Jackson wasn't there when I arrived. I sighed, looking around the empty large garage, wondering where the Hell he could be. After sifting through mountains of paperwork and hacking the interns computer, I couldn't even bring myself to call him, because, Hell, he might not have wanted to be here. For all I knew, he was busy, and calling him would make me look clingy.

I sighed and rolled backwards in the desk chair, huffing until I was done with my pout session. It wasn't that I'd never been alone in the garage before-I'd done that plenty of times with my midnight adventures, but during the day time it felt so different. It felt more…lonely. Like in the middle of the night, you didn't expect anyone to be there, but during the day it felt more like no one wanted to be there except you, so I found myself feeling more and more frustrated by the second, as though everyone had a life but me.

"Looks like it's me and you again." I sighed, pulling off my Superman T-shirt and patting the hood of the Mustang. I slid underneath the car, dragging a toolbox along with me. She was coming along quite nicely. Nobody had expected me to stick with it for this long, especially since every time I put something together, something else fell apart. There was progress though, I could see it-and within only a week I had most of the frame built.

"Care for some company?"

I jerked upwards, my hipbone catching on a thick metal frame, the skin scraping off by a large chunk.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Jackson laughed as I rolled out from underneath the Mustang. He raised his eyebrows at my appearance.

"Makeover." I explained, although most of my torso and left cheek were splotched with oil and soot.

"I like it!" Jackson smiled. "I just came by to say hi, as long as you promise not to throw yourself at the bottom of the car again." He teased.

I looked down and winced, the raw skin of my hipbone starting to turn pink. I dabbed at the area with two fingers, pressing hard enough that a small drop of blood appeared.

"How'd you know I was here anyways?" I asked absentmindedly, looking around for something to clean the wound. There was no answer. "Jackson?" I looked up, cotton balls and band-aid in hand. Nobody. "Funny!" I called, looking around for him and throwing my hair into a messy bun. There was still no answer.

"I'm sorry." A husky whisper blew across my ear and I whirled around, Jackson standing only centimeters away from me.

The tools in my hand clattered to the ground, my breath rushing out of my body at the very sight of him being so close.

"Don't do that," He ordered, staring at me manically, my cheeks flushing. He brought his fingers up, running them along the red skin of my face. "It makes it harder…it makes it so much harder."

"Makes what harder?" I whispered, his body pressing into mine slowly and steadily.

"I can see it," he murmured, still staring at my cheeks. "Pumping underneath the surface like a river…" he swallowed thickly, his eyes meeting mine for a moment. "I'd heard of another. In this town, I mean. He was able to keep control, keep her safe-and now look at them, he turned her, made her a part of his family and now they have a daughter-a half human, half…I…it could turn the face of our world…"

I kept my eyes on his face, fear washing over nerve in my body as we backed into a wall.

"What are you talking about?"

"I thought I could do it too. The control. I thought I could protect you, if I didn't hurt you, then I'd love you, nobody else could have you-but you make it…so…hard…." He was swallowing thickly, as if his throat had been rubbed dry with sand paper and I was a tall glass of lemonade.

"You're gonna hurt me." I whispered, tears threatening to prick at my eyes. He was scaring the Hell out of me. As soon as the words escaped my mouth, Jackson's expression shifted. He no longer looked like a hungry lion, he looked like a tormented one. Still huge, still dangerous, but wounded.

"I swore I wouldn't." he murmured, before leaning in.

I closed my eyes and let the kiss happen. I knew it was wrong. I knew we weren't supposed to be there. Even with his cool marble lips working their way across mine, even with his fingers locked fiercely on the back of my neck-I knew something wasn't right.

My mind kept flickering towards Paul, kept wondering why he wasn't here, why it wasn't him kissing me, even though I nearly threw up at the thought. Paul and I didn't like each other, that much had been clear from the get-go, so why was I worried about him? Wasn't he the one who was always teasing me about learning to live a little more vibrantly?

I pushed him away gently, my eyes wide, my chest heaving as I panted viciously.

"I uhm…I forgot some stuff at home." I lied, dipping underneath his arm and snatching my T-shirt off of the Mustang. Jackson caught my arm, sighing heavily.

"I didn't mean-I…I'm sorry, just please don't leave."

"Look I really have to-"

"Don't go anywhere." Jackson ordered again, squeezing my arm so tightly it hurt. I winced slightly but took a deep breath, trying to keep a level head. I thought about Paul.

A low rumbling noise built in the back of Jackson's throat, his eyes locked on my bleeding hip, his entire body going rigid. For a second, he looked crazy again, like he was about to pick up a screwdriver and take out my eyes, but as a small whimper flung itself out of my mouth, his expression changed again, and once more he was my friend.

"Listen you have to promise me you'll be careful," he insisted, pulling me close to him with a gentler grip. "We shouldn't be friends."

"Then why are we?" I asked, hoping he'd give me a serious answer. I raised my eyebrows at him. "Hmm? How come you're here all the time if you don't like me?"

"Don't like you? Are you kidding? I ADORE you, you're the only friend I've ever ha-"

"You adore me," I said flatly, narrowing my eyes as he nodded. "Then why'd you kiss me?"

"Because I wanted to."

"That makes sense." I grumbled rolling my eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'll…here, I'll help with the car."

"What do you know about cars?" I tested, pulling my arm gently out of his arms. My lips still stung from where he'd nipped at them.

"Less than you," he admitted, taking off his jacket and biting his thumb. "But I'm a quick learner. Just tell me what to do, Captain."

I eyed him again.

"It's a Friday night, don't you want to go out?" I asked, laying on the board and rolling back under the car.

"I don't like people very much."

"That's hard to believe," I laughed. "You act like you don't have friends."

"Well…I don't, really. I mean….just you, and a few others around town, but that's it. I've never been much of an extravert."

I shrugged, knowing I couldn't be one to judge. After all, I was in fact the very definition of a middle-aged teenager. My nights back home had been spent either studying for AP classes or cleaning the house, the most exciting event to ever cross my path was occasionally picking up my wasted mother from the bar.

Jackson laughed when I told him this.

"You don't like her too much, huh?" he asked casually, handing me a wrench before sliding under the car next to me. I shrugged.

"It's not that I DIS-like her," I murmured. Kim was really rubbing off on me these days…. "It's just that she's so frustrating, I don't get her sometimes you know?"

"Parents aren't meant to be understood."

"Then how the Hell are we supposed to work with them?" I retorted, earning a laugh from my friend.

"I suppose it's a dictatorship that slowly weans away the older you get."

"Yeah, well, I just try to do the best I can."

"You're a people pleaser, aren't you?"

"No…"

"Liar," he smirked. "I can tell. You'll do anything to avoid conflict."

"What makes you say that?"

"You didn't punch the Hell out of me when I pushed you up against a wall and kissed you.

"Yes, well, you're lucky you have soft lips or else you would've lost a couple teeth." I blurted out, my cheeks flaming after the statement had escaped. I kept my eyes on the engine in front of me, not daring to look at him.

"Oh please, you-"

"Haley?"

Jared's voice rang through the garage, Jackson's body going rigid as it did so. I pushed myself out from underneath the car, standing there in my glorious yellow and black sports bra, covered in grease. Jared wrinkled his nose slightly and his eyes flickered towards the bottom of the car.

"Who's under there?" He demanded, his voice slightly hardened. Jackson popped out from his place on the ground, standing next to me with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"We were just working on the car." He said evenly, he and Jared locking eyes.

If you tried to cut the tension in the room with a butterknife, it'd probably snap in half, and then one of the little pieces would fly backwards and stab you in the eye. That's how bad it was.

"Paul sent me to get you," Jared said sternly, his eyes occasionally flickering away from Jackson and towards me. "We gotta go."

"Is he okay?" I asked, grabbing my shirt.

"He's fine, but you need to come with me. Like now."

"You don't have to go." Jackson murmured as we turned our backs to Jared, rattling through tools.

"I can't stay cooped up in this garage with you forever." I smiled lightly.

"We could go somewhere. Or, I mean we could…I don't know, but we-"

"It's a Friday night," I sighed, looking at him. "I'm sure you've got hundreds of other girls that would kill to spend time with you."

"And you're not one of them?" His expression almost broke my heart, and my tone softened as I replied.

"Of course I love hanging out with you. I mean, you're great, really, you're one of the best friends I've got right now, but don't you ever wonder what it's like to just….explore? Do something different for once?"

"Paul Lahote's been rubbing off on you, hasn't he?" Jackson asked, his face icy. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"How do you know hi-"

"Just be careful," Jackson shot. "That kid is trouble. Nothing less and nothing more."

I watched him grab his jacket and storm out of the garage, practically shoving past Jared as he did so. It took ten minutes for Jared to quit shaking and calm down.

*AUTHORS NOTE*

So, how do you guys like Jackson? Please let me know! I'd love to hear how the story is coming along, so even if you're not a member, just leave an anonymous review! :] The more reviews I get, the quicker I'll update...and the sexier the chapters will get! There'll be danger, secrets, lust, and even a little humor...but only if you guys tell me what you want!

S.O to melissawilliamore, who's been an avid reader of mine since the days of Kim and Jared :]