7. New

I was in the corner of the room when Jason's alarm clock went off. He turned it off and got out of bed. He seemed to unaware that I was still in the room. He took off his pants so all that was left was his purple boxers. "As much as I want to see them, I would rather not right now." I said from behind him. Before he could jump I grabbed him before he tripped over me.

He blushed. "I forgot you were still here. I thought you left." He said with a sheepish grin.

"I don't mind, but I'm sure I should save myself from Skylar's jokes when I get back home. As much as I can at least. I swear that boy can take one word from my mouth and turn it into a joke." I laughed. His face turned into a frown and he put his back to me. I laughed loud enough for his dad to hear me.

"Jason? Is that you? Is someone up there?" his dad asked in a suspicious voice.

"Crap." I heard Jason mutter.

"Wait here and act natural." I told him. I slid into his closet while he looked like he was trying to figure out what clothes he should wear.

"Jason?" his dad asked for the second time. I saw his head pop in the room. His blue eyes were like little pools of water. I could see how Jason's were so beautiful. The blond hair would have glowed if there were any sunlight in this room, which I was glad there wasn't.

"Yeah dad?" he asked. He sounded all innocent and totally oblivious to what his dad was about to ask. I knew this sound. He was going to give him the "talk".

"Listen about you and that girl last night…"

"For the hundredth time we didn't do anything." He was lying in a way and I knew his dad would be able to tell.

"Did anything happen?" he asked more sincere. Like a father to son. This was better. I heard Jason take a breath and he was going to answer.

"She…uh…kissed me, well I kissed her. That's it." he lied again.

His father raised an eyebrow. "Ok fine. It would have been something more. It got close and then she stopped it. Claire would never do anything she didn't want to, but she was looking out for me. I told her about the fight me and you had last night and she was concerned."

His dad didn't yell and he didn't threaten. "Sit with me." He told him. I heard the footsteps go over to the bed and they both sat down. "Tell me about her. You really seem to like…um…Claire."

"I really do dad. She is smart, funny, her personality is very kind and gentle, wonderful smile, and her laugh, oh her laugh is just like the angels singing." His voice got to a sound where I had to hold myself together hard not to laugh.

"I'm impressed." His dad said.

"Why?"

"I got a good look at her last night, through the window." He added. "She was very beautiful. And you didn't say one word about that when you described her. You look at her from the inside not the other way around. And for that I'm proud of you."

"Thanks dad." Jason said.

I heard his father's footsteps going to the door. "Dad?" Jason called.

"Yes, Jason?"

"I-" he was cut off by the doorbell. And guess who was at the door? Me.

"I'll get it." his dad said. He walked down to answer the door. He opened it and there I stood.

"Hello. I'm sorry I didn't get to introduce myself last time. I'm Claire Emerson." I told him.

"Ah yes. Please come in." he stood aside to let me in. "Jason!" he called.

Jason rushed down the stairs in a daze. "Claire?" he asked confused. I laughed and his dad stared at me. Jason was right; my laugh does sound like angels.

"How would you like to come meet half my family?" I asked him. I at least want him to meet Skylar, my big brother.

"Half?" his dad asked.

"Yes. The rest of them our out on a trip and we decided to stay home." I looked down at his boxers and undershirt. "Nice. Go get ready and we can go." I told him. Then Skylar rushed in the door.

"We have a slight problem with our visitor." He told me.

"Define slight."

"He…uh is finished changing."

I was shocked. "Now! Of all times! He chooses to be done now!" I said with some anger in my tone.

"That's the least of our problems, Claire." Skylar said with an anguished tone.

I motioned for him to go on.

"He's on his way here. He wanted to talk to Jason." He moved out of the way before I ran him over. I rushed into the street and there I found him running here. I pushed him to the ground. "Stay away from Jason." I growled at him.

"Why?" Cody snarled at me. His strength was brutal, but I wasn't afraid of him and he knew that.

"Because you're a newborn. You crave human blood! You could hurt him, and I haven't told him yet." I admitted.

"So it all comes down to you doesn't it?" he hissed. He pushed me off and started to run.

"I hate to do this." I mumbled. I struck him full force with pain. He screamed in agony and I saw Skylar come out and he looked at me with horror. I have never hurt anyone this bad before; I didn't know what was wrong with me. I believe it was Jason was in danger and I didn't want to take chances. "So help me I will kill you if I have to Cody." I growled loudly.

"She doesn't kid when it comes to Jason's safety. I wouldn't push her." Skylar said still shocked of how bad I was hurting him.

I stopped and I could hear him trying to catch his breath even though he didn't need it.

He looked at me and then looked at Skylar. It's just the thirst that is making you act like this. I'll take you hunting. Come one." Skylar ordered. I ran back into Jason's house and I found Jason waiting for me in the living room, sitting next to his father.

When he saw me he jumped up at once. "Is everything ok? We heard someone scream."

"Everything is fine. I stopped him from coming here and he tried to hurt me. Skylar jumped in before things could go wrong." I assured him, but it was a lie all the same. He picked up on it and looked at his dad. He gave me the look that said you will tell me later.

"Listen Jason if you're ready to go I want to take you somewhere." I told him. I wanted him as far away from here while Cody is hunting.

Jason looked at his dad and then took my hand and walked out the door. I got in my car and drove off in silence.

"So where are we going?" he asked after a minute.

"As far away from here as possible." I told him. It was straightforward; something he could understand easily.

"Why? Is Sam…?"

"No. The visitor isn't human. He is a newborn vampire and he got the scent from me or by smelling me and he wanted to see you for himself. He is the one who screamed. I used my gift on him. I had to, I had no other choice." My tone made him stay silent for a while more.

After about a few hundred miles I stopped suddenly. "Were here." I said. I stepped out of the car and walked about a few yards out from my car. Jason followed me silently. I plopped down in some grass and I waited for him to do the same.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Some park in Washington. I like to come to random places I have never been. That way there are no memories here. Good or bad." I explained.

"Oh." Jason replied. I took his hand in mine and I pressed it to my face. I engulfed my senses with his scent. It was pure and good.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

"Of course. Well I guess it depends." He said. His voice was curious. He wanted to know what I was going to ask.

"When you kissed me last night, did you kiss me because you were scared or were you trying to make me feel better about the dream?" I asked in the nicest way possible. Now I regret ever ending that wonderful moment.

"Neither." He breathed. "I kissed you because I love you and I want to be with you forever. I just didn't mean for it to get that far, but when you didn't stop at first I thought…" he trailed off at the end. He looked at me hoping he hadn't said too much.

I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arms around him, straining him closer to me. "That's all I needed to know. Thank you for being honest to me."

"I think I should get one answer to my question in return." He said with a smile.

"Go on." I urged.

"When you kissed me back was it because that you didn't want to hurt my feelings or did you want to?" his voice was teasing, but his question was 100% serious.

"Definitely because I wanted to. I told you Jason. I love you and don't you ever doubt it." I was not lying; I was telling the truth.

"I won't." he promised. Then his hand made its way to my chin. He stopped only inches from my lips. "Is this ok?" he asked hesitantly.

I laughed and pulled him to me. The electricity was harder this time. It seemed fresh and more abundant than last night. I pulled him closer to me and there wasn't anything that I felt that wasn't Jason anymore. He moved his lips with mine and it was like we were working together. My hand traced his back once and more and memorized every curve in his flawless body. I fought every urge to roll over on him and then with that I thought it was best to stop. Like he could read my mind he pulled away from me. We stared at each other for a moment and then we started laughing together.

The kiss made me think of Skylar again. "Skylar." I breathed.

"What?" he asked.

"I have to tell him something. Give me a second to call him." I took out my phone and dialed the familiar number.

Hello?

"Ok remember when we were talking about Keith losing Sierra?" I asked.

Yeah.

"Well after she died Keith blamed me and promised me that if I ever found a love that he would kill him. I don't think Sam is in charge with the other half." I said the other half like I didn't know them at all. "I think Keith has convinced the others that it was my fault that Sierra died and now they have all turned against me."

We talked about it for 30 seconds. It was too fast for Jason to understand. And that was good because for a while we were talking about Cody. "We can talk about it at home." I said and then I hung up.

"Ok where were we?" I asked Jason.

"I don't remember. So what are we going to do since you're not going to take me to your family?"

I paused to think about it for a second. I was stumped and I had no answer.

"Can you tell me more about your family? Like how did you rescue them? How can you change them into vampires?" he asked with that eager face that I loved. His smile appeared on his face again and this was like my Kodak moment.

I smiled in response and I began our story. "I was about 3,800 when I found Skylar. I saved him from dying, as I have told you.

"Vampires are venomous. The venom doesn't kill you, but it changes you into one of us. Then you would be called a newborn and an immortal. The only catch to it though is that the venom burns and is extremely painful." I winced from the memory of my changing.

"Did you save the rest of them too?" he went quickly with them.

"No. Skylar saved Taylor. She had poison injected into her system. Before her heart stopped beating he was able to change her.

"Ben rescued Syd after I rescued him. Then with that I rescued nick before Ben and then he rescued Angel." Our story is very complicated and long. I stopped there or we would waste all of our time together on me. "Tell me about you. I'm tired of doing all the talking I want to learn more about how you live." I said. I held his hand tight.

"I don't know. I'm not that interesting…" he contemplated.

I leaned over, only inches from his face. "Please?" I breathed. The tone I used must have been good for he couldn't remember a thing.

"What?"

"Tell me more about you and your friends." I urged. His breath came in short gasps, but I knew he was catching on.

"What do you want to know?" Jason said, still dazed from me. At that moment my head snapped up and I looked around. Something caught my eyes out in the forest and it was moving fast.

"Cheater!" I heard a male voice yell.

"It's not cheating if you can do it by yourself." The female sound was high and familiar.

Suddenly Skylar and Angel raced into the park. They must have been having a race, because Angel always wins against those, except when she is against me. Skylar sat down by Jason, who was still wide eyed, while Angel sat down on my other side.

"Skylar." Skylar said holding out his hand. Jason looked at me then he shook Skylar's hand seeming more confident around him.

"Jason." Jason muttered. He knew Skylar would hear.

"So this is the boy were risking our lives on." Skylar teased motioning around Jason. Fury consumed me and in one second Skylar and me were fighting about 10 feet away. Our growls echoed throughout the whole park, but luckily it was deserted.

"Shouldn't you stop them?" Jason asked Angel. Of course he was concerned about our safety when really the only one here in danger was a tree and Jason.

"Oh no. You don't want to mess with them when there in a fight, unless you want to end up like…" she trailed off in a teasing voice that would have made me laugh, if I wasn't so angry right now.

I threw him into a nearby tree and I heard the quick snap and Skylar was already on his feet again. "So our kiss meant nothing to you?" he asked. I heard a quick gasp from both Angel and Jason. What was wrong with Skylar today?

As soon as he said that he knew what was about to happen. He could see the rage burning in my eyes. He tried to run, how foolish of him. One second he was a bullet in the air then he was on the ground in absolute pain. He tried to mute his screams, but only one can do that for so long. He twitched on the ground. "Stop! Stop!" he cried out in pain. "Claire please make it stop!" the agony in his voice couldn't hide any longer.

I stopped the pain only to hear a small thud to the ground. I whirled around to see Jason staring at me like I was a freak. I was not only a freak, but a monster too. What had I done? I hurt my best friend, the one who I needed the most right now. Skylar was at my side in an instant. "I shouldn't have said what I said. That wasn't right of me. The thing is that I didn't know why I had said that. I didn't even mean it." he said. I wasn't even paying attention to him. My focus was on the boy I pledged my love to and right he truly thought I was a monster.

"I-I," I couldn't finish. I turned in the opposite direction and ran as fast as I could.

"Claire!" I heard Jason shriek. I heard little footsteps run then they stopped dead.

"Let her go." I heard Skylar order. Then I couldn't hear anymore, I was too far away. I didn't flinch at my name and I didn't slow down at Jason trying to come after me. I just kept going, not knowing where I was going. My legs beat against the ground and I still wasn't tired. It had been a long time since I had ran like this. I was running like I was running from something. I have never been afraid of anything until now. I knew I was going to lose him this time, there was no doubting it now or hoping he would forgive. Keith was right, but now he could come home because I knew Jason couldn't love a monster like me.

I rushed into my house and ran into my room. I heard a light knock on my door. The life I sensed was Cody. He was still here? When I didn't answer he opened the door and walked in with a swift motion. His eyes were still the red I remembered, but I knew they would change soon, to the color of Skylar's.

"You want to talk about it?" his dark voice asked. I shook my head, but he still came to sit with me. It was like he was already part of my family, because he already was. He was part of it since that night. His hand gently rubbed my back and brushed the hair from my face. I leaned into his chest and began to shake violently.

"Well you got your wish, Cody." I finally said.

"What wish?" he said appalled that he had done this to me.

"You didn't want to Jason to ever be apart of this and now he won't. He hates me and he always will. He thinks I'm a monster and he won't ever talk to me again." I said when my voice cracked in pain. It hurt to lose him. Now I knew how Keith felt, and now I felt bad for him.

"I would never wish that on you or him. I can see how he looks at you and you look at him. He loves you and if he truly loved you he will forgive you." I was so surprised at him. He was hours old and already he was talking like he had decades of experience.

"Well said." I told him. We sat there for about and hour until I heard one pair of feet running too slow to be immortal. I looked at Cody and he smiled. He leaped out the window in one fluid motion and then Jason burst into the room. I jumped up and stood in the farthest corner from Jason. He took a step forward and then he sat on the bed. I stood in the corner keeping my eyes on his glorious face. He took in a breath and it looked like he was going to speak. He just looked at the empty space next to him. I understood and I slowly made my way to sit by him. I sat down carefully, making sure that I didn't scare him.

I put my head down and I could feel his eyes on me. He put his hand under my chin and lifted my face so he could look at me. "Is there something you're going to tell me? About what Skylar said in the park?" he asked. I knew that he wouldn't forget it, but I could only hope.

"He kissed me and I kissed him back." I hung my head ripping away from his gaze.

"Did you want to?"

"It was unexpected and Skylar didn't mean to either. He was confused and he didn't want to. He will never be more than a brother to me." I couldn't say anymore on the subject. But there was one more thing I had to tell him "I'll leave tonight. You won't have to see me ever again. I don't deserve you and you can go on with your life without me in it. I'm sorry I've hurt you like this." I got up and started pacing the room.

"No!" he pleaded. "Please don't go. I need you. I have just never been more afraid of you than I was in the park. You looked so mad, and so much like a vampire."

"Well here's a news flash for you, I am a vampire. I will always be a vampire. I can't be something I'm not." I retaliated.

"I understand that, but you told me something earlier that I will always stand by. You told me 'I love you; don't ever doubt it'. And I'm sticking to that answer." He was so sure in his voice. He didn't doubt that I loved him and he should never doubt that, as I have told him about three times today.

"I do love you Jason." I said with a stronger voice.

"Then show me you love me. Be strong and…and I don't know what else to say. I got nothing." He said with a weak grin. We was hurt and in pain and he needed me. In one long step I took his face in my hands and kissed him like I meant it, and that wasn't hard to do because I did mean it.

"What a happy reunion." Skylar said in his happy sarcastic voice. I'm telling you he was just begging to get smacked upside the head. I rolled my eyes and gave him a hug too.

"Watch it." I whispered in his ear. He laughed and I walked back over to Jason.

"So have you seen our visitor?" Angel asked, popping out of nowhere. Only Jason jumped at her voice. The rest of us were just too used to it to be frightened anymore.

"He, uh went for a jog. He left right before Jason came in so he shouldn't be too far." I answered. Skylar nodded and raced down the steps in about .85 seconds. I wish he wouldn't do that. Who knew how much more of this vampire stuff Jason can handle, and I wasn't going to push it to the limit.