I wanna hide the truth
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There's nowhere we can hide

When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide

Demons – Imagine Dragons

Chapter 25: The Dark Inside

A need I'd never felt before suddenly burst through my heart, flooding my entire being. My hands tightened around her shoulders as she stared up at me in question. Was she overthinking it? Doubting herself? There could be none of that. I lowered my face and attacked her lips with the most passionate kiss I could muster. She surprised me, answering back with a fiery vigor I'd only dreamt about.

But this was no dream; it was real. We were always going to be the pair that fought constantly, bickering over stupid shit and rolling our eyes at each other… but, this was real. This was the amazing feeling that the guys, those imprinted pussies had been gushing about all those years. They had been engulfed in what I was feeling right now, and it was incredible. I'd finally found the girl that was my other half; the girl that knew me and would love me no matter what. We were a firecracker pair, but damn if we didn't belong together. I knew it, she knew it, and there was no denying it anymore. We were made for each other and she finally got it.

My heart leapt with joy as she kissed me again and again, her lips taking charge and showing me who was boss. I laughed against her mouth as she pulled me backwards towards her bed, refusing to let our mouths break contact. I kissed her with everything I had as we tumbled back onto the soft mattress. Somewhere in the back of my mind I listened for her dad or Patrick to come stumbling down the hall and interrupt, but there was nothing.

There was nothing stopping us.

I opened my eyes as she kissed me, watching the sheer look of concentration on her face as she attacked my mouth with hers. Our bodies fit perfectly, mine pinning her against the soft blankets that smelled like her, and I just… I couldn't.

I couldn't take advantage of her fear and vulnerability right now. She was afraid and rightfully so, but I didn't think fear was a good reason to give yourself to someone physically. She needed to understand this so she wouldn't be so frightened. I was made to kill vampires – I wasn't afraid for my safety.

It was all about her now – worrying about her safety, her protection, her well being. I guess that's part of what this whole imprint thing was about. There was no 'me' anymore – there was 'us'. And I took that seriously. I'd never understood Jake or Seth or any of the other guys who had always been so willing and always ready to stare death in the face and tell it to bring it instead of their imprints ever getting hurt.

I pulled away, her lips suctioning off mine as I rolled off of her and onto my side. She didn't put up the fight I thought she would; instead, she looked up at me in the darkness with her bright, pretty eyes as she waited for an explanation.

"Why do you think you love me?"

She took in my question, her expression remaining calm and stoic. "Because I saw you today… you were… so calm and collected when you thought I might be in danger. You were ready to do whatever you had to do to protect me, and… I get it now. Why you are what you are."

I blinked at her in the darkness. My talented eyes could see every curve of her face in the dim light, but I doubted she could see me. "Are you afraid?"

Lexi watched me carefully. "Are you?"

I shrugged. "Each vampire is different. They're skilled, cunning, very smart and fast. I should be afraid, I guess, but… I'm not. It's what we're born to do. I can't be afraid of that."

"Really?"

"Really," I said firmly. "When it's time to phase and kick some ass, I don't even think twice about it. I guess it…it comes naturally."

"I can tell," she snorted softly. "I used to think you were a selfish ass."

"Used to think?"

"Well, you're still an ass, but you're certainly not selfish, Brady. Especially not when it comes to me for some reason."

"I've told you why that is," I reminded her. "I was made for you and you mean everything to me."

"You keep saying that though," she echoed, "But tonight I guess I just realized that you meant it. Actions speak louder than words… does that make sense?"

I nodded, a grin stretching across my face in the darkness. "It does."

She was quiet a moment, her body losing some of the stiffness that had taken over. "I've never done any of this before you," she sighed, "and I put you through the wringer."

"You should have," I agreed, "I'm an asshole."

"I didn't say I shouldn't have," she sassed back, ever the Lexi I had grown to adore. She never let me get away with anything, not for an ounce of a second. And that was why I loved her.

"Ouch," I teased."

"Right, well… I realized tonight that you'd do anything for me. Anything... including protecting me from a… a vampire," she sighed. "Do they really exist?"

"Swear to God," I grumbled, shifting off of her on the bed. I fell to my side, settling against her warm frame. Some of the sexual tension from a few minutes ago was gone, but I didn't want to leave her just yet. I wasn't ready.

"Well, the fact that you would protect me from one and risk your life to do it tells me I can trust you, Brady. A selfish person wouldn't throw himself in front of death if they didn't love you back."

"Clever girl," I chuckled, letting my head fall onto the pillow next to hers. She tilted her head to the side, clucking her tongue at me. She grew silent again, the weight of the evening making the little smile slip from her features.

"I do love you," she whispered, the heavy words sliding over my heart. "I thought I knew before, but… now I know. I do love you."

So Lexi loved me.

That part I knew for sure. What I didn't realize was how soon after that her love for me would be tested.

By… you guessed it, me being, well… myself.

After a thorough convincing on Ian's part and a lot of charming on Patrick's, I was allowed to take Lexi on another date to Port Angeles. It was innocent enough, I guess, but then again, her two dads were still blissfully unaware of my increasingly frequent patrols around their house, the marking I was doing on all the surrounding trees, and of course, my jaunts up the side of their lattice work to join Lexi in her room late at night. I couldn't help myself though… I'd finally won over the girl I loved, and I wasn't about to deny myself her company. My late night visits started out innocent enough, and while we had yet to 'go all the way', Lexi was growing more and more content to thoroughly test my boundaries.

I'd told her time and time again that there was plenty of time for that. We had the rest of our lives to screw like rabbits, but she would only be an innocent teenager for so long. Like I said, I was actually enjoying getting to know her well before jumping into all the physical stuff. Lexi had different ideas, however, but I knew I would only be able to handle so many more nights of dry humping on her bed late at night before I would lose all resolve and go all Magic Mike on her ass.

But that's not what tested Lexi's affections for me.

Nope. It was the fact that despite the way everything in our relationship was going perfectly – she loved me, I loved her, and the mysterious rogue creepy vamp had decided to leave Forks – the asshole in me seemed bound and determined to fuck it up.

Story of my fucking life, right?

Anyway, we were at the movie theater in Port Angeles about to see some sappy girlie shit that Lexi was hell bent on watching when my asshole side decided to rear its ugly head.

"You know the movie industry is seriously pushing it when it decides to market a movie about an alien romance to teenage girls."

Lexi gave me a quizzical look at we waited in line for popcorn. "As opposed to what? Mermaids?"

"No," I grumbled. "How about a good storyline about a girl falling in love with… I duno, a shape shifting werewolf?" I asked loudly.

She smacked my side as I guffawed loudly, oblivious to the annoyed looks of the people in line around us. Lexi gave me a panicked look that I promptly blew off. I mean, how would they know I was being serious? Come on. No one believed in shape shifting wolves any more than they believed in the idea that Peter Pan was going to fly through their bedroom window.

"Brady," she hissed, her eyes widening.

I laughed again, slapping her playfully on the back. "Babe, its fine. I'm totally joking. Werewolves aren't real," I said dramatically for the people around us. A few people rolled their eyes, but otherwise failed to give me much attention.

Lexi shifted uncomfortably beside me and rolled her eyes, but I could still hear her heart slamming in her chest. If I wasn't too busy being an annoying prick, I would have been flattered at the idea that my secret was so precious to her. She genuinely cared about keeping it. I was all about protecting her, but she was protecting me in a way as well.

"I'm sorry," I said softly after we'd bought some cokes and popcorn. "You aren't really mad, are you?"

"No," she spat, twisting her mouth uncomfortably. "I just… thought it was a big secret."

"It is," I assured her. "But honestly Lex, we're about to go see a movie about a girl falling in love with an alien or some shit."

"He falls in love with her, actually..."

"Right," I added flatly. "So do you really think the stupid kid in line behind us is going to run home tonight and tell the cops that he believes in werewolves? No. He probably just laughed it off. Come on, I was just having some fun."

"It's not funny," she insisted as we took our seats. She turned to me with eyes full of concern.

"It's a little funny."

"No, it's really not. I have nightmares about that all the time, Brady. I dream that horrible things happen to you if people found out about what you are."

"Lexi… you honestly don't have to worry," I insisted. If someone even caught wind of what I was, I'd phase in a heartbeat, and you'd see my happy ass in the Canadian wilderness for a few years until this was all forgotten. My cover was safe from ever being blown as far as I could tell.

"Well… you say that but how could you possibly know? I mean… Brady, what if someone found out about you? Honestly?"

I shrugged. "They won't."

"But what if?" she insisted. "I mean… I don't want some government agency to come and take you away and make you spend the rest of your life in a lab all hooked up to machines before they slice you apart to study you. That could happen, Brady."

I narrowed my eyes at her as I reclined in my seat. "First of all… no. I would normally never hurt anyone on purpose, but if someone was threatening to take me in and hold me hostage in some weird… forensic science lab thingy, I'd totally go all teen wolf on their ass and rip them to shreds. I'd protect you first, then me. I'd never let that happen. Second… it just won't happen. People don't believe in shit like that and the ones that really do are crazy. Everyone knows it."

Lexi studied me for a second, her bright eyes still full of emotional concern. She was just so… cute. I squeezed her shoulder and gave her my best reassuring grin.

"Relax. It'll all be fine. No one believes that things like me… or the other things… exist. They're happy living in their safe little worlds of rainbows and butterflies, and the last thing they want to do is have that altered. Besides… there are things in place to make sure our world is never exposed," I explained, my mind flitting to the daunting image of the Volturi.

"There is?"

"There is," confirmed, settling back in my seat again. "But that's another story for another day when we don't have a whole girlie movie to sit through. Don't worry Lex, okay? I won't enjoy this if you're not."

"That's such an 'imprint' line..." she snorted sarcastically. "You'll fall asleep in twenty minutes whether I'm enjoying myself or not. Don't even try to sell me that crap Brady, I ain't buyin' it."

"No, it's not an imprint line, I swear I'm only happy when you're happy… or some shit," I guffawed quietly, shaking my head at her. Lexi stuck out her tongue and made a face at me for teasing her. "Although I am touched that you're worried about me, so thank you," I laughed. I leaned back and stretched an arm around her shoulders. "Please relax?"

I felt her stiff body soften slightly, leaning against me as the previews started rolling. She nodded slowly, licking her lips before turning back to the screen. I could tell she was deep in thought, but I didn't want to push her. Instead, I moved my hand to her chin to gently tilt her face towards mine. Leaning forward, I brushed my mouth against hers ever so gently, drawing her thoughts away from scary science labs and people finding out my secret. I pulled away just as she was starting to respond, flashing her a boyish grin in the dim lights of the movie theater. If I'd learned anything about Lexi, it was not to push her.

Which was definitely something I should have apparently learned a little better.

After sitting through a hundred and twenty minutes of an angsty teenage love triangle riddled with shitty acting and an un-buyable storyline, I was in a surprisingly good mood. Lexi had relaxed not far into the movie, and she'd even granted me a few minutes of a movie-make-out during some low points in the storyline. I'd honestly blanked out within the first ten minutes – the chick wasn't hot and I couldn't keep track of who was supposedly 'good' and 'bad', so I gave up and instead thought about the patterns of my nomadic vampire friend.

What was it he wanted, exactly? I kept going back to that night in my mind, silently cursing the fact that one of the Cullen's hadn't been near – mark that day on the calendar. But had they been there, I wouldn't still be stumbling through my thoughts, searching endlessly for a meaning to the vampire's foreign words. A few Google translator searches from what little I could remember him saying told me he was speaking Italian, and he'd mentioned blood at least once, but what did that tell me really? He was European, and he was a vampire that talked about blood? I mean, big fucking deal, they all talked about blood. It was like my obsession for Chicago style pizza; when you're hungry, you think about it and talk about it. I couldn't' exactly begrudge any vampire of that. I would sing the praises of my favorite food to anyone that would listen. But to bring it up out there in the woods?

I was nervous. He'd caught Lexi's scent and then mentioned blood. I didn't need to understand Italian to understand that none of this was good. But what could I do? He'd already proven very hard to catch, and while I didn't want him running around Forks, I certainly didn't want to seek him out. Well, part of me did so that I could repay the thorough ass kicking he'd given me, but I digress. Jake had warned me about nomadic vampires, which this one appeared to be. He had lectured me more than once that nomads tended to be bored, testy, and unpredictable. They had no home, no ties, and sometimes didn't even have any vampire friends of acquaintances. They had nothing to lose.

That idea alone was pretty scary.

Some of the most reckless shit I'd done in my life was at the points when I thought I had nothing to lose.

I glanced over at Lexi as we tossed our empty popcorn containers in the trash bins outside the theater.

"You okay?" I asked, pulling her against me. I planted an annoyingly wet kiss on the side of her cheek that she didn't bother to wipe away as she shrugged.

"Getting there."

I nodded, noting that we still had quite a bit of time to kill before her curfew.

Curfew. I chuckled to myself. I was such a pussy whipped bastard if I was seriously considering the consequences of a curfew.

"Bathroom," she said quietly, slipping from my side. I nodded, opting to lean against the snack counter of the piddly little movie theater to wait for her. I spaced in an out as the small-town crowd moved and talked around me, everyone excited to see this or that movie. I couldn't stop thinking about that nomadic dick of a blood sucker and wondered what the hell he could have possibly wanted in Forks.

The only thing that brought me back to the present was the sound of Lexi's melodic laughter echoing off the tile floor. In hindsight, I probably should have realized that I was already irritated with the fact that I was no closer to tracking the stupid vampire or figuring out why he was in my town, but… eh, you know what they say about hindsight. So I was irritated, but what else was new, right? I was already pissed as fuck for something completely unrelated to the situation in front of me before I even registered what it was. Lexi is laughing at someone who isn't me. Glancing up, my blood immediately boiled as I realized she was laughing at something some fucking guy was saying as she made her way back to me. He laughed back at whatever she said in response, flirtatiously touching her arm. I couldn't hear what they were saying because my ears were automatically buzzing with the familiar rage I always felt at times like this.

To give the kid some credit, he took one look at my glowering face and bid her a hasty goodbye before running away with his tail between his legs. Yeah, run away little bitch, that's right, I mentally called after him. I was in attack mode already, so this was no major shift. He was flirting with what was mine, and I intended to defend it. I didn't even try to hide my gloat as I watched him blend back into the crowd. I was so pleased with myself that I didn't even sense Lexi's anger until she prissily slapped me across the chest with her small purse.

"Fucking ow," I growled playfully, snapping back to reality. "What was that for?"

"Do you always have to be such a Neanderthal? What the hell was that?" she demanded, her blue eyes instantly stormy.

"What were you laughing at?"

"Some stupid joke he made about our Bio teacher, Brady! What do you think he was doing? I come out of the bathroom and see my lab partner-"

"Wait, he's your lab partner?!"

"Yes, jerk. My lab partner," she practically screeched. We got a few looks from people nearby that I tried to diffuse with a half pleasing smile, but Lexi had other ideas. I guess that was part of what I loved about her – her anger made her so fiery, it was hot. I followed her like a moth to a flame as she spun on her heel and stomped out of the movie theater.

"Lex," I called out, following at a safe distance. "Come on, he was flirting with you. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't get jealous of some guy flirting with you, huh?"

"A normal one, Brady. A normal one. That's what you'd be," she said, spinning around when she got to my truck. I glanced around, making sure we were practically alone in the dark corner of the parking lot. I might as well let her scream it out in the outdoors rather than have her in the cab of my truck where it was just the two of us and my oversensitive hearing.

"But he was giving you this look like… like he was flirting with you. He touched you! Does he do that in class?" I asked.

"No, he's my freaking lab partner Brady! Ulgh, you just… you can't be like this, this makes me crazy!"

"What, that I'm protective of you? That I'm upset with guys flirt with you? Lex, you're so naïve and innocent, you don't even realize what flirting is!" I snapped before thinking.

Lexi crossed her arms and gave me a challenging look that stretched across the sudden silence looming between us.

"So now it's my fault that I'm innocent?"

"No, I never said that. I just meant that you're less… experienced than some, and maybe you don't realize when someone is… taking advantage of you."

She raised an eyebrow. "So that makes it okay to act like an idiot? When some guy I barely know acts flirty? Some teenage guy? Really? Brady… you make this so hard sometimes when it shouldn't be."

"What?"

"This," she sighed, motioning to the two of us. "Us. We talked about this. That time at the mall, at Leah's wedding… you fly off the handle at the tiniest little thing-"

"What… oh, don't even bring up that guy at the mall that one time. He was mentally undressing you with his eyes!" I exclaimed, scrubbing my face with my hands. "Ulgh, you don't even see… that guy was fucking you up here, you do realize that don't you? That's how guys are, Lex, they-"

"Well, at least he entertained the idea of it."

Her words stopped me cold. "What did you say?"

I must have given her a threatening look, for her shoulders immediately slumped, and her eyes went wide. "I mean… he… other guys want me. Why don't you?"

I felt my jaw come unhinged. That's what she thought? That because I wouldn't have meaningless sex with her that I didn't want her? Fuck me. The one time I actually tried to take things slow with a girl and build a relationship with her, she thinks I don't want her. The one time I valued a person and cared about their needs more than my own, I'm being a horrible human being.

"Get in the truck," I growled, reaching behind her. My hand shot out and yanked the passenger side door open, making her jump. "Get in."

Lexi slowly pulled herself up into the cab, looking away as I slammed the door shut. The irony of the situation felt like it was kicking me in the fucking head at that point. I felt the doorframe creak in protest as I slammed my own door close to sit in the cab in silence. Lexi didn't say anything, and neither did I for a few minutes. After letting myself calm down, I reached up to grip the steering wheel. I couldn't look at her.

"You think that because we haven't… done that yet… that I don't want you?"

She licked her lips, shrugging. "I don't… I mean I know you care about me… love me, or whatever, but… I'm confused. You're my… boyfriend, soul mate, imprint or whatever… why don't we act like it?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, avoiding the question. "I told you I loved you. I meant it, Lexi."

She let out a desperate huff of air, shaking her head. "Then prove it. I thought that being with you, and… and accepting this, whatever it is… that I would get to experience that. But instead, all you seem to want to do is hold off and value my… purity or whatever. You act like I'm this vulnerable little high school girl that will never grow up to be a woman."

"I know you're a woman, Lexi, Jesus. You flaunt it in front of me every time we're alone."

"Right, well… what good does it do me?" she questioned. "What good does it do me when all you do is refuse to go further and… and… and leave? You're my boyfriend, Brady. I want to do things that boyfriends and girlfriends… imprints… do. I want to experience that with you. You're not some villain anymore, okay? I've accepted you, and I want you to do the same to me."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, knowing she was right. I just knew myself – far better than anyone else – and I didn't want her to regret giving up that part of herself to someone like me. She would never be able to take that back, and was I so wrong for wanting her to be sure?

"You love me, so… prove it," she said softly, staring at her lap.

"Fine," I sighed, turning my keys over in my hand. "I'll prove it. We're going to my place – no one's home right now."

Lexi looked over at me with a stunned look. "You mean it? Now?"

I would call her bluff. "Now."

Oh man, Brady finally called little Lexi's bluff! Up next is the chapter you've all been waiting for ; )

Thanks for reading and please review!

Head on over to my Tumblr account for some fun Lexi/Brady pics and gifs - I was in a mood! : )