Chapter 5

Monday crawled around slowly as Lily's ankle healed. She had spent the weekend hobbling around her house (with the occasional help from Jasper) and battling boredom. However, now she was at work and dearly wished she was back at home curled up in her thick duvet. Currently working the night shift at the diner Lily made sure to focus on her duties and not the rowdy group of men in the corner.

They had turned up twenty minutes ago, laughing and stumbling slightly indicating they had had a few to drink before entering the establishment. Other than the group of men, there was only an elderly gentleman and a man in his thirties who was a truck driver and apparently a regular here to eat a full fry up and stock up on coffee before he went back to work.

Lily kept glancing at her watch, counting down the minutes until the end of her shift. She tried very hard to not pay attention to the noise emitting from her right. They had been throwing compliments her way whenever she had to be at their table, and not friendly compliments either so she didn't feel all too comfortable waiting on the drunks.

Just five more minutes. Thank goodness she hadn't been working here long, she thought. That meant she didn't have to lock up, she hadn't garnered enough trust to be given the keys yet. She wouldn't be left with the group of five alone. Peering at said men the brunette slowly started to back up as she counted down from thirty. When she hit ten she put the tray down and untied the apron covering the lower half of her body. Screw getting a tip, she thought, she wanted to go home.

Her main goal was to leave before they did. She did not feel good about walking home in the dark and bumping into that particular group. Grabbing her belongings, waving goodbye to Maria and Derek (the head chef) Lily slipped out of the back, pulling a scarf out of her bag to help ward off the chill from the cold night air.

Looking up at the sky the young woman grimaced. From the grey clouds looming overhead she just knew the heavens were about to open soon, and if she didn't hurry she was going to be walking through a rain storm. That was the last thing she needed, to get soaked and become sick. Half walking, half jogging Lily finally made it back home but not in the state she would have liked.

The rain had started, and she had been drowned in it.

Shivering, Lily peeled off her dripping clothes before jumping in the shower. Flinching as the heat of the water battled with her cold skin, Lily kept ducking in and out until she warmed and became tolerant to the heat of the water coming from the shower head. She stayed there until she couldn't anymore. Wrapping a fluffy towel around her shaking body she did the best she could to hurry with dressing.

Getting out of the shower was a torture session Lily didn't think anyone should experience. Crawling into bed Lily snuggled up to her pillow as she continually yawned into it. Ignoring the part of her brain that scolded her for not shutting the curtains (and therefore was going to have a rude awakening the next morn) Lily drifted into a peaceful sleep.

A couple of days later and Lily was curled up on her couch with a thick duvet, a movie on the TV, tissues on the table, a cup of tea in hand and a red nose. She had developed a cold. She also seemed to have a slight fever. Her skin was warm and clammy, with a headache to boot.

Sniffing, the sickly girl sipped her tea as she frowned. She swore she just heard her front door opening. Yep, and there it was being closed. Then she heard her name being called. Ah, Jasper. His head popped into the sitting room with a concerned frown on his face.

"How are you feeling?" he questioned, entering the room fully. He had a bag in his hand which he deposited on the table when he took a spot next to her on the couch. Lily just groaned. "Yeah, you look like you could do with a good sleep." What a lovely way to tell her she looked awful.

"You should go before you get sick too." Lily said hoarsely. Jasper just smiled and shook his head.

"I've learned it's notoriously hard for me to get sick." he informed. Lily just rolled her eyes, well good for him. "I'm sorry you're not feeling well, and on your birthday as well." Lily blinked. How did he know it was her birthday? Even she had forgot she was turning twenty-three today. "I got you something."

Reaching forward he grabbed the bag he had previously placed on the coffee table. Removing her mug from her hands he switched it with the bag. "Oh, thank you." she wheezed. Jasper shrugged with a half smile as she peered inside.

"I admit Alice helped me. She apparently saw you looking at things similar on one of the shopping trips you two went on." Jasper explained as she pulled out a large blue box. Inside was a crystal cube with a 3D butterfly etched in the centre. There was also a stand for it that lit up and would send light out through the crystal too. "I noticed you seem to like butterflies. You have a picture of one in your room and a small butterfly tattoo on your left wrist."

"Thank you. It's beautiful." Lily breathed with a pleasant smile. It looked expensive too but she didn't verbalise that thought, she didn't know if it would be rude or not. She didn't want to sound like she was just finding something to complain about and not seem grateful. Lily carefully repackaged her gift and held her hand out to take the boys beside her. She would have given him a hug, but she didn't want to risk getting him sick, no matter how strong his immune system seemed to be.

Jasper stayed for the rest of the night, seeming perfectly fine with taking care of her for the time being. His weird family trait of having cold skin came in useful that night when she would become too hot, simply placing his hand on her forehead and immediately cooling her down.

They watched movies and Jasper made her dinner. He was rather nervous about it and apologised if it wasn't any good, claiming he had never tried cooking before though it didn't seem to truly matter, Lily's taste buds had apparently died along with her sense of smell so the girl wasn't a good judge on whether his cooking abilities were poor that evening.

Jasper was a very good carer. Mostly in the aspect he never complained and seemed rather happy to look after her up until Lily fell asleep around eleven that night. Hesitating for only a moment he slipped his arms around her before making his way upstairs. Entering her room the blond carefully placed his patient on the bed, unwrapping her and placing the duvet back on her properly.

Placing his cool hand on her head for a few moments before closing the drapes, he made his way back down the stairs and made quick of cleaning the place up. He didn't want her waking up to a dirty house when she was unwell. Making sure to lock the door before he left Jasper paused to check on Lily's breathing. Heavy due to the congestion but otherwise fine. With that he left to his own home.

It wasn't until Friday that Lily recovered and was back at work. She still felt slightly sluggish but she could breathe again and didn't feel like she was going to drop at any second. Jasper and Alice had been a big help. Alice had arrived the day after to deliver her birthday present and had stayed the entire day just like Jasper had the day previous. They had done their utmost to make her feel comfortable and rested.

Lily had, eventually. She wasn't used to someone else looking after her. It was a foreign concept for her, letting someone else care. Nobody had before so it was completely a brand new territory. She still felt out of place with it but she had calmed down and just let them get on with it.

She had apolgised to Maria for taking nearly an entire week off work not long after having getting the job, but the older woman brushed her worries aside and simply told her everybody gets sick sometimes and there wasn't anything she needed to say sorry for. She was better now and that was all there was to it.

Sunday rolled around and Lily found her self walking once more with Jasper, only to escape back to her home when the rain paid a visit. So now she was sat on her bed, Jasper beside her as the rain and howling wind sounded from outside her bedroom window.

Jasper had been acting weird all evening, well more than usual. It wasn't a lie to say Jasper, and all his family, were more than a little strange. Not necessarily in a bad way but they were different. For starters the weird gold and black eyes. One day they had black and the next they were gold. The cold skin. The type of cold as though they had been stood in the freezing cold for far too long. The way Jasper would act oddly with her by pulling away from her in an odd manner (though that could be expalined away by behavioural means), the way he seemed to always know how she was feeling and the handful of times she would suddenly feel calm or relaxed or happy whenever she was near him and it would come out of nowhere. It didn't happen with any other member of his family, just him. Though his brother Edward had at times seemed to know exactly what she was thinking which she didn't like.

There were many other small things Lily could list but could also be explained simply by it being apart of their personality, but there was definitely something odd about the Cullen family.

"Jasper?"

"Hmm." Said person gave her a smile as he turned his body to fully face her. Lily gave a small smile in return.

"I was just wondering what's on your mind?" she told him, causing him to frown. "You just look like you've been thinking heavily about something since we met today that's all."

"Oh, um, yes." Jasper stammered making Lily pause. She had seen the teen be shy, even slightly uncomfortable before but she had never seen him so out of sorts that he actually stammered. He chuckled, running a hand through his long hair. "I don't even know where to start."

"Well, what's it about?"

"You, actually." Jasper confessed sheepishly. Lily pulled back in shock before flushing. "I understand if this seems a bit rude but I don't know how else to word this."

"Okay." Lily nodded to him as though to encourage him to speak though was feeling apprehensive about what it could be.

"What's wrong with you?" Silence. Lily knew what he meant. She had actually been wondering if he would ever say anything to her, hoping he wouldn't but he had. Jasper seemed to notice everything, seemed to watch everything like he was on the defensive at all times just waiting for an attack. She found it strange but oddly comforting at the same time to know he seemed fully aware of their surroundings at all time.

Now though, now it had bitten her back. He wasn't being rude, he was curious and most likely concerned but he needn't be. She had everything under control. She didn't want to talk about it right now, and she wouldn't.

"When you tell me your secret, I'll tell you mine." Lily eventually responded. Jasper just looked at her, as though trying to work out what to say back to her. The accusation was out now, the line had been crossed. They both knew the other was keeping a secret but deep down they knew it was all a matter of trust on whether they divulged it. The silence was becoming slightly tense, at least in the females eyes. Jasper inhaled, finally ready to reply.

"Checkmate."