*Author's Note* I DO NOT own anything! Jumper (c) 20th Century Fox! I DO own Leah & Danny (Jennings) and Tyson (Johnson), so- Leah & Danny (Jennings) and Tyson (Johnson) (c) to Penmaster51, aka ME!
I decided to spend the day alone. I had also, before I left, asked Griffin for a small spare shirt. I was naturally thin and Griffin had muscle so it was kind of baggy. So I merely just tied some of it back with a rubber band. Griffin was. Also, totally against the idea of me spending the day alone. I could tell from the way he responded to me leaving but he didn't stop me. I was kind of glad but a bit more disappointed.
I remembered back in high school when you had that month or year where you told all your friends that you wanted to go wherever, whether it was Paris, Rome, or in my case, Ireland. Being a Jumper you would have had thought 'Oh, well she could have just jumped there'. Yes… and no.
I never wanted to leave my house at night besides if it was with Tyson. It was the only spot I felt comfortable and normal. I almost never wanted to leave my brother's side after Mom and Dad's deaths.
So, I decided to go to Ireland. I pictured myself on one of the beaches; the ones that on land, it was unreach able because of the sheer drop ahead of you. It wasn't as windy down here and it was quiet all except for the ocean. I stuck my hands under my armpits, held my arms close to my body and strode along the beach.
So peaceful… so quiet… so serene.
I sighed happily until I heard other footsteps. I looked over my shoulder and I saw no one. I walked a bit faster, panic immediately striking at my heart. The dead Paladin flashed painfully in my mind and I felt sick to my stomach. "Who's there?" I spun around and let out the breath I had been holding. It was only Griffin. He jumped closer, facing me.
"I didn't like where you ended up. Too far away."
I laughed lightly and weakly, still a bit shaken.
"Sorry; I didn't know it was so hard to jump half the world in under a minute." He smiled, actually smiled! I continued on walking, slightly humming to myself. Griffin decided to join me. "I thought I said I wanted to be alone," I regretted the words as soon as they came tumbling out of my mouth. He paused and stuttered, "Hey, I didn't mean-" I stopped and smacked my palm against my head.
"No, I don't mean what I said. I think I wanted to say that I'm glad you went against my orders and followed after me any way," I smiled. He shook his head and said, "Now, wait, orders? You ever said I had to follow your rules?" I placed my hands on my hips and said, "Uh, me!" He jumped.
"Uh?" I blinked and looked around, wondering where he went.
"Griff- AHHHH!" I literally jumped more than a couple yards away when he yelled nonsense behind me. Griffin stood where I had stood, laughing his f***ing little British ass off.
"That was not funny!" I shouted, half way across the beach. He stopped laughing, but he chuckled to himself. "It looked pretty funny from my point of view," he said. I turned my back on him and stomped off, a bit pissed off and a bit bubbly inside. Then he jumped in front of me, so close that the air whooshed back my hair.
"Go away, Griffin," I growled at him. He chuckled as I whipped around to walk the other way. Just as he jumped, I jumped around him. Ether by pure accident or by Griffin's will, we tripped over each other when we just about jumped to the same spot. Griffin knew I would jump around him. We were blown to the ground next to each other. I was just laughing when Griffin shook the sand out of his messy, brown hair. I laughed some more when half of his hair landed in his face.
"What?"
"You look… handsome with your hair like that," I paused. I wondered if that was going to far.
*********
Griffin felt himself trip only a little by Leah's comment. So she does like him, huh? Something stirred in his chest and he realized what he wanted: Leah. The way her body laid in the sand (and her nice curves), her filthy blond (almost brown) hair floated just barely above her shoulders in their jagged cutting at the ends.
The way her bangs that just blended into the sides of her hair… he thought she was more the most original looking person he had ever seen. Some always wanted to show off some type of their body, female or male. Everyone wanted to look like someone else, whether a best friend or a celebrity. She didn't; she just let everything be.
Also, she had guts in some ways. If she was alone, she would give up (another reason he didn't like her leaving alone) and accept fate's decision (one of her weak points) but even with him, who taunted, beat the shit out of her the first time he saw her, she fought her best.
Look at the way she saved him! She said she had a nightmare (obviously contained something to do with him), thought of Griffin and raced off to his lair to find him missing. So, she just followed after the jumpscar and rescued him. She pretty much threw herself in front of Death and him. One thing that he hated and loved at the same was the urge to protect her. Griffin knew he was selfish and knew if it were anyone else, he wouldn't care if they died or not. With Leah, he would.
Her spunky and loyal personality her laugh, the cocky look in her eyes (when she had beaten him at his own game), her jokes and sneers: he saw a lot of himself already there and growing inside her. He liked her, a lot.
But another part of his mind, his logical side, was beating up his somewhat love-struck side. She'll end up dieing like the rest of them or he would end up hurting. And with Leah, Griffin felt he could never forgive himself if she got hurt, mentally or physically. Which is why he had stayed up all night when he had rescued her from freezing all night. Not that he would have left her out there.
That night, Griffin couldn't get the sight of Leah, who was normally pretty confident around him, breakdown at the sight of the dead Paladin. He understood what angle where she was coming from. The metallic sight of blood, the way it was liquid but still kind of think to the touch. He knew that it would permanently leave a scar, a reminder of what she did to another human being. For him, it didn't bother him a little bit. But, he had almost grown up with the feeling of blood lust. She hadn't.
"Leah…" He spoke when he shoved the logically side of his mind down into the dirt.
**********
When he spoke my name, I knew he hadn't 'wandered off' on me. I felt his arm wrap around my shoulder and he pulled me closer in the sand. I giggled as he flinched from the sand being sprayed in his face; he smiled because of my laugh. So I merely slowly snuggled up to him. He lifted my chin with the tip of his hand and looked deeply in my eyes. We met half way, both of our lips going equal amounts. I hoped he noticed this was my first kiss.
Yes, my very first kiss! I was never relationship active during high school. I mean, in middle school when I had 'gal pals' (girlfriends) to chat boys about, I talked about the guys in the school at our sleepovers. But never did I feel I had a connection with anyone but Tyson, who was strictly my best friend.
The kiss was passionate but overkill. It was short and sweet; I loved it. He looked at me and I just burst out laughing when I saw it. He was taken back.
"What, Leah?"
"Oh, Griffin!" I pulled myself into a sitting position. "Hold still," he immediately froze to the spot. Just barely, his eyes followed my hands as if he was afraid if he moved something terrible would happen. I scooped up a little lizard, lowered my hand to the ground and it quickly scrambled off my hand into the sand, happy to be free of Griffin's mess-of-what-he-called hair. Griffin jumped up, scratching and shoving his hand through his hair. "I'm not laying down anymore in the sand. I don't care if you have to DRAG-" I interrupted him by kissing his lips. He immediately kissed right back and in seconds, we were on the ground. We stopped and he wrapped his arm around me, like a shield of protection.
"Drag me down, but I guess this works too."
I chuckled before we kissed again.
Over the days things it change. At first, he avoided me after the day we spent on Ireland (staying far away as we possibly could from people) and he had slept on it. He was grumpy and gone for the most of the day. I merely sat on the couch beating level after level on his video game. The game console turned out to be a PS2. But by the time he was home, he had calmed down and we hugged each other close as we fought on the game.
The day after that day, he seemed a bit more welcoming; I still slept on the couch though he was normally on the chair when I woke up. He was smiling more and more often. But that night he had gotten upset after he had lost track of one of his Paladins.
"Damnit!" Griffin swore at the computer. I looked up from a book I had bought back in Ireland. "What's wrong?"
"Paladins missing!" He slammed his fist against his desk. I jumped behind me and peered over his shoulder. I couldn't make out most of it, so I just agreed with him. "That sucks." He snorted and said, "Not only does it suck it also means I have lost the most recent connection I had too Danny," he paused for a moment. "Sorry," he muttered. I laughed and jumped back to the couch and said, "It's alright."
Danny… Danny. He hadn't been brought to my mind for a while (I still had to figure out what time and day of the week and what month it was). Now all of a sudden, this happened. A sick feeling entered my stomach and I couldn't continue on reading. Griffin jumped next to the couch, standing over me and slightly leaning on it's back.
"I'm going to find that damn Paladin."