had thought her quite finished, he nodded gravely.

"You didn't tell me that much."

"Pardon?"

"You didn't tell me your father…hurt you, that much. You didn't tell me he raped you." Jessie smiled sadly.

"Do you even know what that means?" He paused, and then nodded austerely again.

"Then you'll know why I have to leave."

"Not really." She bit her lower lip again.

"If I can't fit in here, then I can't anywhere. I'll have to go with Tobias because…well, because he'd teach me how."

"I can't help not fitting in."

"I know, Edward, I know that. But, maybe it's for the best. There might be somewhere you can- can get real hands, maybe. We could…fit in together."

"They offered me that before."

"They?"

"When I was with Kim." It had been so long, she realised, since he had mentioned her grandmother. Jessie shook her head.

"I'm going to pack." There was a split second of peace before she saw Edward's face light up with a newfound emotion of fury. His lips were pressed together in a thin line, and his eyes widened, almost glowing. His brow furrowed, and he quickly flung his blades into the side of the wooden beam that supported whatever was left of the roof. Jessie flinched slightly in terror, not fully comprehending what he was doing. Edward drew back his blade, and strode to whatever was left of his fireplace collage, tearing at it wildly. Jessie simply watched him.

"Are you finished?" she asked after a few minutes of his rampaging. Despite it, he still carried on. Jessie sighed and walked towards him.

"I think it's time to stop now…" She gently put a hand on his shoulder, at which Edward jumped fretfully. Jessie gasped out loud at a searing pain that ran down her right arm. Her mouth lay agape in shock as she stared down at the bright line running down her arm, from it spilling deep, red liquid. The two stared at each other for a moment. Jessie was the first to move.

"I should go," she said hurriedly, clutching her arm. Edward raised his blades again, as if to catch her wrist, but paused and dropped it, only shaking his head in earnest.

"I didn't mean to, Jessie, I promise."

"Just leave me be."

"I didn't-"

"I don't care if you meant it, Edward." She fled towards the door, but Edward was ever so slightly quicker. He stepped to her side, half blocking her path so she could freely have pushed him aside. She didn't. Instead she looked at him with her head tilted.

"Edward, just leave me alone."

"No."

"Edward, if you can't even speak to me properly about this then don't even bother talking to me at all."

"I'm trying to."

"You're not trying very hard." There was a moment with a simple glare coming from Jessie's eyes, but they softened within that single moment and closed as she kissed him again.

"You do love me?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yes."

"Honestly?"

"Yes."

"Edward…" Her voice trailed off. There was little more she could do. Her hands slid around his neck, after wrapping his arms around her waist. A fine breeze flew through the hole in the roof, barely changing their moods. Jessie moved casually towards the old mattress that she and Edward had shared as a bed for quite a while, in a gesture of friendly disliking towards loneliness. Not any more. They made love that night. Jessie held Edward towards him, clinging to what she now thought as her last saviour in a cruel and dark world. For a while they both forgot about Tobias. For a while they forgot about their argument. Most astonishingly, for a while Jessie forgot about the garish houses down below that she thought would haunt her forever. But they didn't. Nothing did. Not anymore.